Design, fabrication, and initial test of a fixture for reducing the natural frequency of the Mod-O wind turbine tower

It was desired to observe the behavior of a two bladed wind turbine where the tower first bending natural frequency is less than twice the rotor speed. The system then passes through resonance when accelerating to operating speed. The frequency of the original Mod-O tower was reduced by placing it on a spring fixture. The fixture is adjustable to provide a range of tower bending frequencies. Fixture design details are given and behavior during initial operation is described

'You who were called the uncircumcision by the circumcision’ a study of Jewish attitudes toward the gentiles and ethnic reconciliation according to eph. 2.1-22

The present work is a study of the connections between Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles and ethnic reconciliation according to Eph. 2. It begins by assessing previous scholarly tradition whose hermeneutical 'grid' has been derived from the philosophy of dialectics or the Protestant Reformation. The 'new perspective(s) on Paul', however, shifts our perspective back to first century Judaism and enables us to penetrate fully into the historical context of first century Jews and Judaism. We have taken pains to describe some of the relevant Jewish features and demonstrated them by focusing particularly on Eph. 2 and attempting to set it as fully as possible into its historical context. The uncontroversial a priori of Jewish context conceals many explosive issues: how much was our author influenced by Jewish ideas? Does he wish to speak about his Gentile addressees from a Jewish perspective? Does his status as a Jew also create for him a convenient 'pre-text' so that he could reiterate the perspective of other Jews about the Gentiles in his representation of it? These questions are addressed in this study. We have paid attention to the question of 'representation' or characterization and suggested that ethnography provides a way into the author's statements about the Gentiles: it aids die author to heighten the boundary between Jews and Gentiles and to underscore the negative valence which is attached to the Gentiles. The author's ethnographic statements enable us to show the way in which the language of 'powers' had become for our author a means of dividing human groups, establishing the differences between them and suggesting wherein their 'otherness' lies (Eph. 2.2). These statements and the negative verdict which the author passes on the Gentiles represent but a preamble to the author’s arduous effort to surmount the social distance between Jews and Gentiles. This is made most evident in his rhetoric of admission and conciliation in which he lays bare the fact that the Jews (himself included) were in no better position than the Gentiles who are 'sub-let' to the 'powers', although the idea of Israel’s status was never put in question (2.3). His aim is to evoke the need for the promptings of divine grace and love toward humankind (2.4-10). We also seek to show that Ephesians does not consist of a polemic against meritorious works. We have taken pains to demonstrate that the author of Ephesians has adopted a subtle approach in unraveling the exclusivistic Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles. His characterization of the Gentiles reveals a distinctively Jewish perspective, and, more importantly, tells us much about the Jews (2.1 l-13a). We also show that the Gentiles were estranged by the Jews and that the estrangement can be best explained by die hypothesis that the Gentiles were perceived by die Jews through the 'grid' of covenantal ethnocentrism. The task of the author at this point is to exhibit his de-constructive strategy which provides a resolution to one of the thorniest issues regarding two ethnic groups: can Jew and Gentile, the two estranged human groups, be one {people of God)l And if so, howl We then go on to consider the way in which an exclusive, ethnic-oriented 'body politic of Israel' is transposed into an inclusive community-body. We pointed out that a major weakness with previous treatments of Ephesians has been a lack of appreciation for the close connections between die exclusive Jewish attitudes toward die Gentiles and the author's encomiastic statements about Christ (2.14-18). Previous scholarship has also been substantially hampered by its attempt to 'discover' a preformed material in Eph. 2.14-18, failing to recognise the discussion in Eph. 2.11-13 which sets the parameters for understanding Eph. 2.14-22. Rather than a 'parenthesis' or 'digression', which is tangential to the primary design of die author's argument, we suggested that Eph. 2.14-18 can be best read as an amplificatio through which the author has set in comparison with the magnanimity of Christ the Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles (w. llb-12). What becomes immediately clear in his attempt to accentuate Christ's magnanimity toward humankind is that this attempt was prompted by the Jewish tendency to exclude. The author maximises the expedient, noble act of Christ who brings peace to an estranged humanity and surmounts the social distance between Jews and Gentiles, and whose death has in his perception provided a new framework, i.e. pax Christi within which mutual acceptance or 'the oneness of spirit' between Jews and Gentiles may then be filled out (v. 18; cf. 4.1-6). Such community- enhancing metaphors as 'one new man', 'one body' and 'one spirit' signalled the importance of and were introduced to put the exclusive Jewish 'body politic' and Jewish conception about humankind in question, but they never question the legitimacy of Israel as God's choice or replace Israel. Some vital implications of Christ's reconciling work for the Christian Gentiles and, not least, for their relation to Israel are considered in the penultimate chapter of this study. Two major topoi from ancient political theorists and from the Jewish Temple are introduced by the author to surmount the 'us- them' divisions, to forge the idea of sameness and to consolidate a close relationship of Gentiles with other members of an inclusivistic community. Although die author could readily suggest that Gentiles have become fellow-citizens with 'Israel' (2.19; cf. 2.12), he nevertheless refrained from making this suggestion. The fact is that the meaning of Israel had been hijacked, transcoded and turned into an etimically-based 'body politic' (). But with 'die holy ones' (2.19), the author can redefine the relationship of die Gentiles to die Israel of God afresh. We round off our present study by considering the implications which our present study may have for future research on Ephesians

The Use of Colorful Semantics to Improve Sentence Construction in Writing Sentences Among Year Four Pupils

