The turn of the 21st century marked the beginning of a modern age in human history. As developing nations continued on their paths to industrialization, global markets became inter-connected, and large swaths of the people were lifted out of poverty throughout the world. As market demand increased due to the influx of new capital, new alliances between nations were drawn and the production of goods transformed. Today, firms are more globally fragmented than ever before. Rarely do firms house all facets of production in one location and serve only one market; instead, production is separated to cheapen product cost and maximize efficiency. Though this practice is beneficial for the firms involved, it simultaneously complicates how nation's control markets and protect domestic industries. It is necessary for governments to properly determine firm nationality if they are to govern and regulate appropriately. Recently, US-China relations were stressed as President Trump's "America First" protectionist trade policies clashed with China's attempts to become more self-sufficient. As the nations battled back and forth through a trade war, firms were caught in the middle, awaiting determinations of their fate which was decided based upon their perceived nationality. Accuracy in this process was crucial to limit the damage to markets that sanctions and tariffs would bring; there was little room for error. The conflict between the United States government, ARM Ltd. (ARM), and Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is one such example that demonstrates the complexities of defining firm nationality. In May of 2019, the US government alleged that Huawei was a national security risk. Huawei repeatedly denied the allegations, but the United States enforced sanctions, all but banning American companies from doing business with Huawei. This situation complicated Huawei's relationships with its suppliers, one of them being ARM. Given that ARM believed some of its technology had originated in the United States, its leadership made the decision that the company fell within the extraterritoriality of US law and thus, that their firm was subject to adhering to the ban on selling technology to Huawei. Without ARM's designs, Huawei's production of processors came to a halt, and the firm was pushed to the brink of disaster. Nearly five months later, ARM's leadership reversed its decision and continued its sale of IP to Huawei when it determined that the technology in its designs was, in fact, from the UK. As can be seen from this dilemma, firm nationality can have real, potentially crippling implications for firms and broader market structures. Defining firm nationality is not just an academic exercise; rather, it has relevant policy implications. No matter the stances that the United States and China take going forward, it will be of vital importance that decisions are made while accurately considering firms' nationality
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 5 children are admitted to the hospital due to below average levels of oxygen in the blood caused by respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia. Other acute lower respiratory infections account for 1.4 million deaths annually in low resource areas. Pulse oximetry is commonly used to measure oxygen saturation levels, specifically for those with compromised respiratory conditions, to make sure that enough oxygen is being transported to the extremities. Low resource countries face many challenges to access pulse oximeters, mainly due to cost and durability of the device. This lack of oximeters decreases the ability to properly monitor newborns thus putting them at risk for further complications or even death. If a pulse oximeter is available, problems can arise from poor placement of the device resulting in inaccurate level readings. At Baby Ox, our proposed design of an improved attachment system for a pediatric pulse oximeter will result in more accurate oxygen level readings in addition to increasing the availability for low resource areas with its reasonable price.
Semantic representations of words can be acquired by both textual and perceptual information. Multimodal models integrate this information, and outperform text-only semantic representations of words. In many contexts, they better reflect human concept acquisition. A common model for semantic representation is the semantic vector, a list of decimal numbers representing the clusters in which a word appears in text. Studies have shown that if two words have similar vectors, they are likely to have similar meaning, or at least be relevant to each other. Other approaches entail inserting sentences, made up of caption words from an image set, into text, to modify the vectors corresponding to each word in a textual corpus's vocabulary, and thus form different semantic representations. These techniques have also suggested that whereas concrete terms' meanings tend to improve with propagation, abstract terms tend to become less accurate when too much information from their more concrete counterparts is propagated to them. In this study, I have therefore utilized different techniques for comparing words' meanings, to implement an image retrieval system. Even if a word w does not directly tag an image, the system retrieves images whose captions contain words that have the most similar vector representations to that of w. Therefore, we examine the extent to which a word's semantic representation has improved, based on improvements in corresponding retrieval results from this system.
