Traditional Regional Economic Indicators 2006

Eleven Metropolitan Statistical Areas from across the Midwest and the nation were selected for a comparative and competitive analysis with the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, based on the following criteria: size (total population and labor force); structure (traditional manufacturing industrial structure); unemployment (percent annual unemployment rate); and location (comparable Midwest Metropolitan Areas), including similar metropolitan areas outside the Midwest Rust belt

Application of Nanofiber Technology to Nonwoven Thermal Insulation

Nanofiber technology (fiber diameter less than 1 micrometer) is under development for future Army lightweight protective clothing systems. Nanofiber applications for ballistic and chemical/biological protection are being actively investigated, but the thermal properties of nanofibers and their potential protection against cold environments are relatively unknown. Previous studies have shown that radiative heat transfer in fibrous battings is minimized at fiber diameters between 5 and 10 micrometers. However, the radiative heat transfer mechanism of extremely small diameter fibers of less than 1 micrometer diameter is not well known. Previous studies were limited to glass fibers, which have a unique set of thermal radiation properties governed by the thermal emissivity properties of glass. We are investigating the thermal transfer properties of high loft nanofiber battings composed of carbon fiber and various polymeric fibers such as polyacrylonitrile, nylon, and polyurethane. Thermal insulation battings incorporating nanofibers could decrease the weight and bulk of current thermal protective clothing, and increase mobility for soldiers in the battlefield

An Active Learning Module for an Introduction to Software Engineering Course

Many schools do not begin to introduce college students to software engineering until they have had at least one semester of programming. Since software engineering is a large, complex, and abstract subject it is difficult to construct active learning exercises that build on the students’ elementary knowledge of programming and still teach basic software engineering principles. It is also the case that beginning students typically know how to construct small programs, but they have little experience with the techniques necessary to produce reliable and long-term maintainable modules. I have addressed these two concerns by defining a local standard (Montana Tech Method (MTM) Software Development Standard for Small Modules Template) that step-by-step directs students toward the construction of highly reliable small modules using well known, best-practices software engineering techniques. “Small module” is here defined as a coherent development task that can be unit tested, and can be carried out by a single (or a pair of) software engineer(s) in at most a few weeks. The standard describes the process to be used and also provides a template for the top-level documentation. The instructional module’s sequence of mini-lectures and exercises associated with the use of this (and other) local standards are used throughout the course, which perforce covers more abstract software engineering material using traditional reading and writing assignments. The sequence of mini-lectures and hands-on assignments (many of which are done in small groups) constitutes an instructional module that can be used in any similar software engineering course

The Architectonics of Alienation: Antonioni's Edifice Complex

This essay explores the use of architecture in the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni

Empire of the Gun: Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and American Chauvinism

This book chapter analyzes Steven Spielberg's supposedly anti-war SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1992) as a pro-war, pro-military, and pro-America movie

1976: Movies and Cultural Contradictions

This chapter traces the social and aesthetic implications of the five Academy Award contenders for Best Picture in America's Bicentennial year, 1976

IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN

This is a review/analysis of the Antonioni film IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (1982), occasioned by its DVD release by the Criterion Collection

Mr. Jones Goes to Washington: Myth and Religion in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

This essay uses Joseph Campbell's concept of the Monomyth to analyze both the mythic and contemporary implications of a "popcorn" movie that has numerous social and political subtexts for the Reaganite era

BICYCLE THIEVES: A Re-reading

This article investigates the mixed ideology of Vittorio DeSica's classic neorealist film, BICYCLE THIEVES (1948) from a cinematic and political perspective