Estimation of effective hydrologic properties of soils from observations of vegetation density

A one-dimensional model of the annual water balance is reviewed. Improvements are made in the method of calculating the bare soil component of evaporation, and in the way surface retention is handled. A natural selection hypothesis, which specifies the equilibrium vegetation density for a given, water limited, climate soil system, is verified through comparisons with observed data. Comparison of CDF's of annual basin yield derived using these soil properties with observed CDF's provides verification of the soil-selection procedure. This method of parameterization of the land surface is useful with global circulation models, enabling them to account for both the nonlinearity in the relationship between soil moisture flux and soil moisture concentration, and the variability of soil properties from place to place over the Earth's surface

Using Motivational Interviewing for Medication Adherence in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are psychiatric illnesses that have a high incidence of patients not adhering to their antipsychotic medications. There are multiple factors that contribute to medication nonadherence in patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Nonadherence with antipsychotic medications can cause poor patient outcomes for patients with these psychiatric illnesses. There is evidence to support that the therapeutic communication intervention, motivational interviewing, can improve medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This quality improvement project used a pre- and post-test design to assess medication adherence pre- and post-intervention. The main outcome of this project was to improve the patient outcome, medication adherence. This project included a study sample of two participants that met inclusion criteria. Patient A’s pre-intervention medication adherence rating scale (MARS) score was 7 out of 10 and Patient B’s score was 4 out of 10. The higher the score on the MARS, the more favorable medication adherence. Patient A was unable to receive a therapeutic session of motivational interviewing because he was acutely psychotic and paranoid. Patient B received one face-to-face motivational interview session and behavioral changes were discussed on how to maintain medication adherence. The one-month follow up post- intervention could not be completed due to appointments being rescheduled by the patients and provider. The post-intervention MARS were not completed and motivational interviewing was unable to be evaluated for effectiveness. Despite the lack of result findings on medication adherence, administering the MARS and utilizing motivational interviewing offered insight about the patient’s beliefs and feelings about their antipsychotic medication. It is recommended for future projects to expand the PDSA cycle to recruit more participants and fully implement the study protocol. Keywords: motivational interviewing, medication adherence, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and therapeutic communication

Subsurface stratigraphy and depositional patterns of the Lower Mississippian Weir zone of Doddridge County, West Virginia, with emphasis on reservoir potential

The Weir zone of Doddridge County, West Virginia, is considered to be an unconventional reservoir due to its low permeability. Analysis of this zone was performed using well log data from 300 wells, a full-bore core of the Weir, and petrographic thin sections. Three lithologies occur within the Weir: coarse siltstone, fine siltstone, and claystone. Bedforms were identified using a combination of FMI, thin section, and core analysis. The Weir is interpreted to have been deposited on an outer shelf under the influence of shoaling internal waves. Log analysis provided data showing the unit to have a mineral composition of quartz, illite, and potassium feldspar.;The Lower Weir has the potential to be a productive secondary target for natural gas over a large part of the study area in Doddridge County. These areas have been selected because the combination of a high volume of secondary moldic porosity, total thickness of the Weir siltstone, and an increased likelihood of fracture porosity aiding in permeability. Zones identified within the Weir for production were selected on the basis of low water saturation, relatively high permeability, and relatively high porosity

Effect of stressed covering on strength of internal girders of a wing

In practice the actual maximum stress is greater than the stress determined by the simple girder theory, which overestimates the bearing or supporting capacity of the flange. The fact is that the assumptions of the simple girder theory no longer hold true, since normal transverse and shearing stresses are engendered in the plane of the flange

Estimation of effective hydrologic properties of soils from observations of vegetation density

