Static load versus settlement for geometric shapes on cohesionless soil

Static loading versus settlement for circular plate, cone, and sphere on cohesionless soil - spacecraft landing gear stud

The Persistent Southern Disadvantage in Us Early Life Mortality, 1965‒2014

Background: Recent studies of US adult mortality demonstrate a growing disadvantage among southern states. Few studies have examined long-term trends and geographic patterns in US early life (ages 1 to 24) mortality, ages at which key risk factors and causes of death are quite different than among adults. Objective: This article examines trends and variations in early life mortality rates across US states and census divisions. We assess whether those variations have changed over a 50-year time period and which causes of death contribute to contemporary geographic disparities. Methods: We calculate all-cause and cause-specific death rates using death certificate data from the Multiple Cause of Death files, combining public-use files from 1965‒2004 and restricted data with state geographic identifiers from 2005‒2014. State population (denominator) data come from US decennial censuses or intercensal estimates. Results: Results demonstrate a persistent mortality disadvantage for young people (ages 1 to 24) living in southern states over the last 50 years, particularly those located in the East South Central and West South Central divisions. Motor vehicle accidents and homicide by firearm account for most of the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality. Contribution: Our results illustrate that US children and youth living in the southern United States have long suffered from higher levels of mortality than children and youth living in other parts of the country. Our findings also suggest the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality could potentially be reduced with state-level policies designed to prevent deaths involving motor vehicles and firearms

"Digital petrophysics" in studies of porosity properties of low- permeable reservoirs

The article focuses on study in the properties of low-permeable reservoirs. The object of the research is the Bazhenov formation rocks taken from a well drilled in an oilfield of the West Siberian basin. A series of experiments were carried out to determine porosity of rocks by different methods: the helium saturation, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), microcomputed tomography (mCT). A comparative analysis was conducted to assess the efficiency of different methods. The obtained results have shown that common methods of petrophysical surveys are insufficient for carbonate-argillaceous Low-permeable rocks, containing a great amount of hand extractable organic matter. The additional data received by the mCT method gave an opportunity to increase sufficiently the reliability of the research results. We have concluded that the most efficient method for the study of low-permeable rocks is a combined use of the NMR and the mCT

Design and Implementation of a Microcontroller Based Three Tier Security Lock System

Security has being a major concern for humans since time immemorial. Several approaches towards protecting our homes and offices have being used over time. But there has being consistent failure in the security apparatus employed. This research employs the use of a three tier approach that uses a combination of secret multiuser card, voice recognition and code which will be controlled by an arduino microcontroller. It also uses a master code in case of emergency should the other approaches fail. The system performance was evaluated and the results gotten showed that it has more reliable as compare to other existing system

Hydroclimate in Africa during the Medieval Climate Anomaly

The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) is a recognized period of distinct pre-industrial climate change, with a core period of 1000–1200 CE. The field of palaeoclimatology has made major progress over the past 15 years during which a great number of high- and medium-resolution case studies were published, reconstructing climate change of the past millennia. In many parts of the world, regional data coverage has now reached a point which allows compiling palaeoclimate maps for well-defined time intervals. Here we present hydroclimatic trend maps for the MCA in Africa based on 99 published study locations. Key hydroclimatic proxy curves are visualized and compared in a series of 16 correlation panels. Proxy types are described and possible issues discussed. Based on the combined MCA dataset, temporal and spatial trends are interpreted and mapped out. Three areas have been identified in Africa in which rainfall seems to have increased during the MCA, namely Tunisia, western Sahel and the majority of southern Africa. At the same time, a reduction in precipitation occurred in the rest of Africa, comprising of NW and NE Africa, West Africa, Eastern Africa and the Winter Rainfall Zone of South Africa. MCA hydroclimate change in Africa appears to have been associated with characteristic phases of ocean cycles, as also supported by modern climate observations. Aridity in Morocco typically coincides with the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), whilst increased rainfall in the western Sahel is often coupled to the positive phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Reduction in rainfall in the region Gulf of Aden/southern Red Sea to Eastern Africa could be linked to a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) or a derived long-term equivalent Indian Ocean cycle parameter. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) appears to have been shifted pole-wards during the MCA, for both the January and July positions. MCA hydroclimate mapping revealed major data gaps in the Sahara, South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, northern Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Special efforts are needed to fill these gaps, e.g. through a dedicated structured research program in which new multiproxy datasets are created, based on the learnings from previous African MCA studies

