Prototypes of motorized-focus telescopes (MFTs) and of a 4X auto-focus telescope (AFT) were constructed, and 22 users of hand-focus telescopes (HFTs) were trained to use them for near-distance and intermediate-distance tasks. Despite the lack of differences in performance with the MFT, AFT, and HFT, the subjects' ratings on 9 of 10 aspects of telescope performance were significantly higher for the AFT and MFT than for the HFT.
At the turn of the century, when lynching, Jim Crow laws, and disfranchisement were at their worst, black fraternal organizations offered Afro-Americans a place to preserve their self-respect. Scholars have studied these organizations little and understood them less. One early study dismissed them as merely parodying white organizations, but hardly resembling them, while the blacks, it claimed, exaggerated both regalia and ritual. When Noel Gist published hisStudy of Fraternalism in the United States, Carter Woodson charged that Gist failed to understand the importance of fraternal orders to blacks and that, indeed, Gist barely mentioned the black orders. After a detailed analysis, W. E. B. DuBois found that even black and white orders that shared a name might not resemble one another. He found similarities only in Pythians, Odd Fellows, and Masons. He thought the other black societies were "Negro inventions" and "curious and instructive" organizations. "Invention," "curious," "exaggeration," "parody," "importance to blacks"—these are the key phrases. All attempt to describe an amorphous quality of black fraternal orders that makes them unique. Yet while failing to define that quality, its would-be describers avoid the issue.
The early years of U.S. Army Aviation (1903-47) -- Path to Independence -- The Class of 1950 -- Cultural Transitions -- Focus on Advancing Technology -- Flight Tests and Test Pilots -- Aerial Reconnaissance -- Military Airlift -- ICbMs -- Space -- U.S. Air Force Academy -- Leadership.
This study explored changes in the self-reported functional capacity and psychosocial adjustment of 40 persons who completed a comprehensive residential rehabilitation program for visually impaired veterans. The significant improvements in the subjects' perceptions of their functional capacity and self-esteem from the pretest to the posttest were compared to the changes in the subjects' scores on clinical assessments routinely administered at the rehabilitation center. In the area of orientation and mobility, there was considerable correlation between self-reported improvements and improvements noted in the clinical assessments after rehabilitation.
A follow-up study of an earlier report of the Wide Angle Mobility Light (WAML) was conducted to analyze the various uses of the device and its reliability. The authors examine client satisfaction with the WAML. Suggestions for improving the device are given.
Client satisfaction with the recreation program at a blind rehabilitation center and views toward various aspects of recreation in general were assessed by questionnaire. The results showed that clients were highly satisfied with the center's recreation program and viewed recreation as an important aspect of blind rehabilitation. A significant change was found in their views about the appropriateness of various recreational activities for participation by visually impaired persons. Compared to pre-rehabilitation activity levels, post-rehabilitation clients planned to increase their number of recreational activities.
Night-blind individuals often have restricted visual fields or other visual impairments that limit their ability to travel at night. The study reported here compared two night-vision devices: one wide-angle light and one with a high-intensity beam. It concluded that no one night light is best for all individuals and that depending on the cause of the night blindness, a smaller angle, high-intensity light may be more useful than a wider angle one.
This study assessed the effect of visual search training on the avoidance of obstacles by adults with visual impairments. A significant reduction in contacts with obstacles under mesopic conditions was found in individuals who received search training. This finding suggests that search training had a positive effect on mobility performance.
The rise of food security up international political, societal and academic agendas has led to increasing interest in novel means of improving primary food production and reducing waste. There are however, also many 'post-farm gate' activities that are critical to food security, including processing, packaging, distributing, retailing, cooking and consuming. These activities all affect a range of important food security elements, notably availability, affordability and other aspects of access, nutrition and safety. Addressing the challenge of universal food security, in the context of a number of other policy goals (e.g. social, economic and environmental sustainability), is of keen interest to a range of UK stakeholders but requires an up-to-date evidence base and continuous innovation. An exercise was therefore conducted, under the auspices of the UK Global Food Security Programme, to identify priority research questions with a focus on the UK food system (though the outcomes may be broadly applicable to other developed nations). Emphasis was placed on incorporating a wide range of perspectives ('world views') from different stakeholder groups: policy, private sector, non-governmental organisations, advocacy groups and academia. A total of 456 individuals submitted 820 questions from which 100 were selected by a process of online voting and a three-stage workshop voting exercise. These 100 final questions were sorted into 10 themes and the 'top' question for each theme identified by a further voting exercise. This step also allowed four different stakeholder groups to select the top 7-8 questions from their perspectives. Results of these voting exercises are presented. It is clear from the wide range of questions prioritised in this exercise that the different stakeholder groups identified specific research needs on a range of post-farm gate activities and food security outcomes. Evidence needs related to food affordability, nutrition and food safety (all key elements of food security) featured highly in the exercise. While there were some questions relating to climate impacts on production, other important topics for food security (e.g. trade, transport, preference and cultural needs) were not viewed as strongly by the participants.
