Analyzing the impacts of tree canopy on cellular radio networks

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impacts of vegetation on cellular signal strength. The research was conducted in Buckingham County, VA, located approximately 60 miles west of Richmond, VA. The county is mostly rural. Dillwyn, a small town, serves as the county's major metropolitan area. Signal strength observations were collected over a nine month period. The first set of samples was collected in September/October 2008 and compared directly to samples taken in January 2009. A third set of samples was collected in May 2009 and compared to predictions from a free-space loss model. Each sample was assigned a National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) value for Deciduous, Evergreen or Open Area. The Open Area class was used to verify the accuracy of the free-space loss model. Significant differences between the signal strengths captured in September/October 2008 and January 2009 were observed. The signal strength was stronger in the winter than in the fall. There was no significant difference between land cover classes when all signal strength differences obtained were examined. However, there was a significant difference between the Deciduous/Open areas and Evergreen classes when only the negative signal strength differences were examined. A weak negative correlation was found between distance from the tower and the signal strength difference for the Evergreen class

An investigation of the motivations for second-hand clothing donation and purchase

The purpose of this research was to investigate the motives of second-hand clothing consumers who both purchase from and donate to the retail outlet associated with one charitable organization. More specifically, individuals' motivations for donating clothing were compared to their motivations for purchasing second-hand clothing from the same location using the hedonic/utilitarian framework. Furthermore, the demographic and social psychological factors affecting individuals' motivations for donating to and purchasing second-hand clothing from a charitable organization's retail outlet were examined. Little research has been conducted in the area of clothing donation and second-hand clothing purchase, and no research could be located in which both processes were examined in the same study. The present study aimed to see if there is a connection among the two processes. By considering both processes within one retail context, a more complete understanding of the whole consumption process, from problem recognition through disposal, is obtained. Qualitative research using in-depth interviews was used for this project. Due to the lack of previous research in this area, the research was exploratory in nature. Because the purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the complex relationship that may exist between consumers' motivations for donating clothing to and purchasing clothing from one retail location, face-to-face in-depth interviews were used to uncover information about the clothing donation and second-hand clothing consumption experience of participants. Open-ended questions pertaining to the research objectives were developed so that the participants could divulge as much information about their experiences as possible. Eighteen members of the Junior League of Winston-Salem who had donated second-hand clothing to and purchased second-hand clothing from the Rummage Sale were purposively selected. Each interview lasted approximately 30 to 90 minutes, was audio-recorded, and was transcribed verbatim. Each interview transcript was read in its entirety several times, and a thematic analysis was performed. The majority of participants were categorized as either treat seekers (hedonic purchasers/hedonic donors) or rational helpers (utilitarian purchasers/hedonic donors). Only two participants were categorized as reward seekers (hedonic purchasers/utilitarian donors), and two participants were categorized as planners (utilitarian purchasers/utilitarian donors). Important demographic characteristics that influenced purchase and donation behavior included age of participants and the age of children living at home. Important social psychographic characteristics that influenced purchase and donation behavior included need for uniqueness, individuality, creativity, price consciousness, need for convenience, clothing attachment, and voluntary simplification. Additional themes related to the impact of liminality and organizational involvement on donation and purchase behavior also emerged. Limitations to this research and ideas for further research were discussed

IMAGE CHARGE SOLVATION MODEL (ICSM) FOR SIMULATING BIOMOLECULES AND KCSA ION-CHANNELS

We present an order N method for calculating electrostatic interactions that has been integrated into the molecular dynamics portion of the TINKER Molecular Modeling package. This method, termed the Image-Charge Solvation Model (ICSM), and introduced previously by Dr. Lin et al. (1) in 2009, is a hybrid electrostatic approach that combines the strengths of both explicit and implicit representations of the solvent. In this model, a multiple-image method is used to calculate reaction fields due to the implicit solvent while the Fast Multipole Method (FMM) is used to calculate the Coulomb interactions for all charges, including the charges in the explicit solvent part. The integrated package is validated through simulations of liquid water. The results are compared with those obtained by the Particle Mesh Ewald (PME) method that is built in the TINKER package. Timing performance of TINKER with the integrated ICSM is benchmarked on bulk water as a function of the size of the system. In particular, timing analysis results show that the ICSM outperforms the PME for sufficiently large systems with the break-even point at around 30,000 particles in the simulated system. To demonstrate the capability of the package on large macromolecules, the model is used to simulate the potassium channel KcsA

Chaucer's Clerk's Tale and the Monstrous Critics.

Over thirty years ago, James Sledd reversed the prevailing critical opinion about one of Chaucer's most perplexing tales in his essay, "The Clerk's Tale: The Monsters and the Critics." He refuted the arguments about the monstrous cruelty of Walter in testing his wife and of Griselda in surrendering her children by insisting that the tale must not be read as a realistic fiction. "Our difficulties will be lessened," Sledd writes, "if we remember that Chaucer does not invite us, but ultimately forbids us, to apply the rules of his fictional world outside his fiction" (169)

Chaucer and Moral Philosophy: The Virtuous Women of the Canterbury Tales.

