Programming Language Feature Agglomeration

Feature-creep is a well-known phenomenon in software systems. In this paper, we argue that feature-creep also occurs in the domain of programming languages. Recent languages are more expressive than earlier languages. However recent languages generally extend rather than replace the syntax (sometimes) and semantics (almost always) of earlier languages. We demonstrate this trend of agglomeration in a sequence of languages comprising Pascal, C, Java, and Scala. These are all block-structured Algol-derived languages, with earlier languages providing explicit inspiration for later ones. We present empirical evidence from several language-specific sources, including grammar definitions and canonical manuals. The evidence suggests that there is a trend of increasing complexity in modern languages that have evolved from earlier languages

The synthesis and characterization of conjugated polyradicals: an approach to organic magnets

The thesis describes investigations into the preparation and magnetic properties of new conjugated polymers, with pendant free radical sites, produced from substituted acetylenes. The first two chapters involve reviews of the literature concerning organic ferromagnetism and the preparation and structure of the materials produced by polymerizing phenylacetylene. The syntheses of esters of propiolic acid and propargyl alcohol, and their polymerization using metathesis catalysts are described in chapter three. The preparation of new substituted triphenyhnethanes and triphenylmethanols, and the syntheses of new ethynyl-substituted arylacetylenes, are described in chapters four and five, together with their full characterization. The polymerizations of phenylacetylene and the new substituted arylacetylenes using well-defined tungsten, molybdenum and rhodium catalysts are reported in chapter six, together with electron spin resonance and magnetic susceptibility studies. All the polymers produced in this study were found to be paramagnetic, and the main target polymer, poly((4-ethynylphenyl)diphenylmethyl) was found to display a reversible increase in spin concentration with increasing temperature. The conclusions drawn from these studies were that conjugated polyradicals were prepared, but that subsequent spin-pairing took place

The Effect of Temperament at Feedlot Arrival on Growth Efficiency, Feeding Behavior, and Carcass Value in Beef Heifers

Temperament of cattle is defined as the animal behavioral response to humans. Objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of temperament and breed type (Angus, Braford, Brangus, and Simbrah) on productivity, feed intake and efficiency, feeding behavior patterns and carcass-quality traits in finishing heifers. In 3 trials, heifers (N = 415, BW = 280 kg) were fed a high grain diet in pens equipped with electronic feeders to measure DM intake and feeding behavior traits. Heifers were slaughtered at a backfat thickness of 1.2 cm, and data collected to determine yield and quality grades. Warner-Braztler shear force was measured on steaks at 1- and 14-d post-mortem aging. Residual feed intake (RFI) was calculated as the residual from regression of DMI on mid-test BW0.75 and ADG. Relative exit velocity (REV) was recorded at feedlot arrival and used as a covariate in Mixed models to assess the effects of temperament and interactions with breed on response variables. Calm heifers had 4% heavier initial BW, gained 12% more per day, consumed 8% more DMI per day and had 4% more favorable G:F than excitable heifers. There was a temperament x breed interaction (P < 0.01) for RFI, whereby DMI per BW0.75 and RFI decreased as REV increased in Braford heifers but not in heifers of the other 3 breeds. Calm heifers had 10% greater head-down duration, 9% greater bunk visit (BV) duration, and had 11% shorter time-to-bunk than excitable heifers. Calm heifers had 9% greater meal duration, and consumed meals that were 22% longer and 17% larger compared with excitable heifers. Frequency of BV and meal events were not affected by temperament, but calmheifers had 12% more BV events per meal then excitable heifers. Carcasses of calm heifers were 4% heavier, had 7% greater BF depth, and 4% higher YG than carcasses of excitable heifers. Steaks from calm heifers were more tender then steaks from excitable heifers. Based on a carcass grid that accounted for tenderness-value differences, calm heifers generated $62 more income then excitable heifers, demonstrating that temperament is an important economically relevant trait. Systems that sort calves based on temperament into targeted production-outcome groups, could reduce within-group variation in production efficiency and carcass quality, adding value to the beef production chain

An Experimental Study of Low Velocity Impact of Bistable Laminated CFRP Composites

In recent years, laminated carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have gained popularity in engineering applications due to their lightweight and strong mechanical properties. One of this material\u27s greatest weaknesses is that it performs poorly in out-of-plane impact resistance. Thus, it was the objective of this research to investigate the effect of bistability on the impact resistance of laminated CFRP composites. Bistable composites have the ability to alternate between two different geometric equilibria through external loading, and when unloaded, do not require external forces to maintain either geometry. An instrumented dropweight tower was designed and constructed according to ASTM standards with modifications to accommodate bistability. Laminated CFRP composite specimens of bistable, flat monostable, and curved monostable configurations were subjected to low velocity impacts of 20 J. The acceleration and force of each impact was recorded using an accelerometer and a load cell mounted on the dropweight tower\u27s impactor. The sensor data was used to analyze the dynamic response and calculate the energy absorption of each impact. Post-impact crack length measurements and damage characterization were used to conduct a damage resistance analysis. The effects of moisture, geometry, stacking sequence, and bistability of the impacted specimens were determined. The results showed that bistability improves the low velocity impact damage resistance of laminated CFRP composites through increased energy absorption and specimen kinetic energy

Assessment of intra and interregional genetic variation in the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus, via analysis of novel microsatellite markers

