Reengineering of the national organization of the General Association of General Baptists

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1106/thumbnail.jp

Corrosion fatigue of a superduplex stainless steel weldment

Superduplex stainless steels have superior mechanical and corrosion properties compared to austenitic stainless steels such as the grade 300 series. This is a result of a microstructure consisting of roughly equal percentages of austenite (y) and ferrite (a) and negligible inclusion content. As a result, super duplex stainless steels are increasingly being used in the offshore oil and gas industries. It is also envisaged that they will find application in the emergent renewable energy sector in areas such as offshore wind, wave and tidal electricity / hydrogen generation. Corrosion fatigue (CF) conditions are expected in such applications. Of critical concern are weld joints where inherent sub critical surface/embedded flaws diminish crack initiation resistance enhancing the probability of subsequent crack propagation. The current research investigates the CF crack propagation performance of weld metals produced by two welding techniques. Since sub sea components are always cathodically protected, this condition was simulated in the CF tests. In addition, high positive potentials were simulated, as this condition is possible in the absence of cathodic protection. One weldment was completed using the expensive and relatively slow gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding method. The other weldment was achieved using the GTA method for the root pass and subsequently filled using the cheap and relatively quick shielded metal arc (SMA) welding method. The resultant crack propagation life was derived from the crack propagation tests by means of a numerical model. Fatigue life of the weld metals (assuming negligible residual stress influence) is similar to standard design curves for class D, carbon and carbon-manganese structural steel butt welds. Thresholds for the onset of crack growth in Zeron 100 base and weld metals are similar and were shown by means of the numerical model to correspond with the endurance limit specified in the standard design curve. Cathodic over protection is much more deleterious than high positive potentials above a critical stress level for Zeron 100 base and weld metals leading to an increase in crack propagation rates on average by a factor of 4.3 over rates in air. The GTA root/SMA fill weld metal performs equally well as the GTA root/GTA fill weld. Therefore, a potential economic saving is evident. Finally, a new model for hydrogen assisted subcritical brittle crack propagation in ferrite is proposed

Politics And Culture Of The Great Plains: An Introduction

In April 1996 the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sponsored its twentieth interdisciplinary symposium, Politics and Culture of the Great Plains. From papers and presentations by scholars from the United States and Canada, dealing with Indian rights, women\u27s suffrage, education, the economy, elections, social movements, and historical and contemporary personalities, four are presented in this issue of Great Plains Quarterly. Treaty Seven and Guaranteed Representation: How Treaty Rights Can Evolve into Parliamentary Seats deals with relations between sovereign nations-the Blackfoot Confederacy of southern Alberta and the national government of Canada. Kiera Ladner argues that the Indians had a fundamentally different view than national authorities of Treaty Seven. Concerned about rapid westward expansion in the US in the 1870s, Canadian authorities encouraged their own westward expansion. Authorities viewed treaties as a way to secure title to the land and bring the Indians under control, but the tribes intended to protect their land and life style. What is the legal standing and meaning of treaty rights today? How can the tribes maintain peace and good order as they agreed to do in the treaty? Ladner suggests one way: guaranteed representation in Parliament. The indigenous peoples of North America were and continue to be sovereign nations. Agreements negotiated between them and national governments are still valid, and national governments are obligated to honor them, albeit in a contemporary context. Guaranteed parliamentary representation is an intriguing idea, though perhaps unlikely to be implemented. Ladner\u27s essay encourages us to consider this and other alternatives that will enable national governments to fulfill their obligations to North America\u27s first peoples. National boundaries rarely prevent people and ideas from moving in or out. Ideas, of course, are the most mobile. In Liberal Education on the Great Plains: American Experiments, Canadian Flirtations, 1930-1950, Kevin Brooks focuses on the spread of liberal education to American and Canadian universities of the Great Plains in the 1930s and 1940s. He distinguishes between the oratorical tradition, dedicated to inculcating traditional values and insuring social stability, and the philosophical tradition of seeking new knowledge in the hope of improving society. Universities in the Midwest and Prairies sought to make education useful, combining the philosophical liberal education tradition with vocational and professional training. In spite of the strong commitment of the universities in eastern Canada to the oratorical tradition and the recruitment of college educators from these institutions to oversee the development of prairie universities, it was the midwestern model, with its emphasis on the practical as well as the general, that took hold. Brooks argues lack of resources, distance, and the demand that education focus on the practical foreclosed other options. His study suggests that regional identities are sometimes as important as national ones in explaining the spread and adoption of ideas. The study also helps define the Great Plains as a distinct region, where environmental constraints ensure common responses to social problems, in this case sufficient to overcome the power of national identity and national boundaries

Disinnovation in the American States: Policy toward Health Systems Agencies

Requiring the states to involve consumers in health planning through local health planning boards (HSAs) was an attempt by the federal government to control health care costs. Elimination of this requirement more recently has meant some states have discontinued the program. The elimination of HSAs can be considered a case of policy disinnovation. Drawing on the innovation literature, the following variables were expected to correlate, although negatively, with elimination of HSAs: value added to manufacturing, average acre value of farms, per capita income, population living in metropolitan areas, and party competition. All were found to correlate negatively. Predisposition to spend reflected in per capita state expenditures was also correlated negatively with elimination of HSAs, as was the average daily hospital room charge and average hospital cost per stay

Underinsurance: The Hidden Dimension to the Health Care Crisis

The paper examines the issue of underinsurance. It discusses how the concept can be measured and employs the measure in assessing the number of underinsured in the State of Nebraska. The paper examines the social and economic characteristics of the uninsured, both an at-risk group defined by low income and a group with higher income, and compares each to a corresponding set who are not underinsured. The paper reports a multivariate analysis of factors related to underinsurance and compares the above categories with respect to health status and access to health care

Underinsurance: The Hidden Dimension to the Health Care Crisis

The paper examines the issue of underinsurance. It discusses how the concept can be measured and employs the measure in assessing the number of underinsured in the State of Nebraska. The paper examines the social and economic characteristics of the uninsured, both an at-risk group defined by low income and a group with higher income, and compares each to a corresponding set who are not underinsured. The paper reports a multivariate analysis of factors related to underinsurance and compares the above categories with respect to health status and access to health care

BLM Planning and Implementation: Successes, Challenges and Opportunities

This presentation discusses/illustrates the USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) multiple use issue analysis and resolution at two different scales: the Resource Management Plan (RMP) policy scale and the applied project scale. BLM RMPs will be discussed with specific examples of how RMPs guide future management decisions. Greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) will be used as a primary example. Seven RMPs in the Montana/Dakotas had drafts for RMP revisions or Greater sage grouse RMP amendments in 2013. Guidance contained in the RMP establishes sideboards for project alternatives and what may be considered. The Crooked Creek Project in the Lewistown Field Office will be covered to illustrate how projects are planned within the framework of an RMP to achieve specific conditions on the ground and the tools, information, and experience used to develop these actions. Finally, examples of applied efforts to improve wildlife habitat across BLM lands in the Montana/Dakotas will be demonstrated