A Seamless Journey

My quilts serve as a visual journal of some of my travels and experiences. Through my quilts, I remember the rich colors and memories of my European adventures. The methodical process of stitching quilts line by line is an important process for my recollection of the many steps taken during my trip abroad. Stitching fabric is the method that communicates the opportunities and experiences of my travel that I want to share with others

Development of TPS flight test and operational instrumentation

Thermal and flow sensor instrumentation was developed for use as an integral part of the space shuttle orbiter reusable thermal protection system. The effort was performed in three tasks: a study to determine the optimum instruments and instrument installations for the space shuttle orbiter RSI and RCC TPS; tests and/or analysis to determine the instrument installations to minimize measurement errors; and analysis using data from the test program for comparison to analytical methods. A detailed review of existing state of the art instrumentation in industry was performed to determine the baseline for the departure of the research effort. From this information, detailed criteria for thermal protection system instrumentation were developed

The myth of the 'boring election': populism and the 2017 German election

The German federal elections scheduled for 24 September are widely expected to produce another victory for Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU. As Fabian G. Neuner and Christopher Wratil highlight, however, Merkel's dominant position in the polling has potentially masked some interesting developments during the campaign. Chief among these is that there has been a rise in populist sentiment in Germany, which is fuelling support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) and damaging the CDU/CSU more than any other party

Large-area, wide-angle, spectrally selective plasmonic absorber

A simple metamaterial-based wide-angle plasmonic absorber is introduced, fabricated, and experimentally characterized using angle-resolved infrared spectroscopy. The metamaterials are prepared by nano-imprint lithography, an attractive low-cost technology for making large-area samples. The matching of the metamaterial's impedance to that of vacuum is responsible for the observed spectrally selective "perfect" absorption of infrared light. The impedance is theoretically calculated in the single-resonance approximation, and the responsible resonance is identified as a short-range surface plasmon. The spectral position of the absorption peak (which is as high as 95%) is experimentally shown to be controlled by the metamaterial's dimensions. The persistence of "perfect" absorption with variable metamaterial parameters is theoretically explained. The wide-angle nature of the absorber can be utilized for sub-diffraction-scale infrared pixels exhibiting spectrally selective absorption/emissivity.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Secondary analysis of an RCT on Emergency Department-Initiated Tobacco Control: Repeatedly assessed point-prevalence abstinence up to 12 months and extension of results through a 10-year follow-up.

INTRODUCTION:Emergency departments (EDs) are opportune places for tobacco control interventions. The 'Tobacco Control in an Urban Emergency Department' (TED) study, ISRCTN41527831, originally evaluated the effect of motivational interviewing on-site plus up to four booster telephone calls on 12-month abstinence. This study's aim was to evaluate the effect of the intervention on 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at 10 years follow-up (primary outcome) as well as on repeated point-prevalence abstinence at 1, 3, 6, 12 months and at 10 years (continual smoking abstinence, secondary outcome). METHODS:At the 10 years follow-up and after informed consent, study participants responded to a mailed questionnaire. The primary outcome was analyzed in observed-only and in all-cases analyses. The secondary outcomes were analyzed using a multiple adjusted GLMM for binary outcomes. RESULTS:Out of 1012 TED-study participants, 986 (97.4%) were alive and 231 (23.4% of 986) responded to the follow-up at 10 years. For observed-only and all-cases analyses, the effect of the baseline intervention on 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at the 10 years follow-up was statistically non-significant. However, when taking into account all repeated measures, the intervention significantly influenced continual abstinence with odds ratio 1.32 (95% CI: 1.01-1.73; p=0.042). Baseline motivation, perceived self-efficacy to stop smoking, and nicotine dependency were independently associated with long-term continual smoking abstinence (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:A conventional analysis failed to confirm a significant effect of the ED-initiated tobacco control intervention on the point-prevalence abstinence at 10 years. Results from a more integrative analysis nonetheless indicated an enduring intervention effect on continual abstinence among smokers first encountered in the emergency department setting 10 years earlier

Zentrale Gegenparteien für den außerbörslichen Derivatehandel in der Praxis

Die aus der geringen Transparenz und mangelnden Standardisierung des außerbörslichen Derivatehandels resultierenden Gefahren sind durch die internationale Finanzkrise deutlich aufgedeckt worden. Nach dem Willen von Regulierungsbehörden soll diesem bisher weitgehend unregulierten Marktsegment durch den vermehrten Einsatz zentraler Gegenparteien (Central Clearing Counterparties (CCPs)) ein unmittelbarer Ordnungsrahmen gegeben werden. Seit kurzem wird deshalb der Markt für Kreditderivate teilweise zentral abgewickelt. Wie auch bei dem schon länger etablierten Segment für Zinsswaps zeigt sich, dass vor allem ein Anbieter das Abwicklungsvolumen auf sich vereint. Die Arbeit soll die Anbieter zentraler Clearingdienste - am Beispiel von LCH.Clearnet, Eurex und ICE Clear - charakterisieren und diskutieren, welche Faktoren für den Erfolg von CCPs auf Teilmärkten des außerbörslichen Derivatemarktes verantwortlich sind. -- The lack of transparency and standardization of trading derivatives over-thecounter (OTC) is supposed to be one of the reasons of the international financial crisis. Regulators are willing to regulate the OTC-market directly by the increased use of central clearing counterparties (CCPs). Recently, therefore, the market for Credit Default Swaps is cleared centrally and several vendors have already placed their platforms. Primarily one provider processes the clearing volume on this market, which already could be proved for the market of interest rate swaps. The paper characterizes clearing organizations - drawing on the examples of LCH.Clearnet, Eurex and ICE Clear - and discusses factors that are responsible for the success of CCPs on the OTC-market.Zentrale Gegenpartei,Finanzkrise,Clearing,außerbörsliche Derivate,Zinsderivate,Kreditderivate,Credit Default Swaps