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Becoming Our Machines: Understanding and Responding to “Machine-Mindedness”
Get PDFDonald MacKay wrote in his 1974 book, A Clockwork Image, “In our age, when people look for explanations, the tendency more and more is to conceive of any and every situation that we are trying to understand by analogy with a machine.” He called this condition, “machine-mindedness.” What are the sources of this perspective and what concerns, if any, does it raise? This paper argues that the “machine-minded” perspective is more prevalent and more dangerous than one would expect. The history of “machine-mindedness” is traced back to Descartes into the Cybernetics era of the ‘40s and ‘50s to present day cognitive psychology and futurism. Though many perpetuate this perspective, this paper provides insight into the challenges associated with “machine-mindedness”, particularly its impact on our view of what it means to be human
Ethnic Studies in Holland, Michigan: Examining the Impact and Implications of Holland’s Hispanic Population
No full textHolland has transformed from a small, historically Dutch community to one containing many different ethnicities. One such transformation occurred in the early-twentieth century with the arrival of migrant Hispanic workers from Latin America. As the community grew, so did its presence through festivals such as Tulipanes and bilingual masses like those at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church. As a whole, the the cultural history of the Hispanic community continually manifests itself in Holland’s industry, education, community, and religion. Research projects such as Greg Oltmann’s “The Hispanics of Holland: An Examination of the Origins and Development of the Hispanic Community in Holland, Michigan” provides a small insight to the history and current impact this community is having in Holland. By exploring and analyzing the rich history of the Hispanic community in Holland, we hope to come to a better understanding of the impact of Hispanic culture on Holland and share this impact with the community itself. Our research will showcase the significant impact that the Hispanic community has had on Holland’s education systems, industry, and culture through a documentary. We are compiling our research and interviews into a documentary that will be available on the Digital Holland website to act as a looking glass into the perspectives of Holland\u27s Hispanic community. Through interviews with members of the Holland Hispanic community, this project explores the facets of a community that has been largely underrepresented on the Digital Holland website thus far. Finally, the project allows us to continue a local dialogue about Holland’s established Hispanic community on Hope College’s campus
The Importance of Education on Free and Fair Voting in Sub- Saharan Africa
No full textAccording to the international charity organization Free the Children, 58 million primary school-aged children in the world are not in school. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 21 million adolescents were not in school in 2007, equivalent to 38% of the lower secondary school age group. Of the 925 million people in Sub- Saharan Africa, only 12% are free. These statistics persuaded us to study just how strong of an impact education has on democracy, freedom, and political participation in Angola, Kenya, and South Africa. We studied the primary school education rates, examined political participation rates, and performed interviews to further our understanding. We found that education is critically important for maintaining freedom and democracy, and it is extremely important to support education in these countries
Isolation of 35 Mycobacteriophages and Genomic Analysis of the Novel Mycobacteriophage, Bella96
No full textThirty-five new mycobacteriophages were isolated from soil samples collected on or nearby Hope College in Holland, Michigan. All were capable of infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis and produced a variety of plaque morphologies based on size, shape, and clarity, consistent with the isolation of an assortment of different phages. Both lytic and temperate phages appear represented in this collection. Purified phage stocks were used to prepare genomic DNA samples for restriction digest analysis. A comparison of those 35 digest results revealed few similarities among the group, further supporting our interpretation that most of the new phage isolates were distinct. One mycobacteriophage, Bella96, was chosen for complete genome sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform and comparative genomic analysis. The predominant plaque produced by Bella96 at 32⁰C was turbid and 3 mm in diameter. No plaques grew at 42⁰C. Genome sequence data for Bella96 revealed a relationship to a group of 23 mycobacteriophages in Cluster K1. The genome of Bella96 is 60.7 Kb, 66.1% GC, and contains 97 genes in agreement with the genome characteristics of closely related phage. A detailed analysis of the complete genome sequence and comparison with sequenced members of this small and unique group of mycobacteriophages is the subject of the second semester of this yearlong course and is presented
Incorporation of Boronic Acids in Cross-Coupling Reactions Proceeding through C-C Activation
No full textContinued exploration of the rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular carboacylation of quinolinyl ketones and tethered alkenes has prompted the investigation into intermolecular cross-coupling reactions. Proceeding through a similar intermediate generated from C-C bond activation, a variety of rhodium catalysts, directing moieties, and boron transmetallating reagents were screened in pursuit of the selective activation and functionalization of substituted ketones. Apart from investigating the functional group tolerance of the reaction, current work is being done to optimize reaction conditions as well to develop facile sp2-sp3 crosscoupling pathways of ketones with alkyl boron reagents
Computational Modeling of Next Generation Quinazolinespirohexadienones for Application as Photochromic Photooxidants
No full textOur group’s ongoing research program focuses on designing more reducible analogs of the perimidinespirohexadienone (PSHD) photochromes as potential photochromic photooxidants capable of gating the molecules’ ability to initiate photoinduced charge transfer reactions for possible materials applications. Replacing the naphthalene moiety of the PSHDs with a quinoline moiety gives the quinazolinespirohexadienone (QSHD) family of photochromes whose synthesis, photochemistry, and electrochemistry we have recently reported. In this work we describe recent computational efforts on the MU3C cluster to design even more electron deficient QSHD analogs capable of gating PICT and photooxidizing less reducible monomers of interest to materials applications. We report computed reduction potentials based on our present methodology and investigate application of our newly reported methodology to photochromes. We also use bond order, bond length and molecular orbital calculations to predict the likely direction of spirocyclic ring opening for these asymmetric photochromes
A Scheme for Evaluating the Impact of Development on the Geomorphic and Ecologic Process of Lake Michigan’s Coastal Dunes
