My Best Day at Sea

An Army chopper pilot off the coast of Beirut plays a trick on a Marine platoon on their carrier. Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit

Remote Stratigraphic Analysis: Combined TM and AIS Results in the Wind River/bighorn Basin Area, Wyoming

An in-progress study demonstrates the utility of airborne imaging spectrometer (AIS) data for unraveling the stratigraphic evolution of a North American, western interior foreland basin. AIS data are used to determine the stratigraphic distribution of mineralogical facies that are diagnostic of specific depositional environments. After wavelength and amplitude calibration using natural ground targets with known spectral characteristics, AIS data identify calcite, dolomite, gypsum and montmorillonite-bearing strata in the Permian-Cretaceous sequence. Combined AIS and TM results illustrate the feasibility of spectral stratigraphy, remote analysis of stratigraphic sequences

Remote Sensing Systems Optimization for Geobase Enhancement

The U.S. Air Force is in the process of implementing GeoBase, a geographic information system (GIS), throughout its worldwide installations, Air Force GIS needs can be augmented by imagery from aerial and satellite platforms. Imagery has greatly improved over the past several years and provides high resolution coverage of features on earth. Various imagery types will significantly increase GeoBase usefulness in a range of mission requirements, Potential Air Force uses of imagery include identifying heat loss, environmental monitoring, command decision-making, and emergency response, The research develops a decision tool to determine the appropriate imagery for a given Air Force Application, Current literature identified proven imagery applications, Literature review and a 2002 Air Force Geo-Integration Office (AF/GIO) survey were used to develop a comprehensive imagery applications list that satisfies Air Force mission requirements, An imagery decision matrix was crafted that allows a user to select an application and see imagery that fulfills the requirements for the task, An imagery system key provides further details of each imagery type, The matrix was tested at three Air Force bases, Increased awareness of the possibilities of an imagery-enriched GeoBase, and the efficiency afforded by the matrix, greatly reduces the time to identify and implement imagery, Available imagery was identified for the three Air Force bases at the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) through a government contract at no additional cost, Current IKONOS imagery of Elmendoff Air Force base was obtained for analysis and implementation into GeoBase

Particulate inorganic carbon flux and sediment transport dynamics in karst: Significance to landscape evolution and the carbon cycle.

Research focused on three areas of karst hydrogeology and sediment transport that have been poorly studied in the past: the role of particulate inorganic carbon transport in calculating carbon sink rates in karst; rapid changes in surface vs. subsurface sediment mixing in karst conduits; and comparison of landscape denudation calculations using dissolved carbonate load vs. total dissolved/sediment load. Carbonate bedrock weathering is a significant component of the atmospheric carbon sink. Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) in bed and suspended sediment load of karst waters is frequently dismissed as insignificant for calculating denudation and carbon transport/sink rates, but PIC flux has not been adequately studied. PIC fluxes were quantified in fluviokarst settings using RFID-tagged cobbles and gravel to track subsurface bed load flux, along with remote loggers and lab analysis of sediment and water chemistry for suspended and dissolved loads. PIC contributed about 10.3 percent annually to total inorganic carbon removal and additional carbon sequestration at Blowing Cave basin. Cosmogenic and fallout radionuclides 7Be and 137Cs were also utilized to develop a better understanding of rapid, short-term changes in sediment flux and transport through karst aquifers. The ratio of surface-derived sediment to stored and remobilized subsurface sediment in cave streams was estimated by tracking isotopic changes across storm runoff events. During a large storm event, approximately 34% of the total sediment flux during the 4-day runoff event originated from surface erosion. Landscape denudation rates in karst settings have been calculated using a number of different methods. The most widely applied basin-wide method is measurement of dissolved carbonate load at base-level springs, calculating denudation using the area of exposed carbonate outcrop, and assuming other outcrop types are in equilibrium. In mixed carbonate/noncarbonate lithologies (which includes most fluviokarst settings), much of the landscape is also eroded by transport of sediments through conduits. The basin average rate of landscape denudation (aggregating both carbonate and non-carbonate areas) was 48.5 mm/ka, but denudation rates for carbonate and non-carbonate outcrop areas were not in equilibrium

