PEOPLE AND PLANET FIRST—time permitting

Is it just me or is there something about election time that makes politicians overly ambitious? The candidates for the 2020 presidential election are fighting to convince American voters they are the best choice. One of the most common tactics for accomplishing this is providing voters with an unattainable amount of promises for making our problems magically disappear. While these ambitions are “attention-grabbing” and somewhat successful in acquiring votes, so many of them go unaccomplished or un-addressed once the candidate enters the white house. No candidate, from any party, is immune to this infectious tendency that accompanies running a campaign. Julián Castro’s Green New Deal is displaying promising symptoms of this contagious concept. Castro’s plan can be summarized by nearly twenty bullet points aimed at addressing the injustice of our environmental crisis, framing the matter as a “civil rights issue”. While this all sounds incredibly productive and necessary, the vision of this candidate’s ability to inflict progress within the system may be a tad optimistic. Castro’s $10 trillion plan to combat global warming includes net zero carbon emissions by 2045, investment in renewable energy, taxes on carbon polluters, and an end to fossil fuels. Environmentalists are swooning, but the problem lie with the realists who suggest this plan is too ambitious for the timeline provided. Even more concern lies within the void of financial responsibility, as Castro has failed to justify how he will fund this plan. Specific costs regarding these proposals include an estimated$200 billion investment toward developing and implementing Green Infrastructure such as smart grids, water management, and electric vehicle charging stations. Additionally, Castro wants to devote $100 billion over 10 years to address conservation of water and soil resources. Half of this cost will come from the federal government and half of it from state, local, and private investment (Collins). As one of the few democratic candidates to release such a thorough and in-depth plan for addressing our environmental crisis, Castro’s Green New Deal is more than impressive. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw with this plan is the waning credibility of each goal that cannot be financially backed with specific funding strategies. For example, the$50 billion coming from federal government will need to be redistributed from some source in the budget. Will new taxes be imposed to cover this, or will other sectors have to forfeit funding to cover the Green New Deal? While there is no doubt the objectives of this plan need to be met, the lack of motivation, collaboration, and productive action taken by the U.S. government in the past does not bode well for the ambitious efforts of Castro’s plans. Not to mention, funding for environmental progress has historically met great obstacles. Politicians know better than anyone that the world runs on money. That said, the technology developed to address these issues has made remarkable progress and unbelievable advancement in the last thirty years. With predictions for insurmountable innovation and product-development in the future, it is tough to imagine a country built on empowerment unable to utilize such advancements to address global climate change. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy will continue rapidly expanding its contribution to the energy production sector, making up 40% of global energy consumption over the next five years [2018-2023] (Renewables 2018). The question is not whether these renewable energy sources will grow and contribute, but whether humans will efficiently utilize this technology to achieve carbon neutrality. Despite reservations and cautious optimism, Castro’s plan is robust, all-encompassing, and incredibly thorough. Regardless of the timeline, these goals must be strived for and achieved in the near future to ensure a healthier planet and population. Perhaps the most effective and innovated technology that will drive this plan forward is yet to come. Given the appropriate tools and motivated political climate, Castro’s plan is attainable and necessary. The most pressing call to action that Castro must address with his plan is a financial plan and budget as specific as his goals to build credibility and assure attainable results. Without this, Castro’s promises to address environmental issues are as empty as his pockets to fund them. Challenging the citizens of this country to strive for environmental progress is an admirable and brave stance for any politician to uphold. One piece of advice for Castro—get started now! It is important that any political candidate pledging environmental action is taking preemptive measures to build the foundational framework their ambition plans need for success. Three words for Castro—time is ticking

The Role Of University Of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Biodigester On Sustainable Food Waste Reduction Within Selleck Dining Center

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln took a major step toward sustainability this past fall when Dining Services installed their first ever biodigester on November 8, 2019 within Selleck Dining Center. The impact this biodigester has had, thus far, is observable in the form of quantitative data collected in the amount of food waste digested by this technology. This study focuses on analyzing collected data from the LFC Cloud database, while also searching for trends and patterns that could further suggest substantial impact and efficiency of the biodigester on food waste reduction and sustainability initiatives within UNL Dining Services. Data Tables and figures within this report aim to visually represent the impact of this biodigester. Broken down by days, weeks, and months, the charts, graphs, and tables produced from the biodigester data are the most in-depth statistical analysis conducted using data from the UNL biodigester. This study serves as an introduction and stimulus project to establish a foundational framework and understanding of the importance and potential for continuing future observation, analysis, and research surrounding the UNL biodigester housed in Selleck Dining Center

