Included are a survey, and the results in graphic form. The survey was designed to find out how and where the Chinese contingent of Master of... Show moreIncluded are a survey, and the results in graphic form. The survey was designed to find out how and where the Chinese contingent of Master of Public Administration students used computers. The focus was to determine whether they preferred to use computers on the Downtown Campus, where classes were taught, or on Main Campus, where most of the students lived. Show less
This project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple... Show moreThis project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple intelligences. Show less
This project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple... Show moreThis project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple intelligences. Show less
This paper uses data from 1,042 tweets posted by or mentioning Chicago Aldermen or Mayor Rahm Emanuel to examine how Chicago politicians use... Show moreThis paper uses data from 1,042 tweets posted by or mentioning Chicago Aldermen or Mayor Rahm Emanuel to examine how Chicago politicians use social media. Twitter provides a public communication medium in which constituents and their representatives can have two-way conversations that others can witness and record, and we used qualitative and social network methods to examine conversations between Chicagoans and representatives in city government. We coded the contents of each tweet over the two-week time period (e.g., official business, fundraising) and created representations of the social networks created by the users’ following behaviors. These networks indicate who receives politicians’ tweets and help identify the audiences for political messaging in social media. Our analysis indicates that Chicago’s Aldermen and Mayor use Twitter for social conversations more often than political ones, and that only a small number of Aldermen dominate the resulting conversation networks. Sponsorship: Social Network Research Group at IIT, IIT Graduate College Show less
Included are a survey, and the results in graphic form. The survey was designed to find out how and where the Chinese contingent of Master of... Show moreIncluded are a survey, and the results in graphic form. The survey was designed to find out how and where the Chinese contingent of Master of Public Administration students used computers. The focus was to determine whether they preferred to use computers on the Downtown Campus, where classes were taught, or on Main Campus, where most of the students lived. Show less
This project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple... Show moreThis project provide children with the learning chance they can not get in regular schools. The environment help them develop multiple intelligences. Show less
Reducing project duration is a significant concern for many industries in the speed-to-market era. Numerous studies have examined the effects... Show moreReducing project duration is a significant concern for many industries in the speed-to-market era. Numerous studies have examined the effects of project delivery methods on speeding up the process of construction. However, no study has quantitatively compared the effect of using different compensation strategies on schedule duration and schedule reduction. Using the data obtained from 175 international construction projects, this paper focuses on examining the influence of compensation strategy (lump sum versus reimbursable) on project duration while specifically taking into account the industry sector (heavy industrial versus light industrial). The results of the study provide empirical evidence that using a reimbursable compensation strategy can potentially shorten the procurement duration, construction duration, and overall project duration of heavy industrial projects. However, reimbursable contracting did not appear to reduce the project duration on light industrial projects. Show less
Public officials’ communication has been explored at length in terms of how such their statements are conveyed in the traditional media, but... Show morePublic officials’ communication has been explored at length in terms of how such their statements are conveyed in the traditional media, but minimal research has been done to examine their communication via social media. This paper explores the kinds of statements U.S. officials are making on Twitter in terms of the actions they are trying to achieve. We then analyze the correlation between these statements, Congressional communication network structures, and voting behavior. Our analysis leverages over 29,000 tweets by members of Congress in conjunction with existing DW-NOMINATE voting behavior data. We find that pro-social and self-promoting statements correlate with Congressional voting records but that position within the Congressional communication network does not correlate with voting behavior. Sponsorship: Social Networks Research Group at IIT, IIT Graduate College Show less
