abstract: Geometrical tolerances define allowable manufacturing variations in the features of mechanical parts. For a given feature (planar face, cylindrical hole) the variations may be modeled with a T-Map, a hyper solid in 6D small displacement coordinate space. A general method for constructing T-Maps is to decompose a feature into points, identify the variational limits to these points allowed by the feature tolerance zone, represent these limits using linear halfspaces, transform these to the central local reference frame and intersect these to form the T-Map for the entire feature. The method is explained and validated for existing T-Map models. The method is further used to model manufacturing variations for the positions of axes in patterns of cylindrical features. When parts are assembled together, feature level manufacturing variations accumulate (stack up) to cause variations in one or more critical dimensions, e.g. one or more clearances. When the T-Maps model is applied to complex assemblies it is possible to obtain as many as six dimensional stack up relation, instead of the one or two typical of 1D or 2D charts. The sensitivity of the critical assembly dimension to the manufacturing variations at each feature can be evaluated by fitting a functional T-Map over a kinematically transformed T-Map of the feature. By considering individual features and the tolerance specifications, one by one, the sensitivity of each tolerance on variations of a critical assembly level dimension can be evaluated. The sum of products of tolerance values and respective sensitivities gives value of worst case functional variation. The same sensitivity equation can be used for statistical tolerance analysis by fitting a Gaussian normal distribution function to each tolerance range and forming an equation of variances from all the contributors. The method for evaluating sensitivities and variances for each contributing feature is explained with engineering examples. The overall objective of this research is to develop method for automation friendly and efficient T-Map generation and statistical tolerance analysis. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2018

abstract: The body is capable of regulating hunger in several ways. Some of these hunger regulation methods are innate, such as genetics, and some, such as the responses to stress and to the smell of food, are innate but can be affected by body conditions such as BMI and physical activity. Further, some hunger regulation methods stem from learned behaviors originating from cultural pressures or parenting styles. These latter regulation methods for hunger can be grouped into the categories: emotion, environment, and physical. The factors that regulate hunger can also influence the incidence of disordered eating, such as eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). Eating in the absence of hunger can occur in one of two scenarios, continuous EAH or beginning EAH. College students are at a particularly high risk for EAH and weight gain due to stress, social pressures, and the constant availability of energy dense and nutrient poor food options. The purpose of this study is to validate a modified EAH-C survey in college students and to discover which of the three latent factors (emotion, environment, physical) best predicts continual and beginning EAH. To do so, a modified EAH-C survey, with additional demographic components, was administered to students at a major southwest university. This survey contained two questions, one each for continuing and beginning EAH, regarding 14 factors related to emotional, physical, or environmental reasons that may trigger EAH. The results from this study revealed that the continual and beginning EAH surveys displayed good internal consistency reliability. We found that for beginning and continuing EAH, although emotion is the strongest predictor of EAH, all three latent factors are significant predictors of EAH. In addition, we found that environmental factors had the greatest influence on an individual's likelihood to continue to eat in the absence of hunger. Due to statistical abnormalities and differing numbers of factors in each category, we were unable to determine which of the three factors exerted the greatest influence on an individual's likelihood to begin eating in the absence of hunger. These results can be utilized to develop educational tools aimed at reducing EAH in college students, and ultimately reducing the likelihood for unhealthy weight gain and health complications related to obesity. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2013

Submitted by (lucia.rodrigues@ufrpe.br) on 2016-11-23T12:26:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Nelio Oliveira Ferreira.pdf: 784310 bytes, checksum: c0fb98c5a6c058e292abaf3e2e990e8c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-23T12:26:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nelio Oliveira Ferreira.pdf: 784310 bytes, checksum: c0fb98c5a6c058e292abaf3e2e990e8c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-08-30 / This article aims to investigate the dual behavior of the light as a result of implementation of a new approach based on the Personal Constructs Theory by George Kelly, specifically, in the Experience Cycle. The five stages of this cycle (anticipation, investment, encounter, validation and constructive revision) had been distributed in three classes during which the conceptions by the students had been followed from the beginning detected through a posttest and through a production of a new poster. There had been investigated the conceptions of wave, particle, frequency and wavelength, as well as the photoelectrons, cutoff potential and cutoff frequency, aiming to register the Photoelectric Effect phenomenon. During the poster production, the acceptable answers had aroused from 64% to 100% concerning the wave definition. Concerning the particle, the results had been even more relevant; no answer was considered true at first, but after the usage of the cycle, they had been all accepted. These results had indicated how clearly the students could then distinguish wave from particle, which had been complemented by the comprehension of essential conceptions to the Photoelectric Effect phenomenon. Therefore, the students had started to understand the corpuscular behavior of the light, in the cited phenomenon, and wavy, in other phenomenon (reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference), as it can be comproved by comparison of the pre-test and the post-test. Concerning the wavelength conceptions, cutoff frequency and photoelectrons, all the answers had became acceptable. Besides, the answers concerning quantum and photon conceptions had cached 91% of the desirable levels frequency had cached 81% and cutoff potential, 64%. Considering that 60% of the answers analyzed were acceptable, it is believed that the usage of Kelly’s Experience Cycle as a methodological tool is extremely effective. / Este trabalho tem o objetivo de investigar o comportamento dual da luz devido a implementação de uma nova abordagem baseada na Teoria dos Construtos Pessoais de George Kelly, mais especificamente, no Ciclo da Experiência. As cinco etapas desse ciclo (antecipação, investimento, encontro, validação e revisão construtiva) foram distribuídas em três aulas durante as quais foram acompanhadas as concepções dos alunos, desde as iniciais, detectadas através de um pré-teste e da produção de um cartaz, até as concepções mantidas ao término da intervenção didática, através de um pós-teste e da produção de um novo cartaz. Foram investigados os conceitos de onda, partícula, freqüência e comprimento de onda, além de fotoelétrons, potencial de corte e freqüência de corte com o intuito de retratar o fenômeno do Efeito Fotoelétrico. Na produção dos cartazes, as respostas consideradas aceitáveis passaram de 64% para 100% no que diz respeito ao conceito de onda. Em relação ao conceito de partícula na produção dos cartazes, os resultados foram ainda mais relevantes, nenhuma resposta foi aceita, inicialmente, contra a aceitação de todas as respostas após a aplicação do ciclo. Estes resultados indicaram a clareza que os alunos passaram a ter ao distinguir onda e partícula, o que foi complementado com a compreensão de conceitos essenciais relacionados com o fenômeno do Efeito Fotoelétrico. Assim, os alunos passaram a compreender o comportamento corpuscular da luz, no referido fenômeno, e ondulatório, em outros fenômenos (reflexão, refração, difração e interferência), como se pôde verificar nos resultados do pré-teste e pós-teste. Em relação aos conceitos de comprimento de onda, freqüência de corte e fotoelétrons, todas as respostas atingiram níveis aceitáveis. Além disso, as respostas a respeito dos conceitos de quantum e fóton atingiram 91% dos níveis desejáveis, freqüência, 82%, e potencial de corte, 64%. Como todos os dados analisados atingiram níveis acima de 60% daqueles desejáveis, acredita-se que a utilização do Ciclo da Experiência de Kelly, como ferramenta metodológica, apresentou-se com bastante eficácia.

George Kelly's Personal Construct Theory, especially as subsumed within the “conversational science" paradigm developed by Thomas and Harri-Augstein, is fundamentally a framework for a geometry of personal meaning in which all of the dimensions of distinction within a person’s experience are like the dimensions of geometric space. A person's system of constructs is not just a framework for predicting the attributes of future events; it is a coordinate system for navigating the dimensionality of experience. The work of F. M. Alexander is primarily concerned with the "psycho-physical unity of the individual," and thus with the continuity of experience. The present work has two aims. The first, drawing on the work of Merleau-Ponty and John Dewey, and culminating in the concept of "Conductive Reasoning", is to lay a theoretical foundation for a synthesis of the practical work of Kelly and Alexander. The primary premise is that the act of comprehending is an embodied act, and as such is as subject to the conditions of the coordination of the whole person as is any other act. The second, practical, aim has been to develop a conversational methodology for dealing with learning in a more fully embodied way. This method of "conductive conversation," formally derived from the "Learning Conversation," evolved from the author's teaching experience with the Alexander Technique. Appendix 1, "A Conversational Introduction to Conductive Reasoning," is an interactive conversational structure which incorporates a development of these concepts in the context of personal experiments for generating the kinds of experiences from which the reader may draw something of the intended meaning, and some skill in using the conductive conversational tools for exploring embodied dimensions in their own meaning. It is intended as a piece that will stand on its own as a conversational research instrument for personal scientists.

In Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, knowledge is illegal, and popular culture is promoted as a way to control society. Guy Montag, the central character of the book, undergoes through a journey of liberation from the oppressive system to the further achievement of the forbidden knowledge. The female characters in the book are key to his awakening and evolvement. Unfortunately during the course of the story these women perish. Using the theories of Simone De Beauvoir and Janice Radway, this essay explores the concept of “otherness” and the consumption of popular culture in a patriarchal and oppressive society. This paper also argues that the construction of the masculinity of the protagonist would not be possible without the women, and their death is a violent reaffirmation of a patriarchal order.

Personal construct psychology, as formulated by George Kelly (1955), contributed substantial knowledge to the study of psychopathology. The small amount of research in the area of depression has focused generally on the content of self-constructs and the cognitive complexity characteristic. The purpose of this study was to examine the construct system of the depressed patient specifically by investigating the endogenicity, exogenicity, and severity of depressive symptoms in relationship to construct content as applied to others, cognitive complexity, and ordination.

