The Art Car Spectacle: a Cultural Display and Catalyst for Community

This auto-ethnographic study focuses on Houston’s art car community and the grassroots movement’s 25 year relationship with the city through an art form that has created a sense of community. Art cars transform ordinary vehicles into personally conceived visions through spectacle, disrupting status quo messages of dominant culture regarding automobiles and norms of ownership and operation. An annual parade is an egalitarian space for display and performance, including art cars created by individuals who drive their personally modified vehicles every day, occasional entries by internationally renowned artists, and entries created by youth groups. A locally proactive public has created a movement has co-opted the cultural spectacle, creating a community of practice. I studied the events of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art’s Art Car Weekend to give me insight into art and its value for people in this community. Sources of data included the creation of a participatory art car, journaling, field observation, and semi-structured interviews. The first part is my academic grounding, informed by critical pedagogy and socially reconstructive art practices. The second part narrates my experiences and understandings of the community along with the voices of others. Dominant themes of exploration include empowerment, community, and art. I examine the purposes for participation by artists, as well in the practices of audiences and organizations that provide support for this art form. My findings have significant implications community-based art education and k-12 classroom educators. Relational and dialogic approaches to making art, teaching, and researching are tied to problem-posing education as a recommendation for art education

The role of social and/or ecological contexts influences assessment strategy use in Tilapia

Animals engage in costly agonistic contests during which winners procure resources. During these interactions, the combatants obtain and use information to make decisions on whether to persist or to withdraw from the fight, which is termed assessment. Recent theory and work have suggested that the types of assessment employed may be more variable than previously thought, with the use of different strategies possibly being influenced by social and ecological conditions during priming. This study addresses the contextual components (social and ecological) that affect the utilization of one assessment strategy over another. Male tilapia were primed with different combinations of social (large and small animals) and ecological (resource rich or poor) contexts 24 hr prior to fighting in staged, dyadic contests. When opponents were primed with the same context, a clear assessment strategy emerged and differed as a function of priming treatment. Conversely, when fish were primed with different treatment contexts, there was no discernible assessment. In addition, priming conditions had differing effects for large and small fish. Thus, assessment strategies in cichlids are dependent upon a combination of social, ecological contexts and size of the animal. Since assessment strategies change as a function of both of these contexts, as well as others, future framework investigating assessment strategies should include both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may shape fighting dynamics.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151902/1/eth12936_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151902/2/eth12936.pd

Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Composites and Methods of Making Same Without the Use of Oven or Autoclave

Method embodiments for producing a fiber-reinforced epoxy composite comprise providing a mold defining a shape for a composite, applying a fiber reinforcement over the mold, covering the mold and fiber reinforcement thereon in a vacuum enclosure, performing a vacuum on the vacuum enclosure to produce a pressure gradient, insulating at least a portion of the vacuum enclosure with thermal insulation, infusing the fiber reinforcement with a reactive mixture of uncured epoxy resin and curing agent under vacuum conditions, wherein the reactive mixture of uncured epoxy resin and curing agent generates exothermic heat, and producing the fiber-reinforced epoxy composite having a glass transition temperature of at least about 100.degree. C. by curing the fiber reinforcement infused with the reactive mixture of uncured epoxy resin and curing agent by utilizing the exothermically generated heat, wherein the curing is conducted inside the thermally insulated vacuum enclosure without utilization of an external heat source or an external radiation source

The natural resources of Elkhorn Slough: their present and future use

This report summarizes the history of the slough, ecological attractions, educational value, and problems facing its continued existence. Appended references provide the interested and concerned citizen with sources of more specific information. As a result of the initial survey of estuarine areas of California (California Department of Fish and Game, 1969), the critical status of the coastal marshes became obvious. This report on Elkhorn Slough is part of the high priority inventory and assessment of coastal wetlands by the Department of Fish and Game, and it is intended as a guide for citizens, planners, administrators, and all others interested in the use and development of coastal lands and waters. As such, this report transcends local issues on pollution and development and, in fact, documents the status and future of natural resources that should be a part of the inheritance of following generations. This publication is one of a scheduled series. It follows similar documents on Upper Newport Bay (orange county), Goleta Slough (Santa Barbara County) and the Bolinas Lagoon (Marin county). (Document has 126 pages

Systematic review with meta-analysis: Endoscopic balloon dilatation for Crohn's disease strictures

