Contemporary culture abounds with stories about how new technologies are radically altering human existence. In many respects it seems intuitively obvious that there is nothing new in this, and that new techniques for doing things change social relationships. Indeed, this has been a common refrain in the modern world. Yet there is something strange about the most recent variations of how the social impact of technological change is understood. In the early twenty-first century, new technologies are argued to have changed our daily lives so much so that what we take as the most fundamental features of human experience can no longer be assumed. Specifically, in its more contemporary articulation, the argument that new technologies have radical social consequences insists that the human subject is undergoing a fundamental transformation into something entirely different: the cyborg or posthuman. This thesis offers an exploration of some of the assumptions that underpin contemporary accounts of new technologies and their presumed impact on human experience. Using a textual analysis methodology, this thesis takes up discussions from various areas; feminist technology studies, technology studies, the history and politics of technology as well as continental philosophy to explore changing perceptions about 'technology' and 'the human'. In addition, this thesis examines some curious examples from this diverse field in order to highlight some of the inherent ambiguities and paradoxes that endure when technology is assumed to be a detachable supplement. Assisted reproductive technologies, animal tool-use, automata, stem-cell research and human cloning, all indicate that the criteria which typically define 'the human' or 'technology' are far more amorphous than is usually presumed. What comes out of these deliberations is an intriguing tension between how both technology and human subjectivity are understood which complicates our understanding of the difference between humans and machines, nature and culture, and agency and instrumentality. In turn, this raises certain questions about the experiential implications for contemporary subjectivity.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture & Building. / Past analyses of design solutions for building projects have concentrated on initial capital costs, often to the extent where the effects of subsequent operating costs are completely ignored. However, even in cases where a wider view of cost has been adopted, the discounting process has commonly disadvantaged future expenditure so heavily as to make performance after the short term irrelevant to the outcome, resulting in projects which display low capital and high operating costs to be given favour. Thus design solutions that aim to avoid repetitive maintenance, reduce waste, save nonrenewable energy resources or protect the environment through selection of better quality materials and systems, usually having a higher capital cost, are often rejected on the basis of the discounting process. Furthermore, the formulation of the discount rate has normally lacked rigour and has often resulted in an assumed rate that has implied profit and risk and has ignored taxation. Discounted present value is a measure of equivalence for time-phased costs and benefits derived from consideration of the theoretical investment return, preferably after tax. As it takes account of the cost of money, discounting can be described as leading to the determination of equivalent value using an investment-based or capital productivity approach. It is hypothesized and verified that the value of future costs and benefits is additionally susceptible to fluctuations in their base worth over time as reflected by changes in incremental escalation and the affordability of goods and services between present and future generations. Making adjustments for changes in worth may thus be described as contributing to the determination of equivalent value using a prosperity-based or time preference approach. The analysis of Australian sectorial income and expenditure data over a forty-year period shows that affordability changes can be measured and represented as an index. The discount rate is identified as a combination of the real weighted cost of capital, differential price level changes and diminishing marginal utility, where the latter is depicted by changes in the affordability of goods and services. This results in a composite discount rate that encompasses project-related, product-related and investor-related attributes. Tangible (financial) costs and benefits are discounted by this rate while intangible (environmental and social) costs and benefits are left as real value. Recommendations concerning the determination of equivalent value should ensure that the future operating performance of projects is more equitably assessed and that sustainable development remains an achievable objective in life-cost studies.

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Endosulfan is a commonly used organochlorine in Durham Region, Ontario Canada which has known toxic effects on non-target organisms including fish. This research investigated the effects of endosulfan on Florida flagfish (Jordanella floridae), using both continuous and pulse-exposure. The 96 hour continuous exposure LC50 in larval flagfish was 4.35 μg/L; sub-lethal observations included hyperactivity, convulsions, and some axis malformation. The effects of a 4 hour endosulfan pulse-exposure on 7-8 day-old larval growth, reproduction, and survivability were investigated over one full life-cycle. The 4 hour pulse-exposure LC50 value for larval flagfish was 49.7 μg/L; there were no growth or reproductive effects of endosulfan pulse-exposure up to the highest exposure concentration of 10 μg/L. Thus, the life-cycle 4-h pulse-exposure no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) were 3.2 and 10 μg/L endosulfan, respectively, due to significantly higher mortality.

Boom is a hot term referred frequently by the media, which means a character, phenomenon, or an issue that will be discussed extensively as well as attracted by the public. In this article, we will explore the background and cause of the phenomenon of boom by discussing smart phone¡Bnetbook¡B MP3 player and social network service as four case studies and then process the analysis. According to the research, the price of products does not cause information products to boom, nor the best efficiency or the last volume. It is efficiency of the products combined with the design that cause boom; however, it is also depends on the products that will fulfill the demand of consumers or not. One of the characteristic of the phenomenon of boom is that products have to collocate with other application content and service in order to produce the value. Therefore, they all need good internet connection ability an environment that can let the application content rapidly accumulate. The building of open platform will help the accumulation of application content and the improvement of value of products. In addition, suppliers that have higher brand value by consumers will much easily produce the phenomenon of boom because the cost of hardware is higher than that of software or that of service. Nevertheless, this phenomenon does not appear in software or service products, products that appear highly concentrated in industries. Finally, compared other applications, we will find reasons why entertainment-oriented products are more likely to have the phenomenon than others.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-204). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-90). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 2009.