To date there is no scientific evidence that dragonflies (Odonata), have a nervous system equipped to process auditory stimuli. Even with considerable research on these creatures due to their specialized vision and flight mechanics, there is no evidence that dragonflies have ears or even auditory neurons. Last year student Andrew Hamlin and Professor Robert Olberg recorded neuronal responses in the dragonfly to auditory stimuli of 100-2000Hz sounds (Olberg and Hamlin, unpublished). This year our research was aimed at understanding a sensory modality that was previously unknown in dragonflies, the sense of hearing. In order to investigate this question we used behavioral and electrophysiological studies on the live dragonflies Anax junius and Aeshna constricta. Behaviorally, dragonflies were loosely tethered to a standing mount allowing free movement while computer-generated sound stimuli were played to the animal and video-recorded. Electrophysiological studies were done by extracellular recording of the ventral nerve cord to observe neuronal activity in response to these computer-generated frequencies (50Hz – 22KHz). Due to the electrical and mechanical properties of a speaker, low range frequencies (100-200Hz) were used to conduct sound waves that directly contacted the dragonfly (near-field sound) while staying out of the electrical field of the speaker itself. This inhibited the electrical field of the speaker from being picked up in the extracellular recordings. We observed body movements to near-field sound waves in behavioral studies that backed up the initial observations. Our electrophysiological studies showed that sound waves do not stimulate an auditory sense through a tympanum but apparently stimulate mechanoreceptors on the body. This mechanoreception is subtle and highly dependent on the quality of the recording but does exist. Our findings suggest that the behavioral responses of dragonflies to loud sounds may be mediated by mechanoreceptors, such as sensory hairs, distributed across the body of the dragonfly.
Neuromodulation is the alteration of nerve activity through targeted delivery of a stimulus to specific neurological sites in the body. The development of non invasive and accurate methods for neuromodulation could result in improvements in the medical field. Such improvements would be in treating epileptic seizures and mental disorders, inducing pain relief, and understanding how the brain works. Promising results in neuromodulation have been achieved with Focused Ultrasound (FUS), which can deliver targeted stimuli to a localized region deep in tissue. The goal of this research project is to determine the optimal ultrasonic parameters (e.g. frequency, peak intensity, pulse duration) to produce a neuromodulation response in crayfish. We are currently using crayfish due to its simple nervous system and well-established dissection protocol. The long term goal is to optimize the parameters of FUS for neuromodulation for use in the medical field.
We are members of the TESS Observing Program Working Group (TFOP) in collaboration with other universities and observatories around the world in an effort to help in the extensive follow up observations needed for the Targets of Interest (TOI) of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We contribute seeing-limited photometry where the goal is to provide time-series photometric observations that can remove false positives due to nearby eclipsing binary stars. Using the program AstroImageJ, we fully analyzed and submitted photometry for three TOIs. TOI 851.01 was retired as a Validated Planet Candidate. Submission of TOI 1319.01 confirmed a transit and candidate was retired as a Nearby Eclipsing Binary. For TOI 1371.01 we confirmed a partial transit and the candidate was retired as a Spectroscopic Binary. TESS mission has entered an extended mission and we continue to take observations throughout 2020.
