Billing below Title : The Contested Autobiographies of Frances Farmer and Louise Brooks

Today autobiography and memoir hold great interest for the average reader as well as the literary scholar. Some argue this form has replaced the novel as the dominant modern/postmodern narrative expression. Its study crosses departmental boundaries, surfacing in disciplines such as psychology, as well as English/literature. This thesis focuses on the autobiographies of two Euro-American actresses of the early twentieth century. Intersecting the study of film, narrative, autobiography (“female” or feminist, as well as canonical or “male”) and modernism, it focuses on text and subtext, analyzing reasons for both the works’ and actress/authors’ cultural marginalization. In art as well as life, Frances Farmer and Louise Brooks offer aspects of both the “masculine” and “feminine”—whether speaking of narrative structure or assigned gender roles in a given culture. Ultimately, however, canonical “male” aspects of the autobiographical genre present themselves in their works as filtered through a more “female”-centered lens

Simulation of Traffic at a T-Intersection Using Slam

The flow of traffic at an intersection is often controlled by a traffic signal. This research report models a T-intersection with a disjoint network for each direction of traffic flow, eastbound, westbound and southbound. The traffic signal is modeled with a fourth network. Three types of signal control (pretimed, semi-actuated and full-actuated) are modeled to examine the effect of each type on the average delay time and average length of queues for each lane of traffic queue at the intersection. The computer models presented in the report use SLAM computer language to simulate the traffic signal and vehicle flow

The politics of multipillar pension restructuring in Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland

"This paper analyzes the restructuring of private, occupational pensions in the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland. Despite the institutional similarities of all three systems (extensive pre-funding, collectively organized pensions, near-universal coverage), the three systems differ in important ways in terms of governance. The paper investigates the ways in which these variable governance structures shaped responses to the stock market downturn in 2001-2002. The Dutch occupational pension system experienced substantial retrenchment (shift from career earnings to average earnings formulae in defined benefit (DB) schemes as well as increased contributions) whereas the Danish and Swiss schemes sustained fewer cutbacks. The paper argues that the DB structure of Dutch pensions as well as the specifics of the regulatory framework forced a drastic adaptation to changes in financial markets, whereas the flexible defined contribution (DC) framework in Denmark and Switzerland facilitated a more modest adaptation to the market downturn." (author's abstract

Estimating the Benefits of Water Quality Improvements in the Upper Narragansett Bay

An EPA-sponsored study of the benefits to Rhode Island residents of the water quality improvement in the Upper Narragansett Bay showed that the estimated annual costs ($2.9 million) exceeded the expected annual benefits ($2.0 million). That analysis evaluated only user benefits which were measured via expenditures; nonuser (intrinsic) benefits were not included. This study estimated the benefits to Rhode Island residents using the "Contingent Valuation" approach and responses from 435 residents to a 1985 survey about swimming and shellfishing. Aggregate annual benefits were estimated to be in the range of $30-60 million for "swimmable" and$30-70 million for "shellfishable" water quality, depending on the type of measure (mean or median) and survey format. Secondary objectives of the study were to test different versions of "willingness to pay" questions and compare mean and median values for measurement. Aside from payment vehicle bias, we found no evidence of serious bias.contingent valuation, pollution, water quality benefits, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Social Workers\u27 Perceptions of Family Preservation Programs

The passage of the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997, with its focus on child safety and concurrent planning, has presented family preservation workers with new challenges and new opportunities. Twenty volunteers from a large comprehensive social service agency were interviewed to determine their experiences with two models of family preservation—Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Traditional Family Preservation Service (TFPS) or practice as usual. Workers from both programs were able to articulate values consistent with family preservation as important strengths of the programs— keeping families together and empowering families for example. Information from referring agencies was described as variable and not especially useful when working with seriously troubled families, especially as it related to risk and child safety. Both groups indicated that the jargon of family preservation had permeated their agencies, and that working with other agencies was at times a challenge, though for different reasons. Finally, despite some reservations about the effectiveness of short-term treatment with families that face serious challenges, both groups of workers were generally satisfied with family preservation as an approach to practice

Data compression for the microgravity experiments

Researchers present the environment and conditions under which data compression is to be performed for the microgravity experiment. Also presented are some coding techniques that would be useful for coding in this environment. It should be emphasized that researchers are currently at the beginning of this program and the toolkit mentioned is far from complete

Students\u27 Perceptions of Their Education Debt and Its Impact on Life After Graduation

Student loans comprise the primary source of financial aid funding for higher education. But how much do students know about the realities of loan indebtedness? This study evaluates data collected in winter 1996 from 443 graduating seniors at a Midwestem university. Its results diverge somewhat from those of some early studies, yet support other recent research. Many of the surveyed students were reportedly unaware of their total loan indebtedness and payment obligations (over- and underestimating debt payments); borrowed to support a better lifestyle ; and were unable to estimate realistically their post-graduation earnings and ability to meet their repayment obligations. The results suggest a need for greater educating of prospective borrowers and the assumption of a preventive posture on the part of those involved in the lending process

Will d-amphetamine’s effect on impulsive choice be consistent when the environmental context changes by using decreasing delays to reinforcement?

Impulsivity (choosing a smaller, more immediate reward over a larger, more delayed reward) and substance abuse are positively correlated. It is important to understand how factors like delay to reward and drug effects determine impulsive choice, which can be studied using animal models. This study evaluated impulsive choice in rats, where delays to the larger reward (three food pellets) were presented in decreasing order versus one food pellet delivered immediately. Then, effects of d-amphetamine were assessed. It was found that in three of four rats, d-amphetamine increased impulsive choice when the larger option was presented with decreasing delays. This effect is contrary to what has generally been found with increasing delays. Thus, environmental context can influence drug effects on impulsive choice

A comparison of the fermentation patterns of six commercial wine yeasts

The fermentation properties of six commercial yeast strains, Prise de Mousse (PM), Pasteur Champagne (PC), Swiss (S), Montrachet (M), Epernay 2 (E) and Chanson (C) were compared in grape juices and Yeast Nitrogen Base (YNB). None of the strains fermented a 23 ° Brix Chardonnay juice to complete dryness. S resulted in the smallest amount of residual sugar followed by E. PM, PC and S all fermented 19.7 and 22.0 °Brix Gewürztraminer juices to dryness. PM produced the greatest amounts of alcohol in Chardonnay juicP. fortified to 30 ° Brix followed in order by PC, S, and M, E and C. C consistently produced the least amount of alcohol. There was no significant difference in alcohol production by the first five strains at 20 ° Brix and no significant difference among the first four strains at 25 ° Brix. PM produced the highest concentrations of ethanol in YNB containing 11.1 or 12.9 % (v/v) ethanol at the time of inoculation. PC and C produced significantly less alcohol. Temperature has a profound effect on the ability of the yeast strains to grow and ferment sugar in YNB. With the exception of PM at 20 °C, none of the strains fermented the 22 % glucose completely in YNB by the end of 25 d. The higher temperature 30 °C was particularly detrimental to yeast growth and fermentation. Generally, the most complete fermentations occurred at 20 °C. PM was most tolerant of decanoic and octanoic acids