Showing papers by "Ryerson University published in 2006"
TL;DR: An analytical model for predicting the yield strength of particulate-reinforced metal matrix nanocomposites has been developed in this article, where the strengthening effects involving Orowan strengthening effect, enhanced dislocation density due to the residual plastic strain caused by the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the matrix and particles, and loadbearing effect have been taken into account in the model.
1,042 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the state of our understanding of urban areas as whole ecosystems with regard to carbon balance, including both drivers of fossil fuel emissions and carbon cycling in urban plants and soils.
Abstract: Approximately 75–80% of the population of North America currently lives in urban areas as defined by national census bureaus, and urbanization is continuing to increase. Future trajectories of fossil fuel emissions are associated with a high degree of uncertainty; however, if the activities of urban residents and the rate of urban land conversion can be captured in urban systems models, plausible emissions scenarios from major cities may be generated. Integrated land use and transportation models that simulate energy use and traffic-related emissions are already in place in many North American cities. To these can be added a growing dataset of carbon gains and losses in vegetation and soils following urbanization, and a number of methods of validating urban carbon balance modeling, including top down atmospheric monitoring and urban ‘metabolic’ studies of whole ecosystem mass and energy flow. Here, we review the state of our understanding of urban areas as whole ecosystems with regard to carbon balance, including both drivers of fossil fuel emissions and carbon cycling in urban plants and soils. Interdisciplinary, whole-ecosystem studies of the socioeconomic and biophysical factors that influence urban carbon cycles in a range of cities may greatly contribute to improving scenarios of future carbon balance at both continental and global scales.
400 citations
TL;DR: The antiproliferative efficacy of these algal extracts were positively correlated with the total polyphenol contents (p<0.05), suggesting a causal link related to extract content of kelp phlorotannins and dulse polyphenols including mycosporine-like amino acids and phenolic acids.
395 citations
TL;DR: It is asserted that the evidence-based movement in health sciences constitutes a good example of microfascism at play in the contemporary scientific arena.
Abstract: Background Drawing on the work of the late French philosophers Deleuze and Guattari, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the evidence-based movement in the health sciences is outrageously exclusionary and dangerously normative with regards to scientific knowledge. As such, we assert that the evidence-based movement in health sciences constitutes a good example of microfascism at play in the contemporary scientific arena. Objective The philosophical work of Deleuze and Guattari proves to be useful in showing how health sciences are colonised (territorialised) by an all-encompassing scientific research paradigm ‐ that of post-positivism ‐ but also and foremost in showing the process by which a dominant ideology comes to exclude alternative forms of knowledge, therefore acting as a fascist structure. Conclusion The Cochrane Group, among others, has created a hierarchy that has been endorsed by many academic institutions, and that serves to (re)produce the exclusion of certain forms of research. Because ‘regimes of truth’ such as the evidence-based movement currently enjoy a privileged status, scholars have not only a scientific duty, but also an ethical obligation to deconstruct these regimes of power.
374 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used regression analysis to examine annual report disclosure of environmental information after a major accident in the mining industry and found that companies that maintain themselves in the public eye through press release activity disclose more information than other companies.
Abstract: Purpose – The objective of this paper is to test Ullmann's hypothesis that strategy posture, modified by financial performance, must be considered in light of stakeholder power in order to understand a company's social responsibility disclosure policy.Design/methodology/approach – This study in this paper uses regression analysis to examine annual report disclosure of environmental information after a major accident in the mining industry. A multiple‐item disclosure score is tailored to the Canadian accounting environment, and used as a dependent variable.Findings – This paper finds that companies that maintain themselves in the public eye through press release activity disclose more information than other companies. However there is no evidence to suggest that disclosure content is moderated by financial performance. Companies that obtained external financing one year after the accident made more disclosure than other companies. The significance of the external financing variable is evident when disclosu...
366 citations
TL;DR: A novel design for an all-fiber bandpass filter based on a multimode interference reimaging phenomenon that has achieved low insertion loss with adequate bandwidth and isolation for coarse wavelength-division multiplexing is presented.
