Method of plating copper on aluminum Patent

Method of plating copper on aluminum to permit conventional soldering of structural aluminum bodie

Simulated Trading for Maryland's Nitrogen Loadings in the Chesapeake Bay

We investigate nutrient trading for point and non-point sources for the Bay Restoration Fund in Maryland. We demonstrate how to use the proceeds from the tax revenue to mimic a market by trading high-cost upgrades of sewage treatment plants for low-cost winter cover crops. Under an optimistic assumption about costs for non-point sources and naïve assumptions about the lag from planting cover crops to changes in nitrogen load, we calculate that 100 percent of abatement could be achieved at 56 percent of total costs, while in a pessimistic scenario, 100 percent of abatement could be could be achieved at 83 percent of total costs.Chesapeake Bay, cover crops, nitrogen abatement, nutrient trading, sewage treatment plants, trading ratios, water pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Nutrient Trading, the Flush Tax, and Maryland's Nitrogen Emissions to the Chesapeake Bay

We investigate nutrient trading for point and non-point sources for the Bay Restoration Fund in Maryland. We demonstrate how to use the proceeds from the tax revenue to mimic trading high-cost upgrades of sewage treatment plants for low-cost winter cover crops. Under an optimistic assumption about costs for non-point sources, we calculate that abatement could be increased by more than 50%, while in a pessimistic scenario, abatement could be increased by 2%. We also explore the role of uncertainty in determining the appropriate trading ratio between point and non-point sources of pollution, showing that the higher uncertainty associated with non-point sources should induce a lower trading ratio.Chesapeake Bay, cover crops, nitrogen abatement, nutrient trading, sewage treatment plants, trading ratios, water pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Relations between extensional tectonics and magmatism within the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen

Variations in the geometry, distribution and thickness of Cambrian igneous and sedimentary units within southwest Oklahoma are related to a late Proterozoic - early Paleozoic rifting event which formed the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen. These rock units are exposed in the Wichita Mountains, southwest Olkahoma, located on the northern margin of a Proterozoic basin, identified in the subsurface by COCORP reflection data. Overprinting of the Cambrian extensional event by Pennyslvanian tectonism obsured the influence of pre-existing basement structures and contrasting basement lithologies upon the initial development of the aulacogen

Igniting social pedagogy through learning and teaching partnerships in a higher education context

Partnership as an approach to pedagogic practice and co-creation in higher education is an orientation towards relationship-centred education. There is little exploration of social pedagogy in the higher education (post-secondary) context, yet recent research studied the similarities between the guiding principles underpinning learning and teaching partnerships and those of social pedagogy. This article presents the results of this empirical research, which explored the complexities of engaging ‘students as partners’ in learning and teaching in a UK university. This research found that partnership was used as an approach to democratise entrenched power relations in faculty–student relationships, empower a diverse student body to become co-creators of knowledge and foster inclusive learning communities that respect diversity and social inclusion. The three key concepts of democracy, agency and community are pillars of social pedagogy. Through this exploration of social pedagogy within the higher education context, there is significant potential for knowledge exchange between disciplines traditionally allied to social pedagogy, such as social work, K-12 education, youth work and higher education. The article develops a unique definition and conceptual framework for the case of learning and teaching partnerships, utilising social pedagogy as a guiding theoretical lens. An overview of the novel methodological approach of situational analysis is given, followed by a discussion of the key implications for higher education that: (1) learning and teaching partnerships are situated, relational and inherently complex; (2) ‘trajectories’ provide a helpful metaphor to conceptualise individuals’ unique journeys through the process of partnership; and (3) relationship-centred higher education practices involve heightened awareness of the role of emotions

Environmental modeling and recognition for an autonomous land vehicle

An architecture for object modeling and recognition for an autonomous land vehicle is presented. Examples of objects of interest include terrain features, fields, roads, horizon features, trees, etc. The architecture is organized around a set of data bases for generic object models and perceptual structures, temporary memory for the instantiation of object and relational hypotheses, and a long term memory for storing stable hypotheses that are affixed to the terrain representation. Multiple inference processes operate over these databases. Researchers describe these particular components: the perceptual structure database, the grouping processes that operate over this, schemas, and the long term terrain database. A processing example that matches predictions from the long term terrain model to imagery, extracts significant perceptual structures for consideration as potential landmarks, and extracts a relational structure to update the long term terrain database is given

Energy shedding during nonlinear self-focusing of optical beams

Self-focusing of intense laser beams and pulses of light in real nonlinear media is in general accompanied by material losses that require corrections to the conservative Nonlinear Schrödinger equations describing their propagation. Here we examine loss mechanisms that exist even in lossless media and are caused by shedding of energy away from the self-trapping beam making it to relax to an exact solution of lower energy. Using the conservative NLS equations with absorbing boundary conditions we show that energy shedding not only occurs during the initial reshaping process but also during oscillatory propagation induced by saturation of the nonlinear effect. For pulsed input we also show that, depending on the sign and magnitude of dispersion, pulse splitting, energy shedding, collapse or stable self-focusing may result

Predicted land use changes in agricultural areas of WA and resulting impact on the extent of dryland salinity

An assessment of current and possible future land use in Western Australia was undertaken as part of the National Land and Water Resources Audit. This data was used to assess the impact of land use change on the future extent of salinity. It was found that in some areas there is real capacity for changing land use to impact on recharge to the watertable

Cost Benefit Analysis of Implementing Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Construction Management of the Sports Arena of University of Alaska Anchorage

Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Anchorage In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCEThis research project evaluates the costs and benefits of implementing building information modeling (BIM) as a construction project management tool through the scenario analysis of the UAA Sports Arena project completed August 14, 2014. A literature review was conducted providing general information about BIM, its current status, leading software, cost, benefits, and analysis of two case studies. Cost benefit analysis was applied to account for risk and allow for the comparison of multiple scenarios that are simulated in @RISK. Based on the schedule scenario the project could have ended 11 days early, resulting in an estimated savings of 1.5% of total project cost. Based on the cost scenario the project is estimated to save 1.1% of total project cost, with a 72.8% chance of realizing a positive benefit. When the conditions specific to each scenario in this research are met, the results support a go decision with regards to the implementation of BIM.Signature Page / Title Page / Abstract / Table of Contents / List of Figures / List of Tables / List of Appendices / Introduction / Literature Review / Methodology / Scenario Analysis / Model, Analysis, Results / Conclusions and Future Work / Reference