Computational fluid dynamics in a marine environment

The introduction of the supercomputer and recent advances in both Reynolds averaged, and large eddy simulation fluid flow approximation techniques to the Navier-Stokes equations, have created a robust environment for the exploration of problems of interest to the Navy in general, and the Naval Underwater Systems Center in particular. The nature of problems that are of interest, and the type of resources needed for their solution are addressed. The goal is to achieve a good engineering solution to the fluid-structure interaction problem. It is appropriate to indicate that a paper by D. Champman played a major role in developing the interest in the approach discussed

Pastoral care in the faith and practice of four selected Swedish churchmen

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University.Problem: To examine the personal faith and pastoral practice of four Swedish Lutheran churchmen, representative of 11sjalavgrd" (the care and cure of souls) during the period, 1775-1875 in Sweden and America, in order to discover the nature of their ministries to individuals. Pastoral care in this inquiry is defined as a relationship of a religious person to another person in need that depends upon spiritual resources in exploring human problems and in furthering the maturity of that person. Procedure: The life and ministry of each churchman is presented in Chapters II-V. The influence of home, school, church, religious experience, theological training and particular persons who guided them into the ministry is cited. The primary sources for their pastoral care are the published letters and cases, and unpublished letter collections. These are categorized for each churchman according to the kinds of people addressed and the kinds of problems presented. From these findings implications are drawn as to the nature of their pastoral care. A more detailed examination is made of selected letters and cases illustrating the various kinds of needs presented. A seven-point framework of evaluation is applied to each case or letter examined: the pastor's attitude toward the parishioner, the parishioner's attitude toward the pastor, the analysis of needs, the suggested remedies, the pastor as God's spokesman, the parting word of the pastor, the values of the relationship [TRUNCATED

With All Deliberate Speed : The Pearsall Plan and School Desegregation in North Carolina, 1954-1966.

The decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. the Board of Education legally ended the operation of segregated schools in the South. In North Carolina, a series of legal challenges began under the Pupil Assignment Act and, later, the Pearsall Plan to delay the desegregation of the state's school systems. In an effort to avoid massive public demonstrations, violence, and the closing of public schools as a result of public outrage, the Pearsall Plan transferred control of pupil assignments, along with the power to request the closing of schools, to local school boards. The decentralization of desegregation allowed communities to determine the level of social change comfortable to the majority of an area's residents. As a result, no school in any of the over one-hundred independent school systems in North Carolina lost a single day of classes on account of civil disobedience.  This thesis examines the background, development, and effect of the Pearsall Plan on North Carolina's educational, political, and social systems. It also outlines the factors that led North Carolina's leaders to deliberately embark down a path with one known ending: the declaration of the unconstitutionality of the Pearsall Plan. The decisions of these individuals and the outcome of their efforts comprise the focus of this thesis.  M.A

Identification and Distribution of Minnesota Leucorrhinia Species (Odonata, Libellulidae)

Minnesota Leucorrhinia species are contrasted with one another through the use of male and female characters . Included in the key lo species are two species (frigida and glacialis) not previously reported from Minnesota. All North American species are discussed

Many Episode Learning in a Modular Embodied Agent via End-to-End Interaction

In this work we give a case study of an embodied machine-learning (ML) powered agent that improves itself via interactions with crowd-workers. The agent consists of a set of modules, some of which are learned, and others heuristic. While the agent is not "end-to-end" in the ML sense, end-to-end interaction is a vital part of the agent's learning mechanism. We describe how the design of the agent works together with the design of multiple annotation interfaces to allow crowd-workers to assign credit to module errors from end-to-end interactions, and to label data for individual modules. Over multiple automated human-agent interaction, credit assignment, data annotation, and model re-training and re-deployment, rounds we demonstrate agent improvement

ALGAE TO ALKANES

Once considered infeasible and unviable, recently there has been renewed interest in the development of algae-derived transportation fuels. Currently, there are no commercialized algae to fuel ventures, and much debate is centered on the economic viability of such a process. Research conducted by NASA, among others, has expressed skepticism that terrestrially cultivated algae can ever compete with conventional fuels. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the economic feasibility of an algae-to-fuel venture that incorporates the state-of-the-art technologies available in the open literature. Our challenge is to produce 20 thousand barrels per day of n-alkane product that meets the current diesel fuel specifications. To arrive at a recommendation, separate models were built for algae cultivation, lipid extraction, and lipid processing at a scale necessary to reach this target. This analysis departs from prior studies on two major fronts. First, this analysis considers OriginOil’s new method of lipid extraction instead of conventional hexane extraction. Second, the objective of the lipid processing module is to produce n-alkanes from triglycerides, as opposed to producing FAME biodiesel. The n-alkane product from this process is comparable to petroleum-based diesel fuels. Thus it can be readily incorporated into existing energy infrastructure as a diesel blending stock or as a feedstock for other processing units in the refinery. Our economic analysis shows that an algae-to-fuel venture is profitable if the fuel is sold at $3/gallon, the current price of diesel. However, the commercialization of such a process is difficult due to the large total capital investment. At$2.2 billion, the capital investment of algae cultivation is nearly 40 times that of processing, which results in annual depreciation and fixed costs of nearly half of the revenue. Investors would be hesitant to invest such a large amount of money in an algae cultivation process where there is high uncertainty in the cost requirements. Algae-to-fuel economics can be improved by realizing higher value uses of the algae biomass. Biomass composes of over half of algae product, and their potential uses in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and biomass power generation far surpass their value as animal feed. Proposed carbon-cap-and-trade programs may bring additional revenue. Thus, any algae-to-fuel venture should seek to optimize the value of its byproducts. Governments can support algae-to-fuel ventures by offering tax credits or mandating a market for renewable fuels, but the benefits of these measures are unclear. Additional analysis should address the uncertainties of various costs and look to reduce capital investment

Laying the foundations for a bio-economy

Biological technologies are becoming an important part of the economy. Biotechnology already contributes at least 1% of US GDP, with revenues growing as much as 20% annually. The introduction of composable biological parts will enable an engineering discipline similar to the ones that resulted in modern aviation and information technology. As the sophistication of biological engineering increases, it will provide new goods and services at lower costs and higher efficiencies. Broad access to foundational engineering technologies is seen by some as a threat to physical and economic security. However, regulation of access will serve to suppress the innovation required to produce new vaccines and other countermeasures as well as limiting general economic growth