Method and apparatus for preloading a joint by remotely operable means

The invention is a method and apparatus for joining structures, an active structure and a passive structure, and imposing a tensile pre-load on the joint by a remotely operable mechanism comprising a heat contractible joining element. The method and apparatus include mounting on the structure, a probe shaft of material which is transformable from an expanded length to a contracted length when heated to a specific temperature range. The shaft is provided with a probe head which is receivable in a receptacle opening formed in the passive structure, when the active structure is moved into engagement therewith by an appropriate manipulator mechanism. A latching system mounted on the structure adjacent to the receptacle opening captures the probe head, when the probe head is inserted a predetermined amount. A heating coil on the shaft is energizable by remote control for heating the shaft to a temperature range which transforms the shaft to its contracted length, whereby a latching shoulder thereof engages latching elements of the latching system and imposes a tensile preload on the structural joint. Provision is also made for manually adjusting the probe head on the shaft to allow for manual detachment of the structures or manual preloading of the structural joint

A space-time neural network

Introduced here is a novel technique which adds the dimension of time to the well known back propagation neural network algorithm. Cited here are several reasons why the inclusion of automated spatial and temporal associations are crucial to effective systems modeling. An overview of other works which also model spatiotemporal dynamics is furnished. A detailed description is given of the processes necessary to implement the space-time network algorithm. Several demonstrations that illustrate the capabilities and performance of this new architecture are given

Method and apparatus for filtering visual documents

A method and apparatus for producing an abstract or condensed version of a visual document is presented. The frames comprising the visual document are first sampled to reduce the number of frames required for processing. The frames are then subjected to a structural decomposition process that reduces all information in each frame to a set of values. These values are in turn normalized and further combined to produce only one information content value per frame. The information content values of these frames are then compared to a selected distribution cutoff point. This effectively selects those values at the tails of a normal distribution, thus filtering key frames from their surrounding frames. The value for each frame is then compared with the value from the previous frame, and the respective frame is finally stored only if the values are significantly different. The method filters or compresses a visual document with a reduction in digital storage on the ratio of up to 700 to 1 or more, depending on the content of the visual document being filtered

Prosocial Behavior and Empathy: Analysis of Emotional Responses During the Use of Ted Talk Videos in the Classroom

Empathy may increase when observing prosocial behavior of others. The purpose of the study was to evaluate students’ emotional responses when observing prosocial behavior demonstrated in a Tedx Talk video through the lens of cognitive empathy and affective empathy. Tedx Talk videos are often shown in college classrooms to enhance learning outcomes. Student participants (N=157) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index pre/post assessment to examine if differences of empathy were measurable from before watching the video and after. Paired Samples t test Analyses were run to explore if there were differences between groups over time. Independent Samples t tests were used to understand differences between groups: age, gender and parental status. Results suggested statistically significant changes in empathy both over time and between groups

On Empire\u27s Shore: Free and Unfree Workers in Galveston, Texas, 1840-1860

In Galveston, Texas-the small but thriving seaport that served as the state\u27s commercial emporium-poor whites and enslaved African-Americans often interacted in ways uncommon in southern slave society and unsettling to the slaveholders whose economic, social, and political dominance required a unified white commitment to black inferiority. Social interaction among enslaved black and common white people, who shared few of the material advantages of white supremacy, represented a dangerous blurring of established racial lines and posed a potential threat to the social control of slaveholders and to the rigid hierarchy of southern slave society. Such relations developed as African-American bondspeople and white casual laborers spent much of their time together working at menial and arduous tasks; living side-by-side in impoverished neighborhoods; and socializing in homes, liquor stores, brothels, and saloons. As in other antebellum port cities, the degree of interracial socialization in Galveston worried the slaveholding elite to such an extent that the city repeatedly passed laws carrying increasingly harsh penalties designed to draw more clearly the color line between black and white workers. In examining such interaction, this article challenges the whiteness interpretation of antebellum labor history, which argues that white workers became virulently racist in order to distance themselves from black people

AmeriCorps: Changing Lives, Changing America

AmeriCorps is designed to help strengthen and rebuild communities affected by poverty, impacted by disasters, and marked by crime. From the initial members who served during the "Summer of Safety" in 1994 to the soon-to-be 500,000th member in 2007, AmeriCorps members have been on the front lines of service every day, recruiting and managing volunteers of all ages and backgrounds -- 1.4 million in 2006 alone. Together, AmeriCorps members and the volunteers they mobilize tackle some of our nation's toughest problems: crime, illiteracy, homelessness, gang violence, and drug abuse. They teach and tutor to help students improve academically, mentor children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, run after-school programs, reconnect prisoners with mainstream society, care for seniors, and protect the environment. This report examines the results from a longitudinal study of AmeriCorps members and surveys of members, alumni, and the organizations where members served to examine the impacts of national service on members' civic engagement, education, employment, and life skills. Findings reveal that AmeriCorps alumni are more connected to their communities, continue to participate in community activities, and choose public service careers after their service with AmeriCorps

St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish Church: An Anglo-Franco Alliance in the Lowcountry

Now vacant and seldom used, St. Thomas and St. Denis Church is a small, neo-classical building constructed in 1819 to serve one of the original colonial parishes carved out of Berkeley County, South Carolina. Even though it has been included in numerous publications devoted to the history of religion in early South Carolina, this church has never been systematically recorded nor has its role been thoroughly explored. This thesis, which grew out of an effort to create a complete set of documentation drawings, explores the history of St. Thomas and St. Denis Church

Egg Hatching Patterns for Individual Western Corn Rootworm Females

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera LeConte is amajor economic pest of corn in the north-central region of the United States. In 1973, yield reduction and control costs credited to the rootworm complex for a seven state area was estimated at 82 million dollars (Gerloff 1976). In 1975, South Dakota corn producers suffered a combined yield reduction and control cost of 27.5 million dollars(D. Walgenbach, South Dakota State University, personal communication). The majority of the damage to corn by the rootworm stems from larval feedng on the corn roots (Chiang 1973) Root pruning from larval feeding leads to an increase in the lodging of corn plant s and a decrease in ear size. The adult beetles cause damage, to a lesser extent than the larva, by feeding on the pollen, silks, and ear tips