Measuring Our Ignorance, One Book at a Time: New Indicators of Technological Change, 1909-1949

We present new indicators of U.S. technological change for the period 1909-49 based on information in the Library of Congress’ catalogue. We use these indicators to estimate the connections between technological change and economic activity, and to investigate the relationship between fluctuations in innovative activity and the Great Depression. Although we do find links between technological change, output and productivity, our results suggest that the slowdown in technological progress in the early 1930s did not contribute significantly to the Great Depression. On the other hand, the remarkable acceleration in innovations after 1934 did play a role in the recovery.Technical Change, Productivity, the Great Depression

Volumes of Evidence - Examining Technical Change Last Century Through a New Lens

Although technical change is central in much of modern economics, traditional measures of it are, for a number of reasons, flawed. We discuss in this paper new indicators based on data drawn from the MARC records of the Library of Congress on the number of new technology titles in various fields published in the United States over the course of the last century. These indicators, we argue, overcome many of the shortcomings associated with patents, research and development expenditures, innovation counts, and productivity figures. We find, among other things, the following: the pattern and nature of technical change described by our indicators is, on the whole, consistent with that of other measures; they represent innovation not diffusion; a strong causal relationship between our indicators and changes in TFP and output per capita; innovations in some sub-groups have had a greater impact on output and productivity than others and, moreover, the key players have changed over time. Our indicators can be used to shed light on number of important issues including the empirical relationship between technology shocks and employment, the role of technology in cross-country productivity differences, and the part played by technological change in growing skills premia in the U.S. during the last few decades.Business Cycles, Technical change, productivity, measurement

On networks with side information

In this paper, we generalize the lossless coded side information problem from the three-node network of Ahlswede and K¨orner to more general network scenarios. We derive inner and outer bounds on the achievable rate region in the general network scenario and show that they are tight for some families of networks. Our approach demonstrates how solutions to canonical source coding problems can be used to derive bounds for more complex networks and reveals an interesting connection between networks with side information, successive refinement, and network coding

Changes in the McGurk Effect across Phonetic Contexts. I. Fusions

The McGurk effect has generally been studied within a limited range of phonetic contexts. With the goal of characterizing the McGurk effect through a wider range of contexts, a parametric investigation across three different vowel contexts, /i/, /α/, and /u/, and two different syllable types, consonant-vowel (CV) and vowel-consonant (VC), was conducted. This paper discusses context-dependent changes found specifically in the McGurk fusion phenomenon (Part II addresses changes found in combination percepts). After normalizing for differences in the magnitude of the McGurk effect in different contexts, a large qualitative change in the effect across vowel contexts became apparent. In particular, the frequency of illusory /g/ percepts increased relative to the frequency of illusory /d/ percepts as vowel context was shifted from /i/ to /α/ to /u/. This trend was seen in both syllable sets, and held regardless of whether the visual stimulus used was a /g/ or /d/ articulation. This qualitative change in the McGurk fusion effect across vowel environments corresponded systematically with changes in the typical second formant frequency patterns of the syllables presented. The findings are therefore consistent with sensory-based theories of speech perception which emphasize the importance of second formant patterns as cues in multimodal speech perception.National Institue on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R29 02852); Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R29 02852

How do students structure their silent reading when situated in inquiry based pedagogy?

The purpose of this study was to document the engagement levels and classroom discussions students have after reading their independent reading novel. The specific aim was to see how students respond using their independent reading books when class discussions are centered around an essential question. Classroom reading behaviors, student-led classroom discussions, interviews, and exit tickets were analyzed. The students were engaged as active readers when reading their chosen silent reading book to find the answer to an essential question. After, the students engaged in meaningful conversations using their silent reading books as guides before some students offered personal responses while answering the essential question. The implications for teaching using essential questions to engage students when reading independent reading selections are discussed

Needs and challenges for assessing the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs).

The potential environmental impact of nanomaterials is a critical concern and the ability to assess these potential impacts is top priority for the progress of sustainable nanotechnology. Risk assessment tools are needed to enable decision makers to rapidly assess the potential risks that may be imposed by engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), particularly when confronted by the reality of limited hazard or exposure data. In this review, we examine a range of available risk assessment frameworks considering the contexts in which different stakeholders may need to assess the potential environmental impacts of ENMs. Assessment frameworks and tools that are suitable for the different decision analysis scenarios are then identified. In addition, we identify the gaps that currently exist between the needs of decision makers, for a range of decision scenarios, and the abilities of present frameworks and tools to meet those needs

A case study of a K-12 learning center in Southern California: exploring strategies to sustain learning centers for students with learning disabilities

