Emerging Viruses Are a Global Health Concern Requiring Science-based Solutions and Local Action

On 11 March 2020, COVID-19 was officially characterized as a pandemic. By this time, the SARS-CoV-2 virus had already spread across continents, causing significant morbidity and mortality, and affecting social and economic systems. The complexities of the impact of COVID-19 call for multidisciplinary to trans-disciplinary research that goes beyond epidemiology research and practice. We aimed to (1) provide a narrative review of scientific knowledge of COVID-19, (2) place the developments by international organizations, governments, and individuals (including researchers at all levels) into a wider context, (3) provide practical suggestions for all actors to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the short term within the context of large uncertainties, and (4) describe the need for systemic transformations for sustainability using a trans-disciplinary systems approach. In summary, the literature revealed that improvements of surveillance, prevention, and control programs for the prevention of pandemics are needed to safeguard public health. Embracing a trans-disciplinary systems-based approach with experts from a wide variety of fields will be essential to prevent future outbreaks and other health risks, taking into account the complexities of natural and social systems

Swashplate control system

A mechanical system to control the position of a rotating swashplate is developed. This system provides independent lateral cyclic, longitudinal cyclic and collective pitch control of a helicopter rotor attached to the swashplate, without use of a mixer box. The system also provide direct, linear readout of cyclic and collective swashplate positions

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Senior Year Plus Program in Iowa

Iowa’s public institutions graduate students with the sixth highest student loan debt in the nation (Project on Student Debt, 2008). As a result, Iowa Governor Chet Culver has proposed the Senior Year Plus Program, which is a state-funded dual-enrollment program. This program’s purpose is to help alleviate the debts students incur while attending college. However, there are no examinations to this point that focus on the financial, as well as the personal and professional developmental benefits of the program, particularly in comparison to the four-year institution. The current research utilized a qualitative research design. Ten (5 Dual-Enrollers/5 Non-Dual Enrollers) participants currently enrolled at a four-year institution in Iowa were interviewed. Significant themes and insights emerged that highlighted a need to reconsider the investment made in this program in terms of financial gain, which was related to length of enrollment, as well as the holistic developmental benefits available to students who enroll in the Senior Year Plus Program

Improving Searches for Gravitational Wave Bursts.

The first half of this dissertation discusses the details of calibrating a resonant mass gravitational wave antenna and determining its sensitivity. We dispense with the assumption of a perfectly tuned antenna and transducer and model the system using a coordinate rotation. We demonstrate that all of the important model parameters can be directly measured. We demonstrate that the signal response of the two detector modes should be equal despite any mistuning and that the mistuning parameter can be measured in two separate ways. These properties are useful for determining the degree to which a real detector\u27s behavior parallels that of an ideal two-mode system. We compare the predictions of the model to the output of the ALLEGRO system and determine that a resonance in the hardware used to apply calibration signals is the source of an observed 15% difference in signal response. We extend the model to include this additional resonance. The second half of this dissertation discusses the problem of comparing lists of candidate events acquired from different gravitational wave detectors in search of statistically meaningful coincidences. We demonstrate that a Bayesian approach is the most robust method of inferring if signals are present in the data. We use a combination of multinomial and Poisson distributions to form a likelihood function describing the results of any coincidence experiment. We establish a meaningful basis for choosing a prior probability for Bayesian analyses. We show that the results of a Bayesian analysis do not depend arbitrarily on how the data is subdivided. Finally, using the results of the 1991 and 1994 ALLEGRO and EXPLORER runs, we establish an upper limit on the mean rate of detectable gravity wave bursts that is no more than 9 events per year above a dimensionless strain threshold of 2.3 x 10-18

Exploring the Status of Learning Outcome Focused Initiatives in Four-Year Public Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the present status of efforts to assess student-learning outcomes within the bachelor’s degree granting institutions of the campuses in one system of public higher education. Further, the purpose of this study was also to understand what challenges and criticisms academic leaders report about the call to provide learning outcome evidence. The study was guided by the following research questions: What efforts, if any, are institutions presently taking to assess and report student-learning outcomes and why? What types of learning outcomes, if any, are colleges and universities trying to measure? What challenges and criticisms, if any, currently impede institutions’ abilities to gather learning outcome data? Data were collected from 12 in-depth interviews across three campus sites of current chancellors, provosts, deans, directors of institutional research, and vice provosts for undergraduate programs who were involved with the efforts to assess and report student learning outcomes. Strategic plans, accreditation documents, and state agency reports were also collected. Two findings related to steps institutions are undertaking to assess learning outcomes were observed. They were: Working toward Compliance and Trying to Engage in Continuous Improvement. Two findings related to what institutions were assessing were exhibited across the sites. They were: General Education Testing (nationally standardized instrument) and Major-Field Testing (Nationally Standardized Instrument; Internally-Developed Instrument; Embedded Assessment). Finally, two themes related to the challenges institutional leaders have encountered were evidenced through the case study. They were: Resistance Based on Established Practices and Concern over Assessment Decision Utility. These themes and findings suggest that while student learning outcomes are a significant priority within institutions of higher education, leaders who hold responsibility over assessing and reporting student learning outcomes are faced with significant barriers to establishing institution-wide systems of learning outcomes assessment on campuses. Implications for practice as well as considerations for future research are discussed

