Understanding and making of a "place" in cyberspace

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 36).The information age has provided exciting challenges for designers and users to interact and work in virtual environments. This has resulted in new interpretations to the representation of places as they begin to develop, interact and communicate their ideas in this medium. Can designers shape the many sites that are beginning to form and can the sites serve as places for interaction/communication linked only through this virtual world? How can designers react to such a landscape? Can we begin to create this environment so that an effective communication between the environment and user can take place How should this environment be represented to the user? Finally, can we begin to "experience" the virtual artifact in a way that is flexible enough in its representation to allow for simultaneous communication of the physical space and the perceptual representation of that place. These will be some of the main issues addressed in the thesis. My investigation seeks to develop a virtual interface for communication of an architectural artifact, that designers can use as a representation to assist them in contextualizing their understanding of that place and to facilitate an environment that aids in communicating within a virtual setting? The artifact created are the virtual design spaces here at MIT and the site for the project will be the World Wide Web. The thesis addresses three main issues. The first will discuss navigating through the artifact. The second issue will endeavor to coalesce the fragmented views of representation though a simulation. The third will explore supplementing current representations into a experiential model to better understand the spaces and the ideas that generated them.Daniel J. Brick.M.S

Medical applications of nasa-developed science and technology quarterly progress report no. 2, 30 apr. - 31 jul. 1965

Medical applications of aerospace science and technolog

The measurement of participation in adult education.

This paper examines the disparate rates of participation in adult education that have been reported by the Current Population Survey and the National Household Education Survey. The authors examine issues including population coverage and sampling, survey nonresponse, the use of proxy respondents, and survey context effects

Haemodynamic changes with paracetamol in critically-ill children.

PURPOSE: Paracetamol has been associated with a reduction in blood pressure, especially in febrile, critically-ill adults. We hypothesised that blood pressure would fall following administration of paracetamol in critically-ill children and this effect would be greater during fever and among children with a high body surface area to weight ratio. METHODS: A 12-month prospective observational study of children (0-16years) admitted to paediatric intensive care, who underwent pulse contour analysis and received paracetamol concurrently. RESULTS: Mean arterial blood pressure decreased significantly by 4.7% from baseline (95% CI 1.75-8.07%) in 31 children following 148 doses of paracetamol. The nadir was 2-hour post-dose. The effect was pronounced in children with fever at baseline (6.4%, 95% CI 2.8-10%), although this was not statistically significant. There was no simple relationship between this effect and body surface area to weight ratio. The association between a change in blood pressure and changes in heart rate or measured stroke volume was poor; therefore it was likely that a change in the systemic vascular resistance contributes most to this effect. CONCLUSION: There is a significant but modest reduction in blood pressure post-paracetamol in critically-ill children. This is likely related to a change in systemic vascular resistance