Where Are the Women? Accounting for Discrepancies in Female Doctorates in U.S. Geography

Although there have been noticeable improvements in recent years, geography continues to be a predominantly male discipline. The percentage of women receiving PhDs in geography has tracked lower than the U.S. average of female PhDs. Previous studies of women's contribution to geography have focused on personal accounts or on the study of some of the most prominent practitioners, with a few studies using basic data on PhDs awarded and Association of American Geographers membership to determine trends. This article provides a comprehensive overview of doctoral degrees in geography by gender, over time, and across all universities in the United States by examining an alternative database, that of doctoral dissertations. The analysis yields three separate types of results. First, historical and contemporary variations among U.S. universities are examined. Second, data indicate that male and female doctoral students differ in the sex of their advisor. Third, a simple regression model explains some of the discrepancies in the proportion of female doctoral students by department. In sum, this article provides a comprehensive empirical study of the factors that might contribute to the continued disparities in female doctoral students in geography.     

IS THE EXTREME SNOW DEPTH RECORD FOR NORDLAND,NORWAY RELIABLE?

A snow depth of 370 cm at Dunderlandsdalen in winter 1919–20 is the largest recorded at stations in Nordland, Norway. During the period 1895–1924, the average maximum annual value there was 150.4 cm; at other stations it ranged from 38.5 to 190.1 cm. The ratio of maxima at other stations to that at Dunderlandsdalen was particularly low in 1919–20. In Nordland generally, that winter's recorded precipitation was slightly above the 30‐year average, but at Dunderlandsdalen it exceeded the average by 34%. At all stations except Dunderlandsdalen, 26 Jan.–1 Feb. was a dry period; at Dunderlandsdalen, 51.7 mm was recorded. Only one day without snowfall was recorded at Dunderlandsdalen between early January and early February, but elsewhere there were few days with snowfall. The difference in snowfall frequency and snow depth at Dunderlandsdalen in 1919–20 from values recorded elsewhere in Nordland contrasts with the relationships in other winters between 1895 and 1924. No observations were made at Dunderlandsdalen in winter 1917–18. Two of the householders there died in 1916. A change of personnel making the observations may have been responsible for the data gap and for the anomalous 1919 data. Changes made to buildings or the recording site in 1917 or 1918 may have resulted in increased snow depths as a result of drifting. Maintaining a record of climatic extremes and their environmental consequences is important. Data must be accurate. In view of this, it would be sensible to regard the validity of the 370 cm Dunderlandsdalen maximum as doubtful.     

Application of 2D numerical model to unsteady performance evaluation of vertical-axis tidal current turbine

Tidal current energy is renewable and sustainable, which is a promising alternative energy resource for the future electricity supply. The straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine is regarded as a useful tool to capture the tidal current energy especially under low-speed conditions. A 2D unsteady numerical model based on Ansys-Fluent 12.0 is established to conduct the numerical simulation, which is validated by the corresponding experimental data. For the unsteady calculations, the SST model, 2×10~5 and 0.01 s are selected as the proper turbulence model, mesh number, and time step, respectively. Detailed contours of the velocity distributions around the rotor blade foils have been provided for a flow field analysis. The tip speed ratio(TSR) determines the azimuth angle of the appearance of the torque peak, which occurs once for a blade in a single revolution. It is also found that simply increasing the incident flow velocity could not improve the turbine performance accordingly. The peaks of the averaged power and torque coefficients appear at TSRs of 2.1 and 1.8, respectively. Furthermore, several shapes of the duct augmentation are proposed to improve the turbine performance by contracting the flow path gradually from the open mouth of the duct to the rotor. The duct augmentation can significantly enhance the power and torque output. Furthermore, the elliptic shape enables the best performance of the turbine. The numerical results prove the capability of the present 2D model for the unsteady hydrodynamics and an operating performance analysis of the vertical tidal stream turbine.     

Tide and current observations in the central Chukchi Sea during the summer of 2012

Current data from a moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) deployed at 69?30.155′N,169?00.654′W in the central Chukchi Sea during 2012 summertime is analyzed in the present paper.Characteristics of tidal and residual currents are ob-tained with Cosine-Lanczos filter and cross-spectral analyses.The main achievements are as follows:1) Along with the local inertial frequency of 12.8 h,two other peaks at ~12-h and ~10-d dominate the time series of raw velocity;2) The M_2 dominates the 6 resolved tide constituents with significant amplitude variations over depth and the ratios of current speed of this constituent to that of the total tidal current are 54% and 47% for u and v components,respectively.All the resolved tidal constituents rotate clockwise at depth with the exception of MM and O1.The constituents of M_2 and S_2 with the largest major semi-axes are similar in eccentricity and orientation at deeper levels;3) The maximum of residual currents varies in a range of 20–30 cms~(-1) over depth and the current with lower velocities flow more true north with smaller magnitudes compared to the current in surface layer.The ~10 d fluctuation of residual current is found throughout the water column and attributed to the response of current to the local wind forcing,with an approximate 1.4 d lag-time at the surface level and occurring several hours later in the lower layer;4) Mean residual currents flow toward the north with the magnitudes smaller than 7 cms~(-1) in a general agreement with previous studies,which suggests a relatively weaker but stable northward flow indeed exists in the central Chukchi Sea.     

Chemical and environmental compatibility of red mud liners for hazardous waste containment

Red mud residue from alumina production has been proposed as an alternative liner material. The chemical and environmental compatibility of red mud upon exposure to representative organic (methanol, heptane, TCE, and acetic acid) and inorganic liquids (CaCl₂ and seawater) was studied. Chemical compatibility assays comprised Atterberg limits and sedimentation and hydraulic conductivity tests for red mud interacted with the chemical liquids, whereas the environmental compatibility was assessed through the leaching of metals from red mud as permeated with the liquids. Methanol greatly reduced the plasticity at concentrations ≥80 % by volume, but it did not increase the hydraulic conductivity of compacted red mud. High concentrations (≥60 % v/v) of acetic acid reduced the plasticity and enhanced the sedimentation of red mud. Conversely, acetic acid concentrations ≤40 % caused dispersion, but damaged the hydraulic properties and structure of red mud. The percolation of a pH 2 acetic acid solution did not adversely affect the hydraulic performance of the red mud liner. Neither diluted heptane nor TCE affected the red mud. However, pure organics suppressed the plasticity and induced aggregation of red mud, suggesting a great detrimental effect on red mud liners. The red mud exhibited great resistance to attack by inorganic salt solutions. Some concerning leaching of metals (primarily Al and Cr) occurred as water, acetic acid, and CaCl₂ solutions percolated through red mud, but effluent metals concentration quickly dropped to permissible levels. In general, red mud exhibited a high resistance against chemical attack; nevertheless, exposure to low-dielectric-constant organic chemicals should be avoided.     

Testing and modeling of the mechanical behavior of dolomite in the Wudongde hydropower plant

In order to understand the mechanical behaviours of the surrounding rocks in the underground caverns of the Wudongde hydropower plant, triaxial tests are performed on a type of dolomite. It is revealed that damage induced by crack development is the main factor controlling the nonlinear plastic deformation and failure behaviour of the dolomite in both pre- and post-peak regimes. Based on this understanding, a coupled elastoplastic damage model is developed for capturing the dolomite’s mechanical behaviours. In the model, the effects of plasticity and damage on rocks is described by introducing plastic hardening and damage softening commonly in the plastic yield surface. Which are both derived from a suitable Helmholtz free energy function. The model is used to simulate the triaxial tests. Comparisons between test results and the numerical modelling show that the developed model is capable of describing the macro mechanical behaviours of the Wudongde dolomite.