6,139 research outputs found
The southern regional conference on technology assessment: Summary
The proceedings of a conference on technology assessment are presented. A survey of recent Federal activity in technology assessment was discussed initially. Emphasis was placed on state and local activities with respect to technology assessment to include the following subjects: (1) the technology assessment desired by states, (2) organization of technology assessment activities, (3) how to perform technology assessments for less than $5,000, and (4) the preparation of environmental impact statements. Specific application of technology assessment to solid waste management in Connecticut is reported
Time and frequency stability for the Crustal Dynamics Project
Very long base interferometry (VLBI) and laser ranging to artificial satellites and the Moon were used to determined vector baselines between stations with precisions of about one part in 10 to the 8th power. Deformations and strain accumulations in active earthquake regions were determined by making frequent measurements of baselines between many stations in active areas near plate boundaries
Worldwide time and frequency synchronization by planned VLBI networks
Accurate baseline determinations and clock synchronization results obtained from the Quasar Patrol observations at X band with the Goldstone-Haystack baseline are presented. In addition, data from stations at Greenbank, West Virginia, and Onsala, Sweden were used. It was estimated that clock accuracy was on the order of 16 cm
The GL_2 main conjecture for elliptic curves without complex multiplication
The main conjectures of Iwasawa theory provide the only general method known
at present for studying the mysterious relationship between purely arithmetic
problems and the special values of complex L-functions, typified by the
conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer and its generalizations. Our goal in
the present paper is to develop algebraic techniques which enable us to
formulate a precise version of such a main conjecture for motives over a large
class of p-adic Lie extensions of number fields. The paper ends by formulating
and briefly discussing the main conjecture for an elliptic curve E over the
rationals Q over the field generated by the coordinates of its p-power division
points, where p is a prime greater than 3 of good ordinary reduction for E.Comment: 39 page
Model of aircraft noise adaptation
Development of an aircraft noise adaptation model, which would account for much of the variability in the responses of subjects participating in human response to noise experiments, was studied. A description of the model development is presented. The principal concept of the model, was the determination of an aircraft adaptation level which represents an annoyance calibration for each individual. Results showed a direct correlation between noise level of the stimuli and annoyance reactions. Attitude-personality variables were found to account for varying annoyance judgements
An investigation of ride quality rating scales
An experimental investigation was conducted for the combined purposes of determining the relative merits of various category scales for the prediction of human discomfort response to vibration and for determining the mathematical relationships whereby subjective data are transformed from one scale to other scales. There were 16 category scales analyzed representing various parametric combinations of polarity, that is, unipolar and bipolar, scale type, and number of scalar points. Results indicated that unipolar continuous-type scales containing either seven or nine scalar points provide the greatest reliability and discriminability. Transformations of subjective data between category scales were found to be feasible with unipolar scales of a larger number of scalar points providing the greatest accuracy of transformation. The results contain coefficients for transformation of subjective data between the category scales investigated. A result of particular interest was that the comfort half of a bipolar scale was seldom used by subjects to describe their subjective reaction to vibration
Effect of vibration in combined axes on subjective evaluation of ride quality
The effects of simultaneous sinusoidal vibration in the vertical and lateral axes on ratings of discomfort were investigated. The first experiment concentrated on the effects of variation of frequency in the two axes, and the second study concentrated on the effects of amplitude variation in the two axes
Lagrangian Floer superpotentials and crepant resolutions for toric orbifolds
We investigate the relationship between the Lagrangian Floer superpotentials
for a toric orbifold and its toric crepant resolutions. More specifically, we
study an open string version of the crepant resolution conjecture (CRC) which
states that the Lagrangian Floer superpotential of a Gorenstein toric orbifold
and that of its toric crepant resolution coincide after
analytic continuation of quantum parameters and a change of variables. Relating
this conjecture with the closed CRC, we find that the change of variable
formula which appears in closed CRC can be explained by relations between open
(orbifold) Gromov-Witten invariants. We also discover a geometric explanation
(in terms of virtual counting of stable orbi-discs) for the specialization of
quantum parameters to roots of unity which appears in Y. Ruan's original CRC
["The cohomology ring of crepant resolutions of orbifolds", Gromov-Witten
theory of spin curves and orbifolds, 117-126, Contemp. Math., 403, Amer. Math.
Soc., Providence, RI, 2006]. We prove the open CRC for the weighted projective
spaces using an equality between open
and closed orbifold Gromov-Witten invariants. Along the way, we also prove an
open mirror theorem for these toric orbifolds.Comment: 48 pages, 1 figure; v2: references added and updated, final version,
to appear in CM
Seidel elements and mirror transformations
The goal of this article is to give a precise relation between the mirror
symmetry transformation of Givental and the Seidel elements for a smooth
projective toric variety with nef. We show that the Seidel elements
entirely determine the mirror transformation and mirror coordinates.Comment: 36 pages. We corrected several issues as pointed out by the refere
Antimicrobial resistance characteristics and fitness of Gram-negative fecal bacteria from volunteers treated with minocycline or amoxicillin.
A yearlong study was performed to examine the effect of antibiotic administration on the bacterial gut flora. Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacteria were recovered from the feces of healthy adult volunteers administered amoxicillin, minocycline or placebo, and changes determined in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene carriage. Seventy percent of the 1039 facultative anaerobic isolates recovered were identified by MALDI-TOF as Escherichia coli. A microarray used to determine virulence and resistance gene carriage demonstrated that AMR genes were widespread in all administration groups, with the most common resistance genes being bla TEM, dfr, strB, tet(A), and tet(B). Following amoxicillin administration, an increase in the proportion of amoxicillin resistant E. coli and a three-fold increase in the levels of bla TEM gene carriage was observed, an effect not observed in the other two treatment groups. Detection of virulence genes, including stx1A, indicated not all E. coli were innocuous commensals. Approximately 150 E. coli collected from 6 participants were selected for pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and a subset used for characterisation of plasmids and Phenotypic Microarrays (PM). PFGE indicated some E. coli clones had persisted in volunteers for up to 1 year, while others were transient. Although there were no unique characteristics associated with plasmids from persistent or transient isolates, PM assays showed transient isolates had greater adaptability to a range of antiseptic biocides and tetracycline; characteristics which were lost in some, but not all persistent isolates. This study indicates healthy individuals carry bacteria harboring resistance to a variety of antibiotics and biocides in their intestinal tract. Antibiotic administration can have a temporary effect of selecting bacteria, showing co-resistance to multiple antibiotics, some of which can persist within the gut for up to 1 year
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