Background: Endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) is recognised treatment for symptomatic Crohn's strictures. Several case series report its efficacy. A systematic analysis for overall efficacy can inform the design of future studies. Aim: To examine symptomatic (SR) and technical response (TR) and adverse events (AE) of EBD. Stricture characteristics were also explored. Methods: A systematic search strategy of COCHRANE, MEDLINE and EMBASE was performed. All original studies reporting outcomes of EBD for Crohn's strictures were included. SR was defined as obstructive symptom-free outcome at the end of follow-up, TR as post-dilatation passage of the endoscope through a stricture, and adverse event as the presence of complication (perforation and/or bleeding). Pooled event rates across studies were expressed with summative statistics. Results: Twenty-five studies included 1089 patients and 2664 dilatations. Pooled event rates for SR, TR, complications and perforations were 70.2% (95% CI: 60-78.8%), 90.6% (95% CI: 87.8-92.8%), 6.4% (95% CI: 5.0-8.2) and 3% (95% CI: 2.2-4.0%) respectively. Cumulative surgery rate at 5 year follow-up was 75%. Pooled unweighted TR, SR, complication, perforation and surgery rates were 84%, 45%, 15%, 9% and 21% for de novo and 84%, 58%, 22%, 5% and 32% for anastomotic strictures. Outcomes between two stricture types were no different on subgroup meta-analysis. Conclusions: Efficacy and complication rates for endoscopic balloon dilatation were higher than previously reported. From the few studies with 5 year follow-up the majority required surgery. Future studies are needed to determine whether endoscopic balloon dilatation has significant long-term benefits

Emergencies after endoscopic procedures

Endoscopy adverse events (AEs), or complications, are a rising concern on the quality of endoscopic care, given the technical advances and the crescent complexity of therapeutic procedures, over the entire gastrointestinal and bilio-prancreatic tract. In a small percentage, not established, there can be real emergency conditions, as perforation, severe bleeding, embolization or infection. Distinct variables interfere in its occurrence, although, the awareness of the operator for their potential, early recognition, and local organized facilities for immediate handling, makes all the difference in the subsequent outcome. This review outlines general AEs’ frequencies, important predisposing factors and putative prophylactic measures for specific procedures (from conventional endoscopy to endoscopic cholangio-pancreatography and ultrasonography), with comprehensive approaches to the management of emergent bleeding and perforation

An experimental analysis of the transverse Zeeman intensity pattern of the 6647 A forbidden line of Hg II

This thesis project has involved a study of forbidden radiation: a phenomenon studied in the discipline of Atomic Spectroscopy. Specifically, the forbidden spectral line 6647 A of Hg II was examined. This line is of mixed multipolarity in that it is composed of magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole radiation. Emission of these two multipolarities gives rise to an interference effect which is quite useful in determining the degree to which each multipolarity contributes to this forbidden line.The results of the study carried out here agree with the theoretical predictions made for this line. They indicate that less than two percent electric-quadrupole radiation is present in the line. This study of the interference effect demonstrates the importance of obtaining both the transverse and longitudinal views of the line relative to the direction of the magnetic field. Both views, it is felt, are necessary for experimental verification of the line's structure.Thesis (M.S.

Developing Feedforward Neural Networks as Benchmark for Load Forecasting: Methodology Presentation and Application to Hospital Heat Load Forecasting

For load forecasting, numerous machine learning (ML) approaches have been published. Besides fully connected feedforward neural networks (FFNNs), also called multilayer perceptron, more advanced ML approaches like deep, recurrent or convolutional neural networks or ensemble methods have been applied. However, evaluating the added benefit by novel approaches is difficult. Statistical or rule-based methods constitute a too low benchmark. FFNNs need extensive tuning due to their manifold design choices. To address this issue, a structured, comprehensible five-step FFNN model creation methodology is presented, which constitutes of initial model creation, internal parameter selection, feature engineering, architecture tuning and final model creation. The methodology is then applied to forecast real world heat load data of a hospital in Germany. The forecast constitutes of 192 values (upcoming 48 h in 15 min resolution) and is composed of a multi-model univariate forecasting strategy, with three test models developed at first. As a result, the test models show great similarities which simplifies creation of the remaining models. A performance increase of up to 18% between initial and final models points out the importance of model tuning. As a conclusion, comprehensible model tuning is vital to use FFNN models as benchmark. The effort needed can be reduced by the experience gained through repeated application of the presented methodology