Quantum walk-based search and centrality

We study the discrete-time quantum walk-based search for a marked vertex on a graph. By considering various structures in which not all vertices are equivalent, we investigate the relationship between the successful search probability and the position of the marked vertex, in particular its centrality. We find that the maximum value of the search probability does not necessarily increase as the marked vertex becomes more central and we investigate an interesting relationship between the frequency of the successful search probability and the centrality of the marked vertex.Comment: 29 pages, 17 figure

Landslide Stabilization at Missouri Route K Bridge over Blackwater River

In May 2002, a landslide on the south bank of the Blackwater River damaged the Missouri Route K bridge that crosses it. A flood on the river triggered the landslide. Based on the field investigation and stability back-analysis, it appeared that the landslide actually consisted of two separate slides – a shallow slide triggered by rapid drawdown of the river and a deep slide triggered by artesian water pressures in a subsurface gravel layer. A rock berm that was keyed into the gravel was constructed to stabilize the slope. The rock toe berm was designed to resist both the shallow and deep slide by providing weight to the slope to prevent a rapid drawdown failure and providing a drainage outlet to relieve artesian pressures in the gravel layer

The Dominion Range Ice Core, Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica - General Site and Core Characteristics with Implications

The Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica provide a new milieu for retrieval of ice-core records. We report here on the initial findings from the first of these records, the Dominion Range ice-core record. Sites such as the Dominion Range are valuable for the recovery of records detailing climate change, volcanic activity, and changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere. The unique geographic location of this site and a relatively low accumulation rate combine to provide a relatively long record of change for this potentially sensitive climatic region. As such, information concerning the site and general core characteristics are presented, including ice surface, ice thickness, bore-hole temperature, mean annual net accumulation, crystal size, crystal fabric, oxygen-isotope composition, and examples of ice chemistry and isotopic composition of trapped gases

Management of bovine tuberculosis in Michigan wildlife: Current status and near term prospects

Surveillance and control activities for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in free-ranging Michigan white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have now been underway for over a decade. Significant progress has been made, lowering apparent prevalence in deer in the core area by >60%, primarily via reduction of deer densities through hunting, and restrictions on public feeding and baiting of deer. These broad strategies of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), implemented with the cooperation of Michigan deer hunters, halved the deer population in the bTB endemic area. However, as hunters see fewer deer, their willingness to sustain aggressive harvests has waned, and public resentment of control measures has grown. During the past four years, apparent prevalence in core area deer has held approximately steady just below 2%. After bottoming out in 2004 at an estimated 10–12 deer/km2, deer numbers have since rebounded by ∼30%. Public compliance with baiting and feeding restrictions has been variable. In general, hunters in the core area do not perceive bTB as a problem, in spite of 13 years of MDNR outreach. To date, MDNR has expended more than US$23 million on TB-related activities. Of late, a substantial portion of that funding has been diverted to support other programs which have suffered from budget shortfalls. Livestock herd breakdowns continue to occur sporadically, averaging 3–4 per year 2005 to present. In total, 46 cattle and 4 captive deer herds have been diagnosed bTB positive statewide, the majority yielding only 1 positive animal. Five cattle herds were twice infected, one thrice. Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) policy emphasis has shifted towards obtaining producer support for wildlife risk mitigation and farm biosecurity. Funding has proven a limiting factor, with the majority of the US$63 million spent to date devoted to whole herd testing. Nevertheless, some initiatives justify cautious optimism. Promising research to support eventual vaccination of wild deer continues. Some hunters and landowners have begun to recognize the costs of high deer densities and supplemental feeding. A peninsula-wide ban on baiting and feeding was enacted. Some cattle producers, recognizing their precarious circumstances, have begun work to change long-held prevailing opinions among their peers about farm biosecurity. Yet formidable challenges remain, and evidence suggests that eradication of bTB, if it can be achieved, will take decades, and will require greater public and political resolve than has been demonstrated thus far

Initial Survey of Engineering Technology Capstone Courses and TeamworkBuilding Using CATME

This paper represents a first step in what is to become a multi –institutional initiative focused on identifying best practices for developing and improving teamwork skills within the Capstone experiences of engineering, technology and computing programs. Teamwork in this paper is defined and measured as the dimensions measured by the CATME Peer Review [1], which is currently used by thousands of technology and engineering instructors and institutions worldwide. The CATME Peer Review measurement tool is used to collect self and peer evaluations of team members’ contributions on five different teamwork dimensions [2]. These teamwork dimensions are 1) pose the knowledge, skills, and abilities to help the team; 2) expect quality work from the team; 3) keep the team on schedule; 4) positive interactions between teammates to help the team; and 5) all team members contribute to the team\u27s work and success. Pung and Farris[3] used CATME in a one semester junior level design class and reported a “significant improvement” in student behavior when compared to the old system of peer review. A workshop was developed to assemble all the participants, and develop a systematic method of evaluating teamwork building using CATME. All the participating schools and faculty will be testing changes in their Capstone courses and sharing the results of this analysis, in teamwork skills, with their colleagues

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Mycobacterium bovis Isolates from Michigan White-Tailed Deer during the 2009 Hunting Season

Michigan has had an ongoing outbreak of endemic Mycobacterium bovis which has been recognized within and sustained by its free-ranging white-tailed deer population since 1994. Worldwide, organisms within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex have exhibited the ability to develop resistance to antimicrobial agents, resulting in both the multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of human tuberculosis. Michigan's Bovine Tuberculosis Working Group has conducted active antimicrobial susceptibility testing on wildlife isolates of the endemic M. bovis organism at five-year intervals to detect any emerging drug resistance patterns. The results of 33 white-tailed deer origin isolates collected from the 2009 hunting season are reported here. There continues to be no evidence of any drug resistance except for pyrazinamide resistance. These results are likely due to the lack of antibacterial treatment applied to either wildlife or domestic animals which would provide selection pressure for the development of drug resistance

PLIF Visualization of Active Control of Hypersonic Boundary Layers Using Blowing

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging was used to visualize the boundary layer flow on a 1/3-scale Hyper-X forebody model. The boundary layer was perturbed by blowing out of orifices normal to the model surface. Two blowing orifice configurations were used: a spanwise row of 17-holes spaced at 1/8 inch, with diameters of 0.020 inches and a single-hole orifice with a diameter of 0.010 inches. The purpose of the study was to visualize and identify laminar and turbulent structures in the boundary layer and to make comparisons with previous phosphor thermography measurements of surface heating. Jet penetration and its influence on the boundary layer development was also examined as was the effect of a compression corner on downstream boundary layer transition. Based upon the acquired PLIF images, it was determined that global surface heating measurements obtained using the phosphor thermography technique provide an incomplete indicator of transitional and turbulent behavior of the corresponding boundary layer flow. Additionally, the PLIF images show a significant contribution towards transition from instabilities originating from the underexpanded jets. For this experiment, a nitric oxide/nitrogen mixture was seeded through the orifices, with nitric oxide (NO) serving as the fluorescing gas. The experiment was performed in the 31-inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center

Periodic orbit quantization of a Hamiltonian map on the sphere

In a previous paper we introduced examples of Hamiltonian mappings with phase space structures resembling circle packings. It was shown that a vast number of periodic orbits can be found using special properties. We now use this information to explore the semiclassical quantization of one of these maps.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX