Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Morphological and Land use Characteristics of the Buffalo River Watershed

The Buffalo River was established by Congress iQ. 1972 as the first National River in the United States. The Buffalo River, which originates in the higher elevations of the Boston Mountains in Newton County, is one of the few remaining free-flowing streams in Arkansas. It is considered to be one of Arkansas\u27 greatest natural treasures, and thus, there is strong interest in protecting it from anthropogenic influences. An initial characterization of the soil taxonomic units, watershed boundaries, topography and physiographic units in the Buffalo River Watershed was presented by Scott and Smith (1994). The spatial distribution of the geologic units in the watershed was presented by Hofer et al. (1995)

Neural networks for modelling and control of a non-linear dynamic system

The authors describe the use of neural nets to model and control a nonlinear second-order electromechanical model of a drive system with varying time constants and saturation effects. A model predictive control structure is used. This is compared with a proportional-integral (PI) controller with regard to performance and robustness against disturbances. Two feedforward network types, the multilayer perceptron and radial-basis-function nets, are used to model the system. The problems involved in the transfer of connectionist theory to practice are discussed

Electron transport in Coulomb- and tunnel-coupled one-dimensional systems

We develop a linear theory of electron transport for a system of two identical quantum wires in a wide range of the wire length L, unifying both the ballistic and diffusive transport regimes. The microscopic model, involving the interaction of electrons with each other and with bulk acoustical phonons allows a reduction of the quantum kinetic equation to a set of coupled equations for the local chemical potentials for forward- and backward-moving electrons in the wires. As an application of the general solution of these equations, we consider different kinds of electrical contacts to the double-wire system and calculate the direct resistance, the transresistance, in the presence of tunneling and Coulomb drag, and the tunneling resistance. If L is smaller than the backscattering length l_P, both the tunneling and the drag lead to a negative transresistance, while in the diffusive regime (L >>l_P) the tunneling opposes the drag and leads to a positive transresistance. If L is smaller than the phase-breaking length, the tunneling leads to interference oscillations of the resistances that are damped exponentially with L.Comment: Text 14 pages in Latex/Revtex format, 4 Postscript figure

Spatial Distribution of the Surface Geology and 1992 Land Use of the Buffalo River Watershed

The Buffalo River was established by Congress in 1972 as the first National River in the United States and is one of the few remaining free-flowing streams in Arkansas . The Buffalo River flows through the three major physiographic provinces of northern Arkansas, originating in the higher elevations of the Boston Mountains, and flowing generally northeastward to cut through the Springfield and Salem Plateaus. It drops from approximately 2000 feet in the headwaters to around 500 feet above sea level at its confluence with the White River in Marion County. The Buffalo River is considered to be one of Arkansas\u27 greatest natural treasures; thus there is strong interest in protecting it from undue anthropogenic influences. A general description of the area within the Buffalo River Watershed was given by Smith (1967)

Monoclinic and triclinic phases in higher-order Devonshire theory

Devonshire theory provides a successful phenomenological description of many cubic perovskite ferroelectrics such as BaTiO3 via a sixth-order expansion of the free energy in the polar order parameter. However, the recent discovery of a novel monoclinic ferroelectric phase in the PZT system by Noheda et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 2059 (1999)) poses a challenge to this theory. Here, we confirm that the sixth-order Devonshire theory cannot support a monoclinic phase, and consider extensions of the theory to higher orders. We show that an eighth-order theory allows for three kinds of equilibrium phases in which the polarization is confined not to a symmetry axis but to a symmetry plane. One of these phases provides a natural description of the newly observed monoclinic phase. Moreover, the theory makes testable predictions about the nature of the phase boundaries between monoclinic, tetragonal, and rhombohedral phases. A ferroelectric phase of the lowest (triclinic) symmetry type, in which the polarization is not constrained by symmetry, does not emerge until the Devonshire theory is carried to twelfth order. A topological analysis of the critical points of the free-energy surface facilitates the discussion of the phase transition sequences.Comment: 10 pages, with 5 postscript figures embedded. Uses REVTEX and epsf macros. Also available at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/dv_pzt/index.htm

Studies of a weak polyampholyte at the air-buffer interface: The effect of varying pH and ionic strength

We have carried out experiments to probe the static and dynamic interfacial properties of $\beta$--casein monolayers spread at the air-buffer interface, and analysed these results in the context of models of weak polyampholytes. Measurements have been made systematically over a wide range of ionic strength and pH. In the semi-dilute regime of surface concentration a scaling exponent, which can be linked to the degree of chain swelling, is found. This shows that at pH close to the isoelectric point, the protein is compact. At pH away from the isoelectric pH the protein is extended. The transition between compact and extended states is continuous. As a function of increasing ionic strength, we observe swelling of the protein at the isoelectric pH but contraction of the protein at pH values away from it. These behaviours are typical of a those predicted theoretically for a weak polyampholyte. Dilational moduli measurements, made as a function of surface concentration exhibit maxima that are linked to the collapse of hydrophilic regions of the protein into the subphase. Based on this data we present a configuration map of the protein configuration in the monolayer. These findings are supported by strain (surface pressure) relaxation measurements and surface quasi-elastic light scattering (SQELS) measurements which suggest the existence of loops and tails in the subphase at higher surface concentrations.Comment: Submitted to J. Chem. Phy

Fun Reads at an Academic Library: Encouraging College Students to Read for Pleasure

The article discusses the creation of reading programs in academic and public libraries to encourage students to read for pleasure in the U.S. At the California State University in East Bay, a collection of academic books was purchased to support research. A family reading program and online library skills tutorial for low-literacy adults were created at Oakland Public Library (OPL) in California