Distributed allocation of mobile sensing swarms in gyre flows

We address the synthesis of distributed control policies to enable a swarm of homogeneous mobile sensors to maintain a desired spatial distribution in a geophysical flow environment, or workspace. In this article, we assume the mobile sensors (or robots) have a "map" of the environment denoting the locations of the Lagrangian coherent structures or LCS boundaries. Based on this information, we design agent-level hybrid control policies that leverage the surrounding fluid dynamics and inherent environmental noise to enable the team to maintain a desired distribution in the workspace. We establish the stability properties of the ensemble dynamics of the distributed control policies. Since realistic quasi-geostrophic ocean models predict double-gyre flow solutions, we use a wind-driven multi-gyre flow model to verify the feasibility of the proposed distributed control strategy and compare the proposed control strategy with a baseline deterministic allocation strategy. Lastly, we validate the control strategy using actual flow data obtained by our coherent structure experimental testbed.Comment: 10 pages, 14 Figures, added reference

Factors Associated with Peer Aggression and Peer Victimization Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children with Other Disabilities, and Children Without a Disability

Peer aggression can take the form of physical hostility, adverse peer pressure, teasing, shunning, and social rejection (Little, 2002). Repeated acts of peer aggression are considered peer victimization and affect children with disabilities more often than children with no reported disabilities or psychiatric disorders (Baumeister, Storch, & Geffken, 2008; Pittet, Berchtold, Akre, Michaud & Suris, 2011). Personal characteristics and contextual factors have been linked to higher rates of peer aggression and the presence of peer victimization (Baumeister, et al., 2008; Bejerot & Morthberg, 2009; Boivin, Vitaro, & Bukowski, 1999; Hodges, Boivin, Vitaro, & Bukowski, 1999; Mishna, 2003). Youth who have experienced peer victimization have been found to suffer consequent loneliness, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and suicidal ideation (Bond, Carlin, Thomas, Rubin, & Patton, 2001; Hawker & Boulton, 2000; Hunter, Boyle & Warden, 2007; Siegal, La Greca, & Harrison, 2009). The present study used a caregiver survey to investigate experiences of peer aggression and peer victimization, as well as factors linked to such victimization among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with other disabilities (OD), and without disabilities (WD). The main analyses addressed five sets of research questions. The first three research questions pertained to all three groups of participants and (1) compared rates of peer aggression and the proportion of children who experienced peer victimization between the ASD, OD and WD groups, (2) asked which personal factors were associated with peer aggression and peer victimization, and (3) asked which personal factors best predicted peer aggression and peer victimization. The last two research questions pertained to the ASD and OD groups only (disability group) and asked (1) which personal factors and contextual factors were associated with peer aggression and peer victimization, and (2) which personal factors and contextual factors best predicted peer aggression and peer victimization. The main analyses indicated that children with ASD and OD experienced significantly greater rates of peer aggression than peers in the WD group. Additionally, the ASD and OD groups of children were more likely to experience peer victimization than the WD group.Peer aggression was correlated with autistic traits, anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, thought problems, and attention problems. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the variable of anxious/depressed was the only variable that significantly contributed to the model and it accounted for approximately one-third of the variance. Caregivers whose children experienced peer victimization reported significantly higher scores in autistic characteristics, anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, thought problems, and attention problems. A forward logistic regression analysis indicated that anxious/depressed was the only variable that predicted peer victimization. The multiple regression and forward logistic regression models produced for the combined ASD and OD group were similar to the models produced during the prior analyses for all three groups. Anxious/depressed was the only variable that significantly contributed to the multiple linear regression and forward logistic regression models. Contextual variables were not correlated with peer aggression or associated with peer victimization and they did not significantly contribute to the regression models

An Examination of the Relationships Between Message Framing, Regulatory Focus, and Psychological Reactance on Risky Health Decision-Making Among College Students

Excessive alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors are common health-related concerns among college campuses throughout the United States. Previous efforts to thwart such risky health behaviors have resulted in limited success. Therefore, it is crucial that researchers learn how to effectively communicate with college students in ways that increase healthy behaviors and decrease unhealthy behaviors among this particular population. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of message framing, regulatory focus, and psychological reactance on motivating college students to take a more proactive approach in regard to their health and wellbeing. Data from this study were collected from 318 college students ages 18 and older. Participants were recruited from undergraduate classes at a mid-sized public university in the southern United States. It was hypothesized that, when exposed to a gain-framed message, individuals with low psychological reactance and promotion-oriented regulatory focus will report significantly greater behavioral intentions and will seek additional information regarding alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors significantly more than individuals with high psychological reactance and prevention-oriented regulatory focus exposed to a lossframed message. Hypotheses were examined using Factorial ANOVAs. Results indicated a significant main effect for psychological reactance on behavioral intentions for both alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors, such that those low in psychological reactance reported greater intentions not to participate in risky alcohol use or risky sexual behaviors in the future. Exploratory analysis for those low in psychological reactance revealed a significant interaction, such that individuals with a promotion-oriented regulatory focus exposed to a gain frame message reported lower behavioral intentions for risky sexual behaviors compared to those with a prevention-oriented regulatory focus exposed to a gain frame message and those with a promotion-oriented regulatory focus exposed to a loss frame message. Further research should explore message framing with low psychologically-reactant college students and their actual reported behaviors post message framing interventions

The Crystal Packing of 4,7-Dichloro- and 4,7-Dibromobenzo[C]Furazan 1-Oxide

The molecular structures of 4,7-dichlorobenzo[c]furazan 1-oxide, C6H2Cl2N2O2, (I), and 4,7-dibromobenzo[c]furazan 1-oxide, C6H2Br2N2O2, (II), are normal. Compound (I) occurs in two polymorphic forms. One polymorph contains one molecule in the asymmetric unit, organized into two-dimensional sheets involving intermolecular N...Cl and O...Cl interactions. The second polymorph has three molecules in the asymmetric unit, organized into two crystallographically different two-dimensional sheets with similar interactions. Compound (II) is isomorphous with the second polymorph of (I). The three two-dimensional sheets in the two polymorphs comprise a set of three two-dimensional polymorphic arrangements

Opinion of Judge Blair Correction Sheet

Corrected page 10933 - please destroy original page. Insert pages 10933a to 10933aa - additional pages. Corrected page 10933bb - Conclusion of original page 10933. The additional pages are the dissenting opinion of Judge Blair, with regard to one aspect of the source of authority of Control Council Law 10

Work Motivation Variances Influence on the Three Major Generations in Federal Student Aid

Public service motivation (PSM) is a characteristic that is exhibited through employees\u27 desire to serve in the interest of the communities they serve. In keeping up with the current times and technology advances in the workplace, federal agencies are continually introducing new and innovative ways to complete goals in these environments. Government agencies across the United States are repeatedly asking Commissioners and Secretaries to do more work with fewer workers. In addition to fewer public servants in government, the Baby Boomers looking to retire within the next ten years, and the transfer of knowledge to Generation X and Millennials needs to be fluid and consistent. The blueprint of working for a single employer for 30 years and retiring has changed. Loyalty is appreciated in the workplace; however, public servants of each generation have needs that have shown to be met differently. Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials as civil servants all have unique perspectives on what motivates them to work in the industry of government. The objective of this study was to apply a work extrinsic, intrinsic, motivational scale (WEIMS) survey to examine how the work motivations of Federal Student Aid employees are a contributing factor in how generational differences between public servants are wired to work in a bureaucratic environment. The U.S. Department of Education specifically, Federal Student Aid (FSA), is the organization that will be reviewed in how the identification of work motivations of each generation assist to achieve the organization\u27s goals

More than Mere “Constitutional Window Dressing”: Why the Press Clause Should Protect a Limited Right to Gather Information

