Surface and sub-surface conditions resulting from electric spark machining

LD2668 .T4 1962 P7

Towards A Framework For Maintaining Defensibility In Encrypted Network Environments

Network security professionals improve confidentiality and integrity of information technology resources when they incorporate encryption schemes into the transmission of network packets across their respective infrastructures. Ironically, network engineers and administrators that incorporate encryption strategies across their infrastructures must simultaneously confront the limitations of end-to-end encrypted network packets inasmuch as they severely impair visible, defensible network architectures. This project demonstrates how security professionals charged with maintaining network visibility can deploy encryption across their topologies without fear of compromising their ability to capture – then fully analyze – network traffic. In so doing, information technology industry practitioners and researchers may confidently move forward with the task of maturing a framework for maintaining defensibility in encrypted network environments

Liquid-like behaviour of gold nanowire bridges

A combination of Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and Reactive Ion Etch (RIE) was used to fabricate free standing gold nanowire bridges with radii of 30 nm and below. These were subjected to point loading to failure at their mid-points using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), providing strength and deformation data. The results demonstrate a dimensionally dependent transition from conventional solid metallic properties to liquid-like behaviour including the unexpected reformation of a fractured bridge. The work reveals mechanical and materials properties of nanowires which could have significant impact on nanofabrication processes and nanotechnology devices such as Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS)

The arms race in College Athletics:facility spending and its relationship to College Athletics and University Communities

The arms race in collegiate athletic facilities continues to advance and involves more and more money all the time. Large athletic departments continue to spend money on new, large, state-of-the-art facilities for their programs in order to give them the ability to attract big name coaches, players, and donors. College athletics is a major interest to many people in this country and the fact that these programs have become more and more of a business makes major facility expenditures an interesting and relevant topic to most of the general public. This leads to the question of what factors within the athletic department and within the university community are related to the amount of money that collegiate athletic departments spend on their facilities. This specific study took data from a six year time period for FBS Division I institutions in the areas of finance, athletic performance, facility usage, athletic department size, and institutional factors. The data was gathered from a variety of outside sources and then put through statistical analyses to find correlation and regression information between these variables and facility spending. These tests provided information about the relationships between the variables, how they affected each other, and what they could predict about facility spending. The correlations provided insights into which variables actually affected the amount of facility spending within a collegiate athletic department. It was not surprising that the financial variables were the most related, but it was interesting to note that some of the institutional factors and performance variables were not very related at all. The regressions also proved to be informative because of the variables that contributed to the variance in spending and which ones did not. These results even led to running a second regression with a change in the independent and dependent variable to gain more insights. Although there is much information about facility spending and the rising expenses in college athletics, there is not much correlational data to date. The results from this study can help give collegiate athletic departments more information and a more holistic picture of the relationships between these important variables before they start investing in a new major facility

Monitoring IAQ and thermal comfort in a conservation area low energy retrofit

EnerPHit and low energy retrofitting projects are increasing in adoption to tackle greenhouse gas emissions target in the United Kingdom. While good energy reductions can be achieved, there is a growing concerned of overheating in these low energy projects with high levels of insulation and airtightness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of a low energy dwelling in London based on EnerPHit principles to reduce energy consumption. This project concerns an 1860’s Victorian terrace house situated within a conservation area in Kentish Town North London. The design approach was to radically reduce its heating demand while using ecological materials that are moisture open. It was also important to hold onto the original features inside and out that define this house’s character. The approach chosen to monitor IAQ and thermal comfort was based on monitoring the following indoor hygrothermal conditions: internal air temperature, relative humidity (RH) and CO2 concentration. Sensors were placed in every room of the dwelling for temperature and relative humidity. CO2 concentration was measured in the lounge and bedroom 2. Low energy retrofits can be achieved in conservation areas but more importantly, indoor temperatures in the property can be maintain steadily between 19–20 degrees centigrade, while relative humidity will be comfortably in between the range of 40 % and 70 %, with CO2 concentration levels well below the 1000 ppm readings as required for good air exchange and healthy IA

Temperature dependent electrical resistivity of a single strand of ferromagnetic single crystalline nanowire

We have measured the electrical resistivity of a single strand of a ferromagnetic Ni nanowire of diameter 55 nm using a 4-probe method in the temperature range 3 K-300 K. The wire used is chemically pure and is a high quality oriented single crystalline sample in which the temperature independent residual resistivity is determined predominantly by surface scattering. Precise evaluation of the temperature dependent resistivity ($\rho$) allowed us to identify quantitatively the electron-phonon contribution (characterized by a Debye temperature $\theta_R$) as well as the spin-wave contribution which is significantly suppressed upon size reduction

Literacy Practices Among Adult Education Participants

Readers’ individual literacy practices involve a variety of materials such as books, newspapers, magazines, technical materials and work documents. This study explored the relationship between readership (reading as a form of communication, an advancement of culture, and the development of the individual) and readers’ choice of materials for participants in adult education, whose skills varied from very low literacy to high school/General Education Development (GED) levels. In this study we reviewed adult education participants’ pattern of reading materials and the frequency of usage among participants. A representative sample of 273 adult education participants was recruited from 12 Kansas adult education programs. Their literacy practices were evaluated in terms of age, education level, and reading skill levels. Our results pointed to differences based on age but not educational completion level. The implications are discussed in terms of matching curricular materials used in instruction to salient learner characteristics. Recommendations for literacy instructors are provided that could enhance the learners’ persistence and success

Watch Me Give: Narcissism as a Moderator to Donating to a Nonprofit

With increased online connectivity in the current generation, more non-for-profit organizations are focusing their efforts on producing online marketing appeals. It has, therefore, become necessary to identify the effect some appeals have on different people. The present study seeks to determine whether an organization offering increased recognition will result in a greater willingness to give by people with narcissistic personalities. Additionally, it will determine if “willingness” to give or “amount” given are different between genders or employment status, as prior research suggests. Results indicated that whether the organization offered increased recognition or not, narcissism did not affect willingness to give or amount given. Women were more willing to give than men and employment status did not hold any bearing on the willingness to give or amount given. Limitations of the study are provided and implications for future research are discussed

Alternative models of learning disabilities identification: considerations and initial conclusions

The final session of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD) Responsiveness-to-Intervention (RTI) Symposium, “What are alternative models to LD identification other than RTI?” included four papers that discussed concerns over the exclusive reliance on an RTI approach to learning disability identification, considerations for analyzing proposed LD identification models, and various alternatives to LD identification. The work of the participating panelists is summarized in this discussant paper, and next steps for the NRCLD in light of these presentations are suggested