Sport Specialization by Youth Athletes

Sport specialization and sampling are two ways youth athletes can play sports. Athletes playing in college, at the Division III level, sample sports throughout their childhood instead of specializing in one sport. There is not a lot of specific research done for each Division in the NCAA. This study is a cross-sectional survey of students and athletes at SJFC, which is a small Division III school in Western New York. Using surveys, data was found that supports the research question that Division III athletes and students sampled sports throughout their childhoods rather than specializing. This question can help parents determine what kind of athlete they want their children to be in order for them to play at a higher competition level

Contact Metamorphism in Southern California

A highly condensed introduction to "Contact metamorphism in southern California" is obviously not the place in which to indulge in semantic niceties nor to engage in terminological tussles, and thus the title is not intended to reflect a carefully delimited concept. Instead it is freely admitted that in some of the examples to be cited, such terms as "contact metasomatic," "pyrometasomatic," "optalic" or "thermal metamorphic," "hydrothermal," "pneumatolytic," and even "injection metamorphism" might be more precisely appropriate. Suffice it to say that "contact metamorphism" will be herein employed in its broader connotations. There is an old adage which states that "it takes two to make a quarrel." Likewise, it takes two (rocks) to make a contact, and unless one of these rocks was at one time pretty hot, preferably indeed in the magmatic state, there is likely to be no contact metamorphism as such. With the concept of contact metamorphism thus reduced to these two essentials, an invaded rock and an invading magma, let us survey the southern California field

The Eightfold Way: Why Analyticity, Apriority and Necessity are Independent

This paper concerns the three great modal dichotomies: (i) the necessary/contingent dichotomy; (ii) the a priori/empirical dichotomy; and (iii) the analytic/synthetic dichotomy. These can be combined to produce a tri-dichotomy of eight modal categories. The question as to which of the eight categories house statements and which do not is a pivotal battleground in the history of analytic philosophy, with key protagonists including Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kripke, Putnam and Kaplan. All parties to the debate have accepted that some categories are void. This paper defends the contrary view that all eight categories house statements—a position I dub ‘octopropositionalism’. Examples of statements belonging to all eight categories are given

On the Authenticity of De-Extinct Organisms, and the Genesis Argument

Are the methods of synthetic biology capable of recreating authentic living members of an extinct species? An analogy with the restoration of destroyed natural landscapes suggests not. The restored version of a natural landscape will typically lack much of the aesthetic value of the original landscape because of the different historical processes that created it—processes that involved human intentions and actions, rather than natural forces acting over millennia. By the same token, it would appear that synthetically recreated versions of extinct natural organisms will also be less aesthetically valuable than the originals; that they will be, in some strong sense, ‘inauthentic’, because of their peculiar history and mode of origin. I call this the ‘genesis argument’ against de-extinction. In this article I critically evaluate the genesis argument. I highlight an important disanalogy between living organisms and natural landscapes: viz., it is of the essence of the former, but not of the latter, to regularly reproduce and die. The process of iterated natural reproduction that sustains the continued existence of a species through time obviously does not undermine the authenticity of the species. I argue that the authenticity of a species will likewise be left intact by the kind of artificial copying of genes and traits that a de-extinction project entails. I conclude on this basis that the genesis argument is unsound

Field Studies of the Archean in Grand Canyon

The oldest rocks of Arizona which form the precipitous walls of the inner or granite gorge of the Grand Canyon have never received the intensive study that has been given to their counterparts over the great northeastern plains of Canada, in the mountains of Scandinavia or on the rolling expanses of Finland. The metamorphosed rocks standing in places on end under the wedge of the Grand Canyon series of sediments (Algonkian) and elsewhere under the mantle of Paleozoic sediments are known as the Vishnu schist. To J.W. Powell these were known as the “Grand Canyon schists” of tentative “Eozoic” age. C.D. Walcott who proposed the term Vishnu from the occurrence beneath Vishnu temple in the Grand Canyon classified them as “bedded, sedimentary, unconformable, pre-Unkar (Lower Grand Canyon series) strata.

Does the solar system compute the laws of motion?

