Hybrid III 95th Percentile Large Male Finite Element Model Neck Alteration

The motivation behind the project was to update the Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC) Hybrid III 95th percentile finite element model, such that the neck assembly response under varying simulated loading conditions equals that of the federally regulated Hybrid III 95th percentile anthropomorphic testing device (ATD). The family of Hybrid III crash test dummies approximate the physical properties and response of the human body in a frontal automotive crash. The Hybrid III is used to assess the effectiveness of vehicle restraint systems. LSTC offers Hybrid III finite element models for use in their Multiphysics simulation software package, LS-DYNA. The Hybrid III models are used as cost-effective alternative to physical crash tests in the development of vehicle crashworthiness. However, the neck response of the LSTC Hybrid III 95th percentile model in simulation was poorly correlated to that of the physical Hybrid III neck in corresponding tests. The source of the dissimilarity was inadequate dimensions, element behavior, and material properties of the neck. To improve correlation to the physical ATD, a number of modifications were made to the LSTC Hybrid III 95th percentile neck. Development of the neck model began with improvements in mass and geometry. Element formulation and element discretization were altered to improve model durability and accuracy. A mesh convergence study and simulation under extreme-severity loading were completed to validate the foregoing model alterations. Test data from a physical compression test and NASA-performed Neck Sled Tests were collated with data from simulation to adjust material type and material properties. The model was further calibrated according to Code of Federal Regulations neck calibration test response requirements. The resulting neck model developed in LS-DYNA exhibited improved dynamic characteristics and reliability under both low and high-severity loading. Computational efficiency was enhanced along with model tendency to normally terminate under excessive loading. The updated model moreover demonstrated consistent element behavior and realistic feedback in bending. The revised neck model will be adopted by NASA for use in predicting potential occupant injury during spacecraft landing. A similar model with reworked material properties attuned to higher loading will be implemented into the full consumer version of the Hybrid III 95th percentile model for employment in high-severity frontal crash simulation

UVM Tobacco Use and Attitudes After Implementation of a Tobacco-Free Policy

Introduction: Widespread public health initiatives have led to falling smoking rates. Currently, 1,620 U.S. colleges have adopted smoke-free policies. In August 2015, the University of Vermont (UVM) adopted a tobacco-free policy that bans all forms of tobacco use on university property. The purpose of this study was to compare tobacco use and attitudes before and after policy implementation.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1230/thumbnail.jp

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in the Mid-Atlantic States: Assessing Grower Perceptions, Economic Impact, and Progress

Attendees at mid-Atlantic grower meetings were surveyed in 2012 and 2014 regarding their knowledge of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and its impact. Responses to individual questions were paired and analyzed for independence between survey years. Despite a large-scale effort by Extension to inform growers and others about BMSB, there remains a clear need for more training on the identification of BMSB nymphs. Respondents also want more information on effective chemical options, scouting methods for BMSB, and BMSB biology, and they prefer to receive this information from Cooperative Extension

Coasts and Estuaries: the future

Coasts and Estuaries: The Future provides valuable information on how we can protect and maintain natural ecological structures while also allowing estuaries to deliver services that produce societal goods and benefits. These issues are addressed through chapters detailing case studies from estuaries and coastal waters worldwide, presenting a full range of natural variability and human pressures. Following this, a series of chapters written by scientific leaders worldwide synthesizes the problems and offers solutions for specific issues graded within the framework of the socio-economic-environmental mosaic. These include fisheries, climate change, coastal megacities, evolving human-nature interactions, remediation measures, and integrated coastal management. The problems faced by half of the world living near coasts are truly a worldwide challenge as well as an opportunity for scientists to study commonalities and differences and provide solutions. This book is centered around the proposed DAPSI(W)R(M) framework, where drivers of basic human needs requires activities that each produce pressures. The pressures are mechanisms of state change on the natural system and Impacts on societal welfare (including well-being). These problems then require responses, which are the solutions relating to governance, socio-economic and cultural measures (Scharin et al 2016)

Required Reading for Library Administrators Part 1

The library and information science literature is overflowing with how-to articles, particularly how to manage the library. Increasingly, library managers find that the time they have available to peruse such literature lessens as other professional demands intrude. With this trend in mind, members of the Comparative Library Organization Committee (CLOC), a LAMA/LOMS standing committee, decided that a list of required readings is in order. Not just another bibliography, the selection of titles was developed using citation analysis, or bibliometrics, to select highly cited authors and titles for works published outside of the professional library literature, and for works published within that literature.(FN1) Members of CLOC then annotated the top twenty titles in each of the two categories from the critical perspective of professional practice. Part one of this work, published in Library Administration and Management (volume 16, number 3, summer 2002), contained the twenty most highly cited works published outside the library profession. This second part contains the twenty most highly cited works published in the library literature. Part one includes an extensive description of how the lists were compiled and will not be repeated here

“Required Reading for Library Administrators Part 2”

The library and information science literature is overflowing with how-to articles, particularly how to manage the library. Increasingly, library managers find that the time they have available to peruse such literature lessens as other professional demands intrude. With this trend in mind, members of the Comparative Library Organization Committee (CLOC), a LAMA/LOMS standing committee, decided that a list of required readings is in order. Not just another bibliography, the selection of titles was developed using citation analysis, or bibliometrics, to select highly cited authors and titles for works published outside of the professional library literature, and for works published within that literature.(FN1) Members of CLOC then annotated the top twenty titles in each of the two categories from the critical perspective of professional practice. Part one of this work, published in Library Administration and Management (volume 16, number 3, summer 2002), contained the twenty most highly cited works published outside the library profession. This second part contains the twenty most highly cited works published in the library literature. Part one includes an extensive description of how the lists were compiled and will not be repeated here