No full textRecent changes to Michigan’s Critical Dune Law initiated this study to create a science-based, public policy tool for evaluating a development’s impact on the geomorphology and ecology of Lake Michigan’s coastal dunes. These dunes are valued for their scenic beauty and diverse ecological communities. However, development pressures on them are increasing and the revised law requires that regulators consider the diversity, quality, and function of the dunes when reviewing Critical Dune building permits. Hence, our current scientific understanding of geomorphic and ecologic processes in the dunes was used to create this two-part decision-making flowchart. The first part evaluates a development’s impact on the dune’s physical processes in three categories: dune mobility, erosion by gravity, and pavement effects. The second part evaluates the change in the overall diversity of communities, changes in the composition of species making up a community, and changes in the connection between communities. Five development scenarios with different dune/ecology settings, house/road layouts and densities were evaluated. The amount of dune mobility, and, therefore, the amount of sand burial, especially in open dune areas, decreased with development. Ecologically, early pioneer and successional communities, including sensitive species, which are dependent on sand burial, were lost due to the resulting dune stability from development. Ecological changes in the back dunes were not as pronounced as these dunes have little to no dune mobility and are vegetated with near-climax to climax communities adapted to little to no dune mobility. The distance connecting similar ecological communities increased with development, very likely decreasing the likelihood of that community’s existence. Overall, this scheme is useful for assessing the impact of one development scenario versus another in different coastal dune settings. This method also shows promise in providing a science-based public policy tool for managing the coastal dunes
SABR: Projecting MLB WARP for Prospects
No full textOne goal of Sabermetrics is the development of projection systems to predict future player success. Many advanced models have been developed, such as PECOTA from Baseball Prospectus and ZiPS from the Baseball Think Factory. Since teams want to invest, both monetarily and developmentally, into players who will return value, the ability to project how the players will perform is essential. Once players are in the majors for a few seasons they have established what their production level will most likely be. However, when a player is in the minors it is not as clear how they will perform due to differences in levels and leagues. Since prospects and players in their first years in the professionals demand lower pay and are under team control, the team can often garner greater value out of a player at a lower cost. Players are under team control for six years after achieving rookie status so it would be beneficial for a team to be able to project the player’s value over those years so they can try to acquire prospects that should succeed and provide maximum value with minimal costs. Using both advanced metrics and scouts’ rankings to combine the two schools of player evaluation, we developed models to project a player’s average WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player) over their first six seasons when under team control
A Quality Improvement Project to Reduce Clinical Alarm Fatigue in an Emergency Department
No full textThe presence of alarms in an emergency department (ED) can be both chaotic for patients and result in desensitization of the nurses’ awareness to alarms. The objective of this quality improvement project was to describe the number and type of SpaceLab alarms in a midwestern community hospital ED and disseminate these results to the nurses, with the goal of decreasing unnecessary alarms. The conceptual framework used was Jean Piaget’s Theory of Constructivism, which explains learning as a process of integrating knowledge and experience to construct new ideas or concepts. Supporting literature was used to identify specific ways to reduce alarms, such as widening patient parameters and suspending monitoring when the patient is disconnected from the monitor. Pre-intervention data was collected by 2 student nurses on 4 occasions over a 2-week period (8 hours total) with a total of 654 alarms recorded from SpaceLab monitors. After collecting initial data, an intervention, focused on nurse education, was developed to reduce the number of SpaceLab alarms. Student nurses developed an 8-page education booklet to use at a 10-minute training session, including a presentation of the problem, instruction on widening limits and suspending alarms, and an interactive case study. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated by comparing the pre-intervention and post-intervention data. Two types of alarms were compared, with a 56 percent reduction of “sensor off” alarms (514 to 227) and a 68 percent reduction of “outside limit” alarms (140-45). The frequency of total SpaceLab alarms was reduced by 58 percent (654 to 272 total alarms), thus the nurse training session was effective. Limitations include data collected at one hospital with limited generalizability, potential for human error in data collection, and potential participant bias related to nurses’ awareness of project goals. Emergency departments may consider providing nurse education to decrease unnecessary alarms. Future quality improvement projects should include interventions to increase nurse awareness, in addition to considering education for ED techs and radiology techs to further reduce alarms
Nursing Presence: A Concept Analysis
No full textNursing presence has been a concept that has been difficult to define. It is a concept that dates back to Florence Nightingale; however, it has recently become a concept of interest in current nursing research and theory. Thus, the purpose of this analysis is to define and enhance the understanding of the concept of nursing presence in the acute care setting. A concept analysis based on Walker and Avant’s concept analysis strategy was used as an organizing framework. A review of literature was completed using Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature or CINHAL, PsychInfo, and PubMed using the keywords: presence of nursing, caring presence, healing presence, and the art of nursing with the limits of adult only, published in English and articles from 1999 to present. After extensive analysis twelve articles were included as data. Each article was reviewed for defining characteristics, antecedents and consequences of nursing presence. Key characteristics identified were connectedness, sharing of human experiences, holistic view, and emotional and physical comfort. Results show that continued study of nursing presence is essential for finding further benefits for acute care patients. Further exploration of the differing attributes between caring, nursing presence, and the art of nursing are also needed. Limitations to this analysis include the limited number of databases used, including articles published in English only, and the limited amount of recent literature available