The counterfactual account of physical computation is simple and, for the most part, very attractive. However, it is usually thought to trivialize the notion of physical computation insofar as it implies ‘limited pancomputationalism’, this being the doctrine that every deterministic physical system computes some function. Should we bite the bullet and accept limited pancomputationalism, or reject the counterfactual account as untenable? Jack Copeland would have us do neither of the above. He attempts to thread a path between the two horns of the dilemma by buttressing the counterfactual account with extra conditions intended to block certain classes of deterministic physical systems from qualifying as physical computers. His theory is called the ‘algorithm execution account’. Here we show that the algorithm execution account entails limited pancomputationalism, despite Copeland’s argument to the contrary. We suggest, partly on this basis, that the counterfactual account should be accepted as it stands, pancomputationalist warts and all

Real time integration of user preferences into virtual prototypes

Within new product development (NPD), both virtual prototypes and physical prototypes play important roles in creating, testing and modifying designs. However, in the current design process, these two forms of prototyping methods are normally used independently and converted from one to the other during different design phases. This conversion process is time consuming and expensive and also introduces potential information loss/corruption problems. If the design process requires many iterations, it may simply be impractical to generate all the conversions that are theoretically required. Therefore, the integration of virtual and physical prototyping may offer a possible solution where the design definition is maintained simultaneously in both the virtual and physical environment. The overall aim of this research was to develop an interface or a tool that achieves real time integration of physical and virtual prototyping. “Real time integration” here means changes to the virtual prototypes will reflect any changes that have been made contemporaneously to the physical prototypes, and vice versa. Thus, conversion of the prototype from physical to virtual (or vice versa) will be achieved immediately, hence saving time and cost. A review of the literature was undertaken to determine what previous research has been conducted in this area. The result of the review shows the research in this area is still in its infancy. The research hypothesis was developed through the use of a questionnaire survey. Totally 102 questionnaires were sent to designers, design directors or design managers to address the issue: will industrial designers want to make use of real time integration and if so, how? The outcome from the literature review drove further development of the research hypothesis and an initial pilot experiment to test this. The pilot trial was designed to address the research questions: • Can real time physical and virtual prototyping integration be conveniently demonstrated? • Will designers and users be comfortable using the integration method? • Will users recognise the benefits of the integration? The results showed that real time integration between physical and virtual prototyping is necessary in helping designers develop new products and for getting users more closely involved. The future research suggested is that more investigations and experiments are needed to explore a proper method that simultaneously employing these two types of prototyping in product development process. Keywords: Physical Prototyping; Virtual Prototyping; Integration; Real Time.</p

Building a Common Ground – The Use of Design Representation Cards for Enhancing Collaboration between Industrial Designers and Engineering Designers

To achieve success in today’s commercial environment, manufacturers have progressively adopted collaboration strategies. Industrial design has been increasingly used with engineering design to enhance competitiveness. Research between the two fields has been limited and existing collaboration methods have not achieved desired results. This PhD research project investigated the level of collaboration between industrial designers and engineering designers. The aim is to develop an integration tool for enhanced collaboration, where a common language would improve communication and create shared knowledge. An empirical research using questionnaires and observations identified 61 issues between industrial designers and engineering designers. The results were grouped and coded based on recurrence and importance, outlining 3 distinct problem categories in collaborative activity: conflicts in values and principles, differences in design representation, and education differences. A taxonomy further helped categorise design representations into sketches, drawings, models and prototypes. This knowledge was indexed into cards to provide uniform definition of design representations with key information. They should benefit practitioners and educators by serving as a decision-making guide and support a collaborative working environment. A pilot study first refined the layout and improved information access. The final validation involving interviews with practitioners revealed most respondents to be convinced that the tool would provide a common ground in design representations, contributing to enhanced collaboration. Additional interviews were sought from groups of final-year industrial design and engineering design students working together. Following their inter-disciplinary experience, nearly all respondents were certain that the cards would provide mutual understanding for greater product success. Lastly, a case study approach tested the cards in an industry-based project. A design diary captured and analysed the researchers’ activities and observations on a daily basis. It revealed positive feedback, reinforcing the benefits of the cards for successful collaboration in a multi-disciplinary environment. Keywords Industrial Design, Engineering Design, Collaboration, Design Representation, New Product Development.</p