Modeling diffusion in the Antarctic circumpolar current

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 29).In order to understand the role of eddies in lateral mixing in a rotating fluid, a small scale laboratory model is constructed. An experiment is carried out in a rotating, differentially heated annulus and the evolution of a dye tracer mixed by turbulent motions is studied. Images are analyzed to extract the concentration mappings of tracer throughout the tank at each time instance and a diffusion coefficient K(r) is inferred.by Clifford H. Hodges.M.Eng

Linguistic Representation of Spatial and Temporal Orientation

Proceedings of the 4th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1978), pp. 524-53

Effects of Insecticide-Herbicide Interactions on Soybean Plants Grown on Eight Louisiana Soils.

In 1979, a study was initiated to determine if selected rates of aldicarb(2-methyl-2(methylthio)propionaldehyde O-(methylcarbamoyl oxime), trifluralin (a,a,a-Trifluoro-2, 6-dinitro-N, N-dipropyl-p-toluidine) and metribuzin (4-amino-6-(1, 1-dimethylethyl)-3-(methylthio)-1, 2, 4-triazin-5(4H)-one), applied alone and in combination, resulted in phytotoxic reactions in soybeans, Glycine max (L.) Merr. var. Davis. The three greenhouse studies and one field-greenhouse study were conducted on eight selected Louisiana soils to determine to what extent the soil characteristics affected the biological activity of these combinations. The trifluralin-containing treatments used in this study, generally, produced stunted, thick-stemmed plants with smaller and fewer nodules than the non-treated check plants. However, N(,2) C(,2) H(,2) activity was significantly reduced in only 1.5% of the total observations made, a clear indication of the soybean plant\u27s ability to overcome adverse conditions. The addition of metribuzin and/or aldicarb to trifluralin-containing treatments did not substantially increase the detrimental effects above those demonstrated by the trifluralin alone. Applied alone, metribuzin and aldicarb produced very few adverse effects. The wide array of soils utilized in this study appeared to have little effect on the biological activities of these pesticide compounds. The insect and arthropod populations monitored in this study varied in their susceptibility to aldicarb

Do grandparents matter? : The impact of Grandparenting on the wellbeing of children

This timely and important report shows the immense value of grandparents in 21st century family life. It reveals a unique relationship that exists between the older generation and the youngest: a relationship of love and trust that enables the children to use their grandparents as confidantes and counsellors as well as playmates and cookery instructors. The report shows that children value the non-critical support, emotional advice and guidance that grandparents offer and enjoy the quality time their grandparents give them. It also found that the relationship has benefits for grandparents adding to their raison d’être and contributing to their health and longevity. The report also notes the change in the nature of family relationships in Britain throughout the 20th century, from the extended family to the nuclear family to the current variety of relationships, formal and informal, in which both the elderly and the young suffer neglect. With today’s increased incidence of divorce and family breakdown, grandparents can sometimes provide the only stable family relationship in a child’s life, and yet grandparents often lose contact with their grandchildren during or after a divorce or relationship breakup and have no legal rights through the Family Court to continue offering loving care and support to their grandchildren. The report concludes that there is need for much greater understanding of the role and function of grandparents in family life today.Final Published versio

The Crystallisation of Glasses from the Ternary CaF2-CaAl2Si2O8-P2 O5 System

A study of glasses from the ternary system CaF2-CaAl2Si2O8-P2O5 has been carried out. It has been shown that glasses with low phosphorus contents and high fluorite contents crystallise to fluorite. Fluorine reduces the glass transition temperature and is also required for the formation of fluorapatite (FAP). In the absence of fluorine in the glass no apatite phase is formed. Bulk nucleation of FAP is favoured for glasses with Ca:P ratios close to the apatite stoichiometry of 1.67 and with low crosslink densities. Thermal gravimetric analysis showed significant weight losses attributable to the formation of volatile silicon tetrafluoride to occur on crystallisation of the aluminium containing phases, anorthite and mullite, which supports the view that silicon tetrafluoride formation is hindered by fluorine bonding to the aluminium atoms of the glass network. Anorthite crystallisation always occurred by a surface nucleation mechanism and ap peared to be favoured by the higher silicon to aluminium ratio in these glasses compared to previously studied glass compositions. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers

Student Adjustment to College: Examining the Impact of an Outdoor Orientation Program

This pilot study examined the impact of an outdoor orientation program (First Ascent) on participants’ level of transference, resilience, well-being and transition to college. Pre and posttest instruments were administered during a four- day college outdoor orientation program, as well as an open-ended series of questions. Nonparametric tests revealed significant differences from the pre- and posttest of the measures on skill transference and resiliency. Additional, individual items from each questionnaire were examined

Geometry, pregeometry and beyond

This article explores the overall geometric manner in which human beings make sense of the world around them by means of their physical theories; in particular, in what are nowadays called pregeometric pictures of Nature. In these, the pseudo-Riemannian manifold of general relativity is considered a flawed description of spacetime and it is attempted to replace it by theoretical constructs of a different character, ontologically prior to it. However, despite its claims to the contrary, pregeometry is found to surreptitiously and unavoidably fall prey to the very mode of description it endeavours to evade, as evidenced in its all-pervading geometric understanding of the world. The question remains as to the deeper reasons for this human, geometric predilection--present, as a matter of fact, in all of physics--and as to whether it might need to be superseded in order to achieve the goals that frontier theoretical physics sets itself at the dawn of a new century: a sounder comprehension of the physical meaning of empty spacetime.Comment: 41 pages, Latex. v2: Date added. v3: Main arguments refined, secondary discussions abridged; expands on the published versio