Radar backscattering as a means for measuring ocean surface parameters using S193 altimetry and S190B photography

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Radar backscattering as a means for measuring ocean surface parameters using S193 altimetry and S190B photography

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Remote lightning monitor system

An apparatus for monitoring, analyzing and accurately determining the value of peak current, the peak rate of change in current with respect to time and the rise time of the electrical currents generated in an electrical conductive mast that is located in the vicinity where lightning is to be monitored is described. The apparatus includes an electrical coil for sensing the change in current flowing through the mast and generating a voltage responsive. An on-site recorder and a recorder control system records the voltages produced responsive to lightning strikes and converts the voltage to digital signals for being transmitted back to the remote command station responsive to command signals. The recorder and the recorder control system are carried within an RFI proof environmental housing into which the command signals are fed by means of a fiber optic cable so as to minimize electrical interference

A decade of Australian general practice activity 2002–03 to 2011–12

This book presents ten years of data from the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) program, and reports changes that have occurred over the decade 2002–03 to 2011–12, in the characteristics of GPs and the patients they see, the problems they manage and the treatments they provide. A companion report, General practice activity in Australia 2011–12, describes the 2011–12 annual results in more detail, available at .1 BEACH is a continuous cross-sectional national study that began in April 1998. Every year each of about 1,000 randomly selected GPs records details of 100 consecutive encounters on structured paper recording forms, and provides information about themselves and their practice. The database now holds data for 1.38 million records from 13,815 participating GPs.   *Other authors - Joan Henderson, Lisa Valenti, Christopher Harrison, Carmen Zhang, Timothy Chambers, Allan J Pollack, Clare Bayram, Julie O’Halloran, Ying Pan. &nbsp

Identification, Description, and Perceived Viability of K—12 Consolidated Catholic School Systems

Catholic education has been in a state of substantial decline since 1965. In order to help sustain the ministry of Catholic schools, one approach that several dozen dioceses have embraced is the K–12 consolidated Catholic school system. This study investigated the organizational structures within consolidated school systems, factors that led to consolidation, and variables that predict perceived viability of the consolidated model. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were employed using both school system data and individual responses as units of analyses. This study shows that the K–12 consolidated Catholic school system can be a viable model that allows for greater collaboration among elementary and high schools, financial efficiencies through shared staffing and building closures, and reductions of high parish subsidy. This study also shows that while the model may help Catholic schools remain open, the separation from the parish leads to a lack of parish ownership of the school, a sense of competition between the school system and the supporting parishes, and unknown roles and accountability of the new school system

Innovative Fuel Design to Improve Proliferation Management

This research uses an existing innovative fuel design (IFD) that has intrinsic safety features and enhanced economics over the current uranium dioxide (UO2) light water fuel design and evaluates promising methods to improve the waste management and proliferation resistance of the IFD by doping the fresh fuel with select actinides.The most robust approach for proliferation resistance is to denature these materials by adding a uranium or plutonium isotope that hampers the usability of the materials in weapons. The proposed modifications to the IFD use this approach through elevated fractions of 238Pu. 238Pu generates large quantities of heat and neutrons through its radioactive decay and is estimated to make plutonium potentially “proliferation-proof. The IFD this work uses as a foundation is an advanced metallic fuel designed for use in current light water reactors. Due to the high fission density of metallic fuel and the proposed uranium enrichments, the plutonium produced by irradiating this fuel has promising isotopic content for proliferation resistance. This proliferation resistance will be further increased by adding 237Np and/or 241Am to the initial fresh fuel composition that will result in increased 238Pu content. Adding these actinides into the fresh fuel at 0.2 wt.%, the amount of 238Pu produced in the used fuel can be used for proliferation resistance. Increasing the actinide wt.% can potentially produce proliferation-proof used fuel. Also, by utilizing neptunium and americium in fresh fuel, many of the challenges with permanent geological disposal of used fuel can be mitigated