Experimental study on the support stiffness effect on the performance of an external linear viscous damper

An experimental study and a finite element analysis is conducted on a cable-damper system to study the individual and combined effects of damper stiffness and damper support stiffness on controlling stay cable vibrations. For the studied ranges of damper stiffness and damper support stiffness, the optimum damper coefficient is found to be shifted up to 22% and the modal damping ratio varies by as much as 23%. Results show that the optimum damper size increases as the damper stiffness and the damper support stiffness increase. Though the corresponding maximum attainable modal damping ratio also increases with more rigid damper support stiffness, it was found to be lower if damper stiffness increases. Approximate relations between the optimum damper size and the damper location, damper stiffness, damper support stiffness, as well as the corresponding maximum attainable modal damping ratio with these three system parameters are proposed

Relationship Between Body Esteem and Relative BMI in At Risk/Overweight 4-7 Year Olds

Fournier, Jennifer Hamilton. M. S. The University of Memphis. May 2010. Relationship between Body Esteem and Relative BMI in At Risk/Overweight 4-7 year olds. Dr. Barbara McClanahan: The purpose of this study was to examine how body esteem affects a child’s relative BMI. In a current childhood obesity prevention study, the Revised Body Esteem Scale (BES) data for 223 at risk for overweight/overweight children between the ages of 4-7 was analyzed. The scores range from 0-60, with higher scores being associated with higher body esteem. Additional covariates examined in relationship to the children’s BES included age, gender, race, parental BMI, marital status, and income. The majority of the study population was African American (79.8%) girls (63.2%). Body Esteem was determined to be the most influential variable on a child’s relative BMI (p \u3c .001) followed closely by parental BMI. Age, race, and gender all were found significantly influential as well (p \u3c .05). The findings from this study will add new insight into the relationship between body esteem, BMI, and the covariates in this special population

A Study of Temperature Set Point Strategies for Peak Power Reduction in Residential Buildings

AbstractThis paper presents an experimental and theoretical study of the dynamic response of residential buildings with different levels of thermal mass and their respective space heating peak demands for different room temperature set point profiles. Experiments were conducted at two identical and highly instrumented houses. One of them is modified with different floor coverings, while the other one is kept unchanged and used for reference. Their dynamic response to a night time setback set point profile with step changes is monitored and analyzed. Equivalent RC network thermal models are developed for a north zone of the houses. These models are then used to study the impact of set point ramping lengths and “near-optimal” transition curves between two temperatures on the peak demand reductions, while maintaining thermal comfort. It was found that, while taking into consideration the thermal response of the building due to the level of mass, an appropriate yet simple set point strategy to reduce peak electricity demand can be established. For a room with wood flooring, by replacing the conventional night time setback temperature profile with a one hour or two hour ramp, peak demand reductions of up to 10% and 25% can be achieved, respectively

La vie amoureuse et sexuelle des personnes en situation de handicap : entendre et comprendre pour transformer

Dans nos sociétés, l’intimité, l’amour et la sexualité contribuent à la construction identitaire et à l’édification de relations interpersonnelles. Dès lors, connaître l’amour sentimental et/ou érotique est un projet légitime pour se construire comme sujet et comme individu social. Mais qu’en est-il pour des personnes en situation de handicap qui, entravées par une déficience motrice, sont dépendantes d’autrui pour tous les gestes de la vie quotidienne et contraintes d’être accueillies en établissement spécialisé ? Ne se trouvent-elles pas exclues de facto? Comment, dans ces conditions, leurs aspirations s’expriment-elles, comment sont-elles comprises et prises en compte par les professionnels ? A fin d’appréhender les facilitateurs et les obstacles dans l’accès à une vie intime, amoureuse et sexuelle pour ces personnes, notre article, issu d’une recherche conduite auprès d’elles et des professionnels qui les accompagnent, s’appuie résolument sur une conception bio-psycho-sociale du handicap. Les discours des personnes en situation de handicap recueillis lors de groupes de paroles et ceux des professionnels lors de groupes d’analyse des pratiques nous permettent de montrer que les entraves restent fortes et que les professionnels ne sont en rien facilitateurs dans l’accès à une vie amoureuse et sexuelle pour les personnes auprès desquelles ils interviennent quotidiennement. Mots-clés : personnes en situation de handicap; sexualité; accompagnement; professionnels; obstacles

Northern Ontario nurse practitioner job satisfaction and intent to leave: a constructivist grounded theory study

