Reassessing Public Meetings As Participation in Risk Management Decisions

Using a U.S. case study, Ms. McComas and Dr. Scherer discuss how reliance on public meetings as tools for risk communication in public policy decisions affects relationships between stakeholders and risk managers

Disconnecting Solar Magnetic Flux

Disconnection of open magnetic flux by reconnection is required to balance the injection of open flux by CMEs and other eruptive events. Making use of recent advances in heliospheric background subtraction, we have imaged many abrupt disconnection events. These events produce dense plasma clouds whose distinctie shape can now be traced from the corona across the inner solar system via heliospheric imaging. The morphology of each initial event is characteristic of magnetic reconnection across a current sheet, and the newly-disconnected flux takes the form of a "U"-shaped loop that moves outward, accreting coronal and solar wind material. We analyzed one such event on 2008 December 18 as it formed and accelerated at 20 m/s^2 to 320 km/s, expanding self-similarly until it exited our field of view 1.2 AU from the Sun. From acceleration and photometric mass estimates we derive the coronal magnetic field strength to be 8uT, 6 Rs above the photosphere, and the entrained flux to be 1.6x10^11 Wb (1.6x10^19 Mx). We model the feature's propagation by balancing inferred magnetic tension force against accretion drag. This model is consistent with the feature's behavior and accepted solar wind parameters. By counting events over a 36 day window, we estimate a global event rate of 1/day and a global solar minimum unsigned flux disconnection rate of 6x10^13 Wb/y (6x10^21 Mx/y) by this mechanism. That rate corresponds to ~0.2 nT/y change in the radial heliospheric field at 1 AU, indicating that the mechanism is important to the heliospheric flux balance.Comment: preprint is 20 pages with 8 figures; accepted by APJ for publication in 201

Thermal analysis of conceptual designs for GPHS/FPSE power systems of 250 We and 500 We

Thermal analyses were performed for two distinct configurations of a proposed space nuclear power system which combines General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules with the state of the art Free-Piston Stirling Engines (FPSEs). The two configurations correspond to systems with power levels of 250 and 500 W(sub e). The 250 W(sub e) GPHS/FPSE power system utilizes four GPHS modules and one FPSE, and the 500 W(sub e) contains eight GPHS modules and two FPSEs. The configurations of the systems and the bases for selecting the configurations are described. Brief introductory sections are included to describe the GPHS modules and free piston Stirling engines. The primary focus of the thermal analyses is on the temperature of the iridium fuel clad within the GPHS modules. A design goal temperature of 1573 K was selected as the upper limit for the fuel clad during normal operating conditions. The basis for selecting this temperature limit is discussed in detail. Results obtained from thermal analysis of the 250 W(sub e) GPHS/FPSE power system indicate fuel clad temperatures which slightly exceed the design goal temperature of 1573 K. The results are considered favorable due to the numerous conservative assumptions used in developing the thermal model and performing the thermal analysis. To demonstrate the effects of the conservatism, a brief sensitivity analysis is performed in which a few of the key system parameters are varied to determine their effect on the fuel clad temperatures. It is concluded that thermal analysis of a more detailed thermal model would be expected to yield fuel clad temperatures below the design foal temperature limiy 1573 K

Covering Missouri's Uninsured Children

Missouri provides insurance for children through its Medicaid program, known as MO HealthNet and its version of the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, known as MO HealthNet for Kids. Research indicates that a significant proportion of eligible children are not covered by either program. Missouri has attempted to ease access by allowing “presumptive eligibility” (PE) where children are provided care as though qualified for the programs, with actual eligibility established later. Currently, presumptive eligibility can be established at four Missouri hospitals but the Missouri General Assembly made additional funding available for FY09 (beginning July 1, 2008) to expand PE to community health clinics. Access to health insurance will potentially increase significantly by expanding the number of sites that can provide care under the presumptive eligibility standard.Includes bibliographical reference

Recounting the sacred: orality and textuality in a contemporary performance of the Sanskrit classic, the Bhāgavatapurāṇa

The Bhāgavatapuṛāna is one of the master-texts of the Sanskritic archive and is the foundational source of narratives relating to the deity Kṛṣṇa. Since it reached its current form about a millennium ago, public ‘performances’ of the text have been sponsored as a means of accumulating religious and social capital. These week-long events are a significant aspect of contemporary religious practice in the Hindu cultural world, but have received little or no scholarly attention. What is the role of the Sanskrit text in the oral performance of the Bhāgavatapuṛāna? How does the Sanskrit text function vis-à-vis the oral vernacular commentary with accompanies it? In this paper it is argued that a spectrum of social and cultural practices—ritual, oral, textual and performative—all contribute towards the validation and empowerment of the discourse

What enables canonical literature to function as “true”? The case of the Hindu Puranas

"Why do the devout believe in the canonical literature of their tradition? What enables great normative texts to function as “true discourse”? The idea of “true discourse” is premised on the understanding that truth is ultimately contingent and is socially constructed. We are in the realm of localized “truths,” rather than that of some Absolute Truth which functions as a universally accepted, recognized, and applicable yardstick. Local “truth” is the currency of a given epistemic community, that is, a community with a shared set of understandings and beliefs as to what constitutes true knowledge. Each community also has defined procedures and processes by which true knowledge is produced, legitimated, and disseminated...

Reactions of 1-Bromo-2-(p-Tolyl)Cyclopropane with Nucleophiles in the Presence of Crown Ether

Reactions of 1-bromo-2-(p-tolyl)cyclopropane with potassium acetate in the presence of crown ether in various solvents (DMSO, t-butanol, and toluene) have been examined. No cyclopropyl products were observed, only ring-opened p-methylsinnamyl acetates. The trans 1-bromo-2-(p-tolyl)cyclopropane isomer reacts about 3.8 times faster than the cis isomer in DMSO, but only about 1.5 times faster in t-butanol, seemingly related to solvation factors in the transition state. Although stability studies indicated that p-methylcinnamyl bromide might be an intermediate, the rate of formation of this compound in the absence of potassium acetate was much lower than rate of product formation even in the presence of potassium perchlorate to maintain high ionic strength. A Hammett treatment of reaction rate data for 1-bromo-2-(p-tolyl)cyclopropane and 1-bromo-2-phenylcyclopropane reacting with potassium acetate gave a ρ value of -1.18

Promoting Informed Decision-Making: The Role of Message Structure

The authors analyze two empirical explorations of relationships between the composition of risk message and critical thinking within audiences