A noise assessment and prediction system

A system has been designed to provide an assessment of noise levels that result from testing activities at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The system receives meteorological data from surface stations and an upper air sounding system. The data from these systems are sent to a meteorological model, which provides forecasting conditions for up to three hours from the test time. The meteorological data are then used as input into an acoustic ray trace model which projects sound level contours onto a two-dimensional display of the surrounding area. This information is sent to the meteorological office for verification, as well as the range control office, and the environmental office. To evaluate the noise level predictions, a series of microphones are located off the reservation to receive the sound and transmit this information back to the central display unit. The computer models are modular allowing for a variety of models to be utilized and tested to achieve the best agreement with data. This technique of prediction and model validation will be used to improve the noise assessment system

To restore or not? A valuation of social and ecological functions of the Marais des Baux wetland in Southern France

The Marais des Baux wetland in southern France has for centuries been subject to drainage, almost causing its entire disappearance. With an increasing awareness of wetland ecosystem services, the extensive drainage is being questioned today. To guide policy-makers and landowners in their decision-making, we use a Choice Experiment to elicit the preferences of the general public for potential land use and activity changes in the Marais des Baux. These changes concern wetland restoration, the extent of tree hedges, recreational opportunities, mosquito control and biodiversity.

Do Historically Black Colleges and Universities Enhance the College Attendance of African American Youths?

Recently, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have become the center of intense policy debates. Do HBCUs enhance the college attendance of African American youths? Previous research has been inconclusive. Among other improvements, our study adjusts for the relative availability of HBCU enrollment opportunities in each state. We find that African Americans are more likely to choose HBCUs over other colleges if more HBCU openings are available. However, more HBCU openings don\u27t increase overall African American enrollment. As we have shown elsewhere, attendance at an HBCU does enhance African American students\u27 college graduation rates

Investigation of Teacher Perceptions of Gifted Education: How Teacher Perceptions Influence the Use of Specific Research-Based Teaching Strategies Tailored to Challenge Learning in AG Students

The research study examined teacher perceptions of gifted instruction. It focused on teacher perceptions of the needs of gifted students; teacher confidence in adapting instruction to meet the needs; and teacher perceptions of which research-based instructional strategies are best implemented. The purpose of this study was to determine if AG teacher perceptions of instructional strategies influence the implementation of them. This study combined literature research, survey data, and interview data all shedding light on the need to improve academic instruction for all AG students (Bangel, Moon, & Capobianco, 2010; Manning, 2006; McKinsey & Co., 2009). The research and data demonstrated a lack of preparation for teachers who instruct AG students (Bain, Bliss, Choate, & Sager Brown 2007). The priority is to increase teacher preparation at the college level and continue to fund certification partnerships with universities and ongoing support from the district in the form of professional development and district in-services. Literature research supports the implementation and frequent use of the six research-based instructional strategies presented in this study. The study found two of the six instructional strategies had low perception translating into poor implementation. Contrary to many beliefs, AG students will not succeed on their own; they require specific instructional and psychological needs to continue to compete internationally with other nations (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011; Xiang, Dahlin, Cronin, Theaker, & Durant, 2011). Renzulli (2005) described this as a quiet crises that if unchecked will leave a drought of specialized and creative work force that made America great

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-COMMERCE CLAUSE-STATE TAXATION OF INTERSTATE AIR CARRIERS

Plaintiff, an interstate air carrier, was incorporated in Delaware, and the home port of its planes was in Minnesota. It conducted regularly scheduled flights in and between twelve states. No landings were ever made in Delaware. Nebraska, one of the states in which landings were made by plaintiff, levied an ad valorem tax on a proportion of the Hight equipment of the plaintiff measured by the proportion of the total use of the equipment that was attributable to Nebraska. Plaintiff contended that the commerce clause of the United States Constitution precluded Nebraska from imposing any tax whatever upon such Hight equipment used in interstate commerce. In an original action for a declaratory judgment, held, the tax is valid. Mid-Continent Airlines, Inc. v. Nebraska State Board of Equalization and Assessment, 157 Neb. 425, 59 N.W. (2d) 746 (1953)

