Special issue: Illuminating occupations at the heart of social problems

As this special issue of the Journal of Occupational Science goes to press, the timing seems particularly pertinent to consider the intersection between how society and the rise of social problems impact upon and are influenced by the occupational lives that people, as individuals and collectives, lead. It seems that in all domains of life - work, school, home, leisure, and others - people are having to navigate the challenges of adapting their current occupations or adapting to new occupations as they seek to maintain the health and well-being of themselves and those around them. It is in times of such uncertainty that the complexity of occupation, as central to social life, becomes more visible to a range of societal actors. Drawing on liberatory pedagogical theory in occupation-based learning, Simaan illuminates a classroom activity using his research on occupations associated with olive growing in Palestine

SAGA: A project to automate the management of software production systems

The Software Automation, Generation and Administration (SAGA) project is investigating the design and construction of practical software engineering environments for developing and maintaining aerospace systems and applications software. The research includes the practical organization of the software lifecycle, configuration management, software requirements specifications, executable specifications, design methodologies, programming, verification, validation and testing, version control, maintenance, the reuse of software, software libraries, documentation, and automated management

A protocol paper on the preservation of identity: understanding the technology adoption patterns of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL)

There are a growing number of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) for whom technology holds promise in supporting their engagement in daily activities. Despite the growing presence of technologies intended to support older adults with ARVL, there remains high rates of abandonment. This phenomenon of technology abandonment may be partly explained by the concept of self-image, meaning that older adults with ARVL avoid the use of particular technologies due to an underlying fear that use of such technologies may mark them as objects of pity, ridicule, and/or stigmatization. In response to this, the proposed study aims to understand how the decision-making processes of older adults with ARVL, as it relates to technology adoption, is influenced by the negotiation of identity. The study protocol will justify the need for this critical ethnographic study, unpack the theoretical underpinnings of this work, detail the sampling/recruitment strategy, describe the methods which included a home tour, go-along, and semi-structured in-depth interview, as well as the collective approach taken to analyze the data. The protocol concludes by examining the ethical tensions associated with this study, including a focus on the methods adopted as well as the ethical challenges inherent when working with an older adult population experiencing vision loss

Evidence for a small hole pocket in the Fermi surface of underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy

The Fermi surface of a metal is the fundamental basis from which its properties can be understood. In underdoped cuprate superconductors, the Fermi surface undergoes a reconstruction that produces a small electron pocket, but whether there is another, as yet undetected portion to the Fermi surface is unknown. Establishing the complete topology of the Fermi surface is key to identifying the mechanism responsible for its reconstruction. Here we report the discovery of a second Fermi pocket in underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy, detected as a small quantum oscillation frequency in the thermoelectric response and in the c-axis resistance. The field-angle dependence of the frequency demonstrates that it is a distinct Fermi surface and the normal-state thermopower requires it to be a hole pocket. A Fermi surface consisting of one electron pocket and two hole pockets with the measured areas and masses is consistent with a Fermi-surface reconstruction caused by the charge-density-wave order observed in YBa2Cu3Oy, provided other parts of the reconstructed Fermi surface are removed by a separate mechanism, possibly the pseudogap.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

International Space Station Active Thermal Control Sub-System On-Orbit Pump Performance and Reliability Using Liquid Ammonia as a Coolant

The International Space Station (ISS) contains two Active Thermal Control Sub-systems (ATCS) that function by using a liquid ammonia cooling system collecting waste heat and rejecting it using radiators. These subsystems consist of a number of heat exchangers, cold plates, radiators, the Pump and Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS), and the Pump Module (PM), all of which are Orbital Replaceable Units (ORU's). The PFCS provides the motive force to circulate the ammonia coolant in the Photovoltaic Thermal Control Subsystem (PVTCS) and has been in operation since December, 2000. The Pump Module (PM) circulates liquid ammonia coolant within the External Active Thermal Control Subsystem (EATCS) cooling the ISS internal coolant (water) loops collecting waste heat and rejecting it through the ISS radiators. These PM loops have been in operation since December, 2006. This paper will discuss the original reliability analysis approach of the PFCS and Pump Module, comparing them against the current operational performance data for the ISS External Thermal Control Loops

Does body and fin form affect the maneuverability of fish traversing vertical and horizontal slits?

The purpose of this study was to determine if body and fin form affected the maneuverability of teleostean fishes as measured by their ability to negotiate simple obstacles. Obstacles were vertical and horizontal rectangular slits of different widths, for which width was defined as the minimum dimension of a slit irrespective of slit orientation. Performance was measured as the smallest slit width traversed. Three species with different body and fin patterns were induced to swim through slits. Species tested were; goldfish Carassius auratus with a fusiform body, anterio-ventral pectoral fins and posterio-ventral pelvic fins; silver dollars Metynnis hypsauchen with the same fin configurations but a gibbose body; angelfish Pterophyllum scalare with a gibbose body and anterio-lateral pectoral fins. Minimum slit widths negotiated were normalized with the length of various body dimensions: total length, maximum width, span at the pectoral fins, and volume 1/3 (numerically equal to mass 1/3 ). Goldfish had the poorest performance, requiring the largest slit widths relative to these body dimensions. No consistent patterns in performance were found for silver dollars vs. angelfish. There were no differences among species in the ratio of minimum vertical slit width negotiated to that for horizontal slits, indicating fish were equally able to control posture while swimming on their sides. There were also no consistent patterns in the times taken to transit slits. Although the deep-bodied fish were able to maneuver through smaller slits, the most striking result is the similarity of minimum slit widths traversed in spite of the large variation in body form. Body form and fin plan may be more important for maneuvering and posture control during sub-maximum routine activities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42638/1/10641_2004_Article_BF00001692.pd