Schizophrenic patients have been found to have altered brain structures with many regions having reduced volumes when compared to their healthy counterparts. A recent paper suggests that schizophrenic individuals have reduced grey matter volumes in the frontal lobes, subcortical regions and limbic region (Birur et al., 2017). However, the hippocampal responsibility for memory and spatial recognition make it the current focus for schizophrenia research. Present research suggests a negative correlation between hippocampal volume and severity of negative symptoms as well as a significant overall decrease in hippocampal volume in individuals with schizophrenia (Bartholomeusz et al., 2017; Birur et al., 2017; Kalmady et al., 2017; Walter et al., 2016). It is believed that there are regional differences in hippocampal reductions because each region projections to various other neuroanatomical structures, suggesting different functionality (Kalmady et al., 2017). In the present study 28 participants were recruited from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. Participants belonged to one of three groups, healthy control, clinical high risk or un-medicated first episode psychosis patients with schizophrenia. Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data was acquired for each study participant (following informed consent). The hippocampus from each scan was segmented using Freesurfer’s hippocampal automatic segmentation program into eleven subfields. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the gray matter of each subfield between patient group and control group controlling for age and sex to determine if any regional volume reductions are present. Initial findings indicate a significant difference of size between groups in the presubiculum and CA1; however, the analyses are ongoing. These findings are consistent with current literature (Haukvik et al,2015; Ho et al., 2017; Mathew et al., 2014; Ota et al., 2017). Results of this study will help to understand what anatomical changes in the schizophrenic brain are due to the disorder and what changes are due to treatments. Further work is needed correlate regional volume differences to negative symptoms.
With climate change being one of the largest existential threat’s civilizations has ever faced and global cooperation the only conceivable solution, why have the existing MEAs of the climate change regime failed? Moreover, why have MEAs in other environmental regimes, such as the ozone regime, been so much more successful than MEAs in the climate change regime? To investigate this question, I use a theoretical framework of international law and focus on the specific way the institutional design of agreements can yield greater success. I define success in a two-pronged manner which focuses on participation and compliance. This paper takes a comparative analysis between the ozone regime and climate change regime to dissect what specific features made the Montreal Protocol so much more successful than the Kyoto Protocol. I argue that international relations present one of the largest impediments to a meaningful solution. Furthermore, I argue that by balancing legal provisions of flexibility and compliance within an agreement such political obstacles can be surmounted. This paper concludes that while you cannot simply implant the blueprints of one successful MEA to another, especially across regimes, you can incorporate institutional design features which yield both increased ratification and adherence. This presents an opportunity for the Paris Agreement to build upon the successful features of the Montreal Protocol and incorporate design features which will allow for the continued strengthened of state commitments.
There are 22 million orthopedic surgeries performed globally each year and this number is expected to increase by approximately 6 million by 2022. Within many of these operations, surgeons are required to utilize orthopedic drills to properly insert various implants to facilitate healing within the body. Unfortunately, many of these procedures have complications that result in thermal osteonecrosis or bone plunging. These complications cause the death of bone cells due to heat and the loosening of an implant from drilling through the entirety of the bone, respectively. To help prevent these detrimental issues, we seek to redesign the orthopedic drilling system by effectively incorporating a cooling channel within the drill bit, as well as sensors to monitor drilling depth. Ultimately, this redesigned system will aid orthopedic surgeons in their procedures while simultaneously reducing the number of complications and potential follow-up operations for patients.
One country’s emission of greenhouse gases affects the rest of the world through externalities. Several international conferences have resulted in agreements aiming to hold countries accountable for reducing emission. Before 2005 there were different, antagonistic schools of thought on how to make this change. The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, is widely recognized as a failure to achieve this goal, partly due to this debate. The European Union had advocated for sharp reduction of emission from all countries while China, India, and Brazil claimed that this should be confined to the developed world. Their argument was that they are currently the largest developing economies, and do not want their growth to be restricted.
This paper measures the change in emissions since 1990 across 100 countries analyzing how the GDP of a country in 1990 and the change of GDP since 1990 affect the change in emissions, controlling for energy production and usage, and the change of these numbers since 1990. All data is collected from the World Bank, except oil production which is collected by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
This analysis aims to contribute to the research on the progress of limiting greenhouse gas emission and conversion to renewable energy sources. It draws attention to the relationship between emissions and GDP as major emerging market economies are likely to be the largest source of future emissions. Examining change in emissions since 1990 will allow us to see effects of economic changes on environmental issues while also tracking the progress since the less influential Kyoto Protocol and the promising Copenhagen Accord.
