Family Farm Conversation between Sacks and Students

Professor Sacks speaks to Kenyon College students about the course and about living in a rural community. The students discuss how their involvement in the Family Farm Project altered their perspectives on farm life.https://digital.kenyon.edu/ffp_interviews/1000/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of a Convective Reaction-Diffusion Equation II

We study the large time behavior of positive solutions of the semilinear parabolic equation $u_t = u_{xx} + \varepsilon (g(u))_x + f(u)$, $0 \u3c x \u3c L$, $\varepsilon \in {\bf R}$, subject to $u(0,t) = u(L,t) = 0$. The model problem in which the results apply is $g(u) = u^m$ and $f(u) = u^p 1 \leqq m \u3c p$. The steady state problem is analyzed in some detail, and results about finite time blow up are proved

PREVALENCE RATE DIFFERENCES BASED ON HERDMATE COMPARISONS

A non-random survey of ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP) seropositive prevalence rates among 16,827 sheep in 29 states in the United states revealed large breed differences, a higher prevalence rate among older sheep and an unexplainable female rate that was more that three times the male rate. The herdmate comparison procedure, successfully used in evaluating dairy bulls, was adapted to compare the prevalence of a breed to the rate of its herdmates within herds. Likewise, sex and age differences in OPP prevalence were compared within herds that contained animals of both sexes and several ages. Using herdmate comparisons, breed and age differences in OPP prevalence remained but the sex difference disappeared

Lay and Expert Knowledge in a Complex Society: The AFS Teagle Foundation Project

The Teagle FoundationHow Do You Know What You Know? 2-3, Jay Mechling; Lay and Expert Knowledge in the Community College 4-5, Sean Galvin; Teaching to Live with Moving Horizons of Knowledge: Folklore Studies and New Social Problems 6-7, Jason Baird Jackson; Confronting Alternative Realities 8-9, Howard Sacks; Knowledge Gaps, Lay Experts and Feedback Loops 10-11, Sabina Magliocco; Fostering Critical Engagement through Experiential Learning 12-13, Danille Elise Christensen; Documenting Community Knowledges in Houston 14-15, Carl Lindahl; The knowledge gap as it relates to the concept of expert and lay knowledge 16-17, Tom Mould; What can student vets teach the teachers? An observer's perspective 18-19, Dorothy Noye

The interaction of lean and building information modeling in construction

Lean construction and Building Information Modeling are quite different initiatives, but both are having profound impacts on the construction industry. A rigorous analysis of the myriad specific interactions between them indicates that a synergy exists which, if properly understood in theoretical terms, can be exploited to improve construction processes beyond the degree to which it might be improved by application of either of these paradigms independently. Using a matrix that juxtaposes BIM functionalities with prescriptive lean construction principles, fifty-six interactions have been identified, all but four of which represent constructive interaction. Although evidence for the majority of these has been found, the matrix is not considered complete, but rather a framework for research to explore the degree of validity of the interactions. Construction executives, managers, designers and developers of IT systems for construction can also benefit from the framework as an aid to recognizing the potential synergies when planning their lean and BIM adoption strategies

Fast Steering Mirror Disturbance Effects on Overall System Optical Performance for the Large Ultraviolet/optical/infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) Concept Using a Non-Contact Vibration Isolation and Precision Pointing System

As the optical performance requirements of space telescopes get more stringent, the need to analyze all possible error sources early in the mission design becomes critical. One large telescope with tight performance requirements is the Large Ultraviolet / Optical / Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) concept. The LUVOIR concept includes a 15-meter-diameter segmented-aperture telescope with a suite of serviceable instruments operating over a range of wavelengths between 100nm to 2.5um. Using an isolation architecture that involves no mechanical contact between the telescope and the host spacecraft structure allows for tighter performance metrics than current space-based telescopes being flown. Because of this separation, the spacecraft disturbances can be greatly reduced and disturbances on the telescope payload contribute more to the optical performance error. A portion of the optical performance error comes from the disturbances generated from the motion of the Fast Steering Mirror (FSM) on the payload. Characterizing the effects of this disturbance gives insight into the specifications on the FSM needed to achieve the tight optical performance requirements of the overall system. Through analysis of the LUVOIR finite element model and linear optical model given a range of input disturbances at the FSM, the optical performance of the telescope and recommendations for FSM specifications can be determined. The LUVOIR observatory control strategy consists of a multi-loop control architecture including the spacecraft Attitude Control System (ACS), Vibration Isolation and Precision Pointing System (VIPPS), and FSM. This paper focuses on the control loop containing the FSM disturbances and their effects on the telescope optical performance

Management learning at the speed of life:Designing reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials

This paper introduces the concept of "management learning at the speed of life" as a metaphor to inspire millenials. Millenials may face three major problems in relation to management learning: lack of concentration, lack of engagement, and lack of socialization. Management learning at the speed of life addresses these potential problems through three dimensions: reflective, creative, and collaborative learning. This paper illustrates the benefits of reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials using practices from leadership and personal development courses that were offered over seven years in Canada, Turkey, and the UK. These courses incorporated the latest technology that brought the course activities up to the speed of life

Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables for the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases

There is increasing evidence that high consumption of fruit and vegetables is beneficial for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention

Fair publication of qualitative research in health systems: a call by health policy and systems researchers.

[Extract] An open letter from Trisha Greenhalgh et al. [1] to the editors of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) triggered wide debate by health policy and systems researchers (HPSRs) globally on the inadequate recognition of the value of qualitative research and the resulting deficit in publishing papers reporting on qualitative research [2]. One key dimension of equity in health is that researchers are able to disseminate their findings and that they are taken into account in a fair and just manner, so that they can inform health policy and programmes. The Greenhalgh et al. letter and editorial responses [3, 4] were actively discussed within "SHAPES", a thematic group within Health Systems Global, focused on Social Science approaches for research and engagement in health policy & systems (http://healthsystemsglobal.org/twg-group/6/Social-science-approaches-for-research-and-engagement-in-health-policy-amp-systems/) and within EQUINET, a regional network working on health equity research in East and Southern Africa (www.equinetafrica.org). Our discussion precipitated in this follow up open letter/commentary, which has 170 co-signatories. Collectively, we feel that barriers to publication of qualitative research limit publication of many exemplary studies, and their contribution to understanding important dimensions of health care, services, policies and systems

Building a case for accessing service provision in child and adolescent mental health assessments

In everyday conversations, people put forward versions of events and provide supporting evidence to build a credible case. In environments where there are potentially competing versions, case-building may take a more systematic format. Specifically, we conducted a rhetorical analysis to consider how in child mental health settings, families work to present a credible ‘doctorable’ reason for attendance. Data consisted of video-recordings of 28 families undergoing mental health assessments. Our findings point to eight rhetorical devices utilised in this environment to build a case. The devices functioned rhetorically to add credibility and authenticate the case being built, which was relevant as the only resource available to families claiming the presence of a mental health difficulty in the child were their spoken words. In other words, the ‘problem’ was something constructed through talk and therefore the kinds of resources used were seminal in decision-making