This action research was set out to develop pupils' writing skill using colorful semantics. The main two objectives established from the outset were to develop pupils' sentence construction and improve my teaching practice in sentence construction teaching respectively. As the researcher, I conducted this classroom action research to 31 pupils which comprised 17 males and 14 females of Year 4J of SJK(C) Cheng Siu 2 in Malaysia. The data was gathered through pre- writing test and post- writing test, pupils' work as well as teacher's reflective journal. Over the course of four weeks, I introduced colorful semantics to my pupils in accordance to the sequence of ‘who', ‘what doing', ‘what' and ‘where'. As can be induced from the findings, colorful semantics was statistically significant to pupils' sentence construction through the enhancement of pupils' ability to understand words of each sentence part and also to write sentence in the correct order. The findings also depicted that utilization of colorful semantics improved my teaching practice to become a reflective, passionate, and motivational teacher. Therefore, the positive results warrant further research into colorful semantics with suggestions to integrate Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) into lessons and expose pupils to more sentence types

Finding Galaxy Groups In Photometric Redshift Space: the Probability Friends-of-Friends (pFoF) Algorithm

We present a structure finding algorithm designed to identify galaxy groups in photometric redshift data sets: the probability friends-of-friends (pFoF) algorithm. This algorithm is derived by combining the friends-of-friends algorithm in the transverse direction and the photometric redshift probability densities in the radial dimension. The innovative characteristic of our group-finding algorithm is the improvement of redshift estimation via the constraints given by the transversely connected galaxies in a group, based on the assumption that all galaxies in a group have the same redshift. Tests using the Virgo Consortium Millennium Simulation mock catalogs allow us to show that the recovery rate of the pFoF algorithm is larger than 80% for mock groups of at least 2\times10^{13}M_{\sun}, while the false detection rate is about 10% for pFoF groups containing at least $\sim8$ net members. Applying the algorithm to the CNOC2 group catalogs gives results which are consistent with the mock catalog tests. From all these results, we conclude that our group-finding algorithm offers an effective yet simple way to identify galaxy groups in photometric redshift catalogs.Comment: AJ accepte

Temperature Dependence of Extended and Fractional SU(3) Monopole Currents

We examine in pure SU(3) the dependence of extended monopole current k and cross-species extended monopole current k^{cross} on temperature t, monopole size L, and fractional monopole charge 1/q. We find that features of both k and k^{cross} are sensitive to t for a range of L and q. In particular, the spatial-temporal asymmetry ratios of both k and k^{cross} are sensitive over a range of L and q to the SU(3) deconfinement transition. The motivation for studying cross, extended, and fractional monopoles in SU(3) is given.Comment: 15 pages (archiving final publication version; very minor revisions

The age and abundance structure of the stellar populations in the central sub-kpc of the Milky Way

The four main findings about the age and abundance structure of the Milky Way bulge based on microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars are: (1) a wide metallicity distribution with distinct peaks at [Fe/H]=-1.09, -0.63, -0.20, +0.12, +0.41; (2) a high fraction of intermediate-age to young stars where at [Fe/H]>0 more than 35 % are younger than 8 Gyr, (3) several episodes of significant star formation in the bulge 3, 6, 8, and 11 Gyr ago; (4) the `knee' in the alpha-element abundance trends of the sub-solar metallicity bulge appears to be located at a slightly higher [Fe/H] (about 0.05 to 0.1 dex) than in the local thick disk.Comment: 4 pages, contributed talk at the IAU Symposium 334 "Rediscovering our Galaxy" in Potsdam, July 10-14, 201

Tree species composition, growing space and management in Hong Kong’s commercial sky gardens

Sky gardens, a type of above-ground urban green space, have been increasingly welcomed and installed in cities. However, few studies have assessed tree planting, management and health in high-rise greenery. This study investigated tree species composition, planting space design and management, and their relationships with tree health in sky gardens in 15 commercial sky gardens with 480 trees in Hong Kong. We assessed the differences between old and new sites regarding tree species, height, crown diameter, and health. We also evaluated selected planting and management factors, including planter type, distance to neighbor trees, root-growth obstacles, canopy barriers, canopy overlap and topping history. Tree species selection in commercial sky gardens was substantially different from public and private residential green spaces. Older sky gardens had more palm trees by species and tree counts. Newer gardens had increased adoption of broadleaf and conifer species with high ornamental value and compact form but fewer native tree species and lower species diversity. The widely planted Ficus spp. had created long-term management issues. Trees were often densely planted, particularly in newer sky gardens. The common practice of topping indicates poor species selection and mismanagement. Planter types with insufficient growing space had dampened tree health. Our findings reveal the trend of tree species adoption, narrower planting spaces and wider adoption of the sunken planter. Improvements in species selection, growing space design and management practices could promote healthy, stable and safe trees in sky gardens with contributions to biodiversity and other ecosystem services

The Establishment Risk of Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) in the United States and Globally

Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an emerging pest of many commercially important plants in Korea, Japan, and the United States. Determining its potential distribution is important for proactive measures to protect commercially important commodities. The objective of this study was to assess the establishment risk of L. delicatula globally and in the United States using the ecological niche model MAXENT, with a focus on Washington State (WA), where large fruit industries exist. The MAXENT model predicted highly suitable areas for L. delicatula in Asia, Oceania, South America, North America, Africa, and Europe, but also predicted that tropical habitats are not suitable for its establishment, contrary to published information. Within the United States, the MAXENT model predicted that L. delicatula can establish in most of New England and the mid-Atlantic states, the central United States and the Pacific Coast states, including WA. If introduced, L. delicatula is likely to establish in fruit-growing regions of the Pacific Northwest. The most important environmental variables for predicting the potential distribution of L. delicatula were mean temperature of driest quarter, elevation, degree-days with a lower developmental threshold value of 11°C, isothermality, and precipitation of coldest quarter. Results of this study can be used by regulatory agencies to guide L. delicatula surveys and prioritize management interventions for this pest