Aiken, South Carolina: Strategizing One Step at a Time

In 1997, the National Civic League dubbed Aiken an "All American City," an honor it shared with nine other cities across the nation. This is quite an achievement for a community that experienced significant job loss during the post-Cold War period. Facing the loss of more than 10,000 U.S. Department of Energy jobs, the City of Aiken began a strategic planning process in 1992 that identified goals related to four themes – Historic City, Family City, Green City, and Business City - and specific action steps for meeting those goals by 2010. These action steps have ranged from improving pedestrian walkways to assisting small business development to expanding health care and social services. By February 2000, more than 30 key initiatives called for in the strategic plan were completed in Aiken, changing the face of the community. A review of these accomplishments illustrates how the strategic planning process has enabled residents in Aiken to control their destiny in the face of adversity

Power to the Tweeple? The role of social media in the bridging and setting of boundaries in collective action

Social media is increasingly used for social protest, but does online participation advance the aims of social movements, or does it undermine efforts for social change? We explore this question in the present thesis by examining how the use of social media for collective action shapes, and is shaped by, the social psychological concerns of technology users. Adopting a diverse approach in terms of research questions and methodology, we examine how collective action is affected by: (1) features of the digital environment, (2) internet-enabled modes of participation, and (3) digitally-facilitated communities. Our findings demonstrate that group-level representations of the self and salient others are integral to the relationship between digital technology and collective action. Ultimately, we argue that digital technology can act as both a psychological bridge and barrier between disparate groups and issues; in this way it can both facilitate and undermine mobilisation efforts and broader aims for social change.DST

Rural Georgia: To Be or Not to Be Zoned

A variety of public policies in Georgia can influence a community’s economic development potential. Zoning is one of these policies. In 1983, the Georgia State Constitution gave individual counties home rule power to conduct zoning and planning activities. The Georgia Planning Act of 1989 mandated that all communities in Georgia adopt a comprehensive plan, but did not require adoption of a zoning ordinance to enforce, or implement, the plan. As of 2001, 63 counties in Georgia, all rural, have not adopted a zoning ordinance. Community leaders of non-zoned counties often find it challenging to convince their citizens of real benefits to zoning. Opponents of zoning often consider such regulation an unnecessary governmental intrusion on their property rights. Zoning advocates often cite quality-of-life advantages, such as protecting homeowners from unwanted uses next door, but such advantages vary in the eye of the beholder and sometimes do not provide enough incentive to sway the opposition. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate whether there are economic development benefits related to zoning. Given that an unlimited number of factors affect a community’s economic development potential, it is not possible to state with certainty that just one factor is responsible for a community’s economic development progress. In other words, one factor, such as a specific public policy, cannot be the sole explanation for a community’s development. However, economic development patterns may be observed when comparing communities with one of these factors to communities without. This investigation sought to compare counties with a zoning policy to counties without one.Georgia Rural Economic Development Center (GREDC) at East Georgia Colleg

Long Duration Performance of High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouples

Many advanced nuclear reactor designs require new fuel, cladding, and structural materials. Data are needed to characterize the performance of these new materials in high temperature, radiation conditions. However, traditional methods for measuring temperature inpile degrade at temperatures above 1100 ºC. To address this instrumentation need, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) developed and evaluated the performance of a high temperature irradiation-resistant thermocouple that contains alloys of molybdenum and niobium. To verify the performance of INL’s recommended thermocouple design, a series of high temperature (from 1200 to 1800 ºC) long duration (up to six months) tests has been initiated. This paper summarizes results from the tests that have been completed. Data are presented from 4000 hour tests conducted at 1200 and 1400 ºC that demonstrate the stability of this thermocouple (less than 2% drift). In addition, post test metallographic examinations are discussed which confirm the compatibility of thermocouple materials throughout these long duration, high temperature tests

Long Duration Testing of Type C Thermocouples at 1500 °C

Experience with Type C thermocouples operating for long periods in the 1400 to 1600 °C temperature range indicate that significant decalibration occurs, often leading to expensive downtime and material waste. As part of an effort to understand the mechanisms causing drift in these thermocouples, the Idaho National Laboratory conducted a long duration test at 1500 °C containing eight Type C thermocouples. As report in this document, results from this long duration test were adversely affected due to oxygen ingress. Nevertheless, results provide key insights about the impact of precipitate formation on thermoelectric response. Post-test examinations indicate that thermocouple signal was not adversely impacted by the precipitates detected after 1,000 hours of heating at 1,500 °C and suggest that the signal would not have been adversely impacted by these precipitates for longer durations (if oxygen ingress had not occurred in this test)

