Fluorine-hydrogen performance evaluation. Phase I, part I - Analysis, design, and demonstration of high performance injectors for the liquid fluorine-gaseous hydrogen combination Final report

Analysis, design, and demonstration of high performance injectors for liquid fluorine- gaseous hydrogen propellant combinatio

Behaviorism: An Exposition and Critical Examination

Behaviorism may be most easily defined after contrasting it with other forms of psychology. Until the advent of behaviorism in 1912, all psychology was built upon a subject matter called consciousness or mind, as definitions of psychology show: James: Psychology is the description and explanation of states of consciousness as such. Angell: Psychology is commonly defined as the science of consciousness... Consciousness we can only define in terms of itself. Thorndike: Human psychology deals with the thoughts and feelings of human beings and seeks to explain the facts of intellect, character, and personal life. Seashore: Psychology is the science of mental health... the science of experience and behavior of the organism. Baldwin: We may define psychology as the science of the phenomena of consciousness

C-MOS array design techniques: SUMC multiprocessor system study

The current capabilities of LSI techniques for speed and reliability, plus the possibilities of assembling large configurations of LSI logic and storage elements, have demanded the study of multiprocessors and multiprocessing techniques, problems, and potentialities. Evaluated are three previous systems studies for a space ultrareliable modular computer multiprocessing system, and a new multiprocessing system is proposed that is flexibly configured with up to four central processors, four 1/0 processors, and 16 main memory units, plus auxiliary memory and peripheral devices. This multiprocessor system features a multilevel interrupt, qualified S/360 compatibility for ground-based generation of programs, virtual memory management of a storage hierarchy through 1/0 processors, and multiport access to multiple and shared memory units

Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and patterns of host association over time and space in a tropical forest

We have used molecular techniques to investigate the diversity and distribution of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi colonizing tree seedling roots in the tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Republic of Panama. In the first year, we sampled newly emergent seedlings of the understory treelet Faramea occidentalis and the canopy emergent Tetragastris panamensis, from mixed seedling carpets at each of two sites. The following year we sampled surviving seedlings from these cohorts. The roots of 48 plants were analysed using AM fungal-specific primers to amplify and clone partial small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Over 1300 clones were screened for random fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) variation and 7% of these were sequenced. Compared with AM fungal communities sampled from temperate habitats using the same method, the overall diversity was high, with a total of 30 AM fungal types identified. Seventeen of these types have not been recorded previously, with the remainder being similar to types reported from temperate habitats. The tropical mycorrhizal population showed significant spatial heterogeneity and nonrandom associations with the different hosts. Moreover there was a strong shift in the mycorrhizal communities over time. AM fungal types that were dominant in the newly germinated seedlings were almost entirely replaced by previously rare types in the surviving seedlings the following year. The high diversity and huge variation detected across time points, sites and hosts, implies that the AM fungal types are ecologically distinct and thus may have the potential to influence recruitment and host composition in tropical forests

Pulmonary vasoconstrictor action of KCNQ potassium channel blockers

KCNQ channels have been widely studied in the nervous system, heart and inner ear, where they have important physiological functions. Recent reports indicate that KCNQ channels may also be expressed in portal vein where they are suggested to influence spontaneous contractile activity. The biophysical properties of K+ currents mediated by KCNQ channels resemble a current underlying the resting K+ conductance and resting potential of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. We therefore investigated a possible role of KCNQ channels in regulating the function of pulmonary arteries by determining the ability of the selective KCNQ channel blockers, linopirdine and XE991, to promote pulmonary vasoconstriction. Linopirdine and XE991 both contracted rat and mouse pulmonary arteries but had little effect on mesenteric arteries. In each case the maximum contraction was almost as large as the response to 50 mM K+. Linopirdine had an EC50 of around 1 μM and XE991 was almost 10-fold more potent. Neither removal of the endothelium nor exposure to phentolamine or α,β-methylene ATP, to block α1-adrenoceptors or P2X receptors, respectively, affected the contraction. Contraction was abolished in Ca2+-free solution and in the presence of 1 μM nifedipine or 10 μM levcromakalim

The complex dynamics of agriculture as a financial asset: introduction to a symposium

The contemporary process of financialization has been a major driver of the remarkable changes witnessed in global food and agricultural markets over the past decade, contributing to the rise and subsequent volatility of food and agricultural commodity prices since 2006. In the wake of these developments it has become clear that the turmoil has intensified the relationship between agriculture and finance in ways that have profound and enduring implications for the sector, and the people whose lives and livelihoods depend upon it. This symposium brings together four original research articles that contemplate the contemporary relationship between the agrifood and financial sectors. They examine a variety of overlapping themes, including the creation of financial assets from farmland and agricultural commodities, the activities of different types of investors in these assets in specific geographic contexts, and the challenges of governing this activity at the global scale. These articles show that the period of market volatility that began a decade ago reinvigorated investor interest in financial products linked to agriculture and farming, and inspired the packaging of new farms of financial assets in ways that have affected politics and practice on the ground, and are likely to leave a lasting legacy

Empirical estimation of the option premium for residential redevelopment

This paper presents and validates a novel empirical approach for measuring the value of the option to redevelop using a standard hedonic dataset. Our analysis generalizes the standard hedonic model to account for the option value of reconfiguring hedonic characteristics. We test this model with over 162,000 real estate transactions in 53 towns in Connecticut between 1994 and 2007 by adding a non-linear intensity variable, which increases with the aggregate value of structure and decreases with land value. A conservative estimate is that about 20% of towns have significantly positive option value, with a mean value of 29–34% for properties most similar to vacant land. Multiple tests across towns support predictions of real options theory. Positive option value towns have higher house price volatility and estimated option value varies positively with price volatility, a finding inconsistent with NPV theory. We also find positive association between option value and drift in house prices and a U-shape relation with house price adjusted for structural characteristics. Higher property taxes reduce the value of option to redevelop

Multiple solutions to a magnetic nonlinear Choquard equation

We consider the stationary nonlinear magnetic Choquard equation [(-\mathrm{i}\nabla+A(x))^{2}u+V(x)u=(\frac{1}{|x|^{\alpha}}\ast |u|^{p}) |u|^{p-2}u,\quad x\in\mathbb{R}^{N}%] where $A\$is a real valued vector potential, $V$ is a real valued scalar potential$,$ $N\geq3$, $\alpha\in(0,N)$ and $2-(\alpha/N) <p<(2N-\alpha)/(N-2)$. \ We assume that both $A$ and $V$ are compatible with the action of some group $G$ of linear isometries of $\mathbb{R}^{N}$. We establish the existence of multiple complex valued solutions to this equation which satisfy the symmetry condition $$u(gx)=\tau(g)u(x)\text{\ \ \ for all}g\in G,\text{}x\in\mathbb{R}^{N},$$ where $\tau:G\rightarrow\mathbb{S}^{1}$ is a given group homomorphism into the unit complex numbers.Comment: To appear on ZAM

Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to Close the Health Gap

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs