From missions to systems : generating transparently distributable programs for sensor-oriented systems

Early Wireless Sensor Networks aimed simply to collect as much data as possible for as long as possible. While this remains true in selected cases, the majority of future sensor network applications will demand much more intelligent use of their resources as networks increase in scale and support multiple applications and users. Specifically, we argue that a computational model is needed in which the ways that data flows through networks, and the ways in which decisions are made based on that data, is transparently distributable and relocatable as requirements evolve. In this paper we present an approach to achieving this using high-level mission specifications from which we can automatically derive transparently distributable programs.Postprin

The Danville Congress

Recap of the Fifth International Verdi Congress held at the University of Danville (Kentucky) in 1977, with a focus on the opera Macbeth

Predicting Emerald Ash Borer, \u3ci\u3eAgrilus Planipennis\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Landing Behavior on Unwounded Ash

Detection of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), an invasive forest pest, is difficult in low density populations war- ranting continual development of various trapping techniques and protocols. Understanding and predicting landing behavior of A. planipennis may assist in the further development of trapping techniques and improvement of trapping protocols for widespread survey programs in North America. Three multiple regression models were developed using ash tree vigor and crown light exposure to predict the landing behavior of A. planipennis. These models were then used to predict the landing density of A. planipennis at separate sites and in separate years. Successful prediction of A. planipennis capture density at the test sites was limited. Even though the multiple regression models were not effective at predicting landing behavior of A. planipennis, tree characteristics were used to predict the likelihood of A. planipennis landing. Trees predicted as having high likelihood of landing had 3.5 times as many A. planipennis adults/m2 on stem traps than trees predicted as having low likelihood of landing. While the landing density of A. planipennis may not be efficiently predicted, the utility of these predictions may be in the form of identifying trees with a high likelihood of A. planipennis landing. Those high likelihood trees may assist in improving existing detection programs and techniques in North American forests

Steric and electronic control of an ultrafast isomerization.

Synthetic control of the influence of steric and electronic factors on the ultrafast (picosecond) isomerization of penta-coordinate ruthenium dithietene complexes (Ru((CF3)2C2S2)(CO)(L)2, where L = a monodentate phosphine ligand) is reported. Seven new ruthenium dithietene complexes were prepared and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The complexes are all square pyramidal and differ only in the axial vs. equatorial coordination of the carbonyl ligand. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to study the ν(CO) bandshapes of the complexes in solution, and these reveal rapid exchange between two or three isomers of each complex. Isomerization is proposed to follow a Berry psuedorotation-like mechanism where a metastable, trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) intermediate is observed spectroscopically. Electronic tuning of the phosphine ligands L = PPh3, P((p-Me)Ph)3, ((p-Cl)Ph)3, at constant cone angle is found to have little effect on the kinetics or thermodynamic stabilities of the axial, equatorial and TBP isomers of the differently substituted complexes. Steric tuning of the phosphine ligands over a range of phosphine cone angles (135 < θ < 165°) has a profound impact on the isomerization process, and in the limit of greatest steric bulk, the axial isomer is not observable. Temperature dependence of the FTIR spectra was used to obtain the relative thermodynamic stabilities of the different isomers of each of the seven ruthenium dithietene complexes. This study details how ligand steric effects can be used to direct the solution state dynamics on the picosecond time scale of discrete isomers energetically separated by <2.2 kcal mol-1. This work provides the most detailed description to date of ultrafast isomerization in the ground states of transition metal complexes

Stricken to silence : Authoritative response, Homeric irony, and the peril of a missed language cue

The formula2 "Thus he spoke, but they in fact all were stricken to silence" (translation ommitted)3 occurs sixteen times in Homer4 and has received significant treatment in a number of recent studies focusing on its referential force. Its "connotative level of signification" (Kelly 2007:6) has been projected in part for the Iliad, and important themes and functions have been suggested. Silvia Montiglio (1993:175-78) has considered the formula's meaning within the Iliad both etymologically and more generally, and found that it suggests "une rupture anormale," "la dechirure" of the normal communication process. John Miles Foley has linked the formula in the Iliad with the speech that precedes it, since "each initial speech proposes or reports a radical, usually unexpected action" (1995:13) that promises either the winning or losing of kleos. Foley's research further demonstrates that the formula leads, immediately or inevitably, to the "qualification if not dismissal of the proposed or reported action" (15) that precedes the silence formula. Raymond Person (1995) uses conversation analysis to suggest that the formula marks that a speaker will follow with a "dispreferred response," essentially a response that is delayed and mitigated. Adrian Kelly's study (2007:85-86) of the formula in the Iliad highlights the relationship between the speech that immediately precedes the formula and the speech that ensues, in terms of agreement or disagreement.5Issue title: Festschrift for John Miles Foley. This article belongs to a special issue of Oral Tradition published in honor of John Miles Foley's 65th birthday and 2011 retirement. The surprise Festschrift, guest-edited by Lori and Scott Garner entirely without his knowledge, celebrates John's tremendous impact on studies in oral tradition through a series of essays contributed by his students from the University of Missouri-Columbia (1979-present) and from NEH Summer Seminars that he has directed (1987-1996). Quotation marks removed from title. Difference as follows; "Stricken to Silence": Authoritative Response, Homeric Irony, and the Peril of a Missed Language Cue

Preventing DNA over-replication: a Cdk perspective

The cell cycle is tightly controlled to ensure that replication origins fire only once per cycle and that consecutive S-phases are separated by mitosis. When controls fail, DNA over-replication ensues: individual origins fire more than once per S-phase (re-replication) or consecutive S-phases occur without intervening mitoses (endoreduplication). In yeast the cell cycle is controlled by a single cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk) that prevents origin licensing at times when it promotes origin firing, and that is inactivated, via proteolysis of its partner cyclin, as cells undergo mitosis. A quantitative model describes three levels of Cdk activity: low activity allows licensing, intermediate activity allows firing but prevents licensing, and high activity promotes mitosis. In higher eukaryotes the situation is complicated by the existence of additional proteins (geminin, Cul4-Ddb1Cdt2, and Emi1) that control licensing. A current challenge is to understand how these various control mechanisms are co-ordinated and why the degree of redundancy between them is so variable. Here the experimental induction of DNA over-replication is reviewed in the context of the quantitative model of Cdk action. Endoreduplication is viewed as a consequence of procedures that cause Cdk activity to fall below the threshold required to prevent licensing, and re-replication as the result of procedures that increase that threshold value. This may help to explain why over-replication does not necessarily require reduced Cdk activity and how different mechanisms conspire to prevent over-replication. Further work is nevertheless required to determine exactly how losing just one licensing control mechanism often causes over-replication, and why this varies between cell systems

Nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy reinforced aluminum composites

The purpose of the study is to create an NiTi/aluminum metal matrix composite (MMC) material which will have mechanical properties superior to those of the aluminum matrix. The goal is to fabricate a composite material by dispersing a shape memory alloy (NiTi) in the form of a powder, into an aluminum matrix, using isostatic or hot pressing, powder-metallurgy processing techniques. The author wishes to obtain a composite material with a satisfactory density (\u3e 97% of theoretical density), greater strength, and improved fatigue resistance, relative to the aluminum matrix. When the shape-memory alloy particles are embedded in the matrix, the shape memory effect is utilized by deforming the composite material below the Mg temperature, (around -20°C or -4°F), which will also deform each NiTi particle within the matrix (since the martensitic phase of NiTi has a much lower yield strength than aluminum at that temperature). Upon reheating to the austenite phase, the NiTi will return to it’s original shape, (within 8-9% of deformation), embedded within the aluminum matrix which has a much lesser degree of thermal strain. This action will create residual, internal stresses around each NiTi particle, tensile stresses in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and compressive stresses in the through-thickness direction, which will strengthen the material m a similar fashion as thermal stresses strengthen a ceramic particle reinforced metal matrix composite upon cooling from the manufacturing temperature. In order to accomplish the objective, the NiTi powder may first be reduced in size to enhance bonding and deformation characteristics. This is done through a tedious and time-consuming mechanical milling process. Also, since the shape-memory effect is so strongly dependent on the composition of the NiTi, the powder must first be treated with a coating to resist the diffusion of the matrix into the NiTi particles during pressing. Oxide and nitride coatings have been investigated with moderate success. The process of hot pressing also lends difficulty because the time at elevated pressures and temperatures results in further diffusion. However, without a sufficient pressure and temperature in hot pressing, a good density cannot be achieved. Internal voids due to poor densification may become sites for crack initiation upon loading, thus weakening the material. Several different NiTi/Al composites have been studied. The NiTi powders have been treated in a couple different manners. One method reduces the particle sizes and roughens their shape. A heat-treatment procedure has been developed in order to produce a surface oxide coating, which helps prevent diffusion during hot pressing. Different aluminum powders have been investigated also. The size of the aluminum particles has proved to be very influential in affecting the quality of composite materials produced. This finding is important because the failure of this kind of composite has been shown to be matrix-dominated. Some physical and mechanical properties of the NiTi/Al composite material have been characterized by Digital Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and through tensile and fatigue testing. There is a considerable increase in the yield strength, the ultimate strength, and the fatigue resistance due to the addition of the NiTi powder into the matrix. However, the elastic modulus drops slightly in some materials, perhaps due to a phenomenon called stress-induced martensite, which is common in the NiTi shape-memory alloy

Reminiscing about Latin: Cases of Life-writing and the Classical Tradition

In his article Reminiscing about Latin: Cases of Life-writing and the Classical Tradition, David Andrew Porter examines the life of Latin and life-writing in Latin while drawing on other languages. He argues that post-classical Latin writing is vital to many modern writers and offers a challenge to post-Romantic conceptions of literature. He explores how Latin literary traditions affect professional and accidental writers, from the Renaissance scholar Isaac Casaubon to the Jamaican poet Francis Williams, in order to draw attention to the humour, irony and conflict in such lived experiences and writing