The Effects of Aromatherapy on Alertness in an Inclusion Setting

Many adolescents place their heads down and close their eyes throughout the duration of a class period. Sleeping during instructional time directly affects the academic performance of a student. Participation is very difficult for those who have low attention levels. To ensure each student is provided with the greatest opportunity to achieve their highest potential academic learning gain, it is vital that each student is actively engaged throughout the lesson plan. Increasing a student’s potential to master the material relies heavily on the level in which the student is interacting with the three predominate learning styles: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. If a student is sleeping during the instructional period in which these learning styles are being addressed, the student’s potential to master the criteria decreases significantly. Individuals who have low attention levels force teachers to disrupt the learning environment of other students as the teacher interrupts their instruction time to provide verbal cues for a student to sit up or wake up. Teachers are often at a loss when faced with the dilemma of how to avoid disrupting their instructional time by continually having to pause the lesson in order prompt motivation and maintain the attention of students who perpetually sleep during the duration of the class period without breaking the attention and learning environment of the other students within the classroom. Research within the field of aromatherapy places an emphasis on investigating the effect of different essential oils on precise brain centers. The available research indicates the effectiveness of aromatherapy and the use of essential oils, such as eucalyptus and peppermint, to stimulate specific brain centers that are known to regulate an individual’s attention level. It is the lack of research regarding the effects of aromatherapy on alertness across multiple settings that makes the research of the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion classroom vital. This research will provide further insight to not only how specific essential oils stimulate the brain to enhance alertness, but also the effects of specific fragrances of aromatherapy on alertness in various settings

Strain Effects on Coherent Excitons in Organic Crystalline Thin Films

For this thesis the effects of strain on excitons in organic thin film semiconductors is investigated.A hollow-capillary pen writing technique was used to create highly ordered thin films depositedon a flexible substrate. Metal-free octabutoxy-phthalocyanine (H2OBPc) was chosen for thisstudy because it forms long chains of molecules with strong π −π interactions. Absorbance andlinear dichroism measurements were performed on films with varying levels of strain applied alongthe stacking axis, with the total strain averaging 8%. A k-vector study was also conducted toinvestigate whether the molecular stacking angle is changing due to strain. It was hypothesizedthat strain applied along the stacking axis would cause a peak shift in the absorbance spectrum,and could potentially cause a shift in the molecular stacking angle of each molecule relative tothe substrate. Red-shifting of the exciton peaks was observed in both the absorbance and lineardichroism spectra. An overall reduction in the linear dichroism was observed regardless of theincident angle in the k-vector study, indicating that the molecular stacking angle is changing

Regional Differences in Relational Aggression: The Role of Culture

It is becoming increasingly clear that relational aggression has just as much potential to cause harm as overt verbal and physical aggression. Though the literature base on relational aggression is growing, far fewer studies have been conducted with late adolescents and adults as compared with children and early adolescents. Moreover, the role of culture in relational aggression has received limited attention. The current study aimed to examine the potential impact of one aspect of culture on relational aggression by focusing on North-South regional differences in the United States. Differing norms and expectations for social behavior between Northern and Southern U.S. may translate into differences in aggressive behavior. Two-hundred and eighty-eight undergraduate students from a Southern university and 217 students from a university in the Northeast completed self-report measures of relational aggression, overt aggression, normative beliefs about relational aggression, and gender role attitudes online. Results indicated that Southern participants reported greater levels of both general/peer and romantic relational aggression compared to the Northern sample. Southerners also reported more traditional gender role attitudes compared to Northerners. There was not a significant difference between Northern and Southern participants on normative beliefs about relational aggression. Traditional gender role attitudes were positively correlated with both general/peer and romantic relational aggression. Finally, gender role attitudes were a significant predictor of general/peer relational aggression but not of relational aggression in romantic contexts

Writing DNA with GenoCAD™

Chemical synthesis of custom DNA made to order calls for software streamlining the design of synthetic DNA sequences. GenoCAD™ (www.genocad.org) is a free web-based application to design protein expression vectors, artificial gene networks and other genetic constructs composed of multiple functional blocks called genetic parts. By capturing design strategies in grammatical models of DNA sequences, GenoCAD guides the user through the design process. By successively clicking on icons representing structural features or actual genetic parts, complex constructs composed of dozens of functional blocks can be designed in a matter of minutes. GenoCAD automatically derives the construct sequence from its comprehensive libraries of genetic parts. Upon completion of the design process, users can download the sequence for synthesis or further analysis. Users who elect to create a personal account on the system can customize their workspace by creating their own parts libraries, adding new parts to the libraries, or reusing designs to quickly generate sets of related constructs

Alocação ótima de baterias para alívio de congestionamento de linhas de transmissão

