Risk Assessment of Hazardous Material Transportation for Small and Tribal Communities

By and large transportation of hazardous materials (HazMat) across the US is increasing, with truck transportation as the most common method of transport. Smaller communities (population \u3c5,000) and Native American communities often lack the economic and political influence to quantify the dangers that HazMat incidents present to the immediate and surrounding areas. Lack of such information is an impediment to adequate preparedness in cases of HazMat incidents. This research focuses on assessing the vulnerability of small and tribal communities in Nebraska to the impacts of highway HazMat incidents. This was done by estimating the expected number and type of HazMat incidents per population in each community. Additionally, statistical analysis was conducted on actual HazMat incidents to determine if small and Native American communities experience a higher rate of incidents per population and per HazMat VMT than large and other small communities respectively. For per population, it was found small versus large is statistically significant while Native American versus other small communities was not significant. For per HazMat VMT, neither comparison was found to be statistically significant. In estimated HazMat incidents, actual HazMat incidents per population, and actual HazMat incidents per HazMat VMT, small communities had higher mean values than their large counterparts. Communities on Native American reservation land experienced a higher estimated and lower actual HazMat incident rate per population than other small communities. For actual HazMat incidents per VMT, Native American communities had a higher rate than other small communities. Advisor: Aemal Khatta

REDOX CHROMOPHORE COMPOUNDS AND ELECTRODES OF METAL CONTAINING SUBSTITUTED BIPYRIDINES

Chromophoric compounds, each having a wide range of distinct color changes in response to changes in the oxidation states thereof, are provided in the form of polymerizable monomers, and polymers thereof, of certain metal containing, and electron group substituted, 2,2\u27-bipyridine compounds. United States Patent Number 4,611,89

POLYMER ON GRAPHENE

A top - gated graphene field effect transistor can be fabricated by forming a layer of graphene on a substrate, and applying an electrochemical deposition process to deposit a layer of dielectric polymer on the graphene layer. An electric potential between the graphene layer and a reference electrode is cycled between a lower potential and a higher potential. A top gate is formed above the polymer

Considering the role of presence and absence in space constructions: ethnography as methodology in human geography

In this article, we discuss methodological issues and problems in researching relational space. We argue that despite all innovations after recent spatial turns, research on space is often still marked by what we call ‘presentism’ and ‘concretism’. Instead, we seek to show how spatial encounters today are more and more marked and shaped by different absences. Using some insights from the poststructuralist take on assemblages we argue that any spatial method to understand spatial complexity is incomplete if the role of absences in shaping spatial presences and spatial encounters is left unconsidered. Addressing ques-tions of methodology and methods we vote for the ethnographic approach which, to us, has the strongest potential to undertake spatial research sensitive to the problem of present absences, i.e. that the complexity of places is often shaped by absent spatial events

Gogol’s ukrainische Erzählungen auf der Opernbühne und die Frage nach einem ukrainischen Idiom

korrigierte Version des Artikel

Electrochemical preparation of chitosan/hydroxyapatite composite coatings on titanium substrates

Composite coatings containing brushite (CaHPO4 • 2H2O) and chitosan were prepared by electrochemical deposition. The brushite/chitosan composites were converted to hydroxyapatite/chitosan composites in aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide. The coatings ranged from 1 to 15% chitosan by weight. Qualitative assessment of the coatings showed adhesion signifi cantly improved over that observed for electrodeposited coatings of pure HA

Materiales y técnicas de fase vapor para la síntesis de recubrimientos cerámicos

[ES] Se hace un descripción de los avances recientes en la síntesis de recubrimientos duros de tipo cerámico, depositados mediante técnicas de deposición en fase vapor. Se dedica especial atención a los parámetros del proceso de deposición que controlan las propiedades finales de las capas (estructura cristalina, morfología, etc), tales como la energía de llegada de los átomos a las superficie en crecimiento, y la temperatura. Finalmente, se hace una revisión de los materiales más relevantes en lo que se refiere a sus aplicaciones como recubrimientos duros y protectores, o como recubrimientos decorativos, entre ellos, la familia de los nitruros, carburos y óxidos metálicos, depositados en diversos tipos de estructuras (monolíticas, multicapas y nanocomposites), y los compuestos ternarios del sistema BCN.[EN] A survey on recent advances in the synthesis of hard ceramic coatings is given, including materials processes and techniques. Emphasis is made on the parameters which control the coating properties (crystalline structure, morphology, etc), namely arrival energy of the atoms to the growing surface and substrate temperature. Some relevant coating materials are discussed in relation to their applications either as hard protective coatings or with decorative purposes, namely: the family of metal nitrides, carbides, and oxides, in different layer structures (monolithic, multilayers and nanocomposites) and ternary compounds of the BCN system.Peer reviewe

Dostojewskij auf der Opernbühne

Dostojewskij auf der Opernbühn

Culturalization and urban horticulture in two World Heritage Cities

Horticulture features widely in research about urban agriculture. Interest is motivated by eco-technical challenges, such as improving household nutrition in expanding mega-cities, closing urban waste cycles through agricultural processes, and examining ‘SMART’ potentials for the low-carbon production of fruits and vegetables. Studies also link participation in urban growing with political expressions of citizenship. These illuminations largely neglect socio-cultural insights, despite the important traditional contribution horticulture has played in shaping urban cultural landscapes and frequently culture appears as a faint backdrop to urban regeneration, or a proxy for consumption. To help illuminate the role of culture and its actor constellations within urban horticulture, the cases of two UNESCO World Heritage cities, Bath (UK) and Bamberg (Germany), are compared. Drawing on Luhmann’s social systems theory and its derivatives, notably Nassehi’s concept of cultural contingency, the article examines cultural dimensions of urban horticulture in the two cities and identifies four types of culturalisation, or empirically observable and complex bundles of practices that explain how urban horticulture is governed and executed. This indicates the local historical embeddedness of rivalry/competition and cooperation among urban gardeners, and the relevance of culture as a potential for innovation in urban horticulture