A Comparative Accreditation Alignment Analysis of Civil Engineering and Construction Management Bachelor Degrees with the Skill Requirements for USAF Civil Engineer Officers

The United States Air Force Civil Engineer (CE) officer career field involves a host of duties and opportunities for technical competence and leadership excellence as the Air Force mission grows and personnel numbers shrink. Most CE officers spend their careers as a technical manager, performing a mixture of duties that require a wide variety of skills. Because of this, the use of engineering design skills have decreased and the use of project and construction management have increased. While the career field accepts a variety of architecture and engineering degrees for new accessions, technical management degrees like Construction Management have been denied. This study uses a Delphi study to rate a list of skills most needed by CE Company Grade Officers, and compares those skills with the accreditation outcomes for Civil Engineering and Construction Management undergraduate degrees. After 2 rounds of surveys, a list of 40 skills was used to compare the relative emphasis of the degrees. Construction Management was shown to emphasize higher rated skills. Civil Engineering still showed a high relation to the skills, but emphasized engineering design skills that were consistently rated lower by the Delphi panel. The research shows that accredited Construction Management display a better fit for CE officers and should not only be considered acceptable, but encouraged for new accessions

Design and characterization of acoustic pulse shape memory alloy actuators

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-177).Single crystal Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs) are active materials which produce strain when a magnetic field is applied. The large saturation strain (6%) of Ni-Mn-Ga, and material energy density comparable to piezoelectric ceramics make Ni- Mn-Ga an interesting active material. However, their usefulness is limited by the bulky electromagnet required to produce a magnetic field. In this thesis, a novel actuation method is developed for shape memory alloys in their martensitic phase, whereby asymmetric acoustic pulses are used to drive twin boundary motion. Experimental actuators were developed using a combination of Ni-Mn-Ga FSMA single crystals and a piezoelectric stack actuator. In bi-directional actuation without load, strains of over 3% were achieved using repeated pulses (at 100 Hz) over a 30 s interval, while 1% strain was achieved in under 1 s. The maximum strains achieved are comparable to the strains achieved using bi-directional magnetic actuation, although the time required for actuation is longer. No-load actuation also showed a nearly linear relationship between the magnitude of the asymmetric stress pulse and the strain achieved during actuation, and a positive correlation between pulse repetition rate and output strain rate, up to at least 100 Hz. Acoustic actuation against a spring load showed a maximum output energy density for the actuator of about 1000 J/m³, with a peak-to-peak stress and strain of 100 kPa and 2%, respectively.by Joshua Michael Chambers.S.M

Fit’n Bits: Evaluation of the FitBit’s User Friendliness and Motivation

poster abstractWearable computing devices create new opportunities for people to collect data about themselves and interact unobtrusively with a wide variety of information sources. However, these devices also compete for a wearer’s limited attention and have the potential for worsening the problem of information overload. Our study focuses on people’s day-to-day experiences using wearable activity tracking devices, both solo and in motivational groups of 3–4 persons. We are currently collecting a variety of data to understand how differences in the information displayed on the device (and the associated, web-based “dashboard”) affect users’ behavior and attainment/motivation of physical activity goals, influence users’ perception of the usefulness and intrusiveness of the device, and encourage/discourage device use. In addition, we hope to further explore whether or not participation in a group provided additional motivation or simply introduced another type of information overload. A total of 36 participants will be recruited from the IUPUI campus and nearby areas of downtown Indianapolis and will be divided into one of two conditions, working solo or in a squad (group of three of more people). ANOVAs will be conducted to analyze and interpret the data. In particular, we will look for any significant differences in the number of steps taken and in the subjective preference ratings across all conditions. All qualitative responses will be collaboratively coded by a team of investigators. This research effort is currently ongoing, and we are aiming to present initial data analyses based on a large subset of our total participant population at this year’s IUPUI Research Day

Illustrating potential efficiency gains from using cost-effectiveness evidence to reallocate Medicare expenditures

