Short-range laser obstacle detector

Detector, designed for slow-moving vehicle to explore surface of Mars, will automatically divert vehicle from obstacles as small as 0.5 m in its path. Detector comprises injection laser operating in pulse time-delay measurement, or radar, mode. It is capable of scanning area extending from few meters to approximately 30 m

Conceptualizing Meaningful Physical Education: A Secondary School Case Study

Background and purpose: The research literature in physical education (PE) is placing a growing emphasis on Meaningful PE (Beni et al, 2017) to transform PE to meet the needs of all students. The purpose of this research was to 1) identify the concepts of Meaningful PE that students found to be important and 2) distinguish which concepts have the most potential to provide students with Meaningful PE experiences.   The study: The project was conducted in three PE classes among grade 7 to 9 students in an urban secondary sports academy school in collaboration with their PE teachers. Data was collected using the GroupWisdomⓇ Concept Mapping (2021) platform and group interviews with the objective to have PE students and teachers conceptualize Meaningful PE. Findings: The study found that students’ and teachers’ context specific conceptualizations of Meaningful PE can be identified using GCM. The major tenet of Meaningful PE found was relationships. Student and teacher participants identified important concepts for Meaningful PE as a combination of statements within the clusters of kindness, physical activity, fun, and quality education. The findings call for a broad understanding of students within each school context in order to conceptualize meaningful physical education experiences.   Conclusions: It is my conclusion that involving students in the conceptualization of Meaningful PE by focusing on autonomous and inclusive relationships is of great importance to co-create Meaningful PE experiences. Secondary students were able to identify what is important for meaningful experiences in PE and how inclusive relationships can facilitate Meaningful PE experiences

Improvement of Weight Management Counseling in Primary Care

There are cultural, genetic, fiscal, historical, and geographic factors that have contributed to Mississippi having the highest level of obesity in the United States. As the only available source of treatment for obesity for many patients, primary care providers need to feel prepared and effective in treating obesity, and need ways to address obesity that are respectful and person-centered. Motivational interviewing is a counseling process for behavior change that empowers the patient to determine their own goals, motivations, and strategies to establish weight reducing habits. A quality improvement project was developed for primary care providers to educate them on the concepts of motivational interviewing, and to equip them with information in the electronic medical record to act as a framework for the process of weight reduction counseling during a primary care office visit. Participants were provided with a link to an electronic inventory of their perceptions of the process of weight reduction counseling and knowledge of concepts related to person-centered weight management topics and person-first language. An educational video was created by the researcher that introduced the concepts of motivational interviewing, and a template was created for the electronic medical record that guided the provider through documentation and patient instructions. After implementation of the 60-days pilot program, providers were asked to complete another inventory to see if their perceptions changed and an evaluation of the electronic template and resources. Results indicated that participants did not perceive an improvement in comfort level with weight reduction counseling but did perceive an improvement in effectiveness. When asked questions related to consent and person-first language, participants showed an improvement in grasp of person-centered care concepts. 5 Participants stated that they found the educational video and electronic templates to be beneficial to their practice. It is concluded that education for primary care providers regarding motivational interviewing for weight management counseling should continue across the state to improve the quality of care provided to patients with obesity

Terminus dynamics and deformation of proglacial sediments at the advancing Taku Glacier, Alaska, U.S.A.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005Taku Glacier has advanced about 7 km since 1890. The continuing advance is the result of the tidewater-glacier cycle. In the last several decades, the glacier has bulldozed a berm of marine and fluvial sediments from the fjord bottom and produced so-called push moraines. The mobilization of these sediments, which were locally lifted more than 20 m above sea level by 2004, has happened episodically rather than steadily. The last major proglacial sediment deformation was observed in 2001. Since then, most deformation has been localized within some meters of the terminus. Between 2002 and 2004 surface velocities and displacements were measured across the terminus and in the proglacial area. The displacements were highest between March and June and decreased with distance from the terminus. The sediments were presumably deforming internally rather than moving along a basal décollement. A simple model and sensitivity analysis show that major movement along this layer will most likely happen if (1) the glacier steepens its surface topography, (2) the proglacial sediment wedge shortens and steepens its surface slope or (3) the water pressure increases in order to reduce the frictional resistance.General introduction -- Episodic reactivation of large scale push moraines in front of the advancing Taku Glacier, Alaska, U.S.A. -- Introduction -- Background on the Taku push moraines -- Deformation at the glacier-sediment interface -- Deformation in the proglacial area -- Movement of the proglacial bulges -- Internal structure and composition of a bulge -- Model of proglacial bulges -- Sediment strength -- Horizontal glacial force -- Results and sensitivity analysis -- Discussion -- Model interpretation -- Continuous GPS interpretation -- Conclusions -- Bibliography -- General conclusion

