Catadioptric Optics for laser Doppler velocimeter applications

In the design of a laser velocimeter system, attention must be given to the performance of the optical elements in their two principal tasks: focusing laser radiation into the probe volume, and collecting the scattered light. For large aperture applications, custom lens design and fabrication costs, long optical path requirements, and chromatic aberration (for two color operation) can be problematic. The adaptation of low cost Schmidt-Cassegrain astronomical telescopes to perform these laser beam manipulation and scattered light collection tasks is examined. A generic telescope design is analyzed using ray tracing and Gaussian beam propagation theory, and a simple modification procedure for converting from infinite to near unity conjugate ratio operation with image quality near the diffraction limit was identified. Modification requirements and performance are predicted for a range of geometries. Finally, a 200-mm-aperture telescope was modified for f/10 operation; performance data for this modified optic for both laser beam focusing and scattered light collection tasks agree well with predictions

Lift distribution and velocity field measurements for a three-dimensional, steady blade/vortex interaction

A wind tunnel experiment simulating a steady three-dimensional helicopter rotor blade/vortex interaction is reported. The experimental configuration consisted of a vertical semispan vortex-generating wing, mounted upstream of a horizontal semispan rotor blade airfoil. A three-dimensional laser velocimeter was used to measure the velocity field in the region of the blade. Sectional lift coefficients were calculated by integrating the velocity field to obtain the bound vorticity. Total lift values, obtained by using an internal strain-gauge balance, verified the laser velocimeter data. Parametric variations of vortex strength, rotor blade angle of attack, and vortex position relative to the rotor blade were explored. These data are reported (with attention to experimental limitations) to provide a dataset for the validation of analytical work

Acetaldehyde and Epithelial Junctions: Role of Pp2A and Occludin Phosphorylation

Chronic alcohol consumption causes health problems including cancers, liver damage, and cirrhosis.These problems are exacerbated by endotoxins from the bacterial population of the colon, which can enter the bloodstream when gastrointestinal tight junctions, protein complexes that prevent paracellular passage of molecules, are compromised. The mechanisms of this barrier disruption are the subject of current study. Acetaldehyde, produced as a result of ethanol breakdown by intestinal microflora as well as intestinal epithelia, is a known carcinogen. It compromises the barrier function of intestinal epithelial cells by causing irregularities in the phosphorylation of tight junction proteins. It also reacts with proteins, lipids, and DNA to cause cellular malfunction. This project explored the roles of PP2A (a protein phosphatase) in acetaldehyde-mediated tight junction disruption, wound healing, and morphological differentiation. Intestinal epithelial cell culture in monolayers on permeable membranes were used to test the effects of acetaldehyde in the presence or absence of specific inhibitors on barrier function via transepithelial resistance and the paracellular passage of fluorescent molecules. Immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to track the localization of occludin in the cell lines tested, in cells cultured in monolayers or in a three-dimensional model in Matrigel. Results for acute administration of acetaldehyde were confirmed in mouse ileum. Acute administration of acetaldehyde was demonstrated to have deleterious effects on the barrier function and wound healing of Caco-2 cells and mouse ileum, with varying degrees of attenuation of the effects of acetaldehyde via PP2A inhibition. Transepithelial resistance declined and inulin flux increased in the presence of acetaldehyde, as occludin was dephosphorylated and internalized by the cell in the presence of increased PP2A association and activity. PP2A inhibition by fostriecin, siRNA, or a specific peptide inhibitor not only rescued the cells from the disruption indicated by inulin flux, but also decreased the association of PP2A with occludin, resulting in preservation of threonine phosphorylation and localization of occludin at the tight junction. These results were confirmed by experiments with fostriecin in mouse ileum ex vivo. At all concentrations tested, acute exposure to acetaldehyde inhibited wound healing in an established in vitro model. Migration was not restored by PP2A inhibition, indicating that acetaldehyde\u27s effects on wound healing were PP2A independent. Chronic exposure to acetaldehyde disrupted differentiation in cells grown in Matrigel, as shown by changes in morphology, in a manner attenuated by fostriecin pretreatment. These results indicated that the known effects of acetaldehyde on cell differentiation may be PP2Adependent, and that intact tight junctions with appropriately-phosphorylated proteins may be important for maintaining the polarity of differentiated Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, acetaldehyde disrupted tight junction barrier via occludin dephosphorylation by PP2A to cause leaky epithelia and deficient differentiation of cells. It slowed wound healing in a PP2A-independent manner. All of these findings contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms by which acetaldehyde causes health problems in alcoholic

