Constraints to the Growth of Native American Gaming

Since the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988, high-stakes bingo halls and casino operations have spread to reservations across the country and generated millions of dollars in revenues for their respective tribes. While some tribes have been able to exploit their sovereign status and establish high-stakes bingo parlors and casinos on reservations across the country, this study describes how external and internal constraints limit the adoption of gaming ventures by other tribes. Constraints include the location of the reservations, increasing competition, disagreements among tribal members, and opposition from the private and public sectors

Land Grant Application- Davis, Samuel (Standish)

Land grant application submitted to the Maine Land Office for Samuel Davis for service in the Revolutionary War.https://digitalmaine.com/revolutionary_war_me_land_office/1243/thumbnail.jp

SHOWCASE (Concerns of the Southern Man: from Gatlinburg to Kaohsiung City)

ABSTRACT One\u27s daily life consists of collecting objects, images, ideas, fears and dreams. These items and concepts do not conjure themselves, but are selected like so many berries in a basket. I question what objects people choose to showcase in their homes, their trophies and shrines. These types of objects serve to validate their owner\u27s beliefs and through their collection, elevate that person\u27s status. In what items does one subconsciously invest their identity? My work speaks to the value of the collected once transformed. In my practice I juxtapose ideals held separately and simultaneously about the value and import of ceramic art. I use kitsch and ceramics as a vocabulary and platform that is universal, but through its construction and relationships can simultaneously speak specifically to one person, one region or one understanding. I use campy humor and novelty to undermine the works integrity while attracting the viewer. These works question the merits of my heritage and pedigree. I want the work to give an impression of environmental factors that shape the experience and expectations of a Southern man. Selecting objects of various materials, they are transformed into porcelain, altering their value. Many of these objects have a previous identity. I can claim ownership only of the concept and finished product. In adding gaudy and attention-grabbing stimuli, I foolishly attempt to bestow a higher status on each piece. In this way, the work parallels the condition of a middle-class life

A Study on Scaling Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Geometry and Hydrostatics with Increasing Turbine Size

Floating offshore wind offers a clean and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for the future of energy production. In Maine in particular, there is a great opportunity to take advantage of the wind resource off the coast and become a global leader in offshore wind. With the Maine coastal waters being too deep for fixed-bottom turbine structures, floating platforms that support the turbines have the opportunity to gain traction as the technology matures. As wind turbines increase in size and capacity, the floating hulls must also increase in size. The research presented in this thesis aimed to calculate and examine trends of floating offshore wind turbine floating hulls as turbine size increased. A mathematical model based on the University of Maine’s VolturnUS-S semisubmersible hull design, was developed to search for a minimum mass hull design that met specific constraints to approximate a viable design. Multiple studies were performed to examine the geometry trends, constraint trends, and relative costs of the designs given different constraints. The model showed that with constraints similar to current realworld designs, the relative cost of the hull per unit power of the turbine is relatively constant, while changing the constraints put on the system can yield more cost-efficient designs. The results of the studies provided a general outlook for the future of floating offshore wind hull designs, given different frameworks to determine how designs may be able to evolve

DEVELOPMENT AND CLINICAL TESTING OF A TIME-EFFICIENT METHOD FOR TRIANGULATING THE VENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA SITE OF ORIGIN TO SUPPORT CARDIAC ABLATION PROCEDURES

This thesis presents a ventricular tachycardia source of origin (VTSO) localization algorithm that assists electrophysiologists during cardiac ablation (CA) procedures. The algorithm uses a linear relationship of electrocardiogram (ECG) similarity and distance between pace mapping (PM) points to identify a small (<6% of total surface area) target region on the ventricle containing the VTSO. An average ventricular linear regression (AVLR) guides PM point selection, a cross-correlation sum algorithm automatically extracts the QRS segment of VT ECGs for analysis, and a surface reconstruction algorithm forms ventricular surface models to visualize results. Retrospective studies using clinical data from 21 patients acquired a target region using between 3 and 5 PM points total, compared with normal pace mapping procedures that require more than 20 PM points. The algorithm should significantly decrease CA procedure time, reducing the total physical stress on the patient's heart while also reducing operating costs for both patients and hospitals