Background Info

G'day guys,

Thought you may find these two abstracts of passing interest for use in
background stuff.

Cheers

Beth

> [quoted text omitted]
Authors Sitti M. Hashimoto H. Title
Tele-nanorobotics using an atomic force microscope as a nanorobot and
sensor Source
Advanced Robotics. 13(4):417-436, 1999.
Abstract
In this paper, a tele-nanorobotic system using an atomic force
microscope (AFM) as the nanorobot and sensor has been proposed. Modeling and
control of the AFM cantilever, and modeling of nanometer scale forces have
been realized for telemanipulation applications. In addition to
three-dimensional virtual reality visual feedback in the user interface,
a
1 d.o.f. haptic: device has been constructed for nano-scale haptic
sensing. For feeling the nano forces, a bilateral teleoperation control system
with virtual impedance approach has been introduced. Initial experiments and
simulations on the AFM and teleoperation system show that
the system can be utilized for different tele-nanomanipulation
applications such as two-dimensional nano particle assembly or
biological object manipulation. [References: 20]

<19>
Authors Faia MA. Title "Three can keep a secret if two are dead'' (Lavigne,
1996): Weak ties as

infiltration routes Source
Quality & Quantity. 34(2):193-216, 2000 May.
Abstract Among several ways of trying to suppress terrorist conspiracies,
infiltration has probably received the least attention. Impressionistic
evidence suggests that conspiracies that carry out violent attacks usually
have a small number of participants, and that large conspiracies either fail
to materialize, fail to organize actual attacks, or are substantially less
difficult to uncover. Due to the prevalence of weak social ties in
larger groups there may be an intermediate group size, around 7-10
members, that is highly subject to infiltration. Building on work by Freeman,
Granovetter, and others, this study examines a few features of the social
ecology of interaction ties. We introduce a procedure for counting, within
groups of size n, all interacting pairs {P, Q}, where P

and Q are disjoint or nonoverlapping subsets (Freeman, 1992: 153) of a given
group; these subsets usually contain more than one person, i.e., the
interacting units do not invariably consist of individuals. This procedure
generates interaction configurations having unique patterns of strong,
weak, and "weakest'' ties - i.e., three levels of tie strength
corresponding to core, primary, and secondary ties in Freeman's
terminology - such that relatively weak ties predominate within larger
conspiracies. We speculate about ways in which these configurations may evolve
through time. We then use a combinatorial analysis of group structure to
develop a rough calculation of the probability of infiltrating conspiracies of
size n, and we show that relatively large conspiracies, having 7 or more
members, tend to have interaction structures that make them highly vulnerable
to
infiltration. Finally, Collins' (1985: 170-172) approach to
interaction-chain analysis suggests that, while in real situations it
would be hard to anticipate departures from our probability model, attempts to
"turn around'' conspirators with weak ties appear to have a fairly high
prospect of success. But the child's sob in the silence Curses deeper than the
strong man in his wrath. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Cry of the children''.
[References: 30]