"Reconsidering Dignity Relationally"

I reconsider the concept of dignity in several ways in this article. My primary aim is to move dignity in a more relational direction, drawing on care ethics to do so. After analyzing the power and perils of dignity and tracing its rhetorical, academic, and historical influence, I discuss three interventions that care ethics can make into the dignity discourse. The first intervention involves an understanding of the ways in which care can be dignifying. The second intervention examines whether the capacity to care should be considered a distinguishing moral power – as rationality often is – in light of which humans have dignity. In the third intervention, I cast dignity as a fundamentally relational concept and argue that relationality is constitutive not only of dignity but also of the wider enterprise of normativity. I understand relationality as the condition of connection in which all human beings stand with some other human beings. A thought experiment involving the last person on earth helps to reframe the normative significance of human relatedness. Dignity emerges as fundamentally grounded in relationality

Nuclear rocket propulsion. NASA plans and progress, FY 1991

NASA has initiated planning for a technology development project for nuclear rocket propulsion systems for space explorer initiative (SEI) human and robotic missions to the moon and Mars. An interagency project is underway that includes the Department of Energy National Laboratories for nuclear technology development. The activities of the project planning team in FY 1990 and 1991 are summarized. The progress to date is discussed, and the project plan is reviewed. Critical technology issues were identified and include: (1) nuclear fuel temperature, life, and reliability; (2) nuclear system ground test; (3) safety; (4) autonomous system operation and health monitoring; and (5) minimum mass and high specific impulse

Formulation and evaluation of C-Ether fluids as lubricants useful to 260 C

Three base stocks were evaluated in bench and bearing tests to determine their suitability for use at bulk oil temperatures (BOT) from -40 C to +260 C. A polyol ester gave good bearing tests at a bulk temperature of 218 C, but only a partially successful run at 274 C. These results bracket the fluid's maximum operating temperature between these values. An extensive screening program selected lubrication additives for a C-ether (modified polyphenyl ether) base stock. One formulation lubricated a bearing for 111 hours at 274 C (BOT), but this fluid gave many deposit related problems. Other C-ether blends produced cage wear or fatigue failures. Studies of a third fluid, a C-ether/disiloxane blend, consisted of bench oxidation and lubrication tests. These showed that some additives react differently in the blend than in pure C-ethers

A new saturation-based framework for compaction quality control

Field compaction control is arguably the most common yet critical quality control procedure in geotechnical engineering. Since the early 1930s, the systematic process for performing quality control of compacted soils has often been performed by measuring the in-place dry unit weight (or density) and as-compacted soil moisture content after placement in a fill. However, the current practice overlooks several facts resulting from comparing soil prepared and compacted in the laboratory to soils placed and compacted in the field. These issues include comparing the compaction energy in the lab versus what is applied in the field, and the behavior of saturated soils in the laboratory to the performance of unsaturated soils in the field. To address some of these gaps, this study presents a new saturation-based framework for compaction quality control. The aim of this new framework is to reduce the uncertainties and assumptions of the compaction control process and provide practicing engineers with further insight into the key engineering attributes of compacted soils. The proposed saturation-based approach compares a degree of saturation difference to a normalized dry unit weight ratio, making saturation upon compaction the controlling diagnostic variable and the focus of the monitoring effort. In essence, the optimal compaction conditions will be referenced to a characteristic saturation state near 80%. Compared to the conventional quality control system for field compaction, the saturation-based approach is developed with the same field and reference data collected for most earth fill projects. The results of this approach enhance the engineering judgment required to match the laboratory reference values to the field conditions. For illustration purposes, the proposed saturation-based framework is applied to compaction control data of a large earth dam and compared against the conventional method side-by-side. The proposed framework builds on the unique physical features of the family of curves and expands the ability of the user to select the compaction criterion using that relationship to produce project design properties. Overall, the proposed approach enhances the knowledge of the physical behavior of compacted soils and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the long-term performance of compacted fills