Abstract: A novel design for an all-fiber bandpass filter based on a multimode interference reimaging phenomenon is presented. The filter has achieved low insertion loss with adequate bandwidth and isolation for coarse wavelength-division multiplexing. The filter can easily be made with any central wavelength that is compatible with the single-mode fiber used for its construction. The measured filter performance matches the theoretical predictions well. The filter can have broad applications in fiber-optic telecommunications, spectroscopy, and sensing.
279 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Search strategies can achieve high performance for retrieving sound treatment studies in EMBASE and achieve best optimization of sensitivity and specificity.
Abstract: Objective: The ability to accurately identify articles about therapy in large bibliographic databases such as EMBASE is important for researchers and clinicians. Our study aimed to develop optimal search strategies for detecting sound treatment studies in EMBASE in the year 2000.
Methods: Hand searches of journals were compared with retrievals from EMBASE for candidate search strategies. Six trained research assistants reviewed fifty-five journals indexed in EMBASE and rated articles using purpose and quality indicators. Candidate search strategies were developed for identifying treatment articles and then tested, and the retrievals were compared with the hand-search data. The operating characteristics of the strategies were calculated.
Results: Three thousand eight hundred fifty articles were original studies on treatment, of which 1,256 (32.6%) were methodologically sound. Combining search terms revealed a top performing strategy (random:.tw. OR clinical trial:.mp. OR exp health care quality) with sensitivity of 98.9% and specificity of 72.0%. Maximizing specificity, a top performing strategy (double-blind:.mp. OR placebo:.tw. OR blind: .tw.) achieved a value over 96.0%, but with compromised sensitivity at 51.7%. A 3-term strategy achieved the best optimization of sensitivity and specificity (random:.tw. OR placebo:.mp. OR double-blind:.tw.), with both these values over 92.0%.
Conclusion: Search strategies can achieve high performance for retrieving sound treatment studies in EMBASE.
256 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that it is important to understand and explore the dysfunctional perspective of mobile email adoption, and challenges organisations to reflect critically on their assumptions about mobile email usage.
Abstract: This paper offers a study of contradiction in the usage of mobile email. Using qualitative data, the paper identifies mobile email usage patterns that are dangerous, distracting, anti-social and that infringe on work-life boundaries. Mobile email users were forthcoming in describing these dysfunctional usage patterns, but they made a convincing argument that their mobile devices are highly functional and allow them to be efficient, to multitask without disruption to others, and to respond immediately to messages, as well as offering them the freedom to work from anywhere. These dual perspectives on mobile email (dys)functionality are explored through a metaphorical lens, showing how organisational cultures can reinforce the functional perspective while simultaneously suppressing the dysfunctional view. It is argued that it is important to understand and explore the dysfunctional perspective of mobile email adoption. The paper concludes with a series of questions that challenge organisations to reflect critically on their assumptions about mobile email usage.
247 citations
TL;DR: In the proposed supply chain model the permissible delay in payments is considered as a decision variable and it is adopted as a trade credit scenario to coordinate the order quantity between the two-levels.
227 citations
TL;DR: There remain gaps in knowledge about the access and use of health services by subpopulations from different cultural groups in terms of their gender, learning practices, ways of navigating services, and help-seeking behaviours.
Abstract: The Second Canadian Conference on Literacy and Health addressed issues of health literacy, culture, and linguistic diversity. This article aims to introduce the presenters' ideas, reports of the learners' discussion, and attendees' recommendations. There is also a literature review of the links between health literacy and use of health services among newcomers in Canada. Newcomers to Canada tend to be unfamiliar with the Canadian health care system in terms of navigating needed services and/or seeking health-related information. Health professionals report difficulties in communicating effectively with these populations about risk-taking behaviours. Educational resources and approaches only partially reach people from cultural minorities. E-health information does little for those with language and literacy limitations. Barriers to accessing information, specifically written material, are widely reported. Consequently, many ethnocultural groups do not participate in health promotion initiatives. Among newcomers to Canada, the problems of adapting to a new health culture are linked to both a lack of information about the new health care available and subsequently their experience with that health care system. There is also a structural barrier. It includes lack of access to preventive health care services and the lack of a formal and informal support network. This results in less effective use of these preventive services. Linguistic, religious, and cultural factors contribute to the newcomers' social isolation. Multidisciplinary work to enhance health literacy and awareness about health and healthy lifestyles will permit ethnocultural populations to develop their potential and more fully enjoy their lives in Canada. Simultaneously, health educators should have the opportunity to realize their limitations and challenges in dealing with the complexity of providing health education to this population. There remain gaps in our knowledge about the access and use of health services by subpopulations from different cultural groups in terms of their gender, learning practices, ways of navigating services, and help-seeking behaviours.
227 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that participants in social alliances identify more closely with their organizations while gaining a greater sense of being whole, integrated persons, and this integration allows both organizations and their members to align their commercial identities with their moral and social identities.
Abstract: The authors studied social alliances, a type of corporate societal marketing initiative. Their research finds that social alliances are an important means whereby employees identify more closely with their organizations while gaining a greater sense of being whole, integrated persons. Furthermore, this integration allows both organizations and their members to align their commercial identities with their moral and social identities. As organizational members struggled to resolve conflicts within their own identities, they were aided by social alliances, which in turn led them to identify more with their organizations. Unlike previous research, the findings suggest that the kind of connections referred to by the informants went well beyond the cold, rational associations described in previous research to emotional attachments that appear to be critical to organizational identification. The results also suggest that participation in social alliances may result in multiple forms of identification: intra- and interorganiza-tion identification.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the role of neoliberalism in contemporary processes of urban restructuring, drawing upon cutting-edge theoretical work within radical geography, critical urban studies, neo-marxian state theory and critical social theory.
Abstract: Description: This is the first volume to analyse systematically the role of neoliberalism in contemporary processes of urban restructuring. Drawing upon cutting–edge theoretical work within radical geography, critical urban studies, neo–marxian state theory and critical social theory, contributions by leading scholars map the spaces of neoliberalism that have been forged and contested within contemporary North American and Western European cities.
TL;DR: The current and emerging molecular approaches for characterizing microbial community composition and structure in wastewater processes are reviewed and the ability to automate a detection/identification system is discussed.
TL;DR: This research utilizes a survey method to examine the perceptions of ERP users and provides evidence that System Quality, Utilization, and Ease of Use are the most important factors bearing on individual performance in ERP environments.
Abstract: This study explores the factors that can impact individual performance when using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Starting from the proposition that organizational performance depends o ...
TL;DR: A femtosecond laser-induced periodical surface structure (LIPSS) was investigated for polished crystalline silicon as mentioned in this paper, which is similar to the classical ripples that are characterized by long, nearly parallel lines extending over the entire irradiated area on the metal and silicon surface after continuous or pulsed laser irradiation.
Abstract: A laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) has attracted research interest for its promising potential in micromachining for microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems. A femtosecond laser-induced periodical surface structure was investigated for polished crystalline silicon. The observed structure is similar to the classical ripples that are characterized by long, nearly parallel lines extending over the entire irradiated area on the metal and silicon surface after continuous or pulsed laser irradiation. The spacing of the ripples nearly equals the irradiation wavelength. The depth of these ripples increases nonlinearly with the fluence of irradiation. The orientation of these periodic structures is perpendicular to the vector of the electric field of the laser beam. It seemed that the pattern formed by a femtosecond laser complies well with conventional models. Unlike the patterns formed by a continuous or nanosecond pulsed laser, however, the spacing of the ripple formed by femtosecond pulses is not influenced by the incident angle of the laser beam. The formula used to predict the ripple spacing in the conventional model does not apply to the femtosecond laser induced ripple structure. A plausible explanation to this phenomenon is proposed. The effect of the pulse repetition rate was studied and it was found that a femtosecond laser oscillator generates the same periodic structure as the amplified laser system.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present and analyse the results emerging from a questionnaire submitted to a sample of 123 rural entrepreneurs and businesses in a mountainous area of central Italy and test for six hypotheses concerning the correlation between different factors, reflecting entrepreneur and business-specific characteristics, and the adoption of instruments of institutional assistance.
Abstract: Despite the recognition of entrepreneurship as one of the main determinants of rural economic development, empirical research in this field is relatively sparse. Thus, there is little evidence on the role and function of rural entrepreneurs, the driving force behind the birth, survival and growth of rural enterprises. The present work aims at providing a contribution to filling this gap in knowledge. We present and analyse the results emerging from a questionnaire submitted to a sample of 123 rural entrepreneurs and businesses in a mountainous area of central Italy. In particular, we test for six hypotheses concerning the correlation between different factors, reflecting entrepreneur and business-specific characteristics, and the adoption of instruments of institutional assistance. Entrepreneur's and business's variables are related to (1) entrepreneurial human capital; (2) entrepreneur's local knowledge and social capital; (3) firm's size; (4) entrepreneur's age; (5) firm's age; and (6) busines's sector ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a new duty cycle control strategy for boost PFC implementations is proposed, which is determined based on the input voltage, reference output voltage, inductor current, and reference current.
Abstract: The bottleneck of digital control for power factor correction (PFC) implementations is mainly due to three aspects: high calculation requirements, high cost, and limited switching frequency compared with analog implementations. A new duty cycle control strategy for boost PFC implementations is proposed in this paper. The duty cycle is determined based on the input voltage, reference output voltage, inductor current, and reference current. The duty cycle determination algorithm includes two terms, the current term and the voltage term, which can be calculated in parallel and requires only one multiplication and three additions (subtractions) operations in digital implementation. A 400-kHz switching frequency boost PFC based on field programmable gate array implementation and its test results show that the proposed new duty cycle control strategy has great potential in the next generation of high switching frequency PFC implementations, due to its lower calculation requirement, lower cost, and better performance than the conventional PFC control methods
TL;DR: The CSI Effect relates to the popularity of CSI, Criminal Minds, Crossing Jordan and other programs that portray scientific and forensic evidence-gathering procedures to catch criminals; the effect is the rise in expectations of real-life crime victims and jury members.
Abstract: Arguably one of the most significant and potentially illuminating areas of criminological inquiry is the analysis of crime, media, and popular culture. As residents of a highly technological society undergoing rapid transformations in the conduits for information on crime, we have an increasing array of options in forming our ideas about crime and justice. A staple assertion of introductory texts and lectures is that societal perceptions of crime are formed through exposure to various forms of media, including television, film, video, and Internet services. Our knowledge acquisition has changed dramatically in the past 200 years, from first-hand knowledge of crime and deviance in rural communities and small urban centres to a society in which we are inundated with so much information that it is difficult to assess what specific impacts media have on our ideas and attitudes. Therefore, when we speak of "knowledge of crime," we must also be specific about the type of information we receive and the form in which this information is presented. Crime is central to the production of news in Canadian society (Dowler 2004a: 574; Fleming 1983, 2006). Although crime is considered newsworthy and often produced as informative, it is also a central component in entertainment in Canadian and North American society. It grips the collective imagination of television viewers, theatregoers, Internet browsers, and readers of true-crime books. Moreover, the boundary between crime information and crime entertainment has been increasingly blurred in recent years through the rise of reality crime shows. Crime as entertainment has cemented a place in popular culture, reflected in all the above-mentioned media formats and beyond. Canadian viewers are now exposed to American reality television shows including American Justice, Cold Case Files, COPS, Court TV, and Dallas SWAT, while "cop" shows focus on the investigation and arrest of suspects for a variety of offences. The First 48 tracks cases through the investigative process, showing the arrest and interrogation of suspects. Court TV presents sensational trials that typically focus on murder, serial murder, or sexual assault. The Nancy Grace Show selectively targets specific kidnappings, sex crimes, or murders, with a particular focus on retribution and punishment. Canada boasts its own equivalent of COPS, the less sensational To Serve and Protect, which follows everyday police patrols in various Canadian cities. Ideas about crime emerge not only from news sources and reality television shows but also from dramatic movies and television shows that adopt crime as their subject. The massive popularity of crime shows has spawned some of the most enduringly popular television series of the 1990s and beyond, including Law & Order, DaVinci's Inquest, and CSI. The enormous appeal of crime as entertainment is also reflected in the many spin-offs of these series, all of which are currently running alongside the original series and their re-runs. What is particularly disturbing about these crime drama shows is that they are presented as "realistic" portrayals of crime and justice, which further blurs the lines between fiction and reality. In fact, they often borrow storylines from real-life cases and advertise their programs as "realistic" crime portrayals (Eschholz, Mallard, and Flynn 2004)--so much so that the expression "the CSI Effect" has been bandied about by such media outlets as CNN, National Geographic, USA Today, CBS News, and US News and World Report. Simply put, the CSI Effect relates to the popularity of CSI, Criminal Minds, Crossing Jordan, and other programs that portray scientific and forensic evidence-gathering procedures to catch criminals; the "effect" is the rise in expectations of real-life crime victims and jury members. Prosecutors lament the fact that they have to supply more forensic evidence because jurors expect this type of evidence, having seen it on television. …
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an analysis of the relationships among investments in ICT, Health Care and Education and the human development index on five West African nations using a stepwise regression analysis.
