Data management study, volume 5. Appendix E - Contractor data package quality assurance /QA/ Final report

Manufacturing verification tests for quality assurance and control data management on Voyager spacecraf

Solving Sewer Service: Fighting Fraud with Technology

Fraudulently obtained default judgments ruin lives. Many defendants are ignorant of their cases and therefore do not ap-pear for court. Defendants suffer dire consequences as victims of falsified service of process. They learn of their lawsuits after their wages are garnished, assets seized, or when their poor credit precludes them from obtaining housing or a new job. For decades, fraudulent service of process has been wide-spread in high volume court dockets, such as landlord and ten-ant, debt collection, and small claims matters. Judgments granted to the debt collector plaintiff disproportionately affect low-income communities of color. Some plaintiffs obtained such judgments against defendants who live in mostly black neighborhoods at a rate 18 times higher than it did against defendants in mostly white neighborhoods. Despite this knowledge, the current rules of pro-cedure in most jurisdictions do not require reliable verifications of service. Process servers complete the proof of service them-selves, thereby “proving” their service through self-verification. When proof of service relies only on the “honor system,” this is unreliable and unfair, and fails to protect defendants when more reliable technological verifications are available. The integrity of our judicial system is challenged when service-of-process rules fail to use technological verifications to protect litigants from fraud. The current service of process standard requires “notice reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise in-terested parties of the pendency of the action.” Since the U.S. Supreme Court articulated this standard in 1950, the circum-stances have simply changed. Therefore, so must our service of process requirements. Traditional methods of service, which lack reliable verifications, are not reasonably calculated to provide constitutionally adequate notice. The technological advance-ments that have occurred in the decades following Mullane, pro-vide new and better circumstances under which notice must be provided

Assessing the efficiency of alternative best management practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution in the broiler production region of Louisiana

The Louisiana broiler production region is located in North Central and Northwestern Louisiana. The region consists of twelve parishes in Northwestern and North Central Louisiana. The broiler production region is a significant contributor of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution to nearby waterways. This pollution is a consequence of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff caused by agricultural production. NPS pollution is difficult to mitigate due to uncertainties in its point of origin as well as a host of other factors ranging from rainfall to topographical parameters. Best Management Practices (BMPS) have been shown to be a reliable method for reducing nonpoint source pollution emanating from agricultural production. To reduce pollutants, several BMPs have been recommended, specific to crops and regions, by the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, (NRCS/USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Successful implementation of best management practices for water quality improvement requires careful study of both nonpoint pollution sources and their effectiveness in a given spatial situation. These assessments are being conducted for several watersheds throughout the United States; however, many watersheds in Louisiana remain unexamined. This study focuses on two watersheds in the broiler production region of Louisiana and utilizes a GIS based simulation program to determine the best least cost solution for the application of BMPs in the study region. Analyses were conducted under alternative climate change and BMP effectiveness scenarios. Results indicate that it is cost-effective to implement nutrient management to reduce phosphorus pollution

Russian Sophiology and the Philosophers of Will: The Theanthropic Theology of Solovyov and Bulgakov and their Critical Appropriation of German Voluntarism.

This thesis explores potential theological contributions of Russian Sophiology. Its argument is twofold. First, it is argued that the Russian theologians’ development of the idea of God as eternal, divine-humanity in relation to Sophia enabled them to address both longstanding and contemporary theological problematics in bold and original ways. Second, it is argued that among the vastly diverse sources upon which Russian Sophiology drew, its critical reappropriation of elements of the German voluntarist tradition stands behind some of Sophiology’s most creative and controversial theological proposals. In order to demonstrate this twofold claim, this work is organized around the major systematic themes that form the Christian narrative of reality: Trinity-Christology, creation, fall, and eschatology. To limit our focus, the thought of Vladimir Solovyov and Sergius Bulgakov will be considered in relation to each of these themes, and the particular issues that attend them. It is argued that the theanthropic theology of divine-humanity is at work not only in their Christocentric redefinition of the Trinity, but also plays a critical role in the other theological loci surveyed. Furthermore, it will be argued that in each of these areas there is a critical appropriation of the voluntarist tradition, not only the sophiological theosophy of Jacob Boehme, but also the 19th century philosophers of Will: Friedrich Schelling, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Eduard von Hartmann. It is argued that the Russian theologians utilize this voluntarist legacy, particularly the metaphysical principle of an unconscious, impersonal, corporeal Will, not only in their development of the idea of God’s eternal divine-humanity, but also to explore the ultimate origins of matter and becoming, the nature of the fall and its connection to the evolutionary process, and the eschatological spiritualization of matter

Effects of different agricultural management systems on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity, community structure, and ecosystem services.

