Digital entertainment entrepreneurship laboratory in the network economy

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 33).The dual phenomena of the information revolution and the rise of the network economy presents an interesting challenge to the architect. Architecture must shift away from the design of singular buildings, and more towards the design of instances (nodes) on a network - and indeed, the design of that network itself. This entails redefining the role of the architect, to introduce the profession into areas not traditionally though of as the architect's domain. It also demands an understanding of the unique social and economic characteristics of the informational society at the conceptual level, in order to define the correct priorities in physical design. The project is a business incubator located at the Burbank-Pasadena-Glendale Airport, in Burbank, California. The incubator is a collective work space that nurtures start-up companies involved in high tech entertainment research and development - for example, digital compositing, robotic prototypes, and advanced visual effects. In addition to providing funding and facilities, the incubator also gives member firms access to local and regional social/information networks. Local entertainment companies, such as Disney and Warner Bros., sponsor the incubator in exchange for the first right to use any technologies developed there, and to contract incubator firms to work for them. Five Organizing Principles: 1: Collective action. The inclusive aspect heightens creative cross-pollination, and transforms the nature of work from a top-down, rational, domination-based hierarchy to a collaborative, serendipitous, cooperative venture. 2: Synchronicity. The juxtaposition of unrelated uses, an architecture that reinforces chance interactions. 3: Juxtaposition of material + speed. Visual overlaps and juxtapositions highlight the multiple velocities and rhythms that permeate our lives, from the eternal to the instantaneous, reflecting the contradictions in speed in our own lives. 4: Architecture as a device. The autonomy of a building/organization is inextricably linked with its absolute dependence on connections to other buildings/organizations, for context, purpose, meaning and productive capacity. 5: Mapping of digital space onto physical space. Architecture has the opportunity to reevaluate the relationship between technology and (human) nature, to recombine and negotiate new concepts of rights, privileges, and access based on the interplay of digital fluidity and physical solidity.CDROM in Apple Macintosh HFS format; MacOS 8.0 or higher; Netscape Navigator 4.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.by Allen L. Tsai.M.Arch

The inverse solution of the atomic mixing equations by an operator-splitting method

The quantification problem of recovering the original material distribution from secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data is considered in this paper. It is an inverse problem, is ill-posed and hence it requires a special technique for its solution. The quantification problem is essentially an inverse diffusion or (classically) a backward heat conduction problem. In this paper an operator-splitting method (that is proposed in a previous paper by the first author for the solution of inverse diffusion problems) is developed for the solution of the problem of recovering the original structure from the SIMS data. A detailed development of the quantification method is given and it is applied to typical data to demonstrate its effectiveness

On the Use of Bootstrapped Topologies in Coalescent-Based Bayesian MCMC Inference: A Comparison of Estimation and Computational Efficiencies

Coalescent-based Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inference generates estimates of evolutionary parameters and their posterior probability distributions. As the number of sequences increases, the length of time taken to complete an MCMC analysis increases as well. Here, we investigate an approach to distribute the MCMC analysis across a cluster of computers. To do this, we use bootstrapped topologies as fixed genealogies, perform a single MCMC analysis on each genealogy without topological rearrangements, and pool the results across all MCMC analyses. We show, through simulations, that although the standard MCMC performs better than the bootstrap-MCMC at estimating the effective population size (scaled by mutation rate), the bootstrap-MCMC returns better estimates of growth rates. Additionally, we find that our bootstrap-MCMC analyses are, on average, 37 times faster for equivalent effective sample sizes

The MVP sensor planning system for robotic vision tasks

The MVP (machine vision planner) model-based sensor planning system for robotic vision is presented. MVP automatically synthesizes desirable camera views of a scene based on geometric models of the environment, optical models of the vision sensors, and models of the task to be achieved. The generic task of feature detectability has been chosen since it is applicable to many robot-controlled vision systems. For such a task, features of interest in the environment are required to simultaneously be visible, inside the field of view, in focus, and magnified as required. In this paper, we present a technique that poses the vision sensor planning problem in an optimization setting and determines viewpoints that satisfy all previous requirements simultaneously and with a margin. In addition, we present experimental results of this technique when applied to a robotic vision system that consists of a camera mounted on a robot manipulator in a hand-eye configuration

