Thinking with Water Edited by Cecilia Ming Si Chen, Janine MacLeod and Astrida Neimanis

A review of the edited collection Thinking with Water (Chen, MacLeod, Neimanis) which addresses the place of water in our daily lives, cultural imagination, and ecological systems

Use of network analysis, and fluid and diffusion approximations for stochastic queueing networks to understand flows of referrals and outcomes in community health care

Community services are fundamental in the delivery of health care, providing local care close to or in patient homes. However, planning, managing and evaluating these services can be difficult. One stand out challenge is how these services may be organised to provide coordinated care given their physical distribution, patients using multiple services, and the increasing use of these services by patients with differing needs. This is complicated by a lack of comparable measures for evaluating quality across differing community services. Presented in this thesis is work that I conducted, alongside the North East London Foundation Trust, to understand referrals and the use of outcome data within community services through data visualisation and mathematical modelling. Firstly, I applied several data visualisations, building from a network analysis, to aid the design of a single point of access for referrals into community services - helping to understand patterns of referrals and patient use. Of interest were concurrent uses of services, whether common patterns existed and how multiple referrals occurred over time. This highlighted important dynamics to consider in modelling these services. Secondly, I developed a patient flow model, extending fluid and diffusion approximations of stochastic queueing systems to include complex flow dynamics such as re-entrant patients and the use of multiple services in sequence. Patient health is also incorporated into the model by using states that patients may move between throughout their care, which are used to model the differential impact of care. I also produced novel methods for allocating servers across parallel queues and patient groups. Finally, I developed the concept of ``the flow of outcomes'' - a measure of how individual services contribute to the output of patients in certain health states over time - to provide operational and clinical insight into the performance of a network of services

Applying Human Factors Principles In Aviation Displays: A Transition From Analog to Digital Cockpit Displays In The CP140 Aurora Aircraft

A flight test program that evaluated the results of a CP140 Aurora cockpit modernization project was conducted between May 2004 and October 2005. This paper uses the results of that test program to show how basic human factors principles were violated which led to the identification of multiple design deficiencies. This paper proposes that the failure to apply good human factors principles when designing aircraft displays can lead to unacceptable deficiencies. The result can be poor modal awareness, confusion in the cockpit, and often negative training for the pilots. In particular, four major deficiencies were analyzed to determine the specific human factors principles that were breached. The violations included a lack of concise and relevant feedback to the pilot, unclear and ambiguous annunciations, poor use of colour coding principles and logic, a lack of suitable attention capture cueing, inappropriate alert cueing, an absence of aural cueing during specific degraded modes of operation, excessive cognitive workload, and a failure to incorporate the pilot as the focal point of the display design, also known as a human centred design philosophy. Recommendations for system design enhancements are provided to ensure safe and effective operations of this prototype system prior to operational implementation. The evaluation of the prototype system design was conducted by a flight test team from the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment in Cold Lake, Alberta and supported by the Maritime Proving and Evaluation Unit in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. The test program encompassed a thorough review of system design documentation, abinitio training and preliminary testing in a Systems Integration Lab and 40 flight test missions. The recorded deficiencies were based upon the observations of two Qualified Test Pilots

Size and Scope of Sanpete County Agriculture 2019

This fact sheet describes the size and scope of agriculture in Sanpete County, including growing season, crop production, livestock production, farm income, and age of operator

Skimming impact of a thin heavy body on a shallow liquid layer

This study addresses the question of whether a thin, relatively heavy solid body with a smooth under-surface can skim on a shallow layer of liquid (for example water), i.e. impact on the layer and rebound from it. The body impacts obliquely onto the liquid layer with the trailing edge of the underbody making the initial contact. The wetted region then spreads along the underbody and eventually either retracts, generating a rebound, or continues to the leading edge of the body and possibly leads to the body sinking. The present inviscid study involves numerical investigations for increased mass ( M , in scaled terms) and moment of inertia ( I , proportional to the mass) together with an asymptotic analysis of the influential parameters and dynamics at different stages of the skimming motion. Comparisons between the asymptotic analysis and numerical results show close agreement as the body mass becomes large. A major finding is that, for a given impact angle of the underbody relative to the liquid surface, only a narrow band of initial conditions is found to allow the heavy-body skim to take place. This band includes reduced impact velocities of the body vertically and rotationally, both decreasing like M−2/3 , while the associated total time of the skim from entry to exit is found to increase like M1/3 typically. Increased mass thereby enhances the super-elastic behaviour of the skim

On the modelling and performance measurement of service networks with heterogeneous customers