Two interviews were conducted with 20 participants from a Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) crisis house. Subjects were classified as good or poor premorbid level of functioning using a case history form and information from their social history charts. The study employed a self-narrative method to direct self disclosure. In the first interview, participants were asked to describe themselves. In the second interview they were asked to identify what they would change about their histories and to describe how this would make a difference in how their lives turned out. Support was not found for the hypothesis that those with the higher premorbid functioning would be better able to shift perspectives and use more positive self constructs. Methodological, theoretical and future research areas are discussed.

People diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have been subjected to stigma and told that their difficulties are untreatable. Although recovery is now understood to be possible for this client group, much controversy exists around whether BPD is, in fact, an illness. The implications of this belief have not yet been explored from the perspective of the client. Furthermore, little research has attempted to deconstruct what constitutes the therapeutic alliance for people diagnosed with BPD and their clinicians from a Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) perspective. The present research study therefore aimed to explore what impacts on the recovery of people diagnosed with BPD. This included investigating the impact of the construct of illness and the therapeutic relationship. The research employed a correlational and non-randomised design, using a cross-sectional approach. The Repertory Grid technique was used among a sample of 20 clients diagnosed with BPD and their clinicians. Relevant questionnaires were also administered to ascertain BPD symptomatology and the perceived quality of the therapeutic relationship. Among findings, a statistically significant correlation is presented for the association between a poor therapeutic relationship and increased BPD symptoms. Evidence (in the form of a borderline significant correlation) is also revealed to suggest that clients diagnosed with BPD construe fewer benefits from psychological therapy when they consider the well-ill construct to be more important (i.e. superordinate). The results provide new information with regard to the treatment of people diagnosed with BPD.

M.A. / In accordance with literature indications that have established the need for psychotherapeutic outcome assessment instruments to determine the effects of psychotherapy, an exploratory and comparative study was conducted with anxiety disorder clients in private practice settings. The purpose of the study was to verify the recommendations made in the literature for the use of an idiographic method of outcome assessment (the Dyad Grid), as opposed to typically applied normative methods (the IPAT Anxiety Scale). The nature of the suggestions concerning the application of an idiographic method of outcome assessment, required the development of a theoretical framework which integrated the assessment procedure in an explanatory manner. To this end, the personal construct psychology view of anxiety was discussed in relation to repertory grid technique and prior outcome assessment research conducted with the Dyad Grid. On the basis of the personal construct approach to anxiety, a pre-test post-test research design was used to establish the utility of the Dyad Grid to discriminate between beneficial and nonbeneficial psychotherapy outcomes with anxiety disorder clients. The outcome results of the Dyad Grid assessments were compared with the results obtained from the IPAT Anxiety Scale, in conjunction with qualitative post-therapeutic ratings of benefit, or a lack of benefit, made by the client and therapist. The findings obtained on the basis of 14 case-studies are encouraging. The Dyad Grid displayed a statistically significant level of agreement with the client and therapist ratings of therapeutic outcome (onetailed, p = 0,05), whereas the IPAT Anxiety Scale did not. Though limited to a sample of convenience, and subject to an idiographic methodological bias, the discussion of the results indicated that the study provides support for the use of idiographic procedures as an alternative to nomothetic methods of outcome assessment. It is concluded that the initial success of the Dyad Grid in assessing psychotherapy outcome as beneficial or non-beneficial warrants further investigation with a large sample research design.

Social support is strongly associated with resilience and positive outcomes in children who have experienced risk and adversity, including children and young people in care. However, research suggests that children in care are often disadvantaged in their ability to benefit from social support due to disrupted relationships and multiple placements. Whilst a number of measures have been developed to assess the support networks of children, few are able to adequately assess and describe the complex network of relationships that exist for young people in care.The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the use of a Dependency Grid to assess social support in young people who are looked after. The Dependency Grid is an interview technique derived from George Kelly’s (1955) Theory of Personal Constructs and was administered to ten individuals aged 11-17 years who were either in foster care or residential care. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis were used to explore its utility to assess social support with each case. The appropriateness and ease of completing the Dependency Grid was evaluated through participant feedback interviews. The views and opinions of the young people’s social workers and a reference group consisting of social care practitioners were also obtained.The Dependency Grid was found to be a useful tool for examining the support networks of young people in care, with many advantages over existing measures. The Dependency Grid revealed similarities and differences in the way participants distributed their dependencies. Most of the participants had dispersed dependency grids and carers and friends were the most significant providers of support. Levels of social support did not vary with the increasing size of the support network (r = 0.198) and the felt ‘closeness’ of relationships, as measured using the Four Field Map, was poorly related to the allocation of dependencies (r = -0.243). Some evidence was found in relation to the validity of the Dependency Grid for individual cases using qualitative methods. The strengths and limitations of the Dependency Grid are discussed and the methodological challenges with the study and opportunities for further research are considered.