User's guide to a system of finite-element supersonic panel flutter programs

The utilization and operation of a set of six computer programs for the prediction of panel flutter at supersonic speeds by finite element methods are described. The programs run individually to determine the flutter behavior of a flat panel where the finite elements which model the panel each have four degrees of freedom (DOF), a curved panel where the finite elements each have four DOF, and a curved panel where the finite elements each have six DOF. The panels are assumed to be of infinite aspect ratio and are subjected to either simply-supported or clamped boundary conditions. The aerodynamics used by these programs are based on piston theory. Application of the program is illustrated by sample cases where the number of beam finite elements equals four, the in-plane tension parameter is 0.0, the maximum camber to panel length ratio for a curved panel case is 0.05, and the Mach number is 2.0. This memorandum provides a user's guide for these programs, describes the parameters that are used, and contains sample output from each of the programs

Effects of Picrotoxin Application on the Cardiac Ganglion of the American Lobster, \u3ci\u3eHomarus americanus\u3c/i\u3e

Picrotoxin (PTX) has been employed extensively as a tool within the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) for its efficacy in blocking K+ and Cl+ currents gated by both GABA and glutamate. Through blocking some currents in the STNS, PTX allows for examination of other components without their presence. However, effects of PTX are relatively unknown within the lobster’s cardiac ganglion (CG). As an incredibly small nervous system of only nine neurons, the lobster CG presents an excellent model system for studying neural circuits. Given that the chemical synapses in the CG are mediated by glutamate, the present study aimed to investigate the action of PTX in the lobster CG with the intent of better understanding its pharmacological impacts as a potential tool for studying the system. Therefore, this study aimed to establish the effects of PTX on CG responses to the application of exogenous GABA or glutamate. When data from both modulators were pooled, PTX applied at a concentration of 10-5M had significant effects on burst duration but not duty cycle or burst frequency of the CG. PTX did suppress GABA (5x10-5M) mediated inhibition of burst duration and duty cycle. PTX did not have any significant effects on burst duration, duty cycle, or frequency compared to exogenous glutamate application. These results indicate that glutamatergic inhibitory synapses are not present in the CG and PTX partially suppresses only GABAergic responses in this system

In Fed meetings, decision making is free – but not equal.

With its ability to influence interest rates globally, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve is arguably one of the most important decision making bodies on the planet. But how does it come to its decisions? In new research which analyses transcripts of FOMC deliberations over nearly 30 years, Joseph Gardner and John T. Woolley find that women speak less than men for nearly their entire tenure on the FOMC. While women are free to speak, they write, they do not participate equally in FOMC deliberations, and this could be influencing policy choices

Enhancing the Fed’s transparency didn’t hurt its deliberations

For more than two decades, transcripts of the US Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meetings have been made available to the public. But has the move to greater transparency about monetary policymaking hurt committee deliberations? In new research which examines committee meeting transcripts from 1978 to 2007, Joseph Gardner and John T. Woolley find that leadership – not transparency – had the greatest effect on how members deliberated during meetings

Choosing the Elite \u3ci\u3eRecmitment, Assessment, and Selection in Law Enforcement Tactical Teams and Military Special Forces\u3c/i\u3e

In the early morning hours of July 31, 2007, Gazi Abu Mezer and Lafi Khalil, two PcUestinians who had entered the United States after exploiting loopholes in the immigration system. were in the operational phase of a planned suicide bombing of the New York City fransit system. Their weapons: simple pipe bombs with electrical detonating switches packed into knapsacks. Two things would stand in the way of their attempt at martyrdom-their Egyptian roommate and the New York City Fblice Department\u27s Emergency Service Unit (ESU). Mossabah, the roommate, had been taken to the New York Fblice Department\u27s 88th Precinct. When the ESU tour commandex:, a veteran lieutenant arrived at the precinct, he interviewed Mossabah, having him start at the beginning of his recollections, interrupting him for clarifications and details. After digesting what he had heard, the commander began apprising his leadership of the situation and stressing that he believed Mossabah. He then looked at the roster of ESU officers working his shift, from midnight to 8 a.m. The urgency of the situation prohibited him from calling in people from home and handpicking a team to enter the apartment Mossabah shared with the two suspects; he would have to go with those already available. The commander called a sergeant and four police officers and told them to meet him at the precinct. After the five arrived, Mossabah was again asked to tell his stoty from the beginning. They interrupted him with even more questions and requests for clarification and had him draw an extensive diagram of his apartment building\u27s exterior and his apartment\u27s interior, highlighting the locations of the backpacks as well as the spaces Mezer and Khalil normally ocrupied. The commander took his team into another room and devised his tactical plan, giving out assignments as they progressed. The team would exerute a standard dynamic search warrant entry. Mossabah would lead them to the building. and they would enter using his key. The building the team saw upon exiting their vehicle looked nothing like the one Mossabah had sketched at the precinct. Thoughts of an ambush ran through the officers\u27minds. Mossabah then led the team through a narrow alley, at the end of which the team saw a building resembling the one he had drawn. The lead officer, protected by a hand-held body bunker, put the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. The team flooded the apartment, yelling. Police! Get down on the floor! The first officer through the door was met by a man who attempted to physically disarm him. The officer fired one shot from his 9-mm pistol, hitting his target. The wounded man stumbled backwards, toward a black canvas bag in the comer of the room. As he flipped one of four toggles on the front of the bag. another officer fired two 5.56-mm rounds into him, and he crumpled into a comer of the room. As the team pressed on, a second man in another room lunged toward a backpack in a comer. Two shots from an officer\u27s pistol dropped him before he could reach it. The entry was over in less than ninety seconds. Both men were taken into rustody. The FBI reconstructed both backpack improvised explosive devises, determining them to be functional with a blast mdius of more than 100 yards. Their analysis also revealed that the toggle thrown on the first backpack should have detonated the device. It is not known why it failed

Retaining graduates of non-metropolitan medical schools for practice in the local area: the importance of locally based postgraduate training pathways in Australia and Canada

Introduction: The objective of this study was to identify commonalities between one regionally based medical school in Australia and one in Canada regarding the association between postgraduate training location and a doctor's practice location once fully qualified in a medical specialty. Methods: Data were obtained using a cross-sectional survey of graduates of the James Cook University (JCU) medical school, Queensland, Australia, who had completed advanced training to become a specialist (a 'Fellow') in that field (response rate = 60%, 197 of 326). Medical education, postgraduate training and practice data were obtained for 400 of 409 (98%) fully licensed doctors who completed undergraduate medical education or postgraduate training or both at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), Ontario, Canada. Binary logistic regression used postgraduate training location to predict practice in the school's service region (northern Australia or northern Ontario). Separate analyses were conducted for medical discipline groupings of general/family practitioner, general specialist and subspecialist (JCU only). Results: For JCU graduates, significant associations were found between training in a northern Australian hospital at least once during postgraduate training and current (2018) northern Australian practice for all three discipline subgroups: family practitioner (p <0.001; prevalence odds ratio (POR)=30.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): 6.7-135.0), general specialist (p=0.002; POR=30.3; 95%CI: 3.3-273.4) and subspecialist (p=0.027; POR=6.5; 95%CI: 12-34.0). Overall, 38% (56/149) of JCU graduates who had completed a Fellowship were currently practising in northern Australia. For NOSM-trained doctors, a significant positive effect of training location on practice location was detected for family practice doctors but not for general specialist doctors. Family practitioners who completed their undergraduate medical education at NOSM and their postgraduate training in northern Ontario had a statistically significant (p<0.001) POR of 36.6 (95%CI: 16.9-79.2) of practising in northern Ontario (115/125) versus other regions, whereas those who completed only their postgraduate training in northern Ontario (46/85) had a statistically significant (p<0.001) POR of 3.7 (95%CI: 2.1-6.8) relative to doctors who only completed their undergraduate medical education at NOSM (28/117). Overall, 30% (22/73) of NOSM's general speciality graduates currently practise in northern Ontario. Conclusion: The findings support increasing medical graduate training numbers in rural underserved regions, specifically locating full specialty training programs in regional and rural centres in a 'flipped training' model, whereby specialty trainees are based in rural or regional clinical settings with some rotations to the cities. In these circumstances, the doctors would see their regional or rural centre as 'home base' with the city rotations as necessary to complete their training requirements while preparing to practise near where they train

Social Workers’ Philosophical Attitudes Towards Harm Reduction Services in Housing First Organizations

AbstractOver the past three decades, harm reduction has gradually become more prevalent among social workers and is now viewed as an instrumental approach in treating people with drug and alcohol problems. Although there have been several studies that described how harm reduction approaches were applied in Housing First (HF) settings, there are few studies that have described social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes regarding harm reduction in HF settings. The purpose of this study was to understand social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes toward harm reduction services and how those attitudes were apparent in their interactions with substance-using HF clients. A generic qualitative research design was employed with a purposive sample of six social workers with work experience in HF settings. Data were collected through individual, semistructured interviews comprised of 10 interview questions. Thematic analysis revealed three emergent themes in the data set: support of HF and a positive philosophical attitude about harm reduction in HF settings, programmatic challenges exist in HF settings, and HF programs align with the concept of social justice. The findings from this study support positive social change by identifying micro, mezzo, and macro implications that could be used to support the provision of harm reduction services to clients living in HF programs

Social Workers’ Philosophical Attitudes Towards Harm Reduction Services in Housing First Organizations

AbstractOver the past three decades, harm reduction has gradually become more prevalent among social workers and is now viewed as an instrumental approach in treating people with drug and alcohol problems. Although there have been several studies that described how harm reduction approaches were applied in Housing First (HF) settings, there are few studies that have described social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes regarding harm reduction in HF settings. The purpose of this study was to understand social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes toward harm reduction services and how those attitudes were apparent in their interactions with substance-using HF clients. A generic qualitative research design was employed with a purposive sample of six social workers with work experience in HF settings. Data were collected through individual, semistructured interviews comprised of 10 interview questions. Thematic analysis revealed three emergent themes in the data set: support of HF and a positive philosophical attitude about harm reduction in HF settings, programmatic challenges exist in HF settings, and HF programs align with the concept of social justice. The findings from this study support positive social change by identifying micro, mezzo, and macro implications that could be used to support the provision of harm reduction services to clients living in HF programs

Complex beam profiles for laser annealing of thin-film CdTe photovoltaics

Within the family of thin-film photovoltaics (PV), cadmium telluride (CdTe) has the fastest growing market share due to its high efficiencies and low cost. However, as with other PV technologies, the energy required to manufacture the panels is excessive, encompassing high environmental impact and manufacturing energy payback times of the order of 2-3 years. As part of the manufacturing process, the panels are annealed at temperatures of approximately 400°C for 30 minutes, which is inherently inefficient. Laser heating has previously been investigated as an alternative process for thin film annealing, due to its advantages with regard to its ability to localise heat treatment, anneal selectively and its short processing time. In this investigation, results focussing on improvements to the laser-based annealing process, designed to mitigate panel damage by excessive thermal gradients, are presented. Simulations of various laser beam profiles are created in COMSOL and used to demonstrate the benefit of laser beam shaping for thin film annealing processes. An enabling technology for this, the holographic optical element (HOE), is then used to experimentally demonstrate the redistribution of laser beam energy into an optimal profile for annealing, eliminating thermal concentrations