Advanced FBG Sensor Technique to Measure Effective Chemical Shrinkage and Modulus Evolutions of Polymers with High Polymerization Exothermic Heat

An advanced technique based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor is proposed to measure the critical mechanical properties of polymeric materials during polymerization: effective chemical shrinkage and modulus evolutions. Based on the existing technique implemented with convection oven and two different specimen configurations using same size of FBG, challenges associated with implementation are identified and solutions are proposed. Challenges include temperature instability due to high exothermic heat generated during polymerization inside polymer substrate, temperature controllability due to limitations of convection oven, and mechanical constrain on polymer and fiber during measurement. The proposed system provides modifications to provide easier implementation with accurate results. Modifications such as fabrication of FBG on special fiber, enhancement of heating system, and optimization of system design are combined to provide a tool for rapid but accurate measurement of polymer properties. The proposed technique significantly improves the ability to characterize the mechanical properties of polymeric materials during polymerization which will enhance the accuracy of predictive modeling for design optimization of a microelectronics product at the conceptual stage of product development

Central Asian students' adjustment experiences at a ""globalized"" Korean University

This study investigated the academic and cultural experiences of undergraduate Central Asian students at a university in Ulsan, South Korea. The study was designed to examine the experiences of Central Asian students both in their adjustment to academic work, and to the cultural environment created by the internationalization policy of the university. Using ethnographic methods that included participant observation, an open-ended questionnaire, and interviews, we examined the policies for internationalization of higher education, and we described how the stakeholders are responding to the policies with their own adjustment strategies. The stakeholders featured in this study are students from the Central Asian republics enrolled at a Korean engineering university. We conclude with suggestions on the ways that institutions of higher education can better serve international students' integration into their new community.open

By the way as a Multifunctional Discourse Marker

This study explored the diverse pragmatic aspects of the discourse maker by the way using three spoken corpora which were the MICASE corpus, Corpus of Contemporary American English, and British National Corpus (BYU-BNC). Despite by the ways most widely perceived usage as a digression marker signaling sudden topic change, there have been some noteworthy instances in which it was found to serve other discourse functions as well. Based on that observation, this paper first set out to identify other generally overlooked discourse functions that by the way serves. The study then proceeded to take a closer look into how those various functions were differentially realized in each spoken corpus representative of distinct spoken registers. The results rendered suggested that by the way does not have one single, static function and instead, its predominant function changes depending on the various discourse settings in which it occurs. From this variable nature of by the way, it was concluded that further discourse considerations would have to be incorporated if we are to arrive at a more enriched characterization of by the wa

By the way as a Multifunctional Discourse Marker

This study explored the diverse pragmatic aspects of the discourse maker by the way using three spoken corpora which were the MICASE corpus, Corpus of Contemporary American English, and British National Corpus (BYU-BNC). Despite by the ways most widely perceived usage as a digression marker signaling sudden topic change, there have been some noteworthy instances in which it was found to serve other discourse functions as well. Based on that observation, this paper first set out to identify other generally overlooked discourse functions that by the way serves. The study then proceeded to take a closer look into how those various functions were differentially realized in each spoken corpus representative of distinct spoken registers. The results rendered suggested that by the way does not have one single, static function and instead, its predominant function changes depending on the various discourse settings in which it occurs. From this variable nature of by the way, it was concluded that further discourse considerations would have to be incorporated if we are to arrive at a more enriched charaterization of by the way