A production engineering approach to robot selection

The successful introduction of robots into an industrial enterprise means real commitment, engineering support, and detailed involvement in the planning of an integrated manufacturing system. In particular, the production engineer is clearly seen in this context to be the system designer. He must therefore be in a position to specify the performance of all man and machine components within the system such that productivity is maximised. Robot types are reviewed, and analogies between man and machine are used to introduce the RTM concept. Finally, a simple method is given for estimating robot throughput times from elementary velocity profiles. The fall-off in throughput due to the effect of many small robot movements is emphasised.     

Crusading Journalism: Changing Public Attitudes and Policy-Making Agendas

This is the third in a series of studies on the agenda-settingeffects of news media investigations of social issues. Researchershad access to a local five-part television investigation ofrepeatedly brutal police officers before it was broadcast inthe February 1983 sweeps period. Using random-digit-dialingto select a sample of Chicago area viewers, researchers surveyed428 members of the general public on their attitudes towardvarious social issues, including the conduct of city policeofficers. We hypothesized that respondents exposed to the serieswould change their responses to questions about police brutality,which they did in statistically significant numbers. A similarsurvey of so-called elites, policy makers or persons with aprior interest in police behavior, also was undertaken beforeand repeated after the series was broadcast. Although no statisticallysignificant change in elite opinions of police behavior occurred,small but statistically significant changes in knowledge ofspecific police acts were recorded. Researchers discuss thefindings of study three and speculate about the different agenda-settingeffects of the three series.     

La Identidad y Caracter Nacionales en Mexico—La Frontera de Tamaulipas—

Resumen

En este artículo se analizan los datos de cuatro ciudades fronterizas de México. Estas son evaluaciones sobre el carácter e identidad nacional, inferidas a partir del sentido de pertenencia y participación de los ciudadanos en las instituciones más importantes de su Estado. Los resultados muestran que los habitantes de las ciudades fronterizas tienen un sentimiento de pertenencia muy reducido y un aún menor sentimiento de participación en las instituciones.