Isotropic thin-walled pressure vessel experiment

The objectives are: (1) to investigate the stress and strain distributions on the surface of a thin walled cylinder subject to internal pressure and/or axial load; and (2) to relate stress and strain distributions to material properties and cylinder geometry. The experiment, supplies, and procedure are presented

After the Impact Rule - Limiting Defendant\u27s Liability in Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress Cases: Bass v. Nooney Co.

In Bass v. Nooney Co., the Supreme Court of Missouri abandoned the rule that a defendant is not liable for negligence which produces emotional distress unless the plaintiff suffers a contemporaneous physical injury or impact. This impact rule was the majority position in the United States in the first part of this century and had been a part of Missouri\u27s jurisprudence since 1881. In Bass, however, Missouri joined the mainstream of American jurisprudence by providing judicial protection against a plaintiff\u27s loss of emotional tranquility without requiring contemporaneous physical impact

Factors which influence the first year child care counselors' ability to function.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Measuring the Impact of Workplace Design on Training Transfer Relative to Other Organizational Factors

This ethnographic research extends the findings of an earlier study examining the impact of workplace design on training transfer. The study triangulates data and methods of inquiry through field observation, archival records, interviews, and a survey that was developed from the interview responses. Linking the earlier, more qualitative data and analysis with the latter, more quantitative data and analysis helped to extend several theoretical considerations. Purposeful sampling was used to identify participants who held nonacademic supervisory positions at a major land grant university. Participants had attended a performance review workshop and had been applying the learned skills for at least 6 months. The findings indicate that workplace design appears to play a vital role in facilitating as well as impeding transfer for supervisory skills in this study. The present study also offers a conceptual model that proposes where workplace design fits among other organizational factors perceived to impact training transfer. The findings alert and direct organizations to where they should channel their finite resources to support training transfer and provide organizations with a better ability to differentiate critical design features from design features that are more marginal to training transfer. As a case study, organizations should not infer that these findings apply to all work settings as it may depend upon the relevancy to the particular work situation and circumstances. Methods of analysis: Domain and Taxonomic analyses, descriptive statistics, Binomial distribution, ANOVA/post hoc procedures, and hierarchical clustering

Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate: Developing Technology to Protect America

In response to a congressional mandate and in consultation with Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the National Academy conducted a review of S&T's effectiveness and efficiency in addressing homeland security needs. This review included a particular focus that identified any unnecessary duplication of effort, and opportunity costs arising from an emphasis on homeland security-related research. Under the direction of the National Academy Panel, the study team reviewed a wide variety of documents related to S&T and homeland security-related research in general. The team also conducted interviews with more than 200 individuals, including S&T officials and staff, officials from other DHS component agencies, other federal agencies engaged in homeland security-related research, and experts from outside government in science policy, homeland security-related research and other scientific fields.Key FindingsThe results of this effort indicated that S&T faces a significant challenge in marshaling the resources of multiple federal agencies to work together to develop a homeland security-related strategic plan for all agencies. Yet the importance of this role should not be underestimated. The very process of working across agencies to develop and align the federal homeland security research enterprise around a forward-focused plan is critical to ensuring that future efforts support a common vision and goals, and that the metrics by which to measure national progress, and make changes as needed, are in place

The Computer-Controlled Oculometer: A Prototype Interactive Eye Movement Tracking System

One kind of eye movement tracking device which has great potential is the digital computer-controlled Oculometer, an instrument which non-invasively measures point of regard of the subject, as well as pupil diameter and blink occurrence. In conjunction with a computer-generated display which can change in real time as a function of the subject's eye motions, the computer-controlled Oculometer makes possible a variety of interactive measurement and control systems. Practical applications of such schemes have had to await the development of an instrument design which does not inconvenience the subject, and which conveniently interfaces with a digital computer (see ref. 1). This report describes an Oculometer subsystem and an eye-tracking/control program designed for use with the PDP-6 computer of the MIT Project MAC Artificial Intelligence Group. The oculometer electro-optic subsystem utilizes near-infrared light reflected specularly off the front surface of the subject's cornea and diffusely off the retina, producing a bright pupil with an overriding corneal highlight. An electro-optic scanning aperture vidissector within the unit, driven by a digital eye-tracking algorithm programmed into the PDP-6 computer, detects and tracks the centers of the corneal highlight and the bright pupil to give eve movement measurements. A computer-controlled, moving mirror head motion tracker directly coupled to the vidissector tracker permits the subject reasonable freedom of movement. Various applications of this system, which are suggested by the work reported here, include; (a) using the eye as a control device, (b) recording eye fixation and exploring patterns, (c) game playing, (d) training machines, and (e) psychophysiological testing and recording

An Analogy Based Costing System For Injection Molds Based Upon Geometry Similarity With Wavelets

The injection molding industry is large and diversified. However there is no universally accepted way to bid molds, despite the fact that the mold and related design comprise 50% of the total cost of an injection-molded part over its lifetime. This is due to both the structure of the industry and technical difficulties in developing an automated and practical cost estimation system. The technical challenges include lack of a common data format for both parts and molds; the comprehensive consideration of the data about a wide variety of mold types, designs, complexities, number of cavities and other factors that directly affect cost; and the robustness of estimation due to variations of build time and cost. In this research, we propose a new mold cost estimation approach based upon clustered features of parts. Geometry similarity is used to estimate the complexity of a mold from a 2D image with one orthographic view of the injection-molded part. Wavelet descriptors of boundaries as well as other inherent shape properties such as size, number of boundaries, etc. are used to describe the complexity of the part. Regression models are then built to predict costs. In addition to mean estimates, prediction intervals are calculated to support risk management

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to display male-typical copulatory behavior. Since both this propensity and AVT abundance are controlled by androgens, we compared testosterone-implanted and control animals within each group. Testosterone treatment generally increased AVT abundance, except in lab-reared parthenoforms, in which testosterone treatment was the least effective in inducing male-like copulatory behavior. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel Arginine vasotocin (AVT) and its mammalian counterpart vasopressin (AVP) function in a range of maletypical behaviors in vertebrates, including aggression and courtship. In many species these sexually dimorphic behaviors correlate with the abundance of AVT/AVP neurons in various brain areas Abstract In nonmammalian vertebrates the abundance of arginine vasotocin (AVT) neurons in the brain is sexually dimorphic, a pattern that is modulated by testicular androgen. This peptide is thought to be involved in the control of male-typical mounting behaviors. The all-female desert-grasslands whiptail (Cnemidophorus uniparens) reproduces by obligate parthenogenesis and in nature no males exist, but eggs treated with aromatase inhibitor hatch into individuals (called virago C. uniparens ) having testes, accessory sex structures, high circulating concentrations of androgens, and exhibiting only male-like copulatory behavior. To examine the 'sexual' dimorphism of AVT-containing neurons in these animals, we compared AVT immunoreactivity in gonadectomized control and virago C. uniparens , with that of gonadectomized male and female Cnemidophorus inornatus , a sexual species that is the maternal ancestor to the parthenogenetic species. Mounting behavior is elicited in both species and both sexes by testosterone, and it was predicted that the distribution and abundance of AVT cell bodies and fibers would reflect the propensity of males and females of the two specie