A Study to Determine Virginia Industrial Arts Teacher\u27s Knowledge of Terms Associated with the Metric System of Measurement

This problem was answered by focusing on the following questions: 1. Are Industrial Arts teachers in the state of Virginia ready to teach the metric system of measurement in their shops? 2. Do the Industrial Arts teachers in Virginia understand the common terms, their conversion to English, and prefixes associated with the metric system of measurement

Fire dynamics and carbon cycling in miombo woodlands

Savannah ecosystems play a prominent role in the global carbon (C) cycle, yet fluxes are poorly quantified, and the key processes regulating vegetation dynamics are uncertain. Insight is particularly deficient in southern Africa’s miombo woodlands, a woody savannah that is home to over 100 million people. This biome is heavily disturbed, with widespread deforestation and degradation associated with agriculture, charcoal and timber extraction, and frequent fires from anthropogenic sources. In this thesis I combine plot inventory data with remote sensing and modelling techniques to improve our understanding of the miombo woodland C cycle. Using a network of forest inventory plots, I characterise floristic and functional diversity in a savannah-forest mosaic in southeastern Tanzania. Divergent vegetation structures are associated with variation in fire frequency, water supply, and soil chemo-physical properties. Corresponding differences are noted in fire resilience, water-use, and nutrient acquisition plant functional traits, suggesting that multiple interrelated environmental filters act to assemble heterogeneous tree communities. Re-inventory of forest plots was used to quantify key aspects of the woody C cycle. Tree growth rates are slow, calling for careful management of woodland resources, and significantly reduced where stems were damaged. Stem mortality is rare, though elevated in the smallest trees and where damage was recorded. Contemporary strategies to incentivise the conservation of miombo woodland ecosystems, such as the REDD+ programme of the United Nations, advocate payments for sustaining ecosystem services such as C sequestration. I report on a pilot REDD+ project aiming to reduce woodland degradation from frequent high intensity fires in southeastern Tanzania. Model simulations suggest that woody biomass is being gradually lost from the region, and that setting early season fires has the potential to reverse this trend. Realising substantial changes in C storage requires a demanding reduction to late fire frequency, and uncertainty in model predictions remains high. I quantify the C cycle of southern African woodlands by combining observational data with a diagnostic C cycle model under a model-data fusion framework. Model outputs show substantial variation in primary production, C allocation patterns, and foliar and canopy traits, which are associated with differences in woody cover, fire, and precipitation properties. C cycle dynamics correspond poorly to conventional land cover maps, indicating they may be unsuited to upscaling measurements and models of the terrestrial C cycle

Tame and relatively elliptic CP1\mathbb{CP}^1-structures on the thrice-punctured sphere

Suppose a relatively elliptic representation $\rho$ of the fundamental group of the thrice-punctured sphere $S$ is given. We prove that all projective structures on $S$ with holonomy $\rho$ and satisfying a tameness condition at the punctures can be obtained by grafting certain circular triangles. The specific collection of triangles is determined by a natural framing of $\rho$. In the process, we show that (on a general surface $\Sigma$ of negative Euler characteristics) structures satisfying these conditions can be characterized in terms of their M\"obius completion, and in terms of certain meromorphic quadratic differentials.Comment: 58 pages, 19 figures, comments welcom

Processes of Small Culvert Inspection and Asset Management

Proper drainage is essential for pavement to maximize life expectancy and minimize maintenance. Culverts are a critical asset to facilitate drainage. As with many assets, culverts deteriorate with age and require regular inspection. It is important to have a formalized process of inventory and inspection that is efficient and can effectively support culvert asset management. The current culvert inspection and asset management processes for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) have been modeled over the years on the bridge inspection process and were recently evaluated. A study was undertaken to further evaluate the current culvert asset management practices. Approximately 700 small culverts and catch basins were visited and evaluated using both the traditional culvert inspection practices and a revised asset management evaluation scale. The paper summarizes the findings of this evaluation and concludes by making recommendations for process improvements. These recommendations include the addition of photos to the culvert database, a revised rating scale, advanced planning of inspection schedules, a formalized process for culvert reassessments, the creation of a separate catch basin inlet inventory, various improvements to the inventory process, and a dedicated staff to complete inspections efficiently. It is also noted that building a reliable database will show historical trends and can eventually lead to a study of small culvert inspections and culvert longevity, which will lead to improved asset management