I. Introduction II. Background ... A. Purpose and Role of the First Amendment ... B. The Court’s Expansion of the First Amendment ... 1. The Developing Interpretation of Prior Restraints ... 2. The Expanded View of “Speech” ... C. Current Interpretation of the Right to Gather Information ... 1. The Supreme Court’s Principles in Access and Newsgathering Cases ... 2. The Statutory Right to Gather Information III. Analysis ... A. The First Amendment’s Scope Should Be Interpreted Broadly and Include Protection of Corollary Rights ... B. Argument for a Limited Right to Gather Information Under the First Amendment ... 1. Restrictions on Newsgathering as a Form of Prior Restraint … 2. The First Amendment Creates Protection for Newsgathering That Is Directly Tied to Expression ... 3. The Structural Model of the First Amendment Requires Protection for Newsgathering in Order to Foster Intelligent Self-Government ... C. Why the FOIA is Not Sufficient to Protect the Free Flow of Information IV. Conclusio

Who\u27s Responsible? Using Proactive Personality, Felt Responsibility, and CSR Context to Predict Socially Responsible and Irresponsible Behaviors at and Outside of Work

This research explores the antecedents and consequences of felt responsibility fo

Crop/Livestock Integration Effects on Soil Quality, Crop Production, and Soil Nitrogen Dynamics

Regional integration of potato and dairy farms has developed in Maine through arrangements where manure, feed, and sometimes land, are exchanged between neighboring farms. The effects of integration on soil quality, crop production, nitrogen (N) cycling, and N loss were investigated in field and laboratory studies of contrasting amended (manure, compost, green manure, and supplemental fertilizer) and nonamended (fertilizer only) soil management systems within 2-year potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotations in the Maine Potato Cropping Systems Project (MPEP). Additionally, soil quality of 48 integrated and nonintegrated Maine potato and dairy farm fields was assessed. The MPEP’s amended soil system enhanced soil quality and demonstrated aspects of increased resilience for crop production and N cycling. The amended system produced higher and more stable potato yields than the nonamended system by reducing the impact of adverse growing conditions. It also demonstrated the potential to buffer excess N by retaining a greater proportion of net N inputs than the nonamended system. Possible mechanisms to explain increased N retention include better early-season synchrony between N release and crop uptake, as observed in in situ soil monitoring; carbon-enhanced immobilization of excess N, as observed in a laboratory study; increased recalcitrance of N sources; and physical protection. Nitrogen loss, in absolute terms, however, was higher in the amended system due to higher N inputs and a build-up of soil organic N. Soil amendment history had the largest impact on soil N mineralization capacity – fall nitrate levels were higher in the amended system in two of three years, and residual manure N contributed more N than predicted using the standard decay-series model – but it also reduced the availability of recently added N. As currently practiced in Maine, integrated potato systems appear to need greater increases in carbon inputs (preferably as sod crops and trap crops) and reductions in tillage to produce changes in soil carbon that can be detected at a landscape level. Future work should focus on finding balance points for soil organic matter content that enhance soil’s crop production and N cycling functions while avoiding N excesses and loss

The Crystal Packing of 4,7-Dichloro- and 4,7-Dibromobenzo[C]Furazan 1-Oxide

The molecular structures of 4,7-dichlorobenzo[c]furazan 1-oxide, C6H2Cl2N2O2, (I), and 4,7-dibromobenzo[c]furazan 1-oxide, C6H2Br2N2O2, (II), are normal. Compound (I) occurs in two polymorphic forms. One polymorph contains one molecule in the asymmetric unit, organized into two-dimensional sheets involving intermolecular N...Cl and O...Cl interactions. The second polymorph has three molecules in the asymmetric unit, organized into two crystallographically different two-dimensional sheets with similar interactions. Compound (II) is isomorphous with the second polymorph of (I). The three two-dimensional sheets in the two polymorphs comprise a set of three two-dimensional polymorphic arrangements