Determinants of Broadway Theatre Demand

This research identifies many reasons why a theatregoer may choose to attend one Broadway show over another and focuses on the role of familiarity on demand. In response to recent trends, specifically movies produced as stage musicals, this research estimates how classification as an adaptation affects grosses and capacity. Using data from The Broadway Theatre League and the Internet Broadway Database, the author completes an econometric analysis of the drivers of demand for different shows within the 2018-2019 Broadway season. When controlling for previously studied drivers of demand such as revivals and actor popularity, this analysis identifies significant and positive effects on play and musical grosses when a show is an adaptation based on a book, movie, or play. The positive marginal effect on grosses could provide justification for the popularity of adaptations on Broadway

Evaluation and demonstration of the use of cryogenic propellants /oxygen/hydrogen/ for reaction control systems. Volume 2 - Experimental evaluations and demonstration Final report

Evaluation and demonstration of cryogenic propellant /oxygen-hydrogen/ use for spacecraft reaction control system

Oxygen Transport Membrane Reactors for Oxy-Fuel Combustion and Carbon Capture Purposes

This thesis investigates oxygen transport membrane reactors (OTMs) for the application of oxy-fuel combustion. This is done by evaluating the material properties and oxygen permeability of different OTM compositions subjected to a variety of operating conditions. The scope of this work consists of three components: (1) evaluate the oxygen permeation capabilities of perovskite-type materials for the application of oxy-fuel combustion; (2) determine the effects of dual-phase membrane compositions on the oxygen permeation performance and membrane characteristics; and (3) develop a new method for estimating the oxygen permeation performance of OTMs utilized for the application of oxy-fuel combustion. SrSc0.1Co0.9O3-δ (SSC) is selected as the primary perovskite-type material used in this research due to its reported high ionic and electronic conductive properties and chemical stability. SSC’s oxygen ion diffusivity is investigated using a conductivity relaxation technique and thermogravimetric analysis. Material properties such as chemical structure, morphology, and ionic and electronic conductivity are examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and conductivity testing using a four-probe method, respectively. Oxygen permeation tests study the oxygen permeability OTMs under modified membrane temperatures, sweeping gas flow rates, sweeping gas compositions, membrane configurations, and membrane compositions. When utilizing a pure CO2 sweeping gas, the membrane composition was modified with the addition of Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9-δ (SDC) at varying wt.% to improve the membranes mechanical stability. A newly developed method to evaluate the oxygen permeation performance of OTMs is also presented by fitting OTM’s oxygen permeability to the methane fraction in the sweeping gas composition. The fitted data is used to estimate the overall performance and size of OTMs utilized for the application of oxy-fuel combustion. The findings from this research show that under a wide range of membrane temperatures and in a variety of atmospheres, a pure SSC OTM can achieve superior surface exchange and oxygen chemical diffusion coefficients compared to other commonly studied materials. SSC’s high oxygen permeability (\u3e1 ml.min-1.cm-2) demonstrates the material’s candidacy for the application of oxy-fuel combustion. However, in the presence of rich CO2 atmospheres, SSC shows mechanical and chemical instabilities due to the carbonate formation on the perovskite structure. The addition of SDC in the membrane composition produces a dual-phase OTM which is observed to improve the oxygen permeation flux when subjected to pure CO2 sweeping gases. When subjected to pure methane sweeping gases, dual-phase OTM compositions exhibits lower oxygen permeability compared to the single-phase SSC OTM. Despite the decline in the oxygen permeation flux, some dual-phase compositions still exhibit a high oxygen permeability, indicating their potential for the application of oxy-fuel combustion. Furthermore, a newly developed method for evaluating OTMs for the application of oxy-fuel combustion is presented in a portion of this work. This new method calculates key components such as the average oxygen permeation flux, approximate effective surface area, and the impact of additional recirculated exhaust into the incoming sweeping gas to provide a detailed understanding of OTM’s application for oxy-fuel combustion. The development of this approach will aid in the evaluation of newly developed materials and create a new standard for implementing OTMs for the application of oxy-fuel combustion

Stimulus modality, perceptual overlap, and the Go/NoGo N2.

Stimuli that elicit a prepotent but incorrect response are typically associated with an enhanced electrophysiological N2 that is thought to index the operation of a control process such as inhibition or conflict detection. However, recent studies reporting the absence of the N2 modulation in go/no-go tasks involving auditory stimuli challenge this view: It is not clear why inhibition or conflict detection should be sensitive to the modality of the stimulus. Here we present electrophysiological data from a go/no-go task suggesting that the relative size of the N2 modulation in visual and auditory tasks depends on the perceptual overlap between the go and no-go stimuli. Stimuli that looked similar but sounded different were associated with a typical visual N2 modulation and the absence of an auditory N2 modulation, consistent with previous findings. However, when we increased the perceptual overlap between the auditory stimuli, a large no-go N2 was observed. These findings are discussed in terms of existing hypotheses of the N2, and clarify why previous studies have not found an N2 modulation in auditory go/no-go tasks

Training-Induced Improvement of Response Selection and Error Detection in Aging Assessed by Task Switching: Effects of Cognitive, Physical, and Relaxation Training

Cognitive control functions decline with increasing age. The present study examines if different types of group-based and trainer-guided training effectively enhance performance of older adults in a task switching task, and how this expected enhancement is reflected in changes of cognitive functions, as measured in electrophysiological brain activity (event-related potentials). One hundred forty-one healthy participants aged 65 years and older were randomly assigned to one of four groups: physical training (combined aerobic and strength training), cognitive training (paper–pencil and computer-aided), relaxation and wellness (social control group), and a control group that did not receive any intervention. Training sessions took place twice a week for 90 min for a period of 4 months. The results showed a greater improvement of performance for attendants of the cognitive training group compared to the other groups. This improvement was evident in a reduction of mixing costs in accuracy and intraindividual variability of speed, indexing improved maintenance of multiple task sets in working memory, and an enhanced coherence of neuronal processing. These findings were supported by event-related brain potentials which showed higher amplitudes in a number of potentials associated with response selection (N2), allocation of cognitive resources (P3b), and error detection (Ne). Taken together, our findings suggest neurocognitive plasticity of aging brains which can be stimulated by broad and multilayered cognitive training and assessed in detail by electrophysiological methods