Fabrication Lab Dispositif: A new model for a specialist lab and centre for knowledge generation and exchange

This is a major, institutionally-based research project investigating new models for testing, developing and disseminating ways of using the Fabrication Lab as an innovative platform for the generation and exchange of knowledge. The research project offers responses to the opportunities and threats posed by the rapidly advancing, potentially disruptive digital ecosystem of design and construction technologies taking hold of professional and industry practice. The project includes the innovative architecture, technology, structures and systems designed by the authors for the Lab, as well as the novel pedagogical, research and institutional practices and projects created using the Lab as a platform. Its principle working tool, as well as its largest output, is the Fabrication Lab itself, understood through the thought of Foucault as a dispositif, or ‘apparatus’. The research is based on an understanding of a lab that looks beyond its role as an institutional facility to focus on the multiple, heterogeneous elements through which the Lab, its staff, users, and technologies are constructed. The Fabrication Lab thus becomes an experimental vehicle to investigate how the system of relations between diverse institutional elements and situated practices might be re-thought and re- configured to generate the new technological objects, subjectivities, practices and pedagogic and research outputs required to keep pace with today’s rapidly advancing developments. As well as the Fabrication Lab itself, the research has produced many other outputs documented in the folio including: FAB FEST, a series of three major international fabrication and dissemination events attended by academics and practitioners from around the world; live projects in London, Helsinki and South Korea; numerous workshops, outreach projects and public events; academic conference papers and new knowledge exchange partnerships; as well as the thousands of experimental outputs produced in the Lab by academic staff, students and researchers at the University of Westminster

Embracing the Next Generation of Interpreters: A Call to Action for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf

The founding members of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) felt strongly about recruiting, training, and confirming the competence of interpreters. As a result, for over 50 years RID has been the national leader for the profession of ASL-English interpreting. At the same time, the next generation of American Sign Language (ASL)-English interpreters continue to face challenges pertaining to pre-service education, practicum experiences, and professional support after graduation as they enter the field. This article describes these challenges and offers suggested recommendations toward proactive organizational investment in this next generation of interpreters that will improve the quality of services provided to stakeholders and empower a stronger network of new professionals connected to and engaged in the preservation and furtherance of RID’s vital legacy

FAB FEST – International Fabrication Festival

FAB FEST is an International Fabrication Festival held at the University of Westminster in Central London. The festival is a unique pedagogic and social project, combining creative architectural design with innovative digital fabrication methods using lightweight, recyclable materials. It was introduced in 2016 and developed and repeated in the Summer of 2017. The festivals involved 50 teams of five or more students from across the UK and around the world including participants from India, China, USA, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy. Teams worked together over a four-month period to develop a design for a habitable pavilion. Groups combined students, professionals in practice acting as design mentors, as well as staff from the University’s Fabrication Lab, advising on materials and digital fabrication processes. Following a series of design stages teams submitted their proposals to be digitally fabricated using CNC knives, lasers and robotic arms. In the week of the festival teams then worked together to assemble and install their pre-fabricated pavilions, collectively creating the architecture for a large-scale public event. Building and celebration took place in Ambika P3 - a 14,000 square ft space in Central London developed from the University’s former concrete construction hall. The project ended in a three-day celebration with live music and making-based events for visitors and the local community

Learning Latent Factor Models of Travel Data for Travel Prediction and Analysis

Abstract. We describe latent factor probability models of human travel, which we learn from data. The latent factors represent interpretable properties: travel distance cost, desirability of destinations, and affinity between locations. Individuals are clustered into distinct styles of travel. The latent factors combine in a multiplicative manner, and are learned using Maximum Likelihood. We show that our models explain the data significantly better than histogrambased methods. We also visualize the model parameters to show information about travelers and travel patterns. We show that different individuals exhibit different propensity to travel large distances. We extract the desirability of destinations on the map, which is distinct from their popularity. We show that pairs of locations have different affinities with each other, and that these affinities are partly explained by travelers ’ preference for staying within national borders and within the borders of linguistic areas. The method is demonstrated on two sources of travel data: geotags from Flickr images, and GPS tracks from Shanghai taxis.

