Inspiring the Wonderment: Emotional Intelligence in Higher Education

The purpose of this research was to shed insight on the degree to which instructor Emotional Intelligence (EI) may moderate the student/teacher relationship. Interviews were conducted to gather qualitative data on the experience of several students at a private university in the Midwest. The findings suggest that there appears to be a positive relationship between instructor EI and a positive academic experience by the student. Further research on this topic may indicate that institutions may also benefit from incorporating the tracking and evaluating of EI in their faculty body to enhance academic success student

Advanced technology wind shear prediction system evaluation

The program overviews: (1) American Airline (AA)/Turbulence Prediction Systems (TPS), which have installed forward looking infrared predictive windshear system on 3 MD-80 aircraft; (2) AA/TPS AWAS III evaluation, which is a joint effort and is installed in the noise landing gear (NLG) area and a data recorder installed in the E/E compartment

Nitrile-assistant eutectic electrolytes for cryogenic operation of lithium ion batteries at fast charges and discharges

The charge/discharge characteristics of lithium ion batteries at low temperature (LT = -20 ??C) are enhanced by using ethylene carbonate (EC)-based electrolytes with the help of assistant solvents of nitriles. Conventional liquid electrolytes (e.g. a mixture of EC and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), abbreviated as LED) cannot support a satisfactory capacity at low temperature as well as at high rates even if electric vehicles require low-temperature operation. Introducing propionitrile or butyronitrile (Pn or Bn) into LED (resulting in LEDPn or LEDBn) as a co-solvent increases significantly the high-rate capacities at -20??C. For example, LEDPn delivers 62% of the available capacity at 1 C and 46% at 3 C with a 2.7 V cut-off while the control LED provides just 6% and 4% at the same rates. Successful operation at -20??C with nitrile-assistant electrolytes results from high ionic conductivity, low viscosity and freezing point depression caused by the eutectic behavior of the carbonates (EC/DMC) and Pn. Based on the phase diagram of Pn with EC/DMC, we expect a meaningful battery operation up to -110??C, probably lower, at the eutectic composition.close0

Considerations in relation to off-site emergency procedures and response for nuclear accidents

The operation of nuclear facilities has, fortunately, not led to many accidents with off-site consequences. However, it is well-recognised that should a large release of radioactivity occur, the effects in the surrounding area and population will be significant. These effects can be mitigated by developing emergency preparedness and response plans prior to the operation of the nuclear facility that can be exercised regularly and implemented if an accident occurs. This review paper details the various stages of a nuclear accident and the corresponding aspects of an emergency preparedness plan that are relevant to these stages, both from a UK and international perspective. The paper also details how certain aspects of emergency preparedness have been affected by the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi and as a point of comparison how emergency management plans were implemented following the accidents at Three Mile Island 2 and Chernobyl. In addition, the UK’s economic costing model for nuclear accidents COCO-2, and the UK’s Level-3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment code “PACE” are introduced. Finally, the factors that affect the economic impact of a nuclear accident, especially from a UK standpoint, are described

Effect of the Coulomb repulsion on the {\it ac} transport through a quantum dot

We calculate in a linear response the admittance of a quantum dot out of equilibrium. The interaction between two electrons with opposite spins simultaneously residing on the resonant level is modeled by an Anderson Hamiltonian. The electron correlations lead to the appearence of a new feature in the frequency dependence of the conductance. For certain parameter values there are two crossover frequencies between a capacitive and an inductive behavior of the imaginary part of the admittance. The experimental implications of the obtained results are briefly discussed.Comment: 13 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 2 .ps figures from [email protected], NUB-308

Development and Optimization of a Denitrification System to Promote Biological Nutrient Removal in a Subtropical Estuary

Eutrophication impacts coastal ecosystems globally and triggers phytoplankton and algal blooms, leading to an increase in oxygen demand in the water column and sediments due to various biogeochemical processes. Naturally, biological nitrification, denitrification and anammox processes help to remove nitrogen predominately by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in the sediments. Eutrophic systems have increased nutrient and organic matter loading and are prone to the accumulation of ‘muddy’, fine-grained, organic-rich sediments (locally termed ‘muck’) that may not be able to support high enough populations of these bacteria, and therefore, may not adequately support nitrification/denitrification processes that would otherwise remove nitrogen. To decrease nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in brackish water and dredge material from the Indian River Lagoon, treatment bioreactors promoting biological nutrient removal processes were developed, in which different media (bioballs, biochar, sand, zeolite, perlite and corn maize) and environmental conditions (carbon sources – methanol, acetic acid and sugar; aerobic and anaerobic conditions) were tested. In contrast to results from many existing systems, accumulation of nitrate was not observed in any of the treatments during this study with no added benefit observed through the addition of anaerobic treatment (TDN: p = 0.66; TDP: p = 0.39) where anaerobic microenvironments within biofilms facilitated treatment in a single reactor cell. Following the success of plastic bioballs and a desire to find an eco-friendlier and more cost-effective alternative for potential use in a large system, repurposed plastic bottle caps were tested and added to the study. Overall, there was no significant difference in treatment efficiencies between systems using bioballs versus plastic bottle caps (TDN: p= 0.10; TDP: p = 0.43). Using methanol, sugar and acetic acid as supplemental carbon sources each significantly decreased nitrogen concentration and there was no significant difference in removal efficiencies among carbon sources with respect to nitrogen all removing ~50% or more of the TDN. Although there was no significant difference in nitrogen removal efficiencies using methanol versus acetic acid; methanol had a significantly higher decrease in TDP and PO4 concentrations, relative to acetic acid (p = 0.02, p = 0.01). Data presented here suggest that in addition to denitrifiers, phosphorus-accumulating bacteria (PAO) were likely present leading to significant phosphorus removal from the system. While monitoring for any release of microplastics from the system, the opposite was observed and although unexpected, the treatment systems significantly removed microplastics while also decreasing turbidity (p = 0.007, p = 0.002). There have been relatively few studies on treatment systems developed to specifically treat natural waters with a range of salinities; however, results this study suggest that biological nutrient removal processes like nitrification, denitrification and anammox can be simultaneously promoted in single-celled bioreactors maintained under strategized conditions. These results have the potential to aid in the restoration of the lagoon and other coastal systems by providing a lower-cost treatment system developed for use in brackish waters