New Wisconsin Record for \u3ci\u3ePterostichus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

A single specimen of Pterostichus punctatissimus (Randall) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was recovered from an unbaited pitfall trap in northern Wisconsin in late May, 2013. This is the first recorded extant specimen of the species collected in Wisconsin

Using Weak Separability and Generalized Composite Commodity Theorem in Modeling Ground Beef Demand

Replaced with revised version of paper 06/15/11.Aggregation, Generalized Composite Commodity Theorem, beef demand, weak separability, Demand and Price Analysis, Q13, Q18, R32,

Rubbery electronics and sensors from intrinsically stretchable elastomeric composites of semiconductors and conductors

A general strategy to impart mechanical stretchability to stretchable electronics involves engineering materials into special architectures to accommodate or eliminate the mechanical strain in nonstretchable electronic materials while stretched. We introduce an all solution-processed type of electronics and sensors that are rubbery and intrinsically stretchable as an outcome from all the elastomeric materials in percolated composite formats with P3HT-NFs [poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) nanofibrils] and AuNP-AgNW (Au nanoparticles with conformally coated silver nanowires) in PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). The fabricated thin-film transistors retain their electrical performances by more than 55% upon 50% stretching and exhibit one of the highest P3HT-based field-effect mobilities of 1.4 cm2/V.s, owing to crystallinity improvement. Rubbery sensors, which include strain, pressure, and temperature sensors, show reliable sensing capabilities and are exploited as smart skins that enable gesture translation for sign language alphabet and haptic sensing for robotics to illustrate one of the applications of the sensors

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology For Transportation Signage Management

Transportation asset management is a strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrading, and expanding physical assets effectively throughout their lifecycle. It focuses on business and engineering practices for resource allocation and utilization, with the objective of better decision making based upon quality information and well-defined objectives. One important component of transportation asset management is inventory management, which involves asset data collection and data transfer between field and central offices during the planning, design, fabrication, construction, operation, and maintenance stages of transportation projects. According to the FHWA Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), agencies are required to maintain traffic sign retroreflectivity at a certain minimum level. To ensure that traffic signs comply with MUTCD requirements, an effective management method must be developed. The current method involves locating signs, measuring their retroreflectivity, recording the inspection data into a database and replacing poor quality signs. This method requires all measurement work to be done in the field and each sign must then be updated in the database. The signs along the roadway have no associated ID numbers, which causes issues when trying to match the data recordings. This method is error prone and time consuming. This research explored the radio frequency identification (RFID) approach for transportation signage management. RFID is a wireless tracking technology that enables a reader to activate, read and/or write data remotely between a transponder and a radio frequency tag attached to, or embedded in, an object. Using RFID tags on the signs and RFID readers to send an encoded electromagnetic signal to interrogate an RFID tag attached to the object, the RFID tag responds by sending back its ID information. RFID software manages the interrogation, performs data processing and can store the data in its memory. This would allow for automation of remote ID interrogation with minimum human intervention and no line-of-sight requirement. This research developed a mobile traffic signage management system where the RFID tags are attached to traffic signs and an RFID reader mounted on a survey vehicle performs the RFID tag interrogation and programming while moving at driving speed. VTrans specified a system that can achieve remote interrogation at a distance of 60 feet in a vehicle driving 60 mph. The results from field tests indicated that the system created was unable to achieve these results. Using current RFID technology it is not feasible to achieve such specifications. This technology was able to achieve 100% scan rate at a maximum of 35 mph and a distance of 30 feet

Development of a Measure to Assess the Complexity of Information Systems Development Projects

Information systems development (ISD) projects are becoming increasingly complex. ISD project complexity makes it difficult for project managers to deliver effective systems within time and budget constraints. As a result, the success of ISD projects is increasingly dependent on an organizationís ability to effectively assess and manage complexity. The purpose of this paper is to develop a measure for assessing ISD project complexity. A two-dimensional conceptual framework is proposed to define four distinct types of software project complexity: structural organizational complexity, structural IT complexity, dynamic organizational complexity, and dynamic IT complexity. Based on field interviews, focus group discussions, and a large-scale survey of ISD project managers, a measure of ISD project complexity with 17 indicators was developed. The results of an exploratory data analysis provide strong evidence that the final measure has satisfactory measurement properties. The contributions of this research to both theory development and practice are discussed

The Influence of Persuasion, Training, and Experience on User Perceptions and Acceptance of IT Innovation

Information technology (IT) cannot produce any positive outcome unless it is adopted and used. Theories and empirical research suggest that IT adoption and usage are determined by user beliefs and attitudes toward IT. However, little is known about what factors affect the formation and change over time of user beliefs and attitudes. It is critical to understand such factors so that effective managerial interventions can be created and implemented to positively influence user acceptance and use of IT innovations. Based on theories of innovation diffusion, information technology adoption, and persuasion, this study investigates the effect of persuasion, training, and direct-use experience on the formation and change over time of user perceptions and adoption decisions of IT innovation. The results of a longitudinal experimental study show that persuasion significantly affects the formation of users’ initial perceptions, attitude toward, and intention to adopt IT. Training provided in the introduction stage of IT innovation helps the user form a more realistic expectation. As users’ direct-use experience with IT innovation increases over time, their perceptions and adoption intentions change substantially. The results suggest that persuasion, training, and direct-use experience are important variables that need to be considered in IT innovation and adoption research and practice

Optical interconnection networks based on microring resonators

Optical microring resonators can be integrated on a chip to perform switching operations directly in the optical domain. Thus they become a building block to create switching elements in on-chip optical interconnection networks, which promise to overcome some of the limitations of current electronic networks. However, the peculiar asymmetric power losses of microring resonators impose new constraints on the design and control of on-chip optical networks. In this work, we study the design of multistage interconnection networks optimized for a particular metric that we name the degradation index, which characterizes the asymmetric behavior of microrings. We also propose a routing control algorithm to maximize the overall throughput, considering the maximum allowed degradation index as a constrain