Initial thoughts on rapid prototyping techniques

This paper sets some context, raises issues, and provides our initial thinking on the characteristics of effective rapid prototyping techniques.After discussing the role rapid prototyping techniques can play in the software lifecycle, the paper looks at possible technical approaches including: heavily parameterized models, reusable software, rapid prototyping languages, prefabrication techniques for system generation, and reconfigurable test harnesses.The paper concludes that a multi-faceted approach to rapid prototyping techniques is needed if we are to address a broad range of applications successfully -- no single technical approach suffices for all potentially desirable applications

Lean on Me: Leadership Beyond the Patriarchy

Leadership styles have taken various forms throughout humanity’s trajectory on earth. Indicative of patriarchal systems, the most prominent styles of leadership that are widely recognized in the public and private sectors routinely favor individuals who portray characteristics of ambition, confidence and assertiveness that at times crosses over into aggression. When one considers which gender fit the stereotype of exhibiting leadership qualities under these assumptions, often hyper-masculine men fit the mold. In contrast, when women are successful at ascending and working in higher ranking positions, the characteristics that are mapped on to their personas are often associated with collaboration and relationship-building. Scholarship in leadership theory indicates that collaborative and team-building styles of leadership are far more conducive for achieving success in many different endeavors of business and politics. My investigation into this topic critiques the assumptions informed by a patriarchal culture that confuses good leadership with common attributes of hyper-masculinity. I will also discuss how women have most effectively pushed for social change throughout history by supporting each other emotionally and collectively in order to overcome patriarchal systems of domination and oppression. Thus, contrary to leadership theories that purport that women should seek to lead as aggressively as men under a patriarchal setting, this thesis argues that the systems of power that encourage dominance, strict hierarchies and ruthless competition are counterproductive and even damaging to most individuals within traditional organizational structures. Hence, a new vision for positive leadership attributes must be adopted if the goal is to foster and support equitable systems of organization and successful leadership

Simplified Single Source Xml Model: for Student-Centered Educational Content Management

This study investigates XML as a single source, recommending solutions and defining future needs for educators to manage student-centered educational content for diverse user preferences and multi-modal delivery. This research proposes a simplified XML single source model for educational course content management and XSL transformation of course material into multi-modal display/output that enables student-centered learning. The reviewed literature exposed four problem areas related to content management in which an XML single source might be a solution. Reviewed and synthesized literature related to XML into a cubed relationship with opposing the sides of the cube (content management/single source, corporate goals/educational goals and reuse/re-purpose) compared and contrasted. The result points to the need for a simplified XML model in order to realize the potential of educational goals for student-centered transformations (re-purposing content) and to future proof content management that is device independent and provides possible solutions to the problem areas in content management and technology management of course material

Magnetotelluric image of the fluid cycle in the Costa Rican subduction zone

Fluids entering the subduction zone are a key factor in the subduction process. They determine the onset of melting, weakening and changes in the dynamics and thermal structure of subduction zones and trigger earthquakes when being released from the subducting plate in a series of metamorphic processes. However, the amount of water carried into the subduction zone and its distribution are not well constrained by existing data and are subject of vigorous current research in SFB574 (Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones: Climate Feedback and Trigger Mechanisms for Natural Disasters). Electromagnetic methods like magnetotellurics have been used widely to recognize fluid release and melt production through enhanced electrical conductivities. Here we present an image of the hydration and dehydration cycle down to 120 km depth in one setting derived by an onshore-offshore transect of magnetotelluric soundings in Costa Rica. An electrically conductive zone in the incoming plate outer rise is associated with sea water penetrating down extensional faults and cracks into the upper mantle possibly causing serpentinization. Along the downward subducting plate distinct conductive anomalies identify fluids from dehydration of sediments, crust and mantle. A conductivity anomaly at a depth of approx. 12 km and at a distance of 65 km from the trench is associated with a first major dehydration reaction of minerally-bound water. This is of importance in the context of mid-slope fluid seeps which are thought to significantly contribute to the recycling of minerally-bound water. The position of the conductivity anomaly correlates with geochemical and seismic evidence stating that mid-slope fluids are originated at >=12 km depth before rising up through deep faults to the seeps. The conductivity anomaly is therefore associated with a fluid accumulation feeding the mid-slope seeps. Another fluid accumulation is revealed by a conductivity anomaly at 20-30 km depth and a distance of approximately 30 km seaward from the volcanic arc. This lower crustal fluid accumulation could likely be caused by trapping of fluids released due to de-serpentinization processes or due to other mineral dehydration processes. While we are at the moment not able to attribute one specific process causing the anomaly based on electromagnetic data alone, this feature is however of fundamental importance. A comparison with other electromagnetic studies from subduction zones around the world reveal that such a conductivity anomaly is a global feature suggesting the presence of a global fluid sink. Based on very simplified assumptions we are able derive rough estimates for the amount of water being stored in the overriding plate. Relating seismic evidence as well as petrological results collected in the multi-disciplinary study on the Costa Rican subduction zone we introduce budget estimations for the water cycle in the subduction zone

