Skimming and Scanning Improvement: The Needs, Assumptions and Knowledge Base

1972 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha J. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Reading Programs ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
College Reading

The best way, and perhaps the only way, for today's student to cope with the effects of the information explosion on college reading lists is to become a competent and confident skimmer and scanner. Despite this obvious “need,” it is difficult to get students to skim and scan because of the negative attitudinal biases of both students and teachers. As a result, these skills are either ignored or not taught effectively. Failure to teach skimming and scanning skills is postulated as the reason many reading programs fail to produce flexible readers. Evidence is presented that skimming and scanning skills can be taught effectively. The results of a series of studies conducted in the process of developing and field-testing a skimming and scanning improvement program are described and their implications discussed.

Fitness-for-Service Assessment of Passenger Railcars and Trucks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Smyth ◽  
Kevin Carmody ◽  
Derek Maier
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Remaining Service Life ◽  
Service Testing ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Critical Regions

An important consideration when operating a fleet of passenger rail consists is the remaining service life of both the car structure and the trucks. Agencies may choose to undertake studies like this when considering a fleet wide capital improvement program, ranging from minor aesthetic upgrades to major system replacements and interior reconfigurations. With this in mind, the owner needs to determine the remaining fatigue life of the individual cars and trucks within the fleet. This paper describes the fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment performed on railcars and trucks and an example of the method applied in practice. To establish the current condition of the fleet, an initial structural and service history review was undertaken. In addition, nondestructive examinations (NDE) of a sample of cars and trucks were performed to investigate any regions that have experienced damage due to the years of service. After the baseline condition of the cars and trucks was determined, finite element analyses (FEA) were performed on both the cars and the trucks to assist in locating the potential fatigue critical regions. Strain gages and accelerometers were then installed on both the cars and trucks for field testing. Multiple runs of in-service testing were performed and a typical revenue service fatigue life of both the cars and trucks was calculated based on an S-N approach. Based on the calculated fatigue life and the current accumulated consist mileage, the remaining car and truck service lives were determined. For regions with known flaws more detailed fracture mechanics based crack growth analyses were developed to determine critical flaw sizes and their propagation times to critical from the known initial flaw sizes. Results of the FFS assessment provide information on the susceptible areas within the car structure and trucks. Depending on those results, decisions can be made on the required inspections, repairs, or decommissioning necessary to operate the fleet in the short term, while also providing valuable insight into long term fleet planning.

Community College Reading Programs. Kenneth M. Ahrendt

1976 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-74
Author(s):  
Sara Innis Fenwick
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Reading Programs ◽  
College Reading

scholarly journals Field Testing of Selected Salt-Tolerant Screened Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera L.) Clones for Use in Reclamation around End-Pit Lakes Associated with Bitumen Extraction in Northern Alberta

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 572
Author(s):  
Yue Hu ◽  
David Kamelchuk ◽  
Richard Krygier ◽  
Barb R. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Extraction Process ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Populus Balsamifera ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Balsam Poplar ◽  
Mine Sites ◽  
Bitumen Extraction ◽  
Northern Alberta

For the oil sands mine sites in northern Alberta, the presence of salty process affected water, a byproduct of the hot-water bitumen extraction process, is anticipated to pose a challenge on some reconstructed landforms. The fundamental challenge when re-vegetating these sites is to ensure not only survival, but vigorous growth where plants are subjected to conditions of high electrical conductivity owing to salts in process affected water that may be contained in the substrate. Finding plants suitable for high salt conditions has offered the opportunity for Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (Al-Pac) to investigate the potential role of using native balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.) as a key reclamation species for the oil sands region. Two years of greenhouse screening (2012 and 2013) of 222 balsam poplar clones from Al-Pac’s balsam poplar tree improvement program, using process affected discharge water from an oil sands processing facility in Ft. McMurray, has suggested an opportunity to select genetically suitable native clones of balsam poplar for use in reclamation of challenging sites affected by process water. In consideration of the results from both greenhouse and field testing, there is an opportunity to select genetically suitable native clones of balsam poplar that are tolerant to challenging growing conditions, making them more suitable for planting on saline sites.

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