Abstract: For more than a decade, key international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the UN and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) have argued that investment in information communication and telecommunication (ICT) infrastructure is a prerequisite for the development of poor countries. However, dissenting voices of the international development community argue that African governments should focus their attention on building schools, delivering basic health care, electricity and clean water rather than on the building of costly ICT infrastructure with their limited financial resources. In this paper, we present an analysis of the relationships among investments in ICT, Health Care and Education and the human development index on five West African nations. We use a Stepwise regression analysis to help unravel the complex relationships among these variables. Our results provide evidence that complementary investments in ICT, health and education can significantly increase development. Given that developing nations are making considerable investments in healthcare, education and ICT and that there are concerns over the type of investments they should make, our findings are a significant contribution to the literature.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of alloy additions of nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), and Ni and Mo together on the impact toughness of an API HSLA-70 steel by submerged arc welding in the laboratory were investigated and micro-structural factors which affect impact toughness were discussed.
TL;DR: Analyzing the discourse arising from structured preoperative team briefings among surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists prior to general surgery procedures yielded a two-part model of communicative “utility”, defined as the visible impact of communication on team awareness and behavior.
Abstract: “Improved team communication” is broadly advocated in the discourse on safety but rarely supported by a precise understanding of the relationship between specific communication practices and concrete improvements in collaborative work processes. We sought to improve such understanding by analyzing the discourse arising from structured preoperative team briefings among surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists prior to general surgery procedures. Analysis of observers' fieldnotes from 302 briefings yielded a two-part model of communicative “utility”, defined as the visible impact of communication on team awareness and behavior. “Informational utility” occurred when team awareness or knowledge was improved by provision of new information, explicit confirmation, reminders, or education. “Functional utility” represented direct communication – work connections: many briefings identified problems, prompting decision-making and follow-up actions. The crux of the model is an elaboration of the causal pathway betwee...
TL;DR: Investigation of a strategic change from parallel cell-based assembly to serial-line assembly in a Swedish company with special reference to how production system design elements affect both productivity and ergonomics finds strategic use of parallelisation elements in assembly appears to be a viable design option for improved performance by reducing the fragility and ergonomic problems of assembly lines.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate a strategic change from parallel cell-based assembly (old) to serial-line assembly (new) in a Swedish company with special reference to how production system design elements affect both productivity and ergonomics. Multiple methods, including records and video analysis, questionnaires, interviews, biomechanical modelling, and flow simulation were applied. The new system, unlike the old, showed the emergence of system and balance losses as well as vulnerability to disturbances and difficulty handling all product variants. Nevertheless, the new system as realised partially overcame productivity barriers in the operation and management of the old system. The new system had impaired ergonomics due to decreased physical variation and increased repetitiveness with cycle times that were 6% of previous thus increasing repetitiveness, and significantly reducing perceived influence over work. Workstations' uneven exposure to physical tasks such as nut running created a potential problem for workload management. The adoption of teamwork in the new system contributed to significantly increased co-worker support - an ergonomic benefit. Design decisions made early in the development process affect both ergonomics and productivity in the resulting system. While the time pattern of physical loading appeared to be controlled by flow and work organisation elements, the amplitude of loading was determined more by workstation layout. Psychosocial conditions appear to be affected by a combination of system elements including layout, flow, and work organisation elements. Strategic use of parallelisation elements in assembly, perhaps in hybrid forms from configurations observed here, appears to be a viable design option for improved performance by reducing the fragility and ergonomic problems of assembly lines. The interacting design elements examined here pose potential "levers" of control by which productivity and ergonomics could be jointly optimised for improved total system performance.