Enthalpy vs Entropy Driven Complexation of Homoallylic Alcohols by Rh(I) Complexes

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form inOrganometallics, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://doi.org/10.1021/om200793p.The thermodynamics of binding between several homoallylic alcohols and simple olefinic Rh(I) compounds was examined with 1H NMR spectroscopy and ITC. 1H NMR titrations revealed moderate binding of these alcohols with [Rh(COD)2]+ (1) and [Rh(COD)(CH3CN)2]+ (3), but weaker binding with [Rh(NBD)2]+ (2). ITC indicated that the complexation with [Rh(COD)2]+ is mainly governed by enthalpy whereas binding with [Rh(COD)(CH3CN)2]+ is entirely driven by entropy. The thermodynamic parameters for the homoallylic alcohol binding of Rh(I) complexes 1–3 are consistent with crystallographic data

Use of Urban Tree Canopy Assessments by Localities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Urban tree canopy (UTC) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) provides numerous environmental, economic, and societal benefits. UTC assessments use remote sensing technology to deliver a comprehensive spatial snapshot of a locality’s existing UTC. Because UTC assessments delineate the extent and location of tree canopy cover in the context of other land covers (including plantable space), they are important for establishing tree canopy goals, creating and implementing strategies to achieve those goals, and monitoring progress. Over the past decade, UTC assessments have been completed for numerous localities in the CBW as a result of the Chesapeake Bay Program identifying UTC as a key strategy for Bay restoration. Our research investigated the prevalence of UTC assessments within the CBW and studied how localities are using them. We conducted two surveys: 1) a pilot survey of Virginia localities that received UTC assessments as part of the Virginia UTC project; and 2) a comprehensive survey of all 101 localities in the CBW with populations over 2,500 for which a UTC assessment existed as of May 2013. Surprisingly, 33% of localities in the CBW reported being unaware that a UTC assessment had been performed for their jurisdiction. In general, counties and cities were more likely to be aware of the assessments than were towns (or their jurisdictional equivalent). Most localities that were aware of their assessment were using it in some manner for urban forest planning and management; however, the most frequent activities were also the most basic uses, including: educating officials or citizens about the importance of tree canopy (57%), providing a baseline for evaluating progress toward UTC goals (49%), creating a locality-wide tree canopy goal (47%), planning and prioritizing tree plantings (45%), and informing larger initiatives (43%). All other uses of the assessments (i.e., specialized uses) were reported by 33% or fewer of the CBW localities. Our findings point to the need for outreach to local governments about UTC assessments and their potential uses, particularly in light of increasing emphasis in the CBW on managing urban forests and optimizing UTC as a Bay restoration strategy

Finite difference modelling of rupture propagation with strong velocity-weakening friction

We incorporate rate- and state-dependent friction in explicit finite difference (FD) simulations of mode II dynamic ruptures in elastic media, using the Mimetic Operators Split-Node (MOSN) method, with adjustable order of spatial accuracy (second-, fourth- or mixed-order accurate), including an option that is fourth-order accurate at the fault discontinuity as well as in the elastic volume. At fault points, the rate and state equations combined with the spatially discretized momentum conservation equations form a coupled system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for slip velocity and state variable. As a consequence of the rapid damping of velocity perturbations due to the direct effect, this system exhibits numerical stiffness that is inversely proportional to velocity squared. Approximate solutions to this velocity-state system are achieved by two different implicit schemes: (i) a fourth-order Rosenbrock integration of the full system using multiple substeps and (ii) low order integrations (backward Euler and trapezoidal) of the velocity equation, time-staggered with analytic integration of the state equation under the approximation of constant slip velocity over the time step. In assessing the numerical schemes, we use three test problems: ruptures with frictional resistance controlled by (i) a slip evolution law with strong velocity-weakening behaviour at high slip rates, representing thermal weakening due to flash heating of microscopic asperity contacts, (ii) the classic (low-velocity) slip evolution law and (iii) the classic aging evolution law. A convergence analysis is carried out using reference solutions from a spectral boundary integral equation method (BIEM) (a method restricted to homogeneous media, with nominal spectral accuracy in space and second-order accuracy in time for smooth solutions). Errors are measured by root-mean-square differences of fault-plane time histories (slip, slip rate, traction and state). MOSN shows essentially the same convergence rates as BIEM: second-order convergence for slip and state-variable misfits, with slower (but at least first-order) convergence for slip rates and tractions. For a given grid spacing, fourth-order MOSN is as accurate as BIEM for all variables except slip-rate. MOSN-Rosenbrock nominally has fourth-order temporal accuracy for the fault-plane velocity-state ODE integration (compared to lower-order accuracy for the other two MOSN schemes) and therefore provides an important theoretical benchmark. However, it is sensitive to details of the elastic calculation scheme and occasionally its adaptive substepping performs poorly, leading to large excursions from the reference solution. In contrast, MOSN-trapezoidal is robust and reliable, much easier to implement than MOSN-Rosenbrock, and in all cases achieves precision as good as the latter without recourse to substepping. MOSN-Euler has the same advantages as MOSN-trapezoidal, except that its nominal first-order temporal accuracy ultimately leads to larger errors in slip and state variable compared with the higher-order MOSN schemes at sufficiently small grid spacings and time step