Browsing by Subject "Function"
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Item A case study on redevelopment in downtown Baltimore, and strategies for downtown urban revitalization(2013-12) Mangum, Brett Adam; Kahn, Terry D.Baltimore is one of the most notable examples of a city that has revitalized and improved its downtown core to become a world-class destination. In the 1950s, Baltimore faced a slate of problems similar to many other cities across the country: a declining manufacturing and industrial base, increasing rates of suburbanization and sprawl, and the advent of the superhighway. Downtowns large and small were losing businesses, residents, and investments to the hinterlands at an alarming pace. Planners attempts to intervene, while sincere, generated short term gains but produced deleterious consequences over the long term. The foresight of Baltimore’s population and it's elected officials allowed the city to take a different path than that of other post-industrial cities whose fortunes continued to decline well into the 1970s and 80s. Turning an eye towards their natural surroundings, Baltimoreans transformed their harbor front into a front yard, turned their Central Business District into a vibrant, mixed-use 24 hour neighborhood, and emphasized the charms and historic value that had been notoriously undervalued and unappreciated for many decades. Today, Downtown Baltimore is the crown jewel of the region, with a growing residential base, ample services and attractions, and host to more than 22 million visitors annually. In addition to looking at the specific elements that made Downtown Baltimore’s turnaround a reality, this paper will delve into strategies and procedures that other cities and communities can utilize in order to revive and reinvigorate their downtown districts. Each community faces its own unique set of demographics, trends, and future challenges. It must be stressed that the intention of this paper is not to imply a one size fits all solution to planning issues, but that certain measures, when appropriately tailored to a local setting can have beneficial outcomes. Urban downtowns in particular require a distinct approach due to their function as a regional focus for jobs, energy, and infrastructure. The success or failure of a city's core can have geographically far-reaching implications, and this paper will examine the strategies and mechanisms that promote a healthy, viable downtown that can serve as a positive anchor for a city and a metropolitan region.Item Images of divinities in functional objects : a study of seventh-century BCE perirrhanteria in Greek sanctuary contexts(2017-05-05) Angell, Amy Beth; Papalexandrou, Athanasios Christou, 1965-Perirrhanteria in Greek sanctuaries are described in general terms as water basins for the purpose of purification. From the mid-seventh century to the early sixth century BCE, the perirrhanteria were made of marble, featured sculptural figures in the place of columnar stands, and found wide distribution among a variety of Greek sanctuaries. Due to the striking motif of the figurative stands, three or four female figures flanked by lions or standing on their backs, scholarship regarding the stone perirrhanteria has been centered on iconography and early monumental sculpture. Although preceding sculptural analyses provide useful information for the history of a motif, the relatively short lifespan of this particular basin type and its appearance in sanctuaries dedicated to an array of deities begs further study of its function in context. A close study of the perirrhanterion from Isthmia—its location at the entrance to the Temple of Poseidon and the effective power of monumental imagery in Early Greece—supplies the necessary contextual information for a broader understanding of the basin’s function. This study proposes that the perirrhanteria served as boundary markers, and the divine figures represented on their stands acted as guardians of the boundary, facilitating passage into a more sacred zone. An understanding of the sanctuary landscape as a series of increasingly exclusive areas, from the temenos boundary to the innermost room of the temple, presents the perirrhanterion as a cult instrument useful at various locations within a Greek sanctuary. Its adaptable function and Orientalizing iconography contributed to its broad dissemination. Addressing five other stone perirrhanteria from this period that are attributed to a common production center in Lakonia based on marble analysis, this study considers local cults in the Spartan region and arrives at an identification of the perirrhanteria’s female figures as Artemis. Noting associations of early Artemis with Potnia Theron and Early Greek perceptions of the goddess as a guardian of margins, both physical and conceptual, this study argues that the presence of Artemis on the basins is crucial to their function. In addition to their role as vessels for purificatory water, the perirrhanteria served as landmarks in transitional and ambiguous space.Item Patent-based analogy search tool for innovative concept generation(2011-12) Murphy, Jeremy Thomas; Wood, Kristin L.; Beaman, Joseph; Campbell, Matthew; Crawford, Richard; Jensen, DanDesign-by-Analogy is a powerful tool to augment the traditional methods of concept generation and offers avenues to develop innovative and novel design solutions. Few tools exist to assist designers in systematically seeking and identifying analogies from within design repositories such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent database. A new tool for extracting functional analogies from patents has been developed to perform this task utilizing a Vector Space Model algorithm to quantitatively evaluate the functional similarity between design problems and patent descriptions of products. Initially, a Boolean Search approach was evaluated and several limitations were identified such as a lack of quantitative metrics for determining search result relevancy ranking as well as inadequate query mapping methods. Next, a