Stepping Out: Narratives of Former Fundamentalist Christians

Fundamentalist churches are unlike most mainstream forms of Christianity because of the elevated level of encapsulation these groups attempt to instill in their members. Encapsulation leads individuals to develop closely held identities that strongly impact their everyday lives. When an individual exits a fundamentalist group they enter a process through which their identity is transformed. This transformation occurs throughout a number of steps which appear to be similar to those leaving other encapsulating groups, namely orthodox Jewish communities. The process begins with the defector recognizing holes in the sacred canopy their church has wrapped them in, and ends with a complete transformation of identity

Outerwall and Beyond: ecoATM, Looking Ahead

In 2013, Outerwall (parent company of Coinstar and RedBox) acquired ecoATM, an automated e-waste recycling station. As a disruptive technology in the e-recycling business, ecoATM has demonstrated significant potential for triple-bottom-line success. Outerwall has struggled with negative press related to law-enforcement belief that these kiosks are “a motivator for the criminal element.” This CSR mini-case provides students an opportunity to work creatively to solve a public relations and perception problem in order to fully realize a company’s full potential for positive social, environmental and economic impact

Quark spin coupling in baryons - revisited

A direct connection can be made between mixing angles in negative parity baryons and the spin coupling of constituent quarks. The mixing angles do not depend on spectral data. These angles are recalculated for gluon exchange and pion exchange between quarks. For pion exchange the results of Glozman and Riska are corrected. The experimental data on mixing are very similar to those derived from gluon exchange but substantially different from the values obtained for pion exchange.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex; a sign error is corrected, spin-orbit results are include

Determining Off-Normal Solar Optical Properties of Drapery Fabrics

© 2009, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Transactions 2009, vol. 115, part 2. For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission.The determination of off-normal solar optical properties of drapery fabrics is particularly useful in modelling the effective solar optical properties of pleated drapery. Special sample holders were designed and fabricated to facilitate measurements using an integrating sphere installed in a commercially available spectrophotometer. Measurements were taken for eight of the nine fabric designations documented in the ASHRAE Handbook – Fundamentals. Measurements were also obtained for a sheer fabric which does not fall into any of the customary fabric designations. Semi-empirical models were developed to quantify the variation of solar optical properties with respect to incidence angle. Given solar optical properties obtained at normal incidence, these models can be used to characterize the off-normal beam-beam and beam-diffuse properties of a drapery fabric. The fabric models comprise a useful component of pleated drapery models and, in turn, a valuable tool for building energy simulation. The measurement technique described in this study can be used to obtain the off-normal solar optical properties of additional flat shading devices such as roller blinds and insect screens.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) || ASHRA

Determining Longwave Radiative Properties Of Flat Shading Materials

Solar gain through fenestration has a significant impact on building peak load and annual energy consumption. Shading devices, attached to fenestration, offer a cost effective strategy in controlling solar gain. The performance of a particular shading device is dependent on solar optical and longwave radiative properties of the device. The current study considers longwave properties of three flat shading materials; drapery fabrics, insect screens and roller blinds. Each of these materials consists of a structure (i.e., yarn, wire, sheet) that is opaque with respect to longwave (infrared) radiation and each material is likely to have some openness. Material emittance and longwave transmittance measurements were taken with an infrared reflectometer using two backing surfaces. The results show emittance and longwave transmittance to be simple functions of openness, emittance and longwave transmittance of the structure. This is especially useful because openness can be determined from solar transmittance measurements while emittance and longwave transmittance of the structure was found to be constant for each category of shading material.NSERC || ASHRA

A Simplified Method For Calculating The Effective Solar Optical Properties Of a Drapery

The use of draperies to control solar gain through windows is common in residential and commercial buildings and their potential for reduction of building peak load and annual energy consumption is recognized to be large. Thus, there is a strong need for models that allow a drapery to be included in glazing system analysis. As an approximation, the drapery is modelled as a series of uniformly arranged rectangular pleats with fabric transmitting and reflecting diffusely any incident radiation. The “effective” solar optical properties of the drapery are then determined by considering an enclosure which is representative of the entire series of pleats. The optical properties of the drapery are functions of the pleat geometry and the optical properties of the fabric. Optical properties are also influenced by the directional nature of the incident radiation. In the case of incident beam radiation, the results are presented as a function of the solar profile angle for a folding ratio corresponding to 100% fullness. The results for incident diffuse radiation on the other hand are presented in terms of fabric properties and the folding ratio of the drapery.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Graduate Scholarship to N.A. Kotey || ASHRAE 1311-TR

A Detailed Model to Determine the Effective Solar Optical Properties of Draperies

© 2009, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Transactions 2009, vol. 115, part 1. For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission.Drapes have the potential to reduce peak cooling load and annual energy consumption because they can be used to control solar gain. Thus, the need to model a drapes in a glazing system analysis is important. A detailed model that can be used to estimate the spatially averaged (effective) solar optical properties of a drapery is presented. This model approximates a drapery as a series of uniformly arranged rectangular pleats. The effective solar optical properties of the drapery are then determined by considering a representative enclosure. The solar properties of the fabric are incidence angle dependent, and the effects of beam and diffuse components, in both reflection and transmission, are included. Furthermore, the model can be applied to fabrics with differing front and back properties. The model therefore offers new possibilities in calculating the effective solar optical properties of draperies made with practically any fabric. Results are presented for both incident beam and diffuse radiation.Natural Science and Engineering Research Council || American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc

Determining Off-Normal Solar Optical Properties of Insect Screens

© 2009, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Transactions 2009, vol. 115, part 1. For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission.Shading attachments may have a strong influence on solar gain. The determination of off-normal solar optical properties of individual layers of glazing/shading systems is required in order to estimate this solar gain, which influences building peak load and annual energy consumption. Recently, a unique test method was developed for the experimental determination of off-normal solar optical properties of flat shading devices (e.g., drapery fabrics and roller blinds). The study described in this research applies the same method to insect screens. More specifically, semi-empirical models were developed from measured data, obtained at varying angles of incidence using an integrating sphere installed in a spectrophotometer. The measurements were taken on six samples of screen material with various mesh sizes and wire reflectances. The measured data were compared with analytical models recently developed from geometry and ray tracing techniques. The results of this study demonstrate the reliability of using special sample holders attached to an integrating sphere to obtain off-normal solar optical properties of flat shading materials.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada || American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.

Determining Off-Normal Solar Optical Properties of Roller Blinds

© 2009, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Transactions 2009, vol. 115, part 1. For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission.Solar gain through fenestration constitutes a significant portion of peak cooling load and annual energy consumption in buildings. As such, any reduction in solar gain translates into savings associated with the cost of purchasing and operating cooling equipment. Shading devices in general, and roller blinds in particular, can be used to reduce solar gain appreciably. The performance of a roller blind is largely determined by its solar optical properties. In this study, an integrating sphere was used to obtain off-normal solar properties of six typical roller blind samples. Measurements were used to develop semi-empirical models for the off-normal beam-beam, beam-diffuse, and diffuse-diffuse solar optical properties. The models provide a means to calculate off-normal properties by adjusting known values of beam-beam transmittance (i.e., openness), beam-total transmittance, and beam-total reflectance measured at normal incidence. The properties that apply to normal incidence are readily obtained. Such models are valuable components of building energy simulation software.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council || ASHRAE 1311-TR