The Effect of a Second-Order Factor Wellness Intervention on the Total Wellness of Female Collegiate Athletes

Given that college athletes focus a great deal of time on physical wellness, some might assume that they tend to enjoy higher levels of wellness than their non-athlete counterparts on campus. However, Watson and Kissinger (2007) found that the average wellness scores were higher for the undergraduate non-athlete students when compared to college athletes. More specifically, researchers have found that female collegiate athletes are more susceptible than male athletes to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders and report higher levels of stress (Brunet, 2010; Haupt, 1993; Hudd et al., 2000). In addition, there is a lack of research examining the best practices regarding interventions to help female collegiate athletes deal with their wellness issues. Therefore, this study was completed to determine whether a counseling-based second-order factor wellness intervention had an effect on the personal wellness scores of female collegiate athletes. Using a quasi-experimental, posttest-only control group design, a sample size of 66 female collegiate athletes was recruited. The participants were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group by sport. Participants in the treatment group participated in a 1-hour second-order factor wellness workshop. All participants were administered the Five Factor Wellness Inventory (FFWEL; Myers & Sweeney, 2005) to assess levels of wellness and the control group scores was used as a baseline measure. Data analysis involved using independent samples t-tests to determine the effect of the wellness workshop. The findings indicate that the female collegiate athletes who participated in a counseling-based second-order factor wellness workshop reported significantly higher levels of Total Wellness on the full FFWEL than those female athletes who did not participate in the wellness workshop. However, not all the second-order factors and third-order factors on the FFWEL produced significant results. The implications of these findings are intended to assist coaches, athletic staff, and counselors as they work with female collegiate athletes and for female athletes as they seek to increase their wellness levels and thereby improve their athletic and academic performance

The Practical Air Quality Planning and Self-Evaluation Guide for Biomass Projects

The motivations of short-term and outsized profits lure many entrepreneurs to seek inclusion in the ever-growing biomass industry in Pennsylvania. This recent growth and the trend among those entrepreneurs that see their projects fail can be attributed mostly to the void of any useful guides on the biomass industry in Pennsylvania. This results in a lack of planning and confusing and contradictory information, which in turn results in a lack of useful information. In an effort to make more biomass projects successful, the research will result in a guide that will outline numerous environmental considerations for those entrepreneurs planning to start a business in the biomass industry. Often there is confusing and contradictory information about the biomass industry and exactly what the correct process is for obtaining all of the necessary air quality plan approvals and permitting needed for successful biomass projects. The primary focus of this guide will be to obtain a complete understanding of the various definitions of the biomass industry, outline the process and various steps of the air quality plan approval and permitting process and make recommendations for the implementation for successful projects. The criteria applied in evaluating the research included a practical review of the information obtained using professional working experience, a review and investigation of similar guides, textbooks and regulatory websites. The results of the research produced information about the biomass industry from all environmental media,but due to the longer time frames involved this guides main focus is in the air quality plan approval and permitting process. The results of the research produced information specifically in the areas of public support, funding opportunities, the relationships involving vendors, control devices, federal and state level particulate regulations, odor issues, opacity issues, fugitive emissions, stack testing, education, environmental permit management and pre-application meetings with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP). The results of the research also produced positive and negative results concerning why some biomass projects fail and why some succeed

Assembling evidence of the alternative: Roots and routes: Poetics at New College of California

The Poetics program at New College of California (ca. 1980-2000s) was a distinctly alien presence among graduate-level academic programs in North America. Focused solely upon the study of poetry, it offered a truly alternative approach to that found in more traditional academic settings. Throughout the program\u27s history few of its faculty possessed much beyond an M.A. degree, if that, (indeed the longest serving core faculty member David Meltzer possessed no degree whatsoever) yet the vast majority—and all of its core faculty through the years—were published poets actively publishing and pursuing further opportunities outside of academia. An early program brochure outlines Poetics as being that which treats of the science and art of poetry in all its dimensions and questions, all of what may be said to be proper to poetry. The program thus sought to bring together faculty and students aligned, as well as allied, under this broad mandate. In order demonstrate and preserve evidence of various endeavors undertaken within the confines of this unique program we have assembled an anthology of critical writing by alumni and faculty. We have gathered material contributors produced during their time of association with the program, including samples of coursework alongside extracts from theses, in addition to lecture notes and documents (such as interviews) contributed to outside publications edited by students during their tenure in the program. This paper presents an outline of the project along with a brief history of the program and explores the thinking around poetics which defined the parameters of the program\u27s curriculum and structure

