X-ray astronomical spectroscopy

The contributions of the Goddard group to the history of X-ray astronomy are numerous and varied. One role that the group has continued to play involves the pursuit of techniques for the measurement and interpretation of the X-ray spectra of cosmic sources. The latest development is the selection of the X-ray microcalorimeter for the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) study payload. This technology is likely to revolutionize the study of cosmic X-ray spectra

Lest Law Forget: Locke\u27s Toleration and Religious Freedom

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every person in Canada freedom of conscience and religion. I contend that the concept of religious freedom was born out of a history of religious suffering and originally took the form of John Locke’s toleration of religious differences. In Big M, the first Supreme Court of Canada case that interpreted s. 2(a), Chief Justice Dickson recognized the historical context of religious freedom but also tied it to human autonomy, equality, and dignity. An examination of the cases since Big M suggests that when courts think in terms of tolerance, they accord greater protection to religious freedom. When they lose sight of the historical justification and consider religious claims within the framework of equality, there is a tendency to fail to give freedom of religion its due weight and proper place in Canadian society

Numerical investigation of aeroelastic mode distribution for aircraft wing model in subsonic air flow

In this paper, the numerical results on two problems originated in aircraft wing modeling have been presented. The first problem is concerned with the approximation to the set of the aeroelastic modes, which are the eigenvalues of a certain boundary-value problem. The affirmative answer is given to the following question: can the leading asymptotical terms in the analytical formulas be used as reasonably accurate description of the aeroelastic modes? The positive answer means that these leading terms can be used by engineers for practical calculations. The second problem is concerned with the flutter phenomena in aircraft wings in a subsonic, incompressible, inviscid air flow. It has been shown numerically that there exists a pair of the aeroelastic modes whose behavior depends on a speed of an air flow. Namely, when the speed increases, the distance between the modes tends to zero, and at some speed that can be treated as the flutter speed these two modes merge into one double mode

Gothic and Grotesque Elements in the Fiction of Thomas Wolfe

A monograph presented to the faculty of the Department of English at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Stephen M. Holt in April of 1971

State of Maine forester licensure program and policy review

Despite the continued importance of the forest resources to the State of Maine that led to the initial forester registration law in 1975, forester regulation has been the subject of only one program audit and policy review. That occurred 20 years ago, in 1986. It is important to understand the need for a periodic forester regulatory program review even if there are no currently apparent or expected public interest or resource protection related issues. There have been many significant changes since the last forester regulatory program and policy review that have impacted forest policy, management, and the related forestry based economy. It is difficult to determine how these collective influences have combined to justify additional regulatory measures, or abated the need for it. It would be purely coincidental if the sum of these influences has yielded a “no net change” result. The State of Maine has invested significant resources in the planning and management of the forest resources, but a disproportionate amount of policy time and focus has been given to the professionals who manage it. Public policy in previous decades regulated the practitioner. Some 30 years later, the State has significantly increased the amount of legislated and regulated forest practices pertaining to management, harvesting, and related forest management procedures and influences. This has resulted in more policy attention being given to the practice, and not the practitioner. Have we regulated the practice so much that the practitioner’s (forester’s) importance to the process has changed? It likely has, but how it has is less clear. It is very difficult to objectively determine whether forester regulation should continue in its present form. If a program policy review was undertaken today, it would likely be inconclusive or yield ineffective results because it would be impaired, or result to some degree in subjective analyses due in part to insufficient or non-existing data. Inconsistent regulatory program review evaluation criteria used by the State of Maine must also be considered. Different criteria are used depending on whether an existing regulatory program is undergoing a periodic policy and program review, or if a profession or occupation is the subject of becoming regulated for the first time or an existing program is substantially expanded. The probability of an inadequate Board program review, if not substantially delayed or waived entirely, appears likely under the present circumstances. This result would be in sharp contrast to a sunrise review. The utilization of the sunrise review process would result in the most objective findings given present program review options because of its intended purpose and the use of specific criteria. Board administration can also be improved in several areas including the more timely appointment of Board members, and recommended review of Board administration and operations to ensure that optimum efficiencies and cost controls are being achieved