An existing one-dimensional model of the annual water balance is reviewed. Slight improvements are made in the method of calculating the bare soil component of evaporation, and in the way surface retention is handled. A natural selection hypothesis, which specifies the equilibrium vegetation density for a given, water limited, climate-soil system, is verified through comparisons with observed data and is employed in the annual water balance of watersheds in Clinton, Ma., and Santa Paula, Ca., to estimate effective areal average soil properties. Comparison of CDF's of annual basin yield derived using these soil properties with observed CDF's provides excellent verification of the soil-selection procedure. This method of parameterization of the land surface should be useful with present global circulation models, enabling them to account for both the non-linearity in the relationship between soil moisture flux and soil moisture concentration, and the variability of soil properties from place to place over the Earth's surface

MEMS Conveyance: Piezoelectric Actuator Arrays for Reconfigurable RF Circuits

An array of piezoelectric cantilevers was designed, fabricated, and characterized for use as a micromanipulation surface in a reconfigurable RF circuit micro-factory. The project, known as RFactory, is an effort by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to create environmentally adaptable, rapidly upgradeable RF systems. The RFactory actuator surface uses unimorph lead zirconate titanate cantilevers with metal posts at the tip that exaggerate the horizontal deflection produced by out-of-plane bending. The motion of a circuit component on the surface has been modeled and observed experimentally. By varying the waveform, voltage amplitude, and frequency of the drive signal, as well as the actuator length and width, the speed and precision of the motion can be controlled. From these characterization efforts, operating conditions that create speeds above 1 mm/s and low positional error (<200 microns after 5 mm translation) have been identified. Finally, full system RF reconfigurability has been demonstrated

Understanding the subtleties of frustrated Lewis pair activation of carbonyl compounds by N-Heterocyclic carbene/alkyl gallium pairings

This study reports the use of the trisalkylgallium GaR3 (R=CH2 SiMe3 ), containing sterically demanding monosilyl groups, as an effective Lewis-acid component for frustrated Lewis pair activation of carbonyl compounds, when combined with the bulky N-heterocyclic carbene 1,3-bis(tert-butyl)imidazol-2-ylidene (ItBu) or 1,3-bis(tert-butyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene (SItBu). The reduction of aldehydes can be achieved by insertion into the C=O functionality at the C2 (so-called normal) position of the carbene affording zwitterionic products [ItBuCH2 OGaR3 ] (1) or [ItBuCH(p-Br-C6 H4 )OGaR3 ] (2), or alternatively, at its abnormal (C4) site yielding [aItBuCH(p-Br-C6 H4 )OGaR3 ] (3). As evidence of the cooperative behaviour of both components, ItBu and GaR3 , neither of them alone are able to activate any of the carbonyl-containing substrates included in this study NMR spectroscopic studies of the new compounds point to complex equilibria involving the formation of kinetic and thermodynamic species as implicated through DFT calculations. Extension to ketones proved successful for electrophilic α,α,α-trifluoroacetophenone, yielding [aItBuC(Ph)(CF3 )OGaR3 ] (7). However, in the case of ketones and nitriles bearing acidic hydrogen atoms, C-H bond activation takes place preferentially, affording novel imidazolium gallate salts such as [{ItBuH}(+) {(p-I-C6 H4 )C(CH2 )OGaR3 }(-) ] (8) or [{ItBuH}(+) {Ph2 C=C=NGaR3 }(-) ] (12)

Real-time decision aid display

Gemstone Team Future Firefighting AdvancementsFire sensor systems effectively monitor the state of the building, detect fire, and alert occupants in the event of an emergency. However, fire sensor technology is limited in its ability to convey information to firefighters. Even though all of the necessary information can be obtained through Fire Annunciator Control Panels (FACPs), it is difficult to use them to track the progression of fire. We designed and prototyped a decision aid system to illustrate our approach to this problem. Our goal was to create a tactical decision aid display that can present building information through an intuitive interface in real time. We used previous research on the information needs of firefighters in designing the interface. Our key insight was to use a floor plan with a sensor information overlay to organize information. We implemented a prototype that interfaces with FACPs using existing facilities systems management communication protocols

Magnetic Flux Density Sensor Analysis

Undergraduate Basi