Task l Report: Summary and Evaluation of Water Supply Studies for the Kentucky River Basin

This report provides a review and critique of previous water supply studies for the Kentucky River Basin. The main focus of the review is on the 1990 Harza study, entitled Phase 1 Report: Water Demands and Water Supply Yield and Deficit

Improved Enzymatic Method for Determining Mannitol and its Application to Dog Serum after Mannitol Infusion

Peer Reviewe

Diffraction and boundary conditions in semi-classical open billiards

The conductance through open quantum dots or quantum billiards shows fluctuations, that can be explained as interference between waves following different paths between the leads of the billiard. We examine such systems by the use of a semi-classical Green's functions. In this paper we examine how the choice of boundary conditions at the lead mouths affect the diffraction. We derive a new formula for the S-matrix element. Finally we compare semi-classical simulations to quantum mechanical ones, and show that this new formula yield superior results.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Methods Used to Evaluate Employment and Training Programs in the Past

The authors begin with a thorough assessment of the many nonexperimental employment and training program evaluation techniques based on non-random comparison groups. These techniques typically use econometric methods to estimate the effects of employment and training programs by using comparison groups from non-program external sources. Then, recognizing the inherent drawbacks in these methods, Bell, Orr, Blomquist and Cain respond by reintroducing an evaluation method first implemented in the 1960s, the use of internal comparison groups consisting of nonparticipating program applicants. These groups include withdrawals, screen-outs and no-shows of the programs being evaluated in order to solve the selection bias problem. By applying to the program, say the authors, nonparticipating applicants reveal themselves to have some of the same difficult-to-measure, personal characteristics that inspire participants to seek help in response to their current economic situation. The methodology of this technique is updated, then tested against the random experimental findings derived from a controlled job training experiment, the AFDC Homemaker-Home Health Aide Demonstrations. Encouraging results are presented along with useful suggestions for designers and implementers of all types of program evaluations.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1080/thumbnail.jp

Estimation of Thalamocortical and Intracortical Network Models from Joint Thalamic Single-Electrode and Cortical Laminar-Electrode Recordings in the Rat Barrel System

A new method is presented for extraction of population firing-rate models for both thalamocortical and intracortical signal transfer based on stimulus-evoked data from simultaneous thalamic single-electrode and cortical recordings using linear (laminar) multielectrodes in the rat barrel system. Time-dependent population firing rates for granular (layer 4), supragranular (layer 2/3), and infragranular (layer 5) populations in a barrel column and the thalamic population in the homologous barreloid are extracted from the high-frequency portion (multi-unit activity; MUA) of the recorded extracellular signals. These extracted firing rates are in turn used to identify population firing-rate models formulated as integral equations with exponentially decaying coupling kernels, allowing for straightforward transformation to the more common firing-rate formulation in terms of differential equations. Optimal model structures and model parameters are identified by minimizing the deviation between model firing rates and the experimentally extracted population firing rates. For the thalamocortical transfer, the experimental data favor a model with fast feedforward excitation from thalamus to the layer-4 laminar population combined with a slower inhibitory process due to feedforward and/or recurrent connections and mixed linear-parabolic activation functions. The extracted firing rates of the various cortical laminar populations are found to exhibit strong temporal correlations for the present experimental paradigm, and simple feedforward population firing-rate models combined with linear or mixed linear-parabolic activation function are found to provide excellent fits to the data. The identified thalamocortical and intracortical network models are thus found to be qualitatively very different. While the thalamocortical circuit is optimally stimulated by rapid changes in the thalamic firing rate, the intracortical circuits are low-pass and respond most strongly to slowly varying inputs from the cortical layer-4 population

Whispering gallery modes in open quantum billiards

The poles of the S-matrix and the wave functions of open 2D quantum billiards with convex boundary of different shape are calculated by the method of complex scaling. Two leads are attached to the cavities. The conductance of the cavities is calculated at energies with one, two and three open channels in each lead. Bands of overlapping resonance states appear which are localized along the convex boundary of the cavities and contribute coherently to the conductance. These bands correspond to the whispering gallery modes appearing in the classical calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures in jpg and gif forma

Research Reports From Status Report: Identification of Appropriate Standards for Corrective Action for a Release from Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks

This document is a collection of research reports: Cost of Closure and Remediation for Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks Assessment of Number and Distribution of USTs Analysis of Potable Water Sources in Kentucky Analysis of Well Data and Soil Parameters as Related to the STATSGO Kentucky General Soil Map Petroleum Products: Chemical Composition, Tocxicological and Environmental Data Health Risk Analysis for Selected Petroleum Compounds Summary of Analytical Methods Soil Volume Calculations for UST Installations Generic Organic Containment Pathway Analysis for Components of Petroleum in Soil and Groundwate