Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), General Electric Phase 1. Volume 3: Energy conversion subsystems and components. Part 3: Gasification, process fuels, and balance of plant

Results are presented of an investigation of gasification and clean fuels from coal. Factors discussed include: coal and coal transportation costs; clean liquid and gas fuel process efficiencies and costs; and cost, performance, and environmental intrusion elements of the integrated low-Btu coal gasification system. Cost estimates for the balance-of-plant requirements associated with advanced energy conversion systems utilizing coal or coal-derived fuels are included

A Phenomenology of the Integration of Faith and Learning

This phenomenological investigation examined how eight student-nominated faculty who teach at an evangelical Christian liberal arts university describe their understanding and practice of the Integration of Faith and Learning (IFL). Collected data via informal, conversational, taped interviews led to the emergence of two primary themes: the Inseparability of Faith from Practice and the Outworking of Faith in Practice. The findings of the study highlight the need to create a more conducive context in which students can learn IFL and call for a re-examination of the already murky discourse surrounding definitional aspects of IFL. The study proposes to move the discourse forward by offering a new, yet to be discussed construct that emanated from the participants of this study, ontological foundation. A conceptual model describing its relationship with IFL is proposed

Global large-scale stratosphere–troposphere exchange in modern reanalyses

Stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE) has important impacts on the chemical and radiative properties of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. This study presents a 15-year climatology of global large-scale STE from four modern reanalyses: ERA-Interim, JRA-55, MERRA-2, and MERRA. STE is separated into three regions (tropics, subtropics, and extratropics) and two transport directions (stratosphere-to-troposphere transport or STT and troposphere-to-stratosphere transport or TST) in an attempt to identify the significance of known transport mechanisms. The extratropics and tropics are separated by the tropopause break. Any STE occurring between the tropics and the extratropics through the tropopause break is considered subtropical exchange (i.e., in the vicinity of the subtropical jet). In addition, this study employs a method to identify STE as that which crosses the lapse-rate tropopause (LRT), while most previous studies have used a potential vorticity (PV) isosurface as the troposphere–stratosphere boundary. PV-based and LRT-based STE climatologies are compared using the ERA-Interim reanalysis output. The comparison reveals quantitative and qualitative differences, particularly for TST in the polar regions. Based upon spatiotemporal integrations, we find STE to be STT dominant in ERA-Interim and JRA-55 and TST dominant in MERRA and MERRA-2. The sources of the differences are mainly attributed to inconsistencies in the representation of STE in the subtropics and extratropics. Time series during the 15-year analysis period show long-term changes that are argued to correspond with changes in the Brewer–Dobson circulation

Durable Near-Complete Response to Anti-PD-1 Checkpoint Immunotherapy in a Refractory Malignant Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura

Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura is a rare and usually benign primary neoplasm arising from mesenchymal cells of the submesothelial tissue. We present here the case of a patient diagnosed with CD34-positive advanced malignant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura whose disease failed to respond to combination cytotoxic chemotherapy agents, but demonstrated a prompt near-complete response to checkpoint blockade treatment using the anti-programmed death (PD)-1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab, based on tumor molecular profiling revealing tumoral expression positivity for both programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and PD-1. The patient experienced minimal adverse effects from the treatment with durable favorable response lasting up to cycle 26

A Topological Deep Learning Framework for Neural Spike Decoding

The brain's spatial orientation system uses different neuron ensembles to aid in environment-based navigation. One of the ways brains encode spatial information is through grid cells, layers of decked neurons that overlay to provide environment-based navigation. These neurons fire in ensembles where several neurons fire at once to activate a single grid. We want to capture this firing structure and use it to decode grid cell data. Understanding, representing, and decoding these neural structures require models that encompass higher order connectivity than traditional graph-based models may provide. To that end, in this work, we develop a topological deep learning framework for neural spike train decoding. Our framework combines unsupervised simplicial complex discovery with the power of deep learning via a new architecture we develop herein called a simplicial convolutional recurrent neural network (SCRNN). Simplicial complexes, topological spaces that use not only vertices and edges but also higher-dimensional objects, naturally generalize graphs and capture more than just pairwise relationships. Additionally, this approach does not require prior knowledge of the neural activity beyond spike counts, which removes the need for similarity measurements. The effectiveness and versatility of the SCRNN is demonstrated on head direction data to test its performance and then applied to grid cell datasets with the task to automatically predict trajectories