In The Regement of Princes, Hoccleve insists that Chaucer is not only the equal of Cicero as a rhetorician and of Vergil as a poet but also the 'bier in philosophic / To Aristotle, in our tonge'. Twentieth-century critics have agreed with Hoccleve about Chaucer's preeminence in rhetoric and poetry, even though they often disagree with each other about which term best describes his genius. And although Hoccleve's praise of Chaucer as the native Aristotle is an exaggeration, several scholars have recently examined Chaucer's concern with 'secular ethics', J. D. Burnley's term for the 'ethical traditions descending by grace of the twelfth-century ethicii from the rational philosophy of the classical past'. Without denying the fact that poetry is not identical to the systematic discourse of philosophy, I wish further to substantiate Hoccleve's claim for Chaucer's philosophical acumen by demonstrating the influence of mediaeval ethics on his characterizations of the virtuous women in the tales assigned to the Man of Law, the Clerk, the Physician and his pilgrim persona

Synthetic derivatives of Solenopsin A

Malignant neoplasm is a condition that encompasses many disease states. One unifying theme of these broadly diverse diseases is the requirement for angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, as a prerequisite for tumor growth and metastasis. Because abnormal cell proliferation requires sufficient blood supply, one method for slowing tumor growth may be altering tumor vasculature with angiogenic inhibitors. The Center for Drug Discovery, headed by Dr. Phillip Bowen, in collaboration with Dr. Jack Arbiser at the Emory University School of Medicine, have recently discovered that the natural compound, solenopsin A, is an effective inhibitor of angiogenesis. Solenopsin A's potent antiangiogenic activity was first identified using SVR proliferation assays. To probe the mode of action in which solenopsin A was inhibiting angiogenesis, further studies were conducted in cells. These studies suggest that solenopsin A is suppressing the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway by inhibiting a step in the signaling cascade upstream PI3K. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop an antiangiogenic drug based on solenopsin A. Our immediate research objective, however, is to explore structure- activity relationships for benzamide, ether, and amine side chain analogs of solenopsin A. Benzamide analogs of solenopsin A were first synthesized and screened for antiangiogenic activity using the SVR assays conducted at the Emory SOM. The assay results indicate that none of the analogs tested were antiangiogenic. To further explore the structural effects on angiogenic inhibition, ether side chain analogs were synthesized with varying alkyl chain lengths and the benzamide derivatives, previously synthesized, were reduced to amine side chain analogs. To assess the effect of n-alkyl chain length on angiogenic inhibition, one long-chain analog was also generated. These ether, amine, and long-chain analogs are under consideration for testing using the SVR assays

A quantum mechanical Boltzmann equation for a polyatomic gas in magnetic and electric fields

This paper proposes to examine the process by which a quantum mechanical Boltzmann equation for a dilute polyatomic gas, involving only binary collisons, is developed. The method employed parallels the work of R. F. Snider (Journal of Chemical Physics, April, I960.), which is referenced throughout the text. Snider's procedure is extended to the case of a polyatomic gas in the presence of magnetic and electric fields, which may be time variant. Chapter 2 is devoted to describing a quantized system by use of the concepts of state vectors and state functions. The state vectors and functions are then used to develop the idea of system averaging; specifically the concept of expectation values. Chapter 3 extends the work of Chapter 2 in developing ensemble averaging from expectation values. The density matrix; is then defined by its relationship to the ensemble average for the operator, and the operator itself. In Chapter 4, the equation of motion for the density matrix is derived by employing the definition of the density matrix, developed in Chapter 3. The dilute nature of the gas is then used (i.e., use of the Boltzmann property) to rewrite the equation of motion in terms of the one and two particle density matrices. The problem is, thereby, greatly simplified

From Plowing to Penitence: Piers Plowman and Fourteenth-Century Theology

Perhaps no episode in medieval literature has proven as puzzling to modern readers as the pardon scene in the B text of Piers Plowman. Critics continue to debate whether the document which Piers receives in Passus VII is a pardon. The document is, after all, sent by Truth, the divine authority whose tower overshadows the fair field. Its message - "Et qui bona egerunt ibunt in vitam eternam; / Qui vero mala in ignem eternum" - is an article of the Athanasian Creed and thus an orthodox tenet of the faith. Moreover, critics who argue that Truth's document is a pardon maintain that its text is consistent with the theme of the Visio. Frank, for example, contends that "the message of the pardon, do well, is a logical culmination of the doctrine of labor and good works preached throughout the Visio. If the pardon is no pardon, if do well is not the way to salvation, the reader has been led down the garden path by a most irresponsible poet."' Many readers of Piers Plowman remain uncomfortable with this interpretation, however, because, contrary to what we expect, Piers himself tears up the parchment from Truth and vows to change his life. Piers's response is hardly that of a man who accepts "do wel and haue wel" as a pardon, and his action forces us to examine what doing well meant to a medieval audience. If we place the poem in a historical context, we discover the importance of a crucial theological controversy of the fourteenth century to the understanding of the issues involved in the pardon scene. The relationship between the "doctrine of labor and good works" expressed in Truth's pardon and in the theological debate between the Augustinians and the Nominalists demonstrates conclusively that Langland does not intend Truth's pardon as a true pardon