The Mid-Century Showroom: Knoll, Herman Miller and the Retail Exhibition of Modern American Design

Although occasionally illustrated and referenced in contemporary histories of modern furniture and design, there is surprisingly little critical discussion or consideration of the role of the showroom in the promotion and dissemination of modern design during the mid-twentieth century. In these years, when the American lifestyle was popularly articulated and forcefully propagandized, the furniture showroom served as a principle site of professional and public indoctrination. Appropriating display techniques from modern exhibition design to showcase the American lifestyle as an abstracted, spatially integrated art form, the showroom provided an unencumbered landscape ideally suited to camera’s lens and the public’s imagination. Leading modern American furniture manufacturers, such as Herman Miller and Knoll Associates collaborated with major cultural institutions as well as department stores and retailers to maximize exposure and consumer demand for their products. Through such integrated marketing and merchandising strategies, showrooms also contributed to the broader social project to educate American consumers about modern design and the advantages of modern living. Related to the many model home programs and “good design” exhibitions of the 1950s, the furniture showroom occupies a unique place within the history and discourse of the postwar era. The peculiarities of the furniture showroom and its position as a point of intersection between the trade and the consumer, the commercial and the cultural, and the aesthetic and the ideological form the focus of this study.

The Pricing of American Put Options on Stock with Dividends

Pricing American put options on dividend-paying stocks has largely been ignored in the option pricing literature because the problem is mathematically complex and valuation usually resorts to computationally expensive and impractical pricing applications. This paper computed a simulation study, using two different approximation methods for the valuation of American put options on a stock with known discrete dividend payments. This to find out if there were pricing errors and to find out which could be the most usable method for practical users. The option pricing models used in the study was the dividend approximation by Blomeyer (1986) and the one by Barone-Adesi and Whaley (1988). The study showed that the approximation method by Blomeyer worked satisfactory for most situations, but some errors occur for longer times to the dividend payment, for smaller dividends and for in-the-money options. The approximation method by Barone-Adesi and Whaley worked well for in-the-money options and at-the-money options, but had serious pricing errors for out-of-the-money options. The conclusion of the study is that a combination of the both methods might be preferable to any single model.

Tiedostumaton nykytaiteessa : Katse, ääni ja aika vuosituhannen taitteen suomalaisessa nykytaiteessa

Leevi Haapala explores moving image works, sculptures and installations from a psychoanalytic perspective in his study The Unconscious in Contemporary Art. The Gaze, Voice and Time in Finnish Contemporary Art at the Turn of the Millennium . The artists included in the study are Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Hans-Christian Berg, Markus Copper, Liisa Lounila and Salla Tykkä. The theoretical framework includes different psychoanalytic readings of the concepts of the gaze, voice and temporality. The installations are based on spatiality and temporality, and their detailed reading emphasizes the medium-specific features of the works as well as their fragmentary nature, heterogeneity and affectivity. The study is cross-disciplinary in that it connects perspectives from the visual culture, new art history and theory to the interpretation of contemporary art. The most important concepts from psychoanalysis, affect theory and trauma discourse used in the study include affect, object a (objet petit a) as articulated by Jacques Lacan, Sigmund Freud s uncanny (das Unheimliche) and trauma. Das Unheimliche has been translated as uncanny in art history under the influence of Rosalind Krauss. The object of the study, the unconscious in contemporary art, is approached through these concepts. The study focuses on Lacan s additions to the list of partial drives: the gaze and voice as scopic and invocative drives and their interpretations in the studies of the moving image. The texts by the American film theorist and art historian Kaja Silverman are in crucial role. The study locates contemporary art as part of trauma culture, which has a tendency to define individual and historical experiences through trauma. Some of the art works point towards trauma, which may appear as a theoretic or fictitious construction. The study presents a comprehensive collection of different kinds of trauma discourse in the field of art research through the texts of Hal Foster, Cathy Caruth, Ruth Leys and Shoshana Felman. The study connects trauma theory with the theoretical analysis of the interference and discontinuity of the moving image in the readings by Susan Buck-Morss, Mary Ann Doane and Peter Osborn among others. The analysis emphasizes different ways of seeing and multisensoriality in the reception of contemporary art. With their reflections and inverse projections, the surprising mechanisms of Hans-Christian Berg s sculptures are connected with Lacan s views on the early mirroring and imitation attempts of the individual s body image. Salla Tykkä s film trilogy Cave invites one to contemplate the Lacanian theory of the gaze in relation to the experiences of being seen. The three oceanic sculpture installations by Markus Copper are studied through the vocality they create, often through an aggressive way of acting, as well as from the point of view of the functioning of an invocative drive. The study compares the work of fiction and Freud s texts on paranoia and psychosis to Eija-Liisa Ahtila s manuscripts and moving image installations about the same topic. The cinematic time in Liisa Lounila s time-slice video installations is approached through the theoretical study of the unconscious temporal structure. The viewer of the moving image is inside the work in an in-between state: in a space produced by the contents of the work and its technology. The installations of the moving image enable us to inhabit different kinds of virtual bodies or spaces, which do not correspond with our everyday experiences. Nevertheless, the works of art often try to deconstruct the identification to what has been shown on screen. This way, the viewer s attention can be fixed on his own unconscious experiences in parallel with the work s deconstructed nature as representation. The study shows that contemporary art is a central cultural practice, which allows us to discuss the unconscious in a meaningful way. The study suggests that the agency that is discursively diffuse and consists of several different praxes should be called the unconscious. The emergence of the unconscious can happen in two areas: in contemporary art through different senses and discursive elements, and in the study of contemporary art, which, being a linguistic activity is sensitive to the movements of the unconscious. One of the missions of art research is to build different kinds of articulated constructs and to open an interpretative space for the nature of art as an event.

