Birmingham–Southern College

Abstract In a rotationally dominated magnetosphere, plasma dynamics exert persistent drags on the planet's thermosphere via electromagnetic coupling that exerts a torque and produces persistent, steady departures from corotation. Two categories of mechanisms have been proposed to resupply angular momentum to the thermosphere: vertical transport via eddy diffusion and horizontal advection from other latitudes. For the latter, Smith and Aylward’s (2008) atmospheric circulation model applied a fixed function for the magnetospheric angular velocity profile. This fixes the convection electric field for the thermosphere, which then evolves toward a steady state governed by the magnetospheric velocity. We develop a model for the angular velocity of the neutral thermosphere that neglects all physical factors except for three factors: angular momentum transport by poleward advection; magnetospheric torque; and drag from the lower atmosphere, replacing the earlier invocation of eddy diffusion as a mechanism for transporting angular momentum upward. We follow Hill's (1979) derivation for radial plasma transport driven by a rigidly rotating atmosphere, but we reverse the logic and solve the thermosphere's angular velocity as constrained by the prescribed magnetospheric plasma velocity and the lower atmosphere. Our results reproduce the qualitative features of Smith and Aylward's results. However, the thermosphere should control the dynamics of the magnetosphere rather than the reverse.

Power wheelchairs cost a significant amount of money, and insurance companies will not pay for a power wheelchair unless the child can demonstrate that he or she knows how to use the chair. Learning to use a power wheelchair takes time and practice, which is why some companies provide loaners; however, the loan period is not always long enough. This paper presents, Power Touring, a driving game intended to assist young children in learning to use a joystick in an effort to decrease the learning curve of a power wheelchair. We present a pilot study evaluating the functionality of the game. We then present a target study where the refined game was evaluated by five children. Four of the five children demonstrated progress in learning to use the joystick. The goal of this work is to serve as a foundation for future refinement of the application and joystick controller. Future refinements will be evaluated regarding the impact using the game had on the time it takes a child to learn to use a power wheelchair effectively.

Insects have evolved unique structures that host a diversity of material and mechanical properties, and the mouthparts (proboscis) of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are no exception. Here, we examined proboscis morphology and material properties from several previously unstudied moth lineages to determine if they relate to flower visiting and non-flower visiting feeding habits. Scanning electron microscopy and three-dimensional imaging were used to study proboscis morphology and assess surface roughness patterns on the galeal surface, respectively. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to study patterns of cuticular autofluorescence, which was quantified with colour analysis software. We found that moth proboscises display similar autofluorescent signals and morphological patterns in relation to feeding habits to those previously described for flower and non-flower visiting butterflies. The distal region of proboscises of non-flower visitors is brush-like for augmented capillarity and exhibited blue autofluorescence, indicating the possible presence of resilin and increased flexibility. Flower visitors have smoother proboscises and show red autofluorescence, an indicator of high sclerotization, which is adaptive for floral tube entry. We propose the lepidopteran proboscis as a model structure for understanding how insects have evolved a suite of morphological and material adaptations to overcome the challenges of acquiring fluids from diverse sources.

Background and Aim: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important clinical outcome in patients with chronic Heart failure (CHF). The aim of this study was to evaluate HRQOL in patients with CHF and determine its relationship with demographic and clinical variables. In this cross-sectional descriptivecorrelational study, 200 patients with CHF were selected from clients referring to teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. They were interviewed to complete demographic and clinical questionnaires and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ). Some clinical variables were extracted from their medical records. KCCQ was used to measure their HRQOL. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Results: Self-efficacy domain had the highest score (mean=61, SD=18.31) and physical symptoms had the lowest (mean=42.92, SD=13.45) in HRQOL. There was a significant relationship between HRQOL and 4 demographic variables: sex, educational level, economic condition, as well as occupational status and also between HRQOL and clinical variables including: duration of illness, number of hospitalizations, non-cardiac diseases, ejection fraction, diuretic consumption and body mass index there was a statistically significant relationship. Patients with CHF had low HRQOL. Nurses and healthcare providers should plan care and programs to reduce frequency, severity and symptoms of heart failure and help improve HRQOL in these patients.

The central objectives of Work Package 1 of ESiWACE2 is to develop and run coupled model simulations at a resolution as high as possible and with a throughput rate of at least one simulated year per day (1 SYPD) producing full model output. This throughput would be sufficient to use these simulations for operational weather predictions and potentially also to run the models for a couple of decades, to address scientific questions that are related to climate change. Four model configurations are considered: EC-Earth with OpenIFS coupled to NEMO, the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) coupled to NEMO, the ICON model with both atmosphere and ocean, the DYNAMICO model coupled to NEMO, covering both weather and climate configurations as well as well-established models and models that are currently under development. Furthermore, ocean-only simulations with the NEMO models are also pushed to very high spatial resolution (1/36 ◦ ; ∼3 km).<br> According to the initial plan, the main aim of this deliverable was to perform scalability tests on the pre-exascale EuroHPC systems. However, this was impossible as these machines are only just becoming available. The deliverable is therefore focusing on the ongoing work to make the models more efficient and to enable the porting of the codes to heterogeneous hardware. As the European pre-exascale machines were not available, some tests of the models on other European HPC systems and some of the world’s fastest supercomputers (Summit and Fugaku) are also documented. Furthermore, the work on the treatment of output from ensemble simulations using XIOS that was moved from Deliverable D1.1 is also documented here, showing the successful use of XIOS to generate ensemble model output straight from ensemble simulations.

Political science internships are a valuable tool through which interns are able to gain relevant work experience while also gaining hands-on experience with material from their course work. One key element to a successful internship is an interns' ability to meet the needs of the sponsoring organization in terms of the skills and tools they hold. Previous research has focused on those skills that make interns more valuable to sponsoring organizations, we know little about interns' ability to evaluate themselves on those skillsets. In this paper we use data from on-site supervisor evaluations of interns' performance and interns' own evaluations of their performance to investigate how accurately interns evaluate their performance in their internship. Interns' ability to accurately reflect upon their performance is critical for their ability to improve and adapt to changing desires. Findings from this research may suggest potential interventions to help interns' further improve their performance.

According to the social model of disability, it is not individuals’ impairments, but societal barriers that cause these impairments to be disabling. Impairment refers to the “loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function,” whereas disability is socially constructed and refers to the inability to independently complete one or more everyday tasks at a “normal” level of functioning. Existing research finds that disability serves as a chronic stressor, and those with disabilities report higher rates of substance use than their able-bodied counterparts. Therefore, this research will be among the first to combine the social model of disability with the stress process framework. It will examine the relationship between impairment and substance use and how disability, as a measure of chronic stress, may affect this relationship. More specifically, using data from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 42,739), this article examines the following two research questions: (1) What is the relationship between impairment and substance use disorder? and (2) Does disability, as a measure of chronic stress, mediate the relationship between impairment and substance use disorder? Findings reveal that those with an impairment have significantly greater odds of having a substance use disorder. However, the relationship between impairment and substance use disorder is fully mediated by disability. These findings indicate that disability or the chronic stress one faces living in an inaccessible society, not one’s impairments, are what accounts for the increased likelihood of substance use disorder among individuals with disabilities.