The forces driving flexure and torsion in early embryo development are unknown but are vital for proper organ development. Embryonic flexures cause the body to bend and torsion is the rotational component. Improper flexion and torsion could lead to birth defects. This project aims to use differential growth on a 3D computational model to show how a chick embryo bends and twists during early development. We were able to show that differential growth can produce flexion and torsion as observed in the experiment. ABAQUS was used as the FE solver. As a first approximation, a solid cylinder was selected as the initial geometry. The part was partitioned into cranial, cervical, thoracic and caudal regions. For the coordinate system to follow along with the model deformation, local material orientation and nonlinear geometry were used. A fixed boundary condition was created to constrain the displacement and rotation on the bottom surface. A quadratic tetrahedral mesh was used. Previously published material properties were used. We also used the chick embryo as the experimental model, staged with the system of Hamburger and Hamilton (HH). The computational model displayed flexures along the dorsal edge. To determine the internal growth loads, we compared our 3D model with a chick embryo. Our results show that geometry similar to the experiment could be achieved by assigning differential growth on specific sections. Half of the thoracic region was assigned 30% growth and to achieve both flexure and torsion simultaneously, the upper dorsolateral region was assigned 70% growth. We observed torsion by element tracking; only the yellow marked element was visible in the rotated model, similar to the experiment. Our results show that it is possible to obtain flexion and torsion similar to that seen in the experiment using differential growth. Using chemical perturbations, other research in our lab investigates if the differential growth patterns suggested by the model do indeed occur in the developing embryo.
Drosophila athabasca, a species complex native to North America, provides a unique opportunity to study nascent speciation arising from sexual isolation. Some have suggested that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) influence the sexual selection process. Extensive analyses have resulted in complex understandings of CHC involvement in insect mate preference, with minimal work focusing on D. athabasca. The goal of this study is to identify, synthesize and measure biologically relevant quantities of CHCs present in this species complex. Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) from several isofemale lines of D. athabasca allows for characterization of contributing compounds including saturated, unsaturated, and branched alkanes, fatty acids, acetates, and esters. Identification of these compounds using characteristic fragmentation patterns allowed for confirmation by synthetic standards. To date, over 100 CHCs have been characterized in D. athabasca using these analytical and organic methods. An overview of the analysis techniques and future direction will be presented.
Our study of lapis lazuli throughout the term integrated art and science. Lapis lazuli is a brilliant blue-purple hue used in many paintings throughout the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. The pigment lapis lazuli can be used in fresco, tempera, and oil paintings. Lapis lazuli originates from Afghanistan and makes its way into Europe through the port city of Venice. Lapis lazuli could be more expensive than gold during this time period which makes it a highly desirable pigment and hue. We also studied the chemical structure of lapis lazuli as well as analysis methods such as infrared reflectography and SEM-EDS.
Solar tracking is related to moving the solar panels in such a way that its solar panel always points toward the sun which results in maximum output. The goal of this research was to modify and improve a two-axis solar tracking system. The rotation of the module is controlled by a rotational motor and the tilt is controlled by a linear actuator. The motion and direction of these two motors is controlled by an Arduino code which compares the electrical current going through four mini solar collectors (used as sensors) mounted in orthogonal pairs at the top of the PV panel. If a solar collector has a higher current reading, then it is exposed to more sunlight, so the panel is adjusted until all of the mini solar collectors have nearly the same current output, and thus are receiving the same amount of sunlight. Testing of the designed system was performed alongside an identical, stationary solar panel, which allows for a direct comparison between the electrical outputs of the two solar panels.
