Levels of Information Processing in a Fitts law task (LIPFitts)

State-of-the-art flight technology has restructured the task of human operators, decreasing the need for physical and sensory resources, and increasing the quantity of cognitive effort required, changing it qualitatively. Recent technological advances have the most potential for impacting a pilot in two areas: performance and mental workload. In an environment in which timing is critical, additional cognitive processing can cause performance decrements, and increase a pilot's perception of the mental workload involved. The effects of stimulus processing demands on motor response performance and subjective mental workload are examined, using different combinations of response selection and target acquisition tasks. The information processing demands of the response selection were varied (e.g., Sternberg memory set tasks, math equations, pattern matching), as was the difficulty of the response execution. Response latency as well as subjective workload ratings varied in accordance with the cognitive complexity of the task. Movement times varied according to the difficulty of the response execution task. Implications in terms of real-world flight situations are discussed

Marital Quality in Deaf-Deaf and Deaf-Hearing Marriages

The purpose of this study was to assess similarities and differences in marital adjustment between Deaf-Deaf and Deaf-hearing married couples. In examining marital adjustment, Spanier\u27s Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) was translated from English to American Sign Language (ASL) and administered to 30 Deaf-Deaf and 22 Deaf-hearing couple respondents. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Deaf-Deaf couples tended to have higher marital adjustment mean scores than Deaf-hearing couples. Deaf-hearing females reported the lowest levels of marital adjustment. A qualitative component of the study yielded information concerning what Deaf-Deaf and Deaf-hearing couples consider the most important factors contributing to marital happiness. Both Deaf-Deaf and Deaf-hearing couples reported that language and cultural compatibility is the most important quality of a successful marriage. The need for continued research on the differences between Deaf-Deaf and Deaf-hearing marriages was addressed. The theoretical Implications of the study were highlighted, along with other recommendations concerning the role of marriage and family therapists who work with Deaf couples

Cyber Torts: Common Law and Statutory Restraints in the United States

United States state courts administer common law principles that remedy injuries that arise from tortiousactivities. Federal statutory restrictions and overbroad federal court rulings have created immunity for manyactivities in the context of cyberspace. This paper reviews a number of state court decisions in the UnitedStates and surveys several basic tort principles in regard to their application to technology enhanced activitieson the Internet. Tort concepts, under traditional common law concepts can, if left unrestricted, develop to servemultiple interests

Morphological Variation in Three-Dimensional Printed Replicas

Employed primarily for outreach and education, the three-dimensional (3D) printer used in this analysis provides a means of producing tangible models of fragile and restricted-use specimens for students from a wide variety of disciplines, and is used here to produce prints associated with historic and prehistoric cultural objects. Recognizing that inconsistencies occur in 3D prints due to environmental variables, this exploratory effort was aimed at identifying the geometry that deviates most from the original scan data. A total of five replicas were printed then compared by calculating the gap distance between the nominal (original scan data) and measured data (scan of 3D printed replica) in Geomagic Control X. Results indicate that computer-aided inspection may prove useful in the refinement of 3D printing work flows, finishing, and the iterative refinement of 3D printer settings for specific real-world education- and outreach-based endeavors

The Morisco House in Granada : domestic space in cultural transition

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 48).This paper examines issues of cultural, religious, and personal identity as reflected in domestic space, with the premise that expressions of the built environment evolve from concepts of self. These themes are particularly apparent in the case of residential architecture of the Moriscos, a cultural group of former Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity in 15th and 16th century Spain following the Reconquest. The Morisco houses of Granada from 1500-1570 reveal architectural forms resulting from acculturation as well as desires to protect identities and traditions in the midst of threat of cultural extinction. The architectural elements of these residences may be read as subversive attempts by a subordinated cultural group to conceal meaning from the dominant Christian population.by Lisa G. Mosier.S.M

A new look at low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) research: a response to Shanahan