Thermoelectric enhancement in PbTe with K, Na co-doping from tuning the interaction of the light and heavy hole valence bands

The effect of K and K-Na substitution for Pb atoms in the rock salt lattice of PbTe was investigated to test a hypothesis for development of resonant states in the valence band that may enhance the thermoelectric power. We combined high temperature Hall-effect, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity measurements to show that K-Na co-doping do not form resonance states but2 can control the energy difference of the maxima of the two primary valence sub-bands in PbTe. This leads to an enhanced interband interaction with rising temperature and a significant rise in the thermoelectric figure of merit of p-type PbTe. The experimental data can be explained by a combination of a single and two-band model for the valence band of PbTe depending on hole density that varies in the range of 1-15 x 10^19 cm^-3.Comment: 8 figure

Seed production and germination characteristics of woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa [Thumb] Kunth)

Woolly cupgrass seeds at physiological maturity are dormant. The purpose of these studies was to evaluate the seed production capability of woolly cupgrass, seed dormancy factors, and the factors that influence the germination and emergence of woolly cupgrass. Planting of woolly cupgrass later than the month of May greatly reduced woolly cupgrass yield by reducing the production of tillers, panicles, seed numbers/panicle, the number of seeds/raceme, and plant dry weight;The rate of imbibition between dormant and nondormant seeds was the same. Dehulling promoted the germination of dormant seeds by 60%. Oxygen levels above atmospheric concentration completely terminated the dormancy of partly dehulled seeds. The oxygen uptake of dehulled dormant and intact nondormant seeds was significantly greater than that of intact dormant woolly cupgrass seeds. Seed leaching did not promote the germination of intact dormant seeds. Leachate from dormant seeds did not inhibit the germination of nondormant seeds. Excised embryos from dormant seeds germinated under laboratory conditions. Prechilling dehulled seeds for 2 weeks and intact dormant seeds for 6 weeks at 5 C, completely terminated the dormancy of woolly cupgrass. In the field, the termination of seed dormancy was completed by the first week of December. These results suggest that woolly cupgrass seeds possess two types of dormancy. Caryopses dormancy which may be imposed by the seed coat or the endosperm can be terminated by prechilling or by oxygen levels higher than atmospheric concentration. The second type of dormancy is imposed by the seed hulls which limit oxygen diffusion to the embryo;Nondormant woolly cupgrass seeds are not photoblastic. The optimum temperature range for woolly cupgrass seed germination was between 20 and 38 C. Any microenvironment with 4% oxygen concentration can promote the germination of nondormant woolly cupgrass seeds. The optimum seedling emergence depth for woolly cupgrass was between 1 and 4 cm

Singing an Imaginal Dialogue: A Study of a Bereavement-Specific Music Therapy Intervention

The purpose of this research was to understand the experience of singing an imaginal dialogue with a deceased loved one. This bereavement-specific music therapy intervention was an adaptation of Shear, Frank, Houck, and Reynolds’ (2005) imaginal dialogue intervention and was heavily influenced by Austin’s (2008) method of vocal psychotherapy. Following Shear’s (2006) use of the spoken imaginal dialogue with therapists, the guiding question of the present study was: What are creative arts therapists’ experiences of singing the intervention? The sample consisted of nine female creative arts therapists with a minimum of three years of clinical experience. It included women who identified as minorities in the realms of race, culture, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation. Participation entailed one music therapy session with a music therapist who was not the researcher. After the session, participants completed a questionnaire and were interviewed about their experience by the researcher. Distress levels during and after the intervention rated on a scale of zero to 100, and these quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and six themes were found: (a) I cried the whole time - Elicitation of profound emotional expression; (b) I was scared to sing - Discomfort, nervousness, and anxiety; (c) I felt safe - Containment and support; (d) I felt his/her presence - Emotional and spiritual connection to the deceased; (e) I’m finally grieving and have greater acceptance - Helpful opportunity for grief resolution; (f) It bypassed the intellectual - More effective to sing than speak. These findings support previous research on grief therapy and imaginal dialogue and contribute to the field of expressive arts therapies by deepening our understanding of the applications of singing an imaginal dialogue with a deceased person. More research is needed to gain an understanding of grief-specific music therapy interventions for adults