Previous research suggests that there may be a connection between musical experience and linguistic understanding. Evidence suggests that prosodic elements such as tone, rhythm, emphasis, and pitch are usually better understood by individuals who have had musical training and exposure. The current study examined the ability of musicians to produce speech using more effective prosody. Participants were self-identified musicians and non-musicians. Participants were given a series of sentences, and were recorded reading the sentences aloud, as if they were the subject of the sentence. Each sentence was preceded by one of two context sentences, which were not read aloud. The meaning of the target sentence was strongly dependent on the context, as the sentences were difficult to understand without having strong prosodic cues. For example, individuals read the sentence 'Ellen the dentist is here', with one group given the context of the announcement of the arrival of a dentist named Ellen, and the other group was told that the announcement referred to a patient named Ellen whose dentist had arrived. Because these sentences are identical, only prosody can disambiguate their meaning. Participants were also given a musicianship questionnaire to assess their musical knowledge and years of experience. Blind raters then rated each sentence recording, using a scale system to rate which context they believed the sentence was paired with. The results were that musicians produced sentences that were more accurately rated by the raters compared to non-musicians. The musicians also had higher musical knowledge and more experience than non-musicians. There were also positive correlations between knowledge and experience and the accuracy of the sentence ratings. This suggests that not only are musicians more sensitive to prosodic cues to understand speech, but they are also able to use prosodic elements to more clearly convey meaning.
The use of 3D printing metals has become an increasingly popular manufacturing method in the automotive and aerospace industry, causing a push for faster and cheaper processes. 3D printing has the unique ability to fabricate parts that have been topographically optimized, a method that takes given loads and uses finite element analysis to optimize material layout while maintaining strength. An original and optimized connecting rod will be printed with the selective laser melting and binder jetting processes. Another connecting rod will be machined at the Union College Machine Shop. Weights from the Union College Material Science lab will be used to apply a tensile load on parts, then stress and displacement will be measured. The strengths of different printing processes will be compared and the weight and strength of original versus optimized parts will be compared.
Around the world, state owned enterprises (SOEs) are an important part of many economies. Various studies (e.g., Harrison et al. (2019), Boardman and Vining(1989)) on the profitability and efficiency of public ownership versus private ownership find that public ownership suffers from inefficiencies related directly to its inherent structure. However, SOEs appear to serve goals other than profit maximization which might explain some of the inefficiencies observed. These goals, known as policy burdens, include fulfilling certain socio- economic objectives such as maintaining employment and livelihood for a significant portion of the labor force. To accomplish these goals, SOEs have beneficial access to credit, subsidies, and most importantly, a soft budget constraint. This paper examines how these aspects of public ownership might be beneficial through times of lower demand or higher supply. Using a difference in difference in difference model to analyze the event of a trade-liberalizing effect of Vietnam’s entrance into the WTO in 2007 on industries that see a drop in import tariffs in order to compare performance between SOEs and private enterprises, this paper finds that entering the WTO caused an increase in employment in private enterprises in Vietnam. SOEs, which have significantly higher employment, saw a decrease in employment after 2007 in tariff-affected and non-tariff-affected industries, though this might be a result of public sector reform undertaken in 2007. Since private enterprises in tariff-affected industries saw gains in employment after 2007, these firms are capitalizing on gains of trade and expanding production, unlike the Vietnamese SOEs, which decreased employment.
Metacaspase are proteases that are involved in the cell death pathway of fungi. A better understanding of metacaspase might be helpful in the development of the antifungal drugs. The project was a collaboration between the Fox Lab and the Kehlbeck Lab. The Fox Lab aims to elucidate the structures and the properties of five types of metacaspase enzyme in S. commune fungus. The Kehlbeck Lab, has been working on synthesizing different inhibitors for the S. commune metacaspase. Z-Arg(Pmc)-benzothiazole served has been shown to inhibit similar metacaspases in similar organisms. The project aimed to propose the most effective synthetic pathway to generate Z-Arg(Pmc)-benzothiazole that would ideally allow us to explore other related inhibitors. This project focused on studying the direct one-way synthesis pathway from a carboxylic acid and heteroaryl halides. Several model reactions with different R-groups were tested and analyzed by NMR and GC-MS to study the effectiveness of the synthesis pathway. The model reaction using Z-Ala-OH gave the most promising NMR data. The NMR result suggested that a new compound, which was different from the starting materials, had been synthesized. In the near future, the synthesis method will be studied using different model reactions to compare how it works on structures with different R-groups. The final goal of the research is to make a library of different inhibitors for S.commune metacaspase.
The Nahuatl language is the main language of the Nahua people, a population of roughly 1.7 million strong in Central Mexico. Once spoken by tens ofmillions throughout the Azteca regions, Nahuatl was the main language of the Aztec Empire and was widely considered a language of prestige, carrying with it generations upon generations of ancestral stories and knowledge. This knowledge was decimated in the face of Spanish colonization as European teachings forcefully overtook the cultural dominance of this linguistic staple. Now, Nahuatl continues to carry its history, but in the face of potential linguistic and cultural assimilation. This project focuses on explaining and illustrating the cultural and linguistic significance of Nahuatl, encourages discussion on the topic oflinguistic preservation and the importance of preserving the cultural heritage inlaid in written and spoken language, and would also focus on teaching individuals bits and pieces of the language as well!I have spent the past several months learning Nahuatl and aboutits cultural importance and will provide a snapshot of a language that has existed since the dawn of organized civilization in the Americas. I will discuss why not only this language and culture should be preserved, but why all languages that are facing the same existential threat should be preserved just as well.
Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphia, two commonly comorbid disorders characterized by Body Image Concerns (BIC), are not yet well understood at a neuropsychological level due to the complex array of symptoms. Individuals with BIC often display two cognitive-perceptual processing differences: visuospatial deficits and weak central coherence. This often contributes to perceived defects in visual appearance of the body. In this study, perceptual performance differences were examined using a set of 432 globally convex randomly deformed 3D shapes. These stimuli differed across several variable categories including complexity and the presence or absence of symmetry. A sample of female undergraduate students completed a two-alternative forced choice task that involved matching a target stimuli to its rotated counterpart. Participants then completed the Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) and the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire (BIDQ) as measures of BIC. The results, performance in terms of speed and accuracy, support the hypothesis that females with Body Image Concerns may process information differently at a perceptual level. These and similar results further our understanding of anorexia nervosa & body dysmorphia and may eventually aid in diagnosis and/or treatment.
While there is extensive body image research regarding White women, more research needs to be conducted concerning Black women. Eurocentric physical characteristics define Western American beauty standards, such as a thin physique, long hair, and fair skin. Research suggests that for Black women, identifying with one's cultural ethnicity is a buffer against internalizing monolithic Eurocentric beauty ideals, specifically the thin ideal. This study aimed to substantiate that finding, and expanded upon existing research by examining whether ethnic identification also acts as a buffer for hair and skin tone satisfaction. As part of a two part study, this study conducted two focus groups to determine what beauty ideals, other than body size, were important to women of color. A separate group of participants filled out a survey assessing ethnic identification, thin ideal internalization, and hair and skin tone satisfaction. It was hypothesized that Black women with a stronger ethnic identification would be less likely to internalize the thin ideal and would experience greater hair and skin satisfaction. Results from linear regression analyses found a negative relationship between ethnic identification and thin ideal internalization and a positive relationship between ethnic identification and hair satisfaction. No relationship was found between ethnic identification and skin tone satisfaction. Due to low internalconsistency in the skin tone satisfaction measure developed for this study, future research should improve upon the current skin satisfaction survey. The findings suggest the importance of body image research examining the complex factors associated with Black women's body image.
