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Reluctant Republican, nominal Democrat: Harry F. Byrd Sr. and modern Republican conservatism
Get PDFA consideration of the life and politics of Senator Harry F. Byrd provides further evidence that some Southern legislators broke with the national Democratic Party as early as the 1940s and articulated the main tenets of contemporary Southern conservative politics. A consideration of the internal struggles of the Democratic Party in Virginia within the context of the broader political landscape highlights the significance of Byrd’s career in the Senate and his role in the national Democratic party. In addition, this thesis will consider why Senator Byrd decided to remain in the Democratic party for the entirety of his career when so many of his Southern colleagues were changing party affiliations. I maintain that while Byrd’s policies resembled that of a nominal Democrat and perhaps even a reluctant Republican, his political loyalty remained with the Democratic Party. Byrd’s political career married fiscal and social conservatism all the while facing pressure from those within his party to submit to the tide of liberalization that would sweep over the Democratic caucus during his time in the Senate. In much the same way that he would be caught in between the Democratic and Republican parties, Harry Byrd’s fiscal policies failed to shift across the decades as he moved from state to national government. In some ways Byrd’s anti-deficit anti-debt policies served as a Dixiecrat’s warning shot of fiscal conservative movements to come
The effects of major depressive disorder on cognition and the brain
Get PDFMajor depressive disorder is commonly known for its prevalence and impairing effects on the brain and behavior. One such effect is a decrease in processing speed, which leads to slower response times and an increased difficulty performing tasks that require careful attention. Impairments in spatial ability have also been reported in depressed subjects, which may be linked to impairments in executive functioning. GABA is a neurotransmitter that has been shown to play a role in the symptoms of depression. This review will examine the effects of depression on cognitive functioning and the brain, and will suggest that future research examine the link between low concentrations of GABA in the brain and performance on cognitive tasks in depressed patients
Deep learning-based fine-tuned multi-vehicle tracking with classification correction
Get PDFSingle-camera multi-vehicle tracking is a preliminary step for traffic optimization. To perform vehicle tracking, a fine-tuned classification dataset was created from multiple sources. A ResNet classifier was trained, and its knowledge was utilized to build a localization dataset automatically without manual annotations. The dataset consists of videos generated from the MLK testbed. Three different object detection frameworks (SSD, Yolov3, and Yolov4) were evaluated with a pipeline that consists of the detector, the fine-tuned classifier and the tracker (DeepSort). Then the detector with the highest accuracy (Yolov3) was trained on the localization dataset. 90% of the ResNet classifier knowledge was distilled successfully in the final trained Yolov3 model. The tracker classification accuracy was further improved by proposing a correction methodology that considers both the camera\u27s distance and limited data from the future frames
Fabrication and corrosion assessment of biodegradable metallic alloys for patient-specific bone implant applications
Get PDFBiodegradable metals and alloys are materials that are intended to remain in the body long enough for healing to occur, and then degrade or dissolve after their service lifetime. Permanent implants are often much stiffer than the bone they are supporting, which can lead to loss of bone density, mechanical failure of the implant, and require corrective surgery. Biodegradable orthopedic implants offer strength and stiffness close to that of bone, prevent the need for corrective surgery, and eliminate the long-term existence of a foreign object in the body. In this work, in vitro corrosion of magnesium-samarium(III) oxide nanocomposites are studied for their use as biodegradable orthopedic materials. The Mg-1%Sm2O3 nanocomposite shows a promising corrosion rate, lower than pure magnesium. Additive manufacturing of zinc paste is also explored as a medium for fabrication of patient-specific implants. This work provides insight into the development of magnesium-based nanocomposites as biodegradable materials
Presidents and populist politics
Get PDFPopulist language is a common rhetorical practice of United States Presidents. There is a breadth of literature on the study of populism and populist language, yet few studies identify populist language as reimagining the relationship between president and people. This paper identifies populist language as a political tactic of presidents and links the tactic’s use to the cultivation of authority and legitimacy. A central theoretical foundation of this paper rests on Skowronek’s concept of political time and authority structures. Through the use of four case studies spanning the presidencies of Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump, this paper evaluates populist rhetoric in the context of providing political agency to navigating the pressures of the political authority cycle and capitalizing on mass communication technology as a vehicle for reach and connectivity. This study identifies both a recurrent and emergent pattern of populist rhetoric in an across-case analysis. Furthermore, the findings of this research suggest a greater reliance on the public presidency and raise concerns as to how populist politics can shape and alter the presidency, presidential expectations, and American democracy
