An investigation of thin film oxygen partial pressure sensors

Product development and testing of thin film oxygen partial pressure sensor

Charge storage effects in Mylar resulting from electron irradiation, June 1965 - June 1966

Charge storage effects in Mylar from electron irradiatio

An analytical method for designing low noise helicopter transmissions

The development and experimental validation of a method for analytically modeling the noise mechanism in the helicopter geared power transmission systems is described. This method can be used within the design process to predict interior noise levels and to investigate the noise reducing potential of alternative transmission design details. Examples are discussed

Conceptualising quality of life for older people with aphasia

Background: There is an increasing need in speech and language therapy for clinicians to provide intervention in the context of the broader life quality issues for people with aphasia. However, there is no descriptive research that is explicitly focused on quality of life (QoL) from the perspectives of older people with aphasia. Aims: The current study explores how older people with chronic aphasia who are living in the community describe their QoL in terms of what contributes to and detracts from the quality in their current and future lives. The study is descriptive in nature, and the purpose is to conceptualize the factors that influence QoL. Methods & Procedures: Thirty older participants (16 women, 14 men) with mild to moderate aphasic impairment took part. All participants had adequate communication skills to participate: demonstrating reliable yes/no response and moderate auditory comprehension ability. Participants were interviewed in their own homes using six brief unprompted open questions about QoL, in a structured interview. The first five questions were drawn from previous gerontological research (Farquhar, 1995), and a sixth question specifically targeting communication was added. Content analysis was used, identifying discrete units of data and then coding these into concepts and factors. Additional demographic information was collected, and participants’ mood on day of interviewing was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986). Outcomes & Results: Activities, verbal communication, people, and body functioning were the core factors in QoL for these participants, and they described how these factors both contributed quality in life as well as detracted from life quality. Other factors that influenced QoL included stroke, mobility, positive personal outlook, in/dependence, home and health. Whilst the findings are limited by the lack of probing of participants’ responses, the study does present preliminary evidence for what is important in QoL to older people with aphasia. Conclusions: Quality of life for older people with predominantly mild to moderate chronic aphasia who are living in the community is multifactorial in nature. Some factors lie within the remit of speech and language therapy, some lie beyond the professional role, but all are relevant for consideration in rehabilitation and community practice. Further qualitative research is implicated to better understand QoL with aphasia, using in-depth interviewing with a broader range of people with aphasia

From One Cheesecake To The Next

M.H. Alshaya Co. is a widely unknown franchising organization that takes American brand names and replicates them into the Middle East. Their goal is to keep the original businesses as they are, to preserve all the important things that distinguish them in the first place- and in one of its more notable examples, The Cheesecake Factory, Alshaya keeps the food, atmosphere and overall restaurant culture the same. Or at least it appears that way- there are subtle, almost imperceptible changes- but overall the experience is designed to exist the same across the globe. While this process of homogeneity isn’t something that happens overnight, the degree of care Alshaya has taken ensures that every Cheesecake Factory location will offer the same experience. There are multiple components that go into making this happen. Take globalization: it ensures the entire brand is on the same page with culture and product. Communication’s equally significant- restaurants in different countries can only provide the same experience if someone compares and contrasts the locations, and communicates these qualities to the relevant employees. In addition, performance management ensures each and every employee provides consistently high-quality service. At the end of the day, though, change only happens when decisions are made. The decision making process is something Alshaya employs by making the choices it does, and by simultaneous being efficient and cautious. All these factors converge to make a highly successful franchising business, one that’s found a gold mine in an otherwise meager restaurant locale

A Theory of Rent Seeking with Informational Foundations

I develop a model of rent seeking with informational foundations and an arbitrary number of rent seekers, and I compare the results with Tullock’s (1980) classic model where the influence activities are “blackboxed.” Given the microfoundations, the welfare consequences of rent seeking can be studied. In particular, I show that competition among rent seekers can be socially beneficial, since the additional information that the decision maker gets access to makes the increase in rent-seeking expenditures worthwhile. However, the analysis also highlights a logic that, under natural parameter assumptions, makes the rent seekers spend more resources on rent seeking than is in society’s interest, which is consistent with the spirit of the rent-seeking literature

Just keep grazing: Parrotfish grazing and dietary selectivity in the Florida Keys

Parrotfish have indirect positive effects on corals by grazing on macroalgae that competes for substrate space with corals. Parrotfish can also have a negative impact on corals by feeding on live coral. Feeding preferences are correlated to jaw morphology in parrotfishes. This study examined the feeding selectivity for two genera of parrotfish (Scarus and Sparisoma) in the Florida Keys to determine the impacts they have on coral reefs. On 14 reefs, fish censuses, behavioral surveys and substrate composition analysis were preformed to calculate selectivity indices for the various substrate types. The indices showed that parrotfish do exhibit selective feeding. Scarus had a significantly higher preference for turf and Sparisoma had a significantly higher preference for macroalgae. These results support life history theory that Scarus are excavators and Sparisoma are grazers as predicted by their jaw morphology. This project was partially supported by the Creative Inquiry program