The Use of Medical Marijuana for the Relief of Chronic Pain

Abstract For thousands of years, medical cannabis has been used for relief of chronic pain and personal ailments. It changes users’ mental capacities and perceptions while treating and providing relief from pain and muscle spasms. As a recreational and spiritual substance, this Schedule I drug requires special consideration and certification to administer. Increasing complaints of chronic pain have led doctors to prescribe opioids for pain relief. As prescriptions for opioids have increased, the number of opioid-related mortality and morbidity incidents have also risen. The high rates of opioid-related near deaths and overdoses have led policy makers, clinicians, pharmacists, and providers to invest in medical marijuana as a more natural alternative. The purpose of this scholarly project was to describe the use of medical marijuana for the relief of chronic pain. The health belief model was used to guide this quantitative, descriptive, correlational study. The researcher used the Brief Pain Inventory to assess the use of medical marijuana for relief of chronic pain among 25 participants in one mid-eastern U.S. state. Participants were qualifying adults ages 18 to 80 seeking recertification for medical marijuana with the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission. Improved recognition of early pain management issues related to narcotics will aid providers in supporting alternative treatment measures using medical cannabis administration. Medical cannabis is safer and more effective than opioids, reducing harm to users and improving and increasing their quality of life. Keywords: marijuana, cannabis, opioid, TH

A QUESTION OF REMEMBERING ‘MOTHER AFRICA’: MEMORY AND IDENTITY IN TWENTIETH CENTURY ANGOLAN AND AFRO-BRAZILIAN POETRY

The research problem in question is how African cultural memory is conveyed through Angolan and Afro-Brazilian poetry throughout the mid-to-late twentieth century. The socially constructed term ‘Mother Africa’ has been utilized as a cultural symbol of this memory. Collective memory theory, collective identity theory, cultural trauma theory, and Benedict Anderson’s theory on Imagined Communities are utilized in order to show how such symbols provide primordial-based sources for identity construction, belonging, and social cohesion. The analysis also reveals that such affiliations are consciously chosen by individuals within the African Diaspora who look to their slave history as a reference point for individual and national identities. The elected Angolan poets include Mario Antonio, Antonio Jacinto, Aires de Almeida Santos, Alda Lara, Agostinho Neto, and Viriato da Cruz. From Brazil the poets include: Solano Trindade, Lepe Correia, Oswaldo de Camargo, Jose Carlos de Andrade, Luis Silva, and Edimilson de Almeida Pereir

Performance evaluation and geologic utility of LANDSAT-4 TM and MSS data

Radiometric calibration accuracy of TM data, radiometric comparison of A-, B-, and P-format data, and geometric registration accuracy of the TM data at enlarged scales were analyzed. Radiometric analysis of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming scene demonstrates that the TM system can be used to extract image reflectance spectra from ground targets following calibration of the system. It was also demonstrated that: (1) image DN (radiance values) vs. ground reflectance calibration scatterplots yield parameters which can be used to constrain atmospheric models and can determine TM radiometric sensitivity; (2) no significant degradation occurs as a result of radiometric and geometric correction by SCROUNGE processing; and (3) TM data can be enlarged to 1:24000 with no major geometric distortions or misregistration problems to USGS topographic maps

Particulate Inorganic Carbon Flux in Karst and its Signifi cance to Karst Development and the Carbon Cycle

Chemical removal of carbonate is generally assumed to dominate the inorganic carbon cycle in karst, but mechanical removal of carbonate during storm events may be significant. To determine the significance, particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) flux in bed load and suspended load is being quantified and compared to dissolved inorganic carbon flux in three karst systems: Mammoth Cave, KY; Blowing Cave, KY; and Tumbling Creek Cave, M