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Aligning Community-Engaged Research to Context.
Community-engaged research is understood as existing on a continuum from less to more community engagement, defined by participation and decision-making authority. It has been widely assumed that more is better than less engagement. However, we argue that what makes for good community engagement is not simply the extent but the fit or alignment between the intended approach and the various contexts shaping the research projects. This article draws on case studies from three Community Engagement Cores (CECs) of NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Science Core Centers (Harvard University, UC Davis and University of Arizona,) to illustrate the ways in which community engagement approaches have been fit to different contexts and the successes and challenges experienced in each case. We analyze the processes through which the CECs work with researchers and community leaders to develop place-based community engagement approaches and find that different strategies are called for to fit distinct contexts. We find that alignment of the scale and scope of the environmental health issue and related research project, the capacities and resources of the researchers and community leaders, and the influences of the sociopolitical environment are critical for understanding and designing effective and equitable engagement approaches. These cases demonstrate that the types and degrees of alignment in community-engaged research projects are dynamic and evolve over time. Based on this analysis, we recommend that CBPR scholars and practitioners select a range of project planning and management techniques for designing and implementing their collaborative research approaches and both expect and allow for the dynamic and changing nature of alignment
Vlasov Equation In Magnetic Field
The linearized Vlasov equation for a plasma system in a uniform magnetic
field and the corresponding linear Vlasov operator are studied. The spectrum
and the corresponding eigenfunctions of the Vlasov operator are found. The
spectrum of this operator consists of two parts: one is continuous and real;
the other is discrete and complex. Interestingly, the real eigenvalues are
infinitely degenerate, which causes difficulty solving this initial value
problem by using the conventional eigenfunction expansion method. Finally, the
Vlasov equation is solved by the resolvent method.Comment: 15 page
THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AN AIR TURBINE TO DRIVE AN AFTERBURNER FUEL PUMP
ABSTRACT Current fighter engine designs extract power to drive the afterburner fuel pump through the use of a gearbox. The presence of the gearbox only allows the fuel pump to operate at a fixed proportion of engine speed. In addition the fuel pump is continually rotating, although not pumping fuel, even when the afterburner is not engaged. This article investigates the feasibility of using an air turbine to drive the afterburner fuel pump in preparation for supporting an all-electric engine. Utilising performance data for a typical modern military engine, 1-dimensional design techniques were used to design several radial turbines to power the afterburner fuel pump. A choice of an axial or a radial air turbine is possible. Both were reviewed and it was determined that a radial turbine is optimum based on manufacturability and (theoretical) efficiency. Several design iterations were completed to determine the estimated weight and size based on various air off-take locations, mass flows, and rotational speeds. These iterations showed that increasing mass flow allows for lower rotational speeds and/or smaller diameter rotors, but with a corresponding increases in thrust penalties NOMENCLATUR
Stylet Penetration Activities by Aphis craccivora (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Plants and Excised Plant Parts of Resistant and Susceptible Cultivars of Cowpea (Leguminosae)
Direct current electrical penetration graphs (DC-EPGs) were used to analyze the stylet penetration activities of cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch, on plants of aphid-resistant (ICV-12) and aphid-susceptible (ICV-1) cultivars of cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers. Aphid stylet penetration on whole plants at seedling, flowering, and podding stages were studied in one experiment, and in another experiment excised leaves from seedling plants, excised flowers, and excised pods were tested. Electrical signals depicting the aphid stylet penetration activities on their host plants were amplified, recorded onto a paper chart recorder, and scored for specific waveform patterns. Compared with similar tissues of ICV-1, intact leaves and excised seedling foliage of ICV-12 plants caused severe disruption of aphid stylet penetration activities. This was manifested in frequent penetration attempts that were abruptly terminated or unsustained, and in shorter penetration times, signifying antixenosis resistance in ICV-12. There was reduced occurrence of E waveforms, which represent stylet activity in plant vascular tissues. Also, prior exposure of test aphids to plants of one cultivar did not significantly influence the expected stylet penetration activities on plants of the other cultivar. Overall, ICV-12 exhibited high levels of resistance against A. craccivor
