Imaging Computerization: Scripting and Animation as Process and Product

Computation as both method and aesthetic is applied to the architectural design process at multiple scales. This enables complex, performative, and specific solutions uniquely relevant to emerging models for fabrication and construction. Formal and spatial manipulation of architectural envelope, skin, volume and structure occurs indirectly via the design of geometric algorithms. Relationships are both amplified and collapsed together in the manifestation of the design for NASA administrative headquarters in Washington, DC. Process and product merge to create a language of effects. Animation methodology represents parametric relationships while reflecting the realties of perception of time and space. Usage requirements and site conditions are fuel for the inherently cyclical process. NASA's shifting mission, agenda and values are branded non-verbally through the expression and explicit exploitation of both glaringly broad and obscurely minute requirements that through the medium by which they are applied have additional meaning

Computing drawing : programming a vintage pen plotter

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The drawn artifact and the act of drawing are uniquely suited for design thinking. Specifically, drawings that were traditionally crafted "by hand" are prone to qualities that promote a productive multiplicity of interpretations. These qualities are often incompletely characterized using terms such as "fuzzy" or "loose." Digital output, however, is biased toward the notion of re-production. Representation in design, as a result, has become image-centric. This project explores a method for computing drawing (and the converse, drawing computing) by programing a vintage pen plotter. An apparatus that spans from the computational to the material allows for the incorporation of the desirable qualities of the "hand" drawing into a digital process. The same limitations that led to the obsolescence of the pen plotter lead to an integrated relationship between process and project. Pen plotters demand linear (rather than pixel) information. Imperfections resulting from ink-filled pens making contact with paper at various speeds mandate the consideration of time. A range of computational methods for representing line and making drawing are documented and implemented. A set of 32 drawings are framed in terms related to their making, and then evaluated in terms of their implications for architectural representation.by Carl Lostritto.S.M

Representation(s): A Mutable Process for a Transitioning Urban Landscape

To understand the medium is to understand the affects the medium has on the changes and the scale and form of human association and action over time, not only as the medium is being introduced, but also the unconscious and unforeseeable effects the cultural matrix within which the medium operates. Marshall McLuhan Difference is not simply the collapsing [or circulation] of identity, it is also the rendering of space and time as fragmented, transformable, interpenetrated, beyond any fixed formulation, no longer guaranteed by the a priori or by the universalisms of science. Elizabeth Grosz Media can be leveraged as a way to evaluate and inform the built environment. By using media as more than just a communicative necessity, media is capable of directing process. This process seeks to construct a representational framework and narrative through the investigation and translation of cultural, historical, and conceptual contexts. Architecture, as media, functions as a perceptual tool toward the fusion of process and a meta-physical and physical experience. This thesis asks the question: How can these complex contexts create a framework within which the media operates and informs the built environment? The validity of this research in the context of the culture of architectural education is to show that architecture is more than simply applied knowledge and skills translated through conventions of visual communication. Architecture is a way of seeing and thinking that requires understanding of media beyond the idea of tool and production to an idea of performance, process, and methodology

Using Zero-Result SERPs to Teach Users to Search

In certain locales, search-query diversity is poor despite substantial search traffic and/or rapid traffic growth. Consequently, in such locales, the full utility of a search engine remains unknown or unleveraged by the user base. This disclosure describes techniques to provide example search queries along with zero-result search engine result pages (SERPs). The example queries can include queries that are popular in the locale, queries that are contextually relevant to the user’s initial query, etc. The search examples provide user education for the use of a search engine and the possibilities of search, resulting in greater user engagement and retention

Layered double hydroxides with low Al content and new intercalate structures

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing Mg2+ and Al3+ as divalent and trivalent cations, respectively, have been synthesized by a procedure based on hydrolysis of a mixture of metal alcoholates, and have been characterized mainly by Wide Angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurements. The used procedure is suitable to prepare LDHs with Al molar fractions, x(Al)=Al/(Al+Mg), as low as 0.1. The same LDH preparation procedure, for x(Al)<0.1, produces thermally stable intercalates with alkoxy anions, exhibiting layers similar to those of brucite, which maintain a high degree of order only in the hexagonal packing of the hydroxide groups. In particular, the basal periodicity increases from nearly 0.8 nm up to nearly 1.3 nm, due to the parallel staking of hexanolate groups in the clay galleries. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Reduction of filler networking in silica based elastomeric nanocomposites with exfoliated organo-montmorillonite

Montmorillonite with dimethyl di(hydrogenatedtalloyl) ammonium as the compensating cation was added to a silica based elastomeric composite and the hybrid filler system led to reduction of filler networking phenomenon, better stability of elastic modulus with temperature, enhancement of stresses at all elongations, improvement of ultimate properties. This composite was based on a blend of natural rubber, poly(1,4-cis-isoprene) and poly(styrene-co-butadiene) from anionic polymerization and contained 70 parts per hundred rubber (phr) of silica. The organically modified clay (OC) was below the threshold required to establish an hybrid OC-silica filler network. Such threshold (about 7 phr) was estimated by preparing silica based nanocomposites containing various amounts of OC and determining shear storage and loss moduli as a function of strain amplitude. This work demonstrates that exfoliated OC favour lower dissipation of energy of silica based elastomeric composites under dynamic mechanical stresses and paves the way for further large scale applications

On Large Rational Solutions of Cubic Thue Equations: What Thue Did to Pell

In 1659, John Pell and Johann Rahn wrote a text which explained how to find all integer solutions to the quadratic equation u2 - d v2 = 1. In 1909, Axel Thue showed that the cubic equation u3 - d v3 = 1 has finitely many integer solutions, so it remains to examine their rational solutions. We explain how to find large rational solutions i.e., a sequence of rational points (un, vn) which increase without bound as n increases without bound. Such cubic equations are birationally equivalent to elliptic curves of the form y2 = x3 - D. The rational points on an elliptic curve form an abelian group, so a large rational point (u,v) maps to a rational point (x,y) of approximate order 3. Following an idea of Zagier, we explain how to compute such rational points using continued fractions of elliptic logarithms. We divide our discussion into two parts. The first concerns Pell\u27s quadratic equation. We give an informal discussion of the history of the equation, illuminate the relation with the theory of groups, and review known results on properties of integer solutions through the use of continued fractions. The second concerns the more general equation uN - d vN = 1. We explain why N = 3 is the most interesting exponent, present the relation with elliptic curves, and investigate properties of rational solutions through the use of elliptic integrals. This project was completed at Miami University, in Oxford, OH as part of the Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences Institute (SUMSRI)

Lifetime history of indoor tanning in young people: a retrospective assessment of initiation, persistence, and correlates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite educational and public health campaigns to convey the risks of indoor tanning, many individuals around the world continue to engage in this behavior. Few descriptive studies of indoor tanning have collected information pertaining to the lifetime history of indoor tanning, thereby limiting our ability to understand indoor tanning patterns and potentially target interventions for individuals who not only initiate, but continue to persistently engage in indoor tanning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In-person interviews elicited detailed retrospective information on lifetime history of indoor tanning among white individuals (n = 401) under age 40 seen by a dermatologist for a minor benign skin condition. These individuals were controls in a case-control study of early-onset basal cell carcinoma. Outcomes of interest included ever indoor tanning in both males and females, as well as persistent indoor tanning in females - defined as females over age 31 who tanned indoors at least once in the last three or all four of four specified age periods (ages 11-15, 16-20, 21-30 and 31 or older). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify sociodemographic and lifestyle correlates of ever and persistent indoor tanning in females.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately three-quarters (73.3%) of females and 38.3% of males ever tanned indoors, with a median age of initiation of 17.0 and 21.5, respectively. Among indoor tanners, 39.3% of females and 21.7% of males reported being burned while indoor tanning. Female ever indoor tanners were younger, had darker color eyes, and sunbathed more frequently than females who never tanned indoors. Using unique lifetime exposure data, 24.7% of female indoor tanners 31 and older persistently tanned indoors starting as teenagers. Female persistent indoor tanners drank significantly more alcohol, were less educated, had skin that tanned with prolonged sun exposure, and sunbathed outdoors more frequently than non-persistent tanners.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Indoor tanning was strikingly common in this population, especially among females. Persistent indoor tanners had other high-risk behaviors (alcohol, sunbathing), suggesting that multi-faceted behavioral interventions aimed at health promotion/disease prevention may be needed in this population.</p

