Thin film module development

The design of ARCO Solar, Inc.'s Genesis G100 photovoltaic module was driven by several criteria, including environmental stability (both electrical and mechanical), consumer aesthetics, low materials costs, and manufacturing ease. The module circuitry is designed as a 12 volt battery charger, using monolithic patterning techniques on a glass superstrate. This patterning and interconnect method proves amenable to high volume, low cost production throughput, and the use of glass serves the dual role of handling ease and availability. The mechanical design of the module centers on environmental stability. Packaging of the glass superstrate circuit must provide good resistance to thermal and humidity exposure along with hi-pot insulation and hailstone impact resistance. The options considered are given. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is chosen as the pottant material for its excellent weatherability

Assurance of learning standards and scaling strategies to enable expansion of experiential learning courses in management education

In today’s dynamic globalized business environment, management educators must develop pedagogies that support students to manage and lead in rapidly changing business contexts. An increasing number of institutions use experiential learning as a component of their curriculum to address this challenge. Initially, a response to industry criticism that graduates were unable effectively apply skills needed to be successful, experiential learning has become a baseline expectation in management education programs. Students increasingly expect opportunities to practice and demonstrate competency in the theories they learn in the classroom by applying them in real-world projects. However, expanding such opportunities for students is limited by a unique set of complex administrative challenges inherent in this approach. To expand opportunities for students, institutions must overcome scalability obstacles resulting from the customized nature of the offerings. Business challenges where student teams work with external partners provide a real world learning experience. But they also pose difficulty in applying a standardized approach to assurance of learning. Course content must be redeveloped each time the course is offered, as external projects must be sourced, leading to input and output variation. Advising, monitoring, and assessing students is resource intensive, because at many schools each team is assigned a different business challenge. This article offers a set of assurance of learning standards that institutions can apply to project-based experiential learning courses and posits that greater cross-departmental integration in sourcing projects and better use of technology can increase the efficacy and efficiency of the courses to address the scalability issue.Educatio

Habitat Conservation Plans Under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act: The Alabama Beach Mouse and the Unfulfilled Mandate of Species Recovery

Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) developed under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) have been heavily promoted as a solution to the problem of balancing preservation of biodiversity with the rights of landowners. This Comment takes issue with the current policies employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in approving HCPs in order to grant incidental lake permits to take endangered species in their native habitats. In the context of litigation over FWS\u27s issuance of two recent permits to take the imperiled Alabama Beach Mouse, the Comment argues that FWS has construed narrowly the conservation mandate of the ESA so as to sanction use of a survival standard, as opposed to a recovery standard. Use of a recovery standard is the more reasonable interpretation of section 10, based on the purpose, text, and legislative history of the amendment to the ESA. The Alabama Beach Mouse has paid the ultimate price for FWS\u27s reliance on the lesser standard

Computing Q-D Relationships for Storage of Rocket Fuels

The Quantity Distance Measurement Tool is a GIS BASEP computer program that aids safety engineers by calculating quantity-distance (Q-D) relationships for vessels that contain explosive chemicals used in testing rocket engines. (Q-D relationships are standard relationships between specified quantities of specified explosive materials and minimum distances by which they must be separated from persons, objects, and other explosives to obtain specified types and degrees of protection.) The program uses customized geographic-information-system (GIS) software and calculates Q-D relationships in accordance with NASA's Safety Standard For Explosives, Propellants, and Pyrotechnics. Displays generated by the program enable the identification of hazards, showing the relationships of propellant-storage-vessel safety buffers to inhabited facilities and public roads. Current Q-D information is calculated and maintained in graphical form for all vessels that contain propellants or other chemicals, the explosiveness of which is expressed in TNT equivalents [amounts of trinitrotoluene (TNT) having equivalent explosive effects]. The program is useful in the acquisition, siting, construction, and/or modification of storage vessels and other facilities in the development of an improved test-facility safety program

