A procedure for comparing passive,active, and semi-active approaches to vibration isolation

A procedure is developed which uses bond graph modeling and a digital computer to determine if semi-active control can provide a suitable performance in an application where totally active control is considered. The application areas principally addressed are those in which the disturbance inputs to the system are of zero mean, i.e. shock and vibration control.The procedure is developed through examples and then generalized to systems of high order and large complexity. The procedure consists basically of designing a control strategy suitable for totally active control and then enforcing a passivity constraint on the actuating device. Experience has shown that semi-active control approaches that of totally active control in most vibration isolation applications.     

Orientational analysis, tensor analysis and the group properties of the SI supplementary units—II

A method for extending the methods of dimensional analysis is based upon assigning “orientational” symbols to physical quantities such as area, force and angle which are spatially oriented. These symbols are shown to form a noncyclic group with four members, and they can be used to derive additional information that resolve problems incompletely solved by conventional dimensional analysis.     

Privacy lost: The Net, autonomous agents, and ‘virtual information’

The positive qualities of the Internet--anonymity, openness, and reproducibility have added a new ethical dimension to the privacy debate. This paper describes a new and significant way in which privacy is violated. A type of personal information, called virtual information is described and the effectiveness of techniques to protect this type of information is examined. This examination includes a discussion of technical approaches and professional standards as ways to address this violation of virtual information.     

Assessing the impact of organizational practices on the relative productivity of university technology transfer offices: an exploratory study

We present quantitative and qualitative evidence on the relative productivity of university technology transfer offices (TTOs). Our empirical results suggest that TTO activity is characterized by constant returns to scale and that environmental and institutional factors explain some of the variation in performance. Productivity may also depend on organizational practices. Unfortunately, there are no quantitative measures available on such practices, so we rely on inductive, qualitative methods to identify them. Based on 55 interviews of 98 entrepreneurs, scientists, and administrators at five research universities, we conclude that the most critical organizational factors are faculty reward systems, TTO staffing/compensation practices, and cultural barriers between universities and firms.     

Psychometric and Cognitive Functioning of an Under-Determined Computer-Based Response Type for Quantitative Reasoning

We evaluated a computer-delivered response type for measuring quantitative skill. "Generating Examples" (GE) presents under-determined problems that can have many right answers. We administered two GE tests that differed in the manipulation of specific item features hypothesized to affect difficulty. Analyses related to internal consistency reliability, external relations, and features contributing to item difficulty, adverse impact, and examinee perceptions. Results showed that GE scores were reasonably reliable but only moderately related to the GRE quantitative section, suggesting the two tests might be tapping somewhat different skills. Item features that increased difficulty included asking examinees to supply more than one correct answer and to identify whether an item was solvable. Gender differences were similar to those found on the GRE quantitative and analytical test sections. Finally, examinees were divided on whether GE items were a fairer indicator of ability than multiple-choice items, but still overwhelmingly preferred to take the more conventional questions.     

Establishing Construct Validity and Reliability for the NAESP Professional Development Inventory: Simplifying Assessment Center Techniques

The Professional Development Inventory, an instrument used in assessment centers sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, has recently been revised from a two- to a one-day process to reduce the time for those being assessed and for those assessing. This article reports a preliminary study to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument using field-based data from the first 113 candidates assessed. The assessment consists of thirteen skills assessed in twelve different simulated activities that principals might face in their daily duties. When finished, the artifacts produced during the simulations are then analyzed by trained assessors, scores entered into a computer data file, and results returned to the participants for direction in professional development. Preliminary results as reported indicate user satisfaction with the simplified process, construct validity for the thirteen skills, and a high degree of validity and reliability for the instrument.     

INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, AND AGENDA MELDING: A THEORY OF SOCIAL DISSONANCE

Many studies have established that there is a degree of audiencelearning from the mass media, especially of new issues enteringthe news. But recent studies show an agenda-setting effect atdeeper levels beyond broad news categories. Audiences also absorbthe attributes of news—the frames and slants in the waynews is presented—and this suggests that while the massmedia do not tell us what to think, the mass media do have considerablepower to tell us how to think about topics, with implicationsfor social policy. Beyond these two levels of agenda setting,however, is something more significant—agenda melding.Agenda melding argues that individuals join groups, in a sense,by joining agendas. There is a powerful impulse to affiliatewith others in groups as one leaves the original family setting,and one joins these groups via media of connections, mostlyother people but also other media. This paper suggests a modelof agenda melding that accounts for the role of media (massor interpersonal) in helping individuals move toward or awayfrom groups. This attempts to build toward general social theoryby suggesting the role of media in how individuals functionwith others in a coherent social system.     

The others' values: On the importance of ethnographic ways of looking,seeing, knowing,and acting for performance technologists

The foundational assumptions of performance improvement come from a single‐mindedly economic and engineering orientation. Yet this orientation arises from a concern for maintaining and enhancing other forms of value. This other form of value, perhaps arising from cultural and social spheres, is normally unmentioned or marginalized in contemporary human performance technology. This article recovers and reintroduces this other form of value and promotes it as an important, and even essential, component of the future of performance technology.     

The Saint Louis symptom checklist: Factor structure for an adolescent sample

This study investigated the factor structure and reliability of the Saint Louis Symptom Checklist (SLSCL) with an adolescent sample. An exploratory principal components factor analysis followed by a varimax rotation of 209 male and female adolescents yielded eight conceptually relevant factors. Cronbach's alphas for each of the scales ranged from .45 to .94, with a total scale alpha of .92. Directions for future research are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.