Search algorithms for the simple plant location problem

Two algorithms are developed, one exact, one approximate, for finding solutions to the simple plant location problem. Theorems are proved which give sufficient conditions for the inclusion of a plant in the optimal solution. The exact algorithm which is developed is similar to the Branch and Bound method. The approximate technique consists of a directed search through the solution tree for the problem, followed by terminal iterations. The terminal iterations are justified by empirical results obtained from a preliminary version of the technique and a theorem which is proved. Statistics from the results of applying the algorithm to a large number of problems are given. Listings of computer programs which are implementations of the algorithms are provided together with sample output from those programs --Abstract, page ii

A Study of Solders

The purpose of this paper is to furnish a qualitative method of comparing the degree of wetting of various solders upon different plate metals when several fluxes are used

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Modularity on Resource Consumption in Software Development

Many authors have encouraged the use of modular programming techniques in software development. In fact, there is almost total agreement within industrial and academic circles that modularity is a desirable feature of any software package. Unfortunately, the desirability of modular design is almost always voiced without support from experimental evidence. This paper consists of an experiment comparing the resource consumption of programmers based on the modularity practices employed during the design and programming phases of software development. The experiment tests the effectiveness of modularity in reducing psychological complexity of software. The results of the research show that in some cases there is indeed a difference in resource consumption between the modularity practices tested. However, the stated benefits of modularity did not carry over to the design and programming phases of software development. The use of modularity seemed, in fact, to increase development costs in some cases

A Focus Of Attention Algorithm For Expert Systems

This research is primarily concerned with increasing the performance of expert systems. A refined focus of attention strategy and its affect on performance are discussed. Early expert systems used a brute force approach to process the knowledge base. Each production rule in the knowledge base was evaluated each cycle. More recently, processing efficiency has been increased by focusing the attention of the inference engine on a subset of the rules by filtering for further testing, only rules that could possibly fire given the current content of the context base. Focus of attention as developed in this research increases performance over filtering systems by further narrowing the focus of attention of the inference engine, down to the subexpression level. Positive results are reported

A Graphical Representation of an Executing Program

This thesis describes the rationale for a computer program used as a teaching aid, as well as, the design, development, and implementation of that computer program. The program is a prototype that displays, line by line, a graphical depiction of a BASIC program being executed. Icons are used to represent FOR-NEXT loops, the contents of variables, I/O, and other programming elements. The internal logic associated with the Arithmetic-Logic Unit is also represented. The purpose is to produce an environment where the student may visualize the processes occurring in memory by viewing a symbolic portrayal of an executing program. The example program is at an introductory- to intermediate-level, designed to be a review for the novice BASIC programming student

Full-Time Farming in East Texas-Land and Capital Needs.

3 p

Multi-frequency Ferromagnetic Resonance Investigation of Nickel Nanocubes Encapsulated in Diamagnetic Magnesium Oxide Matrix

Partially aligned nickel nanocubes were grown epitaxially in a diamagnetic magnesium oxide (MgO:Ni) host and studied by a continuous wave ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy at the X-band (9.5 GHz) from ca. 117 to 458 K and then at room temperature for multiple external magnetic fields/resonant frequencies from 9.5 to 330 GHz. In contrast to conventional magnetic susceptibility studies that provided data on the bulk magnetization, the FMR spectra revealed the presence of three different types of magnetic Ni nanocubes in the sample. Specifically, three different ferromagnetic resonances were observed in the X-band spectra: a line 1 assigned to large nickel nanocubes, a line 2 corresponding to the nanocubes exhibiting saturated magnetization even at ca. 0.3 T field, and a high field line 3 (geff ∼ 6.2) tentatively assigned to small nickel nanocubes likely having their hard magnetization axis aligned along or close to the direction of the external magnetic field. Based on the analysis of FMR data, the latter nanocubes possess an anisotropic internal magnetic field of at least ∼1.0 T in magnitude

Development of a Global Health Curriculum at Christiana Care Health System: An Independent Academic Health Center and Member of the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance

Work in Progress (16 PowerPoint slides) The Global Health Program at Christiana Care Health System (CCHS) is an innovative, multi-disciplinary educational program seeking to improve the public health knowledge base and skills of interested health professionals through didactic, simulation and clinical experiences. A recent AAMC survey revealed 30% ofU.S.medical students participated in an international elective in 2006 versus 15% in 1997. In a resident survey at CCHS in 2010, 70% of residents responded that it was important to have global health education. These figures indicate an increasing interest in global health during residency training. In order to draw interest from a variety of backgrounds, we developed a multi-disciplinary global health training program. The curriculum is designed to include CCHS staff and our colleagues at other Delaware Health Sciences Alliance (DHSA) institutions, includingNemoursA.I.DuPontHospitalfor Children,ThomasJeffersonUniversityand the University of Delaware. The core curriculum consists of a monthly lecture series, including local and guest speakers. The lectures are recorded and accessible to CCHS affiliates via intranet. In addition, we plan to incorporate a journal club, a skills workshop and develop a global health site to foster an international partnership and resident elective rotations. Since the program began in August 2011, we have had five meetings. Attendance has steadily increased in number and diversity; attendees now include undergraduates, medical students, residents, fellows, attending physicians, nurses, administrators and medical librarians. We initiated a post-meeting survey at our December meeting which demonstrated a mean increase in the level of awareness of the topic by 27%. Global health awareness allowsU.S.based health professionals to be more culturally competent and effective in advocating for the needs of the underserved in their own communities. By inviting all disciplines at multiple institutions we hope to create a community that supports and sustains global health. Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will: 1. Identify the importance of a global health curriculum for training residents that are culturally aware and equipped to work in underserved populations both locally and abroad. 2. Acquire the information to initiate a global health program in a teaching hospital. 3. Learn how to incorporate a multi-disciplinary approach to global health education

The Effect of Kipping on the Performance of a Pull-up

The high prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyle contribute to the growing burden of health care costs, incidence of disease, and mortality, making a lifestyle that includes regular physical activity increasingly important. Low intensity resistance training has been studied as a possible intervention to increase physical activity in inactive individuals. To determine the effects of a weighted vest treatment (WV) on steady state VO2, O2 deficit, VO2max, body mass index (BMI), and resting blood pressure (RBP). Fourteen college age women participated in a 4 week trial and completed both pre and posttest evaluations. These evaluations included a submaximal exercise bout, a maximal graded exercise test, determination of BMI, and measurement of RBP. Seven participants wore a weighted vest, fitted with 10% of their body weight, during normal daily activities for a minimum of 10 hours a day, 5 days each week. The remaining 7 participants served as a control group. ANCOVAs, with pretest measures serving as the covariates, were conducted to determine the effect of WV on posttest responses. Mean (sd) pre-test O2 deficit values were 0.64 (0.18) and 0.68 (0.18) for the control and WV groups, respectively. Mean (sd) post-test O2 deficit values were 0.62 (0.15) and 0.38 (0.17) for the control and WV groups, respectively. Results of the ANCOVA revealed a significant effect of WV on O2 deficit with O2 deficit values being lower following WV (F(1,11) = 7.30, p = 0.02). Further, WV accounted for about 40% of the change observed in posttest O2 deficit values (ηp2 = 0.40). However, no significant effect of WV was seen on steady state VO2, VO2 max, BMI, or RBP. WV resulted in lower O2 deficit values suggesting that it could elicit training effects related to improved aerobic function. Possible explanations for the lack of effects on other variables could be related to the limitations imposed by the relatively small sample size and trial length. Future studies designed with larger sample sizes and longer trial periods might prove more effective in evaluating the effect of WV on eliciting health related benefits

Classification of Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography Data

Gas chromatography (GC) is a popular tool for chemical analysis. Some samples are so complex that a single column does not have enough power to separate all of the analytes. In this instance a higher resolution GC method, known as comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC), is used. DSTL want to be able to use data from GCxGC to attribute samples to a particular region or cultivar. However, the nature of the data means that several difficulties must be overcome before being able to do this: noise from sample, peak mis-alignment, and low quantity of samples. In this report, we investigate several methods to overcome such difficulties, and then classify the data. We are very successful in telling apart blanks from seeds, but obtain limited success when trying to classify between seeds. The method that shows the most promise is k-Nearest Neighbours classification by Wasserstein distance. However, this is still quite sensitive to the noise created by the solvent in the sample. Thus, we suggest that more blank runs be obtained, so that the ‘ground truth’ behaviour of the solvent is better understood, allowing us to remove the effect of the solvent from seed data. We also hope that the methods explored here will be more successful on the full raw data than they were on the limited ‘peaks’ data available to us for the purpose of this study