Apparatus automatically measures soluble residue content of volatile solvents

Solvent Purity Meter /SPM/ automatically measures the soluble residue in volatile solvents used in cleaning or extraction of oils, greases, and other nonvolatile materials. The SPM gives instantaneous and continuous readout of soluble contaminant residues in concentrations as low as one part per million of solution

Alt-Bargaining

Reflections on the modern labor movement tend to take a bad-news/good-news approach to the future: yes, unions are down, but a new trend suggests they are far from out. The framing is optimistic, but also right. What’s “new” has often involved innovations in unionizing, and over the past three decades organized labor has gotten creative, taken risks, and every once in a while—for the first time in a while—started winning. The new wave campaigns were variously “comprehensive,” legally canny, sometimes global, and usually movement-esque in their approach to traditionally underrepresented constituencies and sectors. Less discussed is that the trends developed counterparts: hot takes in unionization became new normals in negotiation. If exposing dirty directors weakened corporate resolve in union drives, C-suite exposés became a regular feature in contract drives. If union organizers learned that an employer’s fiercest anti-union weapons could be traded away during a campaign, contract organizers realized that a collective bargaining agreement could do the same for future campaigns. And if fighting for a union became less about money and more about morality, so did fighting for a contract. The current trend is “alt,” short for “alternative-labor,” and invoked where unions or non-profits mobilize workers for better working conditions but not necessarily collective bargaining. As its name implies, the efforts have varied origins, tactics, and aims, making the category hard to define with specificity. But if the alt-labor innovations of today signal how more mature entities—alt-, traditional, or otherwise—will push for workplace benefits tomorrow, clarifying what the present advance is, exactly, is useful foreshadowing. That definitional project is one goal of this article. Alt-labor is incredibly diverse, but through-lines exist. Its constituent groups are repeatedly marked by three non-standard relationships to law that generate exceptional conceptions of group membership, challenge organizing’s presumptive outer-bounds, and prove how even bad organizing doctrine can be harnessed for good. The major goal, though, is to argue that alt-labor isn’t foreshadowing anything because alt-bargaining is here. Over and over, the unconventional legal orientations that facilitate alt-labor’s inclusive approaches to membership, fluid conceptions of which workers or what entities are organizable, and optimistic spins on employment rights can be spotted in recent campaigns where the activists are already assembled and scrutiny instead surrounds how the group is negotiating. The innovative legal perspectives that make up alternative organizing practices, in other words, can now be found in situations where labor and management are actually passing proposals

Evaluation testing of protective coatings on refractory metals Quarterly report

Evaluation testing of protective coatings on refractory metals for nozzles and chamber

Tap Water Treatment and Testing

My research is focused on how the water we drink is cleaned and filtered and whether or not it is safe to drink the water from the tap

A Mixed methods exploration of principal communication and school climate

Mixed methods triangulation research design was used in order to explore the relationship between principal communication and school climate. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) and interview protocols on principal communication were administered to principals and teachers at three elementary schools each having between 700-1000 students in an urban school district consisting of approximately 300,000 students. Each school had between 80-100% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL), was designated Adequate according to No Child Left Behind Act (2001) as published in the 2009-2010 School Accountability Reports, and had a principal that had been assigned to that school for a minimum of two years. Data collection with the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) was administered to a total of 90 teachers and three principals. Interviews were conducted with the principal and five teachers from each of the three schools. Results indicated relationships exist between principal communication and school climate. Specifically, findings revealed a relationship between the utilization of face-to-face communication channels, positive reinforcement, and school climate

Session 1A: AI in the Composition Classroom

Session Moderator: Amanda Oswalt Let\u27s Be Blunt - Addressing AI with Students Laura Foster-Eason – Collin College “What About AI?” - How Emerging Tools Can Enhance Student Learning Joshua Campbell – TWU Utilizing Art in Teaching Argument in an AI Environment William Brannon - Collin Colleg

Isolating Bacteriophage for Potential Treatment of Chronic Multi-Drug Resistant Escherichia coli Infections

The misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the intense rise in antibiotic resistance. As society transitions into the post antibiotic era, there will be a great need for new therapeutic strategies to address multiple drug resistant bacterial infections. One such method, called bacteriophage therapy, allows for specific targeting of certain pathogenic bacteria through the use of viruses that attack bacteria; termed “bacteriophage” or simply “phage”. Urinary tract infections are among the most common pathological human infections that rely heavily on the use of antibiotics, the major cause of which is the bacterium Escherichia coli. During the Spring 2021-Spring 2022 semesters, I evaluated an existing set of E. coli-specific phage isolated by the Larsen lab from environmental sources and also isolated new phage that target various strains of wild-type and laboratory-adapted E. coli. These isolates were also screened against the uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain, CFT073, a well-established model research organism. None of the phage isolates were determined to inhibit the growth of the CFT073 strain. I also wrote a book during the Fall 2022 semester, aimed at a third to fourth grade audience. Through this study and future publication of my children’s book, I hope to add to the plethora of literature surrounding phage therapy in order to ensure the protection of public health despite the upsurge in antibiotic resistant bacteria

Mathematical modeling in the high school classroom

Mathematical modeling is the procedure whereby students apply mathematical concepts learned in class to new and unfamiliar situations. A modeling task is a mathematically-rich problem that engages students in mathematical thinking, drawing upon their previously learned knowledge and supporting their understanding of the mathematical concepts currently being covered. Modeling requires students to assign meaning to the mathematical concepts and to extend the concepts beyond rote learning. In order for students to be successful in a classroom that is centered around the idea of mathematical modeling, the students must be taught how to collaborate with other students, persevere through challenging problems, and become aware of their own thinking. In this thesis, I focus on a professional development workshop designed to train high school teachers on how to successfully use mathematical modeling in their classroom by providing them with guidelines on how to use modeling tasks effectively, sample tasks that can be used, and instruction on how to develop modeling tasks for their classroom. The goal is to affect change in the daily routines of high school mathematics classrooms by providing teachers with compelling reasons why changes are necessary, steps on how to make the necessary changes, and good examples of problems to be used in class

Check valve installation in pilot operated relief valve prevents reverse pressurization

Two check valves prevent reverse flow through pilot-operated relief valves of differential area piston design. Title valves control pressure flow to ensure that the piston dome pressure is always at least as great as the main relief valve discharge pressure