Interfacial Water Structure of Binary Liquid Mixtures Reflects Nonideal Behavior
[Image: see text] The evaporation of molecules from water–organic solute binary mixtures is key for both atmospheric and industrial processes such as aerosol formation and distillation. Deviations from ideal evaporation energetics can be assigned to intermolecular interactions in solution, yet evaporation occurs from the interface, and the poorly understood interfacial, rather than the bulk, structure of binary mixtures affects evaporation kinetics. Here we determine the interfacial structure of nonideal binary mixtures of water with methanol, ethanol, and formic acid, by combining surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy with molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the free, dangling OH groups at the interfaces of these differently behaving nonideal mixtures are essentially indistinguishable. In contrast, the ordering of hydrogen-bonded interfacial water molecules differs substantially at these three interfaces. Specifically, the interfacial water molecules become more disordered (ordered) in mixtures with methanol and ethanol (formic acid), showing higher (lower) vapor pressure than that predicted by Raoult’s law
International Capital Markets Structure, Preferences and Puzzles: The US-China Case
A canonical two country-two good model with standard preferences does not address three classic international macroeconomic puzzles as well as two well-known asset pricing puzzles. Specifically, under financial autarky, it does not account for the high real exchange rate (RER) volatility relative to consumption volatility (RER volatility puzzle), the negative RER-consumption differentials correlation (Backus-Smith anomaly), the relatively low cross- country consumption correlation (consumption correlation puzzle), the low risk-free rate (risk-free rate puzzle) and the high equity risk premium (equity premium puzzle) in the data. In this paper, we show that instead a two country-two good model with recursive preferences, international complete markets and correlated long-run innovations can address all five puzzles for a relatively large range of parameter values, specifically in the case of the US and China. Therefore, in contrast to other IBC models, its performance does not rely on any financial market imperfections
Business cycles, international trade and capital flows: Evidence from Latin America
This paper adopts a flexible framework to assess both short- and long-run business cycle linkages between six Latin American (LA) countries and the four largest economies in the world (namely the US, the Euro area, Japan and China) over the period 1980:I-2011:IV. The result indicate that within the LA region there are considerable differences between countries, success stories coexisting with extremely vulnerable economies. They also show that the LA region as a whole is largely dependent on external developments, especially in the years after the great recession of 2008 and 2009. The trade channel appears to be the most important source of business cycle comovement, whilst capital flows are found to have a limited role, especially in the very short run
Variational data assimilation for the initial-value dynamo problem
The secular variation of the geomagnetic field as observed at the Earth's surface results from the complex magnetohydrodynamics taking place in the fluid core of the Earth. One way to analyze this system is to use the data in concert with an underlying dynamical model of the system through the technique of variational data assimilation, in much the same way as is employed in meteorology and oceanography. The aim is to discover an optimal initial condition that leads to a trajectory of the system in agreement with observations. Taking the Earth's core to be an electrically conducting fluid sphere in which convection takes place, we develop the continuous adjoint forms of the magnetohydrodynamic equations that govern the dynamical system together with the corresponding numerical algorithms appropriate for a fully spectral method. These adjoint equations enable a computationally fast iterative improvement of the initial condition that determines the system evolution. The initial condition depends on the three dimensional form of quantities such as the magnetic field in the entire sphere. For the magnetic field, conservation of the divergence-free condition for the adjoint magnetic field requires the introduction of an adjoint pressure term satisfying a zero boundary condition. We thus find that solving the forward and adjoint dynamo system requires different numerical algorithms. In this paper, an efficient algorithm for numerically solving this problem is developed and tested for two illustrative problems in a whole sphere: one is a kinematic problem with prescribed velocity field, and the second is associated with the Hall-effect dynamo, exhibiting considerable nonlinearity. The algorithm exhibits reliable numerical accuracy and stability. Using both the analytical and the numerical techniques of this paper, the adjoint dynamo system can be solved directly with the same order of computational complexity as that required to solve the forward problem. These numerical techniques form a foundation for ultimate application to observations of the geomagnetic field over the time scale of centuries
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