A model for the determination of optimal electric generating system expansion patterns

Essentially constitutes a M.S. thesis in the Sloan School of Management and the Dept. of Civil EngineeringLong range electric generating capacity expansion planning requires consideration of a diverse range of issues including economic and financial evaluations, environmental protection, and overall system reliability. To determine the optimum system expansion plan, it is necessary to create a synthesis of combinations of possible technical alternatives, observe the intertemporal effects of the system along the dimensions of the problem, and choose the set of alternatives which best meets the objectives while satisfying all constraints. A system of integrated techniques and computer codes (called the Generation Expansion Model) has been formulated to evaluate the economic, environmental, and reliability aspects of regional generation expansion strategies. The computer codes comprising the model are used serially and in an iterative manner to find the set of plant and site alternatives and the corresponding plant operating histories which will minimize the total present worth of all capital, operating, and fuel costs while satisfying the demand for electricity, fuel availability, site availability, pollution limits, and reliability constraints. Prototypical versions of the three major submodels of the Generation Expansion Model exist; initial testing of the capabilities and sensitivities of the first two submodels and their interface is currently being performedNSF Contract no. GI-3493

Understanding suicide clusters through exploring self-harm: Semi-structured interviews with individuals presenting with near-fatal self-harm during a suicide cluster

There was a highly publicised cluster of at least ten suicides in South Wales, United Kingdom, in 2007–2008. We carried out a qualitative descriptive study using cross-case thematic analysis to investigate the experiences and narratives of eight individuals who lived in the area where the cluster occurred and who survived an episode of near-fatal self-harm at the time of the cluster. Interviews were conducted from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2015. All interviewees denied that the other deaths in the area had affected their own suicidal behaviour. However, in other sections of the interviews they spoke about the cluster contributing to difficulties they were experiencing at the time, including damage to social relationships, feelings of loss and being out of control. When asked about support, the interviewees emphasized the importance of counselling, which they would have found helpful but in most cases did not receive, even in the case of close contacts of individuals who had died. The findings suggest that effective prevention messaging must be subtle, since those affected may not be explicitly aware of or acknowledge the imitative aspects of their behaviour. This could be related to stigma attached to suicidal behaviour in a cluster context. Lessons for prevention include changing the message from asking if people ‘have been affected by’ the suicide deaths to emphasising the preventability of suicide, and directly reaching out to individuals rather than relying on people to come forward

Foliar Fertilization of Soybeans - 1977

Field investigations on the effect of foliar fertilization were continued on soybeans during 1977. Results from our 1976 studies have previously been published. In 1976 we tested a material produced by TVA. We used the same TVA-material in 1977 and in addition, included a commercially available product (Foliantm, manufactured by Allied Chemical Corporation)

Sub-system mechanical design for an eLISA optical bench

We present the design and development status of the opto-mechanical sub-systems that will be used in an experimental demonstration of imaging systems for eLISA. An optical bench test bed design incorporates a Zerodur® baseplate with lenses, photodetectors, and other opto-mechanics that must be both adjustable - with an accuracy of a few micrometers - and stable over a 0 to 40°C temperature range. The alignment of a multi-lens imaging system and the characterisation of the system in multiple degrees of freedom is particularly challenging. We describe the mechanical design of the precision mechanisms, including thermally stable flexure-based optical mounts and complex multi-lens, multi-axis adjuster mechanisms, and update on the integration of the mechanisms on the optical bench