Technocrats of the Imagination

Technocrats of the Imagination traces the rise of collaborative art and technology labs in the U.S. from WWII to the present. Ryan Bishop and John Beck reveal the intertwined histories of the avant-garde art movement and the military-industrial complex, showing how radical pedagogical practices traveled from Germany’s Bauhaus movement to the U.S. art world and interacted with government-funded military research and development in university laboratories. During the 1960s both media labs and studio labs leaned heavily on methods of interdisciplinary collaboration and the power of American modernity to model new modes of social organization. In light of revived interest in Black Mountain College and other 1960s art and technology labs, this book draws important connections between the contemporary art world and the militarized lab model of research that has dominated the sciences since the 1950s

Recent developments in the assessment of nutrition knowledge in athletes

Purpose of Review Adequate nutrition knowledge may influence dietary behaviour, and the performance and health of athletes. Assessment of the nutrition knowledge of athletes can inform practice and provide a quantitative way to evaluate education interventions. This article aims to review nutrition knowledge questionnaires published in the last 5 years to identify advances, possible improvements in questionnaire development and design, and challenges that remain. Recent Findings Twelve new or modified questionnaires were identified. All had undergone validity and reliability testing. Advancements included quantitative measures of content validity and Rasch analysis. Online questionnaires were common, with at least seven using this format. Advances included use of images (n = 2), automated scored feedback (n = 1), and use of applied questions. Summary While advancements have been made in validation and reliability testing and electronic delivery, new questionnaires would benefit from interactive and attractive features including images, provision of electronic feedback, and applied questions

Effects of Environmental Regulation on Innovation Decisions

Thesis advisor: Hideo KonishiThis paper will review prior research to support the notion that innovation does in fact lead to a competitive advantage for business, and that this competitive advantage is translated into increased profitability and productivity. Though the body of work reviewed here will by no means unequivocally prove that this relationship always holds true in real-world markets, it will provide a convincing argument that fostering innovation will likely have positive economic affects. Building off this assumption, this paper will then focus specifically on examining the relationship between environmental regulation and innovation in more detail. This paper looks to answer the question: Under what conditions will environmental regulation cause firms to begin choosing to innovate technologically rather than simply to meet regulation with compliance? Using a simple model of price competition between two firms it will be shown that environmental regulation can effectively induce innovation through spending on R&D projects to develop more efficient technology.Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2010.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Economics Honors Program.Discipline: Economics

Seismic behavior of hollow concrete columns

Hollow reinforced concrete columns have been used in the past in place of their solid counterparts in the construction of bridges. These hollow columns have several benefits over solid columns, including the reduction of vertical load applied to the foundation as well as the reduction of seismic mass. Despite the benefits of hollow reinforced concrete columns, little is known about the effectiveness of transverse reinforcement to confine the concrete in these columns when only one layer of transverse reinforcement is provided. The goal of this research is to develop design procedures and modeling techniques which can accurately describe the behavior of hollow columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement. To achieve this goal, a review of previous research was conducted and the findings were used to propose an adjustment to an existing confined concrete model. A modeling technique for hollow columns was then described, which utilizes the proposed confinement model adjustment. The model has been verified using test specimens presented in previous research, and it has been found to provide a conservative estimate of the response of these columns. Experimental testing of hollow circular and square columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement was performed to gain more understanding of the hollow columns\u27 behavior, as well as to provide further validation of the proposed model. The test results found that hollow specimens with low axial load, low flexural demand, and sufficient wall thickness can produce a limited ductile response. Additionally, it was found that shear effects can be more significant in hollow columns than in equivalent solid columns. The literature review and experimental program demonstrate that hollow columns can achieve a response very similar to that of a solid column with the same outer dimensions and reinforcement details, as long as the hollow column is designed appropriately. A recommended design procedure is proposed, which provides a simple estimate of the required wall thickness to achieve a ductile response for hollow columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement. The modified analysis method is incorporated into this design procedure, producing guidelines for the design and analysis of these hollow columns

Understanding the Confined Concrete Behavior on the Response of Hollow Bridge Columns

In seismic design practice, hollow concrete columns offer an efficient alternative especially for tall bridge columns. The confinement in critical regions of these columns is not well understood and the confinement models developed for solid concrete sections are used to characterize these columns. This report identifies several shortcomings in current practice associated with hollow column design. Using experimental and analytical means, it is shown that the confined concrete behavior in hollow concrete columns is different from that established for solid sections. Recommendations to improve analysis and design of hollow columns are presented with experimental verification. Modification to alter the confinement models developed for solid sections and a design example are also provided