Penggunaan Abu Batu Bara Pltu Mpanau sebagai Bahan Stabilisasi Tanah Lempung

Penelitian ini bertujuan memeriksa pengaruh stabilisasi tanah lempung menggunakan bahanstabilisasi Abu batu bara dan semen. Abu batu bara yang digunakan adalah abu bara hasilpembakaran dari PLTU Mpanau Kecamatan Tawaeli Kota Palu yang lolos saringan No.200, tanahlempung yang diuji memiliki indeks plastisitas lebih besar dari 20. Sifat yang diperiksa adalah:Perubahan batas cair, kepadatan maksimum dan nilai CBR. Proporsi rancangan campuran terdiridari abu batu bara adalah 10% dan 20% semen sebesar 4% dan 8% masing-masing terhadapberat kering tanah lempung,.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa campuran abu batu bara dansemen mampu menurunkan nilai indeks plastisitas tanah lempung dari 27,33% menjadi 10,37 %,meningkatkan nilai CBR tanah dari 4,46% menjadi 13,8% untuk CBR rendaman dan dari 5,6%menjadi 15,5% untuk CBR tanpa rendama

Sunscreen Use and Screening in College Athletes: An Evidence-Based Pilot Project

Background: Melanoma is the third most common cancer in individuals ages 15 – 29. The greatest risk for melanoma is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Collegiate athletes are exposed to 1,000 more sun hours per year than the average adult, placing them at higher risk for melanoma. Evidence supports sunscreen education and screening to promote protective behaviors in young adults. Objective: This evidence-based pilot project implements the standardized screening of sunscreen use and sun protective behaviors in women’s soccer players ages 18 to 21 years old at the University of San Diego. Methods: The Sun Exposure and Protection Index (SEPI), reflecting both UV exposure risk and sun protective behaviors, was administered to female soccer players before and after the intervention period. Athletes were instructed to apply SPF 50 to the face, neck, and chest once daily for 7 days while practicing on the soccer field. Educational materials about sun safety were provided. Principles of the Iowa Model and Health Belief Model guided this pilot project. Outcomes: Twenty-two athletes participated in this pilot. 86.4% reported using sunscreen 5 or more days during the intervention period. 100% reported sunscreen use 3 or more days during intervention period, compared to 45.4% prior to implementation. The average score on the SEPI Part 2 prior to the pilot was 10. After intervention, there was an average reduction of 1.45 points in SEPI Part 2 scores, representing an increased propensity for sun protection and improved sun protection behaviors. Sun exposure screening should be considered as primary prevention in college athletes, who are at an elevated lifetime risk of ultraviolet radiation exposure. Furthermore, providing sunscreen and educational materials prior to sun exposure may decrease the risk of future melanoma in this high-risk population

