Formal descriptions of material manipulations: an exploration with cuts and shadows

Shape computation in design is never purely limited to visual aspects and ideally includes material aspects as well. The physicality of designing introduces a wide range of variables for designers to tackle within the design process. We present a simple design exercise realised in four stages where we physically manipulate perforated cardboard sheets as a case to make material variables explicit in the computation. The emphasis is on representing sensory aspects rather than easily quantifiable properties more suitable for simulations. Our explorations demonstrate the use of visual rules to represent actions, variables and form as well as how to control the variables to create new results, both desired and surprising, in materially informed ways

Separation And Characterization Of Components Of Catalytic Cracker Feed Using Centrifugal Partition Chromatography

Centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was used to fractionate a catalytic-cracking feedstock (i.e., catalytic cracker feed) into 16 separate fractions in the descending mode and 5 fractions in the inverse or ascending mode. Each fraction was analyzed by UV, fluorescence, and synchronous luminescence (SL) spectroscopy as well as by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). It appeared that CPC can be used to fractionate larger samples of this type and with a greater degree of selectivity than previously reported preparative HPLC approaches. The SL spectra tended to be much more useful and information rich for these complex mixtures as compared to UV or fluorescence spectra. GC/MS of each fraction allowed identification of specific components. In this way the selectivity of the CPC separation could be accessed. It was found that CPC effectively separated catalytic cracker feed into fractions by polarity, aromaticity, and alkyl substitution patterns. In addition, fractionation by heteroatom type and of homologues was observed. The aromatic content found by gravimetry after CPC separation matched well with the aromatic content measured by UV spectrometry. © 1993, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved

Finite element modelling in integral design strategies of form- and bending-active hybrid structures

This paper discusses form-finding and simulation strategies for form- and bending-active hybrid structures, with practical feedback from two realised projects. Next to some general aspects of computational form-finding approaches with focus on finite element methods (FEM), the influence of changing mechanical properties of elastic beams on the resultant form-found hybrid system will be discussed on an umbrella structure with integrated bendingactive beam elements. Alongside the question of simulation strategies comes the search for a practical design setup to establish an FEM environment that is cross integrating information from various other modelling environments. This is discussed through the case study project M1 where physical form-finding and vector-based spring methods are utilised to generate input data for the FEM simulation

When Job Performance is All Relative: How Family Motivation Energizes Effort and Compensates for Intrinsic Motivation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Academy of Management via the DOI in this record.Supporting one’s family is a major reason why many people work, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of family motivation. Drawing on theories of prosocial motivation and action identification, we propose that family motivation increases job performance by enhancing energy and reducing stress, and it is especially important when intrinsic motivation is lacking. Survey and diary data collected across multiple time points in a Mexican maquiladora generally support our model. Specifically, we find that family motivation enhances job performance when intrinsic motivation is low—in part by providing energy, but not by reducing stress. We conclude that supporting a family provides a powerful source of motivation that can boost performance in the workplace, offering meaningful implications for research on motivation and the dynamics of work and family engagement

Optical parameters of leaves of seven weed species

The absorption coefficient (k), infinite reflectance (R), and scattering coefficient (s) were tabulated for five wavelengths and analyzed for statistical differences for seven weed species. The wavelengths were: 0.55-micrometer, 0.65-micrometers, 0.85-micrometer, 1.65-micrometers, and 2.20-micrometer. The R of common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.), Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.), and annual sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus L.) leaves at the 0.85-micrometer wavelength were significantly (p=0.05) higher than for sunflower (Heliantus annus L.), ragweed parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus L.), or London rocket (Sisymbrium irio L.). Annual sowthistle had the largest k value, and Plamer amaranth (Amaranthus palmer S. Wats.) had the smallest k value at the 0.65 approximately chlorophyll absorption wavelength. In general, john-songress, ragweed parthenium, or London rocket had the largest s values among the five wavelengths, wereas annual sowthistle and plamar amaranth were usually lowest

The curse of employee privilege: harnessing virtual reality technology to inhibit workplace envy

In many workplaces, managers provide some employees with unique privileges that support their professional development and stimulate productivity and creativity. Yet with some employees more deserving of a privileged status than others, co-workers feeling left out of the inner circle may begin to exhibit feelings of envy. With workplace envy and intergroup conflicts going hand in hand, the question arises whether co-worker acceptance of employee privileges—where conflict can be constrained through an affirmative re-evaluation of co-workers’ privileged status—may lower the envy experienced by employees. Using virtual reality technology, 112 employees participated in a virtual employee meeting at a virtual organization where they were exposed to a new workforce differentiation practice. We show through our experiment that co-worker acceptance of employee privileges negatively influences workplace envy, which was partially mediated by the anticipated ostracism of employees. Moreover, we show that this effect is only found for employees with privileges, who worry more about being ostracized than their non-privileged co-workers. We anticipate that our findings will enable managers to conscientiously differentiate between their employees, using virtual reality simulations to steer employees’ thoughts and feelings in a direction that benefits both employees and organizations

