VCU Pathfinder

Imagine this, you are planning to enroll in an institution of higher learning. However, your schedule can\u27t possibly match your institutions recommended path. Maybe you\u27re transferring from a different institution, maybe you just picked up additional hours on the job, or maybe you just want to change to a different major. Getting all the information you need in one place to plan a personalized schedule can be a difficult proposition, especially if you don\u27t have easy access to an on-site adviser. VCU Pathfinder is here to make this process considerably less stressful and more efficient. Pathfinder is a schedule assistance tool available through a web browser. All the information that a student needs to know in regard to planning their schedule, such as degree requirements, course prerequisites, credit amount, and individual semester availability of courses, is handled by the website. By utilizing an intuitive and flexible interface that color codes courses according to what a student can take according to the degree they\u27ve chosen, Pathfinder answers the question of Can I take this course at this date? . It\u27s as simple as that. There\u27s no need to dive through bulletins to understand your course flow or when courses are available. All the information used by the service is maintained in a Maria database that can be easily edited by an adviser with no prior programming experience.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1177/thumbnail.jp

Selection of Ground Motion Records for Two Dam Sites in Oregon

Internet-based USGS’s interactive deaggregation of probabilistic seismic hazard was used to identify principal sources of earthquake hazard at two dam sites in western Oregon. The dams are located in the western margin of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States where Cascadia Subduction Zone and shallow gridded crustal earthquakes are dominant sources of earthquake hazard. For each source, the magnitude, distance, and number of standard deviations (ε) were determined to develop target acceleration response spectra using ground motion prediction equations. The selection of ε for the gridded crustal earthquakes was different for the two sites; one site is in an area of low to medium seismicity, while the other is in a more seismically active region. Based on the number, distances, and densities of epicenters of historical earthquakes relative to each site, the first site was given an ε of 0 while the second site was given an ε of 1. Once the target response spectra were developed, the selection of ground motion records was performed using standard procedures

Intensive Archeological Survey: State Highway 34 at Kings Creek, Kaufman County, Texas

On behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on January 3, 2018, of 111.45 acres of existing right-of-way (ROW) along State Highway (SH) 34 at the Kings Creek in Kaufman County, Texas. As the project will receive funding from the Federal Highways Administration, it qualifies as an undertaking as defined in Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 800.16(y); therefore, the archeological survey was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S. Code 306108). Furthermore, the project must also comply with the Antiquities Code of Texas (9 Natural Resources Code 191). Jon Budd served as Principal Investigator under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 8225. The area of potential effects (APE) is defined as the existing SH 34 TxDOT ROW between 120 to 330 feet (36.6 to 100.6 meters [m]) wide beginning at County Road 4094 and extending 3.22 miles northeast to Farm-to-Market Road 1388. Depth of construction impacts are typically 4 feet (1.20 m), with a maximum of 30 feet (9.14 m). The APE consists of approximately 111.45 acres. Background research identified three previous cultural resources surveys that cross the APE, but no archeological sites, recorded landmarks, cemeteries, National Register of Historic Places districts or properties, or historical markers were identified within or immediately adjacent to the project area. The nearest site, 41KF74, is a sparse prehistoric lithic scatter located approximately 0.4 mile south of the proposed project’s southern terminus. Two potentially historic structures were identified just beyond the APE during the historic map review. The existing ROW has been extensively modified by the construction of SH 34, numerous existing overhead and buried utilities, intersecting roadways, ditches, driveways, and major flood control structures, such as levees and channelized drainages. Since much of the area is a wide, low-lying alluvial setting, fill sections elevating the roadway above the floodplain are pervasive throughout the APE. The field investigation consisted of a pedestrian survey of the entire APE augmented with nine shovel tests along adjacent terraces and seven backhoe trenches at drainage crossings. Fill sections and buried utilities, including fiber optic lines on both sides of the APE, precluded subsurface investigations in many areas. The pedestrian survey, along with shovel tests and backhoe trenches, identified no cultural materials or features within the project APE. The cumulative impacts from the roadway and existing utilities, as well as frequent inundation, indicate a negligible potential for intact archeological resources within the APE. SWCA made a reasonable and good faith effort per 36 CFR Part 800.4(b)(1) to identify and locate prehistoric and historic archeological properties within the proposed project APE. The field investigation discovered no cultural resources; therefore, SWCA recommends that a finding of “no historic properties affected” be made for the current undertaking