PEOPLE AND PLANET FIRST—time permitting

Is it just me or is there something about election time that makes politicians overly ambitious? The candidates for the 2020 presidential election are fighting to convince American voters they are the best choice. One of the most common tactics for accomplishing this is providing voters with an unattainable amount of promises for making our problems magically disappear. While these ambitions are “attention-grabbing” and somewhat successful in acquiring votes, so many of them go unaccomplished or un-addressed once the candidate enters the white house. No candidate, from any party, is immune to this infectious tendency that accompanies running a campaign. Julián Castro’s Green New Deal is displaying promising symptoms of this contagious concept. Castro’s plan can be summarized by nearly twenty bullet points aimed at addressing the injustice of our environmental crisis, framing the matter as a “civil rights issue”. While this all sounds incredibly productive and necessary, the vision of this candidate’s ability to inflict progress within the system may be a tad optimistic. Castro’s $10 trillion plan to combat global warming includes net zero carbon emissions by 2045, investment in renewable energy, taxes on carbon polluters, and an end to fossil fuels. Environmentalists are swooning, but the problem lie with the realists who suggest this plan is too ambitious for the timeline provided. Even more concern lies within the void of financial responsibility, as Castro has failed to justify how he will fund this plan. Specific costs regarding these proposals include an estimated$200 billion investment toward developing and implementing Green Infrastructure such as smart grids, water management, and electric vehicle charging stations. Additionally, Castro wants to devote $100 billion over 10 years to address conservation of water and soil resources. Half of this cost will come from the federal government and half of it from state, local, and private investment (Collins). As one of the few democratic candidates to release such a thorough and in-depth plan for addressing our environmental crisis, Castro’s Green New Deal is more than impressive. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw with this plan is the waning credibility of each goal that cannot be financially backed with specific funding strategies. For example, the$50 billion coming from federal government will need to be redistributed from some source in the budget. Will new taxes be imposed to cover this, or will other sectors have to forfeit funding to cover the Green New Deal? While there is no doubt the objectives of this plan need to be met, the lack of motivation, collaboration, and productive action taken by the U.S. government in the past does not bode well for the ambitious efforts of Castro’s plans. Not to mention, funding for environmental progress has historically met great obstacles. Politicians know better than anyone that the world runs on money. That said, the technology developed to address these issues has made remarkable progress and unbelievable advancement in the last thirty years. With predictions for insurmountable innovation and product-development in the future, it is tough to imagine a country built on empowerment unable to utilize such advancements to address global climate change. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy will continue rapidly expanding its contribution to the energy production sector, making up 40% of global energy consumption over the next five years [2018-2023] (Renewables 2018). The question is not whether these renewable energy sources will grow and contribute, but whether humans will efficiently utilize this technology to achieve carbon neutrality. Despite reservations and cautious optimism, Castro’s plan is robust, all-encompassing, and incredibly thorough. Regardless of the timeline, these goals must be strived for and achieved in the near future to ensure a healthier planet and population. Perhaps the most effective and innovated technology that will drive this plan forward is yet to come. Given the appropriate tools and motivated political climate, Castro’s plan is attainable and necessary. The most pressing call to action that Castro must address with his plan is a financial plan and budget as specific as his goals to build credibility and assure attainable results. Without this, Castro’s promises to address environmental issues are as empty as his pockets to fund them. Challenging the citizens of this country to strive for environmental progress is an admirable and brave stance for any politician to uphold. One piece of advice for Castro—get started now! It is important that any political candidate pledging environmental action is taking preemptive measures to build the foundational framework their ambition plans need for success. Three words for Castro—time is ticking

The Effects of Drinking on University Grades: Does Academic Motivation Play a Role?

Past research has shown that heavy episodic drinking by college students is associated with decreased academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to test academic motivation as a mediator for the relationship between drinking and academic achievement. It was hypothesized that heavy episodic drinking decreases academic motivation, which subsequently decreases academic achievement. Four hundred and fifteen first-year students (255 female, 160 male) completed 26 weekly online questionnaires about their drinking behaviours and academic motivation. Academic motivation was found to mediate the drinking - achievement relationship for mean number of drinks and heavy episodic drinking, but only for females. Also, students in different faculties differed in their levels of drinking and academic motivation

Static and dynamic aeroelastic characterization of an aerodynamically heated generic hypersonic aircraft configuration

