A Teacher in the Living Room? Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

Examines available research, and arguments by proponents and critics, of electronic educational media use by young children. Examines educational claims in marketing and provides recommendations for developing research and product standards

Leg Sympathetic Response to Noxious Skin Stimuli is Similar in High and Low Level Human Spinal Cord Injury

Objective To determine if sympathetically mediated vasoconstriction in the lower extremities is injury level dependent. Although sympathetic responses have been measured in the limbs of people with high and low level SCI using blood flow measurements, including Doppler ultrasound and venous plethysmography, a direct comparison between injury levels has not been made. Methods Volunteers with chronic SCI were grouped according to injury level. Above T6: high level (HL, n = 7), and T6 and below: low level (LL, n = 6). All subjects had complete motor and sensory loss. Leg arterial flows were recorded by venous occlusion plethysmography, and continuous heart rate and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured. The conditioning stimulus consisted of transcutaneous stimulation to the arch of the contralateral foot. Results HL and LL subjects demonstrated a significant decrease in arterial conductance during stimulation with no significant difference found between groups. As expected, only group HL demonstrated a significant increase in MAP. Conclusions These results support our hypothesis that local (leg) sympathetic responses are similar for both high and low level SCI. Significance While low level SCI does not typically present with autonomic dysreflexia, bouts of increased reflex sympathetic activity could have ramifications for metabolism as well as renal and motor system functio

Preliminary evaluation of a thin organic film coating Final report

High temperature and humidity resistance of thin siloxane films on metal substrate

A Regenerative High-Rise Tower in Shreveport, Louisiana

Zero Net Energy Buildings are increasingly being designed and constructed in response to the demand for sustainable buildings. But, we must now go beyond merely sustaining our environment for future generations we must provide regenerative designs that restore our natural environment. This paper will document the design of a regenerative high-rise tower in Shreveport, Louisiana, which will serve as a facility to train individuals in a non-profit organization’s renewal strategies and demonstrate by example the pedagogy of regenerative design. The 16-story structure — built in the 1950s and named the Petroleum Tower, reflecting the commodity that then ruled the local economy — was vacant and asbestos-laden when given to the non-profit Community Renewal International (CRI) in 2001. In 2006, funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, workers removed the asbestos. Through a follow up grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the design process of a new CRI headquarters building, the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture completed architectural design studies for the building renewal. The principles of this new design include: day lighting, envelope configuration, building integrated photovoltaic systems, green surfaces, ventilation strategies, advanced mechanical cooling systems, regenerative elevator systems, energy management systems, water harvesting, grey water systems, trigeneration systems and a combined heating, hot water and power biodiesel plant

Leg Sympathetic Response to Noxious Skin Stimuli is Similar in High and Low Level Human Spinal Cord Injury

Objective To determine if sympathetically mediated vasoconstriction in the lower extremities is injury level dependent. Although sympathetic responses have been measured in the limbs of people with high and low level SCI using blood flow measurements, including Doppler ultrasound and venous plethysmography, a direct comparison between injury levels has not been made. Methods Volunteers with chronic SCI were grouped according to injury level. Above T6: high level (HL, n = 7), and T6 and below: low level (LL, n = 6). All subjects had complete motor and sensory loss. Leg arterial flows were recorded by venous occlusion plethysmography, and continuous heart rate and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured. The conditioning stimulus consisted of transcutaneous stimulation to the arch of the contralateral foot. Results HL and LL subjects demonstrated a significant decrease in arterial conductance during stimulation with no significant difference found between groups. As expected, only group HL demonstrated a significant increase in MAP. Conclusions These results support our hypothesis that local (leg) sympathetic responses are similar for both high and low level SCI. Significance While low level SCI does not typically present with autonomic dysreflexia, bouts of increased reflex sympathetic activity could have ramifications for metabolism as well as renal and motor system functio

Forestry and Utilization as Practiced by The Great Southern Lumber Company

Twenty odd years have elapsed since a group of financiers gazed upon the vast expanse of forest covered hills of this great commonwealth of Louisana and dreamed of an industrial community supplemented by a prosperous agricultural development of the adjacent country. Not the idle dream of a dreamer with his head in the clouds, but the dream of business men who had their feet firmly on the ground