Physoon - Radiation Detection in Various High Altitude Environments

Physoon is a high altitude ballooning payload designed and built by members of the Space Hardware Club for the purpose of comparing cosmic and terrestrial radiation from a variety of environmental conditions, including clear days, night times, solar events (eclipses, solar flares, coronal mass ejections), and thunderstorms. Over three design iterations, Physoon has flown eleven times with various combinations of Geiger counters sensors: a low energy Alpha-Beta-Gamma detector, an unshielded high-energy Beta-Gamma detector, and a shielded high-energy Beta-Gamma detector. One of these iterations successfully recovered data from high altitude during totality of the Great American Solar Eclipse. Another iteration was designed to fly into thunderstorms and contained a team-designed printed circuit board. This iteration has flown for a total of seven times so far; many have been in collaboration with the Severe Weather Institute - Radar and Lightning Laboratories (SWIRLL). Data sets recovered from flights in the proximity of thunderstorms have shown increased radiation levels, both momentary and sustained

Transnational Business Governance Interaction and Competition between Standard‐Setting Initiatives: Labor Standards in Garment, Toys and Agriculture

This paper analyzes interactions within standard‐setting networks in the area of social and labor rights. We examine the shape of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI), pathways, and interaction mechanisms in three sectors: garments, toys and agriculture. Our comparative analysis of each of these sectors reveals meaningful differences in both the organization of regulation networks and the resulting level of competition among participants. Overall, we find that the creation of a more inclusive and more coherent standard in a whole business sector comes with the cost of weaker rules and less monitoring. These industry-specific observations provide a springboard for future studies of TBGI

Placing a High-Altitude Balloon in the Path of Totality

The UAH Space Hardware Club had conducted 70 flights prior to the Eclipse. In this time, we have gained valuable skills and experience which we have put into practice and passed on through the years. We put these skills into practice for the Eclipse. Our first challenge was finding where to launch. We started out by looking for suitable locations inside totality. We also examined a map of totality at 80,000 ft. We then ran predictions based on past weather during that time of year. By compiling multiple past predictions, we eliminated possible launch sites. We had multiple payloads, some needed altitude others needed to be as close as possible to a ground station during totality to stream video of the eclipse. We planned for two balloons to get all payloads where they needed to be. We then, began preliminary burst calculations. Up to 10 days before launch, we begin predictions using the tools provided by HabHub. HabHub can output KMLs which displays 3D position. This allows us to calculate what balloons and helium we need. Come flight day we use prepared checklists during launch operations including fill and line preparation. We use custom fill rigs and pipe clamps to fill our balloons. We track our balloons primarily through APRS trackers with SPOT Trace backups. The APRS allows us to maintain complete telemetry through flight and is receivable through multiple forms. We learn from each launch so, we strive to share these lessons the with others and pass them on

CaseTrain – Konzeption und Einsatz eines universitätsweiten fallbasierten Trainingssystems

Zur Verbesserung der Qualität der Lehre wurde an der Universität Würzburg eine fakultätsübergreifende Initiative für fallbasiertes Lernen gestartet. Dazu wurde mit CaseTrain eine neue Autoren- und Ablaufumgebung entwickelt, die inzwischen erfolgreich im Einsatz ist. Durch die breite Nutzung von CaseTrain ergeben sich aber auch neue Anforderungen wie etwa der Einsatz im Übungsbetrieb und zur elektronischen Prüfung. (… Die Autoren) stellen im Folgenden den aktuellen Stand des CaseTrain-Projekts sowie die geplanten Erweiterungen vor. (DIPF/ Orig.

Die Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik (ENP): eine adäquate Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik für die EU?

Inhalt: 1. Bestandsaufnahme der Europäischen Nachbarschaftspolitik; 1.1. Entstehung; 1.2. Ziele der EU; 1.3. Aufbau und Prinzipien der ENP; 2. Sicherheit und Stabilität als Hauptziele der ENP?; 3. Probleme der ENP: „No carrots, no sticks?“ – und weitere Aspekte; 3.1. Asymmetrie der Beziehungen; 3.2. Ökonomische, politische und soziale Probleme der Regionen Osteuropa und Südkaukasus; 3.3. Konkurrenz der EU mit anderen internationalen Akteuren in Osteuropa und im Südkaukasus; 3.4. Die fehlende Beitrittsperspektive; 4. Fazit: Zukünftige Perspektiven der EN

Arbeitskreis Bildung Köln. 14./15.11.2014

Am 14. und 15. November 2014 fand die Herbsttagung des Arbeitskreises „Mathematik und Bildung“ an der Universität zu Köln statt.

Concrete railway bridges : taxonomy of degradation mechanisms and damages identified by NDT methods

The aim of this work is creating basis for unified and more objective assessment of bridge condition and for application of expert tools in evaluation process. The degradation processes and the relevant NDT techniques are presented on the background of the causes and the effects of these processes, taking into account: factors which influence degradation processes, mechanisms of degradation and effects of degradation with proposed methodology of identification and classification of the damages in concrete bridge structures. The proposed uniform taxonomy of degradation processes of the concrete railway bridges as well as presented analysis of the available NDT methods can be applied in evaluation of bridge condition and in modelling of structure lifetime.Framework Programme of European Union - "Sustainable Bridges – Assessment for Future Traffic Demands and Longer Lives” nº TIP3-CT-2003-001653