Insulation bonding test system

A method and a system for testing the bonding of foam insulation attached to metal is described. The system involves the use of an impacter which has a calibrated load cell mounted on a plunger and a hammer head mounted on the end of the plunger. When the impacter strikes the insulation at a point to be tested, the load cell measures the force of the impact and the precise time interval during which the hammer head is in contact with the insulation. This information is transmitted as an electrical signal to a load cell amplifier where the signal is conditioned and then transmitted to a fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyzer. The FFT analyzer produces energy spectral density curves which are displayed on a video screen. The termination frequency of the energy spectral density curve may be compared with a predetermined empirical scale to determine whether a igh quality bond, good bond, or debond is present at the point of impact

Prevalence and Patterns of Major Depressive Disorder in the United States Labor Force

Background and Aims of the Study: In this paper, we identify the 12-month and lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder in and out of the labor force, and among the employed and unemployed. We examine whether prevalence by labor force and employment status varies by gender and over the life cycle. Finally, we examine whether people can ‘recover’ from depression with time by identifying patterns of labor force participation and employment as time since most recent episode passes. Methods: We examine data collected as part of the National Comorbidity Survey, a survey representative of the population of the United States designed to identify the prevalence of major mental illnesses. The National Comorbidity Study identified cases of major depression via the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Using these data, we estimate univariate and bivariate frequency distributions of major depressive disorder. We also estimate a set of multivariate models to identify the effect of a variety of dimensions of major depression on the propensity to participate in the labor force, and be employed if participating. Results: Lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of depression are similar in and out of the labor force. Within the labor force, however, depression is strongly associated with unemployment. The negative relationship between depressive disorder and employment is particularly strong for middle age workers. Depression and the number of depressive episodes have a differing pattern of effects on labor market outcomes for men and women. We find evidence that labor force participation and employment rates for people with a history of depression increase significantly over time in the absence of additional depressive episodes. Discussion: Labor market status represents an important dimension along which prevalence of major depression varies. The relationship between depression and employment status is particularly strong for middle aged persons, but becomes weaker as time passes since the last depressive episode. Continued exploration of the association between work (or lack of work) and depression may ultimately help in the prediction, treatment and assessment of the illness. Implications for Practice and Policy: These results present a basic set of facts about the relationship between major depressive disorder and labor market outcomes. We have not, however, attempted to sort out the complexities of this relationship here. These complexities arise at almost every turn. For instance, the high level of prevalence of depression among the unemployed may be due to the possibility that the stresses associated with unemployment trigger depressive episodes or to the possibility that workers who are depressed are more likely to be fired or quit. Implications for Further Research: Our continuing research attempts to address these problems. Understanding when and how depression affects labor market outcomes and when and how labor market outcomes affect depression is an important endeavor for those interested in treating the disease and understanding its consequences.Funded by National Institute of Mental Health. Grant Number: R01-MH56463-0

Orientation Control Method and System for Object in Motion

An object in motion has a force applied thereto at a point of application. By moving the point of application such that the distance between the object's center-of-mass and the point of application is changed, the object's orientation can be changed/adjusted

Documentary criminology: Girl Model as a case study

Visual and cultural criminology are integrated with documentary filmmaking to develop a theoretically grounded, practice-based approach called ‘documentary criminology’. The first section establishes the need for documentary filmmaking in criminology and outlines methodological opportunities. The second section examines theoretically the aesthetics and substance of documentary criminology. The third section takes the film Girl Model (Redmon and Sabin, 2011) as a case study to demonstrate how documentary criminology embedded in lived experience (in this case, the experience of scouts that recruit young Russian girls, purportedly for the modelling industry) can depict sensuous immediacy. The final section contrasts the aesthetic and ethical consequences of documentary criminology within Carrabine’s (2012, 2014) concept of ‘just’ images to a documentary filmmaking approach that remains interpretively open-ended. Readers can access Girl Model at https://vimeo.com/29694894 with the password industry

Discriminative Insulin Antagonism of Stimulatory Effects of Various cAMP Analogs on Adipocyte Lipolysis and Hepatocyte Glycogenolysis

Although insulin effectively blocked hormone-stimulated glycerol output in adipocytes or phosphorylase activation in hepatocytes, the inhibitory effect of insulin on cAMP analog-stimulated cells depended on the cAMP analog used. Of the 20 analogs tested in adipocytes and 13 tested in hepatocytes, the effects of about half of them were effectively blocked by insulin, whereas the effects of many of them were not inhibited at all. In order to approach the explanation for this discriminative insulin action, the inhibitory effects of insulin on the responses to the analogs in the intact cells were correlated with the in vitro cAMP analog specificity for the hepatocyte cAMP-dependent protein kinase isozymes and the low K(m), hormone-sensitive phosphodiesterases from both cell types. No correlation was found between insulin resistance of analog-stimulated hepatocyte phosphorylase and the concentration of analog required in vitro for half-maximal activation of either type I or type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase from hepatocytes. However, a good correlation was found between insulin resistance of cAMP analog-stimulated responses and the analog I50 values for the phosphodiesterase from both cell types. Using a new method capable of measuring hydrolysis at low analog concentrations, several of those analogs which had relatively low, but not high, phosphodiesterase I50 values were shown to be directly hydrolyzed by the low K(m) adipocyte phosphodiesterase. The insulin inhibition of cell responses when stimulated by hydrolyzable analogs, but not by poorly hydrolyzable analogs, is best explained by insulin stimulation of the low K(m) phosphodiesterases from both cell types

Short-Term Feedback Regulation of cAMP by Accelerated Degradation in Rat Tissues

A recent study showed that cAMP analogs lowered cAMP levels in rat hepatocytes. The present work demonstrates that cAMP analogs also lowered cAMP in a rapid, concentration-dependent manner in heart and fat cells. In order to determine if the cAMP-dependent protein kinase mediated this effect, techniques were developed to assay the protein kinase activity ratio in hepatocytes treated with cAMP analogs. The activation of protein kinase and phosphorylase in hepatocytes by 8-pClΦS-cAMP (where 8-pClΦS- indicates 8-parachlorothiophenyl-) was concentration-dependent and occurred in parallel to proportionate decreases in cAMP. More than 20% of the cAMP binding sites on the protein kinase were unoccupied at concentrations of 8-pClΦS-cAMP that produced maximal cAMP lowering. Thus, the possibility that 8-pClΦS-cAMP lowered cAMP by displacing it from protein kinase binding sites, making it available for hydrolysis, seemed unlikely. In adipocytes, the lowering of cAMP by 8-pClΦS-cAMP occurred in parallel with increases in lipolysis and activation of low K(m) phosphodiesterase, suggesting that the phosphodiesterase was responsible for the cAMP lowering. Further evidence for this assertion was the finding that in hepatocytes preloaded with low concentrations of 8-pClΦS-cAMP, glucagon lowered 8-pClΦS-cAMP by about 50%, an amount similar to the cAMP lowering observed with 8-pClΦS-cAMP treatment. The results were consistent with a cAMP-dependent protein kinase-catalyzed activation of a phosphodiesterase and suggested that 8-pClΦS-cAMP-mediated hydrolysis of cAMP mimicked a physiologically significant response. The observation of this phenomenon in several tissues further suggested that it may a general mechanism for dampening and terminating the hormonal signal through accelerated degradation of cAMP

A large‐scale view of Space Technology 5 magnetometer response to solar wind drivers

In this data report we discuss reprocessing of the Space Technology 5 (ST5) magnetometer database for inclusion in NASA's Coordinated Data Analysis Web (CDAWeb) virtual observatory. The mission consisted of three spacecraft flying in elliptical orbits, from 27 March to 27 June 2006. Reprocessing includes (1) transforming the data into the Modified Apex Coordinate System for projection to a common reference altitude of 110 km, (2) correcting gain jumps, and (3) validating the results. We display the averaged magnetic perturbations as a keogram, which allows direct comparison of the full‐mission data with the solar wind values and geomagnetic indices. With the data referenced to a common altitude, we find the following: (1) Magnetic perturbations that track the passage of corotating interaction regions and high‐speed solar wind; (2) unexpectedly strong dayside perturbations during a solstice magnetospheric sawtooth oscillation interval characterized by a radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) component that may have enhanced the accompanying modest southward IMF; and (3) intervals of reduced magnetic perturbations or “calms,” associated with periods of slow solar wind, interspersed among variable‐length episodic enhancements. These calms are most evident when the IMF is northward or projects with a northward component onto the geomagnetic dipole. The reprocessed ST5 data are in very good agreement with magnetic perturbations from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft, which we also map to 110 km. We briefly discuss the methods used to remap the ST5 data and the means of validating the results against DMSP. Our methods form the basis for future intermission comparisons of space‐based magnetometer data.Key PointsST5 Magnetic Perturbations Have Been ReprocessedReprocessed data at 100 km compare well to DMSP dataKeogram view of data show response to several solar wind driversPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111800/1/ess222.pd