WinNTGen : Creation of a Windows NT 5.0+ network traffic generator

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-67).The Lincoln Adaptable Real Time Information Assurance Testbed (LARIAT) project is the first fully automatable network testbed for the evaluation of information assurance (IA) technologies. It allows researchers to easily set up experiments that evaluate the accuracy of host-based and network-based intrusion detection systems (IDSs). Initially, the network traffic it could produce used UNIX services and protocols as implemented for the Linux and Solaris platforms. However, due to the widespread deployment of Windows-based systems in production environments, it is necessary to include Windows-based traffic when testing IA systems in order to provide a comprehensive evaluation. This thesis describes WinNTGen, a Windows network traffic generation system that integrates into the existing LARIAT framework and enables it to produce Windows-based network traffic. To do this, WinNTGen simulates the actions of a user controlling applications that in turn use network resources. This frees WinNTGen from the need to re-implement network protocols and allows it to operate at a higher level of abstraction. WinNTGen controls applications via loadable libraries that encapsulate the manner in which a typical user interacts with a particular application. The statistical parameters that specify the behavior of a user with each application are derived from real users' behavioral data as they interacted with each application. The system is flexible and extensible so that different versions of the same application as well as additional applications can be controlled by modifying and adding libraries. Finally, the reality and the throughput of the network traffic produced by the WinNTGen system are evaluated.by Jesse C. Boothe-Rabek.M.Eng

Spin controlled atom-ion inelastic collisions

The control of the ultracold collisions between neutral atoms is an extensive and successful field of study. The tools developed allow for ultracold chemical reactions to be managed using magnetic fields, light fields and spin-state manipulation of the colliding particles among other methods. The control of chemical reactions in ultracold atom-ion collisions is a young and growing field of research. Recently, the collision energy and the ion electronic state were used to control atom-ion interactions. Here, we demonstrate spin-controlled atom-ion inelastic processes. In our experiment, both spin-exchange and charge-exchange reactions are controlled in an ultracold Rb-Sr$^+$ mixture by the atomic spin state. We prepare a cloud of atoms in a single hyperfine spin-state. Spin-exchange collisions between atoms and ion subsequently polarize the ion spin. Electron transfer is only allowed for (RbSr)$^+$ colliding in the singlet manifold. Initializing the atoms in various spin states affects the overlap of the collision wavefunction with the singlet molecular manifold and therefore also the reaction rate. We experimentally show that by preparing the atoms in different spin states one can vary the charge-exchange rate in agreement with theoretical predictions

Hacer memoria de la vida religiosa

Los autores intentan hacer una síntesis del camino que ha recorrido la vida religiosa en América Latina destacando la complejidad y la riqueza que supone la vocación a la vida religiosa expresado por los autores de esta manera: “el martirologio de América Latina está lleno en estos últimos tiempos, de religiosos y religiosas que testimoniaron con su vida lo que creían y predicaban". En este artículo se analiza el origen misionero de la vida religiosa antes del Concilio Vaticano II, las transformaciones que ha tenido la vida religiosa después del concilio con la relectura del mismo en Medellín, Puebla, también se analizan los grandes cambios que han surgido al final del S. XX, así como las implicaciones para los religiosos(as) y lo que sucede en Santo Domingo, Conferencia en la que se reafirma la opción por los pobres, se plantea el reto de la inculturación, se tratan temas como la tierra, los laicos, los jóvenes y la mujer en la encrucijada del paso de la modernidad a la postmodernidad. Se señala en el primer párrafo de este escrito: “No resulta fácil hacer una apretada síntesis del camino recorrido por la vida religiosa en América Latina. La vida es mucha más rica que cualquier expresión de ella. Y ciertamente la vida religiosa en América Latina ha escrito páginas bellísimas, de fidelidad y de compromiso con los más desheredados de la tierra, de comunión y participación en las grandes luchas por la promoción y la dignidad de todo hombre, sobre todo de los más empobrecidos y marginados, esforzándose hasta el sacrificio de la vida por desterrar la injusticia y la pobreza que han marcado duramente a esta tierra generosa. Han sido páginas, cargadas de creatividad y coraje, refrendadas, a veces, con el testimonio irrefutable de la sangre. Ya desde el comienzo fueron «intrépidos luchadores por la justicia, evangelizadores de la paz» y lo han continuado siendo hasta nuestros días: el martirologio de América Latina está lleno en estos últimos tiempos, de religiosos y religiosas que testimoniaron con su vida lo qué creían y predicaban”