Browsing by Subject "IFC"
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Item “More than just film” : rebranding independence on IFC(2013-08) Trimble, Jessica Lynn; Schatz, Thomas, 1948-In 2010, IFC (formerly Independent Film Channel) underwent a major rebrand campaign, which included a redesigned logo, tagline, and channel name; a transition to ad-supported programming and airing films with commercial interruptions; a reliance on original scripted comedy series; an emphasis on so-called 'blockbuster' indies over lesser-known films; and a general de-emphasis of independent film as the core of the brand identity. The features of the rebrand closely mirrored actions already taken by other film-based cable channels, most notably IFC's current parent channel, AMC (formerly American Movie Classics). In refashioning the IFC brand identity, IFC executives seized upon the instability of the term independent within existing discourses around independent film and music production and constructed a looser definition -- one that was no longer rooted in independent film and also hailed a very specific gendered, raced, and classed audience in order to attract new advertisers. This project contextualizes IFC's pre- and post-rebrand brand identity within the American independent film and music movements that began in the late 1980s and continued into the 1990s before analyzing the paratextual means through which the post-2010 IFC brand identity has been constructed, including upfront presentations, trade press coverage, press releases, on-air promotional spots, materials for prospective advertisers, images from graphic design agency portfolios, and IFC employee instructional guides on the use of language and image following the rebrand. Finally, this project examines how IFC has constructed its niche cable viewership following the rebrand in order to deliver the traditional commodity audience to its advertisers. Together, these analyses form a compelling look at the shifting discourses of independent cultural production and how independent-ness is situated within IFC's construction of a niche cable brand identity.Item Novel approaches to benchmark capital project performance : an application to healthcare projects(2022-08-30) Choi, Jiyong; Leite, Fernanda; Oliveira, Daniel P. de; Caldas, Carlos; Boyles, Stephen; Alves, ThaisBenchmarking is defined as a process of continuous improvement based on the comparison of an organization’s processes with those identified as best practice, thereby allowing for establishing improvement targets and promoting changes for better project outcomes. Despite its importance, incorporating it into an organization’s routine is a cumbersome and time-consuming endeavor as it entails considerable time and human effort. Moreover, it lacks a systematic approach to capturing the similarity of projects for generating credible performance comparisons. With the widespread implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and technological advancements in the construction industry, new opportunities for improvement in benchmarking have emerged. In response, the overarching goal of this dissertation is to advance benchmarking practice by addressing major problems identified from current benchmarking processes in two different aspects. First, this research introduces a benchmarking framework that leverages BIM data for semi-automating a benchmarking data collection. To accomplish the goal, this research examines the feasibility and functional requirements of such an approach by investigating diverse BIM models created for real-world projects. As a consistent approach to obtaining reliable benchmarking data from BIM is essential, this research also develops a formalized representation schema that transforms information stored in BIM into benchmarking data focusing on neutral information models. Second, this research proposes a new approach that finds groups of similar projects by capturing project similarity. In this research, critical and flexible features are selected with the use of data analytics and data mining techniques. Based on the features, the method generates a set of rules that produces different groups of similar projects by performance metric, which enables reliable performance comparisons. The studies presented in this dissertation are carried out by focusing on a healthcare benchmarking program. This dissertation advances current benchmarking practices by streamlining the benchmarking process and allowing for more targeted metric comparisons. This dissertation contributes to integrating BIM with benchmarking practices by introducing a methodology to realize the BIM-based benchmarking and proposing a comprehensive and expandable representation schema to obtain reliable benchmarking data from BIM. It also contributes to establishing a systematic project grouping method that supports decision making for performance improvements.Item A study into the non-invasive manipulation of skin blood flow utilizing electrotherapy techniques integrating Eastern and Western research to create an engaging, open-ended classroom experiences.(2013-08) Casselman, James Edwin; Diller, K. R. (Kenneth R.)The research to date, of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation on cutaneous blood flow, is equivocal. The purpose of this report is to review the TENS body of knowledge, in particular synthesizing the literature on acupuncture stimulation of cutaneous blood flow with the two fold goal of creating a protocol to increase skin blood flow through the exogenous application of electrical stimulation, as well as creating an engaging engineering challenge for high school anatomy and physiology students. The hypothesis developed was TENS stimulation with electrode placement on specific acupuncture points would influence cutaneous blood flow as measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. The findings of this project did not support the hypothesis of TENS or Interferential electrical stimulation, in combination with acupuncture points or not, influencing skin blood flow. Perhaps this is due to the physiological differences between glabrous and non-glabrous skin and the different electrical resistances of each dermal layer, nerve stimulation, age and gender of subject or some combination thereof. These equivocal findings may also be the result of inconsistencies in testing protocols, such as subject preconditioning or not, subject’s position during administration of stimulation, electrode size and placement to name a few. Ultimately, this report provides a summary of the research to date, as well as outlining how this research could be adapted to supply engaging bio engineering challenges in the classroom including challenges to develop a model for delivering current to muscle; develop a model for skin blood flow management to name a few.