A New Era of Higher Education-Community Partnerships: The Role and Impact of Colleges and Universities in Greater Boston Today

Urges stronger partnerships among colleges and universities and businesses, government, and civic groups to enhance the area's competitiveness. Makes recommendations for workforce development and retention, increased housing, and higher education access

An XPS study of space-exposed polyimide film

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to assess changes induced in the surface chemistry of Kapton H (Du Pont Trademark) polyimide strips exposed to the low Earth orbit environment at the space-end of the LDEF satellite on Experiment A0133. Results from flight specimens are compared to material cut from the same lot and stored at room temperature under standard atmospheric conditions. One notable difference was a nearly two-fold increase in surface oxygen (atom-percent composition) for specimens exposed to the direct space environment as compared to controls. In addition, space exposed specimens contained distinct silicon peaks (2p 103.2 eV and 2s 154.2 eV) in their spectra. These peaks were absent in control spectra. It is likely that the increase in oxygen is associated with the silicon. This is in agreement with reports of widespread silicon contamination throughout the LDEF satellite

A collection of inventions : radio, reeducation, and the postwar German public sphere.

Following the Germans’ unconditional surrender in May 1945, the Allied Powers introduced a formal occupation and reeducation process, directing Germany toward democratic self-governance. This study will consider the role of radio broadcasting in the occupation project. While many works have been completed on the political revival of postwar Germany, little scholarship has been conducted with emphasis on the impact of German broadcasting’s role on reshaping German culture. Examining radio programing from Hamburg’s Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk from 1945 to 1956, this thesis explores the creation of a democratically-informed German public sphere in the decade following the Second World War. The primary research for this project was conducted in the Hamburg State Archives

Consumo entre juventud norteamericana: un dilema paradójico

Los Estados Unidos ha recibido inmigrantes de más de 150 países, y entre ellos, hay gran diferencias en tradiciones sobre el consumo del alcohol. Como resultado, hay una falta de consenso sobre normas nacionales. La situación de heterogeneidad de valores y opiniones se ha designado ambivalencia cultural. Una tradición dominante de valores se basa en puritanismo. Así, casi todos los estados en el país establecieron una edad mínima de 21 años para comprar bebidas alcohólicas. Una ley nacional que bajó la edad de votar desde 21 hasta 18 fue el estímulo por la bajada de la edad para comprar bebidas alcohólicas a 18 o 19 años en 35 de los 50 estados. Una reacción conservadora influyó el restablecimiento de la edad legal a 21 años después de 1984.La prohibición del alcohol a los menores de 21 años ha tenido poco éxito. Entre los consumidores de escuelas secundarias, los jóvenes en los EE.UU. muestran una tasa de embriaguez frecuente que es un poco más alta que la media aritmética de los europeos. Una medida del consumo total por grupo etário revaló que los de 12 a 20 años constan el 15.4% de la población total de 12 años y mayores, y ellos consumen el 19.7% del alcohol producido. También, los de 18 hasta 20 años bebieron una media aritmétrica de 51 bebidas por mes por persona, en contraste con 33 mensualmente por parte de los de 21 años y más, una diferencia superior del 54% por parte de la juventud. El sitio de consumo por parte de los universitarios debajo de la edad legal es primariamente en fiestas en alojamientos privados fuera del campo universitario en el que el 65% asiste por lo menos mensualmente. Los de 21 años y mayores beben con iqual frecuencia en fiestas privadas y en bares donde ellos pueden asistir legalmente.Claro que la política de proteger la inocencia y la virtud de la juventud ha fracasado casi completamente. Personas de 18 años no creen que se necesitan esta protección en que ellos son adultos en todas las otras áreas de la vida. Debido a ambivalencia cultural, la mayoría de adultos norteamericanos creen que se require más madurez para escoger una bebida alcohólica en contraste con escoger participación en las otras actividades de la vida adulta. Lo que la ley efectua es que los de 18 a 20 años no consumen frecuentemente en bares públicos, sino que en fiestas privadas en que se desarrolla un sentido de comunidad y una contracultura en oposición al control de los mayores

The Development of a Sample Controlled Differential Scanning Calorimeter and its Application to the Study of Different Reaction Types

A new sample controlled DSC (SC-DSC) system has been developed, which for the first time has enabled the benefits of sample controlled thermal analysis to be extended to the widely used technique of DSC. The system was based on a heat flux DSC cell interfaced to an in-house control and data processing system. Careful optimisation of the instrument parameters during the development stages minimised the potential problem of shifts in the DSC baseline when the temperature programme is changed. This has enabled the rate of heating to be controlled directly from the DSC signal and has also allowed controlled cooling to be incorporated. The difficulty of making baseline corrections in sample controlled experiments has been resolved by the implementation of the facility to replay the temperature programme for an experiment. The potential of the new SC-DSC system was evaluated by studying a wide range of reaction types. The first group consisted of reactions taking place with a change in mass, including endothermic dehydration, dehydroxylation and decomposition reactions and exothermic decomposition and oxidation reactions. The results were compared with those obtained by sample controlled thermogravimetry. Similar profiles were obtained using both techniques and the ability of SC-DSC to provide direct information on reaction mechanisms was demonstrated The second group included both endothermic and exothermic reactions that occurred without any significant mass change and which therefore could not be studied by existing sample controlled techniques. Although it proved difficult to control the rapid fusions of metal and organic DSC standards with the present equipment, promising results were obtained for the fusion of both organic and inorganic phase change materials which occur over a broader temperature range. SC-DSC was found to be successful in preventing the ignition reactions in number of exothermic reactions which could occur under linear heating condition, thus providing a means to investigate the systems in more detail than is possible with conventional thermal analysis techniques. In addition, the ability to control the curing reaction of an epoxy resin should allow the development of temperature profiles to enable samples to be cured at a selected rate

Economic Feasibility of Ethanol Production from Sweet Sorghum Juice in Texas

The economic feasibility of producing ethanol from sweet sorghum juice is projected using Monte Carlo simulation models to estimate the price ethanol plants will likely have to pay for sweet sorghum and the uncertain returns for ethanol plants. Ethanol plants in high yielding regions will likely generate returns on assets of 11%-12% and in low yield areas the returns on assets will be less than 10%.Sweet Sorghum, Ethanol, Monte Carlo Simulation, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty, D20 G10 D81 C15,