IMPROVING NAVAL AVIATION MAINTENANCE OPERABILITY IN SUPPORT OF CONUS DETACHMENTS

Naval Aviation currently operates as complete, internally supported squadrons responsible for their own maintenance equipment for operations. In this capacity, a squadron conducting training detachments away from its home station is required to transport all imperative equipment and personnel via contracted ground and government air transport. Because there is no additional equipment capacity to draw from for detachments, flight operations at the home station are reduced during the ground transportation period. This proposal assesses if it is beneficial for the Naval Aviation enterprise to continue the current transportation procedures of aviation maintenance equipment to detachments within the continental United States.Outstanding ThesisCommander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

BioGeomancer: Automated Georeferencing to Map the World's Biodiversity Data

The BioGeomancer Project provides a toolkit to georeference data and specimens collected for natural history collections, a crucial task if the potential of these specimens is to be fully realized

Direct Laser Fabrication of a Gas Turbine Engine Component - Microstructure and Properties - Part I

This paper presents the development of a new technique for the production of abrasive turbine blade tips by direct laser processing. This superalloy cermet component is an integral part of the low pressure turbine sealing system in a demonstrator engine. Direct laser fabrication of this component fiom a bed a loose powder results in significant cost savings and improved performance over the currently employed production technique. The technology has been demonstrated by fabricating a prototype lot of 100 blade tips, which will be subjected to an engine test. This is the first instance of a direct fabrication method applied to the production of functional engine hardware. This research was funded by the United States Air Force contract F33615-94- C-2424 titled "Affordable Turbine Blade Tips".Mechanical Engineerin

Sediment flux and composition changes in canyons on a carbonate-siliciclastic margin: evidence from turbidite deposits along the Great Barrier Reef margin

The shelf edge and slope of the Great Barrier Reef is heavily incised by submarine canyons which terminate in the Queensland Trough. Traditionally, sedimentation on the margin has been investigated within the framework of idealized siliciclastic or carbonate systems, depending on whether rivers or shallow marine carbonate producers dominate supply. The widely accepted paradigm ('reciprocal' sedimentation) states that sea-level strongly influences shelf, slope and basin sedimentation, with siliciclastics dominating lowstand periods and carbonates dominating transgressions/highstands. However, recent work (e.g., Dunbar and Dickens, 2003) on cores from the slope and basin has challenged this view. These workers argue that accumulation of both siliciclastic and carbonate sediments varies in phase, with the highest rates observed during transgressions, lowest rates during lowstands and moderate sedimentation during highstands. Irrespective of which model is correct, exactly how the sediment (carbonate or siliciclastic) moves from the shelf to the basin, and the role of submarine canyons in this process is not understood. We address this problem directly by investigating sedimentation in the canyons bordering the GBR. Combining new multibeam bathymetry and seismic data with x-radiograph, magnetic susceptibility, insitu reflectance spectroscopy, grain size, CNS, petrologic, pollen and 14C AMS analyses of canyon cores off Cooktown and Cairns, we aim to establish the source, timing and frequency of turbidite events deposited in the canyons over the last glacial to interglacial cycle, thereby testing the competing models. Our preliminary data confirm that: (1) the canyons record a distinct sedimentary shift from siliciclastic turbidites to calciturbidites; (2) the siliciclastic turbidites were deposited before 28 ka - providing strong support for the "reciprocal" model of margin sedimentation; and (3) the canyons have been active throughout the last deglaciation and into the late Holocene

Distraction Control Processes in Free Recall: Costs and Benefits to Performance

How is semantic memory influenced by individual differences under conditions of distraction? This question was addressed by observing how visual target words—drawn from a single category—were recalled whilst ignoring spoken distracter words that were either members of the same, or members of a different (single) category. Distracter words were presented either synchronously or asynchronously with target words. Recall performance was correlated with participants’ working memory capacity (WMC), which was taken to be an index of the capacity for distracter inhibition. Distraction was greater from semantically similar words and distraction was greater when the words were presented synchronously. WMC was related to disruption only with synchronous, not asynchronous, presentation. Subsequent experiments found more distracter inhibition – as measured by subsequent negative priming of distracters – amongst individuals with higher WMC but this may be dependent on targets and distracters being comparable category exemplars: With less dominant category members as distracters, target recall was impaired – relative to control – only amongst individuals with low WMC. The results demonstrate distracter inhibition occurring only in conditions where target-distracter selection is challenging. Inhibition incurs costs to subsequent performance, but there is an immediate price for not inhibiting

