Design of a bias-weaving machine : thread manipulation and other topics

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-163).A machine for producing bias weaves (thick, multiaxial weaves) is presented. It consists of a fill/warp weaving apparatus superimposed on a general braiding machine. The braiding machine consists of a set of moveable columns which hold spools of bias fibers, and a mechanism to shift spools from one column to the next. Jacquard-movable warp fibers run between the columns. This machine allows the use of a beat-up mechanism that does not need to be removed from the weave. A large set of braids which are produceable on the proposed bias-weaving machine are described, along with the machine operations required to produce them. The design of a tension-regulating thread package for use in this bias-weaving machine is also presented. This mechanism can take-up a finite amount of thread and is insensitive to friction variations. The design was chosen based on the systematic development and elimination of alternative designs. It may be easily adapted to other uses-a shuttle is given as an example.by Jonathan D. RohrsS.M

Niedrigdimensionale Topologie

[no abstract available

Transfer for compact lie groups, induced representations, and braid relations

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 1988.Vita.Includes bibliographical references.by Sam Evens.Ph.D

Las Vegas in popular culture

Las Vegas in Popular Culture is a survey and analysis of the depiction of Las Vegas in American popular culture. The dissertation identifies themes and patterns of interpretations of Las Vegas, a city which has come to occupy a central position in popular American mythology. The primary emphasis is on nationally published novels, short stories, and magazine articles, with a brief section on films. The material is evaluated in chronological order so that the depictions of Las Vegas can be seen in their historical contexts. Since the 1930s, writers in each succeeding decade emphasize different aspects of Las Vegas which correspond to contemporary events in the evolution of the city and of the society. Both the fictional and non-fictional accounts of Las Vegas reflect this evolution, so the literature can be seen as a continuing commentary on the unfolding story of America\u27s fastest-growing city

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 19, No. 4

• Whittling: Dumb Dutch Pastime • Amish Plain Costume: A Matter of Choice • It\u27s Sticky - But We Love It • The Folk Festival Seminars: Folk Art and Antique Collecting • Festival Highlights • Folk Festival Program • 19th-Century Ballooning Tradition Continues at Kutztown Festival • Jump-Rope Rhymes • Ghost Stories and Old Superstitions of Lancaster County • Mary Goes Over the Mountain • Children\u27s Games: Folk-Cultural Questionnaire No. 16https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1040/thumbnail.jp

The meaning of religion: book groups and the social inflection of reading

The religious book club provides a fascinating location for observing the social construction of reality. This study sets out to discover how religious identities affected reading and how reading affected religious identity through examining social reading. Seven book groups, all in the Boston area, participated. Three groups were affiliated with a church or synagogue, three had no religious affiliation, and the seventh was transitioning away from a religious affiliation. Fieldwork within the groups and individual interviews are analyzed using grounded theory techniques. All readers used reading to pursue aims such as relationships, educational status, and transformations of identity, but only readers within the religiously affiliated groups experienced an "inflection" of those aims. While readers in nonreligious book groups developed friendships, the religious book group members developed a sense of congregational identity. Nonreligious group readers sought to be "well read" religious group members sought to be articulate believers. Many readers sought to transform themselves through books, but religious groups transformed their members through emphasizing boundaries and identities, constructing shared definitions of "religion." Nonreligious group members were unconcerned with tying book club identity to personal identity. Religious groups, through confirming and challenging definitions of religion, developed religious identities that were expected to have deeper relevance to individual lives. Individual religious identity did not inflect the aims of reading, since religious individuals in nonreligious groups did not develop their sense of belonging, status, or identity around religious constructions. Within religious groups, it was not religious doctrines, ethics, or awe that produced the religious inflection of reading's aims. Only the affiliation with a formal religious institution was necessary. This demonstrates that religion functions not as a foundational worldview for its adherents, but as a thin container that offers the opportunity to develop a deeper, more durable identity. Despite reading's construction as a primarily individual activity, these findings also demonstrate how the social infrastructure of reading can have important effects