Exploring the Feasibility of Converting the Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino into a Casino Boutique Hotel

Introduction: The topic of my Professional Paper will be the feasibility study of renovating the Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Currently the Mardi Gras is operating as a Best Western and is looking to expand into the boutique hotel market. With the maturation of the Las Vegas hotel market, it is vital to think forward in new methods of design and marketing to attract the next generation of convention attendees and visiting tourist. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of converting the Mardi Gras hotel and casino into a destination casino boutique hotel. This feasibility study will address the current market, capital budgeting, competition analysis, new target market, performance reports and building constraints to determine the acceptance or denial of the project

Byng’s and Currie’s Commanders: A Still Untold Story of the Canadian Corps

In 1915, the Canadian Corps was little more than a rabble of enthusiastic amateurs. Yet by 1917-18, it had become an accomplished professional fighting force, one characterized by Denis Winter as “much the most effective unit in the BEF” and by Shane Schreiber as “the shock army of the British Empire.” While Canadian military historians have studied this evolution extensively few have examined the decisive element in the transformation—the development of a cadre of proficient senior combat officers. No one questions Currie’s status as Canada’s best fighting general, but of the supporting team he and his predecessor, General Byng, assembled we know precious little. Who, then, were the men commanding the Corps’ four divisions, 12 infantry brigades and supporting machine gun and artillery units—the senior officers whose abilities as trainers and fighters were integral to the CEF’s battlefield success

Arnoldi model order reduction for electromagnetic wave scattering computation

This paper presents a model order reduction (MOR) algorithm for the volume integral equation formulation of electromagnetic wave scattering. We apply the Arnoldi algorithm to circumvent the computational complexity associated with the numerical solution of such formulations. An approximate extension of the Arnoldi algorithm to the problem of wave scattering from an inhomogeneous body is introduced and implemented. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of our approximate extension

Efficient wideband electromagnetic scattering computation for frequency dependent lossy dielectrics using WCAWE

This paper presents a model order reduction algorithm for the volume electric field integral equation (EFIE) formulation, that achieves fast and accurate frequency sweep calculations of electromagnetic wave scattering. An inhomogeneous, two-dimensional, lossy dielectric object whose material is characterized by a complex permittivity which varies with frequency is considered. The variation in the dielectric properties of the ceramic BaxLa4Ti 2+xO 12+3x in the <1 GHz frequency range is investigated for various values of x in a frequency sweep analysis. We apply the well-conditioned asymptotic waveform evaluation (WCAWE) method to circumvent the computational complexity associated with the numerical solution of such formulations. A multipoint automatic WCAWE method is also demonstrated which can produce an accurate solution over a much broader bandwidth. Several numerical examples are given on order to illustrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed methods

Environmental Factors Affecting CaO- and CaSO4-Induced Degradation of Second-Generation Nickel-Based Superalloys

The goal of this research project was to provide fundamental understanding of CaO- and CaSO4-induced degradation observed in aviation gas-turbine engines and to develop a lab-scale test procedure which accurately replicates the degradation observed in field-exposed components. Based on initial assessments, particular attention was paid to characterizing the nature of breakaway internal oxidation caused by CaSO4 deposits and determining how CaSO4-alloy interactions induce subsurface changes in the alloy composition and microstructure which can make the alloy susceptible to internal attack. Both SEM and TEM analyses were used to characterize the morphology of degradation in field-exposed components. Emphasis was placed on characterizing the composition and phase distribution in the internal oxidation zone (IOZ). Isothermal experiments were conducted to investigate the interactions that take place between CaO or CaSO4 deposits and single crystal superalloys at elevated temperatures. This was achieved by exposing Rene N5 and N500 coupons with CaO or CaSO4 deposits at 900°C or 1150°C in air for various times and characterizing the reaction product. From the results obtained, a novel bi-thermal test procedure was developed which successfully replicated the degradation that occurs in the field-exposed components. It was determined that degradation of the subsurface caused by CaSO4 at 1150°C made the alloys susceptible to internal oxidation when exposed to conditions that better simulate the gas-turbine environment. Following this result, sets of systematic experiments were developed to determine how the environmental variables of atmosphere, thermal profile, and deposit mass influence the oxidation behavior of a subsurface-depleted alloy and how the behavior is linked to the kinetic competition between internal and external oxidation. Finally, it was observed that N5 is more resistant to CaSO4-induced degradation than N500. Because of this, the influence of alloy composition on the degradation resistance of nickel-based alloys was explored by conducting bi-thermal experiments with CaSO4 deposit on a superalloy with intermediate composition to that of N5 and N500 and by conducting oxidation experiments on model Ni-Cr-Al-Re alloys

Abstractions from Spectral Sonorities

In this analytical commentary and the accompanying portfolio of compositions, I deal primarily with issues relating to Spectral and Post- Spectral techniques in contemporary music. Potential limitations of Spectralism (as a genre) are taken into consideration, and several philosophical underpinnings of this compositional style are called into question as I consider the possibility of a music which is enhanced, but not constricted, by its technical innovations. Specifically, I examine various ways by which resonant harmonic colours of the natural overtone series might be abstracted from their Natural context(s), categorised, studied, understood, and finally deployed within a harmonic language which is to some extent musically functional rather than merely sonically colourful. The seven compositions included in the portfolio approach the problem from a variety of methodological angles: —Pitch structures, isolated from the world of acoustic phenomena, are studied and manipulated to create colourful musical objects with an inherent inner logic. —In some instances Spectral concepts and techniques are integrated (or juxtaposed) with principles borrowed or adapted from tonal, post- tonal and serialist approaches to composition. —Occasionally non-Spectral music is analysed from a Spectral perspective and repurposed within a hybridised harmonic language. The commentary also records my artistic and technical development as a composer during my time at Cambridge. It charts my progress towards the attainment of a harmonic/musical grammar unique to myself, and the pursuit of a technical facility appropriate to this ambition.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) low temperature Heat Pipe Experiment Package (HEPP) flight results

The Low Temperature Heat Pipe Flight Experiment (HEPP) is a fairly complicated thermal control experiment that was designed to evaluate the performance of two different low temperature ethane heat pipes and a low-temperature (182 K) phase change material. A total of 390 days of continuous operation with an axially grooved aluminum fixed conductance heat pipe and an axially grooved stainless steel heat pipe diode was demonstrated before the data acquisition system's batteries lost power. Each heat pipe had approximately 1 watt applied throughout this period. The HEPP was not able to cool below 188.6 K during the mission. As a result, the preprogrammed transport test sequence which initiates when the PCM temperature drops below 180 K was never exercised, and transport tests with both pipes and the diode reverse mode test could not be run in flight. Also, because the melt temperature of the n-heptane PCM is 182 K, its freeze/thaw behavior could not be tested. Post-flight thermal vacuum tests and thermal analyses have indicated that there was an apparent error in the original thermal analyses that led to this unfortunate result. Post-flight tests have demonstrated that the performance of both heat pipes and the PCM has not changed since being fabricated more than 14 years ago. A summary of HEPP's flight data and post-flight test results are presented