When Models Interact with their Subjects: The Dynamics of Model Aware Systems

A scientific model need not be a passive and static descriptor of its subject. If the subject is affected by the model, the model must be updated to explain its affected subject. In this study, two models regarding the dynamics of model aware systems are presented. The first explores the behavior of "prediction seeking" (PSP) and "prediction avoiding" (PAP) populations under the influence of a model that describes them. The second explores the publishing behavior of a group of experimentalists coupled to a model by means of confirmation bias. It is found that model aware systems can exhibit convergent random or oscillatory behavior and display universal 1/f noise. A numerical simulation of the physical experimentalists is compared with actual publications of neutron life time and {\Lambda} mass measurements and is in good quantitative agreement.Comment: Accepted for publication in PLoS-ON

Auditory distraction eliminates retrieval induced forgetting: implications for the processing of unattended sound

The Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) paradigm includes three phases: (a) study/encoding of category exemplars, (b) practicing retrieval of a sub-set of those category exemplars, and (c) recall of all exemplars. At the final recall phase, recall of items that belong to the same categories as those items that undergo retrieval-practice, but that do not undergo retrieval-practice, is impaired. The received view is that this is because retrieval of target category-exemplars (e.g., ‘Tiger’ in the category Four-legged animal) requires inhibition of non-target category-exemplars (e.g., ‘Dog’ and ‘Lion’) that compete for retrieval. Here, we used the RIF paradigm to investigate whether ignoring auditory items during the retrieval-practice phase modulates the inhibitory process. In two experiments, RIF was present when retrieval-practice was conducted in quiet and when conducted in the presence of spoken words that belonged to a category other than that of the items that were targets for retrieval-practice. In contrast, RIF was abolished when words that either were identical to the retrieval-practice words or were only semantically related to the retrieval-practice words were presented as background speech. The results suggest that the act of ignoring speech can reduce inhibition of the non-practiced category-exemplars, thereby eliminating RIF, but only when the spoken words are competitors for retrieval (i.e., belong to the same semantic category as the to-be-retrieved items)

Preferences and skills of Indian public sector teachers

With a sample of 700 future public sector primary teachers in India, a Discrete Choice Experiment is used to measure job preferences, particularly regarding location. General skills are also tested. Urban origin teachers and women are more averse to remote locations than rural origin teachers and men respectively. Women would require a 26-73 percent increase in salary for moving to a remote location. The results suggest that existing caste and gender quotas can be detrimental for hiring skilled teachers willing to work in remote locations. The most preferred location is home, which supports decentralised hiring, although this could compromise skills

Users’ experiences of lighting controls: a case-study

The aim of this paper is to elucidate how occupants perceive their lit environments in a university setting and how they interact with lighting controls using qualitative methods. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with academic teaching and research staff. Thematic analysis identified four main themes: control and choice, connection with the outdoors, concentration, and comfort. Participants were largely able to control and adapt their lighting using small power lighting in office spaces and they perceived this as beneficial to comfort and concentration. Participants expressed frustration with the light switches in classrooms, a lack of consistency in lighting controls across the university buildings was particularly notable. Installers should consider how piecemeal upgrades on large estates affect the perception of buildings where occupiers face multiple control systems. The management of the lighting in classroom spaces including the type and location of blinds, lack of regular window cleaning in some buildings and difficulty in minimising light on projection screens in upgraded classrooms were cited as areas for improvement. Wider implications for lighting control and management highlighted by this study include most notably that a lack of end users consultation has serious consequences on their perception of lighting upgrades and their willingness to employ “workarounds”