Cosmopolitan Goes Intercultural: A Semiotic Analysis of Cosmopolitan Magazine Covers

This project focused on an analysis of the messages portrayed through four covers of Cosmopolitan’s international magazines in November of 2015. This study investigated if and how Cosmopolitan creates a single, worldwide ideal image for women. Using Arthur Asa Berger’s method of semiotic analysis, the four covers were analyzed according to five categories: the model’s story or significance in the world today, the model’s race, clothing and other artifacts worn by the model, the model’s body language, and the words and phrases printed on the cover. This study uncovered three consistent, major themes: sex, fitness, and success in terms of wealth. The ideologies contained in these themes are spread across the countries in which Cosmopolitan distributes their magazine, giving women worldwide the idea that these are the expectations of their gender and that these values should be embraced. The study suggests that, if all themes represented in the covers portray and glorify U.S.-centric values, there is potential to override or devalue the cultural values of other countries in which the magazine is distributed. The paper upon which this poster is based was written for the Senior Seminar course in Communication Arts. The paper was competitively selected for presentation at the Northwest Communication Association Conference in April 2016

Modifications of the X-ray source and monitor at the X-ray Calibration Facility

In order to test the instruments aboard the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) some modifications will need to be made in the X-ray Calibration Facility at Marshall. Several of these modifications involve the X-ray source and the monitor. The source was redesigned to increase the spectral purity of the beam and decrease its polarization by minimizing the number of bremsstrahlung photons in the beam. This was accomplished by utilizing an annular electron gun which allowed the beam to take off antiparallel to the direction at which electrons are incident on the anode. Two other features of the source are the conical anode which decreases the effective spot size and a rotatable anode and filter wheel which allow the operator to change targets without breaking vacuum. The monitor is an important part of the facility because it is used to determine the X-ray flux at the target. A commercially available solid-state detector, Si(Li), should be used along with appropriate proportional counters for monitoring. This detector will be particularly useful when energy or wavelength dispersive instruments are tested because of its good resolution

The Measurement of the Thermal Properties and Absorptances of Powders Near their Melting Temperatures

A new technique, using a laser as the heating source, has been adopted to measure the heat capacities, thermal diffusivities, thermal conductivities, and absorptances of powders (especially polymer powders) near their melting temperatures. This makes use of an unsteady state process. The data of the thermal conductivities obtained through this technique below 100°C are in concord with the values obtained through the other techniques, which predicts well for the use of this technique for still higher temperatures, up to the melting temperatures of the powders to be investigated.Mechanical Engineerin

Measurement of the Thermal Conductivity of Powders by Two Different Methods

The thermal diffusivities and thermal conductivities of powders, especially PMMA-coated silicon carbide, at various temperatures, have been tested by two different dynamic methods, the water-bath method and the laser-heated method. The thermal conductivity data found by these two techniques are found to be consistent with each other.Mechanical Engineerin

Models for the Prediction of the Thermal

Five models and eq\1ationsJorthe.predictic;>nof the tbertnal conduc~"ities of powders in the literature are compared with the data obtainedill the experiments of the authors. Anew modified ntodel for the. correlation of the experimental data is presented. Key words: differential scanning calorimetry, porosity, solid content, specific heat, thermal conductivity.Mechanical Engineerin

A case study of cumulus formation beneath a stratocumulus sheet: Its structure and effect on boundary layer budgets

On several occasions during the FIRE Marine Stratocumulus IFO off the California coast, small cumulus were observed to form during the morning beneath the main stratocumulus (Sc) deck. This occurs in the type of situation described by Turton and Nicholls (1987) in which there is insufficient generation of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) from the cloudtop or the surface to sustain mixing throughout the layer, and a separation of the surface and cloud layers occurs. The build up of humidity in the surface layer allows cumuli to form, and the more energetic of these may penetrate back into the Sc deck, reconnecting the layers. The results presented were collected by the UKMO C-130 aircraft flying in a region where these small cumulus had grown to the extent that they had penetrated into the main Sc deck above. The structure of these penetrative cumulus are examined and their implications on the layer flux and radiation budget discussed

Large-scale variability in marine stratocumulus clouds defined from simultaneous aircraft and satellite measurements

Satellite images often show significant variations in the structure of marine stratocumulus clouds on scales ranging from 10 to 1000 km. This is illustrated where a GOES West satellite image shows a well-defined variation in cloud structure near 32 N, 122 W on 30 June 1987. Aircraft measurements were made with the UK C-130 and the NCAR Electra on this day as part of the FIRE Marine Stratocumulus Intensive Field Observations (IFO). The mean, turbulent, and the microphysical structure of the clouds sampled in these two areas are compared an an attempt is made to explain the differences in cloud structure. In an attempt to identify any systematic differences between the measurements made with the two aircraft, data were analyzed that were collected on 14 July 1987 with the C-130 and the Electra flying in close formation at an altitude of 250 m. The microphysical and turbulence data are being compared in an attempt to explain the differences in the cloud liquid water content obtained with the two aircraft and the differences in cloud structure shown by the GOES image. In addition, data are being analyzed for three other days during the experiment when coordinated downstream flights were made with the Electra and the C-130