Optimal Use Of Space Research Articles

Effects of intraword and interword spacing on eye movements during reading: Exploring the optimal use of space in a line of text

Two eye movement experiments investigated intraword spacing (the space between letters within words) and interword spacing (the space between words) to explore the influence these variables have on eye movement control during reading. Both variables are important factors in determining the optimal use of space in a line of text, and fonts differ widely in how they employ these spaces. Prior research suggests that the proximity of flanking letters influences the identification of a central letter via lateral inhibition or crowding. If so, decrements in intraword spacing may produce inhibition in word processing. Still other research suggests that increases in intraword spacing can disrupt the integrity of word units. In English, interword spacing has a large influence on word segmentation and is important for saccade target selection. The results indicate an interplay between intra- and interword spacing that influences a font's readability. Additionally, these studies highlight the importance of word segmentation processes and have implications for the nature of lexical processing (serial vs. parallel).

Preparing your intensive care unit to respond in crisis: Considerations for critical care clinicians

In recent years, healthcare disaster planning has grown from its early place as an occasional consideration within the manuals of emergency medical services and emergency department managers to a rapidly growing field, which considers continuity of function, surge capability, and process changes across the spectrum of healthcare delivery. A detailed examination of critical care disaster planning was undertaken in 2007 by the Task Force for Mass Critical Care of the American College of Chest Physicians Critical Care Collaborative Initiative. We summarize the Task Force recommendations and available updated information to answer a fundamental question for critical care disaster planners: What is a prepared intensive care unit and how do I ensure my unit's readiness? Database searches and review of relevant published literature. Preparedness is essential for successful response, but because intensive care units face many competing priorities, without defining "preparedness for what," the task can seem overwhelming. Intensive care unit disaster planners should, therefore, along with the entire hospital, participate in a hospital or regionwide planning process to 1) identify critical care response vulnerabilities; and 2) clarify the hazards for which their community is most at risk. The process should inform a comprehensive written preparedness plan targeting the most worrisome scenarios and including specific guidance on 1) optimal use of space, equipment, and staffing for delivery of critical care to significantly increased patient volumes; 2) allocation of resources for provision of essential critical care services under conditions of absolute scarcity; 3) intensive care unit evacuation; and 4) redundant internal communication systems and means for timely data collection. Critical care disaster planners have a complex, challenging task. Experienced planners will agree that no disaster response is perfect, but careful planning will enable the prepared intensive care unit to respond effectively in times of crisis.

Eye movements, the perceptual span, and reading speed

The perceptual span or region of effective vision during eye fixations in reading was examined as a function of reading speed (fast readers were compared with slow readers), font characteristics (fixed width vs. proportional width), and intraword spacing (normal or reduced). The main findings were that fast readers (reading at about 330 wpm) had a larger perceptual span than did slow readers (reading about 200 wpm) and that the span was not affected by whether or not the text was fixed width or proportional width. In addition, there were interesting font and intraword spacing effects that have important implications for the optimal use of space in a line of text.

Designing the optimal placement of spaces in a parking lot

We develop a method for determining the optimal size and placement of parking spaces and approach aisles for an automobile parking lot. In particular, our solution concerns a parking lot of size 100' x 200' located at the corner of an intersection of two streets in a New England town. We begin by arguing the superiority of driver operation over attendant operation of vehicles to be parked. Then a statistical analysis is performed on a sampling of 160 1987 model automobiles to determine upper bounds and ideal values for the length and width of a parking space and for the turning radius required to navigate entrance into said space. Using this data, we show that the optimal degree for diagonal parking which minimizes necessary lot area for a particular space can be expressed as a function of the turning radius of the automobile and the width of the parking space. However, concerning our particular lot, right-angle parking is established as the method by which optimal use of space can be achieved by showing that to minimize wasted area using the diagonal parking scheme requires a greater number of spaces than can be accommodated in the given dimensions. Using these preliminary results, a computer program which utilizes a 12-way tree structure and recursion is employed to generate possible lot designs. Next, other considerations not so conducive to programming—such as snow removal, lot use fees and effects of our design on the adjacent intersection—are discussed.

Optimal Use of Space and Plant Containers in RGA

Optimal Use of Space and Plant Containers in RGA

Geographical Processes and the Analysis of Point Patterns: Testing Models of Diffusion by Quadrat Sampling

OVER THE past decade or so geographers have become increasingly aware of the potential explanatory and predictive power of theories of location and of spatial evolution. These theories imply the existence of some rational and discernible pattern in spatial distributions of human activity and, in many cases, enable us to generate an 'ideal' landscape. The verification and modification of such theories requires some adequate means of testing these 'ideal' patterns against the real world. Such testing has proved difficult for a number of reasons. In human geography it is clear that the real world pattern is usually the result of highly complex interacting processes, not all of which can be interpreted very easily in terms of some simple system or theory. Most location theories incorporate normative notions-profit maximization, for example-which allow little concession to the inadequacies of the decision-making process in the real world, and even if they did there is plenty of evidence to show that profit maximization on the part of the individual does not necessarily lead to the optimal use of space from the point of view of society as a whole. H. Hotelling's (1957) example of two ice-cream sellers on a beach is a simple example. A. Losch's (1954) system may be similarly criticized, for, although it indicates an optimal solution for society as a whole, it does not follow that this solution will emerge from competition among individual entrepreneurs whose sole aim is profit maximization. If we imagine 'economic man' setting off on some optimizing path with respect to location, we may treat this path, at its simplest, as a movement in which the cost of searching out and moving to a 'better' location are substituted against the benefits to be obtained from moving. If the process is continuous we may expect movement to cease at that point where the marginal cost of moving equals the marginal revenue from moving to the better location. Even assuming perfect knowledge on the part of the individual, this point will be short of the optimum. As R. Radner (1964) has pointed out: Most practical applications of optimising procedures would appear to involve stopping short of the optimum and accepting a less than optimal decision because of cost or feasibility considerations that have not been expressed in the formal representation of the decision problem.