The 16-39 micron spectroscopy of oxygen-rich stars

Airborne observations of the 16-39 microns spectra of ten oxygen-rich stars with excess emission in the infrared was obtained. The stars show excess emission attributed to circumstellar dust grains in the 16-39 microns region in the form of a broad hump peaking near 18 microns and falling smoothly to longer wavelengths. The emission is similar in character to the emission from the Trapezium region of the Orion nebula indicating the grain materials are quite similar in these objects. The existence of a feature in the 20 microns region is consistent with the 0-Si-0 bending resonance expected for silicate material. The lack of any sharp structure in the spectra indicates the silicate is in an amorphous, disordered form. A simple model of small grains of carbonaceous chondrite silicate material in a diffuse circumstellar envelope is shown to give a good qualitative fit to the observed 8-39 microns circumstellar spectra. Comparison of the observed spectra with the model spectra indicates the grain emissivity falls as 1/lambda squared from 20 microns to 40 microns

A mathematical morphology approach for a qualitative exploration of drought events in space and time

Drought events occur worldwide and possibly incur severe consequences. Trying to understand and characterize drought events is of considerable importance in order to improve the preparedness for coping with future events. In this paper, we present a methodology that allows for the delineation of drought events by exploiting their spatiotemporal nature. To that end, we apply operators borrowed from mathematical morphology to represent drought events as connected components in space and time. As an illustration, we identify drought events on the basis of a 35-year data set of daily soil moisture values covering mainland Australia. We then extract characteristics reflecting the affected area, duration and intensity from the proposed representation of a drought event in order to illustrate the impact of tuning parameters in the methodology presented. Yet, this paper we refrain from comparing with other drought delineation methods

Interdisciplinary research on the application of ERTS-1 data to the regional land use planning process

The author has identified the following significant results. Although the degree to which ERTS-1 imagery can satisfy regional land use planning data needs is not yet known, it appears to offer means by which the data acquisition process can be immeasurably improved. The initial experiences of an interdisciplinary group attempting to formulate ways of analyzing the effectiveness of ERTS-1 imagery as a base for environmental monitoring and the resolution of regional land allocation problems are documented. Application of imagery to the regional planning process consists of utilizing representative geographical regions within the state of Wisconsin. Because of the need to describe and depict regional resource complexity in an interrelatable state, certain resources within the geographical regions have been inventoried and stored in a two-dimensional computer-based map form. Computer oriented processes were developed to provide for the economical storage, analysis, and spatial display of natural and cultural data for regional land use planning purposes. The authors are optimistic that the imagery will provide revelant data for land use decision making at regional levels

The use of ERTS-1 data for the inventory of critical land resources for regional land use planning

Computer-generated spatial and statistical comparisons of critical land resource data derived from conventional sources, RB-57 photographs, and ERTS images, for an eastern Wisconsin test site, suggest that certain critical land resource data can be mapped from ERTS images on a statewide basis. This paper presents one of the biotic resources, wetlands, as an example of the use of ERTS imagery to inventory land resources

Making Sense of Family Deaths in Urban Senegal: Diversities, Contexts, and Comparisons

Despite calls for cross-cultural research, Minority world perspectives still dominate death and bereavement studies, emphasizing individualized emotions and neglecting contextual diversities. In research concerned with contemporary African societies, on the other hand, death and loss are generally subsumed within concerns about AIDS or poverty, with little attention paid to the emotional and personal significance of a death. Here, we draw on interactionist sociology to present major themes from a qualitative study of family deaths in urban Senegal, theoretically framed through the duality of meanings-in-context. Such themes included family and community as support and motivation; religious beliefs and practices as frameworks for solace and (regulatory) meaning; and material circumstances as these are intrinsically bound up with emotions. Although we identify the experience of (embodied, emotional) pain as a common response across Minority and Majority worlds, we also explore significant divergencies, varying according to localized contexts and broader power dynamics

Sports medicine in Hawaii: care of the high school athlete in Oahu's public schools.

A recent study by the National Athletic Trainers Association indicated that injuries occur more often during practice than during games in high school athletics. Results of the 3-year study indicated that 60% of basketball injuries occurred in boys and young men during practice and 59% occurred in women. About 2/3 of the estimated 120,000 injuries suffered by prep wrestlers each year happen during practice. The study found that an average of 331,865 high school football players (1/3 of the million who play football each year) were sidelined by an injury at least once. With these statistics in mind, our study looks at the approach to the management of injury in the public schools that make up the Oahu Inter-scholastic Association (OIA) in the state of Hawaii. The estimated number of student athletes that participate in organized athletics in the OIA is 7,960 and the number of coaches is 1,189

Improvement of oral reports through the students' use of audio-visual aids

Author misnumbered thesis. Please note that there are TWO page 108s, but the continuity is the same. Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Buoyancy waves in Pluto's high atmosphere: Implications for stellar occultations

We apply scintillation theory to stellar signal fluctuations in the high-resolution, high signal/noise, dual-wavelength data from the MMT observation of the 2007 March 18 occultation of P445.3 by Pluto. A well-defined high wavenumber cutoff in the fluctuations is consistent with viscous-thermal dissipation of buoyancy waves (internal gravity waves) in Pluto's high atmosphere, and provides strong evidence that the underlying density fluctuations are governed by the gravity-wave dispersion relation.Comment: Accepted 18 June 2009 for publication in Icaru

Optimum size, number & location of freezing works in the South Island, New Zealand : A spatial analysis

The meat industry is New Zealand's largest export earner and in recent years has been responsible for approximately 40 per cent of total export earnings. For the industry to maintain or improve its competitive position in export markets it is important to have an efficient assembly, processing and distribution system. One apect of such a system involves the size and location of freezing works. Recent papers by Burridge, Pilling, Ward, and Morrison, Cooper et al., have discussed factors affecting the location of New Zealand freezing works, but no attempt has been made to relate these factors through use of quantitative models. The questions such models would normally attempt to answer include-:.- (a) What is the most efficient locational pattern (size, number and location) of freezing works in New Zealand? (b) What are the significant cost factors involved in such a system? (c) How does the existing system compare with a theoretically most efficient system? (d) How should the existing system be changed to cater for increasing numbers of livestock for slaughter, and changing processing requirements? The last question involves decisions such as whether to upgrade or expand existing facilities, or to establish new facilities at alternative locations. These are important issues in New Zealand at present, with a number of proposals for new works, including the King Country, Central Otago, Northern Southland and the West Coast. The objective of this study is to set up a mathematical model and indicate how it can answer such questions. However the area of interest is the South Island rather than New Zealand. For the former, the model will determine the optimum size, number and location of freezing works. One difficulty in such an approach is that social and political implications of location may be difficult, if not impossible, to quantify. However, given reasonable assumptions, models can be constructed which are capable of generating a range of good solutions which will provide a choice for policy makers