Biofilm monitoring coupon system and method of use

An apparatus and method is disclosed for biofilm monitoring of a water distribution system which includes the mounting of at least one fitting in a wall port of a manifold in the water distribution system with a passage through the fitting in communication. The insertion of a biofilm sampling member is through the fitting with planar sampling surfaces of different surface treatment provided on linearly arrayed sample coupons of the sampling member disposed in the flow stream in edge-on parallel relation to the direction of the flow stream of the manifold under fluid-tight sealed conditions. The sampling member is adapted to be aseptically removed from or inserted in the fitting and manifold under a positive pressure condition and the fitting passage sealed immediately thereafter by appropriate closure means so as to preclude contamination of the water distribution system through the fitting. The apparatus includes means for clamping the sampling member and for establishing electrical continuity between the sampling surfaces and the system for minimizing electropotential effects. The apparatus may also include a plurality of fittings and sampling members mounted on the manifold to permit extraction of the sampling members in a timed sequence throughout the monitoring period

Parameter trails

Successful communication is vital for the success of any design project. However, communication often fails, adversely affecting design process efficiency and product quality.understand the connections between different aspects of design and don–t know where to find out more information or who to talk to. This paper presents a new model, developed from current project planning techniques, which supports communication using parameter-specific data. It enables designers to question information, inform their colleagues pro-actively and assess the impact of changing parameter values on subsequent design tasks. Such interaction is critical in allowing designers to see how their own tasks fit into the overall product design

Stress and depression among veterinary medical students

While existing literature suggests that professional students (e.g., medical, dental, law, nursing, etc.) experience high levels of stress and depression, the experiences of veterinary medical students have been less well examined. The purpose of this study was to explore the levels of stress and depression among veterinary medical students and to examine the relationship between these variables. Study participants were 1,245 veterinary medical students from North America. The findings provide support for the assertion that veterinary medical students experience high levels of stress and depression. Results also indicated that there is a correlation between stress and depression for veterinary medical students and that female students experience higher levels of stress and depression than their male counterparts.Accepted manuscrip

Using Banned and Challenged Books in the Classroom

Censorship presents a very real issue for students, teachers and parents in the modern classroom. While teachers may appear in control of their lessons and the information that they teach, professionals everywhere live in fear of saying the wrong thing and facing repercussions that may cost them valuable time in the classroom, or in extreme cases, their jobs. Likewise, parents live in fear of their children growing up too fast by dealing with more advanced and mature subject matters in the classroom. In order to protect their children, many parents work to have this type of material removed from their children’s classrooms in an attempt to protect the innocence of their young. However, in many cases, the students in said classrooms have little to no idea that the content that is being taught has been altered in any way. It is the students who lose out on lessons that may prove overwhelmingly authentic and valuable to the overall unit in order to follow the wishes of the parents and teachers. Schools must learn to change with the demand for particular content. While many adults find fault in teachers covering controversial materials in the classroom, students will learn about these different topics in one way or another. By allowing students to learn about these topics in a safe and educational environment, not only are the adults allowing students to ask questions, they are actually able to guide the discussions of said topics in a constructive and educational manner

Data analysis strategies for the detection of gravitational waves in non-Gaussian noise

In order to analyze data produced by the kilometer-scale gravitational wave detectors that will begin operation early next century, one needs to develop robust statistical tools capable of extracting weak signals from the detector noise. This noise will likely have non-stationary and non-Gaussian components. To facilitate the construction of robust detection techniques, I present a simple two-component noise model that consists of a background of Gaussian noise as well as stochastic noise bursts. The optimal detection statistic obtained for such a noise model incorporates a natural veto which suppresses spurious events that would be caused by the noise bursts. When two detectors are present, I show that the optimal statistic for the non-Gaussian noise model can be approximated by a simple coincidence detection strategy. For simulated detector noise containing noise bursts, I compare the operating characteristics of (i) a locally optimal detection statistic (which has nearly-optimal behavior for small signal amplitudes) for the non-Gaussian noise model, (ii) a standard coincidence-style detection strategy, and (iii) the optimal statistic for Gaussian noise.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 4 figure

Transient resonances in the inspirals of point particles into black holes

We show that transient resonances occur in the two body problem in general relativity, in the highly relativistic, extreme mass-ratio regime for spinning black holes. These resonances occur when the ratio of polar and radial orbital frequencies, which is slowly evolving under the influence of gravitational radiation reaction, passes through a low order rational number. At such points, the adiabatic approximation to the orbital evolution breaks down, and there is a brief but order unity correction to the inspiral rate. Corrections to the gravitational wave signal's phase due to resonance effects scale as the square root of the inverse of mass of the small body, and thus become large in the extreme-mass-ratio limit, dominating over all other post-adiabatic effects. The resonances make orbits more sensitive to changes in initial data (though not quite chaotic), and are genuine non-perturbative effects that are not seen at any order in a standard post-Newtonian expansion. Our results apply to an important potential source of gravitational waves, the gradual inspiral of white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes into much more massive black holes. It is hoped to exploit observations of these sources to map the spacetime geometry of black holes. However, such mapping will require accurate models of binary dynamics, which is a computational challenge whose difficulty is significantly increased by resonance effects. We estimate that the resonance phase shifts will be of order a few tens of cycles for mass ratios $\sim 10^{-6}$, by numerically evolving fully relativistic orbital dynamics supplemented with an approximate, post-Newtonian self-force.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor correction

The Paradigm Shift Needed by Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterpsies to Operate in The International Construction Market

Commercial burdens and dogmas are not always on the same path, especially in the construction sector. In a constantly changing working environment, with strong market fluctuations that need to be absorbed, Micro, Small and Medium sized construction companies might need to seek new market sections overseas. In order to do so, they would need to leverage strong competitive advantages to establish themselves in different contexts, outside of their domestic markets. This paper focuses on the paradigm shift needed by Micro, Small and Medium size construction companies serving the sector venturing overseas. It will be explored the existing gap between theory and practice, before highlighting some of their main features, including their entrepreneurial mind-set when it comes to considering construction technologies and specialist services. After overviewing patterns, values, challenges and features of these companies, the focus will then be on the competitive advantage features and the paradigm shift characteristics to build a framework able to allow these companies to operate in international markets. A mixed methodology gathering information from observations, semistructured interviews, document reviews about specific case studies, will be put in place. It emerged the importance to raise MSMEs’ awareness about how to fit their features to international market