This work-in-progress presentation describes an ongoing research activity at the NASA Langley Research Center to develop analytical methods for the prediction of aerothermoelastic stability of hypersonic aircraft including active control systems. The objectives of this research include application of aerothermal loads to the structural finite element model, determination of the thermal effects on flutter, and assessment of active controls technology applied to overcome any potential adverse aeroelastic stability or response problems due to aerodynamic heating- namely flutter suppression and ride quality improvement. For this study, a generic hypersonic aircraft configuration was selected which incorporates wing flaps, ailerons and all-moveable fins to be used for active control purposes. The active control systems would use onboard sensors in a feedback loop through the aircraft flight control computers to move the surfaces for improved structural dynamic response as the aircraft encounters atmospheric turbulence

Active control of aerothermoelastic effects for a conceptual hypersonic aircraft

Procedures for and results of aeroservothermoelastic studies are described. The objectives of these studies were to develop the necessary procedures for performing an aeroelastic analysis of an aerodynamically heated vehicle and to analyze a configuration in the classical cold state and in a hot state. Major tasks include the development of the structural and aerodynamic models, open loop analyses, design of active control laws for improving dynamic responses and analyses of the closed loop vehicles. The analyses performed focused on flutter speed calculations, short period eigenvalue trends and statistical analyses of the vehicle response to controls and turbulence. Improving the ride quality of the vehicle and raising the flutter boundary of the aerodynamically-heated vehicle up to that of the cold vehicle were the objectives of the control law design investigations

Elemental Abundances in M31: Alpha and Iron Element Abundances from Low-Resolution Resolved Stellar Spectroscopy in the Stellar Halo

Measurements of [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe] can probe the minor merging history of a galaxy, providing a direct way to test the hierarchical assembly paradigm. While measurements of [$\alpha$/Fe] have been made in the stellar halo of the Milky Way, little is known about detailed chemical abundances in the stellar halo of M31. To make progress with existing telescopes, we apply spectral synthesis to low-resolution DEIMOS spectroscopy (R $\sim$ 2500 at 7000 Angstroms) across a wide spectral range (4500 Angstroms $<$ $\lambda$ $<$ 9100 Angstroms). By applying our technique to low-resolution spectra of 170 giant stars in 5 MW globular clusters, we demonstrate that our technique reproduces previous measurements from higher resolution spectroscopy. Based on the intrinsic dispersion in [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe] of individual stars in our combined cluster sample, we estimate systematic uncertainties of $\sim$0.11 dex and $\sim$0.09 dex in [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe], respectively. We apply our method to deep, low-resolution spectra of 11 red giant branch stars in the smooth halo of M31, resulting in higher signal-to-noise per spectral resolution element compared to DEIMOS medium-resolution spectroscopy, given the same exposure time and conditions. We find $\langle$[$\alpha$/Fe]$\rangle$ = 0.49 $\pm$ 0.29 dex and $\langle$[Fe/H]$\rangle$ = 1.59 $\pm$ 0.56 dex for our sample. This implies that---much like the Milky Way---the smooth halo of M31 is likely composed of disrupted dwarf galaxies with truncated star formation histories that were accreted early in the halo's formation.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, accepted to Ap

Stability of extemporaneously prepared ophthalmic solutions for mydriasis

Purpose Results of an evaluation of the physical and chemical stability of extemporaneously prepared adult and pediatric ophthalmic solutions containing combinations of phenylephrine, tropicamide, and cyclopentolate are reported. Methods A stability study was conducted to help determine the feasibility of innovative formulations to meet an unmet clinical need for combination mydriatic ophthalmic eyedrops. An adult mydriatic ophthalmic solution containing phenylephrine hydrochloride 2.5% and tropicamide 1.0% and a pediatric formulation containing phenylephrine hydrochloride 2.5%, tropicamide 0.5%, and cyclopentolate hydrochloride 0.5% were prepared using proper aseptic techniques. Triplicate samples of each formulation were stored for 60 days at refrigeration temperatures (2–8 °C) and analyzed on day 0 and days 7, 14, 28, and 60. At each time point, the stability samples were assessed by visual inspection, pH measurement, and stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Results Over the 60-day storage period, there was no significant change in the visual appearance or pH level of any of the adult or pediatric solution samples. The results of HPLC analysis indicated that all samples retained 97–102% of the initial drug concentrations for up to 60 days. Conclusion Both adult and pediatric ophthalmic formulations containing combinations of phenylephrine, tropicamide, and cyclopentolate were stable physically and chemically for up to 60 days when stored at refrigeration temperatures (2–8 °C)

Multilevel Analysis of Trachomatous Trichiasis and Corneal Opacity in Nigeria : The Role of Environmental and Climatic Risk Factors on the Distribution of Disease.

Funding: Jennifer L Smith was supported by the International Trachoma Initiative through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Anthony Solomon is a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellow (098521). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD