SLIDES: The Use of Terrestrial Cyanobacteria for the Rehabilitation of Arid Soils: Not Just Another Good Idea

Presenter: Dr. Timothy Flynn, Primordial Solutions Inc. 42 slide

An Investigation of the Academic Impact of the Freshman Transition Course at One Urban Central Florida High School

The purpose of this research was to identify the extent to which a high school freshman transition program aligned with research based recommendations and to determine the extent to which the intervention impacted persistence to the tenth grade, on-track-to-graduation status, and academic success. Documents relevant to the program were collected and analyzed for research based themes. Students in the program at the target school were compared to students in a similar high school and a historical cohort of students who attended the target school. The impact of the course was statistically significant for persistence to the tenth grade, on-track to graduation status, and academic success; however ANOVA found statistical significance favored Algebra 1 EOC and not FCAT Reading. Effect size statistics revealed little to no effect among Freshman Experience and the dependent variables. These findings will help school-level and district administrators design research-based transition interventions which encourage academic success and graduation

Measuring and changing negative stuttering stereotypes in adolescents

Stuttering is known to carry stereotypes, e.g., that people who stutter are nervous, anxious, and shy. Research has shown that negative stereotypes about people who stutter exist within the general population. Moreover, negative stereotypes exist among teachers, students, speech-language pathologists, and even the parents of people who stutter. While public opinion of stuttering does not vary dramatically between populations, the ways in which we might change it does. Research has shown that educational videos, books, and classes about stuttering do not appear to significantly alter public opinion positively.;This study compared the effectiveness of two forms of advocacy, a live presentation versus a video presentation, in altering the stuttering stereotype among adolescents. Participants filled out a questionnaire before they were exposed to a 45-minute live presentation or a 45-minute video presentation. After these live and video presentations, they completed a second questionnaire. Then, participants who watched the video were exposed to a shortened 20-minute live presentation followed by a third and final questionnaire.;Results indicated that adolescents showed evidence of negative stereotypes towards people who stutter prior to the presentations. Overall, there were 27 significant positive attitude changes towards stuttering (p \u3c 0.005), 15 for live presentations and 12 for video presentations. Five additional significant positive attitude changes occurred after the video presentation as a result of the shortened live presentation. These findings demonstrate that adolescents\u27 opinions on stuttering can be altered in a positive direction. A live presentation appears to have a greater positive impact on altering attitudes than a video presentation, and moreover, a shortened live presentation following a video presentation can further alter attitudes positively

Modelling Dual-carriageway Traffic Behaviour as a Complex System: a Proposal for Discussion

This paper outlines the initial developmental stage of a microscopic traffic system model incorporating driver behaviour. The model uses exponential and Gaussian distributions to assign each car its starting time headway and velocity characteristics respectively as expected in real-world traffic [see 1,2]. Each car may be in one of three distinct regimes (time headway windows), depending upon how close in time the car is to the car in front of it

Evaluation and synthesis of methods for measuring system engineering efficacy with a project and organization

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. [126]-128).The need for robust systems engineering in product development has been understood by those developing product in the aerospace and defense industries since the days of the Atlas ballistic missile program. In recent times industries developing systems of similar complexity have come to respect the value of systems engineering. Systems engineering is the glue which binds a large technical team and focuses the engineering effort towards satisfying a set of realizable customer needs. EIA/IS-632 definition of systems engineering is as follows; "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach encompassing the entire technical effort to evolve and verify an integrated and life-cycle balanced set of system people, product and process solutions that satisfy customer needs."To control and improve a process a viable set of measures must be in place. Existing measures of the strength of the systems engineering process in a specific project address only project execution (e.g. earned value) and technical performance. When applied properly these metrics provide valuable insight into the status (cost and schedule) of a project and a products ability to meet customer needs. However, few of these existing measures are progressive in nature and as such fail to provide early warnings of systems engineering process failure. What are needed are prognostics for the systems engineering effort; gauges to provide predictions of future events which impact product cost, schedule and/or performance. The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), working with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), released a guide (in Beta form) in December of 2005 outlining a progressive set of thirteen leading indicators to address this need. This set of metrics has yet to be been verified against an active or historical project but provides a starting ground for additional research.by Timothy Daniel Flynn.S.M

The Stealth Biplane: a Proposal in Response to a Low Reynolds Number Station Keeping Mission

The Stealth Biplane is conceived and constructed to serve as a remotely piloted vehicle designed to navigate a low-level figure-eight course at a target Reynolds number of 100,000. This flight vehicle will combine the latest in lightweight radio controlled hardware in conjunction with current low Reynolds number aerodynamic research to demonstrate feasible operation in a variety of applications. These potential low Reynolds number applications include high altitude atmospheric sampling, search and rescue, and even law enforcement. Design specs and fabrication technique are discussed

Analysis of sandstone pore space fluid saturation and mineralogy variation via application of monostatic K-band frequency modulated continuous wave radar

In this paper we present the preliminary findings from a world first investigation into monostatic frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar analysis of porous sandstones and their fluid content. FMCW results, within 24 to 25.5 GHz, provide insights into the rock/pore system as well as into mineral and liquid distributions, both crucial for quantitative representation of the fluid-rock system for subsequent assessment of the sandstones. Sandstone samples, here characterised using known techniques of energy dispersive x-ray analysis, gaseous secondary electron and backscattered electron imaging are: Darney, Lazonby Locharbriggs and Red St. Bees sandstones, with FMCW results indicating that, in the K-Band, calculated values for relative permittivity, utilising free-space radiation reflection data, give results that are consistent with the known rock elemental constituents, where each sandstone has different distributions of the dominant quartz and subsidiary other minerals and of grain size and shape distributions. The experimental results support the sensitivity of this sensing modality to variances in rock properties in typical sandstones with complex relative permittivity, ε_r^*, values for unsaturated sandstones ranging from 5.76 to 6.76 and from 12.96 to 48.3 for partially saturated sandstones, with the highest values indicating high permittivity mineral inclusion and/or grain angularity

Permeation of hydrocortisone and hydrocortisone 21-alkyl esters through silicone rubber membranes -- relationship to regular solution solubility behavior

Rates of permeation of 75 [mu]m thick silicone rubber membranes by hydrocortisone and six homologous hydrocortisone 21-alkyl esters, all applied to the membranes in aqueous media, were assessed in small glass diffusion cells. Solubilities of these agents in water and hexane were also determined. The permeability coefficient of hydrocortisone was 7.4 x 10-5 cm/hr. Permeability coefficients for the esters ranged from 2.3 x 10-3 cm/hr (acetate) to 6.4 x 10-1 cm/hr (heptanoate). A direct correlation was found between permeability coefficients and lipophilicity but it appears that the heptanoate eater's mass transfer coefficient is substantially boundary layer controlled. Assessment of fluxes of the steroid solutes from their respective saturated aqueous solutions was made. The flux for hydrocortisone through silicone rubber was greater than the flux for the acetate ester. Thereafter, fluxes of the esters from saturated solutions systematically increased to the point where fluxes for the 21-hexanoate and 21-heptanoate esters were 20 times greater than found for hydrocortisone. This suggests that far more steroid can be delivered through a lipid membrane when the steroid is appropriately derivatized. The overall permeability pattern fits behavior expected of a barrier having a lipid membrane bounded by hydrodynamic layers. The pattern of permeability from saturated solutions was predictable using regular solution theory.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26862/1/0000427.pd