Disturbances associated with row-crop agricultural management systems include mechanical (tillage and cultivation) and chemical (fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides) inputs and are often co-occurring. Many soil microbes are sensitive to these disturbances, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), important plant mutualists in agricultural systems. AMF associate with many crop plants and provide direct benefits through root pathogen protection, drought resistance, nutrient acquisition and uptake, as well as contribute to ecosystem services by improving overall soil fertility. Examining how different row-crop management system disturbances affect the AMF community is important for understanding and enhancing benefits provided by these important mutualists, and key to developing sustainable agro-ecosystems. For this work I surveyed AMF community composition, structure, and AMF related functions in no-till, biologically-based/organic, early succession, and conventional management plots at the Kellogg Biological Station-Long Term Ecological Study Main Cropping System Experiment. I examined the effects of tillage and chemical inputs on AMF through an intensive sampling from 2010 to 2012. I also examined the historical effects of these different row crop agricultural management systems on AMF community and function by surveying archived soil samples taken annually following establishment of this site in 1989. Finally, I examined effects of the different management systems on the functioning of whole soil microbial communities in a controlled greenhouse experiment. Overall, I found that AMF communities respond differently to tillage and chemical input disturbances associated with management. Although long term trends indicate a reduction in both AMF richness and diversity for all row crop management systems, short term richness and diversity were higher in conventional, organic, and reduced input plots, as compared to the no-till and early succession systems. I found AMF community structure to be differently affected by tillage and chemical inputs. For example, AMF community composition and structure was most similar between the conventional and no-till row crop systems, and the reduced input and organic systems, when controlling for year/crop effects, indicating an effect of chemical input on the AMF community. I found measures of AMF function, specifically plant root colonization, to be robust to management system inputs. Under row-crop management, ecosystem services linked to soil carbon sequestration and water-stable aggregate formation and provided by AMF derived soil glomalin, were lower in conventional compared to the organic systems. All active agricultural systems had lower levels of soil glomalin as compared to old fields (agricultural abandonment). My results suggest AMF community composition, structure, and function are altered by these different row crop agricultural management systems, and ecosystem services currently provided by AMF are limited by both historical (+100 years) and continued management input disturbances. Following total abandonment of agricultural management, there is some restoration of AMF community structure and function and increased AMF contribution to ecosystem services, but these improvements in function are likely not similar to the functioning of the original soil microbial community

The Ursinus Weekly, June 5, 1903

Labor against labor • Sophomore Blue • Baseball • Alumni notes • Society notes • Group honors • Junior oratorical contest • Audubon Science Clubhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/3091/thumbnail.jp

Gottshall Early Reading Intervention: A phonics based approach to enhance the achievement of low performing, rural, first grade boys.

Learning to read is critical for quality of life and success in our society. Children who cannot read well face unsuccessful educational careers and limited job choices. Recently, policy makers and educators have made progress toward increasing the reading achievement of America's children. Still up to 60% of boys who live in poverty cannot read or read two years below grade level. In this experimental study, I designed and examined the effects of the Gottshall Early Reading Intervention (GERI) to determine if direct instruction with a small group, phonics based approach would increase the literacy achievement of low performing, rural, first grade boys. Participants were selected according to Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) scores, matched them across race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, and randomly assigned them to experimental/control group. Three times per week for 15 weeks, boys in the experimental group attended 30-minute pullout sessions taught by trained professionals in addition to classroom reading instruction. Control group members received classroom reading instruction only. Findings reveal no significant differences in reading gains across all variables. However, descriptive data indicate higher percentages of gains for the experimental group on four out of five reading components with rate of gain higher on fifth. Statistics also show that Hispanics are more likely to benefit

Assessment of ocean prediction model for Naval Operations using acoustic preset

OCEANS2005, MTS/IEEE Conference Proceedings, DVD-ROMThe outcome of a battlefield engagement is often determined by the advantages and disadvantages held by each adversary. On the modern battlefield, the possessor of the best technology often has the upper hand, but only if that advanced technology is used properly and efficiently. In order to exploit this advantage and optimize the effectiveness of high technology sensor and weapon systems, it is essential to understand the impact on them by the environment. In the arena of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), the ocean environment determines the performance of the acoustic sensors employed and the success of any associated weapon systems. Since acoustic sensors detect underwater sound waves, understanding how those waves propagate is crucial to knowing how the sensors will perform and being able to optimize their performance in a given situation. To gain this understanding, an accurate depiction of the ocean environment is necessary. How acoustic waves propagate from one location to another under water is determined by many factors, some of which are described by the sound speed profile (SSP). If the environmental properties of temperature and salinity are known over the entire depth range, the SSP can be compiled by using them in an empirical formula to calculate the expected sound speed in a vertical column of water. One way to determine these environmental properties is to measure them in situ, such as by conductivity-temperature-depth or expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts. This method is not always tactically feasible and only gives the vertical profile at one location producing a very limited picture of the regional ocean structure. Another method is to estimate the ocean conditions using numerical models. The valued-aided ocean prediction models to ASW is assessed in this study. Such quantitative analyses offer a means to optimize the ASW requirements and technical capabilities of new weapon systems. We use observed and modeled 3-D fields of temperature, salinity, and sound speed. Compare model profiles to observed profiles. Do ocean models predict the vertical features of the observational data? Run representative modeled and observed SSP profiles through Navy’s acoustic models to see if there is an acoustic difference in propagation and weapon preset