Fiscal year 1981 US corn and soybeans pilot preliminary experiment plan, phase 1

A draft of the preliminary experiment plan for the foreign commodity production forecasting project fiscal year 1981 is presented. This draft plan includes: definition of the phase 1 and 2 U.S. pilot objectives; the proposed experiment design to evaluate crop calendar, area estimation, and area aggregation components for corn and soybean technologies using 1978/1979 crop-year data; a description of individual sensitivity evaluations of the baseline corn and soybean segment classification procedure; and technology and data assessment in support of the corn and soybean estimation technology for use in the U.S. central corn belt

Comparison of Magnetic Flux Distribution between a Coronal Hole and a Quiet Region

Employing Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) deep magnetograms and H${\alpha}$ images in a quiet region and a coronal hole, observed on September 14 and 16, 2004, respectively, we have explored the magnetic flux emergence, disappearance and distribution in the two regions. The following results are obtained: (1) The evolution of magnetic flux in the quiet region is much faster than that in the coronal hole, as the flux appeared in the form of ephemeral regions in the quiet region is 4.3 times as large as that in the coronal hole, and the flux disappeared in the form of flux cancellation, 2.9 times as fast as in the coronal hole. (2) More magnetic elements with opposite polarities in the quiet region are connected by arch filaments, estimating from magnetograms and H${\alpha}$ images. (3) We measured the magnetic flux of about 1000 magnetic elements in each observing region. The flux distribution of network and intranetwork (IN) elements is similar in both polarities in the quiet region. For network fields in the coronal hole, the number of negative elements is much more than that of positive elements. However for the IN fields, the number of positive elements is much more than that of negative elements. (4) In the coronal hole, the fraction of negative flux change obviously with different threshold flux density. 73% of the magnetic fields with flux density larger than 2 Gauss is negative polarity, and 95% of the magnetic fields is negative, if we only measure the fields with their flux density larger than 20 Gauss. Our results display that in a coronal hole, stronger fields is occupied by one predominant polarity; however the majority of weaker fields, occupied by the other polarity

Computing a Knot Invariant as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem

We point out the connection between mathematical knot theory and spin glass/search problem. In particular, we present a statistical mechanical formulation of the problem of computing a knot invariant; p-colorability problem, which provides an algorithm to find the solution. The method also allows one to get some deeper insight into the structural complexity of knots, which is expected to be related with the landscape structure of constraint satisfaction problem.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to short note in Journal of Physical Society of Japa

Phase Separation in Ti-6Al-4V Alloys with Boron Additions for Biomedical Applications: Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy Investigation of Microgalvanic Couples and Corrosion Initiation

To investigate the effect of boron additions on the corrosion behavior of Ti-6Al-4V for potential use in biomedical implants and devices, cast samples of Ti-6Al-4V were alloyed with 0.01% to 1.09% boron by weight and subjected to hot isostatic pressing. Subsequent analysis via scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed the presence of both alpha (α) and beta (β) phase titanium, enriched in aluminum and vanadium, respectively. At all concentrations, boron additions affected the grain structure and were dispersed throughout both phases, but above the solubility limit, needle-like TiB structures also formed. The TiB needles and β phase exhibited similar surface potentials, whereas that of the α phase was found to be significantly lower. Nevertheless, when subjected to high applied electrochemical potentials in saline solutions, corrosion initiation was observed exclusively within the more noble β phase

Molecular astronomy of cool stars and sub-stellar objects

The optical and infrared spectra of a wide variety of `cool' astronomical objects including the Sun, sunspots, K-, M- and S-type stars, carbon stars, brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets are reviewed. The review provides the necessary astronomical background for chemical physicists to understand and appreciate the unique molecular environments found in astronomy. The calculation of molecular opacities needed to simulate the observed spectral energy distributions is discussed

