Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne
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Challenges and Opportunities in Microgrid and Solar Photovoltaic System Construction
No full textSignificant reductions in the cost of solar photovoltaic modules have been coupled with the emergence of innovative financial tools and resulted in dramatic increases in the development of distributed renewable energy generation systems. The deep penetration of solar energy throughout our nation\u27s electric sector is dependent on successfully integrating distributed generation, storage, and demand management systems. Achieving this challenge will require improvements to component technologies coupled with paradigm shifts in how energy systems and controls are conceived, developed, tested, and deployed in the marketplace. An integrative approach to meet this challenge is presented including the formation of a collaboration platform for academic and industry partners that is coordinated around a physical smart grid test bed embedded in a large unregulated electric grid. The value adding processes of this ecosystem for research, education, and market deployment are described based on two years of operation. Specific strategies for the advancement of smart grid solutions leading to the deep penetration of renewable energy are also presented including topics of distributed generation, energy efficiency, advanced metering and controls, and cyber security. Implications of these strategies on research, education, and workforce development are also described
To understand and to be understood: An exploration of the interactive nature of music and the arts
No full textThe expressive, communicative nature of music is a foundation of music therapy, particularly in regard to the client’s ability to interact with others, and to the music therapist’s mediation of the client’s therapeutic needs through music engagement. We typically describe this process as though the music therapist’s own interactive capabilities create the possibilities. In reality, both therapist and client are engaged in a process of learning how to listen to the other, and developing effective interpersonal communication. They each may, in fact, be located in various positions within the complex and multifaceted aspects of music and arts engagement as they interact and shape original, shared, expressive communication and language. This theoretical presentation will explore the highly complex nature of listening and expressing, and how music and the other expressive arts build mediators that allow individuals to understand and to be understood, from the micro level of the self to the macro level of communities and societies. Clinical case examples will be used to exemplify different aspects of this phenomenon
The Sheng Nü Discourse, and New Hegemonic Ideals in China’s Dating TV Shows
No full textThis paper examines the gender performance magnified in dating TV shows widespread in post-socialist China. Focusing on the reconstruction of gender identities by participants of Fei Cheng Wu Rao (If You Are the One), representative of the dating show genre, the analysis sheds light on how both female and male participants navigate the quandaries of evolving gender politics—the intertwined fomentations of the derogatory “sheng nü” ( “leftover women”) discourse and the new hegemonic ideals. The paper argues that the returning of patriarchal construction of gender in the post-socialist state is exacerbated the neoliberal commercialization and marketization accentuating the exchange value of love and marriage, and remapping the class codes onto both feminine and masculine bodies
Teacher to Teacher: An Investigation into Teacher-generated Online Professional Development
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To Forage, Mate or Thermoregulate? Influence of Food Supplementation on an Imperiled Rattlesnake (Sistrurus Catenatus)
No full textDue to low energy demands and infrequent feeding, little is known about potential fitness trade-offs for temperate pitvipers which must balance remaining stationary to acquire and digest food while traversing large areas to procure mating opportunities. We radio-tracked 16 male easterm massasauga rattlesnakes Sistrurus catenatus from May to August 2014 in northern Michigan, half of which were fed a supplement diet of mice. We compared body condition, space and habitat use as well as thermoregulatory behavior between the two treatments. Fed snakes had higher post-reproductive body condition scores than naturally foraging controls by the end of the study. Microhabitat selection and movement patterns of fed snakes did not differ from controls during the breeding period. Controls had higher diurnal body temperatures than fed snakes, but neither group differed in their accuracy or effectiveness of thermoregulation. Our results suggest the behavioral demands of finding mates exerts substantial pressure on males, causing them to largely forgo stationary digestion in exchange for increasing the prospect of reproducing. Given the infrequent reproductive rates of female massasaugas in northern latitudes, intense mate searching by males may be a fixed behavior in these populations, regardless of food intake
Corruption and Cheating As the Tragedy of Modern Culture
No full textIncreased political corruption and cheating in a wide diversity of practices such as sports and academic examinations are becoming two of the most important problems affecting contemporary societies. Political corruption, especially in the developing world, has reached such a colossal scale that many scholars have identified it - and not lack of economic resources per se - as the most important problem confronting the prospects of economic and social development. In the developed world corruption is also growing. In the U.S. and Europe many serving officials have been indicted on numerous counts.
Different from corruption but closely related to it, cheating represents another serious challenge. Dishonesty in taking examinations has become common in many parts of the world. Cheating, it is claimed, is anathema to sport, yet the use steroids in competitive sports is too common to be ignored.
The scholarly literature agrees in that these forms of deviance occur within the framework of particular sub-cultures that work to normalize such practices. Some forms of corruption are accepted among political circles. Studies on cheating at exams show that many students justify helping friends they are close to. In professional sports many athletes see “fair play” like an expression of amateurism.
Normative frameworks have been put in place to curb dishonesty such as the U.N. Convention Against Corruption. Severe punishment now awaits exam cheaters, and new testing techniques are used to detect doping in sports. However, beyond such disciplinary responses lies the need to acquire a deeper understanding of the general cultural forces driving these harmful trends. It is my contention that the work of George Simmel on the Tragedy of Culture, which duels on the massive growth of objective cultural products, and their overwhelming impact over the subjective culture of individuals, can shed light upon the problem at stake
Incorporating design improvement with effective evaluation using the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition
No full textThe definition of system metrics is crucial to determine if a manufacturing system design is truly effective because inappropriate metrics can lead to ineffective or improperly-focused system improvements. This research highlights the importance of measuring the system design that contributes to system effectiveness. The authors propose the use of a Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool to assess the effectiveness of the design of manufacturing systems as a whole. The tool was developed based on the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition. The Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool measures how well a system is designed based on the requirements outlined in the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition. System effectiveness is evaluated based on six physical manufacturing system configurations: the Departmental or Job Shop Layout, Departments Arranged by Product Flow (sometimes called a Flow Shop), Assembly or Transfer Line, Pseudo-Cell (a cell that is called a cell but does not meet all of the requirements of a cell), individual Assembly or Machining Cells (but not yet integrated as a system), and a Linked-Cell Manufacturing System for all aspects of a production value stream. The Linked-Cell Manufacturing System is considered to be the physical configuration that represents the highest level of manufacturing system design requirements achievement. In addition, the siginificance of implementing one physical element relative to achieving the requirements of the overall manufacturing system design may be evaluated. With this feedback, management is able to identify elements of the system design that need improvement and additional resources. The proposed Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool may be applied to evaluate most repetitive, discrete-part manufacturing systems