Who are we becoming? A critical, communicative, reflective, transformative, timely inquiry into the coming-to-be of adult education in the early 21st century

The perspectives included in this collaborative document reflect the authors‘ initial inquiry to explore who are we becoming as adult educators. We present five unique points of view that our role as adult educators holds potential to help adults seek ways into their own deep inquiries of what are true, beautiful, and just ways of life. Our inquiries give expression to how might we create conditions for truth, beauty, and justice to emerge in our communities, in the systems that we work in, that govern us and that make way for our individual collective humanity? The time is ripe to ask what are the diverse structures, systems and expressions of an evolving humanity where justice, grace, beauty and truth take new shapes to meet unseen demands placed on adults around the world and what role adult education will play

Environmental Management of Grazing Lands

Bacteria levels are the number one cause of water quality impairment in Texas. Several recent Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in Texas, such as those implemented in the Peach Creek and Leon River watersheds, have identified grazing cattle as a contributor to bacterial water quality impairments in those watersheds through both direct deposition and runoff of their fecal matter to streams. To address this issue, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funded this project to assist with development and delivery of technical information and support to ranchers on protection and enhancement of the functions and values of grasslands. A number of best management practices (BMPs) have been identified to reduce bacteria runoff from grazing lands and direct deposition into streams. The primary focus of these BMPs is to maintain adequate ground cover and minimize concentrated livestock areas, especially on sensitive areas such as riparian areas. Maintaining adequate ground cover and plant density improves the filtering capacity of the vegetation and enhances water infiltration into the soil. Minimizing concentrated livestock areas, trailing, and trampling reduces soil compaction, reduces excess runoff and subsequent soil erosion, and enhances fecal matter distribution and ground cover. Specific BMPs identified include grazing management, fencing, alternate water sources, hardened watering points, controlled access, supplemental feed placement, and shade or cover manipulation (NRCS 2007). This project accomplished several objectives, including: 1) compiling existing information on environmental management of grazing lands, 2) evaluating and demonstrating the effectiveness of proper grazing management in reducing bacterial runoff from grazing lands, 3) initiating evaluation of the effect of complementary practices (i.e. alternative water supplies and shade) on cattle behavior and stream water quality, and 4) promoting adoption of appropriate grazing land management practices. Evaluation and demonstration of the effect of grazing management on bacteria runoff at the USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds has produced some interesting results. The site mean concentration of E. coli (i.e. flow weighted concentration) at the ungrazed native prairie site was surprisingly high (1.0E+04 cfu/100 ml), greatly exceeding the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards single sample standard for E. coli (394 cfu/100 ml) as well as the geometric mean (126 cfu/100 ml). It is important to note that these standards apply to waterbodies, such as streams and reservoirs, but not to edge-of-field runoff as described here. Also, the E. coli concentration seen in the runoff from the moderately grazed bermudagrass site (2.3E+04 cfu/100 ml) was significantly higher (more than double) than that observed at the native prairie site. These levels, however, are consistent with the findings of other researchers. The pre-BMP implementation evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative water supplies and shade on cattle behavior and stream water quality (E. coli) has been completed at the 2S Ranch, near Lockhart. This evaluation showed that when alternative water was not available, E. coli levels increased as the stream flowed through the ranch. Quarterly evaluation of cattle behavior using GPS collars indicated cattle spent only 4.5% of the time within 35 feet of the stream when alternative water was not available. When alternative water was provided, however, this percent time that cattle spent within 35 feet of the stream was reduced to 1.1%, a 75% reduction. This reduction is consistent with the findings of other researchers. Post-BMP evaluation has been initiated and will continue for another year now that alternative water and shade has been provided. Much was done through this project to increase awareness of the bacteria issue and BMPs to address them. AgriLife Extension and TWRI developed fact sheets, provided posters and presentations, conducted site tours, and developed a Web site to help disseminate information. These outreach activities reached local, state, and national audiences. The Web site alone has reached 539 unique visitors during the project. Much is left to do, however. Evaluation of grazing management, alternative water supplies, and shade will continue. Data on other practices (i.e. using rip-rap to reduce access to riparian areas, providing controlled access points, etc.) and groups of practices is still needed to provide cattlemen with a “toolbox” for addressing the bacteria issue. Modification of water quality standards may also be appropriate to address the high levels of E. coli found in runoff from ungrazed sites. Education programs need to be conducted state- and nation-wide to assist cattlemen in addressing bacteria issues