Optimal explicit guidance of multistage launch vehicle along three-dimensional trajectory

Details of an efficient optimal closed-loop guidance algorithm for a three-dimensional launch are presented with simulation results. Two types of orbital injections, with either true anomaly or argument of perigee being free at injection, are considered. The resulting steering-angle profile under the assumption of uniform gravity lies in a canted plane which transforms a three-dimensional problem into an equivalent two-dimensional one. Effects of thrust are estimated using a series in a recursive way. Encke's method is used to predict the trajectory during powered flight and then to compute the changes due to actual gravity using two gravity-related vectors. Guidance parameters are evaluated using the linear differential correction method. Optimality of the algorithm is tested against a standard ground-based trajectory optimization package. The performance of the algorithm is tested for accuracy, robustness, and efficiency for a sun-synchronous mission involving guidance for a multistage vehicle that requires large pitch and yaw maneuver. To demonstrate applicability of the algorithm to a range of missions, injection into a geostationary transfer orbit is also considered. The performance of the present algorithm is found to be much better than others.

Search Strategies for Multiple UAV Search and Destroy Missions

Multiple UAVs are deployed to carry out a search and destroy mission in a bounded region. The UAVs have limited sensor range and can carry limited resources which reduce with use. The UAVs perform a search task to detect targets. When a target is detected which requires different type and quantities of resources to completely destroy, then a team of UAVs called as a coalition is formed to attack the target. The coalition members have to modify their route to attack the target, in the process, the search task is affected, as search and destroy tasks are coupled. The performance of the mission is a function of the search and the task allocation strategies. Therefore, for a given task allocation strategy, we need to devise search strategies that are efficient. In this paper, we propose three different search strategies namely; random search strategy, lanes based search strategy and grid based search strategy and analyze their performance through Monte-Carlo simulations. The results show that the grid based search strategy performs the best but with high information overhead.

Evolving Philosophies on Autonomous Obstacle/Collision Avoidance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Much of the benefits of deploying unmanned aerial vehicles can be derived from autonomous missions. For such missions, however, sense-and-avoid capability (i.e., the ability to detect potential collisions and avoid them) is a critical requirement. Collision avoidance can be broadly classified into global and local path-planning algorithms, both of which need to be addressed in a successful mission. Whereas global path planning (which is mainly done offline) broadly lays out a path that reaches the goal point, local collision-avoidance algorithms, which are usually fast, reactive, and carried out online, ensure safety of the vehicle from unexpected and unforeseen obstacles/collisions. Even though many techniques for both global and local collision avoidance have been proposed in the recent literature, there is a great interest around the globe to solve this important problem comprehensively and efficiently and such techniques are still evolving. This paper presents a brief overview of a few promising and evolving ideas on collision avoidance for unmanned aerial vehicles, with a preferential bias toward local collision avoidance.

UAV Grouping and Coordination Tactics for Ground Attack Missions

Grouping and coordination tactics for ground attack missions by a heterogeneous mix of reconnaissance, enemy suppression, and attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is presented. Dubins' paths are used to determine the optimal number of attack UAVs and their positional and heading freedoms, as functions of weapon seeker range and field of view. A generic battlefield scenario with layered defense is created and the tactics are evaluated on a Group Flyer simulation platform for both nominal and off-nominal conditions.