Kinetics of Palladium(0)‐Allyl Interactions in the Tsuji‐Trost Reaction, derived from Single‐Molecule Fluorescence Microscopy

Single‐molecule (SM) chemistry is devoted to unravel reaction steps which are hidden in cuvette experiments. Controversies about the substrate activation during the Tsuji‐Trost deallylation motivated us to study, on the single‐molecule level, the kinetics of the catalyst precursor Pd(PPh3)4 with our recently designed two‐color fluorescent probes. Photochemical, metal‐free bypass reactions were found and taken into account by the combination of spectrally separated single‐molecule TIRF‐microscopy and state‐of‐the art analysis procedures. Unselective π‐complex formation (KD≈103 M−1) precedes the insertion of the active catalyst into the C−OR bond (RO−=leaving group), indicated by the lacking immediate change of fluorescence color. The formed intermediate then decomposes on a time scale of≥2 – 3 s to the deallylated product

Evaluation Of Dye-micelle Binding Constants Using Diffusion Sensitive Band Broadening Effects

The diffusion coefficients of small solutes can be significantly altered by the presence of association colloids such as micelles. A relationship is utilized that relates the diffusion coefficient of a solute to its partitioning or binding behavior to a micellar pseudo phase. The Taylor-Aris dispersion method was used to evaluate the diffusion coefficient of several dyes in the presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles. With this approach, all binding constants can be determined easily and reproducibly. The theory, experimental approach, and advantages of this technique are discussed. © 1988

Patient Preference Studies for Advanced Prostate Cancer Treatment Along the Medical Product Life Cycle: Systematic Literature Review

Background: Patient preference studies can inform decision-making across all stages of the medical product life cycle (MPLC). The treatment landscape for advanced prostate cancer (APC) treatment has substantially changed in recent years. However, the most patient-relevant aspects of APC treatment remain unclear. This systematic review of patient preference studies in APC aimed to summarize the evidence on patient preferences and patient-relevant aspects of APC treatments, and to evaluate the potential contribution of existing studies to decision-making within the respective stages of the MPLC. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies evaluating patient preferences related to APC treatment up to October 2020. Two reviewers independently performed screening, data extraction and quality assessment in duplicate. We descriptively summarized the findings and analyzed the studies regarding their contribution within the MPLC using an analytical framework. Results: Seven quantitative preference studies were included. One study each was conducted in the marketing approval and the health technology assessment (HTA) and reimbursement stage, and five were conducted in the post-marketing stage of the MPLC. While almost all stated to inform clinical practice, the specific contributions to clinical decision-making remained unclear for almost all studies. Evaluated attributes related to benefits, harms, and other treatment-related aspects and their relative importance varied relevantly between studies. All studies were judged of high quality overall, but some methodological issues regarding sample selection and the definition of patient-relevant treatment attributes were identified. Conclusion: The most patient-relevant aspects regarding the benefits and harms of APC treatment are not yet established, and it remains unclear which APC treatments are preferred by patients. Findings from this study highlight the importance of transparent reporting and discussion of study findings according to their aims and with respect to their stage within the MPLC. Future research may benefit from using the MPLC framework for analyzing or determining the aims and design of patient preference studies. Keywords: benefit-harm assessment; medical product life cycle; patient preferences; patient-centered care; preference research; prostate cancer; systematic revie

Employees Who Don't Accept the Time Security Takes Are Not Aware Enough": The CISO View of Human-Centred Security

In larger organisations, the security controls and policies that protect employees are typically managed by a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In research, industry, and policy, there are increasing efforts to relate principles of human behaviour interventions and influence to the practice of the CISO, despite these being complex disciplines in their own right. Here we explore how well the concepts of humancentred security (HCS) have survived exposure to the needs of practice: in an action research approach we engaged with n = 30 members of a Swiss-based community of CISOs in five workshop sessions over the course of 8 months, dedicated to discussing HCS. We coded and analysed over 25 hours of notes we took during the discussions. We found that CISOs far and foremost perceive HCS as what is available on the market, namely awareness and phishing simulations. While they regularly shift responsibility either to the management (by demanding more support) or to the employees (by blaming them) we see a lack of power but also silo-thinking that prevents CISOs from considering actual human behaviour and friction that security causes for employees. We conclude that industry best practices and the state-of-the-art in HCS research are not aligned