Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Thermal Ignition of a Phase Changing Energetic Material

Fortuitous exposure to high temperatures initiates reaction in energetic materials and possibilities of such event are of great concern in terms of the safe and controlled usage of explosive devices. Experimental and numerical investigations on time to explosion and location of ignition of a phase changing polymer bonded explosive material (80 per cent RDX and 20 per cent binder), contained in a metallic confinement subjected to controlled temperature build-up on its surface, are presented. An experimental setup was developed in which the polymer bonded explosive material filled in a cylindrical confinement was provided with a precise control of surface heating rate. Temperature at various radial locations was monitored till ignition. A computational model for solving two dimensional unsteady heat transfer with phase change and heat generation due to multi-step chemical reaction was developed. This model was implemented using a custom field function in the framework of a finite volume method based standard commercial solver. Numerical study could simulate the transient heat conduction, the melting pattern of the explosive within the charge and also the thermal runaway. Computed values of temperature evolution at various radial locations and the time to ignition were closely agreeing with those measured in experiment. Results are helpful both in predicting the possibility of thermal ignition during accidents as well as for the design of safety systems

Numerical Modelling of Scramjet Combustor

Numerical modelling of turbulent-reacting flow field of supersonic combustion ramjet(scramjet) combustors are presented. The developed numerical procedure is based on the implicittreatment of chemical source terms by preconditioning and solved along with unstedy turbulentNavier-Stokes equations explicitly. Reaction is modelled using an eight-step hydrogen-airchemistry. Code is validated against a standard wall jet experimental data and is successfullyused to model the turbulent-reacting flow field resulting due to the combustion of hydrogeninjected from diamond-shaped strut and also in the wake region of wedge-shaped strut placedin the heated supersonic airstream. The analysis could demonstrate the effect of interaction ofoblique shock wave with a supersonic stream of hydrogen  in its (fuel-air) mixing and reactionfor strut-based scramjet combustors

Synopsis of the genus Cinnamomum Schaeffer (Lauraceae) in India

A checklist of the genus Cinnamomum in India is presented including nomenclature, a brief description, details of the publications where the detailed description and illustration of the species appeared, phenology, distribution of the species within and outside India and IUCN threat status. A total of 45 taxa (43 species and two infraspecific taxa) have been recorded here based on available information. Twenty-four taxa are found to be endemic to India. Kerala in Peninsular India records the largest number of 24 taxa and may be considered as hotspot area for this genus. The genus possesses the greatest phytogeographical affinity to China with 13 species

A Micropolar Cohesive Damage Model for Delamination of Composites

A micropolar cohesive damage model for delamination of composites is proposed. The main idea is to embed micropolarity, which brings an additional layer of kinematics through the micro-rotation degrees of freedom within a continuum model to account for the micro-structural effects during delamination. The resulting cohesive model, describing the modified traction separation law, includes micro-rotational jumps in addition to displacement jumps across the interface. The incorporation of micro-rotation requires the model to be supplemented with physically relevant material length scale parameters, whose effects during delamination of modes I and II are brought forth using numerical simulations appropriately supported by experimental evidences

Interdisciplinary Integrated Primary and Behavioral Healthcare (I2PBH) Initiative

Purpose: The Interdisciplinary Integrated Primary and Behavioral Healthcare (I2PBH) Initiative will train University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) mental health graduates to deliver high quality, evidence-based Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) services in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) – a high-need, high-demand, medically underserved Hispanic region along the US-Mexico border. Specifically, the I2PBH initiative will train 24 UTRGV mental health graduates annually to deliver high-quality IBH clinical services through the evidence based Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model. With a training emphasis on basic/advanced theory and clinical skills in the PCBH model, students will serve as Behavioral Health Consultants (BHC) to meet practicum/internship requirements while working alongside healthcare professionals in a primary care setting. The I2PBH initiative increases the presence of culturally concordant, primary care competent BHCs on the front lines of four rural clinics to function as primary care providers (PCP) extenders for all behaviorally informed needs of patients, increasing access and delivering whole-person care. Description: The I2PBH initiative will train 6 graduate students each year from 4 mental health disciplines in basic and advanced theory and clinical skills through the evidence based PCBH model. As BHCs, these Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) stipend recipients in Social Work (SW), Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC), Rehabilitation Counseling (RC), and Psychology (PSY) will work alongside healthcare providers and other health profession trainees in three (3) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Primary Care Clinics (PCC) and one (1) mobile clinic, located in four rural counties of South Texas. Academic training for PCBH-focused courses and PCBH oriented advanced clinical supervision will be delivered through in-person classes, role-playing, digitally enhanced training using Mixed-Reality Simulation (MRS), and asynchronous distance learning via virtual platforms (e.g., Blackboard, Zoom). All BHWET stipend recipients will complete the trauma-informed, culturally adaptive PCBH-focused courses –Foundations of IBH; Clinical Skills for the BHC; and Latinx Health Issues in IBH. Based on a discipline-agnostic approach, this teaches PCBH specific competencies while also providing concurrent, primary-care focused clinical experiences, resulting in a behavior health workforce that is primary-care ready and trauma-informed. Partners: The I2PBH initiative coordinates these experiential training opportunities with three (3) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Primary Care Clinics (PCC) and one (1) mobile clinic to promote community-based partnerships in four rural counties in South Texas. Looking Ahead: By the year 2025, the I2PBH initiative will have: 96 students complete three PCBH courses and an associated internship and practicum experience in a UTRGV rural AHEC or Mobile Clinic PCC. Implemented PCBH-focused education and clinical supervision for BHWET stipend recipients and faculty facilitators from different disciplines. Collaborated with community partners to increase access for behavioral health services and connect trainees with potential employment opportunities. Integrated technology to facilitate learning/teaching and enhance community reach and impact

