A local area computer network expert system framework

Over the past years an expert system called LANES designed to detect and isolate faults in the Goddard-wide Hybrid Local Area Computer Network (LACN) was developed. As a result, the need for developing a more generic LACN fault isolation expert system has become apparent. An object oriented approach was explored to create a set of generic classes, objects, rules, and methods that would be necessary to meet this need. The object classes provide a convenient mechanism for separating high level information from low level network specific information. This approach yeilds a framework which can be applied to different network configurations and be easily expanded to meet new needs

Relationships between coping strategies and mood states in caregivers of people with dementia in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University

Alzheimer's dementia is a worldwide concern, as is the growing aging population and demands on services by many elderly people. Caregiving for people with dementia is recognised as one of the most distressing events in any family's life cycle. Many adverse effects among caregivers have been identified, such as increased depression and anxiety, however many questions remain unanswered. New Zealand, in particular, lacks accurate information on caregivers of people with dementia, obviously affecting the programmatic and clinical decisions made about this group. This study investigates the role of helping attitudes and coping strategies on the mood states (positive and negative affect) of caregivers of people with dementia. A regional sample, recruited through the membership lists of Age Concern and the Alzheimer's Society, consisted of 158 caregivers. A self-report questionnaire was developed for the study using three instruments: Helping Attitude Scale (HAS), Revised Ways of Coping Checklist (RWCCL), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS). A range of demographic information was also included in the questionnaire. The results provide a description of the characteristics of New Zealand caregivers and found that helping attitudes and coping strategies each contribute in different ways to positive and negative mood states, and differentially predict affective outcomes in caregivers of people with dementia. The results may assist practitioners to identify caregivers who may be at risk for developing mood difficulties and allow for the implementation of appropriate psychological intervention and prevention strategies

Dynamic Homotopy and Landscape Dynamical Set Topology in Quantum Control

We examine the topology of the subset of controls taking a given initial state to a given final state in quantum control, where "state" may mean a pure state |\psi>, an ensemble density matrix \rho, or a unitary propagator U(0,T). The analysis consists in showing that the endpoint map acting on control space is a Hurewicz fibration for a large class of affine control systems with vector controls. Exploiting the resulting fibration sequence and the long exact sequence of basepoint-preserving homotopy classes of maps, we show that the indicated subset of controls is homotopy equivalent to the loopspace of the state manifold. This not only allows us to understand the connectedness of "dynamical sets" realized as preimages of subsets of the state space through this endpoint map, but also provides a wealth of additional topological information about such subsets of control space.Comment: Minor clarifications, and added new appendix addressing scalar control of 2-level quantum system

Plastid redox state and sugars: Interactive regulators of nuclear-encoded photosynthetic gene expression

Feedback regulation of photosynthesis by carbon metabolites has long been recognized, but the underlying cellular mechanisms that control this process remain unclear. By using an Arabidopsis cell culture, we show that a block in photosynthetic electron flux prevents the increase in transcript levels of chlorophyll a/b-binding protein and the small subunit of Rubisco that typically occurs when intracellular sugar levels are depleted. In contrast, the expression of the nitrate reductase gene, which is induced by sugars, is not affected. These findings were confirmed in planta by using Arabidopsis carrying the firefly luciferase reporter gene fused to the plastocyanin and chlorophyll a/b-binding protein 2 gene promoters. Transcription from both promoters increases on carbohydrate depletion. Blocking photosynthetic electron transport with 3-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-1,1'-dimethylurea prevents this increase in transcription. We conclude that plastid-derived redox signaling can override the sugar-regulated expression of nuclear-encoded photosynthetic genes. In the sugar-response mutant, sucrose uncoupled 6 (sun6), plastocyanin-firefly luciferase transcription actually increases in response to exogenous sucrose rather than decreasing as in the wild type. Interestingly, plastid-derived redox signals do not influence this defective pattern of sugar-regulated gene expression in the sun6 mutant. A model, which invokes a positive inducer originating from the photosynthetic electron transport chain, is proposed to explain the nature of the plastid-derived signal

Plastics recycling and sampling

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AusIMM via the link in this record.This contribution examines the effect of feedstock sampling before the sorting stage of PET bottle recycling. Batches of waste PET bottles may contain non-PET bottles which need to be removed by sorting. Any residual presence of PVC is detrimental for the quality of products manufactured from recycled PET. The maximum tolerated concentration of PVC in cleaned PET is extremely low, which places high demands on the recovery of PVC achieved by sorting. To be confident of attaining the desired PET quality after sorting, acceptance sampling of truckloads of PET bottles may take place prior to sorting. It is shown that accounting for sampling uncertainty requires that the sorting process achieves a consistently high recovery of PVC bottles