Synthesis of structural damping, volume I Final report

Hysteresis model for analyzing dynamic behavior of complex structure

Ethics, Science, and the Law of Capital Punishment

Symposium: Toward A Model Death Penalty Code: The Massachusetts Governor\u27s Council Report

Ethics, Science, and the Law of Capital Punishment

Symposium: Toward A Model Death Penalty Code: The Massachusetts Governor\u27s Council Report

River Otter (\u3ci\u3eLontra canadensis\u3c/i\u3e) Distribution and Habitat Suitability in Nebraska

River otters (Lontra Canadensis) were extirpated in Nebraska by the early 1900’s, but in 1986, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) began reintroduction efforts. Following reintroductions, the otter was listed as a tier-1 at-risk species in Nebraska. With increasing otter populations, NGPC is evaluating a de-listing plan. In order to inform de-listing efforts, I surveyed Nebraska’s rivers documenting otter sign and used modeling techniques to estimate otter distribution and habitat suitability. Otter sign surveys were conducted on the navigable rivers of Nebraska. Occupancy modeling techniques were used to examine patterns in otter detections. The best model incorporated distance to the nearest otter release site, beaver occupancy, and flow rate. The Niobrara, Elkhorn, and Platte rivers and the southern Loup River system were the areas most supported as areas likely to have otters. Data collected by NGPC were used to examine patterns among historical otter records. Maximum entropy (maxent) modeling identified the Platte, northern Elkhorn, southern Loup River system, and sections of the Niobrara as areas most likely occupied. Maxent habitat suitability modeling identified the Platte, eastern Niobrara, southern Elkhorn, and southern Loup River system as areas with preferred otter habitat. The distance to a release site and flow rate had the strongest impact on model fit. Results were consistent with estimates prepared by NGPC, and spatial correspondence between occupancy estimation methods was high. Future efforts to translocate or reintroduce more otters should focus on areas with high habitat suitability and areas with high occupancy estimates but few occurrence records. Advisor: Craig Alle

Enhancing centralized enforcement of EU law : Pandora's toolbox ?

State compliance with EU Law is crucial to the very existence of the Union. Traditionally, it has been secured through a combination of strong "private" and of weak "centralized" enforcement. However, this arrangement is no longer perceived to be sufficient. By endowing the Union with new tools vis-à-vis its Member States - penalties, conditionality, and the like - current reforms try to complement symbolic sanctioning with real "consequences". The goal is to reinforce the authority of EU Law. In this article, we question whether the new toolbox is fit for the purpose, or whether it risks to produce adverse effects which might even go as far as upsetting the Union's constitutional template

Magnetic helicity in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with a mean magnetic field

A computational investigation of magnetic helicity of the fluctuatingmagnetic fieldHm in ideal and freely decaying three‐dimensional (3‐D) magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in the presence of a uniform mean magnetic field is performed. It is shown that for ideal 3‐D MHDHm, which is a rugged invariant in the absence of a mean magnetic field [Frisch et al., J. Fluid Mech. 77, 796 (1975)], decays from its initial value and proceeds to oscillate about zero. The decay of Hm is shown to result from the presence of a new ‘‘generalized’’ helicity invariant, which includes contributions from the uniform magnetic field. The loss of invariance of Hm will diminish the effects of inverse transfer of Hm on freely decaying turbulence. This is demonstrated in a discussion of the selective decay relaxation process

Engaging Students with Constructivist Participatory Examinations in Asynchronous Learning Networks

The online participatory exam transforms the traditional exam into a constructivist, cooperative and engaging learning experience. Students learn from designing and answering exam questions, from evaluating their peers’ performance, and from reading questions, answers and evaluations. This paper, aimed at faculty who teach online and at researchers interested in online learning, describes the procedures, advantages, and disadvantages of this new approach to the examination process. Five semesters of participatory exam research are analyzed. A majority of students preferred the participatory exam and believed that it increased their learning

Diffusion of energetic particles in turbulent MHD plasmas

In this paper we investigate the transport of energetic particles in turbulent plasmas. A numerical approach is used to simulate the effect of the background plasma on the motion of energetic protons. The background plasma is in a dynamically turbulent state found from numerical MHD simulations, where we use parameters typical for the heliosphere. The implications for the transport parameters (i.e. pitch-angle diffusion coefficients and mean free path) are calculated and deviations from the quasi-linear theory are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

River Otter Distribution in Nebraska

The river otter (Lontra canadensis) was extirpated from Nebraska, USA, in the early 1900s and reintroduced starting in 1986. Information is needed regarding the distribution of river otters in Nebraska before decisions can be made regarding its conservation status. Understanding distribution of a species is critically important for effective management. We investigated river otter distribution in Nebraska with occupancy modeling and maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling using 190 otter sign observations on Nebraska’s navigable rivers and 380 historical otter records from November 1977 to April 2014. Both methods identified the Platte River, Elkhorn River, central and eastern Niobrara River, and southern Loup River system as core areas within the distribution of otters in Nebraska. The Maxent model provided more liberal estimates of site occupancy and identified some smaller rivers as being within the distribution of otters in Nebraska, which were not identified using occupancy modeling. We recommend that multiple data sets and analysis methods be used to estimate species distribution because this allows for the broadest geographical coverage and decreases the likelihood of overlooking areas with fewer animal records. If further reintroduction efforts or translocation efforts are to take place in the future, we recommend focusing on areas with high modeled occupancy but few historical and survey records