Homotopy on spatial graphs and generalized Sato-Levine invariants

Edge-homotopy and vertex-homotopy are equivalence relations on spatial graphs which are generalizations of Milnor's link-homotopy. Fleming and the author introduced some edge (resp. vertex)-homotopy invariants of spatial graphs by applying the Sato-Levine invariant for the constituent 2-component algebraically split links. In this paper, we construct some new edge (resp. vertex)-homotopy invariants of spatial graphs without any restriction of linking numbers of the constituent 2-component links by applying the generalized Sato-Levine invariant.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure

Quiet Sun magnetic fields from simultaneous inversions of visible and infrared spectropolarimetric observations

We study the quiet Sun magnetic fields using spectropolarimetric observations of the infrared and visible Fe I lines at 6301.5, 6302.5, 15648 and 15653 A. Magnetic field strengths and filling factors are inferred by the simultaneous fit of the observed Stokes profiles under the MISMA hypothesis. The observations cover an intra-network region at the solar disk center. We analyze 2280 Stokes profiles whose polarization signals are above noise in the two spectral ranges, which correspond to 40% of the field of view. Most of these profiles can be reproduced only with a model atmosphere including 3 magnetic components with very different field strengths, which indicates the co-existence of kG and sub-kG fields in our 1.5" resolution elements. We measure an unsigned magnetic flux density of 9.6 G considering the full field of view. Half of the pixels present magnetic fields with mixed polarities in the resolution element. The fraction of mixed polarities increases as the polarization weakens. We compute the probability density function of finding each magnetic field strength. It has a significant contribution of kG field strengths, which concentrates most of the observed magnetic flux and energy. This kG contribution has a preferred magnetic polarity, while the polarity of the weak fields is balanced.Comment: 16 pages and 14 figure

Helping education undergraduates to use appropriate criteria for evaluating accounts of motivation

The aim of the study was to compare students in a control group with those in a treatment group with respect to evaluative comments on psychological accounts of motivation. The treatment group systematically scrutinized the nature and interpretation of evidence that supported different accounts, and the assumptions, logic, coherence and clarity of accounts. Content analysis of 74 scripts (using three categories) showed that the control group students made more assertions than either evidential or evaluative points, whereas the treatment group used evaluative statements as often as they used assertion. The findings provide support for privileging activities that develop understanding of how knowledge might be contested, and suggest a need for further research on pedagogies to serve this end. The idea is considered that such understanding has a pivotal role in the development of critical thinking

Development, feasibility, and acceptability of an intervention to improve care for agitation in people living in nursing homes with dementia nearing the end-of-life

OBJECTIVES: To develop a staff training intervention for agitation in people with severe dementia, reaching end-of-life, residing in nursing homes (NHs), test feasibility, acceptability, and whether a trial is warranted. DESIGN: Feasibility study with pre- and post-intervention data collection, qualitative interviews, and focus groups. SETTING: Three NHs in South East England with dementia units, diverse in terms of size, ownership status, and location. PARTICIPANTS: Residents with a dementia diagnosis or scoring ≥2 on the Noticeable Problems Checklist, rated as "severe" on Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, family carers, and staff (healthcare assistants and nurses). INTERVENTION: Manualized training, delivered by nonclinical psychology graduates focusing on agitation in severe dementia, underpinned by a palliative care framework. MEASUREMENTS: Main outcomes were feasibility of recruitment, data collection, follow-up, and intervention acceptability. We collected resident, family carer, and staff demographics. Staff provided data on resident's agitation, pain, quality of life, and service receipt. Staff reported their sense of competence in dementia care. Family carers reported on satisfaction with end-of-life care. In qualitative interviews, we explored staff and family carers' views on the intervention. RESULTS: The target three NHs participated: 28 (49%) residents, 53 (74%) staff, and 11 (85%) family carers who were eligible to participate consented. Eight-four percent of staff attended ≥3 sessions, and we achieved 93% follow-up. We were able to complete quantitative interviews. Staff and family carers reported the intervention and delivery were acceptable and helpful. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention was feasible and acceptable indicating a larger trial for effectiveness may be warranted