Service networks are common throughout the modern world, yet understanding how their individual services effect each other and contribute to overall system performance can be difficult. An important metric in these systems is the quality of service. This is an often overlooked measure when modelling and relates to how customers are affected by a service. Presented is a novel perspective for evaluating the performance of multi-class queueing networks through a combination of operational performance and service quality—denoted the “flow of outcomes”. Here, quality is quantified by customers moving between or remaining in classes as a result of receiving service or lacking service. Importantly, each class may have different flow parameters, hence the positive/negative impact of service quality on the system’s operational performance is captured. A fluid–diffusion approximation for networks of stochastic queues is used since it allows for several complex flow dynamics: the sequential use of multiple services; abandonment and possible rejoin; reuse of the same service; multiple customers classes; and, class and time dependent parameters. The scalability of the approach is a significant benefit since, the modelled systems may be relatively large, and the included flow dynamics may render the system analytically intractable or computationally burdensome. Under the right conditions, this method provides a framework for quickly modelling large time-dependent systems. This combination of computational speed and the “flow of outcomes” provides new avenues for the analysis of multi-class service networks where both service quality and operational efficiency interact

Blood product transfusion in emergency department patients: A case-control study of practice patterns and impact on outcome

Definitions of comorbid conditions. (DOCX 13 kb

Expanding Rapid Prototyping for Electronic Systems Integration of Arbitrary Form

An innovative method for rapid prototyping (RP) of electronic circuits with components characteristic of typical electronics applications was demonstrated using an enhanced version of a previously developed hybrid stereolithography (SL) and direct write (DW) system, where an existing SL machine was integrated with a three-axis DW fluid dispensing system for combined arbitrary form electronic systems manufacturing. This paper presents initial efforts at embedding functional electronic circuits using the hybrid SL/DW system. A simple temperature-sensitive circuit was selected, which oscillated an LED at a frequency proportional to the temperature sensed by the thermistor. The circuit was designed to incorporate all the required electronic components within a 2.5” x 2” x 0.5” SL part. Electrical interconnects between electronic components were deposited on the SL part with a DW system using silver conductive ink lines. Several inks were deposited, cured, and tested on a variety of SL resin substrates, and the E 1660 ink (Ercon Inc, Wareham, MA) was selected due to its measured lowest average resistivity on the SL substrates. The finished circuit was compared with Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology for functionality. The electronic components used here include a low voltage battery, LM 555 timer chip, resistors, a thermistor, capacitors, and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). This circuit was selected because it (1) represented a simple circuit combining many typically used electronic components and thus provided a useful demonstration for integrated electronic systems manufacturing applicable to a wide variety of devices, and (2) provided an indication of the parasitic resistances and capacitances introduced by the fabrication process due to its sensitivity to manufacturing variation. The hybrid technology can help achieve significant size reductions, enable systems integration in atypical forms, a natural resistance to reverse engineering and possibly increase maximum operating temperatures of electronic circuits as compared to the traditional PCB process. This research demonstrates the ability of the hybrid SL/DW technology for fabricating combined electronic systems for unique electronics applications in which arbitrary form is a requirement and traditional PCB technology cannot be used.Mechanical Engineerin

An evaluation of Discover Nature Schools /

Fidelity of implementation (FOI) is the extent to which a program is implemented as designed. There needs to be more work on conceptualizing and measuring FOI in conservation education programs. There also needs to be a better understanding of how conservation education programs affect variables important to intended stewardship behaviors. I evaluated the Discover Nature Schools (DNS) program, a pre-K-12 conservation education curriculum developed by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), using a case study approach that included teacher focus groups, an intensive classroom study, and a statewide teacher survey to answer the following research questions: What is the Fidelity of Implementation of the DNS program? How are variables important to intended stewardship behaviors affected by participation in the DNS program? How does Fidelity of Implementation influence variables important to intended stewardship? What variables predict Fidelity of Implementation of the DNS program? I found that DNS does a good job of teaching content, although there were mixed results for teaching scientific inquiry. Teaching students outside increased students' environmental sensitivity and self-assessed knowledge of behaviors to help wildlife, regardless of whether or not students were in the DNS or comparison classrooms. Teachers generally had positive things to say about the DNS program. Teachers had varying levels of implementation of DNS, with few teachers saying they taught DNS "by the book." Institutional barriers, alignment of DNS with academic standards, outside support, and challenges teaching lessons outdoors affected FOI. The amount of instructional time, teacher content knowledge, school district support, and support from MDC predicted FOI. The DNS program had some components of FOI, such as teaching outside, that were not included in the operationalization of FOI of general math and science curricula. I also found there is not a straightforward relationship between FOI and outcomes for the DNS program. For example, having more lessons outside was associated with increases in environmental sensitivity. However, FOI was not related to pre-/post-unit changes in ecological knowledge. I recommend further study, including refining how FOI is defined and measured, of FOI in environmental education programs.Dr. Charles Nilon, Dissertation Supervisor.|Includes vita.Includes bibliographical references