Quality circles in education

Dewar (1984) defines Quality Circles as a group of people who voluntarily meet together on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve quality and other problems in their area (p. 5). A review of the literature indicates that the Quality Circle concept is similar to participatory management or Theory Z management. Crisci, (1983), and Torrance, (1982) has identified Japan as having been given substantial credit for originating the Quality Circle movement. However, history tells us that two Americans, Dr. W.E. Deming and Dr. J.M. Juran were sent to Japan following World War II to help Japanese manufacturers develop methods of producing quality products and therefore began that country\u27s recovery procedure on solid footing

An open source graphics engine for three-dimensional video games

The focus of this project is creating a new three dimensional (3D) game called Mythic which was developed at CSUSB. To support Mythic, a new game engine called Geng which is derived from game and engine is also being developed in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at CSUSB. MAGE, called the Multi-platform All purpose Graphics Engine provides support for keyframe animation, Cg, vertex and fragment shaders GLSL vertex and fragment shaders, loading static models stored in the Collada file format. The architecture of MAGE is based on a unified 3D graphics API that hides the specific implementation details of Open GL and Direct 3D. Contains source code

Object-Oriented Design: A New Approach to Curriculum Development

Business schools are being challenged by industry to produce students who possess a broad understanding of the interlocking functions of business. However, the traditional curriculum design, especially at the introductory level, has emphasized learning business functions in isolated, stand-alone courses. This paper presents a new approach to designing introductory courses, utilizing a model called object-oriented design. This approach consists of breaking introductory courses in each discipline into discrete objects or modules. These objects are then re-coupled across disciplines to create a series of more holistic business courses. Object-oriented design is explained in more detail and then applied to re-design an introductory information systems course. A typical introductory course in information systems is used as an example to demonstrate how objects are created

Modelling the Interaction Between Racehorse Limb and Race Surface

AbstractMusculoskeletal injuries are the leading cause of racehorse fatalities and attrition. Race surface mechanics affect racehorse limb biomechanics, and therefore can affect musculoskeletal injuries. Installation of experimental race surfaces to determine their effect on racehorse limb kinematics is not financially feasible. Furthermore, field data collection is time consuming, labor intensive, and requires the use of live animals. Computational modelling provides an economical option to survey a wide range of surface mechanics and resulting effects on racehorse limb motions. This research aimed to develop and evaluate an integrated racehorse limb and race surface computational model. The interaction of a virtual galloping racehorse impacting virtual race surfaces was modelled in SIMM using combined forward/inverse dynamics. In vivo kinematic data were averaged to determine proximal forelimb, trunk, and hindlimb kinematic model profiles throughout gallop stance, as well as distal forelimb initial conditions. All distal forelimb joints and hoof translations were free to respond to external forces applied by the race surface model during stance. Race surface model coefficients were determined from previously measured race surface mechanics and forward dynamic simulations of a track-testing device. Simulation results were compared to distal forelimb motions of actual galloping racehorses on mechanically measured race surfaces. Model predicted kinematic profiles (metacarpophalangeal angle and hoof translations) had qualitative shapes and peak magnitudes within ranges of experimental data. Simulated peak metacarpophalangeal angle and hoof translations were within 11 degrees and 4cm respectively. Future model applications include estimation of the effects of variation in race surface parameters on racehorse limb biomechanics

4th Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/sfa_gardens_lonestar/1005/thumbnail.jp

Selected Chemical Modifications of Red Oak and Hard Maple Flakes for Flakeboard Manufacturing

The feasibility of using low chemical concentrations, time, and pressure for modifying red oak and hard maple flakes was investigated. Red oak and hard maple flakes were pretreated with water, sodium hydroxide, and acetic acid for different times and pressures to determine weight loss. The chemically modified flakes were processed into flakeboards. Untreated aspen, red oak, and hard maple panels were used as controls. Compared to the hard maple controls, hard maple panels had a reduction in press closing time for all treatment levels. However, a reduction in press closing time for treated red oak compared to red oak controls was evident only for very high weight loss values. Weight loss for red oak and hard maple can be controlled, and it appeared that acetic acid treatments produced better properties for both species compared to sodium hydroxide or water treatments. Mechanical properties were reduced in hard maple for all treatments and in red oak for some treatments, particularly sodium hydroxide treatments. Bending strength values for acetic acid-treated red oak panels were not significantly different from red oak control values. Water and acetic acid treatments for red oak produced similar dimensional stability values compared to red oak controls. This indicated that weight loss can be controlled without detriment to the dimensional stability of the panels. Density, internal bond, thickness swell, water absorption, and linear expansion values for red oak control and acetic acid-treated red oak panels compared favorably with aspen control panels. Density, internal bond, thickness swell, water absorption, and linear expansion values for hard maple control and linear expansion values for water and acetic acid-treated hard maple panels also compared favorably with aspen control panels

Persistence Wins: Long-Term Agricultural Conservation Outreach Pays Off

This article discusses the lesson learned from an Extension, state, and federal agency coordinated water quality project that was formally started in 1995. In the project, educational programing was provided, high risk areas were identified, and BMPs were implemented on these areas. The net result of BMP implementation was a 38% improvement in South Dakota Bad River water quality. This improvement was attributed to Extension and others providing leadership on: 1) the development of local learning communities and 2) identification and implementing BMP\u27s in high risk areas. This work demonstrates that Extension can make a difference

EFFECT OF PRACTICAL LOSSES ON OPTIMAL DESIGN OF BATCH RO SYSTEMS

Batch reverse osmosis (BRO) systems may enable a significant reduction in energy consumption for desalination and water reuse. BRO systems operate with variable pressure, by applying only slightly more pressure than is needed to overcome the osmotic pressure and produce reverse water flux. This study explains, quantifies, and optimizes the energy-saving performance of realistic batch designs implemented using pressure exchangers and unpressurized tanks. The effects of additional design parameters such as feed tank volume at the end of the cycle, volume of water in the pipes, per-pass recovery, cycle operating time, and cycle reset time on the performance of BRO are captured. Loss mechanisms including hydraulic pressure drop and concentration polarization as well as friction and mixing in the energy recovery devices are considered. At low cycle-reset time (10% of productive time) and low piping volumes (12% of volume inside membrane elements), about 13% energy savings is possible compared to a continuous system operating at the same overall pure water productivity. Under these conditions, we also show that the ideal per-pass recovery is close to 50%, similar to single-stage RO. This recovery reduces the need for system redesign with additional pressure vessels in parallel, contrary to predictions in the literature. The projected savings in terms of the overall cost of water is around 3%. Additionally, advanced ultra-permeable membranes, such as those based on graphene or graphene oxide, are expected to lead to more significant energy savings in BRO than in single-stage RO