Multiple Myeloma and its spine involvement - Correlation between character and size of the osteolysis, as well as the risk of pathological fracture

Das Multiple Myelom ist eine hämatologische, maligne Erkrankung, die zur Gruppe der Non-Hodgkin-Lymphone der B-Zell-Reihe gezählt wird. Typisch ist die klonale Vermehrung der B-Lymphozyten und die Infiltration des Knochenmarks, sowie die Produktion von Paraproteinen, die zur Zerstörung des Knochens führen. Dabei ist die Pathogenese noch nicht vollständig geklärt, wobei verschiedene genetische Mutationen eine Schlüsselrolle zu spielen scheinen. Im Verlauf der Erkrankung zeigen etwa 70-80% der Patienten Osteolysen und/oder pathologische Frakturen. In diesen Fällen kann es unter anderem zu massiven Schmerzen und Wirbelsäuleninstabilität kommen. In dieser Arbeit wurden nun die Eigenschaften der Osteolysen und der Wirbelsäule auf ihren Zusammenhang mit den entstehenden pathologischen Frakturen und der daraus resultierenden möglichen Wirbelsäuleninstabilität untersucht. Insgesamt wurden 50 Patienten (27 Frauen und 23 Männer) mit gesichertem Multiplen Myelom und Wirbelsäulenbefall retrospektiv untersucht. Die Datenerhebung fand anhand von CT-Aufnahmen der Wirbelsäule der einzelnen Patienten statt. Von jedem Betroffenen wurden CT-Aufnahmen von drei verschiedenen Zeitpunkten ausgewertet. Dabei betrug das Zeitintervall im Idealfall etwa zwei Jahre. Um nun einen Zusammenhang zu finden und dadurch eventuell die Vorhersage pathologischer Frakturen zu ermöglichen, wurden folgende Eigenschaften der fünf größten Osteolysen der einzelnen Patienten im Verlauf bestimmt: das Volumen bzw. Größe, die betroffene Wirbelsäulenhöhe, die Position (ventral, dorsal, zentral, im Pedikel, ventral-dorsal), die Dichte und die Randläsion (penetrierend, sklerosierend, gemischt). Für jeden Zeitpunkt und jede CT-Aufnahme wurde die thorakale Kyphose, das thorakolumbale Profil, sowie die lumbale Lordose ausgemessen. Insgesamt wurden so 250 Osteolysen ausgewertet. Dabei kam es in nur 17 Fällen zu einer pathologischen Fraktur, wovon sechs im ersten und 11 im zweiten Beobachtungsintervall auftraten. Der Großteil der Frakturen befand sich im thorakalen und lumbalen Bereich der Wirbelsäule. Auch wenn hierbei kein statistisch signifikanter Einfluss erkennbar gewesen ist, bestätigt zumindest der Trend die Ergebnisse älterer Publikationen, wie zum Beispiel von Cooper et al. Dieser konnte zeigen, dass der mittlere thorakale Bereich und der thorakolumbale Übergang am häufigsten betroffen sind. Den Grund sah er in der hier am größten wirkenden mechanischen Belastung. Einen signifikanten Einfluss zeigte dafür die thorakale Kyphose. Dabei wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen der gehäuft befallenen thorakalen Wirbelsäule mit der thorakalen Kyphose und der Entstehung pathologischer Frakturen deutlich. Mit einer größer werdenden thorakalen Kyphose erhöhte sich das Risiko, eine Fraktur zu erleiden. 14 der insgesamt 17 Frakturen entstanden hier bei deutlich erhöhtem Kyphosewinkel. Einen weiteren, aber nicht signifikanten Trend lieferte die Auswertung der Volumenwerte. Hier zeigte sich, je größer die Osteolyse war, desto kürzer war die Zeit bis zum Auftritt der pathologischen Frakturen. Insgesamt sind zu wenige Frakturereignisse aufgetreten, so dass alle weiteren untersuchten Einflussgrößen keine signifikanten Ergebnisse lieferten und somit viele Fragen unbeantwortet blieben. Ein Grund für die niedrige Ereignisanzahl kann schließlich auch in der allgemein gut ansprechenden Therapie mit Bisphosphonaten liegen. Bei den Patienten, die bereits mit Bisphosphonaten anbehandelt sind und bei denen keine Progression der Erkrankung besteht, ist vermutlich auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit eine Fraktur zu erleiden geringer. Festzuhalten ist, dass bei mit Multiplen Myelom