Tweaking Tinker: Redefining an Outdated Standard for the Internet Era

This Note argues that the Tinker standard needs to be reevaluated to encompass Internet-related cases both by eliminating the “on-campus” requirement and by further defining what constitutes a “substantial disruption.” The “on-campus” requirement should be eliminated for the following reasons: 1) lower federal courts already disregard this condition for Internet-related cases; 2) it leads students to abuse their First Amendment rights; and 3) this requirement threatens the safety of teachers, students, and other school personnel. Additionally, Tinker\u27s “substantial disruption” prong would be better understood as a factors test. This ensures that schools utilize the same criteria in determining whether a “substantial disruption” has occurred, as well as eliminate the need for courts to define ambiguous terms

Application of Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) to Three-Dimensional Wave Propagation and Scattering in Arbitrary Geometries

Over several decades, railroad Ultrasonic Testing (UT) industry techniques have primarily been developed through simple analytical modelling and experimental approaches. However, with present-day computational capabilities, we can use numerical techniques like the Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) to fine-tune systems for complex applications before the fabrication process begins. EFIT is well-established as a useful method in numerical analysis of ultrasonic wave propagation with distinct advantages over the Finite Difference Time Domain method. Several software packages exist that use EFIT as the primary method for simulating the behavior of ultrasonic waves over time in 2 or 3 dimensions, but none of them are well-suited for railroad UT research and development. This thesis explores the complete development of a custom tool for this purpose which was designed to: (1) allow for the input of various profile geometries, boundary conditions, and material inclusion geometries (such as a bolt hole in a railroad track); and (2) allow for the input of specific ultrasonic impulses from varying emitter designs. The custom software produced results that closely matched expected wave propagation behavior. The results were processed into useful visual representations of that behavior

A Mini-survey of X-ray Point Sources in Starburst and Non-Starburst Galaxies

We present a comparison of X-ray point source luminosity functions of 3 starburst galaxies (the Antennae, M82, and NGC 253) and 4 non-starburst spiral galaxies (NGC 3184, NGC 1291, M83, and IC 5332). We find that the luminosity functions of the starbursts are flatter than those of the spiral galaxies; the starbursts have relatively more sources at high luminosities. This trend extends to early-type galaxies which have steeper luminosity functions than spirals. We show that the luminosity function slope is correlated with 60 micron luminosity, a measure of star formation. We suggest that the difference in luminosity functions is related to the age of the X-ray binary populations and present a simple model which highlights how the shape of the luminosity distribution is affected by the age of the underlying X-ray binary population.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted for publication in Ap

Use of the Model Organism Caenorhabditis elegans to Elucidate Neurotoxic and Behavioral Effects of Commercial Fungicides

Fungicides are widely used in agriculture and medicine and there are several different types of fungicides that are distributed globally in the soil and water through water runoff and drift from spraying as well as other avenues of distribution. Understanding the biological effects of fungicide contaminants in the environment on non-target organisms including humans is critical. This chapter considers the use of the model organism and key beneficial soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as an effective strategy for examining fungicide effects on growth, reproduction, nervous system and behavior. We present novel evidence of the effects of a general use fungicide, mancozeb, on behavior and neuronal structure

Achieving Innovation and Affordability Through Standardization of Materials Development and Testing

The successful expansion of development, innovation, and production within the aeronautics industry during the 20th century was facilitated by collaboration of government agencies with the commercial aviation companies. One of the initial products conceived from the collaboration was the ANC-5 Bulletin, first published in 1937. The ANC-5 Bulletin had intended to standardize the requirements of various government agencies in the design of aircraft structure. The national space policy shift in priority for NASA with an emphasis on transferring the travel to low earth orbit to commercial space providers highlights an opportunity and a need for the national and global space industries. The same collaboration and standardization that is documented and maintained by the industry within MIL-HDBK-5 (MMPDS-01) and MIL-HBDK-17 (nonmetallic mechanical properties) can also be exploited to standardize the thermal performance properties, processing methods, test methods, and analytical methods for use in aircraft and spacecraft design and associated propulsion systems. In addition to the definition of thermal performance description and standardization, the standardization for test methods and analysis for extreme environments (high temperature, cryogenics, deep space radiation, etc) would also be highly valuable to the industry. Its subsequent revisions and conversion to MIL-HDBK-5 and then MMPDS-01 established and then expanded to contain standardized mechanical property design values and other related design information for metallic materials used in aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles. It also includes guidance on standardization of composition, processing, and analytical methods for presentation and inclusion into the handbook. This standardization enabled an expansion of the technologies to provide efficiency and reliability to the consumers. It can be established that many individual programs within the government agencies have been overcome with development costs generated from these nonstandard requirements. Without industry standardization and acceptance, the programs are driven to shoulder the costs of determining design requirements, performance criteria, and then material qualification and certification. A significant investment that the industry could make to both reduce individual program development costs and schedules while expanding commercial space flight capabilities would be to invest in standardizing material performance properties for high temperature, cryogenic, and deep space environments for both metallic and nonmetallic materials

Performance of Nuttall Oak (Quercus texana Buckl.) Provenances in the Western Gulf Region

Three series of three tests each of Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckl. formally Q. nuttallii Palmer) were established by the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program at three locations: Desha and Lonoke Counties in Arkansas and Sharkey County in Mississippi. The three series included 28-42 different half-sib families from throughout the natural range of Nuttall oak. Families were arbitrarily divided into provenances based on the river basin in which they originated. Significant provenance differences were found for survival in all series. Provenance differences for growth were highly significant for series 2 and 3, but not for series 1. The Red River provenance had the best growth performance in series 3 tests, but it was not represented in the other two test series. The best provenance in series 2, the Ouachita River provenance, ranked second in series 3 tests. The Western provenance performed well in series 1 and 3 tests but had poorer performance in series 2 tests. The interactions between site and provenance were significant for all growth traits in all series. Family-mean heritability estimates, however, were high ranging from 0.72-0.96 for height and 0.22-0.95 for diameter. There were good families from all sources indicating that family selection will be effective in this species.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003

Evaluation of Height as an Early Selection Criterion for Volume and Predictor of Site Index Gain in the Western Gulf

Data from repeated periodic measures of height, diameter and volume from eleven loblolly pine progeny tests maintained as part of the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program (WGFTIP) were analyzed to 1) determine the potential of using early height, diameter, or volume as selection criteria for rotation-age volume, and 2) to develop a method of expressing height performance as predicted change in site index. Using family means, few differences in family mean correlations existed between 5-year traits with volume at 15 or 20 years, but they were slightly higher for volume than the other two traits. Gain efficiency estimates for all three traits at age 5 were similar, suggesting that the traits were equally efficient in predicting rotation volume. However, at age ten, per-acre volume was the better predictor of per-acre volume at later ages. Predicted gains in breeding value for height, expressed as percent change in site index (SIBV), were estimated following published WGFTIP methodology for volume. Age specific site index equations and coefficient of genetic prediction (CGP) estimates for height were developed using the 15-year data from the eleven progeny tests. Estimates of CGP for height at ages 5 and 10 with height at age 15 were 0.55 and 0.61, respectively. Correlation between parental breeding values for volume production and site index breeding values were high (r=0.80). Predicted genetic gain for site index provides additional information for decision-making. Uses and limitations of this gain information are demonstrated.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003