The varied academic needs of students with learning disabilities throughout the U.S. and in Southern California, specifically, have driven demand for private learning centers. For the purposes of this study, a learning center refers to a private business that teaches primary and secondary school students with learning disabilities outside of the school system. However, these centers often struggle with business success and the retention of employees and clients. Little research exists to address this topic. Therefore, there is a need to explore strategies to sustain these centers for students with learning disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies used by a successful K-12 learning center for students with learning disabilities in Southern California to sustain their business. Data was collected from interviews with four employees, observations from four visits, and seven types of archival data. The data were analyzed and grouped into the five deductive themes found in the literature review: training, relationships, innovation, structure, and customer development. Five new inductively developed themes resulted from the analysis of the data: Theme 1: Engaging in closed-loop communication with all stakeholders; Theme 2: Taking a holistic approach to student improvement; Theme 3: Providing differentiated instruction for a personalized experience; Theme 4: Engaging in a growth mindset; Theme 5: Setting an intention for the learning center to follow. Aspects such as innovation, flexibility, and intentionality proved to be beneficial to improving student outcomes and sustaining a learning center. Three conclusions were made from the study: Conclusion 1: A learning center can be sustained through a focus on the five literature themes of training, relationships, innovation, structure, and customer development; Conclusion 2: Flexibility allows for individualization, and continual improvement; Conclusion 3: Learning centers seeking a competitive advantage should focus on innovation

Changes in the McGurk Effect Across Phonetic Contexts

To investigate the process underlying audiovisual speech perception, the McGurk illusion was examined across a range of phonetic contexts. Two major changes were found. First, the frequency of illusory /g/ fusion percepts increased relative to the frequency of illusory /d/ fusion percepts as vowel context was shifted from /i/ to /a/ to /u/. This trend could not be explained by biases present in perception of the unimodal visual stimuli. However, the change found in the McGurk fusion effect across vowel environments did correspond systematically with changes in second format frequency patterns across contexts. Second, the order of consonants in illusory combination percepts was found to depend on syllable type. This may be due to differences occuring across syllable contexts in the timecourses of inputs from the two modalities as delaying the auditory track of a vowel-consonant stimulus resulted in a change in the order of consonants perceived. Taken together, these results suggest that the speech perception system either fuses audiovisual inputs into a visually compatible percept with a similar second formant pattern to that of the acoustic stimulus or interleaves the information from different modalities, at a phonemic or subphonemic level, based on their relative arrival times.National Institutes of Health (R01 DC02852

Re: pairing Louise Bourgeois: sculpture and psychoanalysis in the years 1946 -1969

Thesis (M.A. (Fine Arts))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Arts, 2016.The early part of this dissertation is concerned with a particular period (1946-­‐1969) in sculptor Louise Bourgeois’ life when her artistry and her psychoanalysis overlapped for the first time. Within this time frame, the years 1952 – 1969 reference a particular period when she was in deep psychoanalysis with Dr. Henry Lowenfeld, a period, which profoundly affected her self understanding and associated art practice. By establishing her positioning within a story of Modernism (as a departure point) I will then go on to consider how the more traditional historical readings of her work can be used to understand her work and behavior within a more pronounced psychoanalytic frame. From this positioning I will reconsider Bourgeois’ artistic practice as being deeply linked to an unconscious need to repair early psychic ruptures with maternal and paternal caretakers. From a Kleinian position I will foreground Bourgeois’ predisposition to sculpt as a reparative enactment driven by her primary internal Object-­‐Relations. Key works and free-­‐associative written material (composed in relation to her psychoanalytic sessions from the outlined time frame) will provide evidence for her psychic shifts over the period. These will be investigated in relation to changes in her sculptural output -­‐ key signifiers of repressed psychic experience, becoming conscious. The dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between these two investigative processes (art and psychoanalysis). Similarly, with reference to Bourgeois, the latter half of this project will investigate my personal (parallel) experience as a sculptor and analysand1 . In relation to both enquiries, I will specifically consider the therapeutic relationship between the physical act of making artworks and the verbal psychoanalytic experience. In an effort to understand how the pairing of these two communicative modalities might impact artistic experience.MT201

Breathing Life into the Ashes: Resilience, Arts and Social Transformation - PWIAS Inaugural Roundtable Final Report

This report summarizes the themes, components, results and projected impacts of the first PWIAS (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies) international roundtable held in October 2012. The roundtable brought together 20 artists, scholars, and conflict transformation practitioners from around the world to: explore and deepen understandings and experiences of individual and collective resilience; develop an infrastructure to strengthen the resilience and the legitimacy of the Social Transformation via Arts (“STA”) field; and advance understandings of assessment and evaluation in STA. In the report, the authors include a discussion of advance goals and planning, roundtable experiences, and ongoing effects of the roundtable based on the original application, feedback, experiences, and reports from participants. They also highlight ongoing related scholarly activities and research initiatives. Throughout the report, the authors refer to PWIAS roundtable objectives and how these relate to their achievements and their impact both among participants and with wider audiences