Volumetric calibration of a propellant utilization system

Method of calibrating capacitance-type propellant mass sensors provides meaningful mass units accurate to within one percent of the total load. Neither special propellant loading nor test firing is required. Recalibration of the system is possible without special propellant loading. This method provides increased flexibility for vehicle operation

Modulation of ecdysal cyst and toxin dynamics of two Alexandrium (Dinophyceae) species under small-scale turbulence

Some dinoflagellate species have shown different physiological responses to certain turbulent conditions. Here we investigate how two levels of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates (epsilon = 0.4 and 27 cm(2) s(-3)) affect the PSP toxins and ecdysal cyst dynamics of two bloom forming species, Alexandrium minutum and A. catenella. The most striking responses were observed at the high epsilon generated by an orbital shaker. In the cultures of the two species shaken for more than 4 days, the cellular GTX(1+4) toxin contents were significantly lower than in the still control cultures. In A. minutum this trend was also observed in the C(1+2) toxin content. For the two species, inhibition of ecdysal cyst production occurred during the period of exposure of the cultures to stirring (4 or more days) at any time during their growth curve. Recovery of cyst abundances was always observed when turbulence stopped. When shaking persisted for more than 4 days, the net growth rate significantly decreased in A. minutum (from 0.25 +/- 0.01 day(-1) to 0.19 +/- 0.02 day(-1)) and the final cell numbers were lower (ca. 55.4%) than in the still control cultures. In A. catenella, the net growth rate was not markedly modified by turbulence although under long exposure to shaking, the cultures entered earlier in the stationary phase and the final cell numbers were significantly lower (ca. 23%) than in the control flasks. The described responses were not observed in the experiments performed at the low turbulence intensities with an orbital grid system, where the population development was favoured. In those conditions, cells appeared to escape from the zone of the influence of the grids and concentrated in calmer thin layers either at the top or at the bottom of the containers. This ecophysiological study provides new evidences about the sensitivity to high levels of small-scale turbulence by two life cycle related processes, toxin production and encystment, in dinoflagellates. This can contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of those organisms in nature

Från wayfaring till stråkobservationer

I ett samhälle som alltmer förlitar sig på kvantitativ data och digitaliserade analysverktyg riskerar människor att gå miste om kunskap och insikter som kan inhämtas från våra sinnen. Hur och vad vi uppfattar sinnligt påverkar hur vi mår i våra städer, men även hur städer och dess invånare utvecklas och formas (Pink 2008). Landskapsarkitekter bör därför inkludera sinnlighet när de gestaltar miljöer där människor vistas. För att lättare kunna förstå och inkludera sinnliga upplevelser i framtida gestaltningsprocesser undersöks rörelseformen att gå som forskningsmetod. Metoden utgår från Tim Ingolds (2011) teorier om wayfaring och att kunskap bäst inhämtas när en rör sig genom en miljö. Med detta som utgångspunkt utfördes stråkobservationer, en experimentell undersökning av ett gångstråk som ligger nära fenomenologiska och auto- etnografiska studier. Stråkobservationernas resultat presenteras och diskuteras genom åtta insikter för att både ge ökad förståelse för sinnliga upplevelser genom gång som metod och för att visa hur sinnliga insikter kan bidra till framtida gestaltningsprocesser. Insikterna utvecklade bland annat förståelse för hur landskapet inträffar och försvinner, sinnliga överraskningar, passiva/aktiva rörelsemönster samt hur landskap bör tillåtas att bli mer personliga.In a society that increasingly relies on measurable, quantitative data, what we experience and feel with our senses risks being overshadowed. How and what we perceive sensually affects our health and how we feel in our cities, but also how cities and their inhabitants are shaped and affected forward (Pink 2008). Landscape architects therefore have a responsibility to include human perceptions when designing environments where people live. In order to be able to more easily understand and include sensory experiences in future design processes, walking is examined as a research method. The method is based on Tim Ingold's (2011) theories about wayfaring and that knowledge is best acquired when one moves through an environment. On this basis, path observations were conducted – an experimental acquisition of a pathway, an approach that is close to phenomenological and autoethnographic studies. The results of the path observations are presented and discussed through eight insights to both provide an increased understanding of sensory experiences through walking as a method and to show how perceptive insights can contribute to future design processes. The insights acquired a greater understanding of the perceptive landscape, e.g. how the landscape occurs, sensual surprises, passive/active movement patterns and how landscapes should be allowed to become more personal

Unapologetically Queer in Unapologetically Black Spaces: Creating An Inclusive HBCU Campus

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are notoriously perceived as unwelcoming towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students, and are considerably behind predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in regards to providing supportive and affirming environments. Fewer than 25% of the 105 HBCUs in the United States have LGBTQ student organizations, and only three have established LGBTQ resource centers. This article, written by the co-founder of one of these centers, is a reflexive exercise that describes the history, successes and challenges of developing and sustaining a LGBTQ resource center on one HBCU campus. Establishing LGBTQ initiatives at HBCUs is absolutely imperative to the retention of LGBTQ students, student success, and sustainability and the purpose of this article is to guide other HBCUs as they work to become more inclusive institutions

The augmented audit service: Supporting value creation beyond assuring compliance