Etude de la culture en couloirs de manioc (Manihot esculenta CRANTZ) à base de Gliricidia sepium en Côte d’Ivoire

L’objectif de l’étude est de recommander aux paysans un système de production de manioc à la fois rentable et préservatrice de l’environnement. Pour atteindre cet objectif, deux systèmes améliorés de culture en couloirs (manioc amélioré Yavo/soja vert (Mung bean)/Gliricidia sepium avec un apport de fumure de fond minérale_200 kg/ha de NPK_10-18-18 ou organique_10 t/ha de fiente de poule) ont été mis en compétition avec le système traditionnel (association manioc local/arachide). Les systèmes de culture en couloirs ont bien couvert le sol comparativement au système traditionnel. Les taux moyens de débourrage du manioc ont varié de 80,15 à 82,03% pour la variété locale et de 80,11 à 75,08% pour la variété Yavo. Ces taux ont montré des interactions site x variété significatives et des interactions année x site très hautement significatifs. La culture en couloirs a enregistré un rendement moyen général en racines tubéreuses fraîches de 40 t/ha contre 13 t/ha dans le système traditionnel. Elle a permis d’augmenter le rendement du manioc de 27 t/ha. La culture en couloirs pourrait constituer une solution intéressante de remplacement du système traditionnel. Il est donc possible d’obtenir des rendements élevés à l’unité de surface grâce à la culture en couloirs de manioc.Mots-clés : manioc, Yavo, gliricidia sepium, soja vert, culture en couloirs, Côte d’Ivoire

Synoptic-Scale Atmospheric Circulation and Boreal Canada Summer Drought Variability of the Past Three Centuries

Five independent multicentury reconstructions of the July Canadian Drought Code and one reconstruction of the mean July-August temperature were developed using a network of 120 well-replicated tree-ring chronologies covering the area of the eastern Boreal Plains to the eastern Boreal Shield of Canada. The reconstructions were performed using 54 time-varying reconstruction submodels that explained up to 50% of the regional drought variance during the period of 1919-84. Spatial correlation fields on the six reconstructions revealed that the meridional component of the climate system from central to eastern Canada increased since the mid-nineteenth century. The most obvious change was observed in the decadal scale of variability. Using 500-hPa geopotential height and wind composites, this zonal to meridional transition was interpreted as a response to an amplification of long waves flowing over the eastern North Pacific into boreal Canada, from approximately 1851 to 1940. Composites with NOAA Extended Reconstructed SSTs indicated a coupling between the meridional component and tropical and North Pacific SST for a period covering at least the past 150 yr, supporting previous findings of a summertime global ocean-atmospherel-and surface coupling. This change in the global atmospheric circulation could be a key element toward understanding the observed temporal changes in the Canadian boreal forest fire regimes over the past 150 yr

Effects of cattle and poultry manures on organic matter content and adsorption complex of a sandy soil under cassava cultivation (Manihot esculenta, Crantz)

This study examined the A and B horizons of deep, developed and moderately unsaturated sandy ferrallitic soils amended with cattle and poultry manures under cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivation. Therefore, a plot experiment was carried out by using a randomized complete blocks design in 4 replications and fields treatments which included unfertilized (control) and one dose (10 t/ha) of both manures. The study of the different fractions of animal manures showed that the poultry had the greatest content of C (organic carbon), N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus), K (potassium), Ca (calcium) and C:N ratio (p < 0.01). However, the value of Mg (magnesium) in the studied manures was not significantly different (p < 0.01). The manure treatment significantly increased the soil organic matter contents from 0.46 to 2.8 and 1.1% respectively with poultry and cattle manures (p < 0.01). Organic fertilizer significantly increased the cation exchange capacity from 1.7 to 12.75 and 3.8 me:100 g and the bases saturation content from 47 to 80 and to 76% respectively with the poultry and cattle manures (p < 0.01). The organic fertilizer showed significant effect on earthworms populations Hyperiodrilus africanus (Oligochaeta, Eudrilidae) in the soil, with 128 and 85% respectively about the poultry and cattle manures compared to the control (p < 0.01).Key words: Cattle manure, poultry manure, cassava, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, basessaturation content

Self-Reported Sleep Latency in Postmenopausal Women

The ain of this study was to access how self-reported sleep latency (SRSL) was affected by sleep habits, mood, and circadian rhythm in postmenopausal women. Subjects (n=384, 67.9±7.7 yr) completed sleep and mood questionnaires, sleep log and actigraphic data. The major urinary melatonin metabolite (6-sulphatoxymelatonin, aMT6s) was assayed in fractional urine specimens for two 24-hr intervals. Although SRSL (26.5±24.4 min) and actigraphic sleep latency (ASL; 27.8±20.0 min) were correlated (rs=0.361, p<0.001), the short SRSLs tended to be underestimated whereas the long SRSLs tended to be overestimated as compared to ASL. SRSL was positively correlated with the scales of insomnia, mood and hot flash, hypertension, use of anti-hypertensive drugs and the acrophase and the offset of aMT6s. SRSL was negatively correlated with the global assessment of functioning scale in DSM-IV (GAF scale), and light exposure and wrist activity. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the best-fit model to predict SRSL was light exposure, GAF scale, and use of anti-hypertensive drugs. SRSL may be determined by psychophysiological factors as well as circadian rhythm function. Therapeutic approaches suggested for trouble falling asleep might include increased daylight exposure, improvements in general health, and modification of anti-hypertensive pharmacotherapy