Influence of isothermal treatment on MnS and hot ductility in low carbon, low Mn steels

Hot ductility tests were used to determine the hot-cracking susceptibility of two low-carbon, low Mn/S ratio steels and compared with a higher-carbon plain C-Mn steel and a low C, high Mn/S ratio steel. Specimens were solution treated at 1623 K (1350 °C) or in situ melted before cooling at 100 K/min to various testing temperatures and strained at 7.5 x 10-4 s -1, using a Gleeble 3500 Thermomechanical Simulator. The low C, low Mn/S steels showed embrittlement from 1073 K to 1323 K (800 °C to 1050 °C) because of precipitation of MnS at the austenite grain boundaries combined with large grain size. Isothermal holding for 10 minutes at 1273 K (1000 °C) coarsened the MnS leading to significant improvement in hot ductility. The highercarbon plain C-Mn steel only displayed a narrow trough less than the Ae3 temperature because of intergranular failure occurring along thin films of ferrite at prior austenite boundaries. The low C, high Mn/S steel had improved ductility for solution treatment conditions over that of in situ melt conditions because of the grain-refining influence of Ti. The higher Mn/S ratio steel yielded significantly better ductility than the low Mn/S ratio steels. The low hot ductility of the two low Mn/S grades was in disagreement with commercial findings where no cracking susceptibility has been reported. This discrepancy was due to the oversimplification of the thermal history of the hot ductility testing in comparison with commercial production leading to a marked difference in precipitation behavior, whereas laboratory conditions promoted fine sulfide precipitation along the austenite grain boundaries and hence, low ductility

BVRI Light Curves for 22 Type Ia Supernovae

We present 1210 Johnson/Cousins B,V,R, and I photometric observations of 22 recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): SN 1993ac, SN 1993ae, SN 1994M, SN 1994S, SN 1994T, SN 1994Q, SN 1994ae, SN 1995D, SN 1995E, SN 1995al, SN 1995ac, SN 1995ak, SN 1995bd, SN 1996C, SN 1996X, SN 1996Z, SN 1996ab, SN 1996ai, SN 1996bk, SN 1996bl, SN 1996bo, and SN 1996bv. Most of the photometry was obtained at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in a cooperative observing plan aimed at improving the data base for SN Ia. The redshifts of the sample range from $cz$=1200 to 37000 km s$^{-1}$ with a mean of $cz$=7000 km s$^{-1}$.Comment: Accepted to the Astronomical Journal, 41 pages, 8 figure

Brexit and fishing: How can the UK deliver a 'successful' fisheries policy after Brexit?

Halfway through the Brexit negotiations and delivering on the promises made to voters in the run up to the Brexit vote with regards to fishing remains an incredibly tough task. Richard Barnes, Chris Williams, Bryce Stewart, Bethan O'Leary, Thomas Appleby, and Griffin Carpenter write that 'success' for the UK will only be possible by working with its EU neighbours, and listening to both stakeholder groups and the diverse actors within them

It's still uncertain how the UK will deliver a 'successful' fisheries policy after Brexit

Halfway through the Brexit negotiations and delivering on the promises made to voters in the run-up to the Brexit vote with regards to fishing remains an incredibly tough task. Richard Barnes, Chris Williams, Bryce Stewart, Bethan O’Leary, Thomas Appleby, and Griffin Carpenter write that ‘success’ for the UK will only be possible by working with its EU neighbours and listening to both stakeholder groups and the diverse actors within them