Automated sensor planning for robotic vision tasks

A method is presented to determine viewpoints for a robotic vision system for which object features of interest will simultaneously by visible, inside the field-of-view, in-focus, and magnified as required. A technique that poses the problem in an optimization setting in order to determine viewpoints that satisfy all requirements simultaneously and with a margin is presented. The formulation and results of the optimization are shown, as well as experimental results in which a robot vision system is positioned and its lens is set according to this method. Camera views are taken from the computed viewpoints in order to verify that all feature detectability requirements are satisfied

Responding to stakeholder concerns regarding potential hydraulic fracturing in western Newfoundland

Stakeholder views should be considered in decisions relating to natural resource management. There are public consultation processes in countries such as Canada but it is unknown if citizen participation impacts policy-making. This study explores one such case of whether the views and opinions of the public were considered in decision-making. The public was invited to participate in the decision-making process associated with the prospect of hydraulic fracturing along the West Coast of Newfoundland. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador instituted an independent panel to conduct a public review and assess the potential socio-economic and environmental implications of hydraulic fracturing. The Panel subsequently provided a report to the Minister of the Environment erring on the side of caution. The Panel neither supported nor opposed hydraulic fracturing citing the unavailability of sufficient research data for their neutral stance. Citizens, businesses and other organizations, raised several concerns such as apprehensions about water, health and quality of life for future generations through submissions to the Panel. Content and document analysis were used to ascertain the concerns raised in the five hundred and forty-five submissions and compare them against the recommendations made by the Panel. The research determined that the Panel largely addressed the concerns raised in the participants’ submissions. Nonetheless, the study concluded that improvement is needed in future panel compositions as well as in efforts to actively engage members of the public. These changes are necessary in providing an impartial, deliberative and democratic decision that is representative of stakeholders

The power of partnerships: State public health department multisector collaborations in major chronic disease programme areas in the United States

BACKGROUND: Multisector collaboration between state public health departments (SHDs) and diverse community partners is increasingly recognized as important for promoting positive public health outcomes, addressing social determinants of health, and reducing health inequalities. This study investigates collaborations between SHDs in the United States and different types of organizations addressing chronic disease in and outside of the health sector. METHODS: SHD employees were randomly selected from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors membership list for participation in an online survey. Participants were asked about their primary chronic disease work unit (cancer, obesity, tobacco, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and others), as well as their work unit collaborations (exchange of information/cooperation in activities) with organizations in health and non-health sectors. As a measure of the different organizations SHDs collaborated with in health and non-health sectors, a collaboration heterogeneity score for each programme area was calculated. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey\u27s post hoc tests were used to assess differences in collaborator heterogeneity between programme areas. RESULTS: A total of 574 participants were surveyed. Results indicated that the cancer programme area, along with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, had significantly less collaboration heterogeneity with organizations outside of the health sector compared to the obesity and tobacco programme areas. CONCLUSIONS: While collaborations with health sector organizations are commonly reported, public health departments can increase collaboration with sectors outside of health to more fully address chronic disease prevention

Renormalization group approach to anisotropic superconductivity

The superconducting instability of the Fermi liquid state is investigated by considering anisotropic electron-boson couplings. Both electron-electron interactions and anisotropic electron-boson couplings are treated with a renormalization-group method that takes into account retardation effects. Considering a non-interacting circular Fermi surface, we find analytical solutions for the flow equations and derive a set of generalized Eliashberg equations. Electron-boson couplings with different momentum dependences are studied, and we find superconducting instabilities of the metallic state with competition between order parameters of different symmetries. Numerical solutions for some couplings are given to illustrate the frequency dependence of the vertices at different coupling regimes.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Final version as published in Phys. Rev.

Current Status and Regulatory Aspects of Pesticides Considered to be Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Taiwan

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are capable of persisting in the environment, transporting between phase media and accumulating to high levels, implying that they could pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. Consequently, most OCPs are designated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and even as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The objective of this paper was to review the current status of pesticide POPs in Taiwan, including aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, α/β-hexachlorocyclohexanes, lindane, mirex, pentachloro-benzene, and toxaphene. The information about their environmental properties, banned use, carcinogenic toxicity and environmental levels, can be connected with the regulatory infrastructure, which has been established by the joint-venture of the central competent authorities (i.e., Environmental Protection Administration, Department of Health, Council of Agriculture, and Council of Labor Affairs). The significant progress to be reported is that the residual levels of these pesticide-POPs, ranging from trace amounts to a few ppb, have declined notably in recent years