Dynamic Simulation and Analysis of FSAE Racer for Development of Stability Control System

Using Adams/Car software, a computer model of Georgia Southern University’s 2016 Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) racecar was developed with the purpose of researching vehicle stability under dynamic conditions. Previous research in this field of study has been conducted to verify that Adams/Car simulations provide accurate results using data acquisition systems, so the major work for the current research has been to create an updated version of the vehicle designed and fabricated by Eagle Motor Sports. With this new model, vehicle roll, and pitch data as well as vehicle traction were collected during dynamic simulations. The overall goal for this research is to better understand how to combat unnecessary vehicle movements and loss of traction, and will ultimately help in the development of a self-sustaining control system which will detect the vehicle’s stability status and make necessary adjustments to the suspension system to maintain traction and stability

Integrating ACE and MCA Requirements into the Civil Engineer Officer Occupational Competency Framework

The Air Force Civil Engineer officer career field has made dedicated efforts to the professional development of its company grade officers. In response to the 2015 Air Force Strategic Master plan, the Civil Engineer officer career field adopted a competency-based education approach. In 2020, the Civil Engineer Officer Career Field Education and Training Plan was published, officially integrating the career field’s operational requirements into a competency framework. However, since 2020, the Air Force has adopted an updated force generation strategy, and with it, changes to the way the Air Force assets are employed in contingency environments. This new scheme of maneuver for assets and combat forces was titled Agile Combat Employment. In addition to this deployment model, this new strategy also brought about the Multi-Capable Airmen concept. With the adoption of these new strategies and models; the roles, responsibilities, and duties Air Force Civil Engineer officers fulfill when deployed may change in response to changing environmental and operational conditions. This research purposed to determine if the adoption of Agile Combat Employment and Multi-Capable Airmen models call for modifications or additions to be made to the existing Civil Engineer Officer core competency framework. In this manner, potential new occupational requirements were integrated into the Civil Engineer competency framework. This research also investigated several current education and training opportunities to determine if the newly identified competency requirements could be satisfied with existing courses. To achieve this research goal, a systematic review of available Agile Combat Employment and Multi-Capable Airmen literature was conducted to identify potential knowledge, skill and ability requirements for Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers. These requirements were then validated using an expert elicitation from a panel of senior USAF Civil Engineer leaders. Finally, this list of requirements was compared with the current Civil Engineer officer competency framework to develop a list of recommended edits and additions

Intrinsic point defects and volume swelling in ZrSiO4 under irradiation

The effects of high concentration of point defects in crystalline ZrSiO4 as originated by exposure to radiation, have been simulated using first principles density functional calculations. Structural relaxation and vibrational studies were performed for a catalogue of intrinsic point defects, with different charge states and concentrations. The experimental evidence of a large anisotropic volume swelling in natural and artificially irradiated samples is used to select the subset of defects that give similar lattice swelling for the concentrations studied, namely interstitials of O and Si, and the anti-site Zr(Si), Calculated vibrational spectra for the interstitials show additional evidence for the presence of high concentrations of some of these defects in irradiated zircon.Comment: 9 pages, 7 (color) figure

Literature Themes from Five Decades of Agricultural Communications Publications

The discipline of agricultural communications has been developing for nearly two centuries. As the discipline has adapted, professional organizations such as the American Association of `Agricultural College Editors (AAACE) and the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) have published literature representative of the topics and issues that have impacted the discipline through magazines and journals such as the AAACE, ACE Quarterly, and the Journal of Applied Communications (JAC). The purpose of this study was to review the literature published in AAACE, ACE Quarterly, and JAC from 1968-2015 to identify primary and secondary literature themes. There were 13 emergent themes identified. The most prolific primary theme identified was Channel Development, Use or Research while the most prolific secondary theme identified was Educating Professionals. A count of the number of articles classified as “professional development” and “research” revealed a shift in the focus in the journal outlets. In earlier years, the discipline focused mainly on professional development articles (AAACE and ACE Quarterly), but transitioned almost completely to research (JAC). This research acknowledges that the discipline has experienced significant literary shifts and provides a recommendation for further research in audience analysis of the literature coming from the journals of the discipline

The projective consciousness model and phenomenal selfhood

We summarize our recently introduced Projective Consciousness Model (PCM) (Rudrauf et al., 2017) and relate it to outstanding conceptual issues in the theory of consciousness. The PCM combines a projective geometrical model of the perspectival phenomenological structure of the field of consciousness with a variational Free Energy minimization model of active inference, yielding an account of the cybernetic function of consciousness, viz., the modulation of the field's cognitive and affective dynamics for the effective control of embodied agents. The geometrical and active inference components are linked via the concept of projective transformation, which is crucial to understanding how conscious organisms integrate perception, emotion, memory, reasoning, and perspectival imagination in order to control behavior, enhance resilience, and optimize preference satisfaction. The PCM makes substantive empirical predictions and fits well into a (neuro)computationalist framework. It also helps us to account for aspects of subjective character that are sometimes ignored or conflated: pre-reflective self-consciousness, the first-person point of view, the sense of minenness or ownership, and social self-consciousness. We argue that the PCM, though still in development, offers us the most complete theory to date of what Thomas Metzinger has called "phenomenal selfhood.

