This qualitative study describes how immigrant survivors of torture in the United States built relationships among each other to form a psychological sense of community. Eight men and seven women from 11 different countries were recruited through a torture treatment center and a survivor-led advocacy and support coalition. This qualitative study explored how participants described their experie...

This paper presents an envisioned use of pervasive computing to enhance the quality of life for people with cognitive disabilities and their caregivers. We briefly describe common circumstances that prevent people with cognitive disabilities from achieving the level of independence they desire. We then present a model of distributed support that can help people to safely live more independent a...

Our concepts of biology, evolution and complexity are constrained by having observed only a single instance of life, life on Earth. A truly comparative biology is needed to extend these concepts. Because we can not observe life on other planets, we are left with the alternative of creating artificial life forms on Earth. I will discuss the approach of inoculating evolution by natural selection ...

This paper examines the way in which works of generative computer-based art, specifically those which reference Artificial Life, may gain aesthetic appeal through instilling a sense of “wonder” in a viewer. This idea is examined from its roots in our fascination with natural phenomena and the sublime, through its representation in terms of the basic elements of drawing off and on-screen, and in...

if we accept this idea that in talking about art, there is a chasm between thought and unthought debating on art theory in the sociohistorical context of after revolutionary iran requires at least two items in which understanding and creating art meet one another: 1) art as door separates intelligible from sensible, rational from irrational, and logos from pathos as well and 2) art as bridge no...

Improving care in the final phase of life has been an important medical and societal goal during the last two decades. The field of palliative care has been moved forward by thoughtful and rigorous research that seeks to clarify the values and treatment preferences of people in the last phases of their lives and of their families, determines effective methods to control pain and other symptoms,...

Gathering data using travel diaries has been a requirement to analyze travel behaviour data for decades. Traditional pen and paper techniques of gathering data has been complemented by new technologies, most recently GPS loggers, and now smartphones. Smartphones appear to be the silver bullet in collecting travel data on a wide scale, they are widespread, applications are easy to distribute, an...

The economic health of a community is vitally important for attracting and retaining businesses and for creating an environment in which people want to live, work, and play. Rural communities in North Carolina rely on a variety of partners and programs to build local capacity for job creation and the development of quality-of-life amenities.

Robert Solomon’s philosophy of emotion should be understood in the light of his lifelong commitment to existentialism and his advocacy of “the passionate life” as a means of creating value. Although he developed his views in the framework of the “cognitive theory” of emotions, closer examination reveals many themes in common with a socially situated, transactionalist view of emotions.