THE CHANGING NATURE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Quantification of the Individual Characteristics of the Human Dentition

The considerations for admissibility suggested by the Daubert trilogy challenge forensic experts to provide scientific support for opinion testimony. The defense bar has questioned the reliability of bitemark analysis. Under an award from the U. S. Department of Justice, via the Midwest Forensic Resource Center, a two-year feasibility study was undertaken to quantify six dental characteristics. Using two computer programs, the exemplars of 419 volunteers were digitally scanned, characteristics were measured, and frequency was calculated. The study demonstrates that there were outliers or rare dental characteristics in measurements. An analysis of the intra-observer and inter-observer consistency demonstrated a high degree of agreement. Expansion of the sample size through collaboration with other academic researchers will be necessary to be able to quantify the occurrence of these characteristics in the general population. The automated software application, Tom\u27s Toolbox, developed specifically for this research project, could also provide a template for precisely quantifying other pattern evidence

Low complexity lossless compression of underwater sound recordings

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 133 (2013): 1387-1398, doi:10.1121/1.4776206.Autonomous listening devices are increasingly used to study vocal aquatic animals, and there is a constant need to record longer or with greater bandwidth, requiring efficient use of memory and battery power. Real-time compression of sound has the potential to extend recording durations and bandwidths at the expense of increased processing operations and therefore power consumption. Whereas lossy methods such as MP3 introduce undesirable artifacts, lossless compression algorithms (e.g., flac) guarantee exact data recovery. But these algorithms are relatively complex due to the wide variety of signals they are designed to compress. A simpler lossless algorithm is shown here to provide compression factors of three or more for underwater sound recordings over a range of noise environments. The compressor was evaluated using samples from drifting and animal-borne sound recorders with sampling rates of 16–240 kHz. It achieves >87% of the compression of more-complex methods but requires about 1/10 of the processing operations resulting in less than 1 mW power consumption at a sampling rate of 192 kHz on a low-power microprocessor. The potential to triple recording duration with a minor increase in power consumption and no loss in sound quality may be especially valuable for battery-limited tags and robotic vehicles.Algorithm development was supported by SERDP, ONR, US Navy (N45) and NOPP. M.J. was supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS)

Dynamic State Determination of a Software-Defined Network via Dual Basis Representation

To maximize the performance of a softwaredefined network, a network observer must develop a state that can be tracked and controlled. We propose a novel method that uses the entire eigenspace of the Laplacian matrix to determine the state of a SDN. Our approach exploits the double orthogonality of the Laplacian matrix in order to define the dual basis. Each basis uses the entire reachability space with the objective of fully describing the centrality of each node over time. The reachability space is defined by the dual basis once the null space has been removed. The definition of the dual basis allows the network controller to observe the network state to determine which areas are most utilized and least utilized. Once the state has been estimated, the controller may choose to correct the network state by rerouting flows or preventing additional flows

The Anodic Dissolution Of ZnS Electrodes In Sulfuric Acid Solutions

The anodic dissolution of reagent grade ZnS and ZnS concentrate has been studied. The majority of the research was conducted in H2SO4 although a limited number of tests were made in HCl and KOH. Polarization studies showed that both Zn2+ and S were products in the acidic solutions. ZnS passivated in KOH solutions. The electrodes were fabricated by hand pressing mixtures of ZnS + pitch (5-15%) and sintering at 800°C in a N2 atmosphere. The open circuit potentials were considered to be mixed potentials resulting from the anodic dissolution of ZnS and cathodic reduction of S or O2. Current efficiencies and Zn2+ / S ratios were determined at 0.5 and 0.85 V vs. SHE. The results indicated the occurrence of both electrochemical and chemical dissolution steps as well as the further oxidation of H2S, namely, ZnS(s)=Zn2+(aq)+S(s)+2eZnS(s)=2H+(aq)=Zn2+(aq)+H2S(aq)H2S(aq)+4 H2O(I)=HSO4(aq)+9H+(aq)+8e The overall dissolution appears to be mass transfer-limited, probably either by the diffusion of Zn2+ from the reaction interface, through the reacted layer to the bulk solution, or the dissolution of precipitated Zn(OH)2 in the reacted layer by the diffusion of H+ into the layer. The concentrate anodes polarized more drastically than the reagent grade ZnS anodes, possibly due to the presence of PbS impurity which would form PbSO4 in the anode pores. © 1982

The Virtual Child: Evaluation of an Internet‐Based Pediatric Behavior Management Simulation

This article describes an Internet‐based instructional tool designed to give predoctoral dental students a virtual simulation of clinical pediatric dentistry to develop their pediatric behavior management knowledge. Effectiveness of this tool was evaluated using two consecutive classes of junior dental students. The control group was exposed to the traditional behavior management curriculum (two lectures) in a spring term course. The next class of dental students was exposed to the two lectures and, in addition, completed the behavior management simulation during the following spring term. Both groups completed a two‐part examination (objective section=18 questions; open‐ended section=responses to a clinical situation) designed to test their behavior management knowledge. The simulation group performed significantly better in both parts of the examination (objective section: p=.028; open‐ended section: p=.012). The simulation was evaluated by students and perceived by most to be an effective addition to the curriculum. It was concluded that the experimental behavior management simulation, when added to the traditional lecture curriculum, improved pediatric behavior management knowledge in predoctoral dental students.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153691/1/jddj002203372007719tb04383x.pd