Plutonium stabilization in zircon: Effects of self-radiation

Zircon (ZrSiO4)(ZrSiO4) is the most thoroughly studied of all candidate ceramic phases for the stabilization of plutonium. Self-radiation damage from α-decay of the 239Pu,239Pu, which releases a 5.16 MeV α-particle and a 0.086 MeV 235U235U recoil nucleus, can significantly affect the structure and properties of zircon. Recent computer simulations using energy minimization techniques indicate that the lowest energy configuration occurs for a defect cluster composed of two near-neighbor Pu3+Pu3+ substitutions on Zr4+Zr4+ sites and a neighboring charge-compensating oxygen vacancy. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87571/2/18_1.pd

The Impact of Declining Groundwater Supply in the Northern High Plains of Texas and Oklahoma on Expenditures for Community Services

Reduced availability of groundwater in the Northern High Plains of Texas and Oklahoma is expected to have repercussions throughout the regional economy due to the reduction in agricultural income. The decline in the economic base is expected to lead to an out-migration of population, It is presumed that the decrease in population and available income will result in reduced expenditures for community services. This study establishes concepts for the empirical analysts and measurement of service expenditures. Linear model forms are applied using a cross-sectional data set to develop service expenditure functions. Projections of future expenditure levels for selected community sizes are made using the estimated functional relationships. The results of these projections indicate that reduced service expenditures will accompany the decrease in population and income due to the decline of available groundwater. Per capita service expenditures are projected to increase over time as total expenditures decrease. Generally it is estimated that per capita service expenditures will be higher in smaller communities in future time periods. Both total expenditures and per capita expenditures are projected to increase more in smaller communities relative to larger communities. These results suggest that the effects of the declining groundwater supply will have a more adverse impact on smaller communities in the Northern High Plains of Texas and Oklahoma

A human relevent rat model of breast cancer

Abstract only availableBecause women experience a bewildering array of chemicals, foods and lifestyles, only profound effects on preventing or promoting breast cancer are detectible in human studies. Subtle or delayed effects can be detected in animal models. Mammary tumors in ACI rats share important similarities with the majority of human breast cancers. The link between life time estrogen exposure and breast cancer risk in humans is well established. A high percentage of human breast cancers express ER, are stimulated to grow by the addition of exogenous estrogen, and respond to the antiestrogen tamoxifen. The ACI rat is the only rodent model in which estrogen-sensitive tumors are induced by estrogen. The ACI.COP-Ept2 substrain, derived from the ACI rat, develops mammary tumors similar to those of the ACI rat, but with reduced pituitary hyperplasia. We show that estrogen-induced mammary tumors in ACI.COP-Ept2 express ERα and respond to tamoxifen. Furthermore, tumors express ERβ, progesterone receptor and Her2/neu. The average latency was 183±6 days (n=24) and average tumor burden 1,107±415 mm3. The similarities of ACI.COP-Ept2 tumors to human breast cancers make this a valuable model for determining which of the myriad of lifestyle and diet choices reportedly protecting women from breast cancer actually reduce cancer incidence.Food for the 21st Century Undergraduate Research Program in Nutritional Science

Data Report for the NRC/PNL Halden Assembly IFA-432: April 1978-May 1980

This report presents the in-reactor data collected from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)/Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) Halden test assembly IFA-432 for the period from April 1978 through May 1980. The irradiation test is part of an experimental program entitled 11 Experimental Support and Development of Single-Rod Fuel Codes" sponsored by the Fuel Behavior Research Branch of the NRC. The purpose of this program is to reduce the uncertainties of predicting the thermal and mechanical behavior of an operating nuclear fuel rod, Fuel centerline temperatures, cladding elongation, internal fuel rod pressures, and local powers at the thermocouple (TC) positions are shown as a function of time. The local powers were derived from neutron detector readings while the other variables were measured directly. Detailed analysis of the data is not made, but topical reports discussing certain aspects of the data are referenced. Descriptions of the assembly, instrumentation and calibration, and data processing methods are also presented