Boundary interactions: Resolving interdisciplinary collaboration challenges using digitized embodied performances

Little is known about the collaborative learning processes of interdisciplinary teams designing technology-enabled immersive learning systems. In this conceptual paper, we reflect on the role of digitally captured embodied performances as boundary objects within our heterogeneous two-team collective of learning scientists and computer scientists as we design an embodied, animated virtual tutor embedded in a physically immersive mathematics learning system. Beyond just a communicative resource, we demonstrate how these digitized, embodied performances constitute a powerful mode for both inter- and intra-team learning and innovation. Our work illustrates the utility of mobilizing the material conditions of learning

What Successful Companies Know That Law Firms Need to Know: The Importance of Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction to Increased Productivity and Stronger Client Relationships

This note examines the importance of employee motivation and job satisfaction to increased productivity and stronger client relationships with law firms. In Part I, I discuss how the pressure of the legal profession can affect lawyers\u27 relationships with their staff members. My analysis will center on recent studies on lawyer job satisfaction, the impact of stress on lawyers, and the public\u27s perception of lawyers. In Part II, I discuss the law firm as a service organization and the implications of that orientation. In this section, I also emphasize the importance of building and maintaining relationships with clients and how law firm employees may affect that relationship. In Part III, I describe the results of a case study of one law firm\u27s employee satisfaction levels, and in part IV of the note, I focus on the psychological theory of motivation. I identify specific theories of motivation. In Part V, I discuss real world motivational techniques used in one of America\u27s most successful corporations: Southwest Airlines. In the concluding section, Part VI, I recommend specific motivational techniques that lawyers can use to boost employee morale

Existence theorems in the geometrically non-linear 6-parametric theory of elastic plates

In this paper we show the existence of global minimizers for the geometrically exact, non-linear equations of elastic plates, in the framework of the general 6-parametric shell theory. A characteristic feature of this model for shells is the appearance of two independent kinematic fields: the translation vector field and the rotation tensor field (representing in total 6 independent scalar kinematic variables). For isotropic plates, we prove the existence theorem by applying the direct methods of the calculus of variations. Then, we generalize our existence result to the case of anisotropic plates. We also present a detailed comparison with a previously established Cosserat plate model.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Removing the Blinders in Federal Sentencing: Cultural Difference as a Proper Departure Ground

Although the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have strived to standardize the sentencing ranges applicable to similarly situated defendants, the Supreme Court has affirmed that the guidelines have not usurped all the sentencing discretion of trial judges. Thus, if a trial judge notices a mitigating or aggravating factor, a judge will examine the factor to determine whether it is an encouraged, discouraged, or forbidden departure ground and then decide whether and how it should affect the defendant\u27s sentence. Many defendants have argued that their cultural beliefs, which may tend to mitigate their mens rea or probability of recidivism, render them distinct from the average offender of the particular crime and therefore should be considered as a mitigating factor when determining their sentence. Many judges have agreed that culture is relevant in sentencing and have departed in cases where defendants pled that their assimilation to American norms and mores warranted consideration. In stark contrast, judges have not allowed similar departures for those that have maintained cultural beliefs distinct from that of the American majority. Although culture is not an explicitly proscribed sentencing factor in the guidelines, courts have resisted using culture in the latter context due to the fear that cultural considerations in those situations was too akin to forbidden sentencing considerations such as race, religion, creed, and national origin. A thorough examination of what culture entails evidences that culture is distinct from those prohibited areas. Thus, courts should recognize and uphold our nation\u27s ideals of cultural pluralism and diversity, and resolve this sentencing disparity in favor of downward departures for cultural difference claims

Can the fast bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients be stopped with active vitamin D metabolites?

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether fast trabecular bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients can effectively be treated with active vitamin D metabolites. Thirty-one osteoporotic and osteopenic patients were monitored between 4 and 22 months before and between 8 and 18 months during the treatment. Fast bone losers were designated as osteoporotic or osteopenic patients with a loss of trabecular bone density in the radius of 3% or more calculated for 1 year. For this differentiation, the high precise peripheral quantitative computed tomography system (DENSISCAN 1000) was used (reproducability 0.3% in mixed collectives). The pretreatment loss and the "gain” under treatment with active vitamin D metabolites was calculated for 1 year. The treatment consisted of either 0.5 μg calcitriol daily or 1 μg of alfacalcidol daily. Before treatment, the trabecular bone loss in the radius/year was −6.6 ± 0.5% (mean ± SEM). After treatment with vitamin D metabolites, the trabecular bone gain in the radius/year was 0.01 ± 0.6% (mean ± SEM). The difference was highly significant (P < 0.001). In contrast to this, the loss of cortical bone density before treatment was −1.8 ± 0.3% (mean ± SEM) and the reduced loss after treatment −0.2 ± 0.4% (mean ± SEM), both values calculated for 1 year. This difference was less significant (P < 0.05). This study shows that the treatment with active vitamin D metabolites is very effective in slowing fast trabecular bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patient

Some neutron and gamma radiation characteristics of plutonium cermet fuel for isotopic power sources

Gamma and neutron measurements on various types of plutonium sources are presented in order to show the effects of O-17, O-18 F-19, Pu-236, age of the fuel, and size of the source on the gamma and neutron spectra. Analysis of the radiation measurements shows that fluorine is the main contributor to the neutron yields from present plutonium-molybdenum cermet fuel, while both fluorine and Pu-236 daughters contribute significantly to the gamma ray intensities