TL;DR: In this paper, gaseous ozone was used as a fungicide to preserve stored wheat and the effect of ozonation on germination of the wheat was also studied, and it was shown that ozone was very effective in the inactivation of fungi associated with the wheat.
Abstract: In this study, gaseous ozone was used as a fungicide to preserve stored wheat. The following operating parameters were investigated for their effects on the fungicidal efficacy of ozone: (1) the applied ozone dose; (2) ozonation time; (3) water activity of the wheat; and (4) temperature of the wheat. The effect of ozonation on germination of the wheat was also studied. Experimental results revealed that gaseous ozone was very effective in the inactivation of fungi associated with the wheat. Within 5 min of ozonation, 96.9% of the fungal spores were inactivated by applying 0.33 mg of ozone (g wheat)−1 min−1. It was also found that increases in both water activity and temperature of the wheat enhanced the fungicidal efficacy of ozone. In addition, results of this study indicated that the inactivation processes could be controlled by simply monitoring the ozone exiting from the reactor and, consequently, the time-consuming microbial examination processes could be avoided. This finding would make the application of ozone in the preservation of cereal grains easier, simpler, and more cost-effective. It was also found that although the applied ozone doses above certain thresholds may reduce the germination of wheat, the inactivation of fungi could be achieved using applied ozone doses far below those thresholds. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry
TL;DR: In this paper, the strength and durability of high strength blended cement concretes incorporating up to 20% of volcanic ash (VA) subjected to high temperatures up to 800 °C are described.
Abstract: The strength and durability of high strength blended cement concretes incorporating up to 20% of volcanic ash (VA) subjected to high temperatures up to 800 °C are described The strength was assessed by unstressed residual compressive strength, while durability was investigated by rapid chloride permeability (RCP), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), crack pattern observations and microhardness testing High strength volcanic ash concrete (HSVAC) exhibited better performance showing higher residual strength, chloride resistance and resistance against deterioration at high temperatures compared to the control high strength OPC concrete However, deterioration of both strength and durability of HSVACs increased with the increase of temperature up to 800 °C due to weakened interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between hardened cement paste (hcp) and aggregate and concurrent coarsening of the hcp pore structure The serviceability assessment of HSVACs after a fire should therefore, be based on both strength and durability considerations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A method and some mathematical models for analyzing risks and constructing incentive contracts for IS outsourcing are offered and how this model could be implemented using spreadsheet software for ease of use is illustrated.
TL;DR: It is concluded that the updated accident models using the calibration factors produce better results for predicting the number of accidents in the year 2001 than using the Bayesian approach.
TL;DR: The findings from this longitudinal study suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences that affect user satisfaction with mobile systems.
Abstract: Mobile information technologies (IT) are transforming individual work practices and organizations. These devices are extending not only the boundaries of the ‘office’ in space and time, but also the social context within which use occurs. In this paper, we investigate how extra-organizational influences can impact user satisfaction with mobile systems. The findings from our longitudinal study highlight the interrelatedness of different use contexts and their importance in perceptions of user satisfaction. The data indicate that varying social contexts of individual use (individual as employee, as professional, as private user, and as member of society) result in different social influences that affect the individual’s perceptions of user satisfaction with the mobile technology. While existing theories explain user satisfaction with IT within the organizational context, our findings suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences.
TL;DR: No clear relationship existed between SRT and median floc size based on frequency, however, sludge flocs at the lower SRTs were much more irregular and more variable in size with time than those at higher S RTs.