In his criticisms of the review article on LENR by Krivit and Marwan, Shanahan has raised a number of issues in the areas of calorimetry, heat after death, elemental transmutation, energetic particle detection using CR-39, and the temporal correlation between heat and helium-4. These issues are addressed by the researchers who conducted the original work that was discussed in the Krivit-Marwan (K&M) review paper

Elevated CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Enhances Productivity and the C/N Ratio of Grasses in the Colorado Shortgrass Steppe

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have been increasing since the industrial revolution, and are projected to double within this century over today\u27s concentration of 360 µmol mol-1 . This study used six open-top chambers in the Colorado, USA shortgrass steppe to investigate how increasing CO2 will affect productivity and C and N status of indigenous perennial grasses and forbs. From March until October, chambers were placed on two plots in each of the three blocks. In each block, one chamber was assigned an ambient CO2 treatment (~360 µmol mol-1), the other an elevated CO2 treatment (~720 µmol mol-1). Each block also had an unchambered control plot. Growth under elevated CO2 increased above-ground phytomass an average 31% in 1997 and 47% in 1998, with no differences in relative growth responses of C3 and C4 grasses and forbs. Growth in chambers was greater than non-chambered control plots, presumably due to warmer temperatures in chambers and a longer growing season. Shoot N concentrations were reduced 21% and C/N ratios increased 23% in elevated compared to ambient chambers. Variation in aboveground phytomass due to year, CO2 and chamber effects correlated well to % shoot N and C/N ratios, although for both traits different regression lines were required for green plant material (harvested in July) and senescent plant material (harvested in October). Results suggest increased growth and reduced N concentrations in this mixed C3/C4 grassland in an elevated CO2 environment

Initial observations of VLF electric and magnetic fields with the Injun 5 satellite

Very low frequency electric and magnetic field observations by Injun 5 satellit

Coronagraphic Wavefront Control for the ATLAST-9.2m Telescope

The Advanced Technology for Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) concept was assessed as one of the NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concepts (ASMC) studies. Herein we discuss the 9.2-meter diameter segmented aperture version and its wavefront sensing and control (WFSC) with regards to coronagraphic detection and spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets. The WFSC would consist of at least two levels of sensing and control: (i) an outer coarser level of sensing and control to phase and control the segments and secondary mirror in a manner similar to the James Webb Space Telescope but operating at higher temporal bandwidth, and (ii) an inner, coronagraphic instrument based, fine level of sensing and control for both amplitude and wavefront errors operating at higher temporal bandwidths. The outer loop would control rigid-body actuators on the primary and secondary mirrors while the inner loop would control one or more segmented deformable mirror to suppress the starlight within the coronagraphic field-of view. Herein we discuss the visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) and the requirements it levies on wavefront sensing and control and show the results of closed-loop simulations to assess performance and evaluate the trade space of system level stability versus control bandwidth

A Study of Brain Networks Associated with Swallowing Using Graph-Theoretical Approaches

Functional connectivity between brain regions during swallowing tasks is still not well understood. Understanding these complex interactions is of great interest from both a scientific and a clinical perspective. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was utilized to study brain functional networks during voluntary saliva swallowing in twenty-two adult healthy subjects (all females, 23.1±1.52 years of age). To construct these functional connections, we computed mean partial correlation matrices over ninety brain regions for each participant. Two regions were determined to be functionally connected if their correlation was above a certain threshold. These correlation matrices were then analyzed using graph-theoretical approaches. In particular, we considered several network measures for the whole brain and for swallowing-related brain regions. The results have shown that significant pairwise functional connections were, mostly, either local and intra-hemispheric or symmetrically inter-hemispheric. Furthermore, we showed that all human brain functional network, although varying in some degree, had typical small-world properties as compared to regular networks and random networks. These properties allow information transfer within the network at a relatively high efficiency. Swallowing-related brain regions also had higher values for some of the network measures in comparison to when these measures were calculated for the whole brain. The current results warrant further investigation of graph-theoretical approaches as a potential tool for understanding the neural basis of dysphagia. © 2013 Luan et al