Understanding shear thinning using Brownian dynamics simulation
Get PDFIn this work, we study the changes in structure during the shear thinning regime using Brownian Dynamics with a simple steady-state shear flow of binary charged colloidal suspension. Previous research has analyzed the viscosity, radial distribution, elasticity and plasticity of materials with rheo-SANS experimentation; however, less research has been conducted to replicate the experiment through computer simulations. With Brownian Dynamic Simulation, this study was able to reproduce the results obtained in a recent rheo-SANS experiment and it also explored the viscosity, radial distribution, elastic and plastic behavior of a system under different parameters. The comparison of simulated data with experimental data revealed the computer simulation to successfully generate results indicative of shear thinning behavior in both the viscosity versus shear data as well as the radial distribution data. The simulated system was also able to successfully generate systems which exhibited plastic behavior and elastic behavior
The effects of urbanization on insect morphology: a meta-analysis
Get PDFUrbanization has been shown to create a rapid change in the environment as you move from rural areas to urban areas. It can create a multitude of effects on the environment. Some examples include, land disturbance, pollution, increasing temperatures and a disturbance in vegetation and biodiversity. Insects are useful organisms that provide maintenance and upkeep for ecosystem functioning. The rapid development of urbanization and how it is changing the environment may impact insect morphology. Measuring morphological change in organisms have been used successfully as indicators of environmental and ecological disturbance. Changes that take place in an insect’s morphology may indicate stress and environmental instability, which will help deepen the understanding of urbanizations impact on urban ecosystems. To evaluate the effect of urbanization on insect morphology, I conducted a meta-analysis of 23 published peer-reviewed studies focused on insect morphology within the context of urbanization. The resulting sample sizes and effect sizes given for changes in morphological traits were extracted and converted to effect size Pearson’s (r) for a more uniform measurement to analyze in the meta-analysis. I wanted to assess how urbanization impacted insect morphology and understand what may be the driving the effect of urbanization on insects. To identify possible sources of variation across studies, I analyzed five variables that focused on morphological traits, insect order, ecological level, environmental conditions and sex. The results indicated that although the overall effect size (r=0.19) of all studies included showed a change or significant effect in the morphological traits of insects between urban and non-urban areas, only ~25% of those studies had an actual impact. The majority, ~75% of studies did not show urbanization to have a significant impact on insect morphology. The insect orders, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata and Orthoptera showed a significant effect in morphological changes. Studies that focused on body size and a combination of multiple morphological traits showed a significant effect in morphological changes. In terms of ecological organizations, both population and community groups studied had a significant effect on insect morphology. Disturbance and temperature were the only environmental conditions that showed a significant effect. Studies that measured changes in insect morphology with combined male and female populations showed a significant effect in morphological changes versus studies that focused on a singular sex. These findings may suggest urbanization is causing morphological changes in insects by some capacity but it is not as impactful as one would presume
Shaping Cultural Understanding through pre-Columbian Artistic Heritage and Modeling Techniques learning module
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Numerical investigation of effects of pressure and chemistry on characteristics of turbulent premixed flames
Get PDFTurbulent premixed flames are used in many energy conversion and propulsion devices. The efficiency and performance of these devices are affected by operating conditions, which also affect the highly nonlinear turbulence-chemistry interactions (TCIs). Previous fundamental studies characterize TCIs at atmospheric pressure, but relevant devices usually operate at higher pressures. This study investigates the effects of elevated pressure and finite-rate chemistry on methane/air turbulent premixed flames using direct numerical simulations performed at pressures of 1 atm and 10 atm and utilize an 8-species and 4-steps mechanism and a 13-species and 73-steps mechanism. The effects of pressure and chemistry on TCIs are examined in terms of the statistical and spectral features. At elevated pressure, there is more flame-front wrinkling, affecting flame curvature and heat release rate. The smaller length scales of turbulence become more energetic, and TCIs are more sensitive to finite-rate chemistry, indicating that complex chemical models may be more appropriate
Delphine Diallo: artist analysis archive
Get PDFhttps://scholar.utc.edu/global-contemporary-artists/1009/thumbnail.jp