A tale of two regulators: telecom policy participation in Canada

What are the challenges to effective academic participation in telecommunications policymaking? In this article, the authors analyze their experiences with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and Industry Canada as examples. Their goal is to increase academic policy engagement despite negligible government support for public interest advocacy, as traditional public interest values are discarded by regulators because new technologies are framed as individual rather than collective. Industry Canada is deemed opaque with an “advocacy deficit,” though the CRTC is more transparent and inviting. To succeed in both venues, academics need to work with advocacy organizations as “circumstantial activists.” Such academic participation can offer new conceptual frameworks, add nuance to discourse, substantiate the use of scholarly research in policy debates, and add to policy theory building

A Call for “Trans-action”: The Role of Enacted Stigma in Mediating the Relationship between School Climate and School Attachment among Gender Minority Students

Several studies have highlighted the association between enacted stigma with various mental health and educational disparities among sexual minority students, but fewer have done so with an exclusive gender minority sample and even less have included school attachment as an outcome measure. The purpose of the current analyses is to test the main effects that an LGBTQ-inclusive school context as well as enacted stigma has on school attachment, and whether enacted stigma acts as a mediator. Results show that exposure to enacted stigma is a risk factor for low school attachment, while a supportive LGBTQ-inclusive school climate is a protective one, and that the relationship between an inclusive climate and school attachment is significantly mediated by enacted stigma. Within a theoretically informed lens, these findings represent a notable contribution to educational research in terms of the importance of providing a healthy school environment for gender minority students.Si plusieurs études ont souligné le lien entre la stigmatisation effective et diverses disparités portant sur la santé mentale et l’éducation chez des élèves appartenant à une minorité sexuelle, moins d’entre elles ont porté exclusivement sur un échantillon composé d’une minorité sexuelle et encore moins ont inclus l’intérêt pour l’école parmi les mesures de résultats. L’objectif de nos analyses est d’évaluer les incidences principales qu’ont, d’une part,  un contexte scolaire inclusif face à la population LGBTQ et, d’autre part, la stigmatisation effective, sur l’intérêt pour l’école. Nous cherchons également à savoir si la stigmatisation effective joue un rôle de médiateur. Les résultats indiquent que l’exposition à la stigmatisation effective constitue un facteur de risque pour une mauvaise relation avec l’école, qu’un climat scolaire inclusif face à la population LGBTQ est un facteur de protection et que le rapport entre un climat inclusif et l’intérêt pour l’école est modifié considérablement par la stigmatisation effective. Dans une optique fondée sur les théories actuelles, ces résultats représentent une contribution notable à la recherche en éducation en évoquant l’importance de fournir un milieu scolaire sain pour les élèves appartenant à une minorité sexuelle

Are the Kids All Right? The Impact of School Climate among Students with LGBT Parents

Using a large-scale survey of over 3,000 Canadian students, this study empirically investigates the correlation of having a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) parent with the likelihood of skipping school due to feeling unsafe. A multivariate logistic regression procedure with interaction terms was used. Results show that students who have an LGBT parent, and who report feeling unsafe at school due to their family type or their own real/perceived gender and/or sexual identity, were almost four times more likely to report skipping school than cisgender-heterosexual (CH) students with non-LGBT parents who feel safe at school

Magnetotelluric image of the fluid cycle in the Costa Rican subduction zone

Fluids entering the subduction zone play a key role in the subduction process. They cause changes in the dynamics and thermal structure of the subduction zone1, and trigger earthquakes when released from the subducting plate during metamorphism. Fluids are delivered to the subduction zone by the oceanic crust and also enter as the oceanic plate bends downwards at the plate boundary. However, the amount of fluids entering subduction zones is not matched by that leaving through volcanic emissions4 or transfer to the deep mantle, implying possible storage of fluids in the crust. Here we use magnetotelluric data to map the entire hydration and dehydration cycle of the Costa Rican subduction zone to 120 km depth. Along the incoming plate bend, we detect a conductivity anomaly that we interpret as sea water penetrating down extensional faults and cracks into the upper mantle. Along the subducting plate interface we document the dehydration of sediments, the crust and mantle. We identify an accumulation of fluids at ~20–30 km depth at a distance of 30 km seaward from the volcanic arc. Comparison with other subduction zones5–14 indicates that such fluid accumulation is a global phenomenon. Although we are unable to test whether these fluid reservoirs grow with time, we suggest that they can account for some of the missing outflow of fluid at subduction zones