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This paper describes a collection of 272 three-dimensional laser scans gathered at two unique planetary analogue rover test facilities in Canada, which offer emulated planetary terrain at manageable scales for algorithmic development. This dataset is subdivided into four individual subsets, each gathered using panning laser rangefinders on different mobile rover platforms. This data should be of interest to field robotics researchers developing rover navigation algorithms suitable for use in three-dimensional, unstructured, natural terrain. All of the data are presented in human-readable text files, and are accompanied by Matlab parsing scripts to facilitate use thereof. This paper provides an overview of the available data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the social capital that evolved in the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN), one of the Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence. Our longitudinal study shows a sevenfold increase in the total number of researchers and a high density of relationships among (researchers from) provinces across the country. The results of a social network analysis revealed that 52.6 percent of the network researchers maintained the same number of collaborators while 46.7 percent increased their number of collaborators enormously: the maximum increase in number of collaborators being 6900 percent and the minimum 6 percent. A bibliometric analysis suggested that the number of publications was strongly correlated to measures of social capital. From a science and innovation policy perspective, the finding that more than half of the researchers in the SFMN did not increase their personal networks of collaborators raises important questions. A theoretical model is proposed to examine whether funding agencies should focus on fostering various network structures and evolutions or rely on competition in the distribution of research funds through networks. The proposed model is designed to measure the impact of various network structures on the development of social capital and research output. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Model updating is an important step for correlating the mathematical model of a structure to the real one. There are a variety of techniques available for model updating using dynamic and static measurements of the structure's behavior. This paper concentrates on the model updating techniques using the natural frequencies or frequencies and mode shapes of a structure. An iterative technique is developed based on the matrix update method. The method has been applied to the finite element models of a three span continuous steel free deck bridge located in western Canada. The finite element models of the bridge have been constructed using three-dimensional beam and facet shell elements and the models have been updated using the measured frequencies. From the study it is clear that the initial model needs to be built such that it represents the actual structure as closely as possible. The results demonstrate that the difference between the modal parameters from the model and field tests affect the quality of the model updating process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the heat, air and moisture control in walls of houses in Canada. Introduction of building paper; Thermal insulation in the frame cavity; Considerations of control.

The importance of infrastructural work for the mobility of practices and for the capacity of centers to act on distant sites is stressed in both science studies and the sociology of state formation. Employing Kula's typology of metrological systems, this paper examines four areas of metrological reform in pre-Confederation Canada, stressing the existence of metrological hybrids. Metrological standardization is held to depend upon the exercise of sovereign state power at the same time as it extends the administrative capacity of state agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]