betroffenen Patienten, eine Vorhersage wann eine pathologische Fraktur auftritt, sehr schwierig ist. Dabei müssen alle Eigenschaften der Osteolysen und Wirbelsäule bestimmt und als Gesamtes beurteilt werden. Zusätzlich muss der individuelle Lebensstil und Aktivitätslevel definiert und in der Beurteilung des Frakturrisikos miteinbezogen werden. Nur so können Richtlinien erstellt werden, die klinisch sinnvoll eingesetzt werden können und somit den Patienten durch prophylaktische Maßnahmen die Komplikationen pathologischer Wirbelsäulenfrakturen erspart bleiben.The Multiple Myeloma is a hematologic and malignant disease of plasma cells. It´s characterized by clonal expansion of B-cells and infiltration of the bone marrow, as well as the production of paraproteins. The pathogenesis is not yet cleared completely, but it seems that genetic mutations are playing a key role. In progress 70 – 80% of the patients are affected with osteolysis and/or pathological fracture. These cases eventually result in massive pain and instability of the spine. In this study the properties of the osteolysis and the spine were analysed for a correlation with pathological fractures in the follow up. In total 50 patients (27 women and 23 men) with verified Multiple Myeloma and affected spine were analysed in retrospect. The assessment was based on CT-images of the spine of each patient. Of each patient CT-images of three different points of time were evaluated. Ideally the time interval was about two years. To find a correlation and thus to predict a pathological fracture the following properties of the five largest osteolysis of each and every patient were analysed in follow up: the volume and size, the affected level of the spine, the position (ventral, dorsal, central, pedicle, ventral-dorsal), the density and the character of the lesion (penetrating, sclerosing, mixed). Then for all points of time and every CT-image the thoracic kyphosis, the thoracolumbal profile and the lumbal lordosis were measured. Altogether 250 osteolysis were analysed. Thereby only 17 pathological fractures happened, 6 in the first and 11 in the second time interval. The majority of the fractures were found in the thoracic and lumbal region of the spine. Although there was no significant influence, this trend confirms in some extent the results of older publications, such as the results of Cooper et al. He showed that the middle thoracic level and the thoracolumbal junction are affected at the most. According to him the reason is the mechanical load, which in this area is the highest. A significant influence was shown for the thoracic kyphosis. Thereby a correlation between the frequent affected thoracic spine, the thoracic kyphosis and future pathological fractures was found. The larger the thoracic kyphosis, the higher is the risk to suffer a pathological fracture. 14 of the 17 fractures happened at a obvious increased angle of the kyphosis. Another, but non-significant trend showed the analysis of the volume of osteolysis. It showed that the larger the osteolysis, the shorter the time until pathological fractures happened. In all these cases very few pathological fractures happened, so that all other analysed infuencing variables showed non-significant results and therefore lots of questions remained unanswered. But it should be noted that for patients with Multiple Myeloma, it´s very difficult to predict a pathological fracture for the future. Thereby all properties of the osteolysis and the spine have to be evaluate as a whole. Furthermore to estimate the risk of future fractures the individual lifestyle and level of activity has to be defined and considered. Only this way clinical guidelines can be made and followed accordingly. Consequently prophylactic measures could spare patients complications of pathological fractures of the spine