Processes of Small Culvert Inspection and Asset Management

Proper drainage is essential for pavement to maximize life expectancy and minimize maintenance. Culverts are a critical asset to facilitate drainage. As with many assets, culverts deteriorate with age and require regular inspection. It is important to have a formalized process of inventory and inspection that is efficient and can effectively support culvert asset management. The current culvert inspection and asset management processes for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) have been modeled over the years on the bridge inspection process and were recently evaluated. A study was undertaken to further evaluate the current culvert asset management practices. Approximately 700 small culverts and catch basins were visited and evaluated using both the traditional culvert inspection practices and a revised asset management evaluation scale. The paper summarizes the findings of this evaluation and concludes by making recommendations for process improvements. These recommendations include the addition of photos to the culvert database, a revised rating scale, advanced planning of inspection schedules, a formalized process for culvert reassessments, the creation of a separate catch basin inlet inventory, various improvements to the inventory process, and a dedicated staff to complete inspections efficiently. It is also noted that building a reliable database will show historical trends and can eventually lead to a study of small culvert inspections and culvert longevity, which will lead to improved asset management

3-Amino­benzoic acid–4-nitro­benzoic acid (1/1)

In the title 1:1 adduct, C7H5NO4·C7H7NO2, the nitro group of the 4-nitro benzoic acid is twisted from the attached ring by 4.40 (8)°. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are linked into ribbon-like structures along [150] and [10] via O—H⋯O, N—H⋯O, N—H⋯N and C—H⋯O inter­molecular hydrogen bonds

Missed carbon emissions from forests: comparing countries' estimates submitted to UNFCCC to biophysical estimates

Reducing forest loss has the potential to reduce global carbon emissions, but paying countries to do so will only work if activities are targeting areas with rapid deforestation or high threat. As of December 2017, 25 countries reported their benchmark greenhouse gas emissions from forests (‘reference levels’) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the aim of receiving payments if they end up releasing less or removing more. There remains however a question as to whether the eventual emission trajectories compared to these reference levels represent real emission reductions, as the benchmarks rely on a variety of different methods and limited datasets. To examine whether the forest areas historically associated with significant emissions are targeted in the reference levels, we compared the forest area estimates submitted by seven countries in Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam) with forest area estimates using the Global Forest Change v1.4 (GFC) dataset from 2000–2016, processed to closely match national forest definitions. GFC provides standardised tree cover change data based on biophysical characteristics using an extensive collection of satellite images. We found consistent differences, with most countries reporting considerably less forest loss than the GFC-based analysis. These differences are due to the countries’ selection of activities to report, as well as their choice of forest types and land use, defining the forest areas to be monitored. Our study highlights an urgent need to address the gap between the forests monitored by countries and those sources of emissions. The current approaches, even successfully implemented, may not lead to emission reductions, thereby challenging the effectiveness of carbon payments

The fast declining Type Ia supernova 2003gs, and evidence for a significant dispersion in near-infrared absolute magnitudes of fast decliners at maximum light

We obtained optical photometry of SN 2003gs on 49 nights, from 2 to 494 days after T(B_max). We also obtained near-IR photometry on 21 nights. SN 2003gs was the first fast declining Type Ia SN that has been well observed since SN 1999by. While it was subluminous in optical bands compared to more slowly declining Type Ia SNe, it was not subluminous at maximum light in the near-IR bands. There appears to be a bimodal distribution in the near-IR absolute magnitudes of Type Ia SNe at maximum light. Those that peak in the near-IR after T(B_max) are subluminous in the all bands. Those that peak in the near-IR prior to T(B_max), such as SN 2003gs, have effectively the same near-IR absolute magnitudes at maximum light regardless of the decline rate Delta m_15(B). Near-IR spectral evidence suggests that opacities in the outer layers of SN 2003gs are reduced much earlier than for normal Type Ia SNe. That may allow gamma rays that power the luminosity to escape more rapidly and accelerate the decline rate. This conclusion is consistent with the photometric behavior of SN 2003gs in the IR, which indicates a faster than normal decline from approximately normal peak brightness.Comment: 41 pages, 13 figures, to be published in the December, 2009, issue of the Astronomical Journa

The Lantern Vol. 58, No. 2, Summer 1991

• We All Fall Up • Clerical Nightmares • The Brass Bed • Mon Amour • The Lady of J. Alfred Prufrock • Forbidden Places • Edge of the Dance • Crystal World • Saturday, July 12, 1978, 4:59 pm • Of You I Think • Just Another Statistic • A $16 Word in a$4.99 Trashcan • Souvenir • The Jester • Against a Rock • I Wish I Were a Fish • Too Small, Too Weak • Somewheres in N.Y.C. • Stuck Up • Patterns • I Should Tell You Now • Me, Tommy, and Miss May • Two Hands • All-Natural, Organically Grown Macadamia Butter • Irony of a Suburban Deathhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1138/thumbnail.jp