For most organisations, being competitive, performing with good quality, improving customer satisfaction and increasing operational are central. Concepts such as Total Quality Management, Six Sigma and Lean have been implemented to meet these requirements. Further, ISO management system standards such as ISO 9001 have gained widespread attention to meet these demands, and ISO 9001 is now implemented by more than 1.2 million organisations worldwide. Following this diffusion of the ISO management system standards, internal and external audits have become a universal activity among certified organisations. However, audits have been reported to have had a negative association within many organisations, as they are perceived as an inspection activity, focusing on compliance and documentation, and adding disputed value. As a result, management have started to ask for return on investment for the non-negligible costs associated with certification and periodical external and internal audits. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to describe how auditing of quality management systems can be improved to support value creation beyond assuring compliance to standard requirements. This thesis mainly builds on a qualitative research design and departs from quality management, value-creation and service quality. The five included papers contribute to the purpose of the thesis by bringing forward several findings: examples of how an organisation can operationalise practices for value-adding audits, factors that contribute to auditee satisfaction, challenges in the auditing context, and suggestions for future research. By viewing auditing as a service, these findings have been integrated into an augmented audit service model that addresses three critical areas for service quality; accessibility, interaction, and participation in the audit service. First, the accessibility of the audit service refers to how easy it is for an auditee to access the audit team/auditor and the audit service. Arguably, the accessibility is improved by adding functional experts to the audit team, being more knowledgeable about the organisation audited, and by shortening the time from audit to delivery of a target group-oriented audit report. Second, the interaction between the auditor and auditee can be improved by utilising easy and correct terminology and language, having an improvement attitude (such as focusing on process improvements), and being adaptable to the context of the quality management system. Third, by spending more time in the preparation phase of the audit, and by introducing an audit sponsor for each individual audit, closer dialogue with management is established, which enables auditees to improve their participation in the audit. This improved participation from auditees also enables auditors to better align their auditing to strategic plans and risks, thus abandoning the cyclical audit programme in favour of a more value-adding audit programme. By addressing all three areas – accessibility, interaction and participation – the audit service can be augmented to support value creation beyond assuring compliance to standard requirements

CRJC 370

This is a survey course designed to give students an overview of criminal law, civil law and legal issues as they relate to sex and sexuality. Taught from a social constructionist perspective, this class considers why certain behaviors come to be legal or illegal, how laws that regulate sex and sexuality affect our culture, and how criminal justice professionals confront issues of sexuality within the framework of the law. Though specific topics may vary by professor or current events, they may include sexual assault, prostitution, sex trafficking, pedophilia, sting operations, abortion, hate crimes, GLBTQ rights (both civilians and CJ professionals), sex registries, and pornography

Rudolph Marxer Oral History Interview: Polar Bear Oral History Project

Records of an oral history project done with veterans of the American Expeditionary Force, North Russia, 1918-1919 (“Polar Bears”). The collection also contains general background materials pertaining to the Polar Bears. Includes interview transcripts, cassette tapes, articles, bibliographies, diaries, clippings, photographs, microfilm and a book. Accession No.: H88-0239.5 Provenance: Polar Bear Oral History Project Donor: Hope College History Department Photographs: 24 images Processed by: Craig Wright, February 1991 Catherine Jung, April 200

All the Walls Between Them

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Life cycle model for economical evaluation of replacement/improved maintenance strategy for systems and equipment

Systems that deteriorate over time can result in increased operational costs. Reduced efficiency, increased fuel consumption, increased failure rate that induces increased downtime costs, are some of the consequences due to deterioration. Analysis of systems and equipment that deteriorate over time is an important aspect of ageing management. In this thesis, the available literature from maintenance and life cycle theory has been mapped. The goal was to develop a model for Odfjell Drilling, which could be used to estimate the life cycle costs for optimal repair intervals for systems and equipment. Two models were derived. The first model was based on reliability theory, using Barlow & Hunter´s fixed age interval. Several parameters have been identified as necessary input values. The idea was to collect the input parameters from the operational database that Odfjell Drilling posses, and use these for optimizing optimal repair intervals, by means of the common Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) methodology. When the optimal intervals are found, the reduction of costs can be calculated for the remaining system life. A major problem with the reliability model is that a probability density function (PDF) must be obtained. Obtaining this, in practice, is very difficult; systems are subject to maintenance, which prevents their history to become available to the analyst. Use of subjective expert opinions for how they think the system will behave, is one approach to obtain the PDF. However this is considered as inefficient, time-consuming and inaccurate. The model approach was hence rejected. The second model is an availability-based model, which purpose is to identify systems that are main contributors to downtime. When these are found, diagnosis can be developed and evaluated in order to increase the system availability. Thus reducing the costs of downtime, which goes directly on the bottom-line of the budget. Due to significant lack of data, the availability-based model could never be tested properly. The main idea was to test it on a racking arm on a platform that is in Odfjell Drillings portfolio. The few results that were obtained will be in a separate report as the data is sensitive. Use of condition-based maintenance (CBM) is considered to be a strategy that offers more flexibility to the user, in terms of planning multiple actions. It is recognized that many systems, such as pumps and piping, could be subject to condition monitoring (CM) to a greater extent than they are today. CBM will require the development of a database for storage of system history. Trend analysis can be evaluated and used as a tool for decision making in maintenance planning. As for Odfjell Drilling, it is recommended that they investigate the potential that CBM offers, and put a single model for optimizing equipment and systems at rest

Pre-lmpoundment Boating Activity in the Saylorville Reservoir Area

Studies of pre-impoundment boating activity were made in the Saylorville reservoir area, Polk County, Iowa, from June 1968 to December 1969. The peak period of boating on the Des Moines River in the area occurred in August and September, but because of low water, flat-bottomed boats and canoes made up about 78% (392 of 506) of river craft seen. An increase in large pleasure boats was observed during high river flow in early summer 1969. Most boating took place on weekend and holiday afternoons. Most boaters and canoeists had at least a high-school education, reported incomes of over $7000, and participated as members of 1- or 2-family groups, plus friends. Most of them visited the area either 2 or 3 times or 5 or 6 times per year. Boating and canoeing were common in conjunction with other activities. Many canoeists were young people from summer camps located 14 to 18 mile upstream near Madrid and Boone. Overall use of the area by boaters and canoeists was light