An interface to virtual environments for people who are blind using Wii technology - mental models and navigation

Accessible games, both for serious and for entertainment purposes, would allow inclusion and participation for those with disabilities. Research into the development of accessible games, and accessible virtual environments, is discussed. Research into accessible Virtual Environments has demonstrated great potential for allowing people who are blind to explore new spaces, reducing their reliance on guides, and aiding development of more efficient spatial maps and strategies. Importantly, Lahav and Mioduser (2005, 2008) have demonstrated that, when exploring virtual spaces, people who are blind use more and different strategies than when exploring real physical spaces, and develop relatively accurate spatial representations of them. The present paper describes the design, development and evaluation of a system in which a virtual environment may be explored by people who are blind using Nintendo Wii devices, with auditory and haptic feedback. The nature of the various types of feedback is considered, with the aim of creating an intuitive and usable system. Using Wii technology has many advantages, not least of which are that it is mainstream, readily available and cheap. The potential of the system for exploration and navigation is demonstrated. Results strongly support the possibilities of the system for facilitating and supporting the construction of cognitive maps and spatial strategies. Intelligent support is discussed. Systems such as the present one will facilitate the development of accessible games, and thus enable Universal Design and accessible interactive technology to become more accepted and widespread

Population inversion in optically pumped asymmetric quantum well terahertz lasers

Intersubband carrier lifetimes and population ratios are calculated for three- and four-level optically pumped terahertz laser structures. Laser operation is based on intersubband transitions between the conduction band states of asymmetric GaAs-Ga(1 – x)Al(x)As quantum wells. It is shown that the carrier lifetimes in three-level systems fulfill the necessary conditions for stimulated emission only at temperatures below 200 K. The addition of a fourth level, however, enables fast depopulation of the lower laser level by resonant longitudinal optical phonon emission and thus offers potential for room temperature laser operation. © 1997 American Institute of Physics

EDUCATING BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDENTS: USING A CRITICAL MANAGEMENT LENS TO LEARN FROM CHATTEL SLAVERY

The value of business school pedagogy has received increased attention in recent years (Delgado and Stefancic, 1992; Giacalone and Wargo, 2009; Podolny, 2009; Grier & Poole, 2020; Prieto & Phipps, 2021). This qualitative study examined the ability of higher education business faculty to include chattel slavery in the history of American business (Katznelson, 2005; Baptist, 2014;). Traditionally, the fundamentals of management teaching have been aligned with the belief that conventional management theories were developed separate and apart from the institution of chattel slavery and the management of race (Aufhauser, 1973; Cooke, 2003; Blackmon, 2008; Roediger & Esch, 2012). An interpretivist perspective using a collective case study method enabled the researcher to observe, ask questions, look for patterns, to come to an understanding of human ideas, actions, and interactions in specific contexts or in terms of the wider culture (Glesne, 2011, p. 8). By using a Critical Theory paradigm, the researcher challenged those ideologies that encourage a misrepresentation of reality (Glesne, 2011, p. 9). The population from whom data was collected was instructors in higher education whose pedagogy frames the discipline of business and management, with participants selected through purposeful sampling and snowball sampling. Data was collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Content analysis is of participants’ syllabi, published works, and news articles. The study contributes to research and practice in many areas. By introducing the topic of chattel slavery as a starting point, faculty will be encouraged to enhance their research knowledge to include the true origins of business and management concepts. This enhanced knowledge will provide a throughline to the current management practices of today that include harassment, coercion, and even brutality as part of a routine management dictum. Future faculty will gain the tools sufficient to acknowledge that the origin of management tenets is historically connected to the practice of chattel slavery (Aufhauser, 1973; Cooke, 2003)

Symptomatic Leadership: The Impact of Changing Demographics on Global Business

The past several decades have displayed a focus on diversity in the workplace throughout the corporate environment. Questions remain: has the effort been at all impactful – or, due to its symbolic nature, has it only been a distraction? What behaviors would have been better emphasized to achieve full participation and opportunity by all actors in a firm? Considerable research has revealed that attempts at diversity are clumsy at best; and spurious at worst. [i] The challenge for firms has been to develop a “business case” for why those contributing groups represented by women and people of color should be promoted to levels of leadership within the corporate environment. The unfortunate result, after decades of trial and error, are policies designed to tighten the grip of white males on business through the creation of artificial glass ceilings beyond which only a few from the affected groups can reach, with a tenuous hold. Cutting-edge research on symbols and symptoms tells us that the refusal to examine in totality the history of discrimination and racism allow us to perpetuate a mythology that prohibits any real growth. [ii] That mythology, of white male supremacy, is enhanced through impotent diversity programs replicated throughout corporate America. Race remains one of the most hotly controversial and highly complex issues in our society. In American society, race is politically and socially defined. Race has been used to reinforce already powerful groups, while weakening those groups with less power; prior to and even into the twentieth century, race determined a woman’s political rights and social status. [iii] Traditional approaches to diversity learning are remarkable in their consistent gaps when it comes to addressing historical inequities as an avenue to understanding future opportunities for business when inclusion is emphasized. The current environment of changing demographics, not only domestically but globally, requires, indeed deserves, a more focused approach to addressing this multicultural landscape as the majority/minority language takes on a different shape. This case provides the background and substance to educate the reader in that regard. This case examines the implementation of symptomatic thinking in a corporate environment with an aim towards encouraging authentic leadership in a world of changing demographics. The point of view is that of a primary protagonist, an African-American woman, and the venue is a major commercial and investment bank based in the United States. For the purposes of confidentiality, all names are changed. [i] See Caryn J. Block, Sandy M. Koch, Benjamin E. Liberman, Tarani J. Merriweather, and Loriann Roberson, Contending with Stereotype Threat at Work: A Model of Long-Term Responses, The Counseling Psychologist, 39(4) 570-600, (2011). [ii] Edgar J. Ridley, The Golden Apple: Changing the Structure of Civilization – Volume 1 (Africa World Press), 2008, 105.. [iii] Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell and Stella M. Nkomo, Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity, Harvard Business School Press, (2001), p. 17

Upper-surface blowing nacelle design study for a swept wing airplane at cruise conditions

A study was made to design two types of overwing nacelles for an existing wing-body at a design condition of Mach = 0.8 and C sub L = 0.2. Internal and external surface contours were developed for nacelles having either a D-shaped nozzle or a high-aspect-ratio nozzle for upper-surface blowing in the powered-lift mode of operation. The goal of the design was the development of external nacelle lines that would minimize high-speed aerodynamic interference effects. Each nacelle type was designed for both two- and four-engine airplanes using an iterative process of aerodynamic potential flow analysis. Incremental nacelle drag estimates were made for flow-through wind tunnel models of each configuration

Pattern Competition in the Photorefractive Semiconductors

We analytically study the photorefractive Gunn effect in n-GaAs subjected to two external laser beams which form a moving interference pattern (MIP) in the semiconductor. When the intensity of the spatially independent part of the MIP, denoted by $I_0$, is small, the system has a periodic domain train (PDT), consistent with the results of linear stability analysis. When $I_0$ is large, the space-charge field induced by the MIP will compete with the PDT and result in complex dynamics, including driven chaos via quasiperiodic route

The XRCC1 phosphate-binding pocket binds poly (ADP-ribose) and is required for XRCC1 function

Poly (ADP-ribose) is synthesized at DNA single-strand breaks and can promote the recruitment of the scaffold protein, XRCC1. However, the mechanism and importance of this process has been challenged. To address this issue, we have characterized the mechanism of poly (ADP-ribose) binding by XRCC1 and examined its importance for XRCC1 function. We show that the phosphate-binding pocket in the central BRCT1 domain of XRCC1 is required for selective binding to poly (ADP-ribose) at low levels of ADP-ribosylation, and promotes interaction with cellular PARP1. We also show that the phosphate-binding pocket is required for EGFP-XRCC1 accumulation at DNA damage induced by UVA laser, H2O2, and at sites of sub-nuclear PCNA foci, suggesting that poly (ADP-ribose) promotes XRCC1 recruitment both at single-strand breaks globally across the genome and at sites of DNA replication stress. Finally, we show that the phosphate-binding pocket is required following DNA damage for XRCC1-dependent acceleration of DNA single-strand break repair, DNA base excision repair, and cell survival. These data support the hypothesis that poly (ADP-ribose) synthesis promotes XRCC1 recruitment at DNA damage sites and is important for XRCC1 function

Evaluation of Effectiveness of Pheasant Flushing Bars in Iowa Hayfields

A three year study on 394 acres of hayfields revealed an overall reduction in hen mortality of 38 percent through the use of flushing bars. This was significant at the .01 probability level. For the individual years, only 1954 showed a significant reduction in hayfield mortality, the observed 54 percent decrease being significant at the .05 probability level. The bars were most effective in flushing hens that were in the hay hut not sitting on the nest at the instant before the mower passed. A large proportion of hens on the nest was saved if incubation had not been started. Flushing bars were more effective in the afternoon than the forenoon hours. Effectiveness was well correlated with the condition of the hay crop; as the density and height of the hay increased, the effectiveness of the bar decreased rapidly. A possible security threshold factor related to the density of the cover, which may influence the likelihood a hen will flush, is suggested. It is not known if the use of the flushing bar actually resulted in additional pheasants in the fall populations; there was no noticeable increase attributable to their use. The principle of carrying capacity may act to cancel any initial gain resulting from the use of flushing bars