CENTRALIZATION VERSUS DECENTRALIZATION OF DECISION MAKING AUTHORITY: EFFECTS ON INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY

Agribusiness,

IPAD: A unique approach to government/industry cooperation for technology development and transfer

A key element to improved industry productivity is effective management of Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) information. To stimulate advancement, a unique joint government/industry project designated Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) was carried out from 1971 to 1984. The goal was to raise aerospace industry productivity through advancement of computer based technology to integrate and manage information involved in the design and manufacturing process. IPAD research was guided by an Industry Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) composed of over 100 representatives from aerospace and computer companies. The project complemented traditional NASA/DOD research to develop aerospace design technology and the Air Force's Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) program to advance CAM technology. IPAD had unprecedented industry support and involvement and served as a unique approach to government industry cooperation in the development and transfer of advanced technology. The IPAD project background, approach, accomplishments, industry involvement, technology transfer mechanisms and lessons learned are summarized

A Lanczos eigenvalue method on a parallel computer

Eigenvalue analyses of complex structures is a computationally intensive task which can benefit significantly from new and impending parallel computers. This study reports on a parallel computer implementation of the Lanczos method for free vibration analysis. The approach used here subdivides the major Lanczos calculation tasks into subtasks and introduces parallelism down to the subtask levels such as matrix decomposition and forward/backward substitution. The method was implemented on a commercial parallel computer and results were obtained for a long flexible space structure. While parallel computing efficiency for the Lanczos method was good for a moderate number of processors for the test problem, the greatest reduction in time was realized for the decomposition of the stiffness matrix, a calculation which took 70 percent of the time in the sequential program and which took 25 percent of the time on eight processors. For a sample calculation of the twenty lowest frequencies of a 486 degree of freedom problem, the total sequential computing time was reduced by almost a factor of ten using 16 processors

The cause of the parasitic habit in certain birds

The study of the habits of the Birds of New Zealand,at all times a fascinating one, is rendered more so, by the fact that two of our feathered inhabitants, the Cuckoos, in addition to the power of migrating annually from the Tropics, possess the extraordinary faculty,or instinct, of imposing their eggs upon other birds; and cooly, from malice aforethought, leaving them to the tender mercies of the strangers. Why this neglect of parental responsibilities, why this leaving to others of duties strictly belonging to themselves?Further careful observation of the habits of the two New Zealand Cuckoos is necessary to clear up the question, but it seems to me undoubted that like Cuckoos elsewhere, they will be found to be polyandrous; there is no Pairing in the true sense of the word, though it is undoubted that the assistance of both male and fe- male is necessary in the construction of a nest. Wallace tells us that the male bird of a pair, often a young one, may learn from his mate, who has had previous experience of nest- building, and, vice versa, a young female is often helped by an old male bird and a very neat nest constructed. On the other hand, a pair of young birds new to the business often construct a very poor habitation indeed. The female Cuckoo or Cowbird, whose companions roam about the bush, has no mate to help her, her feet and bill are ill -adapted for nest -construction, so she is either content with a few poor sticks on which she lays her eggs or she drops them one by one into the nests of other birds. It will be seen that we have got one step further into the heart of the mystery. We have found that all parasitic birds are polyandrous, that there is no pairing - but we must go a great deal further yet,and find if possible what is due whole thing -BO- what has led to this lack of pairing - to what is due this preponderance of males, and whether the whole thing is not really after all an indirect result of the migrating habit

Growing Our Own for Urban Classrooms: The Paraprofessionals-to-Teachers Pipeline

The Center for Urban Education (CUE) with the University of Northern Colorado hosts a grow-your-own paraprofessional to teacher pipeline program. CUE offers teacher preparation degree programs for Colorado licensure in elementary, early childhood and special education. Housed at the University of Northern Colorado’s Denver campus, the CUE teacher candidates complete a K–12 classroom apprenticeships; a broad liberal arts curriculum; and focused teaching methods courses. The Center for Urban Education is designed to accommodate a non-traditional student body that ranges in age from 18-65 years old and includes individuals shouldering the responsibilities of work, school, and family simultaneously. CUE offers the elementary majors a concentration in English as a Second Language or a concentration in special education. The approach fashioned by CUE for its students effectively addresses key issues confronting the field: teacher supply, teacher quality, teacher diversity, and the preparation of teachers for success in urban settings. CUE is different from traditional teacher preparation programs in two ways. First, the apprenticeship allows students to graduate with more than 3000 hours of classroom experience vs. 800 hours in a traditional teacher education program. Next, block scheduling (five week-long courses) allows students greater focus with their academic work, and better access for students with family and work commitments who could not attend a traditional program to obtain their teaching license. The Center has achieved great success developing paraprofessionals to be teachers who understand and appreciate urban students

A Conceptual Model for Growth and Decay of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet

A conceptual model for growth and decay of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet has evolved over 100 years of Quaternary research in British Columbia. Physiography and location relative to prevailing westerly winds were the main factors controlling the style of glacier build up. The pattern of decay was controlled mainly by physiography. With cooling at the beginning of glaciation, mountain glaciers expanded to become valley glaciers and eventually coalesced on adjacent plateaus or shelves to form an ice sheet. At glacial maximum, this sheet extended from the western margin of the continental shelf to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains and from the Columbia Plateau to the central Yukon. The central (highest) part of the ice sheet was hemmed in by mountains, consequently, snowline had to rise nearly to its present elevation before shrinking of the central core could begin. This meant that mountain glaciers which initiated growth of the ice sheet were reduced to near their present dimensions before significant recession could take place in the core area of the ice sheet. As a consequence, large ice masses in the interior of British Columbia stagnated and then shrank to remnants occupying major valleys and eventually were reduced to dead ice blocks buried in glacial debris. This pattern of retreat contrasts with that of ice masses centred on mountain blocks, such as the Alps, where rising of the snowline resulted in recession of ice cap margins back towards original accumulation areas in the central core of the mountains.La modélisation de l'évolution de l'Inlandsis de la Cordillère a évolué au cours de la centaine d'années de recherches menées en Colombie-Britannique. Si le développement de l'inlandsis a surtout été déterminée par le relief et la localisation par rapport aux vents dominants, le retrait glaciaire a, par contre, principalement été commandé par le relief. Au début de la glaciation, le climat se refroidissant, les glaciers alpins ont progressé pour devenir des glaciers de vallée, qui se sont par la suite fusionnés sur les plateaux pour enfin former un inlandsis. À l'optimum glaciaire, l'inlandsis s'étendait de la marge occidentale du plateau continental jusqu'à la limite des montagnes Rocheuses et du plateau de Columbia jusqu'au centre du Yukon. La partie centrale de l'inlandsis étant entourée de montagnes, il dût y avoir une hausse de la limite des neiges presque jusqu'à l'altitude actuelle avant que le noyau central puisse commencer à fondre. Les glaciers alpins, d'où est issu l'inlandsis, ont ainsi décru presque jusqu'à leurs dimensions actuelles avant qu'il puisse y avoir recul important dans la partie centrale de l'inlandsis. Conséquemment, il y a eu stagnation d'importantes masses de glace, dans la partie intérieure de la Colombie-Britannique, qui ont par la suite été réduites à des lambeaux occupant les vallées principales et, avec le temps, à des blocs de glace inerte recouverts de débris glaciaires. Ce mode de retrait diffère de celui des masses glaciaires occupant les massifs montagneux comme les Alpes où la hausse de la limite des neiges a causé le retrait d'une calotte glaciaire vers son aire d'accumulation originelle, dans le coeur des montagnes.Ein Begriffsmodell zur Ausdehnung und Abnahme der Kordilleren-Eisdecke ist in ûber 100 Jahren Quaternàr-Forschung in British Columbia ausgearbeitet worden. Fur die Art des Gletscheraufbaus waren die Hauptfaktoren das Relief und die Lage in Bezug auf die vorherrschenden westlichen Winde. Der Eisrûckzug wurde hingegen vor allem durch das Relief gesteuert. Mit der Abkùhlung bei Beginn der Vereisung dehnten sich die Berggletscher aus, wurden Talgletscher und schmolzen schliefîlich auf angrenzenden Plateaus Oder Terrassen zu einer Eisdecke zusammen. Zur Zeit des glazialen Maximums erstreckte sich dièse Eisdecke vom westlichen Rand des kontinentalen Plateaus bis zum ôstlichen Rand der Rocky Mountains und vom Columbia Plateau bis in das Zentrum von Yukon. Der zentrale (hôchste) Teil der Eisdecke war durch Berge eingeschlossen, und so muBte die Schneegrenze sich fast bis zu ihrer gegenwàrtigen Hôhe anheben, bevor das Schmelzen des zentralen Kerns beginnen konnte. Das bedeutet, dafî die Berggletscher, welche die Zunahme der Eisdecke einleiteten, fast bis auf ihre gegenwàrtige Grôfie reduziert wurden, bevor es im Kerngebiet der Eisdecke zu einem bedeutenden Rûckzug kam. Folglich kam es zu einer Stagnation breiter Eismassen im lnnern von British Columbia, die dann zu Resten in den Haupttàlern schrumpften und schliefîlich zu toten Eisblôcken, die mit glazia-lem Schutt bedeckt waren, reduziert wurden. Dieses Rùckzugsmuster kontrastiert mit dem der Eismassen auf Bergmassiven wie den Alpen, wo die Anhebung der Schneegrenze zu einem Rûckzug der Eiskappe-Grenzen auf ihre ursprûnglichen Akkumulationsgebiete im zentralen Kern der Berge fùhrte

A variable node optimization model for byzantine fault tolerant systems

“Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) has been a major subject of study over the last two decades with increasing societal dependance on secure, correct, and reliable computer systems and online services. This research presents a model for high-level optimization of emerging systems that rely on these BFT algorithms and use a variable numbers of decision nodes. The model highlights the relationship between the security of a system and its efficiency. Two experiments were performed to determine system performance by varying the number of compromised nodes, decision nodes, and total nodes. They examine the probability that a transaction will be compromised based on these variables using hypergeometric distribution, a subset of combinatorics. It was found that the compromise probability follows predictable patterns, with certain combinations of decision nodes performing better than others. The results show a trichotomous relationship where one in every three decision nodes results in lower security risk than its neighbors. The purpose of this model is to assist system developers in deciding how to best construct their systems to improve security while minimizing resource usage”--Abstract, page iii