Vector Space Model search tool was developed which includes extensive expansion of the Functional Basis using human-based term classification and automated document indexing techniques. The resulting functional patent controlled vocabulary consists of approximately 2,100 unique functions extracted from 65,000 randomly selected patents. The patent search database was generated by indexing 275,000 patents selected from the over 4 million patents available in digital form. A graphical user interface was developed to facilitate query vector generation, and the accompanying search result viewing interface provides data clustering and relevancy ranking. Two case studies are conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the search engine. The first case study successfully replicated the functional similarity results of a classic Design-by-Analogy problem of the guitar pickup winder. The second case study is an original design problem consisting of an automated window washer, and the results illustrate the range of analogically distant solutions that can be extracted ranging from very near-field, literal solutions to the far-field cross domain solutions. Finally, the search tool’s efficacy with regard to increasing quantity and novelty of ideas produced during Concept Generation is experimentally evaluated. The two factors evaluated are first whether analogies improved performance and second how the functionality level of the analogy impacted performance. The experimental results showed an increase in novelty for high functionality analogies compared with the control and other experimental groups. No statistically significant difference was found with regard to quantity of ideas generated.Item The effects of inertial load ergometry training and pomegranate juice supplementation on muscle mass and aerobic power in older adults(2020-04-20) Allen, Jakob Richard; Coyle, Edward F., 1952-; Tanaka, Hirofumi; Kohl, Harold W; Bray, MollySkeletal muscle mass is a primary determinant of the ability to maintain autonomy later in life. The reductions in skeletal muscle mass, beginning after the 3 [superscript rd] decade of life influence not only the ability to produce maximal neuromuscular power (P [subscript max]), but possibly aerobic power generation. The primary purpose of study one was to investigate the effect of inertial load ergometry (ILE) training on skeletal muscle mass and cardiovascular function in untrained 50-70 year old subjects (n=30-39). Then secondarily, to determine whether pomegranate juice (POM) supplementation augments those changes compared to a placebo (PLA) group. Over the course of 8 weeks both groups performed exercise training 3 times per week. Each session involved repeated (15-30x) 4s sprints on the ILE, with each sprint designed to elicit maximal power while simultaneously maintaining an elevated oxygen consumption (VO₂) due to a relatively short 30-60 s recovery interval. Training increased thigh muscle volume (TMV) 3.7 ± 0.9% (p<0.001) for the entire population. Furthermore, in the entire population training increased Total Body Mass 1.36 ± 0.33%, Total Body Lean Mass (TBLM) 1.5 ± 0.4%, P [subscript max] 12.0 ± 1.5%, Peak Oxygen Consumption (VO₂peak) 9.8 ± 1.8%, Power at VO₂ [subscript peak] 8.2 ± 1.5%, Ventilatory Threshold (VT) 7.0 ± 2.4%, and functional tests of living 8.5 ± 1.3%, to 17.2 ± 2% (all p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in response to training between POM and PLA for any of these measures. These results show that 8 weeks of ILE training was effective at increasing muscle mass, cardiovascular capacity and functional tasks in untrained 50-70 year old adults, with no further effect of POM supplementationItem Thinking beyond utility and practicality : art education discussion viewed through the lens of a three-function model(2012-12) Lee, Elizabeth Rachel; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda MThis study was about language. Its purpose was to explore how a specific set of material culture ideas is represented in art education discussion through what is termed in this study “the three-function model.” The model states that all human-made objects, including images, perform multiple roles and/or serve multiple purposes, simultaneously, and without limit. These roles and functions of objects fall into three categories: technological (utilitarian); sociological (communicative); ideological (instructive). Discovering this model inspired two questions: (a) how might the three-function approach to the discussion of objects augment art education’s understanding and practice of Material Culture theory? (b) to what benefit might such an approach be integrated into art education practice? To answer these questions, I designed a two-stage analysis. First, the examination of literature written toward three audience groups (educator-oriented, practitioner-oriented, general audience) in order to identify three types of information (definitions, statements about objects, and statements about function) for the purpose of forming an overall understanding of how cohesive or disparate discussion appears to be within each audience group. Second, cross-analyzing the three information groups for the purpose of understanding the similarities of and differences between the discussions of the three audience groups. The results of this study suggest that the problem of multiple and contrary definitions for shared terminology may be restricted to only two important words: craft and art. Conceptual approaches employed by the writers included anthropological, philosophical, concrete, theoretical, advocate, and analytical. Although all 15 writers acknowledge the social nature of objects, and all employ the term function similarly, there are indeed gaps in art education discussion: social and ideological functions of craft and art objects that go unnoticed, and missed opportunities to explore those connections and their cultural relevance. The three-function model can provide names for the ideas we are talking around, but not quite about.