Bostonia. Volume 28

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Temporal Discounting: A comparison of adjusting-amount and adjusting-delay procedures

Several experimental procedures: e.g., adjusting amount, adjusting delay) have been used to study the effect that changes in amount of and delay to a reward have on the reward\u27s subjective value. The present series of three experiments sought to test the implicit assumption that the underlying decision-making process: discounting) is identical regardless of the procedure used, and that all would converge on similar indifference points. For each of the experiments, participants were initially tested on one of the adjusting tasks: Adjusting Immediate Amount, Adjusting Delayed Amount, or Adjusting Delay) and returned a week later to complete each of the remaining adjusting tasks. The indifference points obtained from the initial adjusting task were used as the test parameters in the other two tasks. That is, when participants completed the other two adjusting tasks, the amounts and delays experienced were identical to those from the initial adjusting task. Since, in the other adjusting tasks, the participants experience the identical amounts and delays as the initial adjusting task, specific predictions, at the level of the individual, were possible. Participants in all three experiments also completed a fully randomized version of the initial choice task. The results confirmed that, regardless of the choice task used, subjective value decreased as the delay to that outcome increased. In addition, it was found that under the adjusting-delay and the adjusting-delayed-amount tasks, but not under the adjusting-immediate-amount task, subjective value was determined not just by the amount of the outcome or the delay to its receipt, but to some degree by the manner in which the choices are presented: i.e., the context). Therefore, when investigating intertemporal choice, the adjusting-immediate-amount procedure appears to provide the most reliable and valid estimates of indifference between immediate and delayed outcomes

Planning Ability in Schizophrenia

This publication-based thesis investigates planning ability in psychiatric patients with schizophrenia, combining a problem solving perspective with a psychometric approach to assessing executive functions. The manuscripts presented address four research questions: (1) Is the newly developed Plan-a-Day test a reliable and valid measure of planning ability in schizophrenia? (2) Is planning ability – in particular as measured by the Plan-a-Day test – predictive of functional outcome? (3) Is a planning and problem solving training based on the Plan-a-Day concept effective in cognitive remediation? (4) How specific is a planning deficit in schizophrenia

The Relationship between Environmental Attitudes and Environmental Behaviors among Air Force Members

A questionnaire was distributed to nearly 2,000 randomly selected active duty Air Force members assigned to locations throughout the continental United States. The survey was designed to determine the extent to which Air Force members expressed support for environmental issues. In addition, the survey measured how frequently Air Force members engaged in specific behaviors that were deemed environmentally protective. Although the Air Force members expressed relatively strong support for environmental issues, they only occasionally engaged in activities that contribute to the preservation or protection of the environment. Correlation analysis revealed that the pro-environmental attitudes were positively linked to the environmentally protective behaviors measured. However, the relationships were only moderate

Analysis of the economic trade-offs in consideration of local versus regional processing of recyclable materials collected from rural areas: a case study of the First Tennessee Development District

Rural county and municipal governments in Tennessee have been faced with the increasingly important and difficult task of solid waste management. As the costs of solid waste disposal have increased over the past decade, the search for waste disposal alternatives has increased as well. One viable alternative, recycling, has emerged as a popular and sometimes cost effective option. Recycling can be defined as a process of diverting reusable materials from the solid waste stream, processing these materials, and using them in production. While several researchers have suggested that regional approaches to recycling may offer many significant benefits for rural areas over smaller community specific programs, little research has been conducted in this area. This study was designed to analyze the tradeoffs and feasibility of an integrated multi-county recycling approach, using the eight county First Tennessee Development District as a case study area. Current characteristics of solid waste management were documented for the First Tennessee Development District primarily using mail surveys, and included information on collection, transportation, processing, disposal, and the extent of recycling in the region. This information was used to develop a methodology for projecting the potential for residential sector collection of recyclable materials in each county. It was estimated that between 6,200 and 11,300 tons of recyclable materials could be collected annually from the region, depending on the participation rate of the citizens. The costs of operating a recycling system were estimated for each individual county in the region, and for the region as a whole. These costs included those associated with processing, and the transportation of recyclable materials to a regional processing facility, but not initial collection costs or various avoided costs (landfill fees, etc.). The economies of size that could be achieved from a regional processing facility were substantial. Under each of eight scenarios involving low and high levels for participation rates, processing costs, and transportation costs, a regional processing system provided significant cost savings compared to processing in each of the eight counties. These cost savings for the region were estimated at between $130,000 and$317,000 annually. Viewed from an individual county perspective, some counties could transport materials over relatively long distances (as far as 100 miles) and still achieve lower costs than processing on their own. While the potential economic benefits of regional recycling systems appear substantial, the difficulties associated with initiating and sustaining successful inter- or multi-jurisdictional agreements are numerous. Incentives may be necessary to motivate local jurisdictions to look beyond their boundaries for cost effective solutions to their solid waste management challenges

