Generation of Porous Structures Using Fused Deposition

The Fused Deposition Modeling process uses hardware and software machine-level language that are very similar to that of a pen-plotter. Consequently, the·use of patterns with poly-lines as basic geometric features, instead of the current method based on filled polygons (monolithic models), can increase its efficiency. In the current study, various toolpath planning methods have been developed to fabricate porous structures. Computational domain decomposition methods can be applied to the physical or to slice-level domains to generate structured and unstructured grids. Also, textures can be created using periodic tiling of the layer with unit cells (squares, honeycombs, etc). Methods 'based on curves include fractal space filling curves and.change of effective road width Within a layer or within a continuous curve. Individual phases can also be placed in binary compositions. In present investigation, a custom software has been developed and implemented to generate build files (SML) and slice files (SSL) for the above-mentioned structures, demonstrating the efficient control ofthe size, shape, and distribution ofporosity.Mechanical Engineerin

Household decision-making about delivery in health facilities: evidence from Tanzania.

This study investigated how partners' perceptions of the healthcare system influence decisions about delivery-location in low-resource settings. A multistage population-representative sample was used in Kasulu district, Tanzania, to identify women who had given birth in the last five years and their partners. Of 826 couples in analysis, 506 (61.3%) of the women delivered in the home. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with delivery in a health facility were agreement of partners on the importance of delivering in a health facility and agreement that skills of doctors are better than those of traditional birth attendants. When partners disagreed, the opinion of the woman was more influential in determining delivery-location. Agreement of partners regarding perceptions about the healthcare system appeared to be an important driver of decisions about delivery-location. These findings suggest that both partners should be included in the decision-making process regarding delivery to raise rates of delivery at facility

Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals at Land Grant Institutions

Research in the mid 1900s suggested that salary gaps existed between men and women in academia. Though the research helped bring attention to salary gaps, less focus was on causes of salary differences. More recent research suggested differences in salaries were based on performance. A survey was sent to agricultural economics professionals at land grant intuitions to identify the factors that influence their salaries. Results of the ordered probit model suggest that seven variables can be used to explain salaries: having attained tenure, working at an 1862 institution, the amount of grant dollars, the number of journal articles, highest academic rank and the percentage of appointment that is in administration (positive influences) and importance of family time (negative influence). Other variables tested – gender, ethnicity and other preferences – were not found to influence salary levels.salary and performance, tracking survey, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, A11, A14,

Comparison of Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals in Academic and Federal Employment

Results of two ordered probit models find differences in the major factors that influence salaries of agricultural economists employed in academia and in federal government. However some similarities were found; both sets of salaries were influenced by factors that measure job performance and neither set of salaries were significantly influenced by gender or ethnicity.Salary survey, job performance, Labor and Human Capital, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Factors Influencing Salaries of Agricultural Economics Professionals in Federal Employment - Part I

Since the early 1900s much research has been conducted on salary gaps between men and women in different professions. While some of that work has focused on agricultural economics professionals, little research could be found specifically relating to agricultural economic professionals in federal employment. A survey was sent to known agricultural economics professionals within USDA. The data from this survey are being used for two purposes. The first is to determine whether differences exist between men and women (and between employees in different agencies) in factors that influence job choice and potential problems in the workplace. The second is to identify factors that influence salaries of men and women agricultural economics professionals in federal employment. This paper addresses the first purpose.salary and performance studies, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Computational studies of multiple-particle nonlinear dynamics in a spatio-temporally periodic potential

The spatio-temporally periodic (STP) potential is interesting in Physics due to the intimate coupling between its time and spatial components. In this paper, we begin with a brief discussion of the dynamical behaviors of a single particle in a STP potential and then examine the dynamics of multiple particles interacting in a STP potential via the electric Coulomb potential. For the multiple particles\u27 case, we focus on the occurrence of bifurcations when the amplitude of the STP potential varies. It is found that the particle concentration of the system plays an important role; the type of bifurcations that occur and the number of attractors present in the Poincaré sections depend on whether the number of particles in the simulation is even or odd. In addition to the nonlinear dynamical approach, we also discuss dependence of the squared fractional deviation of particles\u27 kinetic energy of the multiple particle system on the amplitude of the STP potential which can be used to elucidate certain transitions of states; this approach is simple and useful particularly for experimental studies of complicated interacting systems. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC

XMM-{\em Newton} and FUSE Tentative Evidence for a WHIM filament along the Line of Sight to PKS~0558-504

We present a possible OVIII X-ray absorption line at $z=0.117 \pm 0.001$ which, if confirmed, will be the first one associated with a broad HI Ly$\beta$ (BLB: FWHM=$160^{+50}_{-30}$ km s$^{-1}$) absorber. The absorber lies along the line of sight to the nearby ($z=0.1372$) Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS~0558-504, consistent with being a WHIM filament. The X-ray absorber is marginally detected in two independent XMM-Newton spectra of PKS~0558-504, a long $\sim 600$ ks Guest-Observer observation and a shorter, $\sim 300$ ks total, calibration observation, with a combined single line statistical significance of 2.8$\sigma$ (2.7$\sigma$ and 1.2$\sigma$ in the two spectra, respectively). When fitted with our self-consistent hybrid-photoionization WHIM models, the combined XMM-{\em Newton} spectrum is consistent with the presence of OVIII K$\alpha$ at $z=(0.117 \pm 0.001)$. This model gives best fitting temperature and equivalent H column density of the absorber of log$T=6.56_{-0.17}^{+0.19}$ K, and logN$_H=(21.5 \pm 0.3) (Z/Z_{0.01\odot})^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. The statistical sigificance of this single X-ray detection is increased by the detection of broad and complex HI Ly$\beta$ absorption in archival FUSE spectra of PKS~0558-504, at redshifts $z=0.1183 \pm 0.0001$ consistent with the best-fitting redshift of the X-ray absorber. The single line statistical significance of this line is 4.1$\sigma$ (3.7$\sigma$ if systematics are considered), and thus the combined (HI+OVIII) statistical significance of the detection is of 5.0$\sigma$. The detection of both metal and H lines at a consistent redshift, in this hot absorbing system, allows us to speculate on its metallicity. By associating the bulk of the X-ray absorber with the BLB line detected in the FUSE spectrum at $z_{BLB}=0.1183 \pm 0.0001$, we obtain a metallicity of 1-4\% Solar.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures, 3 Tables. Accepted for publication by the ApJ

Chandra View of the Warm-hot Intergalactic Medium toward 1ES 1553+113: Absorption-line Detections and Identifications. I.

We present the first results from our pilot 500 ks Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Large Program observation of the soft X-ray brightest source in the z gsim 0.4 sky, the blazar 1ES 1553+113, aimed to secure the first uncontroversial detections of the missing baryons in the X-rays. We identify a total of 11 possible absorption lines, with single-line statistical significances between 2.2σ and 4.1σ. Six of these lines are detected at high single-line statistical significance (3.6 ≤ σ ≤ 4.1), while the remaining five are regarded as marginal detections in association with either other X-ray lines detected at higher significance and/or far-ultraviolet (FUV) signposts. Three of these lines are consistent with metal absorption at z sime 0, and we identify them with Galactic O I and C II. The remaining eight lines may be imprinted by intervening absorbers and are all consistent with being high-ionization counterparts of FUV H I and/or O VI intergalactic medium signposts. In particular, five of these eight possible intervening absorption lines (single-line statistical significances of 4.1σ, 4.1σ, 3.9σ, 3.8σ, and 2.7σ), are identified as C V and C VI Kα absorbers belonging to three WHIM systems at zX = 0.312, zX = 0.237, and langzX rang = 0.133, which also produce broad H I (and O VI for the zX = 0.312 system) absorption in the FUV. For two of these systems (zX = 0.312 and 0.237), the Chandra X-ray data led the a posteriori discovery of physically consistent broad H I associations in the FUV (for the third system the opposite applies), so confirming the power of the X-ray-FUV synergy for WHIM studies. The true statistical significances of these three X-ray absorption systems, after properly accounting for the number of redshift trials, are 5.8σ (zX = 0.312; 6.3σ if the low-significance O V and C V Kβ associations are considered), 3.9σ (zX = 0.237), and 3.8σ (langzX rang = 0.133), respectively