Production of circular polymer-glass fabric composites

Potentially automated pultrusion technique has been provided for production of curved, glass-reinforced polyimide, epoxy, and graphite reinforced structures. Specially designed apparatus has been manufactured for production of curved structures

Living-into, living-with: A Schutzian account of the player/character relationship

Games Studies reveals the performative nature of playing a character in a virtual-game-world (Nitsche 2008, p.205; Pearce 2006, p.1; Taylor 2002, p.48). Tbe Player/Character relationship is typically understood in terms of the player’s in-game “presence” (Boellstorff 2008, p.89; Schroeder 2002, p.6). This gives the appearance that living-into a game-world is an all-or- nothing affair: either the player is “present” in the game-world, or they are not. I argue that, in fact, a constitutive phenomenology reveals the Player/Character relationship to be a multi-dimensional matter of empathy. I advance a broadly Schutzian framework, drawing on his 1932 discussions of “face-to-face encounters” and ”historical predecessors,” showing how at- tention to empathy reveals a variety of “presences” that different kinds of Player/Character relationships afford. The central determinants of empathetic affordances which I focus on here are (i) how much players know about a character (especially the character’s past) and (ii) how players learn this information.The purpose of this discussion will be to show that a phenomenological analysis reveals that the relationship between a player and their character is complex, highly variable, and inherently social. Furthermore, it will add to the growing body of scholarship that demonstrates that video games are rich social objects deserving of study

The Conversion of Diamond Walnut Growers

Three aspects of property rights theory are particularly relevant to the conversion of the walnut-marketing cooperative, Diamond Walnut Growers (DWG), into a publicly traded stockholder-owned corporation. The horizon problem became apparent when DWG began investing heavily in branded, value-added products. The resulting need for additional member capital raised the free rider problem. The principal-agent problem was also relevant, given the increasing complexity of DWG’s financing and marketing activities. An additional economic issue surrounding the conversion was the monopsonistic situation created when members signed long-term marketing agreements with the new firm that was maximizing shareholder value, rather than grower returns.Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Cooperatives as Marketers of Branded Products

Few agricultural marketing cooperatives have nationally prominent brand names. Instead, they tend to concentrate in commodity-oriented markets, which can be attributed to the cooperative principles—user-benefit, user-financed and user-control. However, these structural disadvantages can be overcome. Due to the user-benefit principle, cooperatives often have seasonal product availability and/or limited product lines; they also suffer from the horizon problem, lacking the structure to provide long-term returns to members who invest in brand building. The user-benefit principle can be converted into an advantage by using the cooperative identity as a marketing strategy, and the horizon problem can be remedied by implementing a delivery-rights system. Cooperatives’' limited access to capital is attributable to the user-financed principle. Joint ventures, legislative reforms to expand cooperatives'’ sources of equity capital and preferred stock offerings can be used to overcome this constraint. The homogeneous nature of cooperative boards is attributable to the user-control principle; it gives rise to the principal-agent problem. Forming subsidiaries or joint ventures to market branded products can remedy this situation, with the boards composed of individuals with expertise in branded products.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Do Government Policies Grow Local Food?

local food, food policy, direct marketing, food safety, Know Your Farmer, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Being together, worlds apart: a virtual-worldly phenomenology

Previous work in Game Studies has centered on several loci of investigation in seeking to understand virtual gameworlds. First, researchers have scrutinized the concept of the virtual world itself and how it relates to the idea of “the magic circle”. Second, the field has outlined various forms of experienced “presence”. Third, scholarship has noted that the boundaries between the world of everyday life and virtual worlds are porous, and that this fosters a multiplicity of identities as players identify both with themselves-offline and themselves-in-game. Despite widespread agreement that these topics are targets for research, so far those working on these topics do not have mutually agreed-upon framework. Here we draw upon the work of Alfred Schutz to take up this call. We provide a phenomenological framework which can be used to describe the phenomena of interest to Game Studies, as well as open new avenues of inquiry, in a way acceptable and useful to all. This helps to distinguish the core of the field from the supplemental theoretical and critical commitments which characterize diverse approaches within the field