Formulation of the nonlinear analysis of shell-like structures, subjected to time-dependent mechanical and thermal loading

The object of the research reported herein was to develop a general mathematical model and solution methodologies for analyzing the structural response of thin, metallic shell structures under large transient, cyclic, or static thermomechanical loads. Among the system responses associated with these loads and conditions are thermal buckling, creep buckling, and ratcheting. Thus geometric and material nonlinearities (of high order) can be anticipated and must be considered in developing the mathematical model. The methodology is demonstrated through different problems of extension, shear, and of planar curved beams. Moreover, importance of the inclusion of large strain is clearly demonstrated, through the chosen applications

Advanced Methods in Comparative Politics: Modeling Without Conditional Independence

One of the most significant assumptions we invoke when making quantitative inferences is the conditional independence between observations. There are, however, many situations when we may doubt this independence. For instance, two seemingly distinct data-generating processes may in fact share unobserved relations. Time-series and cross-sectional studies are also plagued by a lack of independence. If we ignore this common violation of our fundamental modeling assumptions we may draw improper conclusions from our data. This dissertation introduces two methods to the political science literature: a zero-inflated multivariate ordered probit and Gaussian process regression for time-series cross-sectional analyses. This latter model is then applied to demonstrate that executives in Latin America enjoy increased public support following ideological moderation, but executives are less willing to moderate during election years. These effects, however, are conditional on the extremity of the executive. The dissertation as a whole contributes both methodologically and theoretically to the field

pp-groups with maximal elementary abelian subgroups of rank 22

Let p be an odd prime number and G a finite p-group. We prove that if the rank of G is greater than p, then G has no maximal elementary abelian subgroup of rank 2. It follows that if G has rank greater than p, then the poset of elementary abelian subgroups of G of rank at least 2 is connected and the torsion-free rank of the group of endotrivial kG-modules is one, for any field k of characteristic p. We also verify the class-breadth conjecture for the p-groups G whose poset has more than one component

Electronic Lies: Lying to Others and Detecting Lies Using Electronic Media

Organizational life presents many situations where organizational members must determine how to manage information they possess; dilemmas related to truth and deception are not unusual events. Researchers have found that deceptive communication is part of many types of interaction, yet few researchers have explicitly addressed the issue of lying in the context of organizational life (c.f., Burgoon & Buller, 1994). Meanwhile, information technology (IT) has become pervasive in modern organizations. As the convergence between computing and communication continues at a rapid pace, more and more organizational communication takes place electronically. There is every reason to believe the deception that exists in everyday work life can be communicated just as easily, if not more so, using new computer-mediated communication channels as using traditional channels such as face-to-face communication (George & Carlson, 1999)

Neutrino scattering and flavor transformation in supernovae

We argue that the small fraction of neutrinos that undergo direction-changing scattering outside of the neutrinosphere could have significant influence on neutrino flavor transformation in core-collapse supernova environments. We show that the standard treatment for collective neutrino flavor transformation is adequate at late times, but could be inadequate in the crucial shock revival/explosion epoch of core-collapse supernovae, where the potentials that govern neutrino flavor evolution are affected by the scattered neutrinos. Taking account of this effect, and the way it couples to entropy and composition, will require a new paradigm in supernova modeling.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Halo Modification of a Supernova Neutronization Neutrino Burst

We give the first self-consistent calculation of the effect of the scattered neutrino halo on flavor evolution in supernovae. Our example case is an O-Ne-Mg core collapse supernova neutronization neutrino burst. We find that the addition of the halo neutrinos produces qualitative and quantitative changes in the final flavor states of neutrinos. We also find that the halo neutrinos produce a novel distortion of the neutrino flavor swap. Our results provide strong motivation for tackling the full multidimensional and composition-dependent aspects of this problem in the future.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

Adaptive learning, endogenous inattention, and changes in monetary policy

This paper develops an adaptive learning formulation of an extension to the Ball, Mankiw, and Reis (2005) sticky information model that incorporates endogenous inattention. We show that, following an exogenous increase in the policymaker’s preferences for price vs. output stability, the learning process can converge to a new equilibrium in which both output and price volatility are lower.Monetary policy ; Information theory

Moldy Feed - Good or Bad

Molds develop in feed in response to the nourishment they get from the feed. They develop only in the presence of air and as the result of favorable moisture conditions, which must be above a relative water vapor pressure equivalence of 65 to 70%. They develop very slowly at near-freezing temperatures and rapidly as temperatures rise. By enzyme action, they convert the energy components of the feed (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) into their own body structure with loss to the air mainly of metabolically-generated heat, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia and of fragments of their body as spores. They may or may not produce chemicals toxic to animals, which will remain with the mold in the feed. Their overall effect is to lower the total energy content of the feed, replacing some of it with their own body structure and by-products

Coherent Development of Neutrino Flavor in the Supernova Environment

We calculate coherent neutrino and antineutrino flavor transformation in the supernova environment, for the first time including a self-consistent treatment of forward scattering-induced coupling and entanglement of intersecting neutrino/antineutrino trajectories. For the atmospheric neutrino mass-squared difference we find that in the normal (inverted) mass hierarchy the more tangentially-propagating (radially-propagating) neutrinos and antineutrinos can initiate collective, simultaneous medium-enhanced flavor conversion of these particles across broad ranges of energy and propagation direction. Accompanying alterations in neutrino/antineutrino energy spectra and/or fluxes could affect supernova nucleosynthesis and the expected neutrino signal.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure