A Reanalysis of Small Scale Velocity Dispersion in the CfA1 Survey

The velocity dispersion of galaxies on scales of $r\sim1h^{-1}$ Mpc, $\sigma_{12}(r)$, may be estimated from the anisotropy of the galaxy-galaxy correlation function in redshift space. We present a reanalysis of the CfA1 survey, correct an error in the original analysis of Davis and Peebles (1983), and find that $\sigma_{12}(r)$ is extremely sensitive to the details of how corrections for infall into the Virgo cluster are applied. We conclude that a robust value of $\sigma_{12}$ cannot be obtained from this survey. We also discuss results from other redshift surveys, including the effect of removing clusters.Comment: 12 pages, uuencoded(latex file + 2 Postscript figures), uses aas macro

Radiation damage effects within materials

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.Radiation damage effects within materials are a key area of research as we strive to build longer lasting, safer and more economical nuclear reactors. Proposed materials must be tested in an appropriate manor to determine their suitability for these applications. The use of neutrons as a means to simulate a reactor environment is extremely slow and costly. Charged particle implantation has been used as a rapid, cost effective method that can be tailored to meet specific experimental requirements. We must, however, understand the fundamental differences between neutron and charged particle radiation damage studies before we can draw conclusions from the results. Electron microscopy has long been a very important tool for the characterisation of radiation damage; used with complimentary techniques the electron microscope and its associated detectors can give insight into the mechanisms of damage like no other instrument. This research aims to gain an understanding of the radiation damage tolerance of structural reactor materials and ideally fill a gap in the knowledge base of using scanning electron microscopy based techniques to characterise this damage. A novel use of electron backscatter diffraction has been used to reveal trends in radiation damage studies of stainless steel reactor materials, this application of EBSD has not been seen before in the literature. Results from these studies show a clear difference in the tolerance to radiation damage of FCC and BCC crystal structures within the stainless steels. Significant advances have been made in the development of cross sectional sample preparation methods enabling the findings of these studies using EBSD to be validated by traditional transmission electron microscopy techniques

Automated Source-Detector Positioner for Radiation Detection

The Nuclear Engineering Department at Virginia Commonwealth University has an unmet need for an automated source detector positioner for radiation detection experiments that are carried out in lab work. During radiation data collection in radiation detection systems it is of the utmost importance that radioactive samples are positioned and moved with the highest degree of precision possible. This high degree of precision allows for more meaningful data to be collected. The current methods employed by the Nuclear Engineering Department are not as accurate as they can be due to the fact the the current detection systems are manual. Furthermore they are aligned only by sight and have fixed shelving positions. The figure below is the solution to this issue: An automated Source-Detector Positioner for Radiation Detection. This detection system has been design to have a low tolerance so that radiation samples are always centered in the “Sample holder/clamp” over the radiation detector probe. Two stepper motors move along rods, lifting or lowering the sample holder to the desired position over the radiation detection probe. There is also an optional shielding component for the limitation of radiation emission that improves on the shelving method from previous devices. This is all supported with 3D printed rings and metal rods.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1208/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Using Portfolios on Student-Parent and Parent-Teacher Communication

This action research project studied how portfolios enhance the communication between students, parents, and the teacher. While using portfolios in my class, students experienced more dialogue with their parents regarding their effort, the topics being taught, and explanations requiring communication with mathematical reasoning

Absorption of sulfur dioxide by charged aqueous droplets

M.S

Constraining dark matter halo profiles and galaxy formation models using spiral arm morphology. II. Dark and stellar mass concentrations for 13 nearby face-on galaxies

We investigate the use of spiral arm pitch angles as a probe of disk galaxy mass profiles. We confirm our previous result that spiral arm pitch angles (P) are well correlated with the rate of shear (S) in disk galaxy rotation curves. We use this correlation to argue that imaging data alone can provide a powerful probe of galactic mass distributions out to large look-back times. We then use a sample of 13 galaxies, with Spitzer 3.6-$\mu$m imaging data and observed H$\alpha$ rotation curves, to demonstrate how an inferred shear rate coupled with a bulge-disk decomposition model and a Tully-Fisher-derived velocity normalization can be used to place constraints on a galaxy's baryon fraction and dark matter halo profile. Finally we show that there appears to be a trend (albeit a weak correlation) between spiral arm pitch angle and halo concentration. We discuss implications for the suggested link between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and dark halo concentration, using pitch angle as a proxy for SMBH mass.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

A new symphonism : linearity, modulation, and virtual agency in Prokofiev's War Symphonies

One of the most exciting aspects of Prokofiev’s music emerges in his distantly-related yet smoothly articulated modulations. One reason these quick key changes still sound coherent pertains to stepwise melodic gestures that operate in the foreground or middleground. In addition to spanning two harmonic realms, these lines may also bridge different degrees of tonal stability and instability. In the first two chapters, I trace the function of these lines in Prokofiev’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, often grouped together as the War Symphonies, since they were composed either during or in reaction to World War II. In the subsequent chapters, I draw on Robert Hatten’s framework regarding virtual agency and Steve Larson’s research on musical forces to explain the experiential aspects of these lines. In chapter 3, I discuss how musical forces use metaphors for the actual, physical forces we encounter as humans in order to explain how we may interpret a melody moving in a virtual, musical environment. We may also attribute human-like characteristics to this musical motion, such as a sense of striving associated with an ascending melodic line, or relenting for a descending one. In chapter 4, simultaneous lines, appearing as contrapuntal wedges, often push outward towards a generalized musical goal, such as a cadence, and allow for the inference of fictionalized overcoming or a failure to achieve. Chapter 5 points inward towards a given work’s dialogue between thematic variations and the emerging virtual subjectivity we may infer from the fictionalized narratives of linear structures. In the final chapter, I contextualize linear virtual agency within Boris Asafiev’s concept of symphonism, a processual approach to form that foregrounds this dialogue based on thematic variation. I argue that his more energeticist, discursive, and dramatic formal emphases highlight ways in which Prokofiev adapted his music to the political demands of the Stalin-era Soviet Union. I conclude with a new approach to formal analysis in the third movement from the Fifth Symphony, showing how Prokofiev invoked common-practice sonata form while formulating his own approach to the emerging genre of the Soviet Symphony.Musi

Transformations and movement of anhydrous ammonia-derived N in soils

Some studies have concluded that anhydrous ammonia is indistinguishable from other common nitrogen (N) fertilizers for corn (Zea mays L.) production, however, new soil and plant tissue tests give researchers more sensitive and precise tools for detecting situations where N may be deficient or sufficient. The existence of these new tools creates a need for a reexamination of the properties of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer. This dissertation reports results from several studies using N-15-labeled and nonlabeled anhydrous ammonia for corn production in Iowa. The objectives were (i) to evaluate the possibility that injection of anhydrous ammonia at sidedressing could result in reduced availability of N for growing corn plants, (ii) to evaluate the late-spring soil nitrate test and the end-of-season cornstalk test as tools for comparing broadcast N applied at different times of the year, (iii) evaluation of the effects of rate and timing of anhydrous ammonia on late-spring soil nitrate concentrations, end-of-season stalk nitrate concentrations, and corn yields, and (iv) comparisons of the effects of anhydrous ammonia and broadcast ammonium sulfate applied at selected rates and times;Results revealed no marked tendency for delayed availability of N for corn from sidedressed anhydrous ammonia. However, substantial quantities of N were incorporated into forms not readily available for plants. The late-spring soil nitrate test and the end-of-season cornstalk test were more effective tools for comparing the N-supplying power of broadcast fertilizers applied at different times than were measurements of corn grain yields alone. Yields of corn grain tended to show no effect of N rate or application time when anhydrous ammonia was applied at selected times of the year. However, the end-of-season cornstalk test revealed that broadcast ammonium sulfate had greater N-supplying power than banded anhydrous ammonia in wet years

Rebuilding the soul : churches and religion in Bavaria, 1945-1960

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 20, 2007)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.After twelve years of Nazi rule and with Germany in total ruin, the Catholic and Protestant churches sought to re-Christianize German society. Bringing Germans back to Christ was seen as the only way to make good on the Nazi past and ward off any future slips into political radicalism of either the left or right. These efforts centered on three core topics: regular worship attendance, confessional schooling for children, and an "ordained" marital life. This dissertation examines the theoretical foundations and practical applications of these efforts as well as their reception by the laity. It is the first to proceed on such a course of study across specifically cross-confessional contexts. The research for this dissertation was conducted in Bavarian church archives. Results indicate that confessional tension was far more widespread than many have believed. Furthermore, mass consumerism helped create an ethos of individualism that severely undermined the shared experiences of traditional Christian communities and the moral authority of the churches. This work helps define the specific place of churches and religion in the post-1945 world. It examines how the culture of consumption that arose after World War II affected existing religious customs and mores. Finally, it shows the possibilities and shortcomings of ecumenicalism.Includes bibliographical reference

The James Merrill Digital Archive: Channeling the Collaborative Spirit(s)

The James Merrill Digital Archive (JMDA) is comprised of digitized Ouija board session transcripts, poem drafts, and other materials toward Merrill’s epic narrative poem, “The Book of Ephraim,” part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Divine Comedies. The JMDA is the result of expertise and input of many collaborators across the Washington University campus. Shannon Davis and Joel Minor will speak on various aspects of the ongoing project, including successful cross-campus collaboration, employing student workers to perform high-level encoding and exhibit curation, and how Omeka was used to develop the digital archive.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/lib_present/1014/thumbnail.jp