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“How do you pay for debt without money? Just pay with your health.” Understanding the association between Legal Financial Obligations and Physical Health
Get PDFMillions of people in the United States are subjected to Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs), otherwise known as the fees and fines imposed by the criminal justice system. This debt can be a source of stress for individuals because of their limited ability to pay it off. But how does this debt affect their physical well-being? Currently, little is known about how LFOs acting as stressors affect physical health and if relief is found when the debt has been paid. To explore this, I used the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking to examine four questions: 1) are those with lower income more likely to have an LFO? 2) Do individuals with LFOs report poorer physical health than those without LFOs? 3) Does a change in LFO status affect an individual’s physical health? and 4) Does this effect change based on an individual’s income? In my analysis, I found that those with lower income have a higher probability of having an LFO. I also found that having an LFO is associated with reporting worse physical health, while individuals who never had an LFO or paid off an LFO report better physical health. When income was used as a moderator, there were no significant differences between groups. These findings help us understand the negative impact of LFOs on an individual’s health. We can see how LFOs act as a regressive tax where those with less income pay more and not having an LFO or paying off an LFO is better for your health than having one
Performance Seal Testing Through The Evaluation Of The Leak Rate Of The Mechanical Seal
Get PDFSealing technology is important across various industries, particularly within the oil and gas sector. This technology encompasses the capability to obstruct the unrestricted flow of undesirable substances into reservoirs. Its significance lies in prolonging the lifespan of rotating dynamic systems like bearings in compressors or pumps. In the oil and gas industry sector, where rotating equipment is crucial for numerous drilling and production operations, maintaining the functionality of such equipment is imperative. Given the potentially hazardous nature of many fluids in oil and gas sector, consistent restriction of containments of these substances in dynamic applications is vital not only for equipment longevity but also for the safety of operators. While polymers are commonly used in dynamic applications due to their cost-effectiveness, their utility can be constrained by harsh environmental conditions such as surface speed or temperature. Consequently, this limitation has spurred a demand for the advancement of mechanical seals to address the shortcomings of polymer usage in dynamic settings.
This thesis focuses on assessing the leak rate of mechanical seals. Experimental tests are structured into two main sections. The first section examines the leak rate performance of a mechanical seal tested under the manufacturer's specified conditions at ten thousand (10,000) RPM. The second section investigates the performance of a seal subjected to operating conditions beyond those recommended by the manufacturer.
Through the analysis of these results, a comprehensive understanding of how leak rate efficiency varies with time and rotational speed emerges. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the leak rate patterns exhibited by a mechanical seal nearing failure. This investigation serves as a testament to the ongoing necessity and significance of experimental evaluation in appraising mechanical sealing technology, despite the advancements in modern engineering simulation software
Diurnal Effects of Exercise on Markers of Muscle Damage in College-Age Healthy Individuals
Get PDFThe primary aim of this study was to examine differences in muscle damage markers (maximal voluntary isometric contraction, range of motion, soreness, swelling, thickness, urinary titin) between a morning group and an evening group. A secondary aim was to determine a correlation between pre-exercise urinary titin concentrations and performance metrics of muscle damage, serving as a predictor of muscle damage. 28 participants were recruited and randomized into two groups (14 each). Participants either arrived at 7:00 am or 5:00 pm and were instructed to perform 3 sets of 10 eccentric bicep curls at 120% of their established one repetition concentric maximum. MVC was assessed before and after to ensure a 40% decline. ROM, DOMS, swelling, and thickness were assessed before and immediately post-exercise. Performance metrics of muscle damage were assessed, 24, 48, 72 and 96-hours post exercise, and urinary titin was measured 96 hours post-exercise to capture peak concentrations. The primary findings were that time of day did not affect the degree of muscle damage, nor baseline measures of pre-exercise urinary titin. Although post-exercise urinary titin concentrations could not be quantified due to extremely high concentrations that exceeded the assay’s top limit of detection, it is clear that the muscle damaging protocol utilized in this project resulted in exaggerated urinary titin response. In the future, we plan to further explore the urinary titin response to damaging exercise and the potential diurnal variations in this response
Post-migration seismic data conditioning methods on a merged dataset
Get PDFAnalyzing amplitude anomalies in seismic data requires a comprehensive understanding of the geological context and the accuracy of the seismic image to faithfully represent the subsurface. Over the past four decades, numerous surveys in mature basins like the US Gulf of Mexico have undergone reprocessing and merging to enhance imaging quality. While this reprocessing primarily aims to optimize imaging for historical targets, it may yield suboptimal results for current objectives, such as identifying and characterizing shallow targets mandated by government regulations to prevent oil blowouts.
The merging of seismic data volumes demands careful attention during processing, as the different volumes are often acquired at different times with different hardware, acquisition geometries, and exploration objectives. If insufficient care is taken, significant differences in the amplitude and spectra of the merged survey components can pose challenges when used as input for machine learning techniques or seismic attribute studies.