Coping Strategies of Part-Time MBA Students: The Role of Boundary Management

Using the framework of boundary theory as applied to the work-life-school construct, the study focused on part-time MBA students who worked full-time, their tendency to segment or integrate their numerous roles, and the coping tactics they utilized in redistributing their efforts as they added graduate school to these roles. The research population consisted of a convenience sample of all first and second year Managerial MBA students enrolled at the University of Arkansas. A quasi-experimental research design was used to analyze the sample. The results of the research indicated that the part-time graduate student who was employed full time faced specific work-home-school challenges that forced revision in work-life balance overall. The addition of a part-time MBA program to the life of a full-time employee created a tremendous amount of stress as boundaries were renegotiated. The addition of school as a third domain to the work-life construct appeared to force students toward an integration of boundaries in an attempt to complete added responsibilities. A high percentage of students were classified as integrators based on responses related to the segmentation-integration continuum. Students tending toward segmentation on the continuum were more likely to actively set expectations regarding their boundaries and confront violators of those boundaries than were integrators. Responses to the open response question suggested that, despite the high proportion of integrators in the study, students often voiced a preference for segmentation and experienced stress based on the forced integration caused by ongoing demands at work, home and school

Joanne Kyger and “the Kook Strain” in Olson: A Reading

Jerome Rothenberg\u27s that dada strain at once hilarious grandiose epic lyric historical and ever adventurous charts the highs discovered in his reading of the dada era. In like occurrence this writing seeks to poke around in the occult cupboards of Olson\u27s mystical leanings. Looking not only at his work and assorted readings/engagements but delving also into the works of various others (Joanne Kyger, Jack Hirschman, Paul Blackburn, Gerrit Lansing, David Meltzer, Robert Duncan, Diane di Prima, Robin Blaser et al) who fell in alongside as well as after his work\u27s star-eyed haul. Loquaciously gifted as a talker, how much (if any) of Olson\u27s more spiritual exultations are nothing more than a big man poet\u27s hustle? does it matter? Vitalities of breath, visual spacing of the poem about the page\u27s surface, will intermingle with poetic camaraderie and wit of like-eyed recognition. When Olson first saw Blakean poet John Clarke at a party in Buffalo he went right over. He wanted to talk to Clarke because he dug how he sat with his legs crossed and the material (corduroy) his pants were made out of. That moment and many more led directly to A Curriculum of the Soul a startling series of fascicles that, much like Clarke\u27s own work, has received scant critical interest. Why? Key questions remain ever present. Such as, who are we sitting here doing this poetry thing? where might it all be headed? Let\u27s see what\u27s out there to find out. As Creeley says, one had the company

“A consistently useful measure”: Robert Creeley’s Writing/Reading of Wallace Stevens

While William Carlos Williams is the immediate literary predecessor often associated with having early influence on the work of Robert Creeley, Wallace Stevens, beginning in Creeley’s first letters in the early 1950s to the poet Charles Olson, and re-emerging in his later work, makes several appearances in the printed record. References to Stevens culminate in the final section of Creeley’s long poem “Histoire de Florida,” published in 1996, the beginning of the last decade of his life, where lines from Stevens’ “Anecdote of the Jar” (a poem which, as will be shown, remained central to Creeley throughout his life) are quoted alternating with Creeley’s own. Although, as Creeley admits, “much of [his] own initial writing, both prose and poetry, used Stevens as a model” (“The the” 121), the earliest direct reference in poetry does not appear until decades later with his poem “For John Duff” out of his collection Later published in 1979, which summons from the very same Stevens poem the line “I placed a jar in Tennessee. . .” as an initiating stance (Collected 169). These references to Stevens in Creeley’s work expand and reflect on Creeley’s belief that, as he put it, “Stevens, in Williams’ phrase, thought with his poem” (“In Respect” 50). In these later works, Creeley reverses himself on statements he made in the 1950s in letters to Charles Olson. The force Wallace Stevens had on Creeley’s own “thought,” is at last reflected in the lines of his work. Drawing attention to this gradual emergence of reference to Stevens adds new dimension to the effect Stevens had upon Creeley’s ongoing development as a poet throughout his long career and also contributes to a broader contextualization of influence between older and younger generations of poets