New polyimide polymer has excellent processing characterisitcs with improved thermo-oxidative and hydrolytic stabilities

Polyimide P10P and its processing technique apply to most high temperature plastic products, devices and castings. Prepolymer, when used as varnish, impregnates fibers directly and is able to be processed into advanced composities. Material may also be used as molding powder and adhesive

Ablative resin Patent

Ablative resins used for retarding regression in ablative materia

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

This three week unit is designed to review Algebra I concepts by using geometric identities. Students will review skills such as writing linear equations in three forms; point-slope, slope-intercept, and standard form. They will use these algebra skills to learn parallel line and special angle pair postulates. It is important to note that the lessons are broken up by days which consist of 55 minute class periods. These should be considered guidelines and will need to be adjusted as the unit progresses

The Feasibility of a Zone of Peace

Starting in 1964 there has been a movement to declare the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. In an age when many in the world feel threatened by the potential of nuclear holocaust this is not striking in and of itself. What the Zone of Peace proposal provides is more valuable than the actual resolution. Empirically, it is obvious that nuclear free zones and peace zones have little validity. Historically, the weak have been vanquished by the powerful; their proclaimed neutrality notwithstanding. Consequently, a study of the peace movement in the Indian ocean may be utilized to investigate why proclamations which attempt to restrict military involvement in a given region are unworkable. A study of the peace movement in the region rapidly moves toward discussion of the military posture of the United States and the Soviet Union. Many littoral states argue that a removal of superpower forces would inevitably result in regional concord. This, as we shall see, is unlikely. this remote ocean is actually an area of high intrigue and endemic political maneuver. This paper will focus on the presence of the superpowers in the region, as well as that of China. Other western states with an interest will also be considered. The prospects for peace amongst the littoral states (should the superpowers abandon the Indian ocean), will also be examined. lastly, some analysis will be provided which will identify major problems with attempts to proclaim any area of the world as a zone of peace

Postsecondary Instruction: Changes in the Academic Workforce and State Appropriations for Community Colleges

Over the last 30 years continued decline in state appropriations for public institutions has been accompanied by an increase in the use of part-time instruction. Community colleges have been particularly susceptible to both of these problems. Two-year institutions have less freedom than their larger counterparts to raise tuition rates and part time instructors constitute a larger percentage of their workforce. Less revenue has resulted in fewer resources to devote to instruction and student support. Part-time time instruction, on the whole, results in lower student retention and graduation rates. This analysis intended to establish a connection between cuts to state appropriations and increases in part-time labor at community colleges in the post-Great Recession time period. Data was gathered for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012 on employment, finances, and enrollment for 464 institutions. Two analyses were conducted to better understand how these factors influenced the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty. A fixed-effects model was used to understand how changes in these variables influenced the ratio within institutions. A between-effects model was used to estimate the differences between institutions. Neither model showed state appropriations as being a statistically significant influence upon the part-time to full-time ratio. The fixed effects model indicated increases in tuition, local appropriations, and private grant or contract revenues could increase the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty. The between-effects model included state and urbanization-level variables. There were many significant state level effects, but of the variables previously tested in the fixed-effects model, only investments in instruction were found significant. Policy suggestions can be drawn from this study despite the lack of a connection between state appropriations and the part-time to full-time instructor ratio. The significance of instruction expenditures in the second model highlights the importance of investment in an academic labor force. Substantial state-level effects provide opportunities for administrators and legislators to seek out best practices and policies from more successful states. Finally, increases in reliance on local appropriations and private grants may indicate mission creep and distraction from the importance of investing in instruction

Thermally stable laminating resins Final report

Polyimide resin and resin reinforced composite

Blind estimation of reverberation time in classrooms and hospital wards

This paper investigates blind Reverberation Time (RT) estimation in occupied classrooms and hospital wards. Measurements are usually made while these spaces are unoccupied for logistical reasons. However, occupancy can have a significant impact on the rate of reverberant decay. Recent work has developed a Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method which utilises only passively recorded speech and music signals, this enables measurements to be made while the room is in use. In this paper the MLE method is applied to recordings made in classrooms during lessons. Classroom occupancy levels differ for each lesson, therefore a model is developed using blind estimates to predict the RT for any occupancy level to within ±0.07s for the mid-frequency octave bands. The model is also able to predict the effective room and per person absorption area. Ambient sound recordings were also carried out in a number of rooms in two hospitals for a week. Hospital measurements are more challenging as the occurrence of free reverberant decay is rarer than in schools and the acoustic conditions may be non-stationary. However, by gaining recordings over a period of a week, estimates can be gained within ±0.07 s. These estimates are representative of the times when the room contains the highest acoustic absorption. In other words when curtains are drawn, there are many visitors or perhaps a window may be open

New records of florivory on dipterocarp flowers

Peer reviewedPreprin

Reinforced structural plastics

Reinforced polyimide structures are described. Reinforcing materials are impregnated with a suspension of polyimide prepolymer and bonded together by heat and pressure to form a cured, hard-reinforced, polyimide structure