Structural response and input identification

Three major goals were delineated: (1) to develop a general method for determining the response of a structure to combined base and acoustic random excitation: (2) to develop parametric relationships to aid in the design of plates which are subjected to random force or random base excitation: (3) to develop a method to identify the individual acoustic and base input to a structure with only a limited number of measurement channels, when both types of excitation act simultaneously

Solid state television camera system Patent

Solid state television camera system consisting of monolithic semiconductor mosaic sensor and molecular digital readout system

Predictive Factors of Literacy Achievement in Young Gifted Children in Rural Schools

The present study investigated predictive factors of literacy achievement in third-grade students identified as gifted in rural schools. The sample consisted of 180 identified students in a total of eight districts, three of which were randomly assigned to the treatment condition and five of which were randomly assigned to the control condition. Students in the treatment condition received instruction with a place-based folklore unit of the Challenge Leading to Engagement, Achievement, and Results (CLEAR) curriculum, a language arts based curriculum designed to challenge gifted learners, in addition to an intervention promoting an incremental mind-set. Results of the present study indicated that prior achievement, mind-set, and gender were all statistically and practically significant predictors of literacy achievement for students identified as gifted in rural areas. A stronger incremental mind-set was associated with lower literacy achievement scores. Practical implications and recommendations, as well as limitations and directions for further research, were discussed

Analysis of Wildfire Occurrence in Southeastern Arkansas, 1984-1987

Wildfire statistics for Arkansas Forestry Commission District I in southeastern Arkansas were analyzed for the period 1 984 through 1987. A mean of 313 fires and 1103 hectares burned annually during the study period. Most (87%) of the land burned was forested. The greatest number (90%) of wildfires occurred when fire-danger was moderate to high. Most fires were started (90%) and detected (51%) by local residents. Arson was responsible for the majority of fires (68%) and hectares burned (65%). A disproportionately high number (43%) of the incendiary fires occurred in Ashley County. Mean fire size was smaller in this county. Fire suppression professionals attribute this to increased surveillance and suppression efforts in this county as compared with other counties. Many more fires occurred in 1987 than in other years. On forest-industry land more fires occurred in1987 than in previous years (65% vs. 42%). Also, for all lands, more fires were of incendiary origin in 1987 than in previous years (78% vs. 60%). The authors provide evidence that the change in fire pattern in 1987 was due in part to a drastic change in administration of hunting privileges by a major forest industry in the area

Adherence and Tolerability of Alzheimer's Disease Medications: A Pragmatic Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Post-marketing comparative trials describe medication use patterns in diverse, real-world populations. Our objective was to determine if differences in rates of adherence and tolerability exist among new users to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI's). DESIGN: Pragmatic randomized, open label comparative trial of AChEI's currently available in the United States. SETTING: Four memory care practices within four healthcare systems in the greater Indianapolis area. PARTICIPANTS: Eligibility criteria included older adults with a diagnosis of possible or probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were initiating treatment with an AChEI. Participants were required to have a caregiver to complete assessments, access to a telephone, and be able to understand English. Exclusion criteria consisted of a prior severe adverse event from AChEIs. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomized to one of three AChEIs in a 1:1:1 ratio and followed for 18 weeks. MEASUREMENTS: Caregiver-reported adherence, defined as taking or not taking study medication, and caregiver-reported adverse events, defined as the presence of an adverse event. RESULTS: 196 participants were included with 74.0% female, 30.6% African Americans, and 72.9% who completed at least twelfth grade. Discontinuation rates after 18 weeks were 38.8% for donepezil, 53.0% for galantamine, and 58.7% for rivastigmine (P = .063) in the intent to treat analysis. Adverse events and cost explained 73.1% and 25.4% of discontinuation. No participants discontinued donepezil due to cost. Adverse events were reported by 81.2% of all participants; no between-group differences in total adverse events were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This pragmatic comparative trial showed high rates of adverse events and cost-related non-adherence with AChEIs. Interventions improving adherence and persistence to AChEIs may improve AD management. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01362686 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01362686)

The response of Kentucky bluegrass turf to insecticidal treatments

The most common insect pests of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) in Tennessee are sod webworms and white grubs. Attempts to control these insects with insecticides has, at times, resulted in the entire destruction of the lawn by sod webworms. Pass (1965) has shown that applications of aldrin, chlordane, and dieldrin increased the webworm population 2-3 fold. Streu and Vasvary (1966) found the same phenomenon in chinch bug control. Both Pass and Streu believed that this population increase of the target pest may have been related to an interference in some population-limiting mechanism, such as the natural enemies, but neither investigator definitely proved this. In view of the problem that home owners have had after applying insecticides for webworm and grub control, it was decided to conduct a study to determine the overall effects of insecticides on bluegrass. The research reported herein covers only a preliminary phase of that study: the effect of insecticides on botanical composition of a bluegrass turf

Extremely broadband ultralight thermally emissive metasurfaces

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of ultralight highly emissive metaphotonic structures with record-low mass/area that emit thermal radiation efficiently over a broad spectral (2 to 35 microns) and angular (0-60 degrees) range. The structures comprise one to three pairs of alternating nanometer-scale metallic and dielectric layers, and have measured effective 300 K hemispherical emissivities of 0.7 to 0.9. To our knowledge, these structures, which are all subwavelength in thickness are the lightest reported metasurfaces with comparable infrared emissivity. The superior optical properties, together with their mechanical flexibility, low outgassing, and low areal mass, suggest that these metasurfaces are candidates for thermal management in applications demanding of ultralight flexible structures, including aerospace applications, ultralight photovoltaics, lightweight flexible electronics, and textiles for thermal insulation

Hidden cusps

International audienceThis paper investigates a situation pointed out in a recent paper, in which a non-singular change of assembly mode of a planar 2-RPR-PR parallel manipulator was realized by encircling a point of multiplicity 4. It is shown that this situation is, in fact, a non-generic one and gives rise to cusps under a small perturbation. Furthermore , we show that, for a large class of singularities of multiplicity 4, there are only two types of stable singularities occurring in a small perturbation: these two types are given by the complex square mapping and the quarto mapping. Incidentally , this paper confirms the fact that, generically, a local non-singular change of solution must be accomplished by encircling a cusp point