Effects of regional differences and demography in modelling foot-and-mouth disease in cattle at the national scale

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a fast-spreading viral infection that can produce large and costly outbreaks in livestock populations. Transmission occurs at multiple spatial scales, as can the actions used to control outbreaks. The US cattle industry is spatially expansive, with heterogeneous distributions of animals and infrastructure. We have developed a model that incorporates the effects of scale for both disease transmission and control actions, applied here in simulating FMD outbreaks in US cattle. We simulated infection initiating in each of the 3049 counties in the contiguous US, 100 times per county. When initial infection was located in specific regions, large outbreaks were more likely to occur, driven by infrastructure and other demographic attributes such as premises clustering and number of cattle on premises. Sensitivity analyses suggest these attributes had more impact on outbreak metrics than the ranges of estimated disease parameter values. Additionally, although shipping accounted for a small percentage of overall transmission, areas receiving the most animal shipments tended to have other attributes that increase the probability of large outbreaks. The importance of including spatial and demographic heterogeneity in modelling outbreak trajectories and control actions is illustrated by specific regions consistently producing larger outbreaks than others

Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Educator Practices and Preferences in Clinical Education

The shortage of clinical education fieldwork sites coupled with a concern over the quality of the required fieldwork experience poses an unintended outcome for the recent changes in the health care system and an increasing number of occupational therapy students. While the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) issues standards for fieldwork education, the quality of the experience is known to vary. The present study employed a mixed methods concurrent nested design with a quantitative online survey alongside qualitative individual semi-structured online interviews to examine the practices and preferences of fieldwork educators in Pennsylvania ACOTE accredited programs. From the 49 quantitative online survey participants, 10 practices and preferences considered important when supervising fieldwork students emerged. Another five themes related to a quality fieldwork experience were garnered from the six qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results suggest that fieldwork educators understand the value of clinical education and intend to continue to supervise students in the future. However, while fieldwork educators value their role as an educator, they often lack the time and resources necessary to feel effective. Therefore, future research into resource use and ways in which academic programs and professional associations can support fieldwork educators is necessary

First Year Students\u27 Experience in a Cyber World Course - An Evaluation

Although cybersecurity is a major present concern, it is not a required subject in University. In response, we developed Cyber World which introduces students to eight highly important cybersecurity topics (primarily taught by none cybersecurity experts). We embedded it into our critical thinking Common Course (core curriculum) which is a team-taught first-year experience required for all students. Cyber World was first taught in Fall 2018 to a cohort of over 150 students from various majors at the University of New Haven. This article presents the evaluation of our Fall taught course. In detail, we compare the performance of Cyber World students to other Common Course sections that ran in parallel and conclude that despite the higher workload students performed equally well. Furthermore, we assess the students’ development throughout the course with respect to their cybersecurity knowledge where our results indicate a significant gain of knowledge. Note, this article also presents the idea and topics of Cyber World; however a detailed explanation has been released previously

Portable Thermoelectric Refrigerator

This project created a versatile thermoelectric refrigerator that can be used via a wall outlet. The product is durable and effective. The refrigerator is functional in any ambient temperature, and uses thermoelectric cooling, and work from a standard 120V power outlet. By understanding existing products’ limitations and strengths, this project produced a product that outperforms what’s currently on the market. Many of the existing products’ operating temperature is dependent on the ambient temperature of the surroundings, which is a large drawback. Additionally, most of them take a long time to reach their lowest temperature, around 3 hours. One team member, Josh DiMaggio, did research with the Cal Poly Physics department over the Summer of 2017 on the effectiveness of Peltier devices in refrigeration. Josh discovered that when Peltiers are thermally in series they can create a much larger temperature difference. A Peltier is a thermoelectric cooling device, therefore satisfying the design requirement. Key design challenges included the following: heat transfer through the insulation, power draw, thermodynamic efficiency, structure strength, intuitive interface, along with other crucial factors. Following design, the refrigerator was built, tested, and the preliminary analysis was validated against the test results. There are plenty of existing patents regarding thermoelectric cooling, but only a few like what this project achieved. The final design is presented in this document