The current document is a three-paper dissertation exploring northern Ontario primary healthcare Nurse Practitioners’ (NPs) job satisfaction and intent to leave. The characteristics of NP job satisfaction and intent to leave are poorly understood. The broader work on NP job satisfaction and intent to leave has relied heavily on quantitative cross-sectional methods. I decided to use qualitative methods in order to seek deeper understanding of NP job satisfaction and intent to leave. The sample for this constructivist grounded theory study included 18 primary healthcare NPs working full time in primary healthcare in Northern Ontario. Telephone interviews were conducted and transcripts were analyzed. We found that primary healthcare NP job satisfaction was dependent upon a particular mix of “satisfiers”. These satisfiers included independence and interdependence, challenging work, quiet moments, and beginnings and endings. NPs experience dissatisfaction related to role recognition, geographical distances, overwork, and feeling overwhelmed. Key features were identified as contributors to primary healthcare NP intent to leave. These included inadequate remuneration, the lack of a provincial government pension plan, the quality of their relationships with management and administration and extended benefits programs. Among those considering leaving a primary healthcare NP position, key features of a new position would include adequate remuneration, generous extended benefits, and a shorter distance from home and practice sites. Some respondents intending to leave their current practice setting identified that they would be seeking work outside of NP practice. This study served to clarify key job features and processes related to job satisfaction and intent to leave among Northern Ontario’s primary healthcare NP population. A broader theory of NP job satisfaction and intent to leave emanated from the analysis of relationships among these key concepts within the study. The findings of this study could serve to inform initiatives to retain and recruit primary healthcare NPs within both rural and urban practice settings across northern Ontario.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Interdisciplinary Rural and Northern Healt

Adjustment of costly extra-group paternity according to inbreeding risk in a cooperative mammal

Females of many animal species seek mating opportunities with multiple males, despite being able to obtain sufficient sperm to father their offspring from a single male. In animals that live in stable social groups, females often choose to mate outside their group resulting in extra-group paternity. One reason proposed to explain female choice for extra-group males is to obtain compatible genes, for example in order to avoid inbreeding depression in offspring. The benefits of such extra-group paternities could be substantial if they result in fitter, outbred offspring. However, avoiding inbreeding in this way could be costly for females, for example through retaliation by cuckolded males or through receiving aggression whilst prospecting for extra-group mating opportunities. We investigate the costs and benefits of extra-group paternity in the banded mongoose Mungos mungo, a cooperatively breeding mammal in which within-group mates are sometimes close relatives. We find that pups born to females that mate with extra-group males are more genetically heterozygous, are heavier and are more likely to survive to independence than pups born to females that mate within their group. However, extra-group matings also involve substantial costs as they occur during violent encounters that sometimes result in injury and death. This appears to lead female banded mongooses to adaptively adjust extra-group paternity levels according to the current risk of inbreeding associated with mating within the group. For group-living animals, the costs of inter-group interactions may help to explain variation in both inbreeding rates and extra-group paternity within and between species

Open Space & Food Access In The City Of Chicopee

The goal of the Master of Regional Planning Studio is to develop a student’s techniques for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing spatial and non-spatial data and then presenting that collective data in a manner (i.e., report, video, presentation, and charettes) that is understandable to academics, professionals, and the public. Planning Studio allows students to integrate knowledge from coursework and research, and apply such knowledge to resolving representative planning problems. At UMASS Amherst, these problems are found in neighborhood, rural, urban, and/or regional settings. In the fall of 2015, the City of Chicopee contracted the MRP Studio to create a vision plan to improve Chicopee’s relationship to the Chicopee and Connecticut Rivers, enhance open space, create local destinations for recreation, encourage local economic activity that re-populate and energize the City’s oldest neighborhoods: the West End of Chicopee Center and Chicopee Falls. The vision plan has three components: Delta Park (24 acres) in idyll for passive recreation; Baskin Property (4 acres, 2 story brick warehouse) a potential maker space, food incubator, local market; and River Mills South (28 acres) an active recreation destination

Proteins in soy might have a higher role in cancer prevention than previously expected: soybean protein fractions are more effective MMP-9 inhibitors than non-protein fractions, even in cooked seeds

The search for anticancer MMP-9 inhibitors (MMPIs) in food products has become a major goal for research. MMPIs in soy have been related only to saponins and isoflavones, but recently, low specific protein fractions in soybeans were shown to reduce MMP-9 activity as well. The present work aimed at comparing the MMPI potential of protein fractions (P) and non-protein fractions (NP) isolated from soybean seeds, before and after soaking and cooking, mimicking dietary exposures. Reverse and substrate zymography, as well as a fluoregenic DQ gelatin assay were used to evaluate MMP-9 activities. Colon cancer cell migration and proliferation was also tested in HT29 cells. Regarding MMP-9 inhibition, proteins in soy presented IC50 values 100 times lower than non-protein extracts, and remained active after cooking, suggesting that proteins may be more effective MMP-9 inhibitors than non-protein compounds. Using the determined IC50 concentrations, NP fractions were able to induce higher inhibitions of HT29 cell migration and proliferation, but not through MMP-9 inhibition, whilst protein fractions were shown to specifically inhibit MMP-9 activity. Overall, our results show that protein fractions in soybeans might have a higher role in soy-related cancer prevention as MMPIs than previously expected. Being nontoxic and active at lower concentrations, the discovery of these heat-resistant specific MMPI proteins in soy can be of significant importance for cancer preventive diets, particularly considering the increasing use of soy proteins in food products and the controversy around isoflavones amongst consumersinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio