The Environmental Contribution to Wayfinding in Museums: Enhancement and Usage by Controlling Flows and Paths

The field of research in which wayfinding is situated refers to the way people move in reaction to environmental stimulation. It therefore fully concerns not just signage but also space designing, its geometric configuration, technical solutions and their material characterization. The focus is consequently on environmental factors that facilitate wayfinding in a museum (accessibility, visibility, etc.) and on other elements such as spatial configuration, architectural features and functional aspects. These factors influence relational phenomena and therefore visitors’ satisfaction. Methods and tools for designing and managing spaces have been studied in the research. The configurational analysis method of space has been used to objectify syntactic features of space. In particular, the outcomes of an experimental project, which have been analyzed in a master’s thesis on the re-functionalization of the museum of Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, are presented. Permeability, proximity, connections of spaces, namely meaningful features to ensure wayfinding have been examined. Space parameters resulting from the geometry of the layout, from the visual connections and from the changes of direction were then evaluated. The outcomes have been used as inputs for designing a unitary tour route circuit, that also reconnects the museum’s second floor, and for planning three independent alternative routes for a differentiated use of the museum

Type-I superconductivity in noncentrosymmetric superconductor AuBe

The noncentrosymmetric superconductor AuBe have been investigated using the magnetization, resistivity, specific heat, and muon-spin relaxation/rotation measurements. AuBe crystallizes in the cubic FeSi-type B20 structure with superconducting transition temperature observed at $T_{c}$ = 3.2 $\pm$ 0.1 K. The low-temperature specific heat data, $C_{el}$(T), indicate a weakly-coupled fully gapped BCS superconductivity with an isotropic energy gap 2$\Delta(0)/k_{B}T_{c}$ = 3.76, which is close to the BCS value of 3.52. Interestingly, type-I superconductivity is inferred from the $\mu$SR measurements, which is in contrast with the earlier reports of type-II superconductivity in AuBe. The Ginzburg-Landau parameter is $\kappa_{GL}$ = 0.4 $<$ 1/$\sqrt{2}$. The transverse-field $\mu$SR data transformed in the maximum entropy spectra depicting the internal magnetic field probability distribution, P(H), also confirms the absence of the mixed state in AuBe. The thermodynamic critical field, $H_{c}$, calculated to be around 259 Oe. The zero-field $\mu$SR results indicate that time-reversal symmetry is preserved and supports a spin-singlet pairing in the superconducting ground state.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Beyond the War on Drugs: Overcoming a Failed Public Policy

A Review of Beyond the War on Drugs: Overcoming a Failed Public Policy by Steven Wisotsk

Letter March 16, 1951

Letter from Mr. J. R. Hillier of the Imperial War Museum, London, asking Jacob DeShazer for an autographed copy of the biography written by C. Hoyt Watson ( The Amazing Story of Sergeant Jacob DeShazer ) for inclusion in the museum\u27s holdings

Tobacco vendor compliance checks: An analysis of variables that predict clerk behavior

Preventing tobacco vendors from selling tobacco to youth is part of a comprehensive approach to combat youth smoking. The literature shows that clerks who ask for identification tend to refuse sales to minors. The current study examines which factors predicted whether a clerk sold under a variety of scenarios. The study also examined which factors predicted whether a clerk asked for identification since asking for identification consistently predicts selling in the literature. Over the course of 8 years, the local health department conducted 2717 compliance checks on local tobacco vendors using purchase attempts by youth 14-17 years old. For the current study, 2122 of the cases were analyzed. Logistic regression was performed using different predictor variables. Background variables included operation type, town size, and per capita income of the neighborhood. Event variables included clerk gender, youth age, youth race, youth gender, whether the clerk asked for identification, whether the youth provided identification. Asking for identification and youth age predicted selling. Youth age, clerk gender, and being a liquor store predicted asking. Selling after asking for identification was predicted by the youth providing identification and being a bar/restaurant. Selling after identification was provided upon request was predicted by being a bar/restaurant. Age was the only predictor for selling without requesting identification. Asking for identification is the key to compliance. Clerks who did not ask were 45 times more likely to sell tobacco products. However, asking for identification is only the first step in denying the sale. Because youth who provided ID were more likely to be sold to than those who did not, it is clear that clerks must follow through by looking at the ID card and accurately calculating age. Clerks may assume someone is old enough just because the patron presents identification, even though the ID card proves the youth is under 18. It seems as though clerks who do not ask for identification assume that they can effectively determine age by the way someone looks. If a youth is older, they are more likely to appear as though they are 18, so the clerk is less likely to verify age. Recommendations include training clerks to effectively verify age for everyone, even if they appear old enough. Tobacco licensing is also recommended, as well as consequences for the establishment, not just the clerk because if management was more concerned about illegal sales perhaps the culture of the store could influence clerk behavior, and clerk behavior is the key to compliance. Future directions for research include continuing to monitor tobacco sales to minors using mixed methods of research. Several methods of data collection are necessary to have a clear picture of tobacco sales to minors to in turn affect youth access to tobacco commercially. Several methods should be utilized to gather information from youth smokers and clerks, as well as continued compliance checks

The UV Scattering Halo of the Central Source Associated with Eta Carinae

We have made an extensive study of the UV spectrum of Eta Carinae, and find that we do not directly observe the star and its wind in the UV. Because of dust along our line of sight, the UV light that we observe arises from bound-bound scattering at large impact parameters. We obtain a reasonable fit to the UV spectrum by using only the flux that originates outside 0.033". This explains why we can still observe the primary star in the UV despite the large optical extinction -- it is due to the presence of an intrinsic coronagraph in the Eta Carinae system, and to the extension of the UV emitting region. It is not due to peculiar dust properties alone. We have computed the spectrum of the purported companion star, and show that it could only be directly detected in the UV spectrum preferentially in the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectral region (912-1175 Ang.). However, we find no direct evidence for a companion star, with the properties indicated by X-ray studies and studies of the Weigelt blobs, in UV spectra. This might be due to reprocessing of the companion's light by the dense stellar wind of the primary. Broad FeII and [FeII] emission lines, which form in the stellar wind, are detected in spectra taken in the SE lobe, 0.2" from the central star. The wind spectrum shows some similarities to the spectra of the B & D Weigelt blobs, but also shows some marked differences in that high excitation lines, and lines pumped by Ly-alpha, are not seen. The detection of the broad lines lends support to our interpretation of the UV spectrum, and to our model for Eta Carinae.Comment: To appear in ApJ. 57 pages with 18 figure