Design, fabrication, and testing of a miniature impulse turbine driven by compressed gas

A miniature impulse turbine has been developed at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The goal of this project was to design, fabricate, and test a miniature turbine intended to power small vehicles such as micro air vehicles (MAVs). MAVs are vehicles with a maximum dimension of less then 15 cm and are used for surveillance and scouting. Due to the small size of MAVs, weight is a key design parameter. The batteries alone can account for more than 50% of the weight of the entire vehicle. A miniature turbine driven by compressed gas and coupled to a generator has been proposed as a replacement for batteries on these and other small vehicles. By decreasing the weight of the power systems, MAVs will be able to carry more instrumentation, fly longer, and be better able to complete their mission. To investigate the feasibility of this concept a turbine with a 6 mm impeller was designed, fabricated, and tested. The turbine produced 13.8 W of mechanical power. This corresponds to a power density of 230 W/N and a power to weight ratio of 44 W/kg. The generator attached to the turbine produced 208 mW of electrical power. The feasibility of a fuel tank, designed to hold compressed nitrogen at 69 MPa (10,000 psi), has also been investigated. The tank was designed to hold enough nitrogen to power a MAV for fifteen minutes. It was shown that the tank is feasible and could power a miniature turbine onboard a MAV

Heat in U.S. Prisons and Jails

This white paper addresses three important but largely neglected questions: • How will increased temperatures and heat waves caused by climate change affect prisons, jails, and their staff and inmate populations? • What can correctional departments do to prepare for greater heat and minimize the dangers it poses? • What are the legal implications of excessive heat in prisons and jails

Shearing Lambs Improves Growth Performance During Periods with Elevated Thermal Load

The purpose of this study was to determine if average daily gain (ADG) is improved in shorn lambs versus non-shorn lambs in the summer months in the upper Midwestern United States. Forty-nine purebred Hampshire and Columbia ram (n = 10 Hampshire and 4 Columbia) and ewe (n = 22 Hampshire and 13 Columbia) lambs were grouped by breed, sex, age (104 ± 1.7 days of age), and initial weight (109 ± 3.5 lbs) into shorn (n=26) and non-shorn (n=23) groups. After shearing (3 June 2004), shorn sheep had approximately 0.1 inches of wool-cover. Lambs were weighed 1, 29, and 57 days following shearing. During the first 28 day period following shearing (period 1), there was no difference in average daily gain between shorn and non-shorn lambs (0.8 ± 0.04 vs 0.82 ± 0.04 lbs/day, respectively). In the second 28 day period (period 2), shorn lambs had a greater average daily gain than non-shorn lambs (1.02 ± 0.06 vs 0.92 ± 0.06 lbs/day, respectively). Period 2 had greater mean (68.9 vs. 63.4 oF, respectively), minimum (59.7 vs 54.1oF, respectively), and maximum (78.2 vs. 73.8oF, respectively) daily ambient air temperature and greater mean humidity (73.97 vs. 68.2 %, respectively) than period 1. The calculated temperature humidity index (THI) was also greater in period 2 than period 1 (66.9 vs. 62.24, respectively). These data indicate that shorn lambs grow more rapidly than non-shorn lambs during periods of elevated temperature, humidity, and THI