Timing subsystem development: Network synchronization experiments

This paper describes a program in which several experimental timing subsystem prototypes were designed, fabricated, and field tested using a small network of troposcatter and microwave digital communication links. This equipment was responsible for modem/radio interfacing, time interval measurement, clock adjustment and distribution, synchronization technique, and node to node information exchange. Presented are discussions of the design approach, measurement plan, and performance assessment methods. Recommendations are made based on the findings of the test program and an evaluation of the design of both the hardware and software elements of the timing subsystem prototypes

Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide

This article offers a comparative analysis of Davey Wreden’s The Stanley Parable (Wreden 2011 / Galactic Cafe 2013) and The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd. 2015) in order to explore the interrelation of authors, narrators, avatars, and players as four salient functions in the play with identity that videogames afford. Building on theories of collective and collaborative authorship, of narratives and narrators across media, and of the avatar-player relationship, the article reconstructs the similarities and differences between the way in which The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide position their players in relation to the two games’ avatars, narrators, and (main) author, while also underscoring how both The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide use metareferential strategies to undermine any overly rigid conceptualization of these functions and their interrelation

Experimental Investigations of Pure Wood Connections

A well adopted timber-to-timber connection type in Scandinavia is the one with slotted-in steel plates and steel fasteners. The following study investigated the possibility of adopting this type of connection, substituting steel components with wood. The fact that pure wood connections have a lower environmental impact contrary to one that utilizes steel for the plates and fasteners, presents no novelty. Not only could it lower the submission of greenhouse gases as it could lower the production of steel, but it could also positively affect the cost, weight, and esthetics of a structure. An additional advantage linked to wood is better fire resistance abilities compared to steel. In this study experimental investigations of pure wood connections were conducted by substituting the steel plates and fasteners with gusset plates of birch plywood and laminated densified wood dowels. Previous studies have investigated laminated densified wood, which proved that the material possesses impressive capacities. This study aimed to evaluate whether laminated densified wood had potential as a fastener in a timber-to-timber multiple shear connection. For the sake of comparison, two additional test groups were made, one with steel screws, and one with birch dowels. A tensile load was applied to the connections, and the load-deformation behavior was recorded. Additionally, analytical models for calculating the total capacity of multiple shear connections were presented. The calculated results according to these models were compared to the experimental results. The research found that laminated densified wood posed as a promising material for wood dowels in terms of its impressive strength. Laminated densified wood dowels showed comparable strengths to steel screws, and higher strengths than birch dowels. Comparison between the results from the analytical calculations and the experiments showed reasonable utilization ratios, but also room for further optimizations of the models

Inkludering av elever med dokumentert fravær : en empirisk undersøkelse om skoleledere og læreres arbeid med å inkludere elever med langvarig sykefravær

Undersøkelsens formål har vært å se på sentrale sider ved inkluderingsbegrepet og knytte det til samarbeid som en forutsetning for å finne gode løsninger for elevene i den aktuelle gruppen. Den peker spesielt på forholdet mellom elevens muligheter til å plassere seg, og forhold ved miljøet som må være tilstede for at eleven skal klare å være på skolen med sine utfordringer. Skoleledere og lærere ved 3 skoler har gjennom kvalitative forskningsintervju fått uttale seg og reflektere omkring deres forståelse av inkluderings – og samarbeidsprosesser. I en fenomenologisk og hermeneutisk forståelsesramme knyttes deres erfaringer og forståelse til elever med akutte eller kroniske lidelser som står i fare for, eller har utviklet langvarig sykefravær. Undersøkelsen viser at skillet mellom dokumentert og udokumentert fravær som man finner i de overordnede styringsdokumenter, kan føre til at skolene utsetter tiltak for å finne gode løsninger for elevene. For at elevene i denne gruppen skal finne sin plass i skolen, er skoleledere og lærere i større grad avhengig av samarbeid både med elev og foreldre. Undersøkelsen viser at skolene har ulike praksis med å inkludere både elever og foreldre for å finne gode løsninger. Det ser ut som tidlige tiltak, gode rutiner og tydelige forventninger sammen med en helhetlig måte å møte elevens ulike behov på, er avgjørende. Undersøkelsen viser at skolen som tar ansvar selv og koordinerer tiltak rundt eleven, lykkes best i inkluderings- og samarbeidsprosessen. I tillegg er skolen avhengig av samarbeid med andre instanser, både på kommunenivå og i spesialisthelsetjenesten. For at sykefraværet ikke skal bli langvarig, må derfor skolen komme i gang raskt og arbeide parallelt med eventuell behandling og utredning. Resultatene fra undersøkelsen viser at det er behov for å flytte oppmerksomhet fra en teoretisk og ideologisk måte å forstå inkluderingsbegrepet på, til individuell inkludering av eleven på et mer praktisk og konkret nivå der elevens lærings- og utviklingsbehov blir ivaretatt. Undersøkelsen oppsummeres med noen praktiske anbefalinger til skolene som kan være med å sikre gode løsninger for elevene i denne gruppen, og som forhåpentligvis kan bidra til å redusere langvarig sykefravær

The Literary Canon in the Age of New Media

Abstract The article offers a comparative overview of the diverging courses of the canon debate in Anglophone and Germanophone contexts. While the Anglophone canon debate has focused on the politics of canon composition, the Germanophone debate has been more concerned with the malleability and mediality of the canon. In a development that has largely gone unnoticed outside German-speaking countries, new approaches to discussing current and future processes of canonization have been developed in recent years. One pivotal element of this process has been a thorough reevaluation of newmedia as a touchstone for both defining literature in the digital age and inquiring into the mechanisms of contemporary canon formation. The article thus aims at introducing the Germanophone approach to canon developed in recent years and its results to a larger scholarly community