An Entheogenic Endeavor: Exploring Indigenous Healing in Modern Times

There are thousands of years of practice and tradition surrounding the use of entheogens as medicine in indigenous cultures around the world. While our modern western culture methodically dives into this research whilst exploring these medicines for pharmaceutical usage, this work delves into indigenous and shamanic cultures uses of these plants

Legislating Morality Progressively - The Contraceptive Coverage Mandate, Religious Freedom, and Public Health Policy and Ethics

This Article studies the contraceptive coverage mandate from three different perspectives. First, it provides a historical treatment of the regulatory rules adopted by agencies in the Obama Administration – specifically, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, which this Article collectively refers to as “the Administration” or “the Departments” – that imposed the mandate, focusing specifically on the rulemaking processes used to develop and promulgate the rules. In performing this historical study, the Article traces the development of the mandate from its root in the ACA to full implementation in legislative (substantive) rules finalized by the Administration in the summer of 2013. Second, this Article evaluates the mandate under the legal framework established by Congress in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), focusing especially on the Administration’s RFRA analysis in its rulemaking materials and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling regarding the mandate. Third, it analyzes the mandate under a moral and policy-based framework proposed by a team of leading bioethicists, public health policy analysts, and scholars. It applies the team’s proposed framework to determine whether the Departments that developed and adopted the mandate satisfied the various moral and policy considerations that these experts have highlighted

Washburn extraction and width of the IUE point spread function

The Washburn Extraction Routine for low dispersion IUE spectra was reviewed. The shape of the point spread function (PSF) in low dispersion spectra is sufficiently well described by a gaussian function. The PSF is in large and small aperture essentially identical and values of sigma are presented. Several advantages of the extraction routine are mentioned

The effect of modular acoustics on a performer's perception in multi-use (symphonic and operatic) concert halls

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 34).This thesis studies the varying degrees in a performer' s perception of the difference in the adjustable acoustics of a specific performance hall, namely, what is the difference between the opinions of instrumentalists and vocal musicians? Reverberation times in the Rogers Center auditorium in Andover, MA were taken onstage with the hall's acoustical curtains either hidden or exposed. Performers in the school musical and in a local symphony group were given surveys after doing two rehearsals in the hall, one in each configuration. The results from the reverberation time measurements show a clear difference between reverberation times perceived onstage. Performer surveys, however, show that neither group of performers noticed a strong contrast between different configurations of the curtains. They did, however, respond strongly when acoustics were changed that affected reflective surfaces directly surrounding them.by Jennifer DeBoer.S.B

CONSUMER PREFERENCES AS DRIVERS OF THE COMMON BEAN TRADE IN TANZANIA: A MARKETING PERSPECTIVE

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of bean grain quality characteristics on market price. The data was collected from retail markets in Tanzania. Hedonic pricing provides a statistical estimate of premiums and discounts. Implications for development of bean markets include: i) extension agents should identify cost-effective ways to educate producers on targeting urban market niches based on consumer preferences for varieties, ii) breeding for bruchid resistant beans and use of appropriate storage technologies would alleviate the problems of storage damage, and iii) requiring a portfolio of grain quality characteristics to fit consumer preferences in local markets.Beans, markets, consumer preferences, hedonic, storage, Tanzania

The Rene 150 directionally solidified superalloy turbine blades, volume 1

Turbine blade design and analysis, preliminary Rene 150 system refinement, coating adaptation and evaluation, final Rene 150 system refinement, component-test blade production and evaluation, engine-test blade production, and engine test are discussed

Materials for advanced turbine engines. Project 2: Rene 150 directionally solidified superalloy turbine blades, volume 2

The results of the engine testing of Rene 150 Stage 1 high pressure turbine blades in CF6-50 core and fan engines are presented. The core engine test was conducted for 233 hours with a variety of test cycles, and the fan engine test was conducted for 1000 C cycles. Post-test analysis of the core engine test data confirmed the suitability of the Rene 150 HPT blade for fan engine testing. Post-test evaluation and analysis of the fan engine test blades included visual and dimensional inspection as well as metallographic examination of selected blades. The Rene 150 HPT blade met the target goal of this project by demonstrating increased metal temperature capability; however, the post-test analysis revealed several areas that would have to be addressed in designing a long-life Rene 150 CF6-50 HPT blade