Part One: Reforming Journalism

Part of a journalist’s job is to encourage people, compel them—maybe even chide them a little—to turn their heads towards the plights of others. To notice. Posting about ­­­­­­­­a Christian perspective on journalism from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/part-one-reforming-journalism

Part Two: Journalism as a Sharing of Stories

Journalists are storytellers. And in the world God created, stories matter. Jesus spoke in parables more than sermons. He knew the best way to change behavior was through narrative not lecture. Posting about ­­­­­­­­a Christian perspective on journalism from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/part-two-journalism-as-a-sharing-of-stories

An Analysis of Paid Agent Contracts Utilized in the Recruitment of International Students at University System of Georgia Institutions

Many colleges and universities view international student recruitment as the solution to their financial pressures, but they lack the ability to effectively reach international markets. While many students desire to study internationally, they lack the knowledge and resources to explore their options. Paid agents bridge the information and opportunity gaps between institutions and prospective international students. However, the use of paid agents is fraught with many dangers. Paid agent contracts govern the relationships between these entities in the absence of regulations. This study explored the paid agent contracts employed by colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia to recruit international students. Content analysis and discourse analysis were utilized to answer to determine who was protected by the paid agent contracts and how policy should be informed by the contracts. The analyses determined that there was an asymmetrical relationship exists between institutions, paid agents, and students within the contracts, and that policies were insufficient to provide adequate protections for international students. The findings concurred with extant literature on the topic

Cigarette smoking and food insecurity among low-income families in the United States, 2001

The goal of this research is to quantify the association between food insecurity and smoking among low-income families. This analysis is a retrospective study using data from the 2001 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of U.S. men, women, and children and the family units in which they reside. Family income is linked with U.S. poverty thresholds to identify 2,099 families living near or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Food insecurity (that is, having insufficient funds to purchase enough food to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle) is calculated from the eighteen core items in the food security module of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results indicate that smoking prevalence is higher among low-income families who are food insecure compared to low-income families who are food secure (43.6 percent versus 31.9 percent). Multivariate analysis reveals that smoking is associated with an increase in food insecurity of approximately 6 percentage points. Given our finding that families near the federal poverty level spend a large share of their income on cigarettes, perhaps it would be prudent for food assistance and tobacco control programs to work together to help low-income people quit smoking.

Statistical analysis of direct-strike lightning data (1980 to 1982)

Electromagnetic measurements are being made during direct lightning strikes by NASA Langley Center using a specially instrumented F-106B aircraft. The research is to aid refinement, characterization, and understanding of the lightning-aircraft interaction process and the lightning hazards to aircraft. Statistical methods are applied to characterize some aspects of the lightning data obtained from 176 strikes to the aircraft. Specific attention is given to the problem of estimating the upper extreme quantiles of the distributions of peak-to-peak values for currents and rates of change in the magnetic and flux densities. A formal treatment via a general location-scale family of models allows the estimation method to be adapted to the realized shapes the distributions. The shapes are examined by probability plotting methods

New methods and results for quantification of lightning-aircraft electrodynamics

The NASA F-106 collected data on the rates of change of electromagnetic parameters on the aircraft surface during over 700 direct lightning strikes while penetrating thunderstorms at altitudes from 15,000 t0 40,000 ft (4,570 to 12,190 m). These in situ measurements provided the basis for the first statistical quantification of the lightning electromagnetic threat to aircraft appropriate for determining indirect lightning effects on aircraft. These data are used to update previous lightning criteria and standards developed over the years from ground-based measurements. The proposed standards will be the first which reflect actual aircraft responses measured at flight altitudes. Nonparametric maximum likelihood estimates of the distribution of the peak electromagnetic rates of change for consideration in the new standards are obtained based on peak recorder data for multiple-strike flights. The linear and nonlinear modeling techniques developed provide means to interpret and understand the direct-strike electromagnetic data acquired on the F-106. The reasonable results obtained with the models, compared with measured responses, provide increased confidence that the models may be credibly applied to other aircraft

Hydrogen bonded complexes between nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid, nitrous acid and water with SiH3OH and Si(OH)4

The inter-conversion of nitrogen oxides and oxy acids on silica surfaces is of major atmospheric importance. As a preliminary step towards rationalising experimental observations, and understanding the mechanisms behind such reactions we have looked at the binding energies of NO2, N2O4, HNO3, HONO and H2O with simple proxies of a silica surface, namely SiH3OH and Si(OH)4 units. The geometries of these molecular clusters were optimised at both HF/6-311+G(d) and B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level of theory. The SCF energies of the species were determined at the HF/6-311++G(3df,2pd) and B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2pd) level. The values indicate that nitric acid is by far the most strongly bound species, in agreement with experimental observations. It was also found that the dimer N2O4 is significantly more strongly bound to the Si(OH)4 and SiH3OH units than NO2 itself. The vibrational frequencies calculated for the hydrogen-bonded complexes are compared to the experimentally observed frequencies of the adsorbed species where possible

Enhanced International Space Station Ku-Band Telemetry Service

(1) The ISS is diligently working to increase utilization of the resources this unique laboratory provides; (2) Recent upgrades enabled the use of Internet Protocol communication using the CCSDS IP Encapsulation protocol; and (3) The Huntsville Operations Support Center has extended the onboard LAN to payload teams enabling the use of standard IP protocols for payload operations

CCSDS USLP Activities

An overview of activities of the CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems) USLP (Unified Space Data Link Protocol) implementation