X-ray Emission from the 3C 273 Jet

We present results from four recent Chandra monitoring observations of the jet in 3C 273 using the ACIS detector, obtained between November 2003 and July 2004. We find that the X-ray emission comes in two components: unresolved knots that are smaller than the corresponding optically emitting knots and a broad channel that is about the same width as the optical interknot region. We compute the jet speed under the assumption that the X-ray emission is due to inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background, finding that the dimming of the jet X-ray emission to the jet termination relative to the radio emission may be due to bulk deceleration.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The X-ray Universe 2005", San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 26-30 September 200

Euhrychiopsis lecontei distribution, abundance, and experimental augmentations for Eurasian watermilfoil control in Wisconsin lakes

The specialist aquatic herbivore Euhrychiopsis lecontei (Dietz) is currently being researched as a potential biological control agent for Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L.). Our research in Wisconsin focused on 1) determining milfoil weevil distribution across lakes, 2) assessing limnological characteristics associated with their abundance, and 3) evaluating milfoil weevil augmentation as a practical management tool for controlling Eurasian watermilfoil

New Records for \u3ci\u3eEuhrychiopsis Lecontei\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Their Densities in Wisconsin Lakes

The native aquatic weevil, Euhrychiopsis lecontei is currently being researched as a potential biological control for the exotic aquatic macrophyte Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), yet little is known about its specific distribution in North America. In this study, E. lecontei was collected in 25 of 27 lakes surveyed for the weevil in Wisconsin, greatly increasing the known distribution of the species in this state. E. lecontei densities evaluated in 14 Wisconsin lakes ranged from \u3c0.01 to 1.91 weevils per apical stem of milfoil. These new records indicate that E. lecontei is widespread throughout Wisconsin and is associated with natural declines of M. spicatum in some lakes. Additional sampling for E. lecontei and research on its ecology and life history are needed to understand the role of this organism in aquatic ecosystems

Temporal and spatial changes in milfoil distribution and biomass associated with weevils in Fish Lake, WI

During the course of an eight year monitoring effort, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources documented a significant decline in milfoil biomass and distribution in Fish Lake, Wisconsin. Average milfoil biomass declined by 40- 50% from 374-524 g dw m -2 during 1991-93 to 265 g dw m -2 during both 1994 and 1995. Milfoil recovered fully in 1996- 98 to 446- 564 g dw m -2 . The size of the milfoil bed, as discerned from aerial photographs, shrank from a maximum coverage of 40 ha in 1991 to less than 20 ha during 1995. During the “crash” of 1994-95, milfoil plants exhibited typical signs of weevil-induced damage, including darkened, brittle, hollowed-out growing tips, and the arching and collapse of stems associated with loss of buoyancy. Monitoring of weevils and stem damage during 1995-98 showed highest densities and heaviest damage occurred near shore and subsequently fanned out into deeper water from core infestation sites each spring. The extent of milfoil stem damage was positively correlated with weevil densities (monthly sampling). However, weevil densities and stem damage were lower during 1995 (when milfoil biomass was in decline) than during 1996-98 (when milfoil biomass was fully recovered)

Summerlin Masonry

Summerlin Masonry is a residential masonry company located in the Bryan-College Station, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The company specializes in rock, both real and fake, brick, glass block, and tile work. Summerlin Masonry mainly works on houses in upper-middle class neighborhoods, but occasionally works on commercial jobs as favors to builders. The company has performed very well in its first two years of operation. While the company has been performing very well, it has not been without problems. Due to deceptive practices of his former partner when he was with B&S Masonry, the owner has become indebted to the IRS. They are holding him responsible for the entire debt of payroll tax checks that were not deposited, plus penalties and interest. After many months of communication with the IRS, the owner has begun to lower his debt and fully intends to repay the entire debt for his partner’s mishap. In the past two years, Summerlin Masonry has doubled its business. Due to the high demand for the business’s services, expansion into new locations and markets are being considered. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Small Business Mgmt, Ethics