HIGH TEMPERATURE IRRADIATION RESISTANT THERMOCOUPLES – A LOW COST SENSOR FOR IN-PILE TESTING AT HIGH TEMPERATURES

Several options have been identified to improve recently-developed Idaho National Laboratory (INL) High Temperature Irradiation Resistant ThermoCouples (HTIR-TCs) for in-pile testing. These options have the potential to reduce fabrication costs and allow HTIR-TC use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1800 °C). The INL and the University of Idaho (UI) investigated these options with the ultimate objective of providing recommendations for alternate thermocouple designs that are optimized for various applications. This paper summarizes results from these INL/UI investigations. Specifically, results are reported about several options found to enhance HTIR-TC performance, such as improved heat treatments, alternate geometries, alternate fabrication techniques, and the use of copper/nickel alloys as soft extension cable

INITIAL RESULTS FROM INVESTIGATIONS TO ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH TEMPERATURE IRRADIATION-RESISTANT THERMOCOUPLES

New fuel, cladding, and structural materials offer the potential for safer and more economic energy from existing reactor and advanced nuclear reactor designs. However, insufficient data are available to characterize these materials in high temperature, radiation conditions. To evaluate candidate material performance, robust instrumentation is needed that can survive these conditions. However, traditional thermocouples either drift due to degradation at high temperatures (above 1100 °C) or due to transmutation of thermocouple components. Thermocouples are needed which can withstand both high temperature and high radiation environments. To address this instrumentation need, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently developed the design and evaluated the performance of a high temperature radiation-resistant thermocouple that contains commercially-available alloys of molybdenum and niobium (Rempe, 2006). Candidate thermocouple component materials were first identified based on their ability to withstand high temperature and radiation. Then, components were selected based on data obtained from materials interaction tests, ductility investigations, and resolution evaluations. Results from long duration (over 4000 hours) tests at high temperatures (up to 1400 °C) and thermal cycling tests demonstrate the stability and reliability of the INL-developed design. Tests in INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) are underway to demonstrate the in-pile performance of these thermocouples. However, several options have been identified that could further enhance the lifetime and reliability of the INL-developed thermocouples, allowing their use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1700 °C). A joint University of Idaho (UI) and INL University Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (UNERI) is underway to investigate these options and ultimately, provide recommendations for an enhanced thermocouple design. This paper presents preliminary results from this UI/INL effort. Results are reported from tests completed to evaluate the ductility, resolution, transient response, and stability of thermocouples made from non-commercially available alloys of molybdenum and niobium. In addition, this paper reports preliminary insights gained by comparing the performance of thermocouples fabricated with alternate techniques and geometries

The scale of population structure in Arabidopsis thaliana

The population structure of an organism reflects its evolutionary history and influences its evolutionary trajectory. It constrains the combination of genetic diversity and reveals patterns of past gene flow. Understanding it is a prerequisite for detecting genomic regions under selection, predicting the effect of population disturbances, or modeling gene flow. This paper examines the detailed global population structure of Arabidopsis thaliana. Using a set of 5,707 plants collected from around the globe and genotyped at 149 SNPs, we show that while A. thaliana as a species self-fertilizes 97% of the time, there is considerable variation among local groups. This level of outcrossing greatly limits observed heterozygosity but is sufficient to generate considerable local haplotypic diversity. We also find that in its native Eurasian range A. thaliana exhibits continuous isolation by distance at every geographic scale without natural breaks corresponding to classical notions of populations. By contrast, in North America, where it exists as an exotic species, A. thaliana exhibits little or no population structure at a continental scale but local isolation by distance that extends hundreds of km. This suggests a pattern for the development of isolation by distance that can establish itself shortly after an organism fills a new habitat range. It also raises questions about the general applicability of many standard population genetics models. Any model based on discrete clusters of interchangeable individuals will be an uneasy fit to organisms like A. thaliana which exhibit continuous isolation by distance on many scales

Options to Extend the Applicability of High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouples

Several options have been identified that could further enhance the reliability and increase the applicability of recently developed Idaho National Laboratory (INL) High Temperature Irradiation Resistant thermocouples (HTIR-TCs) for in-pile testing, allowing their use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1700 °C). INL and the University of Idaho (UI) are investigating these options with the ultimate objective of providing recommendations for alternate thermocouple designs that are optimized for various applications. This paper reports the status of INL/UI investigations. Results are reported from tests completed to evaluate the ductility, resolution, transient response, and stability of thermocouples made from specially formulated alloys of molybdenum and niobium. In addition, this paper reports preliminary insights gained by comparing the performance of thermocouples fabricated with various heat treatments and alternate geometries