Changes In Fish Communties Throughout The Buck Creek Watershed In Relation To Land Use

Physical alterations of terrestrial habitat surrounding aquatic systems lead to increases in runoff, sedimentation, and nutrient inputs. Tracking changes in fish communities can provide information regarding degradation of water quality and the biotic integrity of freshwater systems. Changes in fish communities, and specifically declines in Buck Darter (Etheostoma nebra) populations, have been observed throughout the Buck Creek watershed since the 1980’s. Thus, goals of this project were to determine if shifts in fish community composition (eg., sensitive to less sensitive families, intolerant to tolerant species, and changes in feeding groups) and extirpation of the Buck Darter in 6 of 8 historically populated sub-watersheds are related to changes in land use/land cover (LULC) proportions from 1983, 2010, and 2020. LULC proportions were determined using GIS at a local and sub-watershed scale to discern (1) changes in fish communities relative to LULC between 1983 and 2012, (2) sub-watersheds for reintroduction of E. nebra based on historic LULC, and (3) streams in need of restoration relative to E. nebra conservation. A detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) was used to determine relationships between LULC and fish communities between years and spatial scales. A principal component analysis (PCA) of 1983 and 2020 LULC proportions was used to identify sub-watersheds for the reintroduction of E. nebra based on the least change from 1983 and stream buffers in need of restoration based on. Agriculture/pasture dominated LULC proportions in 1983, 2010, and 2020 at the watershed level. Intolerant fish species, invertivores, omnivores, herbivores and darter species distributions decreased in sub-watersheds dominated by agriculture/pasture LULC (\u3e50%). Centrarchids occurred in sub-watersheds in 2012 where they were absent in 1983 and increased in abundance in streams that gained proportions of development. LULC proportions at the buffer level demonstrated riparian reforestation efforts occurring throughout the Buck Creek watershed from 1983-2010. With forest proportions higher in Crab Orchard Creek and Gilmore Creek in 2010, intolerant, invertivore, and darter species proportions still decreased. This suggests that changes in fish communities within the Buck Creek watershed are operating at the watershed scale. Results from a PCA demonstrated that Gilmore Creek and Crab Orchard Creek showed the least LULC change, and Brushy Creek remained associated with agriculture/pasture in 2020. With little change in LULC proportions observed between years, disturbance of the Buck Creek watershed occurred prior to 1983, with fish communities exhibiting a delayed response. Further reforestation of riparian buffers will reduce inputs of sediment and reduce inputs of organic and inorganic nutrients into tributaries of the Buck Creek watershed

Happily entangled: prediction, emotion, and the embodied mind

Recent work in cognitive and computational neuroscience depicts the human cortex as a multi-level prediction engine. This ‘predictive processing’ framework shows great promise as a means of both understanding and integrating the core information processing strategies underlying perception, reasoning, and action. But how, if at all, do emotions and sub-cortical contributions fit into this emerging picture? The fit, we shall argue, is both profound and potentially transformative. In the picture we develop, online cognitive function cannot be assigned to either the cortical or the sub-cortical component, but instead emerges from their tight co-ordination. This tight co-ordination involves processes of continuous reciprocal causation that weave together bodily information and ‘top-down’ predictions, generating a unified sense of what’s out there and why it matters. The upshot is a more truly ‘embodied’ vision of the predictive brain in action

The numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for laminar incompressible flow past a paraboloid of revolution

A numerical method is presented for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for flow past a paraboloid of revolution. The flow field has been computed for a large range of Reynolds numbers. Results are presented for the skinfriction and the pressure together with their respective drag coefficients. The total drag has been checked by means of an application of the momentum theorem.

Applications of remote sensing techniques to county land use and flood hazard mapping

The application of remote sensing in Arizona is discussed. Land use and flood hazard mapping completed by the Applied Remote Sensing Program is described. Areas subject to periodic flood inundation are delineated and land use maps monitoring the growth within specific counties are provided