The Impact of Screen-Free Zones in an Undergraduate Psychology Classroom: Assessing Exam Performance and Instructor Evaluations in Two Quasi-Experiments

Background: With in-person instruction, many undergraduates look at screens during lectures. Because screens can distract, attempts to curb this behavior through screen policies are increasingly common but understudied. Objective and Method: Two quasi-experimental studies (Study 1: N = 412; Study 2: N = 179) in the same Psychology class explore results of restricting screens to one area of the classroom on exam performance and instructor/course evaluation. Results: In both studies, these policies improved exam scores in the class. In Study 2, students who chose to sit in the screen-free zone did better on exams. Limiting screen use to the back of the classroom (Study 1) produced student pushback in qualitative comments and lower evaluations in quantitative instructor and course ratings. In contrast, placing screen and screen-free zones side-by-side (Study 2) was accepted without comment by students. Conclusion: Together, these studies suggest that creating screen-free zones in classrooms can be beneficial for students, especially for those students who choose to sit in the screen-free section. Additionally, students accept side-by-side division of a classroom into screen and screen-free zones. Teaching Implications: Because these studies are ecologically valid, results have implications for how students take notes and how instructors set restrictions on screens in their classroom.

Study on Double-Shear Test of Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube

The free section of prestressed anchor cable is a weak part of support. A new supporting structure named Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube, which can bear transverse shear force, solves the problem that rock bolt and anchor cable are prone to shear failure in the free section and also solves the contradiction between high preload and low shear bearing capacity of support materials. Double-shear tests of Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube with smooth joint planes were carried out. Double-shear tests were carried out on the anchor cables with the diameter of 21.6 mm and the same type of Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube under different preload conditions. The influence of the preload on the shear performance of supporting materials and the enhancement effect of Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube supporting structure on the shear performance of anchor cables were analyzed. The test results confirm that Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube can improve the transverse shear resistance of the supporting material and increase the axial ultimate bearing capacity of the anchor cable during the shearing process. It is found that, during the double-shear test, the fracture form of the supporting materials is tensile fracture, and when it is sheared, Anchor Cable and C-Shaped Tube can reduce the stress concentration of the interaction between the joint surface and the surrounding rock and reduce the damage to the surrounding rock.

Perceived impact of information signals on opinions about gluten-free diets

Understanding how people assimilate different types of information for food choices is integral to improving knowledge about diet and human health. This study evaluates the impact that 10 information signals have on the perceived healthiness of gluten. Signals include non-social signals such as personal eating experiences, scientific studies, and advice from doctors, but also includes social signals such as recommendations from attractive people, social media, the layout of a grocery store, and celebrities. An online survey of over 1,000 Americans is administered using indirect questioning where subjects are presented with a hypothetical other person and asked how the various signals would impact that person’s opinion of gluten-free diets. Results show that advice from an attractive person is thought to have a slightly larger impact than reading about a new study regarding gluten, and seeing a grocery store develop a new gluten-free section has a larger impact than learning a celebrity consumes a gluten-free diet.

RESEARCH OF THE GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS CHANGING DURING SEPARATION THE HIGH-STRENGTH STONES MONOLITES WITH DIAMOND WIRE MACHINES

Aim. Developing the theory of diamond wire cutting of crystalline rocks for separating the facing stone blocks from the array by establishing links between individual geometric parameters of the side and the cutting process. Research methods. To achieve this aim were used the next method: analytical studies of the relationship between the geometric parameters of the process of diamond wire cutting, experimental study of the same geometric parameters of the process of diamond wire cutting of high-strength rocks to confirm or refute previously obtained analytical relationships, and statistical processing of data. Results. The length of contact of the diamond wire with the rock is an important criterion for the process of separating the blocks of facing rocks from the array. Given the unavailability of the diamond wire side in the array for direct measurement methods, there is a need for indirect determination of the contact length. It is proposed to use the length of the free section of the wire, as the total length of the wire remains unchanged during the cutting process. It is assumed that the length of the free section can be estimated by the distance between the diamond wire machine installation and the slope of the ledge. Analytical dependences between the specified sizes are considered. The existence of the obtained dependences and the strength of the correlation connection was confirmed by experimental studies in the conditions of the block quarry of the facing stone. Scientific novelty. At first time, the relationship between the distance of the diamond wire machine installation and the side of the diamond wire and the length of the free section of the diamond edging, which allows to control the length of contact of the diamond wire with rock in the cut. The obtained dependence is analyzed and it is concluded that the geometric parameters of the ledge will affect the length of the cut only in the initial stages of separation of the block of natural stone from the array. In the next stages, the length of the free section of the diamond wire depends only on the distance of the location of the diamond wire machine installation and the side of the diamond rope. Practical significance. The value of the optimal initial distance of the diamond wire machine placement to the slope of the ledge is found. The empirical dependence of the length of the free section of the diamond wire on the location of the diamond wire machine is also obtained

Method of calculating the contact pressure of the cuff on the shaft

The calculation of the pressure in the connection "shaft — radial lip seal" with a seal in the form of a rubber reinforced cuff is proposed. An algorithm for calculating the contact pressure is obtained taking into account the properties of the material, thickness and angle of inclination to the shaft axis of the pressing section of the cuff, the tensile force of the spring, and the geometric parameters of the free section of the cuff. Keywords: lip seal, contact pressure, axisymmetric problem. [email protected], [email protected]

An Improved Numerical Simulation Approach for the Failure of Rock Bolts Subjected to Tensile Load in Deep Roadway

Our goal was to develop an effective research tool for roadways with significant deformations supported by rock bolts. The improved numerical simulation approach is constructed through additional development of FLAC3D. The aim is to modify the shortcoming that the original model in FLAC3D regards the plastic tensile strain of any arbitrary rock bolt element node as the rupture discrimination criterion. The FISH programming language is adopted to conduct the secondary development and to embed the revised model into the main program of FLAC3D. Taking an actual mining roadway as the simulation object, two simulation schemes adopting the newly improved approach and the original method were conducted, respectively. The results show that (1) the PILE element that constitutes the rock bolt-free section with the maximum elongation rate ruptures after modification, while the rock bolt tendon elongation rate reaches beyond the predefined tensile rupture elongation rate; (2) the modified model in which the rock bolt is mainly subjected to tension realises the tensile rupture phenomenon at the end of the rock bolt-free section and the rock bolt at the junction between the free section and the anchoring section; and (3) only four rock bolts that are in the roadway sides showed rupture in the modified model, and all rock bolts showed rupture in the original model. The tensile failure of the rock bolt led that the modified model scheme is closer to the actual. Compared with the modified model, in the original model, deformation of the surrounding rock masses is severe. This is resulted by the rupture of all rock bolts in the original model. The analysis shows that the improved numerical simulation approach is much more reliable for large deformation roadway behavior with rock bolt support.

Single-Port-Access Laparoscopic Radical Trachelectomy in Early Stage Cervical Cancer with Successful Pregnancy Outcome: A Case Report

A 31-year-old woman, gravida 0, was found to have atypical glandular cells on her cytology cervical smear. A colposcopy-directed biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma. Without a definite endocervical mass extension on a magnetic resonance imaging, a single-port-access laparoscopic radical trachelectomy (SPA-RT) was performed. The final pathology was adenocarcinoma with a free section margin. She resumed her normal menstrual cycle a month after the operation and a few months later became naturally pregnant, delivering a viable infant at 34 weeks of gestation by cesarean section. At the time of this writing, 64 months after the SPA-RT, she is still free from recurrent disease.

On-Board and Wayside Energy Storage Devices Applications in Urban Transport Systems—Case Study Analysis for Power Applications

This paper investigates the benefits of using the on-board energy storage devices (OESD) and wayside energy storage devices (WESD) in light rail transportation (metro and tram) systems. The analysed benefits are the use of OESD and WESD as a source of supply in an emergency metro scenario to safely evacuate the passengers blocked in a metro train between stations; the use of OESD for catenary free sections, the benefits of using the WESD as an energy source for electrical car charging points and tram traction power supply; the benefits of using a central communication system between trams, cars, WESD and electrical car charging points. The authors investigated the use of: OESD with batteries for a catenary free section for different scenarios (full route or a catenary free section between two stations); the charge of OESD between stations (in parallel with tram motoring) to decrease the charging dwell time at stations and to help in achieving the operational timetable; the thermal effect of the additional load on the overhead contact system (OCS) when the tram is charging between stations; the sizing of OESD and WESD for emergency feeding in a metro system. The authors investigated the use of the WESD as a source of energy for the electrical car charging points to reduce the car pollution and carbon emissions. Presented in the paper is the enhanced multi train simulator with WESD prepared for the analyses conducted. The paper describes the DC electrical solver and WESD control method. A validation of the software has been conducted in regard to the substation voltage, WESD energy balance and WESD control.