Fragmentation of cosmic-string loops

The fragmentation of cosmic string loops is discussed, and the results of a simulation of this process are presented. The simulation can evolve any of a large class of loops essentially exactly, including allowing fragments that collide to join together. Such reconnection enhances the production of small fragments, but not drastically. With or without reconnections, the fragmentation process produces a collection of nonself-intersecting loops whose typical length is on the order of the persistence length of the initial loop

The effects of magnetic nozzle configurations on plasma thrusters

Magnetoplasmadynamics (MPD) arc devices have been operated at power levels from 10 KW to 0.1 MW. When these devices have magnetic fields applied to them, they show marked increases in thrust in direct proportion to the magnitide of the applied field. Electrode erosion may be influenced by applied fields. This proposal will study the application of variable magnetic fields over a range of thruster powers, gas densities, and thruster configurations. It is proposed to examine this behavior with numerical codes and limited but relevant experimental tests

An Accounting of the Sources of Steller Sea Lion, Eumetopias jubatus, Mortality

During 1991–2000, the west-are additional mortalities that fueled the ern stock of Steller sea lions, Eumetopias decline. We tabulated the levels of reported jubatus, declined at 5.03% (SE = 0.25%) anthropogenic sources of mortality (sub- per year, statistically significant rates (P 8.2% partition the various sources of “additional” per year). Using a published correction mortalities as anthropogenic and as addifactor, we estimated the total non-pup pop-tional mortality including some predation. ulation size in Alaska of the western stock We classified 436 anthropogenic mortalities of Steller sea lions to be about 33,000 ani-and 769 anthropogenic plus some predation mals. Based on a published life table and mortalities as “mortality above replace-the current rate of decline, we estimate that ment”; this accounted for 26% and 46% of the total number of mortalities of non-pup the estimated total level of “mortality above Steller sea lions during 1991–2000 was replacement”, respectively. The remaining about 6,383 animals; of those, 4,718 (74%) mortality (74% and 54%, respectively) was are mortalities that would have occurred if not attributed to a specific cause and may be the population were stable, and 1,666 (26%) the result of nutritional stress

Real-world, high-stakes deceptive speech: Theoretical validation and an examination of its potential for detection automation

The study of deception and the theories which have been developed have relied heavily on laboratory experiments, in controlled environments, utilizing American college students, participating in mock scenarios. The goal of this study was to validate previous deception research in a real-world high-stakes environment. An additional focus of this study was the development of procedures to process data (e.g. video or audio recordings) from real-world environments in such a manner that behavioral measures can be extracted and analyzed. This study utilized previously confirmed speech cues and constructs to deception in an attempt to validate a leading deception theory, Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT). Several measures and constructs, utilized and validated in existing research, were explored and validated in this study. The data analyzed came from an adjudicated real-world high-stakes criminal case in which the subject was sentenced in federal court to 470 years in prison for creating child pornography, rape, sexual exploitation of children, child sexual assault and kidnapping; a crime spree that spanned over a five years and four states. The results did validate IDT with mixed results on individual measures and their constructs. The exploratory nature of the study, the volume of data, and the numerous methods of analysis used generated many possibilities for future research

Leaving it on the Field: A review of the Bowl Championship Series and Proposal of a Postseason Playoff to Remedy the Negative Ethical Implications on Higher Education of the Current Model

This thesis considers the current format of the postseason for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), critiques its ethical implications, and proposes a twelve-team postseason playoff to remedy the ethical dilemmas caused by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and the commercialization of football at the Division I-FBS level. Research was focused on sports law journals, books detailing the history of college football, transcripts from Congressional hearings, and articles from prominent sports news sources. The first chapter outlines the evolution of college football since the advent of television as mass media and highlights the medium’s direct effects on the administration of the sport. The second chapter details the BCS and its implementation. The third chapter calls into question the ethics of universities using football as a revenue generator without naming a NCAA champion as is done in every other sport and the lower divisions of college football. The fourth chapter lays the framework for a postseason playoff system and addresses how it resolves the conflicts of interest presented by the BCS

The reliability of early East Asian astronomical records

The large body of observations extant from pre-telescopic East Asia - China, Japan and Korea - provide the opportunity to investigate the behaviour of the Sun and solar system over a much longer period of time than that since telescopic observations began in Europe. Much past work in this field has tended to concentrate on individual records of particularly significant observations. In this study the variations in the frequency of the observation of meteors, comets, eclipses, planetary conjunctions and occupations, sunspots, and aurorae during the pre-telescopic period are examined in contemporary records from these three countries. It is to be expected that data artefacts (frequency variations not of astronomical origin) are present to some degree in early sources. The records are translated and collated where necessary, and by comparing patterns across the three countries and across different types of event several major data artefacts are identified and classified. The problem of such artefacts has not previously been the subject of analysis. The results of this study are therefore of significance in considering the reliability of these sets of data for the examination of long term variations in the solar system