The Fortify Resilience Initiative

Purpose: The Fortify Resilience Initiative focuses on building and sustaining a culture of wellbeing for Residents and Fellows (R/Fs) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Medicine’s (SOM) Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency and fellowship programs. In order to address the multitude of threats to physician wellness and to mitigate the silent, but pernicious effects of burnout on these physician learners serving in the RGV, this Initiative from the Office of GME will strengthen existing wellbeing pathways while expanding additional solutions that will work to sustain wellbeing. Utilizing a combination of prevention, promotion, and intervention strategies targeted at the individual, program, and system levels, this initiative increases resilience by addressing existing gaps that only further propagate the spread of risk and vulnerability to the community. Description: The Fortify Resilience Initiative maintains three key drivers (Access Strategy, Empowerment Initiatives, and System Redesign) that all work to address and enhance components central to wellbeing management. Within the Access Strategy is continuous access to direct online clinical and coaching services, annual opt-out wellness check-ins, monthly live online learning sessions with embedded didactics as well as skill development practical labs. Launch of a Wellbeing Mobile Application (WMA), allowing users to periodically self-assess and receive suggestions to improve self-management as well as the establishment of Program Specific Wellness Committees (PSWC), constitute the Empowerment Initiatives. Consultations with each partnered program’s leadership, along with the introduction of a faculty development pathway to train faculty to full competency over current wellbeing methodologies, aim at establishing a presence of institutional expertise and represent the System Redesign driver. Partners: The Fortify Resilience Initiative at UTRGV is illuminated through a vital partnership with Tend Health (TH). TH is an innovative company specialized in the care and well-being of health professionals, with a history of successful partnerships with GME programs offering mental health and well-being focused services. TH is an essential partner in two of the key drivers – Access Strategy and System Redesign. Looking Ahead: By year 2024, the Fortify Resilience Initiative seeks to impact 249+ UTRGV R/Fs and clinical faculty, as demonstrated by: Graduating all R/Fs with self-management of well-being competencies Embedding access strategy services as routine part of UTRGV GME programs Integrating technology solutions – WMA – as a core strategy for resilience for GME programs•Enrolling 100% of new R/Fs as users on the WMA via GME on-boarding each program year Sustaining PSWC’s across 11+ GME programs with routine use of the WMA Establishing a scalable culture of wellbeing strategy for the UTRGV SOM Building resilience supporting policies within programs and institution Developing a UTRGV Faculty Affairs sustained Master Trainer Faculty Development (MTFD) track to continue delivery of resilience trainings by MTFD scholar

Physiological response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L. ) genotypes to drought

Drought is one of the major environmental stresses affecting crop productivity worldwide. Climate change is expected to result in a rise in the number and intensity of drought events in the coming decades, so climate-resilient crops that can withstand this stress are in high demand. There are few genotypes in cocoa where it can tolerate water deficit conditions. The objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the effect of drought stress on the photosynthetic and physiological parameters of six cocoa genotypes (Theobroma cacao L.) with two irrigation regimes (100% field capacity and 40% field capacity) under greenhouse conditions at Cocoa Research Station, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. The effect of water deficit conditions on gas exchange and physiological parameters such as relative water content, membrane stability index, chlorophyll stability index, and chlorophyll content were evaluated. Drought stress conditions resulted in reduced photosynthetic rate, relative water content, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll stability and membrane stability. All genotypes revealed significant differences for most parameters with two irrigation regimes. Among the cocoa genotypes, P.IV 19.9, which is classified as a highly tolerant genotype, recorded better results for all the parameters studied under water deficit conditions at 40 per cent FC. The findings of this study support the classification of these genotypes as highly tolerant, tolerant, and susceptible. These parameters may be used as the most promising indicators to screen for drought tolerance in cocoa. The results of the study revealed that photosynthetic and physiological parameters have a significant role in imparting drought stress tolerance to cocoa. Furthermore, these selected drought-tolerant genotypes can be used in future crop improvement programmes in cocoa

Toward a moral reckoning on structural racism: Examining structural factors, encouraging structural thinking, and supporting structural intervention

The racial reckoning of 2020 involved the largest social movement protest in U.S. history, but support for the Black Lives Matter movement declined shortly after. To advance a moral reckoning on structural racism that dismantles racialized structures and redresses racial inequities, we call on scholar activists within the field of community psychology to realign their own practices by (a) examining structural factors; (b) encouraging structural thinking; and (c) supporting structural intervention for racial justice. Two structural factors–political determinants and commercial determinants–maintain the status quo of structural racism, undermining efforts for racial equity. As a result, we encourage the development of structural thinking, which provides a structural analysis of racism and leads to support for structural intervention. With an intersectional race and class perspective, we detail how structural thinking could be developed among the professional managerial class (through structural competency) and among the oppressed class (through critical consciousness). Finally, we discuss structural intervention factors and approaches that can redress racial inequities and produce structural change. Ultimately, we provide a pathway for community psychologists to support activists building a multiracial, multiclass coalition to eliminate structures and systems of racial, political, and economic injustice. Highlights Community psychologists can support activists working toward a moral reckoning on structural racism. Harmful political and commercial determinants maintain structural racism and racial inequities. Structural thinking and structural intervention are essential for addressing structural racism. First-order change interventions should build structural competency or critical consciousness. Second-order change interventions should leverage systemic-level promotion and prevention

Primary Care Behavioral Health Partnerships Advancing & Transforming Health Sciences (PCBH PATHS)

Purpose: Primary Care Behavioral Health Partnerships Advancing & Transforming Health Sciences (PCBH PATHS) is a workforce development pipeline project aimed at permanently augmenting UTRGV’s institutional capacity to address shortage of an Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) competent workforce locally, regionally and nationally. Our initiative, aligned with UTRGV strategic priorities and key initiatives, will integrate basic(model specific strategy and operational elements), mid-level (role identity and profession specific behavioral competencies specific to each health profession), and advanced (behavioral medicine clinical skills) applications of the evidence based PCBH model of delivery. A PCBH focused delivery system (clinical and educational), in which primary care providers (PCPs) and behavioral health consultants (BHCs) are trained to provide routine, population-based, biopsychosocial care in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) can increase parity for mental health access, minimize toxic effects of culturally bound stigma, reduce fragmentation of physical-mental health and stave off the effect of an expanding opioid use disorder (OUD) crisis. Description: The PCBH PATHS initiative is designed to impact 2,004 clinician learners, with 1,106 PCP trainees (FM, IM, Ob/Gyn FNP, PA, MS), 818 mental health provider (MHP) trainees, and 80 PCP/MHP practitioners in the RGV by 2024. Over the past four years, the evidence-based PCBH model has been implemented in FM and Ob/Gyn Residency programs clinically, to increase access to whole-health focused services for patients, and educationally, to increase physician competencies in PCBH to provide high quality whole-person care consistently. This initiative strengthens our existing commitment to expand the PCBH model across University of Texas Health Rio Grande Valley (UT Health RGV) primary and specialty care clinics to address physical and behavioral health disparities (e.g., diabetes, depression, pain management, opioid, and substance use issues) for a predominantly Latino population along the US-MX border. Partners: In partnership with all primary care provider training programs at UTRGV (PA, NP, Residents) and mental health provider training programs led by the Department of Counseling, this collaborative project will use institutional expertise and infrastructure capacity to integrate PCBH model focused education to augment existing training programs. Looking Ahead: By year 2024, PCBH PATHS will impact 2004 clinician learners, demonstrated by: Ten programs aligning PCBH PATHS to existing courses for a PCBH certificate PCP trainee programs adopting policies to require Medication Assisted Treatment(MAT)-Waiver for graduation An educational research database for tracking % of PCP/MHP graduates completing the PCBH PATHS certificate; % of PCBH PATHS grads practicing in a Medically Underserved Community (MUC); % of grads practicing MAT; % of PCBH PATHS grads intending to practice / champion PCBH•6 PCBH sustained clinics: Demonstrated cost-savings through prospective, case-control design Sustaining wellness committees and practices as part of PCBH PATHS implementation 8 durable, HRSA-priority deliverables, for replicating PCBH PATHS at other institution