In Support of International Trade: Business Leaders Speak Out

CED has been a consistent voice in support of U.S. leadership for an open global trade regime. This policy update reiterates a fundamental truth: An open and vibrant trading system is vital to the economic well being of all Americans. During this period of economic distress and heightened sensitivity to the effects of economic policy, it is especially important for the United States to reaffirm its commitment to free and open trade. Historically, business leadership has played a key role in helping the public and its elected representatives to recognize the importance of open trade to our collective prosperity

Electromagnetic Levitation: A Useful Tool in Microgravity Research

Electromagnetic levitation is one area of the electromagnetic processing of materials that has uses for both fundamental research and practical applications. This technique was successfully used on the Space Shuttle Columbia during the Spacelab IML-2 mission in July 1994 as a platform for accurately measuring the surface tensions of liquid metals and alloys. In this article, we discuss the key transport phenomena associated with electromagnetic levitation, the fundamental relationships associated with thermophysical property measurement that can be made using this technique, reasons for working in microgravity, and some of the results obtained from the microgravity experiments

Measurement of the surface tension of electromagnetically-levitated droplets in microgravity

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1995.Includes bibliographical references.by Elliot M. Schwartz.Ph.D

Design and implementation of intentional names

Thesis (S.B. and M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-98).by Elliot Schwartz.S.B.and M.Eng

An Improved Computational Technique for Calculating Electromagnetic Forces and Power Absorptions Generated in Spherical and Deformed Body in Levitation Melting Devices

An improved computational technique for calculating the electromagnetic force field, the power absorption and the deformation of an electromagnetically levitated metal sample is described. The technique is based on the volume integral method, but represents a substantial refinement; the coordinate transformation employed allows the efficient treatment of a broad class of rotationally symmetrical bodies. Computed results are presented to represent the behavior of levitation melted metal samples in a multi-coil, multi-frequency levitation unit to be used in microgravity experiments. The theoretical predictions are compared with both analytical solutions and with the results or previous computational efforts for the spherical samples and the agreement has been very good. The treatment of problems involving deformed surfaces and actually predicting the deformed shape of the specimens breaks new ground and should be the major usefulness of the proposed method

Fitting motivational content and process:A systematic investigation of fit between value-framing and self-regulation

Objective: Values are often phrased as ideals that people seek to approach, but they can also be conceptualized as counter-ideals that people seek to avoid. We aimed to test whether individuals endorse more strongly values that are framed in line with their predominant self-regulatory motivation, using individual difference scales in promotion/prevention (Higgins, 1997) and in behavioral approach/inhibition (Carver & White, 1994). To address this systematically, we developed approach- and avoidance-framed versions of the Portrait Value Questionnaire-RR (PVQ-RR; Schwartz et al., 2012). Method: Participants completed approach- and avoidance-framed PVQ-RR versions in two studies measuring regulatory focus or motivational orientation (together 414 U.S. adults, 48% female, ages 18-69) and one study manipulating motivational orientation (39 UK high school students, 79% female, ages 16-19). Results: Value framing consistently interacted with both self-regulation variables. However, a fit between self-regulation and value framing resulted in greater value endorsement only for promotion-focused and approach-oriented (not prevention-focused and avoidance-oriented) participants. This may be because values are more naturally understood as ideal states that people seek to approach. Conclusions: Our findings provide first insights into the psychological process of person-value framing fit affecting value endorsement. We discuss implications for cross-cultural value research and research on value-congruent behavior

A Values Framework for Evaluating Alienation in Off-Earth Food Systems

Given the technological constraints of long-duration space travel and planetary settlement, off-Earth humans will likely need to employ food systems very different from their terrestrial counterparts, and newly emerging food technologies are being developed that will shape novel food systems in these off-Earth contexts. Projected off-Earth food systems may therefore potentially “alienate” their users in new ways compared to Earth-based food systems. They will be susceptible to alienation in ways that are similar to such potential on Earth, where there are points of overlap between off-Earth food systems and any of the multitudes of ways in which food systems on Earth are structured. They will also be susceptible to new forms of alienation, as we encounter scenarios that are genuinely structurally novel to humanity. These are especially important to consider since there are comparatively fewer analyses of these food systems where they differ from existing ones. We propose five non-exhaustive sources of value beyond nutrition our individual relationships with a food may possess: gustatory, social, cultural, epistemic, and authorial value. Using these, we offer examples of ways in which an off-Earth food system may exacerbate or alleviate alienation for humans in long-term off-Earth food systems

Functional anonymisation: Personal data and the data environment

Anonymisation of personal data has a long history stemming from the expansion of the types of data products routinely provided by National Statistical Institutes. Variants on anonymisation have received serious criticism reinforced by much-publicised apparent failures. We argue that both the operators of such schemes and their critics have become confused by being overly focused on the properties of the data themselves. We claim that, far from being able to determine whether data are anonymous (and therefore non-personal) by looking at the data alone, any anonymisation technique worthy of the name must take account of not only the data but also their environment. This paper proposes an alternative formulation called functional anonymisation that focuses on the relationship between the data and the environment within which the data exist (their data environment). We provide a formulation for describing the relationship between the data and their environment that links the legal notion of personal data with the statistical notion of disclosure control. Anonymisation, properly conceived and effectively conducted, can be a critical part of the toolkit of the privacy-respecting data controller and the wider remit of providing accurate and usable data

'I-I' and 'I-me' : Transposing Buber's interpersonal attitudes to the intrapersonal plane

Hermans' polyphonic model of the self proposes that dialogical relationships can be established between multiple I-positions1 (e.g., Hermans, 2001a). There have been few attempts, however, to explicitly characterize the forms that these intrapersonal relationships may take. Drawing on Buber's (1958) distinction between the 'I-Thou' and 'I-It' attitude, it is proposed that intrapersonal relationships can take one of two forms: an 'I-I' form, in which one I-position encounters and confirms another I-position in its uniqueness and wholeness; and an 'I-Me' form, in which one I-position experiences another I-position in a detached and objectifying way. This article argues that this I-Me form of intrapersonal relating is associated with psychological distress, and that this is so for a number of reasons: Most notably, because an individual who objectifies and subjugates certain I-position cannot reconnect with more central I-positions when dominance reversal (Hermans, 2001a) takes place. On this basis, it is suggested that a key role of the therapeutic process is to help clients become more able to experience moments of I-I intrapersonal encounter, and it is argued that this requires the therapist to confirm the client both as a whole and in terms of each of his or her different voices

A novel method for monitoring mineralisation in hydrogels at the engineered hard–soft tissue interface

The capacity to study the deposition of mineral within a hydrogel structure is of significant interest to a range of therapies that seek to replace the hard tissues and the hard–soft tissue interface. Here, a method is presented that utilises Confocal Raman microscopy as a tool for monitoring mineralisation within hydrogels. Synthetic hard–soft material interfaces were fabricated by apposing brushite (a sparingly soluble calcium phosphate) and biopolymer gel monoliths. The resulting structures were matured over a period of 28 days in phosphate buffered saline. Confocal Raman microscopy of the interfacial region showed the appearance of calcium phosphate salt deposits away from the original interface within the biopolymeric structures. Furthermore, the appearance of octacalcium phosphate and carbonated hydroxyapatite was observed in the region of the brushite cement opposing the biopolymer gel. This study describes not only a method for analysing these composite structures, but also suggests a method for recapitulating the graduated tissue structures that are often found in vivo