Orientadora: Profª. Drª. Thelma Solange Piazza FernandesDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Tecnologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica. Defesa : Curitiba, 14/12/2021Inclui referênciasÁrea de concentração: Sistemas de EnergiaResumo: Os sistemas de armazenamento de energia têm se tornado importantes aliados para a operacionalização de sistemas elétricos compostos por fontes eólicas e solares, os quais são usados principalmente para contornar os elevados níveis de variabilidade de geração desses tipos de fonte. No entanto, os sistemas de armazenamento possuem várias outras aplicações em Sistemas Elétricos de Potência, tal como, uso para aliviar congestionamento na rede de transmissão. Assim, as questões de congestionamento das linhas de transmissão, aliadas ao uso crescente da carga, esgotamento dos recursos hídricos e aumento das fontes eólicas e solares no sistema elétrico brasileiro, justificam a importância de também se realizar estudos a respeito do impacto dos sistemas de armazenamento nos fluxos de potência através das linhas de transmissão de sistemas elétricos. Dentre as várias tecnologias de armazenamento existentes, este trabalho aborda as baterias, as quais protagonizam a maioria dos sistemas de armazenamento de energia instalados na atualidade. Assim, este trabalho tem como foco analisar o uso de baterias em sistemas hidrotérmicos com penetração de fonte eólica, com objetivo de contornar sobrecarga nas linhas de transmissão. Para tanto, é necessário antes, realizar um estudo de como alocar e dimensionar as baterias e uma vez feita as alocações, analisar os impactos advindos de suas instalações na rede de transmissão do sistema hidro-termo-eólico. A alocação e o dimensionamento ótimo das baterias deve ser feita no sentido de minimizar os cortes de carga oriundos dos congestionamentos nas linhas, de se despachar a geração hidráulica e térmica de modo a minimizar os custos de geração das usinas térmicas, além de minimizar os próprios custos de aquisição e operação das baterias. Para tanto, este trabalho formula um problema de otimização que aloca e dimensiona sistemas de baterias em sistemas hidrotérmicos com penetração de fonte eólicas, solucionado via Algoritmos Genéticos e Fluxo de Potência Ótimo Multiperíodo. Os resultados e análises foram realizados utilizando sistema de 33 barras e eles mostram que é possível reduzir cortes de carga devido ao congestionamento da rede de transmissão, postergando assim, a construção de novas linhas de transmissão através da instalação de sistemas de armazenamento.Abstract: Energy storage systems have become important allies to operationalize electrical systems composed of wind and solar sources, which are mainly used to contour high levels of generation variability of these types of sources. However, storage systems have several other applications in Electric Power Systems, such as to alleviate transmission network congestions. Thus, the issues of transmission congestion together with the increasing of load, depletion of water resources and increase of wind and solar sources, as occurring in the Brazilian electrical system, justify the importance of also carrying out studies about the impact of storage systems on power flows through the transmission lines of electrical systems. Thus, this work focuses on analyzing the use of batteries in hydrothermal systems with penetration of wind source, with the intention to circumvent transmission congestions. For that, it is necessary, beforehand, to carry out a study of how to allocate and size the batteries and, once the allocations are made, analyze the impacts arising from their installations on the hydrothermal system's transmission network. The optimal allocation and sizing of the batteries are made to minimize load cuts arising from congestion on the lines, to dispatch hydraulic and thermal generation to minimize the generation costs of thermal plants, in addition to minimize the acquisition and operating costs of the batteries. Therefore, an optimization problem is formulated that allocates and sizes battery systems in hydrothermal systems with penetration of wind sources, solved via Genetic Algorithms and Multiperiod Optimal Power Flow. The results and performance analysis are done using a system of 33 buses. The results show that it is possible to reduce load cuts due to transmission congestion, thus postponing the construction of new transmission lines after the installation of storage systems

From Beirut to Belfast: How Power-Sharing Arrangements Affect Ethnic Tensions in Post-Conflict Societies

Thesis advisor: Peter KrauseTo what extent do power-sharing arrangements increase or decrease ethnic tensions? This thesis sets to explore this question using Lebanon and Northern Ireland as comparative case studies. I use Pierre Nora’s lieux de mémoire scheme of historical memory to craft a theory of sites of social interaction (SSI). In addition, I outline three main strategies of social cohesion in power-sharing institutions. SSIs and cohesion strategies that increase tensions will cause power-sharing failure in the long run, and vice versa. I conclude that there is a causal link between power-sharing arrangements and ethnic tensions in divided societies, through the mechanisms of SSIs and cohesion strategies. Lebanon and Northern Ireland encode power-sharing with different sites of social interaction, as a reflection of a society’s composition, and different cohesion strategies, as a reflection of power-sharing design. Power-sharing implementation provides us with the missing link in our knowledge of power-sharing and ethnic tensions.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Departmental Honors.Discipline: Political Science

Assessment of TRAIN’s Coal and Petroleum Excise Taxes: Environmental Benefits and Impacts on Sectoral Employment and Household Welfare

This study assessed the impact of the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (or TRAIN) Law, which includes an increase in petroleum and coal excise taxes, as passed by Congress in 2017. This study reviewed the context of the energy sector in the country given that petroleum and coal are the largest sources of energy in the country. Using a computable general equilibrium-microsimulation model, it mainly assessed the impact of this increase and of the whole TRAIN 1 package (which includes a reduction in the personal income tax and the broadening of the value added tax). The results from the simulations show that there is a slight adverse output effect for most industries under an increase in petroleum and coal taxes scenario, resulting in a lower level of carbon emissions. There is a slight decline in employment, and poverty incidence increased slightly as excise taxes have an adverse effect in terms of higher commodities prices among the poor

GUBS, a Behavior-based Language for Open System Dedicated to Synthetic Biology

In this article, we propose a domain specific language, GUBS (Genomic Unified Behavior Specification), dedicated to the behavioral specification of synthetic biological devices, viewed as discrete open dynamical systems. GUBS is a rule-based declarative language. By contrast to a closed system, a program is always a partial description of the behavior of the system. The semantics of the language accounts the existence of some hidden non-specified actions possibly altering the behavior of the programmed device. The compilation framework follows a scheme similar to automatic theorem proving, aiming at improving synthetic biological design safety.Comment: In Proceedings MeCBIC 2012, arXiv:1211.347