Wood-Fired Train Kiln

My research focused on constructing a wood-fired train kiln. I utilized ashlar fine tooled masonry techniques to create a dry-stacked formation. Primarily, I analyzed the different materials to which I had access and determined the proper steps to create an ideal structure. In order to accomplish this, I sorted, cut, and shaved various series of both insulating and dense fire bricks to create a perfect fit, an expansion joint or a level surface. If a level surface could not be attained using solely bricks then a compound termed “butter” was applied, but I utilized a high temperature refractory mortar when I required a brick to be held in place. Furthermore, arches are formed to span the door, chamber, firebox and throat of the kiln using skewback along with varying arch brick, and subsequently, a steel frame is used to buttress the arches as well as hold the bricks in place during expansion; for this reason, I ascertained the importance of inspecting the structure to be true, level, flush, and plum. Through my research, I determined it is of the utmost importance one understands everything about their materials on hand; this allowed me to design a kiln to fit together in both a tight and level manner atop an unlevel foundation. I found that the efficiency of building a dry-stacked kiln is reliant upon organizing bricks according to their differences in height by sixteenths of an inch. In addition, a brick saw and several levels must be used with precision accuracy

Shrinking the World: A Supplementary High School Computer Curriculum

The project contains a high school supplementary computer curriculum centered on the acquisition of the Spanish language and understanding of the culture. The review of the literature indicates that the computer can be an effective medium with which to facilitate cooperative or collaborative learning and individualized instruction. In addition, technology provides an opportunity for peer tutoring and can instill a desire to learn. The project activities were designed around communicative, cultural, or structural goals that were identified in one or more of the three lessons located in each unit of the Dime Uno textbook. The supplementary computer curriculum was developed for a Spanish teacher of 9th-12th grade students at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Washington

Commissioning Plans for the Pandora SmallSat: A Mission to Quantify Stellar Contamination of Exoplanet Transmission Spectra

Pandora is a SmallSat mission designed to observe exoplanet atmospheres and stellar activity. Funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics Division through the Pioneers program, Pandora is a collaboration between NASA centers Goddard and Ames, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of Arizona, and other scientific institutions. Pandora will survey at least 20 transiting exoplanets during one year of science operations, obtaining a long baseline of simultaneous visible-light photometric and near-IR spectroscopic observations. These observations will be used to quantify and correct for stellar contamination of exoplanet transmission spectra due to spots and faculae on host stars. Pandora will subsequently identify exoplanets with hydrogen or water-dominated atmospheres. In this paper, we share a preliminary plan for commissioning Pandora during its first month of operation after launch, anticipated for 2025. Broadly, commissioning includes bus and payload checkouts, followed by instrumentation checks, which include telescope pointing and tasks for non-pointed and pointed calibration. This paper focuses primarily on commissioning Pandora’s instrumentation, including visible-light photometry and near-IR spectroscopy capabilities. We outline each commissioning task, our timeline, and our workflow for planning and managing an adaptable commissioning plan. This paper informs on Pandora\u27s plans and provides an example of telescope commissioning for future missions

Do Child Soldiers Influence UN Peacekeeping?

The use of child soldiers in conflicts has received increasing academic attention in recent years. This article examines post-conflict periods to see whether the use of child soldiers mobilizes United Nations peacekeeping operations (UN PKO) in the aftermath of a conflict. Taking into consideration how child soldiers affect conflict and how important their reintegration is to sustainable peace and post-conflict development, we analyse whether the presence of child soldiers in a civil war increases the likelihood of the presence of a PKO. We argue that the UN deems a conflict with child soldiers as a difficult case for conflict resolution, necessitating a response from the international community. This is in line with our empirical results confirming that the use of child soldiers significantly increases the likelihood of peacekeeping

Network adaptation improves temporal representation of naturalistic stimuli in drosophila eye: II Mechanisms

Retinal networks must adapt constantly to best present the ever changing visual world to the brain. Here we test the hypothesis that adaptation is a result of different mechanisms at several synaptic connections within the network. In a companion paper (Part I), we showed that adaptation in the photoreceptors (R1-R6) and large monopolar cells (LMC) of the Drosophila eye improves sensitivity to under-represented signals in seconds by enhancing both the amplitude and frequency distribution of LMCs' voltage responses to repeated naturalistic contrast series. In this paper, we show that such adaptation needs both the light-mediated conductance and feedback-mediated synaptic conductance. A faulty feedforward pathway in histamine receptor mutant flies speeds up the LMC output, mimicking extreme light adaptation. A faulty feedback pathway from L2 LMCs to photoreceptors slows down the LMC output, mimicking dark adaptation. These results underline the importance of network adaptation for efficient coding, and as a mechanism for selectively regulating the size and speed of signals in neurons. We suggest that concert action of many different mechanisms and neural connections are responsible for adaptation to visual stimuli. Further, our results demonstrate the need for detailed circuit reconstructions like that of the Drosophila lamina, to understand how networks process information

