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College of Engineering Document Scanner Project
Get PDFEngineering students are expected to submit their assignments in a specific paper format. Methods that attempt to address this (such as Camscanner and similar applications) are known to produce issues with quality and legibility. This project aims to create a system that streamlines the document submission process for students. The new tool will allow students to scan their documents and have them sent directly to their email accounts by providing their University ID cards for identification.
The project involved an iterative, agile software/system development method, and specialized software selections including Python and Xsane running on Raspberry Pi hardware. The program XSane interprets image inputs from a commercial document scanner to produce legible and portable PDF documents. A Python script receives the data from XSane to automate the process of delivering the document to the student via account lookup based on their University identification card. Producing a reliable system that can withstand heavy usage was of utmost importance throughout development. This initial prototype serves as a proof of concept for a system that can be replicated and deployed throughout the College of Engineering
Horse and Buggy Intersection Sight Distance R/W Impacts
No full textIn Elkhart County, Indiana, the presence of horse and buggy vehicles on public roads poses unique challenges for transportation infrastructure and safety. This research investigates the potential right-of-way impacts due to horse and buggies traversing the road network and analyzes the implications for right-of-way impacts near intersections in light of the enhanced sight distances needed for horses and buggies. Through a comprehensive analysis of transportation data, including traffic patterns and infrastructure requirements, this study quantifies the direct and indirect costs associated with accommodating horses and buggies within the existing road corridor. Additionally, utilizing advanced modeling techniques, the research predicts the potential increase in right-of-way expenses resulting from the need to increase sight distances to accommodate these vehicles safely. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and transportation engineers in Elkhart County, offering a foundation for informed decision-making regarding infrastructure investments and road safety measures tailored to the unique needs of the region
GUI design to allow for easy use of complex multi-objective optimization algorithms
No full textMulti-objective optimization is a type of decision-making algorithm that recommends the ideal input parameters to optimize multiple output objectives congruently. These algorithms input existing parameter samples and their corresponding objective solutions to predict possible unknown combinations of parameter values that lie on the Pareto front, a non-dominated front of optimal solutions. Optimization is valuable to many disciplines, but particularly impacts engineering design considerations. However, current multi-objective optimization algorithms require intimate knowledge of programming and of the algorithm itself in order to use. This hinders the ability of engineers from all disciplines to use multi-objective optimization in their design process. To make this tool more accessible, a graphical user interface (GUI) was created that allows engineers to input their existing samples and solutions, and select an optimization function to recommend new parameter values that are most likely to be optimal. The GUI is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing people with a wide variety of expertise to use this program. It also allows users to customize the parameter boundaries, output batch size, objective minimization and maximization, and allows for different ways to import and enter data. This interface is a convenient powerful tool enabling many more engineers to take advantage of the power of multi-objective optimization
The Leader as Life Coach — A Transformative Leadership Perspective
Get PDFThe focus of this paper is on the need for organizations to address the failures of ineffective leadership by adopting a transformative leadership perspective and incorporating seven roles of a Life Coach to encourage, support, and assist employees as they guide them in achieving organizational objectives and excelling personally and professionally. The paper begins by explaining what is meant by a transformative leadership perspective and identifies why that approach to leading organizations is so important. Describing seven roles of the Life Coach, the paper explains how these roles enhance individual and organization performance and offers practical insights for leaders seeking to implement each of the Life Coach roles. After identifying five contributions of the paper for practitioners and scholars, the paper challenges its readers to rethink their current assumptions about creating effective relationship with employees and improving the modern organization
Pity, Power, and Tolkien\u27s Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many (2023) by Thomas P. Hillman
Get PDFBook review, by Marilyn R. Pukkila, of Pity, Power, and Tolkien\u27s Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many (2023) by Thomas P. Hillma
Syndrome or symptoms? Assessing cothymia, neuroticism and lifetime comorbidity in a sample of psychiatric patients
Get PDFBackground. Cross-sectional and longitudinal psychiatric comorbidity rates could represent a syndromic process rather than the co-occurrence of different disorders. ‘Cothymia’, the concomitant presence of depression and anxiety symptoms, and the ‘neuroticism’ dimension have been proposed as candidate vulnerability factors for psychiatric disorders trajectories. Based on this background, the present research was aimed at assessing the role of cothymia and neuroticism as syndromic processes in lifetime psychiatric disorders, and examining homotypic or heterotypic trends in the diagnostic continuum of comorbid mental disorders. Materials and methods. Data collection was carried out retrospectively through the consultation of medical records at the Psychiatry Unit of the University Hospital of Messina. Cothymia was determined by the lifetime presence of depression and other anxiety disorders, and neuroticism was determined by the presence of borderline personality disorders and other personality disorders. Results. Cothymia and neuroticism were found in 580 patients with higher rates of hospitalization, drug prescription, polypharmacotherapy, and longer duration of illness. Furthermore, diagnostic trajectories in patients with cothymia and neuroticism followed both homotypic and heterotypic progressions. Limitations: This study presented several limitations. The small sample size from a restricted recruitment area, and the retrospective design may have influenced a realistic and accurate estimation of the lifetime prevalence of the disorders. Conclusions. Despite the limitations, the findings of this study confirm the presence of consistent and meaningful homotypic and heterotypic trajectories in psychiatric patients, suggesting that the evolution of lifetime diagnoses should become a focus in theoretical and practical approaches to psychiatric disorders
The Tale of ‘Aldarion and Erendis’: Not Just a Medieval Love Story
Get PDFJ.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife’, published in the Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, is a cautionary tale of a failed marriage that also serves as an indicator of the moral decline of Númenor in the Second Age of Middle-earth. In this relationship is the beginning of the Downfall, heralding the shadow of evil that will entangle events into the Third Age. This paper explores the significance of this story to the history of Middle-earth, as well as its possible roots in medieval texts such as the Prose Edda and the Icelandic Laxdaela Saga