10 Years of the Festival of Faiths

In 1996 the Center for Interfaith Relations (formerly the Cathedral Heritage Foundation) of Louisville, Kentucky held its first annual Festival of Faiths to celebrate the religious heritage of the Louisville region. This interfaith event has since grown to be recognized by the United States Senate as a model for interfaith activity. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the Festival of Faiths

The Wind Energy Adaptation of Nebraska

The Wind Energy Adaptation of Nebraska Today there are many things in the world that we rely on, heaters for warmth, cars for travel, and many other commodities that our way of living is dependent on. One of the most overlooked aspects of society is the need for power. Each and every American is dependent on power somehow, yet the vast majority of us do not think twice when flipping a switch. We all know that flipping a switch means the lights come on, when turning the ignition in our car we don’t think of the process behind the engine starting or how the gas is produced in order for our cars to run. Americans and a large part of the world has really no idea what kind of energy we use, where it really comes from, or the actual cost behind it. Although with the recent discussions about climate change and our actions that are affecting the world there is a better understanding of what our need of power is actually costing. Most of the time Gas, Coal, and Petroleum are used to run power plants in order to power our cities and we largely overlook the repercussions behind this production. Coal, especially here in Nebraska, has contributed a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. From 1980 to 2017 there has been almost a 63% increase in Millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the state of Nebraska increasing from 29.7 to 47.7. At its peak in 2013 Nebraska was producing 53.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in all sectors. Nebraska as a state could do more to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by subsidizing renewable energy. Where we are located within the country has created the perfect opportunity for Nebraska to be a leader in renewable energy through development of wind turbines. Nebraska has one of the biggest advantages due to the abundance of wind that all Nebraskans are so fond of. Nebraska currently produces 14.1% of its energy from wind farms, which equates to around 497,900 homes out of the 1.9 million residents. This seems to be a good mark for the state, however our next door neighbor Iowa has taken full advantage of their wind resources. Iowa leads the nation in wind energy production, producing more than a third of their overall energy from wind energy alone. Iowa has 1 cent per kilowatt hour tax credit that incentivises production of wind farms in the state, whereas Nebraska has no incentives for the production of wind energy due to the Nebraska Public Power District. Tax incentives could be effective is giving tax credits to those private investors in wind power in Nebraska, through income tax those in Nebraska could receive tax credits similar to those in Iowa. Nebraska’s competitive market for wind energy has been largely overlooked due to competition for cropland and pasture. Wind turbines however could help Nebraska lead the nation as a supplier for energy and with it could bring in new business and help lower the cost of living. As technology advances there with it comes a reduction in cost to produce energy from wind. Although we as a nation seems to be backtracking on our efforts to produce renewable energy. In an effort to save the dying industry that are coal plants President Trump has rolled back many of the EPA regulations set into effect by former President Obama. Nebraska State Senator Ben Sasse has stated in recent news that he is in support of President Trump’s rollback on former President Obama’s coal regulations but as the further degradation of environmental policy continues the renewable energy efforts seem to be reduced. There have been some relaxation efforts on wind energy laws, mainly some laws that have been repealed are how private renewable energy developers do not need to find a buyer for the electricity being generated before constructing wind turbines. The biggest competitor of wind energy for its place in Nebraska is agriculture and the demand for land that it brings with it. In order for wind turbines to be effective you cannot have them within certain distances of each other. This creates a problem with the need for land being so prevalent within the state of Nebraska which is 93% farmland. However certain policies like CRP have been enacted in order to preserve the natural landscape of Nebraska in certain areas, this policy could be adapted to suit the development of wind farms in Nebraska

Real-time simulation of three-dimensional shoulder girdle and arm dynamics

Electrical stimulation is a promising technology for the restoration of arm function in paralyzed individuals. Control of the paralyzed arm under electrical stimulation, however, is a challenging problem that requires advanced controllers and command interfaces for the user. A real-time model describing the complex dynamics of the arm would allow user-in-the-loop type experiments where the command interface and controller could be assessed. Real-time models of the arm previously described have not included the ability to model the independently controlled scapula and clavicle, limiting their utility for clinical applications of this nature. The goal of this study therefore was to evaluate the performance and mechanical behavior of a real-time, dynamic model of the arm and shoulder girdle. The model comprises seven segments linked by eleven degrees of freedom and actuated by 138 muscle elements. Polynomials were generated to describe the muscle lines of action to reduce computation time, and an implicit, first-order Rosenbrock formulation of the equations of motion was used to increase simulation step-size. The model simulated flexion of the arm faster than real time, simulation time being 92% of actual movement time on standard desktop hardware. Modeled maximum isometric torque values agreed well with values from the literature, showing that the model simulates the moment-generating behavior of a real human arm. The speed of the model enables experiments where the user controls the virtual arm and receives visual feedback in real time. The ability to optimize potential solutions in simulation greatly reduces the burden on the user during development

A Study of Heavy Higgs Properties at a Multi-TeV e+e- Collider

The precise determination of the masses of the neutral and charged heavy Higgs bosons is a crucial input for the study of Supersymmetry and its relation with cosmology through dark matter. This paper presents a study of e+e- -> HA and H+H- production at sqrts=3 TeV. The analysis is performed with full simulation and reconstruction accounting for beamstrahlung effects and the overlay of gamma gamma -> hadrons events. Results are presented in terms of the accuracy on the determination of the masses and widths of the heavy Higgs bosons in two benchmark scenarios.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders LCWS201

The Wind Energy Adaptation of Nebraska

The Wind Energy Adaptation of Nebraska Today there are many things in the world that we rely on, heaters for warmth, cars for travel, and many other commodities that our way of living is dependent on. One of the most overlooked aspects of society is the need for power. Each and every American is dependent on power somehow, yet the vast majority of us do not think twice when flipping a switch. We all know that flipping a switch means the lights come on, when turning the ignition in our car we don’t think of the process behind the engine starting or how the gas is produced in order for our cars to run. Americans and a large part of the world has really no idea what kind of energy we use, where it really comes from, or the actual cost behind it. Although with the recent discussions about climate change and our actions that are affecting the world there is a better understanding of what our need of power is actually costing. Most of the time Gas, Coal, and Petroleum are used to run power plants in order to power our cities and we largely overlook the repercussions behind this production. Coal, especially here in Nebraska, has contributed a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. From 1980 to 2017 there has been almost a 63% increase in Millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the state of Nebraska increasing from 29.7 to 47.7. At its peak in 2013 Nebraska was producing 53.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in all sectors. Nebraska as a state could do more to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by subsidizing renewable energy. Where we are located within the country has created the perfect opportunity for Nebraska to be a leader in renewable energy through development of wind turbines. Nebraska has one of the biggest advantages due to the abundance of wind that all Nebraskans are so fond of. Nebraska currently produces 14.1% of its energy from wind farms, which equates to around 497,900 homes out of the 1.9 million residents. This seems to be a good mark for the state, however our next door neighbor Iowa has taken full advantage of their wind resources. Iowa leads the nation in wind energy production, producing more than a third of their overall energy from wind energy alone. Iowa has 1 cent per kilowatt hour tax credit that incentivises production of wind farms in the state, whereas Nebraska has no incentives for the production of wind energy due to the Nebraska Public Power District. Tax incentives could be effective is giving tax credits to those private investors in wind power in Nebraska, through income tax those in Nebraska could receive tax credits similar to those in Iowa. Nebraska’s competitive market for wind energy has been largely overlooked due to competition for cropland and pasture. Wind turbines however could help Nebraska lead the nation as a supplier for energy and with it could bring in new business and help lower the cost of living. As technology advances there with it comes a reduction in cost to produce energy from wind. Although we as a nation seems to be backtracking on our efforts to produce renewable energy. In an effort to save the dying industry that are coal plants President Trump has rolled back many of the EPA regulations set into effect by former President Obama. Nebraska State Senator Ben Sasse has stated in recent news that he is in support of President Trump’s rollback on former President Obama’s coal regulations but as the further degradation of environmental policy continues the renewable energy efforts seem to be reduced. There have been some relaxation efforts on wind energy laws, mainly some laws that have been repealed are how private renewable energy developers do not need to find a buyer for the electricity being generated before constructing wind turbines. The biggest competitor of wind energy for its place in Nebraska is agriculture and the demand for land that it brings with it. In order for wind turbines to be effective you cannot have them within certain distances of each other. This creates a problem with the need for land being so prevalent within the state of Nebraska which is 93% farmland. However certain policies like CRP have been enacted in order to preserve the natural landscape of Nebraska in certain areas, this policy could be adapted to suit the development of wind farms in Nebraska

Voor rechtvaardiging en schulduitsluiting: de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond in strafrechtsdogmatisch en wetgevings-technisch perspectief

Dit onderzoek gaat over de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond, een vorm in de techniek van regel en uitzondering, als fenomeen in het Nederlandse strafrecht. Dit fenomeen kent verschillende materieelrechtelijke en formeel-rechtelijke aspecten. Op het eerste gezicht lijkt het duidelijk: er zijn de algemene strafuitsluitingsgronden zoals noodweer, ontoere-keningsvatbaarheid en overmacht en er zijn bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgronden. Bij de beantwoording van de vraag wat bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgronden zijn kan er wel eens verwarring ontstaan als ervan uitgegaan wordt dat ongeschreven strafuitsluitingsgronden zoals afwezigheid van alle schuld en ontbreken van de materië-le wederrechtelijkheid te zien zijn als bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgronden. Maar er is méér dan alleen die buitenwettelijke ongeschreven strafuitsluitingsgronden. In het Bijzonder Deel van het Wetboek van Strafrecht zijn namelijk bepalingen te vinden die eveneens als bijzondere strafuitsluitings-grond te zien zijn. In deze studie wordt onderzocht hoe deze vorm van de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond moet worden ingepast in de strafrechtsdogmatiek. Een vraag die nadrukkelijk aan de orde zal komen is de vraag of de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond dezelfde functie als de algemene strafuitsluitingsgrond heeft. Het onderzoek is derhalve een beschouwing over de plaats van de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond. De precieze positionering of, bescheidener, het bieden van een visie met betrekking tot de bijzondere strafuitsluitingsgrond te midden van algemene aspecten in het systeem van strafbaarheid staat in dit onderzoek centraal. Naast het strafrecht worden eveneens soortgelijke bepalingen in het bestuursrecht bekeken

Optical power splitter and polarization splitter

A 3.times.3 optical guiding arrangement is disclosed for providing both power splitting between a pair of output guides in the 3.times.3 guide structure and polarization splitting (into the TE and TM modes) between the central guide and the pair of outer guides. In accordance with the present invention, the mutual coupling length L and separation distance d between adjacent guides are chosen to provide the desired polarization splitting and total intensity (power) in the outer guides. For example, an input signal of intensity I comprising both the TE and TM modes may be launched in the center guide and with correct choices for L and d, will result in output signals of I.sub.TM /2 each of the outer pair of guides and I.sub.TE from the central guide