Do Bilinguals Earn More in Texas?

Curious about the effects of knowing a second language on income, I used data from the 2017 American Community Survey to analyze the economic advantages associated with bilingualism for adults 18-64 in Texas who reported an income and positive weeks worked in the year prior to the survey. Bilingualism is defined as speaking a language at home other than or in addition to English

Design procedure for improved active filters

Synthesis technique for active filters gives high degree of accuracy for frequencies as high as 500 kHz and covers frequencies most used for telemetry. Frequency response can be realized within few percent of specified cutoff frequencies without need for tuning

Rankine cycle machines for solar cooling

Research, development, and demonstration of Rankine cycle machines are outlined that use fluids heated by solar energy rather than by coal, petroleum, natural gas, or nuclear fuels

NASA contributions to fluidic systems: A survey

A state-of-the art review of fluidic technology is presented. It is oriented towards systems applications rather than theory or design. It draws heavily upon work performed or sponsored by NASA in support of the space program and aeronautical research and development (R&D). Applications are emphasized in this survey because it is hoped that the examples described and the criteria presented for evaluating the suitability of fluidics to new applications will be of value to potential users of fluidic systems. This survey of the fluidics industry suggests some of the means whereby a company may use a fluidic system effectively either to manufacture a product or as part of the end product

The Integral Jan Smuts.

Integral Theory as developed by Ken Wilber and other contemporary Integral scholars acknowledge many antecedent foundational influences, and proto-Integral thinkers. Curiously, the philosopher-statesman Jan Smuts’ theory of Holism is seldom acknowledged, although it has significantly contributed, albeit often implicitly, to the development of Integral Theory. This paper and presentation has two central aims: To point out that Smuts can be counted amongst one of the great Integral thinkers of the 20th Century; that Smuts’ notion of Holism had a significant influence on the development of Integral Theory. This paper and presentation will provide a brief outline of Smuts’ theory of Holism as developed in his book Holism and Evolution and other philosophical essays

A study of the experiential service design process at a luxury hotel

This thesis explores the process of designing experiential services at a luxury hotel. These processes were surfaced by means of a methodology that used the principles of jazz improvisation. Due to similarities between experiential service design and elements in jazz improvisation, representing experiential service design through the jazz improvisation metaphor leads to a new framework for exploring the process of experiential service design that is iterative in nature. A gap in the service design literature is that experiential service design is not operationalized in organizational improvisation, and one contribution from this study will be to fill that gap. This study contributes to the field of knowledge by exposing a new perspective on how experiential services can be better designed by adapting some of the design tools from this luxury hotel; a second contribution is a recommendation for how the improvisational lens works as an investigative tool to research experiential organizations. In the process, some new dimensions to understanding complexity are contributed. The research process utilized qualitative research methods. Frank Barrett (1998) identified seven characteristics of jazz improvisation which I have used as a heuristic device: 1) provocative competence (i.e., deliberately creating disruption); 2) embracing errors as learning sources; 3) minimal structures that allow for maximum flexibility; 4) distributed task (i.e., an ongoing give and take); 5) reliance on retrospective sensemaking (organizational members as bricoleurs, making use of whatever is at hand); 6) hanging out (connecting through communities of practice); and 7) alternating between soloing and supporting. This research is grounded in the body of literature regarding complexity, organizational improvisation, service design and experience design. The role of heterogeneous minimal structures that are fluid and optimize uncertainty is central to this investigation. Themes such as sensemaking and the role of story, meaning-making, organizational actors' use of tangible and intangible design skills, and embracing ambiguity in efforts to design experiential services are explored throughout the dissertation. The anticipatory nature of experiential service design is a principle outcome from the data that is incorporated into the new conceptual framework highlighting a "posture of service"

Melting of troilite at high pressure in a diamond cell by laser heating

A system for measuring melting temperatures at high pressures is described. The sample is heated with radiation from a YAG laser. The beam is reflected downward through a microscope objective, through the upper diamond anvil, and focused onto the sample. Hense, intense heating is produced only at the sample and not within the diamond anvils. A vidicon system is used to observe the sample during heating. Incandescent light from the heated sample passes back through the objective lens into a grating spectrometer. The spectrum of the incandescent light is received by the photodiode array and stored in the multichannel analyzer. These data can then be transferred to floppy disk for analysis. A curve fitting program is used to compare the spectra with standard blackbody curves and to determine the temperature. Pressure is measured by the ruby fluorescence method. The system was used to study the melting behavior of natural troilite (FeS)

1918, April 28 - Weathers

Series 1.1.4 - Fay Webb Gardner; Personal Papers; Correspondence Correspondence from an unknown member of the Weathers family to an unknown recipient.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/fay-webb-gardner-correspondence/1028/thumbnail.jp

Reducing Noise in Automatic Transmission

The efficiency of an automobile increases as its running torque increases. This is an avenue for improving fuel economy that is actively being pursued. However, transmissions running at higher torques produce an unacceptable amount of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH). NVH occurs most visibly as a result of the vehicle’s friction clutch behavior. At present, machines capable of testing this behavior exist (MTM machine and LVFA rig) but are very expensive in terms of time, space, and production cost. The goal of this project is to produce a cost-effective machine in which friction clutch behavior can be analyzed in a laboratory setting. Due to the complex nature of this project, multiple teams will be working to refine and improve the instrument over time. The first iteration of the machine produced by a previous design team was very limited in its ability to produce data efficiently. This design team took on the challenge of automating data collection for the load cell and thermocouple installed by the previous team, as well as implementing automated instrumentation capable of measuring motor torque and speed. The new instrumentation of the machine is illustrated below, with the measurements of torque, load, speed, and temperature being collected by an analog data acquisition system. The machine is now capable of simultaneously recording these values, producing results such as the graph shown below. In addition to the sensor additions, the team made structural modifications to the machine to accommodate the torque sensor assembly.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1211/thumbnail.jp