No description available.

The objective of this research is to improve the railcar/rail truck interface by developing a low maintenance bearing interface with a favorable friction coefficient. Friction and wear at the center bowl/center plate bearing interface cause high turning moments around curved track, wear of truck components, and increased detrimental dynamic effects. The recommended improvement of the rail truck interface is a set of two steel inserts, one concave and one convex, that can be retrofit to center bowls/center plates. The insert geometry addresses concerns about maintaining favorable pressure distribution on existing components, minimizing overall height increase to accommodate existing infrastructure, and retaining railcar stability. The stability of the railcar upon the design inserts has been ensured when the instantaneous center of rotation of the railcar body is above the railcar center of gravity. The damping ratio provided by the frictional moment within center bowl is 240 and eliminates the possibility of dynamic amplification. Using a 90 inch radius of curvature ensures stability and requires a 0.5 inch diameter reduction of the existing center plate for a gap of 1/16 inch. The increase in railcar height for the specific design is 0.71 inches which can be absorbed by either grinding of the center plate or new manufacturing dimensions. The design is feasible for small travel values corresponding to small vertical gaps at the side bearings. In addition to geometry alterations, the bearing surfaces are coated with a protective metallic layer. The literature suggests that optimum friction coefficients between bearing elements in the center bowl/center plate interface may reduce turning moments of the truck, wear of truck components, and detrimental dynamic effects such as hunting. Axial-torsional tests determined friction coefficient estimates and wear properties for a matrix of various metallic protective coatings and steel. Tungsten carbide-cobalt-chrome has a favorable coefficient of 0.3 under standard center bowl/center plate contact conditions.

No description available.

In this study the aim has been to investigate whether the Great Depression in the 1920s and 1930s affected farmers in the United States financially and under such circumstances try to derive its financial extent. A qualitative comparative approach has been the chosen method, where the analysis section consists of data from official documents. The applied theory is economics professor Edward Barber's theory that the growth and development of economies is based on an opportunistic expansive exploitation of natural resources. The essay has been limited to examining the three most monetarily valuable cereal products and livestock. I concluded that the depression was partially responsible for fluctuations in the farmers' financial statements. An estimated $1,568 billion and another $140 million was lost. The financial loss was probably higher due to the chosen limitations of the essay, although the three most valuable cereals and livestock animals encompassed the value development relatively well.

This paper examines the American Dust Bowl to understand the political impacts of the catastrophe which devastated the American Plains during the 1930s. I use county-level panel analysis to analyze whether the Dust Bowl led to a change in voting patterns in more eroded counties compared to less eroded counties. I look to see whether, in the years following the Dust Bowl, there was shift in vote shares against the Democratic Party who were typically the incumbents during the period of the Dust Bowl. I use presidential, congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial election return for approximately the three decades following the Dust Bowl, i.e. between 1940 and 1968. My results show that the Dust Bowl is associated with a shift away from the Democratic Party for more affected counties. I find these effects to last for at least a decade (throughout the 1940s). I also look at the potential effects of the net migration and New Deal expenditure in the Plains. I find that less net migration may have been one of the reasons behind this change in voting behavior of counties and that New Deal expenditure could potentially have been a strong mitigative tool for the Democratic Party. / Graduate

The purpose of this research was to describe the content of information surrounding a significant sporting event presented by sportswriters through the printed medium. The event chosen for analysis was Superbowl XVI. Three metropolitan newspapers were selected as the sample representatives of the urban style of sports reporting. Two of these newspapers were chosen because of their geographical representation of a participating team. The third selection was taken because of its large circulation and relative unbiased reporting. From a pilot study conducted on Superbowl XV, content categories were found to fit in either one of two basic domains: cognitive or affective. The sample population for Superbowl XVI yielded 5,759 individual category entries based on 215 articles. The cognitive category comprised 94 percent of all items categorized, thus clearly demonstrating the dominant theme used by sportswriters for this event.

No description available.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-78). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Communications, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-65).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.