Analysis of the National Transonic Facility mishap

The nonlinear dynamic finite element code DYnamic Crash Analysis of STructures (DYCAST) was used to model an accident scenario that occurred at the National Transonic Facility (NTF) wind tunnel. A post mishap investigation revealed that a total of five upstream bulkhead fairing plates were missing, three in one location and two in another. These plates were drawn into the wind tunnel's composite fan blades causing extensive damage. A DYCAST model was developed to determine if one-half of a small thermal shield flange clamp, weighing approximately 2.7 lbs., could have spun off the NTF drive shaft and impacted the bulkhead fairing plates with sufficient energy to cause failure of the attachment bolts. The clamp was presumed to have spun off at a tangent from the NTF drive shaft at a velocity of 1624 in/sec (drive shaft rotating at 580 rpm). The DYCAST analytical model predicts that impact of the 2.7 lbs projectile failed all of the bolts in two of the fairing plates allowing them to escape from the bulkhead ring with a low velocity of a few in/sec

Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic to the Pacific, 1492–1941

Review of: "Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic to the Pacific 1492–1941," by David Dary

Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic to the Pacific, 1492–1941

Review of: "Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic to the Pacific 1492–1941," by David Dary

The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Motivation in Secondary Instrumental Music

The purpose of this study was to provide strategies to improve student motivation in band and orchestra programs in Elkhart Community Schools. The problem for band and orchestra teachers was declining enrollment and student participation in outside music activities such as audition opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic. The rationale for this study was to examine student motivation and provide educators with immediately applicable strategies to improve student participation in instrumental music programs. Educators must understand why students continued to struggle with returning to normalcy by seeking strategies as to how to reach and help these students. Early research following the COVID-19 shutdown suggested the pandemic increased or exposed mental health issues and struggles among students who felt isolated, alone, or experienced crippling levels of stress during the shutdown. This thesis examined the drastic decline in enrollment as well as motivation amongst remaining students as a data point to justify support teachers needed to reach existing and prospective students. The central research question was, What are post-COVID-19 strategies teachers can implement to improve student motivation in band and orchestra according to the perspectives of instrumental music directors. This applied research gathered quantitative data through surveys from middle and high school band and orchestra students to examine the COVID experience and determine the subsequent effects. Teachers completed open-ended questionnaires that provided educator perspectives and proposed strategies for remediation and recovery. The researcher gathered archival data and conducted a quantitative document analysis to determine enrollment and instrumental music participation trends over time

How Organizational Dynamics in a Multi- Actor Environment Shape Terrorist Threats and CT Responses

Slides for the presentation presented at the ENVISION24 Conference Session 1 Modern Terrorists Threats to the U.S

Countering Far-Right Anti-Government Extremism in the United States

The far-right anti-government extremist movement poses a significant threat in the United States. The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol illustrates the capacity of this movement to plan and mount violent attacks against government targets and democratic institutions. In this article, we explore how the organisational and tactical characteristics of the far-right anti- government movement in the United States enable it to thrive despite the dangers it poses to the public. We argue that its deep-seated ideological roots, fluid organisational structure, and mix of violent and nonviolent tactics make the movement difficult for federal and state authorities to proscribe, prosecute, and ultimately eliminate. US policymakers need to develop an informed response that accounts for the fluid, decentralised, and public-facing nature of anti- government extremism, as well as the pervasive distrust of federal authority that it reflects. We suggest that this approach will likely differ from the modern counter-terrorism tools that were initially designed to combat terrorist threats emanating from abroad, such as those posed by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. We ground our arguments in evidence from cases of anti-government extremist groups and followers active in the United States over the past three decades

Sheepish: Posthumanism and the ovine in contemporary art

Ovine imagery in contemporary art is represented by works as diverse in media as they are linked in meaning with art historical precedents. Practices embracing taxidermic sheep, documentary film footage, carcassbuilt sculpture, graphic novels, printmaking, drawing and works made through the action of sheep participate in a narrative in confluence with, or contradiction of, the contemporary view of the animal in posthumanist theory. The many contemporary iterations of sheep and lamb imagery are synchronous with the animal turn in art and posthumanist thought yet author a larger anthropomorphism that calls this relationship into question. The representation of ovine tropes is part of a millennia long history of anthropomorphic imagery embedded in our culture, addressing themes of Christology, soteriology, nation, and sacrifice that clearly position these works outside the rubric of animal art. Each of the artists whose practices participate in this discussion—Henry Moore, Damien Hirst, and Andy Goldsworthy—open a point of interrogation in a larger discussion framed by posthumanist theory, offering an enduringly humanist reading that belies contemporary discourse