Developments on high temperature fiber optic microphone

A fiber optic microphone, based on the principle of the fiber optic lever, features small size, extended bandwidth, and capability to operate at high temperatures. These are requirements for measurements in hypersonic flow. This paper describes the principles of operation of fiber optic sensors, a discussion of the design of a fiber optic microphone, the functional elements and packaging techniques of the optoelectronic circuitry, and the calibration techniques used in the development of the high temperature fiber optic microphone

Process for Enhancing the Activity of Amyloid β Peptides

A novel process for enhancing activity of an oligopeptide or polypeptide comprising the steps of: providing an oligopeptide or polypeptide, dissolving the oligopeptide or polypeptide in an organic solvent, heating, removing the solvent, and recovering an oligopeptide or polypeptide with enhanced activity is disclosed. Also disclosed are novel oligopeptides and polypeptides enhanced by the process according the invention

Using Instructional Time and Race/Ethnicity to Predict Social Studies Accountability Test Results

This study investigated the relationship among the variables instructional time configuration, gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty to predict the academic performance of seventh-grade students on a state-mandated social studies accountability test. Results of 24,919 seventh-grade student social studies test scores from 117 middle schools, as well as a survey given to principals of the same 117 middle schools, were analyzed. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that when controlling for poverty, the variables instructional time configuration and race/ethnicity were significant, explaining 11% of the variation in student social studies accountability test results; a small effect. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were also used to illuminate the relationship of these variables on accountability test performance

QT peak prolongation predicts cardiac death following stroke

Cardiac death has been linked in many populations to prolongation of the QT interval (QTe). However, basic science research suggested that the best estimate of the time point when repolarisation begins is near the T-wave peak. We found QT peak (QTp) was longer in hypertensive subjects with LVH. A prolonged “depolarisation” phase, rather than “repolarisation” (T peak to T end) might therefore account for the higher incidence of cardiac death linked to long QT. Hypothesis: We have tested the hypothesis that QT peak (QTp) prolongation predicts cardiac death in stroke survivors. Methods and Results: ECGs were recorded from 296 stroke survivors (152 male), mean age 67.2 (SD 11.6) approximately 1 year after the event. Their mean blood pressure was 152/88 mmHg (SD 29/15mmHg). These ECGs were digitised by one observer who was blinded to patient outcome. The patients were followed up for a median of 3.3 years. The primary endpoint was cardiac death. A prolonged heart rate corrected QT peak (QTpc) of lead I carried the highest relative risk of death from all cause as well as cardiac death, when compared with the other more conventional QT indices. In multivariate analyses, when adjusted for conventional risk factors of atherosclerosis, a prolonged QTpc of lead I was still associated with a 3-fold increased risk of cardiac death. (adjusted relative risk 3.0 [95% CI 1.1 - 8.5], p=0.037). Conclusion: QT peak prolongation in lead I predicts cardiac death after strok

Editor‘s introduction

Collected in this issue are a diverse array of articles from some of American sociology‘s most prominent theorists and some whose careers are just beginning. Each article stands alone and is well worth reading independent of the others. But in considering the issue as a whole, I see several themes that are central to "modern" (and perhaps democratic) social thought, among them: the fluctuating, morphing idea of knowledge in modern democratic society, globalization and power, our perennial and necessary conversation with the specter of Marx, and finally, the possible relationships between social theory and social justice. To follow is a modest effort to contextualize these themes in the several articles comprising this special issue

A Formalization of Postmodern Theory

Postmodern theory is examined from the perspective of explanatory scientific theory. Although this kind of effort would be rejected by postmodernists as imposing a failed epistemology, this article nonetheless translates the arguments of prominent postmodern theorists into a series of propositions. By developing these propositions, it is possible to see how they might generate testable hypotheses that can guide the empirical assessment of the substantive arguments of sociological postmodernists. The propositions are organized under four basic headings: (1) the increasing importance of culture; (2) the destabilization and dereification of culture; (3) the increasing importance of the individual; and (4) the viability of the subject. While there is inevitably a certain amount of selectivity involved in this exercise, our hope is that the core arguments of postmodern theory are arrayed in a manner that can facilitate their empirical assessment by researchers

The Postmodern Self: A Theoretical Consideration

The postmodern self consists solely of fragmented, situational images that result in an emotional flatness or depthlessness. Goffman’s work has been presented as a precursor of postmodernism and recent literature has used Goffman to argue for the postmodern, non-essential, transient self. This essay presents a critique of the postmodern assumption that symbols have become divorced from everyday interaction and argues that Goffman did not disallow an essential self; throughout his writings he recognized its place outside the interaction order. It is further argued that the phenomena of the postmodern self can be understood in terms of generalized, abstracted principles. Self is presented as a function of an individual's interaction - ritual density and linguistic code. Based on Mead's notion of the self as a cognitive, internalized conversation of gestures, the self is conceptualized as varying along two dimensions: the interaction ritual continuum taken from Durkheim, Goffman, and Collins, and the linguistic code continuum taken from Bernstein, Douglas, and Bourdieu. The argument is summarized in a series of propositional statements

Gender Displaying Television Commercials: A Comparative Study of Television Commercials in the 1950s and the 1980s

Recent researchers have argued both that there has been change in the way gender is portrayed in television commercials and that gender images have remained stereotypical. Comparing television commercials from the 1950s/early 1960s to commercials from the 1980s, this study explores the issue of how much, if any, change has occurred in gender images. Additionally, the study focuses on the gender display of main characters and the circumstances under which it varies. Results indicate that there has been change in the images of women but not men. The activity that women are pictured in significantly changed from the 1950s to the 1980s, and a change in activity has the strongest effect on the display of gender

Economic Behavior in Institutional Environments: The Corporate Merger Wave of the 1980s

Over the last 100 years, the United States has experienced four waves of corporate merger activity. The first occurred at the turn of the century, then again in the 1920s, the 1960s, and the 1980s. Most research on merger waves has focused on individual mergers within a wave. Our research focuses on the wave itself. We develop a theoretical model that centers on the actors who promote the mergers and on those changes in the political and economic environments that provide the resources these actors need to act. Specifically, we argue that a permissive state combined with increased access to capital market funds encourages fringe players to initiate the innovations that enable them to execute mergers. Merger waves occur when these actors become increasingly successful and their innovations are imitated throughout the business community. We provide empirical support for the model using data from the 1980's merger wave