In the process of negotiating for new contracts, public safety (i.e. Police and Firefighters) employee unions and municipal managers compare... Show moreIn the process of negotiating for new contracts, public safety (i.e. Police and Firefighters) employee unions and municipal managers compare the essential elements of their contract (i.e. wages) with those of other “comparable” municipalities. The wages, benefits and working conditions of other “comparable” municipalities are used to provide evidence supporting the positions taken on both sides of the negotiating table. The problem is that negotiating teams rarely employ a consistent and accurate method to determine which municipalities should be compared to their own. Negotiating teams make their own determinations of comparability, which must be defended should arbitration proceedings become necessary. However, most of the methods of comparability determination currently employed by negotiating teams are extremely simple and are lacking a sound analytical basis. These methods are inadequate in terms of accuracy, and would be difficult to defend in arbitration proceedings. The method outlined in the following report provides a sound analytical basis for comparability determination. The recommendation is to employ the use of Comparability Tables. Comparability Tables : The Tables provide a list of which communities are most comparable to each particular community, and how comparable they are. This solution is augmented by three supporting elements which help to address the weaknesses apparent in the Comparability Tables. The three supporting elements are a Dissimilarity Matrix, Factor Analytic Rankings, and Factor Analytic Tables. Dissimilarity Matrix : The Matrix provides a comparability determination for communities not listed on a particular community’s Comparability Table. Factor Analytic Rankings : The Rankings allow a determination of why two communities are or are not comparable. Factor Analytic Tables : The Tables allow a quick reference to the particular characteristics of each community. The Comparability Tables, along with the supporting elements, provide negotiating teams with a list of comparable communities that is more accurate and defensible than the lists provided by other methods. This method describes which communities are comparable, how comparable they are, and why they are comparable. Negotiating teams who employ this method of comparability determination can approach their negotiations confident that their choice of comparable communities is accurate and can stand up to an arbitrator’s inquiry. Show less
Hydrogels have been investigated extensively as biomaterials for three-dimensional tissue reconstruction and regeneration. Incorporation of... Show moreHydrogels have been investigated extensively as biomaterials for three-dimensional tissue reconstruction and regeneration. Incorporation of tissue-specific features into synthetic materials is difficult, due to limited ability to recreate the complex multi-component nature of extracellular matrices (ECM). ECM-rich hydrogels extracted and assembled from soft tissues have been shown to stimulate the formation of vascularized tissue in vitro and in vivo.1,2,3 Hydrogels derived from dermal tissue using this technique contain basement membrane proteins, including laminin 3, collagen IV, and collagen VII, all of which are essential for proper skin function.2 While these materials have significant biological activity, their poor mechanical properties and rapid degradation in vivo hinder their performance in wound healing applications. This study investigates the effect of covalent crosslinking on the mechanical properties, biological activity, and degradation (in vitro and in vivo) of dermal-derived hydrogels. Glutaraldehyde (GA) is a well-known crosslinking agent used in clinically approved products to prolong lifetime and increase strength of materials. Compression tests indicated increasing elastic modulus and yield stress of crosslinked hydrogels with crosslinking time (p<0.05). The crosslinked ECM were resistant to pepsin degradation in vitro. Gels and gel extracts were non toxic, and fibroblasts adhered and spread on gels at all crosslink densities. Crosslinking drastically slowed degradation relative to controls (non-crosslinked gels) in vivo in a subcutaneous implant model relative to control. While degradation was slowed, inflammation was low and mature vascularized tissue formed in the gels, suggesting that the materials retained the ability to induce tissue invasion. These results support the potential use of dermis-derived hydrogels as promising constructs for applications in tissue engineering and suggest that covalent crosslinking can be used to enhance mechanical properties and prolong hydrogel lifetime while inducing vascularized tissue formation. Based on this research, IIT biomedical engineering undergraduate senior Sophia Pilipchuk was named one of five recipients of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Undergraduate Student Award, to be presented in October 2011 at the BMES Annual Business Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. Up to eight undergraduate students are selected from around the country on the basis of originality, significance, thoroughness of design analysis, and performance evaluation. Show less
A tutorial to help you learn the Mathematica tools that are particularly useful in engineering. Note that some of the graphics output has been... Show moreA tutorial to help you learn the Mathematica tools that are particularly useful in engineering. Note that some of the graphics output has been removed from the download version to reduce the size of the notebook. Evaluate the notebook to regenerate these and complete the notebook. Show less