This report summarizes technical progress on the program “Multiplexed Optical Fiber Sensors for Coal Fired Advanced Fossil Energy Systems” funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, and performed jointly by the Center for Photonics Technology of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech. This three-year project started on October 1, 2008. In the project, a fiber optical sensing system based on intrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer (IFPI) was developed for strain and temperature measurements for Ultra Supercritical boiler condition assessment. Investigations were focused on sensor design, fabrication, attachment techniques and novel materials for high temperature and strain measurements. At the start of the project, the technical requirements for the sensing technology were determined together with our industrial partner Alstom Power. As is demonstrated in Chapter 4, all the technical requirements are successfully met. The success of the technology extended beyond laboratory test; its capability was further validated through the field test at DOE NETL, in which the sensors yielded distributed temperature mapping of a testing coupon installed in the turbine test rig. The measurement results agreed well with prior results generated with thermocouples. In …

Abstract This dissertation uses archival and interpretive methods to examine the life and contributions of Mary Smith McCrory Jones in Texas. Specifically, this project investigates the ways in which Mary Jones emerged into the public sphere, utilized myth and memory, and managed her life as a widow. Each of these larger areas is examined in relation to historiographicaly accepted patterns and in the larger context of women in Texas, the South, and the nation during this period. Mary Jones, 1819-1907, experienced many of the key early periods in Anglo Texas history. The research traces her family’s immigration to Austin’s Colony and their early years under Mexican sovereignty. The Texas Revolution resulted in her move to Houston and her first brief marriage. Following the death of her husband she met and married Anson Jones, a physician who served in public posts throughout the period of the Texas Republic. Over time Anson was politically and personally rejected to the point that he committed suicide. This dissertation studies the effects this death had upon Mary’s personal goals, her use of a widow’s status to achieve her objectives, and her eventual emergence as a “Professional Widow.” Mary Jones’s attempts to rehabilitate her husband’s public …

Minutes for the December 8th meeting of the Dallas Way including the details of the topics of interest at the meeting.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

From the early days as a Spanish colony Texas attracted settlers with the promise of cheap fertile land. During the period of Mexican control the population of Texas increased and a desire for public education manifested among the people. Through the end of the Civil War government in Texas never provided an adequate means for educating the children of the region. Even when funds became available with the Compromise of 1850 the state only established a school fund to help offset the costs of education, but did not provide a public school system. The first truly successful attempt at mass education in Texas came after the Civil War with the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The bureau helped the former slaves adjust to the emerging post war society through a variety of means such as education. In spite of its short existence the bureau managed to educate thousands of African Americans. By 1870 the former slaves wanted more education for their children, and Texans of all races began to see the need for a public school system. This study focuses on Republican efforts during Reconstruction to establish a public school system in Texas to meet the educational needs of its …

This study examines upward economic mobility into the planter class in Texas during the antebellum statehood period, 1846-1860. Using quantitative methods to analyze data from census and tax records, this study addresses several questions regarding the property owning experience of Texas planters. Did any of the 1860 planters, men or women, rise to that status from another class? If so, how many rose from small slaveholder or small planter origins, and how many advanced from plain folk origins? In what ways did the amount and nature of wealth of these individuals change in the period studied? In what ways do these findings provide insights into the debate over planter dominance versus ‘plain folk’ inclusive herrenvolk democracy and the relationship between the planters and the other classes? Did the experiences of female planters differ from that of male planters? Did female planter experiences in Texas differ from female planters in other parts of the Old South? The results of these questions demonstrate that economic class mobility into the richest class was significant but limited and that women’s experiences were closely tied to those of male kin.

A comprehensive compilation of all types of infrastructure supporting offshore activities in the Gulf of Mexico Region.

Presentation for the 2011 Coalition of Networked Information (CNI) meeting discussing the Aligning National Approaches to Digital Preservation Summit, held in the capital of Estonia in May 2011.