Research on body dissatisfaction among women, focusing on the internalization of the thin body ideal, is not typically conducted among diverse groups of women. A significant body of research has shown that White women tend to internalize a thin body ideal, but Black women may be more likely to internalize a thick or curvy body ideal. However, research on Black women's thin ideal internalization remains limited and there is little research examining Black women's internalization of thick or curvy body ideals. Compared to prior research, the current study included a diverse sample, both in regards to participants' race and the body ideals examined. First, I hypothesize that there will be a negative relationship between Black women's internalization of the thick or curvy body ideal and their level of body dissatisfaction after viewing thin models of any race. In contrast, I hypothesize there will be a positive correlation between Black women's internalization of the thin ideal and their level of body dissatisfaction after viewing the model images. In regards to White participants, I hypothesize that there will be a positive relationship between White women's internalization of the thin ideal and their level of body dissatisfaction after viewing the model images of any race. In contrast, there will be a negative correlation between White women's internalization of the thick or curvy body ideal and their level of body dissatisfaction after viewing thin models of any race. Given the lack of prior research on the internalization of the thick/curvy ideal and White women's body dissatisfaction, rather than making a specific hypothesis, this is exploratory analysis. Linear regression was conducted to test each hypothesis, and none of the relationships found weresignificant. Due to sample size and measure limitations, future research should further analyze Black women's internalization of body ideals and body dissatisfaction.
The Union College Rocket Team annually designs, builds and tests a solid propellant rocket capable of launching to 10,000 ft and deploying a payload at altitude. Historically, the team has taken the rocket to competition at the Spaceport America Cup in New Mexico, competing against other collegiate teams in the 10,000 feet commercial off the shelf category. The 2021 UC Rocket comprises five critical mission groups: structures, propulsion, flight controls, simulation and payload. The 2021 rocket utilizes two 4in diameter phenolic tube sections for the main body and one 6in diameter section for the payload bay connected via a reducing coupler. These three sections of the rocket are connected via bulkheads and shear pins. At various trigger points during the flight, explosive pyro chargers in the bulkheads detonate to separate the sections. The rocket engine is a commercial off-the-shelf Aerotech L-class 1365M solid-fuel engine producing 1365N of peak thrust. Flight control comprises dual independent Altus TeleMetrum flight computers, each with dedicated pyro circuity, battery backup and communications. The flight computers also log flight data and relay real time telemetry information to the ground station via 70cm HAM band radio frequency communication. A third computer, the Altus Metrum EasyMini, activates the payload bay charge at a predetermined altitude for payload release. The payload is a fully independent module with its own recovery system and computer hardware. The payload uses a Raspberry Pi micro-computer that interfaces with various environmental sensors and a digital HD camera to record valuable environmental data as the payload descends through the atmosphere. In addition to experimental testing, theoretical simulations of the rocket's flight characteristics and performance were conducted using RockSim. Additionally, RockSim was used to determine the optimal fin size, shape and placement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union College Rocket Team will be presenting the results of this year's work at the Virtual Spaceport America Competition in early summer 2021.
This paper generally looks at the connections between carbon taxes and carbon emission levels in Nordic countries over a period from the 1960s to the early 2010s. Most of the existing literature on this topicfinds that carbon taxes do have a significant impact upon carbon emissions levels in some countries while not in others. In many countries which have this policy there is no significant impact that can be seen and there is a discussion as to why this might be the case and what needs to be done to fix these potential issues to effectively combat climate change.One such idea looks at how carbon taxes might become less effective at reducing carbon emissions over time. This paper attempts to take a more in depth look at the way carbon taxes impact emissions levels and how their effectiveness might change and deviate over time. Using different econometric approaches, this paper asks a slightly different question than what most of the existing literature looks at. Instead of looking at the short-term impacts of carbon taxes on carbon emissions this paper looks at this question from a longer-term perspective where the effect of these taxes can change and deviate, especially if the rate of carbon taxes is not updated to a degree where it keeps up with increasing price levels within a country. I use the Koyck model to examine this issue as it allows me to see whether or not the effectiveness of carbon taxes at reducing carbon emissions decays over time. I also use another approach: I use difference-in-differences analysis where a control country with no carbon taxes is used to compare treatment countries which have active carbon tax policies to look at the differences in emission levels between countries which do and do not have tax policies. This quasi-experimental research design allows me to somewhat simulate how a traditional scientific experiment would be constructed, by looking at the causal impacts of a policy implementation which in this case is the carbon tax.