Comparison of North American universities with and without medical schools and their technology transfer initiatives

Empirical research available on technology transfer initiatives is either North American or European. Literature over the last two decades shows various research objectives such as identifying the variables to be measured and statistical methods to be used in the context of studying university based technology transfer initiatives. AUTM survey data from years 1996 to 2008 provides insightful patterns about the North American technology transfer initiatives, we use this data in our paper. This paper has three sections namely, a comparison of North American Universities with (n=1129) and without Medical Schools (n=786), an analysis of the top 75th percentile of these samples and a DEA analysis of these samples. We use 20 variables. Researchers have attempted to classify university based technology transfer initiative variables into multi-stages, namely, disclosures, patents and license agreements. Using the same approach, however with minor variations, three stages are defined in this paper. The first stage is to do with inputs from R&D expenditure and outputs namely, invention disclosures. The second stage is to do with invention disclosures being the input and patents issued being the output. The third stage is to do with patents issued as an input and technology transfers as outcomes.

Dynamics of the North American continent

The forces that cause deformation of western North America have been debated for decades. Recent studies, primarily based on analysis of crustal stresses in the western United States, have suggested that the deformation of the region is mainly controlled by gravitational potential energy (GPE) variations and boundary loads, with basal tractions due to mantle flow playing a relatively minor role. We address these issues by modelling the deviatoric stress field over western North America from a 3-D finite element mantle circulation model with lateral viscosity variations. Our approach takes into account the contribution from both topography and shallow lithosphere structure (GPE) as well as that from deeper mantle flow in one single model, as opposed to separate lithosphere and circulation models, as has been done so far. In addition to predicting the deviatoric stresses we also jointly fit the constraints of geoid, dynamic topography and plate motion both globally and over North America, in order to ensure that the forces that arise in our models are dynamically consistent. We examine the sensitivity of the dynamic models to different lateral viscosity variations. We find that circulation models that include upper mantle slabs yield a better fit to observed plate velocities. Our results indicate that a model of GPE variations coupled with mantle convection gives the best fit to the observational constraints. We argue that although GPE variations control a large part of the deformation of the western United States, deeper mantle tractions also play a significant role. The average deviatoric stress magnitudes in the western United States range 30-40 MPa. The cratonic region exhibits higher coupling to mantle flow than the rest of the continent. We find that a relatively strong San Andreas fault gives a better fit to the observational constraints, especially that of plate velocity in western North America.

Assessing resilience and state-transition models with historical records of cheatgrass Bromus tectorum invasion in North American sagebrush-steppe

1. Resilience-based approaches are increasingly being called upon to inform ecosystem management, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. This requires management frameworks that can assess ecosystem dynamics, both within and between alternative states, at relevant time scales. 2. We analysed long-term vegetation records from two representative sites in the North American sagebrush-steppe ecosystem, spanning nine decades, to determine if empirical patterns were consistent with resilience theory, and to determine if cheatgrass Bromus tectorum invasion led to thresholds as currently envisioned by expert-based state-and-transition models (STM). These data span the entire history of cheatgrass invasion at these sites and provide a unique opportunity to assess the impacts of biotic invasion on ecosystem resilience. 3. We used univariate and multivariate statistical tools to identify unique plant communities and document the magnitude, frequency and directionality of community transitions through time. Community transitions were characterized by 37-47% dissimilarity in species composition, they were not evenly distributed through time, their frequency was not correlated with precipitation, and they could not be readily attributed to fire or grazing. Instead, at both sites, the majority of community transitions occurred within an 8-10year period of increasing cheatgrass density, became infrequent after cheatgrass density peaked, and thereafter transition frequency declined. 4. Greater cheatgrass density, replacement of native species and indication of asymmetry in community transitions suggest that thresholds may have been exceeded in response to cheatgrass invasion at one site (more arid), but not at the other site (less arid). Asymmetry in the direction of community transitions also identified communities that were at-risk' of cheatgrass invasion, as well as potential restoration pathways for recovery of pre-invasion states. 5. Synthesis and applications. These results illustrate the complexities associated with threshold identification, and indicate that criteria describing the frequency, magnitude, directionality and temporal scale of community transitions may provide greater insight into resilience theory and its application for ecosystem management. These criteria are likely to vary across biogeographic regions that are susceptible to cheatgrass invasion, and necessitate more in-depth assessments of thresholds and alternative states, than currently available.

Soundings: the Newsletter of the Monterey Bay Chapter of the American Cetacean Society. 1980

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