Multi-Culture Unit on Native Americans

The culture of the Native American has been ignored by the educational institutions of the United States far too long. With the recent comi decisions upholding Native American treaties, local school districts must obligate themselves to the teaching of Native American culture. The purpose of this project was to develop a multicultural unit, about Native American culture, and then introduce this unit of study into the history classes at Wenatchee High School

Theory of Drop Formation

We consider the motion of an axisymmetric column of Navier-Stokes fluid with a free surface. Due to surface tension, the thickness of the fluid neck goes to zero in finite time. After the singularity, the fluid consists of two halves, which constitute a unique continuation of the Navier-Stokes equation through the singular point. We calculate the asymptotic solutions of the Navier-Stokes equation, both before and after the singularity. The solutions have scaling form, characterized by universal exponents as well as universal scaling functions, which we compute without adjustable parameters

From Star Charts to Stoneflies: Detecting Relationships in Continuous Bivariate Data

Within many ecological systems, relationships between controlling factors and associated response variables are complex. In many cases, the response should vary little when the controlling factor exerts strong effects. Conversely, when the effect of the controlling factor is weak or absent, the response may vary greatly with effects of other factors. Correlation or regression analyses often may not be appropriate for testing these relationships, because variance of the response changes with values of the controlling factor. We suggest using a technique from the astronomy literature, a two-dimensional Kolmogorov- Smirnov (2DKS) test, to detect relationships in bivariate data with these patterns of variance. This technique successfully identified simulated bivariate data composed of paired independent values as having nonsignificant relationships and simulated bivariate data in which mean and variance of y was constrained at high levels of x as having significant relationships. Using these simulations and examples from aquatic and terrestrial systems, we demonstrate that the 2DKS is a robust test for detecting nonrandom patterns in bivariate distributions that commonly arise in many ecological systems.Support for this research was provided to E. A. Marschall by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB 9410327, to J. E. Garvey and R. A. Wright by NSF grant DEB 9407859 and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project F-69-P (administered jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ohio Division of Wildlife, to R. A. Stein, The Ohio State University), and to J. E. Garvey by a Presidential Fellowship from The Ohio State University

Increased parental care cost for nest-guarding fish in a lake with hyperabundant nest predators

Although parental care increases offspring survival, providing care is costly, reducing parental growth and survival and, thereby, compromising future reproductive success. To determine if an exotic benthic predator might be affecting parental care by nest-guarding smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), we compared nest-guarding behavior and energy expenditures in two systems, one with a hyperabundant recently introduced predator, the round goby (Neogobious melanostomus). In Lake Erie, USA, smallmouth bass vigorously defended their nests from benthic round gobies. In Lake Opeongo, Canada, smallmouth bass were exposed to fewer and predominantly open-water predators and were less active in their nest defense. From scuba and video observations, we documented that nest-guarding smallmouth bass chased predators (99% of which were round gobies) nine times more frequently in Lake Erie than in Lake Opeongo. This heightened activity resulted in a significant decline in weight and energetic content of guarding males in Lake Erie but no change in Lake Opeongo males. Bioenergetic simulations revealed that parental care increased smallmouth bass standard metabolic rate by 210% in Lake Erie but only by 28% in Lake Opeongo. As energy reserves declined and offspring became increasingly independent, males in both lakes consumed more prey and spent more time foraging away from their nests; however, nest-guarding smallmouth bass consumed few prey and, in Lake Erie, rarely consumed round gobies. Therefore, increased parental care costs owing to the presence of round gobies could affect future growth, reproduction, and survival if smallmouth bass approach critically low energy reserves.Funding for this project was provided by Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project F-69-P, administered jointly by United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid awarded to G.B.S., and the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University

Deafferentation as a cause of hallucinations

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The association between hallucinations and sensory loss, especially vision- and hearing-impairment, has been firmly established over the past years. The deafferentation theory, a decrease of the threshold for activation in the brain and the consequential imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory brain networks, is hypothesized to underly this relationship. Here we review the studies investigating this theory with a focus on the most recent literature to better understand the contribution of sensory loss to hallucinations. RECENT FINDINGS: A large cross-sectional study has recently confirmed the relationship between auditory impairment and deafferentation. However, the underlying mechanisms of deafferentation are still under debate, with hyperexcitability and deviations in bottom-up and top-down processes being the most likely explanations. Social isolation following sensory impairment increases the risk for hallucinations. Better knowledge and awareness about the contribution of deafferentation and loneliness would benefit diagnosis and treatment of hallucinations. SUMMARY: Studies imply activity in higher order areas, corresponding to the functional mapping of sensory system, and a general state of higher excitability as neurobiological explanation. Auditory deafferentation, tinnitus and other auditory hallucinations, likely lie on a continuum. Social isolation mediates psychotic symptoms in sensory-impaired individuals. Currently, there is no standard treatment for deafferentation hallucinations

Increased Coprophagic Activity of the Beetle, Tenebrio molitor, on Feces Containing Eggs of the Tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta

When provided with fecal pellets from uninfected (control) rats and rats infected with the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta, more fed and starved (72 h) female and starved male Tenebrio molitor fed on fecal pellets from infected- than from control rats; compared to fecal pellets from controls rats, fed males avoided the infective fecal pellets. Uninfective and infective fecal pellets had similar moisture contents, so increased coprophagic activity was not due to differences in moisture content. Fed and starved males and females were fed on fecal pellets containing tapeworm eggs and examined for cysticercoids. Significantly greater numbers of starved beetles than fed beetles were infected with cysticercoids, but the numbers of infected males and females within each treatment were not significantly different. On the other hand, males contained significantly greater numbers of cysticercoids than did females, and there was no significant difference between the numbers of cysticercoids recovered from fed and starved beetles. The data support the hypothesis that the feeding behavior of T. molitor on rat feces is altered by the presence of tapeworm eggs. The data demonstrated further that transmission dynamics are affected by a complex interaction of the beetle's sex and nutritional status

Исследование парогазовой установки, работающей на генераторном газе

Выпускная квалификационная работа 116 страниц, 25 рисунков, 25 таблиц, 35 источников, 2 приложения. Ключевые слова: газификация угля, парогазовая установка, газотурбинная установка, генераторный газ, анализ, котел-утилизатор, показатели эффективности. Объектом исследования является ПГУ, работающая на генераторном газе. Цель работы – анализ работоспособности такой ПГУ с ГТУ, работающей на генераторном газе. В процессе исследования проводилось изучение различных способов газификации угля; производился выбор расчетной схемы ПГУ с газификацией; проводился расчет состава и характеристик генераторного газа и определение основных показателей тепловой эффективности ПГУ. В результате исследования был сделан анализ эффективности работы парогазовой установки.Final qualifying work of 116 pages, 25 figures, 25 tables, 35 sources, 2 annexes. Keywords: coal gasification combined cycle plant, a gas turbine plant, the product gas analysis, waste heat boiler, performance indicators. The object of this study is to CCGT running on syngas. The purpose of work - performance analysis of a CCGT with a gas turbine, operating on syngas. The study was carried out to study different methods of coal gasification; selects the estimated PSU circuit with gasification; conducted calculation and composition of the product gas characteristics and the definition of the main indicators of the thermal efficiency of the CCGT. The survey was made the analysis of the efficiency of the combined-cycle plant

Periodic refractive index modifications inscribed in polymer optical fibre by focussed IR femtosecond pulses

Focussed femtosecond laser pulses were used to inscribe a periodic array of modifications in the core of a polymer optical fibre. Structural and refractive-index modifications have been observed at different pulse energies using DIC microscopy