The Pandora SmallSat: Multiwavelength Characterization of Exoplanets and their Host Stars

Pandora is a SmallSat mission concept, selected as part of NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program, designed to study the atmospheres of exoplanets using transmission spectroscopy. Transmission spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets provides our best opportunity to identify the makeup of planetary atmospheres in the coming decade. Stellar brightness variations due to star spots, however, can seep into these measurements and contaminate the observed spectra. Pandora is designed to disentangle star and planet signals in transmission spectra and reliably characterize the planetary atmospheres. Pandora will collect long-duration photometric observations with a visible-light channel, and simultaneous spectra with a near-IR channel, where water is a strong molecular absorber. The broad wavelength coverage will provide constraints on spot covering fractions of the stars and determine the impact of these active regions on the planetary spectra. Pandora will observe at least 20 exoplanets with sizes ranging from Earth-size to Jupiter-size, with host stars spanning mid-K to late-M spectral types. The project is made possible by leveraging investments in other projects, including an all-aluminum 0.45-meter Cassegrain telescope design, and an IR sensor chip assembly from the James Webb Space Telescope. The mission will last five years from initial formulation to closeout, with one-year of science operations. Launch is planned for the mid-2020s as a secondary payload in Sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit. By design, Pandora has a diverse team, with over half of mission leadership roles filled by early career scientists and engineers, demonstrating the high value of SmallSats for developing the next generation of space mission leaders

Osteoarthritis and mortality: A prospective cohort study and systematic review with meta-analysis

Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability, but the relationship with premature mortality remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the relationship between OA and mortality from any cause and from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: Electronic literature databases searches were conducted to identify prospective studies comparing mortality in a sample of people with and without OA. Risk of all-cause and CVD mortality were summarized using adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for joint specific (hand, hip, and knee) and joint non-specific OA. New data from the Progetto Veneto Anziani (PRO.V.A.) study were also included. Results: From the PRO.V.A. study (N 1⁄4 2927), there was no significant increase in mortality risk for participants with any joint OA (N 1⁄4 1858) compared to non-OA (all-cause, HR 1⁄4 0.95, 95% CI: 0.77–1.15 and CVD, HR 1⁄4 1.12, 95% CI: 0.82–1.54). On meta-analysis, seven studies (OA 1⁄4 10,018/non-OA 1⁄4 18,541), with a median 12-year follow-up, reported no increased risk of any-cause mortality in those with OA (HR 1⁄4 1.10, 95% CI: 0.97–1.25). After removing data on hand OA, a significant association between OA and mortality was observed (HR 1⁄4 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08–1.28). There was a significant higher risk of overall mortality for (1) studies conducted in Europe, (2) patients with multi-joint OA; and (3) a radiological diagnosis of OA. OA was associated with significantly higher CVD mortality (HR 1⁄4 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10–1.34). Conclusions: People with OA are at increased risk of death due to CVD. The relationship with overall mortality is less clear and may be moderated by the presence of hand OA

Gluttony, excess, and the fall of the planter class in the British Caribbean

Food and rituals around eating are a fundamental part of human existence. They can also be heavily politicized and socially significant. In the British Caribbean, white slaveholders were renowned for their hospitality towards one another and towards white visitors. This was no simple quirk of local character. Hospitality and sociability played a crucial role in binding the white minority together. This solidarity helped a small number of whites to dominate and control the enslaved majority. By the end of the eighteenth century, British metropolitan observers had an entrenched opinion of Caribbean whites as gluttons. Travelers reported on the sumptuous meals and excessive drinking of the planter class. Abolitionists associated these features of local society with the corrupting influences of slavery. Excessive consumption and lack of self-control were seen as symptoms of white creole failure. This article explores how local cuisine and white creole eating rituals developed as part of slave societies and examines the ways in which ideas about hospitality and gluttony fed into the debates over slavery that led to the dismantling of slavery and the fall of the planter class