Hacking Academic Collaboration with GLAM Edit-a-thons

GLAM edit-a-thons can enhance the presence of underrepresented groups and topics on Wikipedia, and by sharing valuable cultural holdings these events can also foster the public’s cultural awareness. And when university students and faculty are invited to these events, the impact can be even greater. Scholars in the fields of library science and writing studies have shown that Wikipedia’s collaborative composition model supports key learning goals for students, including collaboration, information literacy, and critical thinking about knowledge creation. At MIT, librarians, archivists, writing instructors, and local Wikipedians have collaborated to host several edit-a-thons with the common goals of addressing content gaps on Wikipedia and offering the public and the MIT community (including students, staff, alumni and faculty) new ways to engage with the institute’s archives and special collections. As we organized these events, we observed other opportunities for librarians, archivists, and instructors to collaborate on classroom instruction and their own research projects. This article shares results from MIT\u27s GLAM edit-a-thons, and argues that approaching projects from the perspective of Wikipedia\u27s collaborative culture can enhance other kinds of academic collaboration

Multi-criteria simulation optimization with stochastic coefficients: Methods, performance measures, and test bed problems.

Three methods were developed to solve multi-criteria simulation optimization problems by adapting and extending genetic algorithms (GA), tabu search (TS), and lexicographic Nelder-Mead (LNM) methods. These modifications were accomplished largely by incorporating simulation and using goal programming. All three methods included a memory component to ensure that each solution was only simulated once per replication of the method. The three resulting methods were the GA simulation optimization (GA-SO) method, the TS simulation optimization (TS-SO) method, and the LNM simulation optimization (LNM-SO) method. These methods were designed to address multiple objectives, but they could also be used to handle single objective problems.In general, all five test bed problems, all three multi-criteria simulation optimization methods, and all four global performance measures performed well.Currently, there are not sufficient performance measures to allow for the effective comparison of simulation optimization methods. To address this need, this research proposed four global performance measures to allow for the analysis and comparison of simulation optimization methods. These global performance measures examined the computational efficiency, the quality of solution, and a combination of the efficiency and quality. There were two measures used to evaluate the computational efficiency or the computational speed. The representative operation counts (ROC) were evaluated at two separate points: the number of calls to the simulation model required to complete the method (ROCCM) and the number of calls to the simulation model required to find the best solution (ROCBS). The quality of solution was evaluated based on the best solution found (BSF). The overall performance of a method was determined based on a combination of the computational speed and the quality of solution. A formula was determined for a performance measure called the time-quality estimator (TQE).A test bed of problems was also developed to allow for current and future simulation optimization methods to be evaluated based on the same set of test problems. Five problems were developed representing five different domains. These problems included the inventory, logistics, PERT, production, and reliability domains

The role of bridge employment in the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

New Zealand’s older population is increasing, meaning that increased research needs to be undertaken to consider older individual’s needs. The present study uses the resource-based dynamic perspective postulated by Wang, Henkens and van Solinge (2011) to examine the relationship between bridge employment, personality and retirement adjustment. It was hypothesised that personality traits (as represented by the Five-Factor Model (FFM)) would be positively related to engagement in bridge employment; and that they would also influence wellbeing in retirement (retirement adjustment). The study also explored whether bridge employment mediated the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment. This study used longitudinal data from the New Zealand Aotearoa Health, Work and Retirement (HWR) study and focused on older adults aged of 55-70. The HWR postal survey included questions about socio-demographics, personality, employment and well-being. Results in the present study show that bridge employment was not significantly related to personality. The traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness were found to significantly relate to retirement adjustment in a hierarchical regression model. Economic standard of living, age and time spent in retirement were also found to be associated with retirement adjustment in the same model. Bridge employment was not found to mediate the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment. The findings indicate that individual’s personality traits have no bearing on whether they decide to engage in bridge employment. Individuals high in conscientiousness appear to adjust to retirement more easily compared to individuals low in conscientiousness. Similarly, individuals with high neuroticism appear to find it more difficult to adjust to retirement than individuals with low neuroticism. The findings also indicate that individuals find it easier to adjust to retirement with higher socioeconomic status; indicating the importance of access to resources in retirement. Additionally, the present study provides evidence that the longer that individuals spend in retirement, the more likely it is that they will adjust to the retirement process. Implications for future research are discussed with an emphasis on motivations and reasons for bridge employment, and other variables to consider in the fields of bridge employment and retirement adjustment

Impacto de las Herramientas Lean en el consumo de energía

Lean principles are mainly used for increasing productivity, reducing lead time, and eliminating waste. Energy impacts can also be assessed by using the lean principles. The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of Lean Manufacturing tools on energy consumption, with the base assumption that they should help decrease it. The methodology assesses and documents the energy utilization as a part of VSM. A pilot application in an industrial setting is presented.  Los principios de Lean Manufacturing se usan principalmente para mejorar la productividad, reducir el tiempo de entrega y eliminar desperdicios. Los impactos en consumo de energía también se pueden estimar usando principios de Lean. El objetivo de este artículo es el de medir el impacto del uso de herramientas de Lean Manufacturing en el consumo de energía, partiendo del supuesto de que su aplicación debería reducirlo. La metodología evalúa y documenta la utilización de la energía como parte de la elaboración de Mapas de la Cadena de Valor. Finalmente se presenta una aplicación piloto en una empresa industrial