To address discrepancies in the Matagorda Island merged survey, we implemented spectral balancing followed by structure-oriented filtering. Spectral balancing equalizes high and low frequencies, creating a more uniform frequency spectrum. Structure-oriented filtering eliminates random and cross-cutting coherent noise while preserving structural and stratigraphic features. This workflow ameliorates the discrepancies between the areas covered by the individual surveys, resulting in a more consistent interpretation across the seam between the two surveys. However, the application of this workflow posed a challenge in improving features observed at the tuning frequency and also exacerbating the high-frequency noise due to the presence of footprint, thus resulting in a more challenging interpretation of faults and fractures in some areas
Distributed labour: managing harmful language work in a Canadian library partnership
Get PDFA major reason for the prevalence of harmful language in library catalogs is the hegemony of the Library of Congress. Recent threads in the AUTOCAT listserv show the resistance of catalogers to include their own voices, let alone the voices of marginalized groups that have been underrepresented in the profession, throwing their hands up and saying I’m just a cataloger, we have to follow the established rules, etc. At the same time, metadata staff have been cut from many university libraries, leaving those who are interested in doing metadata justice work overwhelmed. In order to address some of these challenges, Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) Collaborative Futures (a shared library platform group) created the Decolonizing Descriptions Implementation Working Group to manage harmful language across the Collaborative Futures partnership. As members of this group, we would like to discuss our efforts to manage alternative vocabularies in an Alma network zone environment, and some of the issues and crossroads we have faced thus far. Our current approach is to replace and/or amend LCSH terms with other, already established vocabularies like Manitoba Archival Information Network Indigenous Subject Headings, Saskatchewan Indigenous Subject Headings, Canadian Subject Headings, Canadiana, and Homosaurus, but this may evolve over time. We will present what our partner libraries have been working on individually and our working group’s efforts to centralize efforts and possibly implement a distributed labor model in OCUL CF. We are a nascent group and will be seeking feedback from colleagues
Assessing the Effects of Misleading Post-Event Information Using Multinomial Processing Tree Models
Get PDFMultiple studies have shown that misleading post-event information can alter an individual's memory. Three hypotheses (no-conflict, coexistence, destructive updating) have been proposed to explain the fate of the original memory trace and have subsequently been mathematically formalized to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the predictions regarding false memory formation (Wagenaar & Boer, 1987). We utilized multinomial processing tree (MPT) models to test these hypotheses concurrently. In two experiments, we implement the Loftus (1978) misinformation paradigm to subsequently apply MPT models to the data. In Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, we found support for both the no-conflict and coexistence models, but due to the no-conflict model being the most parsimonious model, we defaulted to the no-conflict model. However, when only the top-performing participants were examined, we found strong evidence for the coexistence model. In Experiment 2, we also categorized participants based on their perceptions of what happened to their original memory and used these distinctions to determine if there was a correspondence between participants’ intuitions and model fits. We found some correspondence between participants categorized as endorsing No-Conflict and minimal support for Coexistence and the respective models. Surprisingly, we did not replicate the overall misinformation effect that we found in Experiment 1. However, we did find a misinformation effect for the participants classified as Coexistence and Destructive Updating, suggesting that participants who acknowledged a conflict were affected by the conflicting information. Future research should continue to apply these models to different sub-sets of participants to examine the extent to which participants are aware of a conflict
"[Corporate] needs to act like they give a f***": a qualitative study on perceived organizational support in the local news industry
Get PDFLocal news research has shown rampant turnover in the industry, with journalists pointing to factors such as pay, schedule, management, direction of the industry or content, increased workloads, and family. Over the past three decades, corporate media companies have continued to acquire local news stations across the country, leading to personnel cuts that leave those leftover with the additional responsibility and stress with zero reward for the extra daily effort. While the number of TV news employees in the industry reached a peak in recent years, some newsroom leaders saw journalists leaving more than ever before. As turnover is a consequence of perceived organizational support (POS), this study looks at these experiences between the station and the journalist and the corporation and the journalist to understand the current experience, the role it plays in turnover, and where those in the field wish changes were made. In this qualitative study, the researcher provides a narrative analysis of TV journalists' experiences associated with POS with their stations and corporations, their decisions to stay or leave, as well as industry fixes they believe could retain employees. In all, the participants' experiences vary greatly. Commonalities in station POS experiences show that supervisor support, peer support, and journalistic integrity are areas stations can develop to increase perceived support. The findings prove points of research stating supervisor support is critical for retaining young professionals in an industry, peers support is effective in retaining workers locally, and the journalistic profession is of higher importance than the workplace for local journalists (Hill, 2018a; Pease, 1991, Russo, 1998). Disconnect, labor contracts, and again journalistic integrity are areas the corporation could look at to increase POS. These findings are consistent with research stating journalists have a greater connection to the profession versus the employer (Russo, 1998) and that journalists want salary increases as incentive to stay (Reinary, 2014). Journalists who experienced low POS often left the industry or the station. Journalists with positive POS experiences were more likely to re-sign contracts with their current stations, but sometimes personal life plays a role in their decision to stay or leave the station. Like journalists of previous studies, these participants point to needed changes in areas of pay, managerial support, career growth opportunities, the quality of their news product, and human resources practices. This information adds to the understanding of why TV journalists leave their stations and/or careers by pointing out areas of POS that are lacking from either the stations or the company that owns it. It also adds to POS research, by focusing specifically on the TV news industry post Covid-19. The importance of journalistic ethics and products are important to journalists, which is not a POS antecedent in any other industry. Additionally, the study - while limited in participants, points to industry fixes these journalists agree need to happen to keep experienced journalists in the industry providing needed information to the public. Future research should expand to learn of POS experiences of other newsroom employees such as producers, editors, production personnel, and assignment editors. Additionally, future research should focus on the POS of news stations' middle management to better understand the support newsroom leadership receives from the executive level to support newsroom employees
Improving Radar Sensing Capabilities and Data Quality Through Machine Learning
Get PDFThis dissertation integrates advanced machine learning (ML) techniques with radar technology to address significant challenges in atmospheric sciences, cloud profiling, and aviation safety. It aims to enhance the accuracy and reliability of radar-based measurements, improve the prediction of atmospheric relative humidity and Cloud Liquid Water Content (CLWC), and mitigate the impact of 5G interference on radar altimeters. These improvements are essential for advancing public safety, weather forecasting, and aviation technology.
Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive overview of ML, detailing its history, evolution, and significance in scientific research. It introduces supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning, and discusses various ML models, such as regression and classification, establishing a foundation for integrating ML with radar technology.
Chapter 3 introduces a method for estimating atmospheric relative humidity using wind profiler radar and a cascaded ML algorithm. Unlike existing methods, this approach uses only moment data to generate an intermediate pressure profile, serving as training data for humidity estimations without requiring temperature as an input feature. The study evaluates various ML algorithms using radiosonde data from the Hong Kong Observatory, demonstrating the effectiveness of this simplified, feature-efficient model.
Chapter 4 uses ML techniques to enhance Cloud Liquid Water Content (CLWC) profiling. The study cross-validates ERA5 data with high-precision radiosonde observations from Hong Kong. It employs ML to interpolate radiosonde data to improve coverage and resolution, and uses a metaheuristic algorithm to cleanse data. This enhances the correlation between input features and CLWC. The results show significant improvements in the accuracy and reliability of CLWC profile prediction.
Chapter 5 addresses the critical issue of 5G interference with radar altimeter signals, which is crucial for aviation safety. A new ML framework is developed to classify signals into pure or interfered categories and predict altitudes when interference is detected. The study employs real 5G signals from a base station in Norman, Oklahoma, and emulated radar signals to train and test the framework. This approach ensures the accuracy of radar altimeters despite the level of 5G interference.
This dissertation demonstrates the transformative potential of integrating ML techniques with radar technology. The proposed solutions enhance radar sensing capabilities and data quality, significantly improving public safety, weather forecasting, and aviation
Modeling Proppant Transport in Hydraulic Fractures and Fracture Networks: Applications in Petroleum and Geothermal Reservoir Development
No full textEffective proppant placement in hydraulic fractures and fracture networks is crucial for optimizing hydrocarbon extraction in both conventional and unconventional petroleum reservoirs. It also plays a key role in enhancing the efficiency of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) in geothermal reservoirs. This dissertation presents a comprehensive study on modeling proppant transport in hydraulic fractures and fracture networks. The research aims to develop advanced computational models to simulate and investigate proppant placement under various geological and operational conditions.
The study integrates multiple physical processes, including fracture deformation, slurry flow, proppant transport, and heat transfer, within a unified simulation environment. Different numerical methods are employed to address the complexities of this multi-physics system. A three-dimensional displacement discontinuity method (3D DDM) is used to model rock and fracture deformation, while the finite volume method (FVM) is applied to simulate slurry flow, proppant transport, and heat transfer. Special attention is given to the impact of thermal effects, the influence of fracture intersections, and the role of the fracture closure process in shaping proppant transport and distribution.
Simulation results illustrate how various parameters, such as reservoir temperature, proppant size, density, injection concentration, and pumping rate, affect the distribution of proppant in hydraulic fractures and fracture networks. Key findings reveal that the final proppant distribution and fracture conductivity are influenced by proppant and fluid properties, reservoir characteristics, and operational parameters. Optimizing proppant placement in hydraulic fractures or fracture networks requires a comprehensive consideration of these factors.
The implications of this research extend to both the petroleum and geothermal industries, providing a robust tool for designing more effective hydraulic fracturing treatments. This dissertation contributes to the field by offering a deeper understanding of proppant transport dynamics and introducing a versatile modeling approach that can be adapted to various situations
Virtual Research Environments
Get PDFVirtual Research Environments in theological studies (and esp. early Christian studies and the related field of Classical studies) can provide valuable infrastructure for producing digital editions of primary sources and enabling other forms of digital and computational research. Creating and sustaining these environments has challenges. This chapter examines the benefits of collaborating across projects as well as sharing and reusing digital resources. The chapter also presents some of the considerations for working with messy or clean digital data, and for adopting existing technical standards. With respect to all of these issues, building and using VREs involves developing relevant technical infrastructure. But just as important as technology are the humanistic questions and collaborative personal relationships underpinning a successful digital initiative.Ye