Outbreak: Lessons Learned from Developing a “History Game”

This paper describes the production of Outbreak, a game focused on the 1885 smallpox epidemic in Montreal. It is a preliminary report on the manner in which, by both theorizing about and building a game, we are responding to some of the questions that have animated the literature on computer games for history. The article begins with a survey of publications by researchers who have studied the capacity of games to support learning, and outlined how these can be used in concert with books and other media. We next provide the context to our project, which was conceived to market a film to be broadcast on television, and support a book on which the film was based – a bestselling history of a preventable tragedy that resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 Montrealers. We outline how we built from the book, creating a game that asked the player to save as many as possible from death, using tools that mimicked that which was available in the late nineteenth century. We conclude by reflecting on the lessons that we learned, and how we will apply these to our present and future projects

Experimental and numerical investigations of monopile ringing in irregular finite-depth water waves

In storm conditions, nonlinear wave loads on monopile offshore wind turbines can induce resonantringing-type responses. Efficient, validated methods which capture such events in irregular waves inintermediate or shallow water depth conditions are needed for design. Dedicated experiments andnumerical studies were performed toward this goal. The extensive experimental campaign at 1:48 scalewas carried out for Statoil related to the development of the Dudgeon wind farm, and included botha rigid model and a flexible, pitching-type, single degree-of-freedom model. Twenty 3-hour durationrealizations for 4 sea states and 2 water depths were tested for each model. A high level of repeatabilityin ringing events was observed. Uncertainties in the experimental results were critically examined. Thestochastic variation in the 3-hour maximum bending moment at the sea bed was significantly larger thanthe random variation in repetition tests, and highlighted the need for a good statistical basis in design.Numerical simulations using a beam element model with a modified Morison wave load model and sec-ond order wave kinematics gave reasonable prediction of the ringing response of the flexible model, andof the measured excitation forces on the rigid model in the absence of slamming. The numerical modelwas also used to investigate the sensitivity of the responses with respect to damping and natural period.A simple single degree-of-freedom model was shown to behave similarly to a fully flexible model whenconsidering changes in natural frequency and damping.acceptedVersio

Comparison of laboratory wave generation techniques on response of a large monopile in irregular sea

As the offshore wind industry moves toward larger monopile turbines, model testing and validation of hydrodynamic load models become more important for new designs of turbines. Wave generation is an important aspect of hydrodynamic model testing. When generating irregular waves with a piston-type wavemaker, first order wavemaker theory is commonly used. This leads to generating spurious free waves in the tank. Using second order wavemaker theory reduces the generation of these spurious waves. In this study, the two wave generation techniques have been used in the measurement of the dynamic responses of a monopile with (full-scale) natural period of 5 sec. The effect of superharmonic spurious waves on the response statistics was minor. A marginal improvement in experimental repeatability of the second mode response in large wave events was observed by using second order wavemaker theory.publishedVersio

No Game for Boys to Play Debating the Safety of Youth Football, 1945-2015

Tackle football has been one of the most popular sports for boys in the United States since the mid-twentieth century. This dissertation examines how debates over the safety of football for children at the high school level and younger have changed from 1945 through the present. After World War II, the expansion of youth tackle football leagues, particularly for pre-pubescent children, fostered a new range of medical and educational concerns. Yet calls for limits on tackle football were largely obscured by the political and social culture of the Cold War, including beliefs about violence, masculinity, and competition. A broad range of groups and individuals were involved in debating the safety of youth football throughout the remainder of the twentieth and early twenty-first century. These groups included doctors, coaches, educators, lawyers, engineers, parents, athletes, journalists, and sporting goods manufacturers. Their arguments over the risks and benefits of youth football involved not only the sport’s effects on physical health, but also on social and emotional well-being. By the 1970s, researchers were applying injury epidemiology methods to studying key mechanisms involved in football injuries, while a broader consumer product safety movement contributed to the development of the first football helmet standards. Football equipment not only remained a primary focus of football safety debates, but often symbolized safety itself. Sporting goods manufacturers largely succeeded in framing the issue of football safety as a matter of individual responsibility. The social position of children and their communities shaped debates over the risks and benefits of football, including the sport’s spectator nature. By the early twentieth-first century, concerns about football-related brain injuries at all levels of the sport emerged as a topic of national debate. New medical findings and the reporting and advocacy of journalists and former athletes contributed to increasing awareness of brain trauma in the sport. Debates over the appropriate policy recommendations to make in the context of uncertainty over youth football’s long-term consequences have persisted since 1945 through the present

