1,721,227 research outputs found
A Phenomenological Analysis of the Perceptions of Diversity Leadership by Department Chairs in Creating Social Change in Engineering and Computing Education
No full text2023This doctoral dissertation explores the perceptions of diversity leadership by department chairs in engineering and computing in higher education and their role in creating social change. Using a qualitative research design, this study explores the lived experiences of department chairs who are tasked with leading diversity and inclusion efforts in their academic units. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with department chairs from various engineering and computing departments at universities in the United States. The research aims to uncover the subjective experiences and perspectives of these chairs, exploring their understanding of diversity, their perceptions of their own leadership roles, and their experiences in creating social change through diversity initiatives. Using a phenomenological analysis, the study examines the common themes and patterns in the data to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of department chairs as social change agents. Findings include narratives where department chairs face a number of challenges in leading diversity efforts, including a lack of resources, resistance from faculty and staff, and competing priorities. However, the study also identified a number of strategies that department chairs have used to successfully create social change, including building relationships with stakeholders, engaging in dialogue, and leveraging institutional support. The findings of the study contribute to the existing literature on diversity in higher education and offer insights into the challenges and opportunities of creating social change through diversity leadership in the fields of engineering and computing. Additionally, the findings of this study have implications for the development of effective diversity leadership practices in higher education. Keywords: Diversity, equity, inclusion, higher education, department chairs, engineering, computing, social change theory, phenomenology, narratives as researc
The Apollo Number: Space Suits, Self-Support, and the Walk-Run Transition
No full textBackground: How space suits affect the preferred walk-run transition is an open question with relevance to human
biomechanics and planetary extravehicular activity. Walking and running energetics differ; in reduced gravity (,0.5 g),
running, unlike on Earth, uses less energy per distance than walking.
Methodology/Principal Findings: The walk-run transition (denoted *) correlates with the Froude Number (Fr = v2/gL,
velocity v, gravitational acceleration g, leg length L). Human unsuited Fr* is relatively constant (,0.5) with gravity but
increases substantially with decreasing gravity below ,0.4 g, rising to 0.9 in 1/6 g; space suits appear to lower Fr*. Because
of pressure forces, space suits partially (1 g) or completely (lunar-g) support their own weight. We define the Apollo Number
(Ap = Fr/M) as an expected invariant of locomotion under manipulations of M, the ratio of human-supported to total
transported mass. We hypothesize that for lunar suited conditions Ap* but not Fr* will be near 0.9, because the Apollo
Number captures the effect of space suit self-support. We used the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal and other sources to
identify 38 gait events during lunar exploration for which we could determine gait type (walk/lope/run) and calculate Ap.
We estimated the binary transition between walk/lope (0) and run (1), yielding Fr* (0.3660.11, mean695% CI) and Ap*
(0.6860.20).
Conclusions/Significance: The Apollo Number explains 60% of the difference between suited and unsuited Fr*, appears to
capture in large part the effects of space suits on the walk-run transition, and provides several testable predictions for space
suit locomotion and, of increasing relevance here on Earth, exoskeleton locomotion. The knowledge of how space suits
affect gait transitions can be used to optimize space suits for use on the Moon and Mars
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Nucleic Acid Extraction from Synthetic Mars Analog Soils for in Situ Life Detection
No full textBiological informational polymers such as nucleic acids have the potential to provide unambiguous evidence of life beyond Earth. To this end, we are developing an automated in situ life-detection instrument that integrates nucleic acid extraction and nanopore sequencing: the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes (SETG) instrument. Our goal is to isolate and determine the sequence of nucleic acids from extant or preserved life on Mars, if, for example, there is common ancestry to life on Mars and Earth. As is true of metagenomic analysis of terrestrial environmental samples, the SETG instrument must isolate nucleic acids from crude samples and then determine the DNA sequence of the unknown nucleic acids. Our initial DNA extraction experiments resulted in low to undetectable amounts of DNA due to soil chemistry-dependent soil-DNA interactions, namely adsorption to mineral surfaces, binding to divalent/trivalent cations, destruction by iron redox cycling, and acidic conditions. Subsequently, we developed soil-specific extraction protocols that increase DNA yields through a combination of desalting, utilization of competitive binders, and promotion of anaerobic conditions. Our results suggest that a combination of desalting and utilizing competitive binders may establish a "universal" nucleic acid extraction protocol suitable for analyzing samples from diverse soils on Mars.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX15AF85G
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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