Fatigue Risks in the Connections of Sign Support Structures

This research effort develops a reliability-based approach for prescribing inspection intervals for mast-arm sign support structures corresponding to user-specified levels of fatigue-induced fracture risk. The resulting level of risk for a particular structure is dependent upon its geographical location, the type of connection it contains, the orientation of its mast-arm relative to north and the number of years it has been in service. The results of this research effort indicate that implementation of state-of-the-art reliability-based assessment procedures can contribute very valuable procedures for assigning inspection protocols (i.e. inspection intervals) that are based upon probabilities of finding fatigue-induced cracking in these structures. The engineering community can use the results of this research effort to design inspection intervals based upon risk and thereby better align inspection needs with limited fiscal and human resources

The Hardcore Scorecard: Defining, Quantifying and Understanding “Hardcore” Video Game Culture

ABSTRACT The goal of the current study is to further conceptualize and define the term “hardcore” as it relates to video game culture. Past research indicates that members of cultural subdivisions favor their own group versus others due to perceived commonalities (Durkheim, 1915; Tajfel, 1970). In gaming culture, the subdivisions of “hardcore” and “casual” games/gamers have become especially salient in recent years. However, the definition of what constitutes “hardcore” and “casual” is inconsistent (Adams, 2000; Alexandre, 2012; Jacobs & Ip, 2003; Juul, 2010; Kim, 2001; Kuittinen, Kultima, Niemelä & Paavilainen, 2007; Wallace & Robbins, 2006). Therefore, it is beneficial to better understand these terms considering the implications: less audience infighting, more accurately tailored game design/marketing, and less ambiguous/sensationalist gaming journalism/media. A sample of 109 undergraduate students from a large university (19,000 undergraduates) in an upstate New York city (metropolitan population of 1.1 million) completed an online survey, reporting their perceptions of hardcore gaming. Values were then attributed to certain video game criteria based on the survey results and applied to popular games. The sum of these values produced a hardcore index for the “scorecard.” To assess the scorecard’s validity, correlations were run between our final values and an independently collected hardcore percentage publicly available on the Wii’s Nintendo Channel (327,818.45 average respondents per game). Results suggest hardcore gaming is perceived as a harsh subculture consisting of long play times, challenging play, anti-social behavior, and content not suitable for children. The index produced by the resulting “hardcore scorecard” was significantly correlated (r = .765, p \u3c .01) with the independently collected data on the Nintendo Channel. Thus, the current research provides tools the gaming industry (users, developers, journalists) can use to their advantage by better understanding and defining the term “hardcore,” as well as a valuable blueprint for future research to continue refining and improving

Gas Bubbles Emerging from a Submerged Granular Bed

This fluid dynamics video was submitted to the Gallery of Fluid Motion for the 2009 APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this video we show some results from a simple experiment where air was injected by a single nozzle at known constant flow rates in the bottom of a granular bed submerged in water. The injected air propagates through the granular bed in one of two modes. Mode 1 emergence involves small discrete bubbles taking tortuous paths through the interstitial space of the bed. Multiple small bubbles can be emitted from the bed in an array of locations at the same time during Mode 1 emergence. Mode 2 emergence involves large discrete bubbles locally fluidizing the granular bed and exiting the bed approximately above the injection site. Bead diameter, bead density, and air flow rate were varied to investigate the change in bubble release behavior at the top of the granular bed. This system is a useful model for methane seeps in lakes. Methane bubbles are released from the decomposition of organic matter in the lake bed. The initial size of the bubble determines how much of the gas is absorbed into the lake and how much of the gas reaches the surface and is released into the atmosphere. The size and behavior of the emerging bubbles may also affect the amount of vertical mixing occurring in the lake, as well as the mixing from the lake bed into the benthic layer.Comment: 2009 APS DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion Submissio

The Effects of Direction of Grouping, Type of Stimuli, and Class Level on Cognitive Equivalence Transformations

The major purpose of this investigation was to study the structure, attributes , and supplemental aspects of equivalence classifying of words and pictures made by sixth graders, freshmen college students and junior and senior college students . A particular point of interest was whether or not increasing or decreasing the size of the groups results in different types of equivalence classifying. Other minor goals were to determine the effects of direction of grouping, type of stimuli, and class level on unique reasons produced and recall of stimuli. The results of the study support the thesis that there is a cognitive developmental progression which supports the works of Piaget, Bruner, Vinacke and others. Children, compared to college levels, use a less efficient grouping structure, lower level simple association and concrete and perceptual grouping attributes, lower quality responses, and more specific reasons for grouping. College levels, compared to six grade, use more representational grouping attributes, have higher quality responses, and have a more general level of specificity. In addition, decreasing grouping structure results in a high level of cognitive performance in all aspects of grouping. There were no main effect differences between the words and pictures. However, there were significant interaction effects involving directions, stimuli, and class levels. There were more stimuli recalled and unique reasons produced by the college students. More pictures than words were recalled by all groups. One implication of the results is that decreasing the size of groupings apparently results in a higher level of cognitive functioning. One reason ventured for this result is that decreasing group size results in more divergent thinking and allows the individual to contemplate more possibilities for his groupings. Increasing group size is related to convergent thinking in which the subject is hindered by a previous set. Another implication is that there is a cognitive development a l progression which results in an increasingly more sophisticated ability to deal with the complex stimuli of the environment. Also, there is some evidence that different grade levels handle pictures differently than they do words. More study is needed to clarify the role of different forms of stimuli in classifying. From this study it is clear that there are no main effect differences between words and pictures. However, there certainly appear to be some interaction effects, and these need further clarification

Gleason-Type Derivations of the Quantum Probability Rule for Generalized Measurements

We prove a Gleason-type theorem for the quantum probability rule using frame functions defined on positive-operator-valued measures (POVMs), as opposed to the restricted class of orthogonal projection-valued measures used in the original theorem. The advantage of this method is that it works for two-dimensional quantum systems (qubits) and even for vector spaces over rational fields--settings where the standard theorem fails. Furthermore, unlike the method necessary for proving the original result, the present one is rather elementary. In the case of a qubit, we investigate similar results for frame functions defined upon various restricted classes of POVMs. For the so-called trine measurements, the standard quantum probability rule is again recovered.Comment: 10 pages RevTeX, no figure

The Aston Medication Adherence Study:mapping the adherence patterns of an inner-city population

Background: The Aston Medication Adherence Study was designed to examine non-adherence to prescribed medicines within an inner-city population using general practice (GP) prescribing data. Objective: To examine non-adherence patterns to prescribed oralmedications within three chronic disease states and to compare differences in adherence levels between various patient groups to assist the routine identification of low adherence amongst patients within the Heart of Birmingham teaching Primary Care Trust (HoBtPCT). Setting: Patients within the area covered by HoBtPCT (England) prescribed medication for dyslipidaemia, type-2 diabetes and hypothyroidism, between 2000 and 2010 inclusively. HoBtPCT's population was disproportionately young,with seventy per cent of residents fromBlack and Minority Ethnic groups. Method: Systematic computational analysis of all medication issue data from 76 GP surgeries dichotomised patients into two groups (adherent and non-adherent) for each pharmacotherapeutic agent within the treatment groups. Dichotomised groupings were further analysed by recorded patient demographics to identify predictors of lower adherence levels. Results were compared to an analysis of a self-reportmeasure of adherence [using the Modified Morisky Scal