Application Experiences of NASTRAN Thermal Analysis in Engineering

The application of the thermal analysis phase of NASTRAN in engineering is described. Some illustrative samples are presented to demonstrate the applicability and limitation of NASTRAN thermal analysis capability. The results of the evaluation of the relative efficiency, applicability and accuracy among NASTRAN, other finite element programs, and finite difference programs are also presented

Implementation experiences of NASTRAN on CDC CYBER 74 SCOPE 3.4 operating system

The implementation of the NASTRAN system on the CDC CYBER 74 SCOPE 3.4 Operating System is described. The flexibility of the NASTRAN system made it possible to accomplish the change with no major problems. Various sizes of benchmark and test problems, ranging from two hours to less than one minute CP time were run on the CDC CYBER SCOPE 3.3, Univac EXEC-8, and CDC CYBER SCOPE 3.4. The NASTRAN installation deck is provided

Multiplicative random walk Metropolis-Hastings on the real line

In this article we propose multiplication based random walk Metropolis Hastings (MH) algorithm on the real line. We call it the random dive MH (RDMH) algorithm. This algorithm, even if simple to apply, was not studied earlier in Markov chain Monte Carlo literature. The associated kernel is shown to have standard properties like irreducibility, aperiodicity and Harris recurrence under some mild assumptions. These ensure basic convergence (ergodicity) of the kernel. Further the kernel is shown to be geometric ergodic for a large class of target densities on $\mathbb{R}$. This class even contains realistic target densities for which random walk or Langevin MH are not geometrically ergodic. Three simulation studies are given to demonstrate the mixing property and superiority of RDMH to standard MH algorithms on real line. A share-price return data is also analyzed and the results are compared with those available in the literature

Trade implications of transport cost in the Philippines

Trade costs play an important role in economic development. This is easily appreciated in the case of the Philippines, an archipelago of over 7000 islands that faces serious connectivity challenges. The Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) Terminal System (RRTS) introduced in 2003 presents an opportunity to study the effects of a transport system on trade costs, and how these in turn inflence patterns of trade and pricing behavior. The design of the RRTS and its context are described in Chapter 2, which also outlines the process of building the historical data set on RRTS services by route. This data set is key to the empirical analyses in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 3 estimates trade costs using province border effects, and examines how the RRTS affected them and their distribution. Results suggest that border effects are lower by a factor of 0.65 with the RRTS. However, this reduction is unevenly distributed, and limited to provinces that are near Metro Manila, the capital and the biggest demand center in the Philippines. Chapter 4, which investigates the effect of the RRTS on trade patterns show that RRTS port-pairs trade 35% more compared to unconnected pairs with comparable characteristics. This gain comes from the intensive margins and more consistently through the extensive margins. Trade transactions are 7% to 9% more frequent in RRTS routes, suggestive of inventory management as an avenue of trade costs savings. High value and time-sensitive products systematically benefit more from the RRTS. These RRTS-associated gains do not come from displacing trade from competing non-RRTS ports. Instead, the RRTS complements trade in liner routes by supporting feeder traffic. Finally, Chapter 5 uses an origin-destination mapped data set to evaluate how agricultural prices in supplying and destination provinces respond to changes in transport costs from the RRTS. Conditional on distance, price gaps as proportion of farmgate prices are on average 28% smaller in province pairs that have RRTS connection. The gap narrowing effect is driven by higher farm prices without the corresponding rise in consumer prices. During periods of positive price shocks, farmers in RRTS provinces retain a higher share of the rents from price increases, while changes in consumer prices are not significantly different in RRTS provinces compared to unconnected areas. The results are consistent with a reduction in markups from RRTS-induced competition in intermediation and shipping services

Seismic analysis of nuclear power plant structures

Primary structures for nuclear power plants are designed to resist expected earthquakes of the site. Two intensities are referred to as Operating Basis Earthquake and Design Basis Earthquake. These structures are required to accommodate these seismic loadings without loss of their functional integrity. Thus, no plastic yield is allowed. The application of NASTRAN in analyzing some of these seismic induced structural dynamic problems is described. NASTRAN, with some modifications, can be used to analyze most structures that are subjected to seismic loads. A brief review of the formulation of seismic-induced structural dynamics is also presented. Two typical structural problems were selected to illustrate the application of the various methods of seismic structural analysis by the NASTRAN system

Catholic Educational Leadership as a Spiritual Practice

Being a leader is tough—the best ones I know consider it a burden more than an honor, a responsibility more than a promotion, a sacrifice more than a perk. Leaders of Catholic schools, in particular, find themselves today in situations of increasing complexity and vulnerability. More and more scholars and practitioners are thus linking leadership to spirituality precisely because of this, perhaps, a connection that was, quite frankly, unimaginable a few decades ago.This multi-disciplinary approach to leadership—one that includes not only the disciplines of psychology and sociology but also spirituality in particular—has led to deeper investigations into the motivation, values, and behaviors of both leader and follower. Based on my own practice and the experiences of those I have worked with, I have come to believe that spirituality serves as a valuable source for the courage and clear thinking so essential to the challenging task of leadership today