Discrete Charge Dielectric Model of Electrostatic Energy

Studies on nanoscale materials merit careful development of an electrostatics model concerning discrete point charges within dielectrics. The discrete charge dielectric model treats three unique interaction types derived from an external source: Coulomb repulsion among point charges, direct polarization between point charges and their associated surface charge elements, and indirect polarization between point charges and surface charge elements formed by other point charges. The model yields the potential energy, U(N), stored in a general $N$ point charge system differing from conventional integral formulations, $1/2\int{\bm E}\cdot{\bm D}dV$ and $1/2\int\rho\Phi dV$, in a manner significant to the treatment of few electron systems.Comment: 1 figure, 2 parts, ep

Seismic Performance of Anchored Brick Veneer

A study was conducted on the out-of-plane seismic performance of anchored brick veneer with wood-frame backup wall systems, to evaluate prescriptive design requirements and current construction practices. Prescriptive requirements for the design and construction of anchored brick veneer are currently provided by the Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) Building Code, the International Residential Code (IRC) for Oneand Two-Family Dwellings, and the Brick Industry Association (BIA) Technical Notes. Laboratory tests were conducted on brick-tie-wood subassemblies, comprising two bricks with a corrugated sheet metal tie either nail- or screw-attached to a wood stud, permitting an evaluation of the stiffness, strength, and failure modes for a local portion of a veneer wall system, rather than just of a single tie by itself. Then, full-scale brick veneer wall specimens (two one-story solid walls, as well as a one-and-a-half story wall with a window opening and a gable region) were tested under static and dynamic out-of-plane loading on a shake table. The shake table tests captured the performance of brick veneer wall systems, including interaction and load-sharing between the brick veneer, corrugated sheet metal ties, and wood-frame backup. Finally, all of these test results were used to develop finite element models of brick veneer wall systems, including nonlinear inelastic properties for the tie connections. The experimental and analytical studies showed that the out-of-plane seismic performance of residential anchored brick veneer walls is generally governed by: tensile stiffness and strength properties of the tie connections, as controlled by tie installation details; overall grid spacing of the tie connections, especially for tie installation along the edges and in the upper regions of walls; and, overall wall geometric variations. Damage limit states for single-story residential brick veneer wall systems were established from the experimental and analytical studies as a function of tensile failure of key tie connections, and the seismic fragility of this form of construction was then evaluated. Based on the overall findings, it is recommended that codes incorporate specific requirements for tie connection installation along all brick veneer wall edges, as well as for tie connection installation at reduced spacings in the upper regions of wall panels and near stiffer regions of the backup. Residential anchored brick veneer construction should as a minimum be built in accordance with the current prescriptive code requirements and recommendations, throughout low to moderate seismicity regions of the central and eastern U.S., whereas non-compliant methods of construction commonly substituted in practice are generally not acceptable.published or submitted for publicatio

Letter from the Editor

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136583/1/LaFave_LetterFromTheEditor.pd

Something Rotten: Space, Place, and the Nation in Hamlet and As You Like It

Ecocriticism has been defined as literature that concretely concerns the environment, which can be obviously applied to those of Shakespeare’s that directly depict natural disaster. This creates a prototype of a Shakespearean Ecocritical canon. My thesis addresses the limitation of this initial definition, and applies ecocritical theory to other works by Shakespeare. Ecocriticism is no longer confined to only the natural as critics expand the field through examinations of built environments and urban interaction with the natural. This widening of the field encourages the addition of further Ecocritical Shakespeare. How can audiences see the unnatural as natural, and conversely the natural as unnatural through competing plays? To answer this question, I propose a comparison of two plays from Shakespeare written in 1601 – Hamlet and As You Like It. My thesis is particularly interested in defining the ecocritical in Hamlet, a play generally not approached for its depictions of nature, and using the pastoral As You Like It as a point of comparison. Hamlet does not have the critical theory associated with pastoralism like As You Like It, but reading Hamlet with an ecocritical lens combines the move towards examining built environments and the urban with the history of pastoral criticism applied to plays like As You Like It