Experimental study on the effect of second order wavemaker theory on the response of a flexible large diameter monopile in irregular sea

Motivated by the need for larger offshore wind turbines, large diameter monopile foundations are being developed. To ensure safe design, there is a need for model testing and validation of hydrodynamic load models. Scaled model tests with a piston-type wavemaker commonly apply first order wavemaker theory for irregular waves. This approach results in the generation of second (and higher) order spurious (also known as parasitic) free waves in the tank. In this study, the effect of superharmonic spurious waves on the response of a monopile with eigenfrequency close to three times the wave peak frequency is examined experimentally. The bending moment response statistics are not found to be significantly affected by the wavemaker correction. Different wave breaking patterns are observed for individual events, but our results do not indicate any clear relation between breaking waves and the wave generation technique.publishedVersio

Time history of the magnetospheric cavity

Laboratory scale model simulation of effect of solar wind on magnetosphere by propelling plasma stream into dipole magnetic field - time history of magnetospheric cavit

Preliminary Sizing and Optimization of Semisubmersible Substructures for Future Generation Offshore Wind Turbines

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Application of a PI-controller to a 25 MW Floating Wind Turbine

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“We’re not There yet”: Exploring Contextual Factors Shaping Canadian Dialysis Nurses’ Engagement in Kidney Supportive Care

Abstract: Treatment for kidney failure, such as dialysis, can result in a tremendously high physical and psychosocial symptom burden on patients and their families. Kidney supportive care (KSC), including advance care planning, involves early identification and treatment of symptoms that improve the quality of life for people receiving dialysis. The delay or lack of engagement in KSC by dialysis nurses until the end of life may result in people dying without receiving optimal palliative care services. Purpose and Questions: Our overarching purpose is to develop a theory about the process of engagement in KSC by dialysis nurses, and this paper is about a sub-question: What are the personal, professional, organizational, and environmental factors that shape nurses’ attitudes/beliefs toward and knowledge of supportive care in dialysis? Methods: We followed Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory method. Through initial purposeful and subsequent theoretical sampling, 23 nurses with work experience in outpatient hemodialysis, home hemodialysis, and peritoneal dialysis settings from across Canada were recruited to participate in two interviews, each using the Zoom© teleconferencing platform. Concurrent data collection and analysis were undertaken. Results: Findings at the focused coding stage comprise contextual factors impacting such engagement. The core category of Fragmenting Care is explained by four categories of contextual factors and their related concepts and sub-concepts: (1) structural (lack of dedicated time, language barrier, knowledge gap); (2) inter-relational (patient-related factors; nurse-related factors [discomfort with having the conversation, lack of self-confidence, multi-dimensional tensions—them versus us]); (3) cultural-dialysis (biomedical focus, ambiguous responsibility, inopportune conversations); and (4) systemic (lack of conceptual clarity). Implications: These collective factors have not been illuminated previously, and while challenging, they help to better understand and therefore address engagement in KSC by dialysis nurses. Conclusion: Effecting change to normalize KSC is a priority requiring solutions compatible with complex systems

On Common Research Needs for the Next Generation of Floating Support Structures

The world is facing several industrial and societal challenges, such as providing enough renewable energy and enough safe and healthy food as formulated in the United Nations sustainable development goals. Using floating stationary structures, the ocean can contribute to solving several of the challenges. New applications need new types of structures, with which we have limited experience. These support structures will be diverse, but also have essential research needs in common. Design of novel floating structures need reliable descriptions of the marine environment. This is particularly challenging for semi-sheltered coastal regions, with complex topography and bathymetry. Novel structures are likely to be compliant, modular and/or multi-body, requiring increased understanding and rational models for wave-structure interaction. Structures with sustainable, safe, and cost-efficient use of materials, including untraditional ones, must be developed. Smart, affordable, and reliable mooring systems and anchors for novel applications are necessary for station keeping. Digital solutions connecting the various stages of design and operation, as well as various design disciplines, researchers, and innovators, will be necessary. Sustainability will be an integral part of any new design. To unlock the potential of novel floating structures, we need to understand the requirements of the applications, as well as the associated technology gaps and knowledge and research needs. This paper highlights research needs for innovation within floating offshore wind, floating solar power plants, novel aquaculture structures, and coastal infrastructure.acceptedVersio