The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) has long-served as a model system in ecology, evolution, and behavior, and studies surveying molecular variation in this species have become increasingly common over the past decade. However, difficulties are commonly encountered when extending microsatellite markers to populations that are unstudied from a genetic perspective due to high levels of genetic differentiation across this species’ range. To ameliorate this issue, we used 454 pyrosequencing to identify hundreds of microsatellite loci. We then screened 40 of our top candidate loci in populations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—including an isolated island population ~ 4.5 km off the shore of Lake Erie (South Bass Island). We identified 25 loci that are polymorphic in a well-studied region of Virginia and 11 of these loci were polymorphic in populations located in the genetically unstudied regions of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Use of these loci to examine patterns of variation within populations revealed that South Bass Island has low diversity in comparison to other sites. However, neither South Bass Island nor isolated populations around Cleveland are inbred. Assessment of variation between populations revealed three well defined genetic clusters corresponding to Virginia, mainland Ohio/Pennsylvania, and South Bass Island. Comparisons of our results to those of others working in various parts of the range are consistent with the idea that differentiation is lower in regions that were once glaciated. However, these comparisons also suggest that well differentiated isolated populations in the formerly glaciated portion of the range are not uncommon. This work provides novel genetic resources that will facilitate population genetic studies in a part of the red-backed salamander’s range that has not previously been studied in this manner. Moreover, this work refines our understanding of how neutral variation is distributed in this ecologically important organism

Strange Bodies and Familiar Spaces: W. J. R. Simpson and the threat of disease in Calcutta and the tropical city, 1880 - 1910

This thesis discusses the role of urban sanitation in tropical cities, especially Calcutta. Focusing particularly on the provision of milk, the author argues that hygienic practice, and the culture of nineteenth-century tropical medicine, created more diffuse racial deliniations than usually assumed by historians [abstracted by librarian]

Statist utopianism and the Cuban socialist transition

This thesis argues that the nature of ‘idealism’ or ‘utopianism’ in Cuba’s post-1959 socialist transition and the peculiarity of Cuban state socialism have been inadequately conceptualised in the literature. It hypothesises that the pervasive state-centrism of Cuba’s prevailing socialist model is a hybrid of ‘statist utopianism’ and the Stalinist imprint of a post-1970, relative Sovietisation of the Cuban Revolution. Statist utopianism is conceptualised in a Marxist theoretical framework as a distinctive approach to the socialist transition: imposing a communist vision on society rather than striving for its organic realisation. Unlike 16th–19th century Utopian socialism, statist utopianism rests on proletarian state power and has a state-centric dynamic. Statist utopianism is conceptualised as having intrinsic subjective as well as political-economic dimensions. The thesis distinguishes between, and contrasts, ‘organic transcendence’ and statist utopian approaches to the socialist transition. The concept of statist utopianism is grounded historically in the late 1960s Cuban and early Soviet experiences of socialist transition. Cuba’s 1968–70 Revolutionary Offensive, which nationalised the remnant urban private sector, is characterised as a statist utopian ‘great leap forward’. The significance of certain continuities and convergences between Cuba’s late 1960s ‘idealist’ phase and subsequent partial and uneven Sovietisation have been understated or overlooked. The thesis identifies methodological weaknesses in the ‘historical pendulum’ approach to the periodisation of the Cuban Revolution. It concludes that certain conceptual identities and institutional peculiarities of the prevailing (and now receding) Cuban socialist model comprise a mutually reinforcing state-centric nexus that cannot be explained on the basis of Sovietisation alone, and which therefore seems to be a peculiar hybrid of statist utopianism and the Stalinist imprint of Sovietisation. The concept of statist utopianism developed in this thesis casts the Cuban socialist transition and the Cuban Communist Party’s contemporary renovation project in a distinct light

SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF GENE FLOW PATTERNS AMONG WOODLAND SALAMANDER POPULATIONS INHABITATING CONTRASTING LANDSCAPES

Dispersal is a fundamental evolutionary process that serves as a mechanism by which local populations remain connected through space. Habitat loss and fragmentation remain widespread threats to biodiversity globally, and therefore it is imperative to understand how dispersal patterns are affected by anthropogenic modifications of the environment. Using a panel of 10 novel microsatellite loci, I estimated gene flow patterns over historical and contemporary timescales among populations of Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) in a previously unstudied portion of the species range. Four focal populations reside within a highly fragmented urban center whereas the remaining four focal populations persist in a relatively continuous landscape. Among fragmented populations, I observed weak genetic structuring, primarily driven by a highly divergent population. In contrast, populations in the continuous landscape were genetically homogeneous. Temporal analysis of gene flow patterns within the fragmented landscape revealed little difference between historical and contemporary estimates, as well as gene flow estimates comparable to those observed in continuous habitat. These results suggest that the observed genetic differentiation is not a result of reduced gene flow following fragmentation. In the continuous landscape, temporal changes in gene flow indicate a re-routing in the directionality of the major source of historical migrants, likely corresponding to historical land use practices. In both landscape types, I found the contribution of historical processes to be important in shaping contemporary gene flow patterns, as well as gene flow occurring on a large scale within a fragmented landscape

Policies for replacing long-term indwelling urinary catheters in adults

We would also like to thank the foll owing Cochrane Incontinence editorial base staff members for their help and support with this re-view: Cathryn Glazener, Sheila Wallace, Mandy Fader, Peter Her-bison and Suzanne Macdonald. The review authors are grateful to Toby Lasseron for his advice. The review authors are thankful to Dr Beverly Priefer for responding to our query about Priefer 1982. Policies for replacing long‐term indwelling urinary catheters in adults, Protocol, Fergus PM Cooper, Cameron Edwin Alexander, Sanjay Sinha, Muhammad Imran Omar; https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011115; 14 May 2014Peer reviewedPublisher PD