This project estimates the naturally available and technically recoverable U.S. wave energy resources, using a 51-month Wavewatch III hindcast database developed especially for this study by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Centers for Environmental Prediction. For total resource estimation, wave power density in terms of kilowatts per meter is aggregated across a unit diameter circle. This approach is fully consistent with accepted global practice and includes the resource made available by the lateral transfer of wave energy along wave crests, which enables wave diffraction to substantially reestablish wave power densities within a few kilometers of a linear array, even for fixed terminator devices. The total available wave energy resource along the U.S. continental shelf edge, based on accumulating unit circle wave power densities, is estimated to be 2,640 TWh/yr, broken down as follows: 590 TWh/yr for the West Coast, 240 TWh/yr for the East Coast, 80 TWh/yr for the Gulf of Mexico, 1570 TWh/yr for Alaska, 130 TWh/yr for Hawaii, and 30 TWh/yr for Puerto Rico. The total recoverable wave energy resource, as constrained by an array capacity packing density of 15 megawatts per kilometer of coastline, with a 100-fold operating range between threshold and maximum operating conditions …

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Davidson-Penland House, in Galveston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicaid, estimated that improper payments in the federal-state Medicaid program were $21.9 billion in fiscal year 2011. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 established the Medicaid Integrity Program and gave CMS an expanded role in assisting and improving the effectiveness of state activities to ensure proper payments. Making effective use of this expanded role, however, requires that federal resources are targeted appropriately and do not duplicate state activities. GAO was asked to testify on Medicaid program integrity. GAO's statement focuses on how CMS's expanded role in ensuring Medicaid program integrity (1) poses a challenge because of overlapping state and federal activities regarding provider audits and (2) presents opportunities through oversight to enhance state program integrity efforts. To do this work, GAO reviewed CMS reports and documents on Medicaid program integrity as well as its own and others' reports on this topic. In particular, GAO reviewed CMS reports that documented the results of its state oversight and monitoring activities. GAO also interviewed CMS officials in the agency's Medicaid Integrity Group (MIG), which was established to implement …

Weekly newspaper from Tulsa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Article discussing a study of contextual metadata in digital aggregations. Results of this study prove importance of provision of collection-level metadata in general and subject metadata in particular to enhance user experiences and information retrieval in digital libraries.

Wintter Watts (1884-1962) was one of the most admired composers of American art song in the early twentieth century. The history of great singers who performed his songs at that time attests to the reputation of Watts as a song composer. Unfortunately the songs of Watts have become largely neglected by singers from later generations. The song cycle Vignettes of Italy (1919) for high voice is regarded by many as Watts♠ best-known composition. Vignettes of Italy was frequently performed by many famous singers in America in his day, but is little known in the current repertoire of American art song and rarely performed today. Vignettes of Italy is worthy of reintroduction to contemporary audiences and singers. This study explores the significant contributions Wintter Watts made to the body of American art song in the early twentieth century and presents a thorough investigation of Watts♠ compositional techniques of Sara Teasdale♠s texts in his song cycle Vignettes of Italy. These techniques include the use of carefully tailored rhythms, modulations, harmonic progressions, and accompaniment figures to give unique treatment to the musical setting of individual words, poetic ideas, and broader moods. I hope this research provides a foundation of understanding of this cycle, …

Francis Poulenc’s three-act opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-1956) depicts the struggles of the novice nun Blanche de la Force during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The use of Latin liturgical music at critical points in the opera conveys the ritualistic nature of Catholic worship. The spiritual message of mystical substitution, along with the closely related notion of vicarious suffering, imbue the opera with a spirituality that offers a sharp contrast to earlier operatic settings of Catholic texts, particularly during the age of grand opera. Marian devotion also plays an important role in the opera. The final tableau of the opera stages the execution of Blanche and her sisters, complete with the sound of a guillotine, with the nuns singing the Salve Regina as they proceed to the scaffold. The multivalence of the final tableau highlights the importance of voice and its absence. While the nuns, onstage spectators, and the guillotine are audibly present in the scene, the priest participates solely through gesture. The surfacing of the Lacanian Real in the silent moment of traumatic shock that follows the guillotine’s first fall allows for intertextual references to the opera in Poulenc’s Sonate pour Flûte et Piano (1957) to …

Program for the theatrical performance of "Watusi," which was produced by the black Academy of Arts and Letters on December 16-17, 2011 at the Clarence Muse Cafe Theatre.

Abstract Though a very influential Texan during the first half of the twentieth century, Amon Carter has yet to receive a full scholarly treatment, a problem which this dissertation attempts to rectify by investigating the narrative of Carter’s life to see how and why he was able to rise from humble beginnings to become a powerful publisher who symbolized boosterish trends within Texas and the New South. Publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, philanthropist, oilman, and aviation supporter, Carter used his power and influence to become a leading booster of his city and region seamlessly making the transition from being a business progressive to New Deal supporter to an Eisenhower Democrat. His connections with corporations like American Airlines and General Motors helped bring aviation and industry to his region, and his ability to work with public and private entities helped inspire his failed attempt to make the Trinity River navigable up to Fort Worth. His own success at building the Star-Telegram into the largest circulating newspaper in Texas encouraged him to expand his media empire into radio and television, while the wealth he gained from his oil activities enabled him to form a philanthropic foundation that would provide support for …

This study assessed falls efficacy and confidence-related changes among participants attending the a Matters of Balance/Volunteer Lay Leader (AMOB/VLL) falls prevention program for older adults, based on their residential location. Data were examined from 431 older Texans enrolled in AMOB/VLL during a two-year period, and assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Results indicate that participants significantly increased falls efficacy, reduced activity interference due to their health, and decreased the number of days limited from usual activity. Regression models show that participants, despite entering the program with lower reported health status, reported greater rates of positive change for falls efficacy and health interference compared with their baseline pre-intervention counterparts. Overall program attendance and attendance at major sessions showed the greatest influence. Findings contribute to the understanding of cognitive restructuring and strengthening variations with falls prevention program outcomes.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Roy Hughes. Hughes joined the National Guard and was called into active duty in September 1941. He was assigned to an artillery unit with the 45th Division in Algeria, preparing for the invasion of Sicily. In Salerno, he was wounded by shrapnel and almost left for dead when the medic was frightened by enemy shelling. Hughes’s best friend forced the company medic out of his hiding place, and Hughes recovered at a British hospital in Tripoli. Three months later, he returned to his unit for the invasion of Anzio. They fought in Southern France and finished the war while capturing Germans in Munich. Hughes returned home in June 1945. During his readjustment to civilian life, his nightmares were so debilitating that he was granted a full medical discharge. Over time, he made a full recovery.

The Nuclear Energy - Knowledge base for Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NE-KAMS) is being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory in conjunction with Bettis Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Utah State University and others. The objective of this consortium is to establish a comprehensive knowledge base to provide Verification and Validation (V&V) and Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) and other resources for advanced modeling and simulation (M&S) in nuclear reactor design and analysis. NE-KAMS will become a valuable resource for the nuclear industry, the national laboratories, the U.S. NRC and the public to help ensure the safe operation of existing and future nuclear reactors. A survey and evaluation of the state-of-the-art of existing V&V and M&S databases, including the Department of Energy and commercial databases, has been performed to ensure that the NE-KAMS effort will not be duplicating existing resources and capabilities and to assess the scope of the effort required to develop and implement NE-KAMS. The survey and evaluation have indeed highlighted the unique set of value-added functionality and services that NE-KAMS will provide to its users. Additionally, the survey has helped develop a better understanding of the architecture and functionality of these data and …

Newsletter dedicated to traveling in Texas, including information about news, locations, and events of interest to visitors as well as statistics and summaries of travel in the state.

The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question, why is there a variation in anti-Muslim sentiments across Western Europe? There is existing literature on individual and country-level variable s to explain why prejudice exists, but this research examines the impact of political institutions on anti-Muslim sentiments. Based on new institutionalism theory, electoral systems can shape public attitudes by providing far-right parties a platform to put their concerns on the agenda, and these parties promote anti-Muslim popular sentiments. The results of this analysis support this argument in that the larger the average district magnitude in a country, the greater the anti-Muslim sentiments. The findings also show that an increase in far-right party vote-share also covaries with an increase in anti-Muslim sentiments.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Sheron. Sheron joined the Navy in May 1944 and received basic training and learned to operate a Higgins boat at Camp Peary. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS President Jackson (APA-18), where he worked as a typist in the S Division, managing dry supplies and disbursements. At Iwo Jima, he served as a stretcher bearer, retrieving wounded Marines from the shore. He recalls doctors performing amputations in the mess hall while the ship was used as an overflow hospital. He saw the flag raised on Mount Suribachi and remembers hundreds of ships nearby blowing their whistles in celebration. He stayed aboard after the war as part of Operation Magic Carpet and was discharged in 1946.