Oxidant stress as a regulator of renal function in disease

There is evidence to suggest that oxidant injury plays a part in the pathogenesis of renal impairment in a number of conditions. Rhabdomyolysis and liver disease were studied because oxidant stress has been previously implicated in the renal impairment of these conditions. In this thesis oxidative stress was assessed by quantification of the plasma, urine and tissue F2-isoprostanes, which are prostaglandin-like compounds formed by peroxidation of arachidonic acid and have been shown to be excellent markers of lipid peroxidation in vivo. These compounds also possess biological activity and can cause renal vasoconstriction, raising the possibility that they may themselves be modulators of renal dysfunction. Studies in the acute bile duct ligated animal, a model of renal dysfunction in liver disease, there was marked lipid peroxidation but treatment with effective anti-oxidants confers some, but incomplete protection against renal impairment. Moreover, N-acetylcysteine conferred good protection against development of renal failure, but was relatively ineffective at inhibiting lipid peroxidation, suggesting that a mechanism other than lipid peroxidation is involved. A pilot study demonstrated that N-acetylcysteine improved renal function in patients with the hepatorenal syndrome. By contrast the studies in patients with rhabdomyolysis as well as in an animal model of this syndrome demonstrate that oxidant injury and lipid peroxidation is important in the pathogenesis of this form of renal failure. However, in contrast to previous studies that implicate free iron as the initiator of oxidant injury, the work in this thesis implicates myoglobin itself, involving redox cycling of the haem iron, which remains co-ordinated within the protein. Alkalinization of the urine decreases oxidant injury to the kidney by stabilising one of the higher oxidation states of myoglobin. This has led to preliminary experimental work suggesting that antioxidants may be useful in preventing rhabdomyolysis-induced acute renal failure

Life-Cycle Analysis of a Cement Manufacturing Plant Co-Firing Hazardous Waste In The USA

The purpose of this work was to determine the overall environmental impacts associated with the co-firing hazardous waste by burning in a cement kiln to replace the use of coal in the cement manufacturing process. This environmental assessment was conducted using LCA methodology. Understanding the environmental impacts associated with burning hazardous waste in a cement factory could help shape national environmental policy, regulations and the need for site specific human health risk assessments in the environmental regulatory permitting processes. Accordingly, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts from the hazardous waste burning for energy recovery in a cement plant compared to a base scenario of burning 100% coal for baseline comparison. This study relied on real-time primary data from a hazardous waste burning cement plant and the functional unit for this LCA is one kilogram of cement

Contemporary learning environments: designing e-learning for education in the professions

Designing e-learning environments for quality professional education is a challenge for education designers, as the continuing practice of simply moving courses online can be surprisingly disabling. We argue that as universities strive to educate for excellence in professional practice, design approaches for the e-learning components must be conceptualized in a broader view of a contemporary learning environment involving integrated virtual and physical dimensions. These are comprehensively considered in an integrated way to facilitate learning experiences providing an emphasis on grounded practice. Our paper considers learning environments in the service of a broader understanding of a professional &quot;practicum.&quot; In providing the more flexible, immediate and evolving virtual experiences, e-learning as a feature must take account of a range of education design considerations we model in a framework of elements. These are outlined, and broader issues are illuminated through a comparative case analysis of educational technology developments at Deakin University in the two professional fields of teaching and journalism. The Education Studies Online (ESO) project and the HOTcopy newsroom simulation project exemplify elements of the approach recommended in addressing the challenges of quality professional education. We highlight the generative role of the education designer in adopting an integrative and strategic stance, when creating such environments. Implications for the selection and use of various e-learning resources and corporate e-learning systems become evident as we highlight the dangers of a returning &quot;instructional industrialism&quot; as we risk allowing courses to &quot;move online&quot;, rather than moving towards proposed features of contemporary learning environments. <br /