Attempts to analyse D/H ratios of sub-micromole quantities of hydrogen : applications in the study of ordinary chondrites

Semarkona is an unequilibrated ordinary chondrite which has experienced the least amount of thermal metamorphism and has the highest whole-rock D/H ratio of the ordinary chondrites. It is also unusual in that it has undergone some mild aqueous alteration, previously considered a secondary process restricted to some deuterium-rich carbonaceous chondrites. Semarkona was chosen to be the object of a more detailed study of secondary alteration and to determine whether the deuterium-rich phase was related in any way to the aqueous alteration process. A procedure was developed involving three analytical techniques (chemical/petrographic, thermoluminescence and hydrogen isotope) to study individual fragments of this meteorite. The deuterium-rich phase was found to be concentrated in the chondrules, average δD = +3890‰, with a maximum measured δD of +7500‰ in one of the chondrules. The matrix had a moderate deuterium enrichment, of average 3D = +2670‰. The isotope results in conjunction with the other techniques employed indicated that the chondrules that had experienced aqueous alteration are deuterium-rich. The water involved in the aqueous alteration was either deuterium-rich or transported deuterium-rich organics to the sites of aqueous alteration. In order to reduce sample size requirements, it was necessary to develop an inlet and mass spectrometer system capable of the isotopic analysis of less than 0.1 µmol hydrogen. Two inlet systems were developed for use with a dynamic mass spectrometer and compared with a conventional inlet system. The inlet system with greatest sensitivity, capable of analysing 0.1 µmol hydrogen, was used for the isotopic study of Semarkona; however, the accuracy of this system was poor due to the presence of a memory effect. Experiments, using the conventional inlet, showed that this memory effect was due to sample water remaining on the surfaces of the inlet system. The presence of the memory effect could not be eliminated, but a correction procedure was obtained. These experiments have shown various methods in which the memory effect can be overcome by careful design of an inlet system. Finally a static mass spectrometer system was developed, capable of analysing less than lnmol hydrogen, in the form of methane. Initial results show that this system is capable of the isotopic analysis 0.01 μmol of water with δD in the range of -500‰ to +5000‰ to an accuracy of ±20‰

Corporate, Political, and Academic Perspectives on Tennessee Higher Education Accountability Policy

The purposes of the research are (1) to identify the similarities and differences among corporate, political, and academic leaders in Tennessee on postsecondary education accountability policy and (2) to investigate ways for improving accountability policy as evidenced by the various stakeholders. The two following research questions will be adapted from the larger, ongoing study by Bogue et al. (2009) on accountability: · What differences and similarities exist among corporate, political, and academic stakeholders on the issues of collegiate mission and issues of accountability definition and evidence? · What are the most important steps that institutions of higher education can take to improve performance accountability and what factors impede effective accountability? The study employed a quantitative survey design where academic, corporate, and political leaders from Tennessee were investigated to identify differences and similarities on the purpose and function of accountability policy within the state. The findings suggest that while there are numerous points of difference among the stakeholders, it isreasonable to conclude that the numerous similarities that exist can help guide the successful development of meaningful accountability policy

Aeroacoustic research programs at the Army Aviation Research and Technology Activity

The Army rotorcraft aeroacoustic programs are reviewed, highlighting the theoretical and experimental progress made by Army researchers in the physical understanding of helicopter impulsive noise. The two impulsive noise sources addressed over this past decade are high-speed impulsive noise and blade-vortex interaction noise, both of which have had and will continue to have an increasing influence on Army rotorcraft design and operations. The advancements discussed are in the areas of in-flight data acquisition techniques, small-scale-model tests in wind tunnels, holographic interferometry/tomographic techniques, and the expanding capabilities of computational fluid dynamics in rotorcraft acoustic problems. Current theoretical prediction methods are compared with experimental data, and parameters that govern model scaling are established. The very successful cooperative efforts between the Army, NASA, and industry are also addresse

Fate of a representative pharmaceutical in the environment

The purpose of this research was to determine the fate of amoxicillin in the City of Lubbock’s Water Reclamation Plant and to determine the antibiotic resistance patterns in the plant. Amoxicillin was detected in the influent of the plant during one month of the study, but amoxicillin was not detected at any other plant flow streams. The antibiotic resistance patterns of the LWRP varied monthly; heterotrophic bacteria were resistant to most of the antibiotics investigated during the nine month study