REAL PROPERTY-EASEMENTS BY PRESCRIPTION-USE OF PRESUMPTION

Plaintiffs sought to enjoin defendants from using a driveway located on plaintiffs\u27 property. Defendants counterclaimed to have an easement by prescription declared. The parties occupied adjacent city lots. Defendants\u27 predecessor began using the driveway in 1920 without seeking permission from plaintiffs\u27 predecessor. The respective predecessors were on friendly terms at the inception of the user. Defendants and their predecessors made minor repairs to the driveway and claimed at the trial that they had constantly used it as their own. In 1936, two years after plaintiffs acquired full title to their lot, their predecessor executed an abortive quit-claim deed to the driveway to defendants\u27 predecessor. The prescriptive period in the state was twenty years. The trial court granted the counterclaim. On appeal, held, reversed. Defendants\u27 evidence failed to overcome the presumption of permissive user that arises upon a showing that the user had its origin in neighborly accommodation. Although the abortive quitclaim deed of 1936 may have initiated an adverse user, the prescriptive period had not expired before commencement of this action. Lunt v. Kitchens, (Utah 1953) 260 P. (2d) 535

Efficient Synthesis of Narrowly Dispersed Brush Copolymers and Study of Their Assemblies: The Importance of Side Chain Arrangement

Efficient, one-pot preparation of synthetically challenging, high molecular weight (MW), narrowly dispersed brush block copolymers and random copolymers in high conversions was achieved by ring-opening metathesis (co)polymerization (ROMP) of various macromonomers (MMs) using the highly active, fast-initiating ruthenium olefin metathesis catalyst (H_2IMes)(pyr)_2(Cl)_2RuCHPh. A series of random and block copolymers were prepared from a pair of MMs containing polylactide (PLA) and poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PnBA) side chains at similar MWs. Their self-assembly in the melt state was studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In brush random copolymers containing approximately equal volume fractions of PLA and PnBA, the side chains segregate into lamellae with domain spacing of 14 nm as measured by SAXS, which was in good agreement with the lamellar thickness measured by AFM. The domain spacings and order−disorder transition temperatures of brush random copolymers were insensitive to the backbone length. In contrast, brush block copolymers containing approximately equal volume fractions of these MMs self-assembled into highly ordered lamellae with domain spacing over 100 nm. Their assemblies suggested that the brush block copolymer backbone adopted an extended conformation in the ordered state

Federal Procedure - Venue in Third-Party Tort Actions Against the United States

Plaintiff sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a mail pouch thrown from defendant\u27s moving train by a United States mail clerk. Action was was brought against the railroad in the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, whereupon the railroad filed a third-party complaint against the United States, alleging negligence on the part of the mail clerk. The United States moved for a dismissal on the ground that both plaintiffs residence and the situs of the injury were in the Eastern District of Oklahoma; since the venue provisions of Title 28, U.S.C. (1952) §1402(b) prescribe that tort actions against the United States may be brought only in the district where the plaintiff resides or where the act or omission complained of occurred, the United States had not consented to be sued in the Western District. The motion was denied, and judgments were rendered against both the railroad and the United States. On appeal, held, affirmed. A third-party action being ancillary in nature, its venue might be derived from that of the original action. United States v. Acord, (10th Cir. 1954) 209 F. (2d) 709

Husband and Wife -- Personal Tort Actions Between Spouses -- Statutory Construction

Following an interlocutory divorce decree, and while the parties were living apart from one another, defendant allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. The trial court dismissed her complaint on the ground that no action could be brought by one spouse against the other for personal torts committed during coverture. On appeal, held, reversed, three judges dissenting and one concurring. The Judicial Code and the Husband and Wife Statutes of Utah, when considered together, entitle a married woman to maintain an action against her husband for injuries intentionally inflicted upon her. Taylor v. Patten, 2 Utah (2d) 404, 275 P. (2d) 696 (1954)