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the linke below. Copyright @ 2013, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Objectives - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services does not explicitly use cost-effectiveness information in national coverage determinations. The objective of this study was to illustrate potential efficiency gains from reallocating Medicare expenditures by using cost-effectiveness information, and the consequences for health gains among Medicare beneficiaries. Methods - We included national coverage determinations from 1999 through 2007. Estimates of cost-effectiveness were identified through a literature review. For coverage decisions with an associated cost-effectiveness estimate, we estimated utilization and size of the “unserved” eligible population by using a Medicare claims database (2007) and diagnostic and reimbursement codes. Technology costs originated from the cost-effectiveness literature or were estimated by using reimbursement codes. We illustrated potential aggregate health gains from increasing utilization of dominant interventions (i.e., cost saving and health increasing) and from reallocating expenditures by decreasing investment in cost-ineffective interventions and increasing investment in relatively cost-effective interventions. Results - Complete information was available for 36 interventions. Increasing investment in dominant interventions alone led to an increase of 270,000 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and savings of $12.9 billion. Reallocation of a broader array of interventions yielded an additional 1.8 million QALYs, approximately 0.17 QALYs per affected Medicare beneficiary. Compared with the distribution of resources prior to reallocation, following reallocation a greater proportion was directed to oncology, diagnostic imaging/tests, and the most prevalent diseases. A smaller proportion of resources went to cardiology, treatments (including drugs, surgeries, and medical devices, as opposed to nontreatments such as preventive services), and the least prevalent diseases. Conclusions - Using cost-effectiveness information has the potential to increase the aggregate health of Medicare beneficiaries while maintaining existing spending levels.The Commonwealth Fun

Personal Information Interfaces

poster abstractAs the ubiquitous computing vision of “computation everywhere” has become increasingly mainstream, people make use of electronic information across multiple form factors, in more places, as part of more activities, and in more social contexts than ever before. This is the crux of the information overload problem: with a vast increase in exposure to information, there is a corresponding increase in the amount of work that people need to invest to keep up with the demands of perceiving, sense-making, organizing, utilizing, and managing that information. Dr. Stephen Voida and his student researchers in the Personal Information Interfaces (PII) laboratory explore ways that the interfaces, interaction techniques, and context-aware infrastructure employed in the next generation of information systems might better respond to the critical, real-world challenges associated with information overload. A new generation of sensor-enabled computing devices stands to magnify the information overload effect by adding streams of data about our environment, our working contexts, and traces of our activities—both online and in the real world—into the mix. A popular example is the growing number of fitness tracking devices that have appeared on the market in the last few years, for example, Fitbits, Nike+ Fuelbands, and the Jawbone Up (just to name a few). Proponents of the “quantified self” movement suggest one way to use the data streams provided by these devices: as a means for self-reflection. However, effective self-reflection requires that a vast amount of information—often highly personal in nature—be captured by our devices, and it introduces new work for end-users, such as finding patterns in the data and translating sensed trends into effective actions. We are currently launching a study of commercial fitness trackers to understand when different representations of self-reflective data streams are effective in helping to facilitate behavior change…and when those representations contribute instead to a sense of information overload. We are also exploring similar questions related to other technologies that collect and present self-reflective data about daily life—time management tools, mood-tracking apps, and the like. In general, we aim to understand how infrastructure and interface design can prevent people’s experiences of sensed data streams from contributing to information overload while still allowing us to capitalize on the positive behavior change and self-reflection potential of this information

Principles of Biology I (Valdosta State University)

This Grants Collection uses the grant-supported lecture slides to Principles of Biology I from Valdosta State University: http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-ancillary/1/ This Grants Collection for Principles of Biology I was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-collections/1007/thumbnail.jp

Student Voices

This session began with reflections from student research assistants who moderated the session. This session introduces the major issues addressed during the symposium. These proceedings are available free for download but also available for purchase in print for $6 plus tax and shipping.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/global_voices_4/1008/thumbnail.jp

OctubaFest 2013, KSU Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble

KSU School of Music presents OctubaFest 2013, KSU Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1291/thumbnail.jp

Carrier dynamics in α‐Fe2O3 (0001) thin films and single crystals probed by femtosecond transient absorption and reflectivity

Femtosecond transient reflectivity and absorption are used to measure the carrier lifetimes in α‐Fe2O3 thin films and single crystals. The results from the thin films show that initially excited hot electrons relax to the band edge within 300 fs and then recombine with holes or trap within 5 ps. The trapped electrons have a lifetime of hundreds of picoseconds. Transient reflectivity measurements from hematite (α‐Fe2O3)single crystals show similar but slightly faster dynamics leading to the conclusion that the short carrier lifetimes in these materials are due primarily to trapping to Fe d-d states in the band gap. In the hematite single crystal, the transient reflectivity displays oscillations due to the formation of longitudinal acoustic phonons generated following absorption of the ultrashort excitation pulse