Changing French Orientalism

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The article focuses on the story of the opera "Tarare," which became prevalent throughout Europe from 1760 to 1780. She examines the story of the opera, which centers the life of a Christian noblewoman who was abducted by an oriental potentate and must be rescued by her lover. However, the author points out that opera illustrate the complex discursive genealogy of French political, social, and philosophical concerns in the final quarter of the 18th century

Hacia un enfoque más crítico del trabajo de laboratorio

The tradition which has assumed since the past century the central role of practical work in science education, is argued in this paper. The author reviews the assumptions that justify the educational benefits of practical work, and he does a critical scrutiny of its use and misuse in science education

Role of Insects and Diseases in a Jack Pine Provenance Study

Two jack pine plantations were established at the Cloquet Forestry Center, Cloquet, Minnesota, in 1942 and 1943, using trees originating from 22 sites in the United States and 10 in Canada. From 1945 to 1953 the incidence of attack by insects and diseases was recorded individually for all trees, and in 1980-1981 the diameter and form of both living and dead trees were recorded. There were differences in the incidence of attack by the pests and in tree response to early injury among the various seed sources. In 1980 and in 1981 there were differences in tree form resulting from insect and both living and dead pest-free trees had the best form. The diameter increases from 1955 to 1980-1981 were almost identical for all categories with the exception of the dead pest-free trees which had the smallest diameters

Numerical Analysis and Spanwise Shape Optimization for Finite Wings of Arbitrary Aspect Ratio

This work focuses on the development of efficient methods for wing shape optimization for morphing wing technologies. Existing wing shape optimization processes typically rely on computational fluid dynamics tools for aerodynamic analysis, but the computational cost of these tools makes optimization of all but the most basic problems intractable. In this work, we present a set of tools that can be used to efficiently explore the design spaces of morphing wings without reducing the fidelity of the results significantly. Specifically, this work discusses automatic differentiation of an aerodynamic analysis tool based on lifting line theory, a light-weight gradient-based optimization framework that provides a parallel function evaluation capability not found in similar frameworks, and a modification to the lifting line equations that makes the analysis method and optimization process suitable to wings of arbitrary aspect ratio. The toolset discussed is applied to several wing shape optimization problems. Additionally, a method for visualizing the design space of a morphing wing using this toolset is presented. As a result of this work, a light-weight wing shape optimization method is available for analysis of morphing wing designs that reduces the computational cost by several orders of magnitude over traditional methods without significantly reducing the accuracy of the results

Performance Analysis of Live-Virtual-Constructive and Distributed Virtual Simulations: Defining Requirements in Terms of Temporal Consistency

This research extends the knowledge of live-virtual-constructive (LVC) and distributed virtual simulations (DVS) through a detailed analysis and characterization of their underlying computing architecture. LVCs are characterized as a set of asynchronous simulation applications each serving as both producers and consumers of shared state data. In terms of data aging characteristics, LVCs are found to be first-order linear systems. System performance is quantified via two opposing factors; the consistency of the distributed state space, and the response time or interaction quality of the autonomous simulation applications. A framework is developed that defines temporal data consistency requirements such that the objectives of the simulation are satisfied. Additionally, to develop simulations that reliably execute in real-time and accurately model hierarchical systems, two real-time design patterns are developed: a tailored version of the model-view-controller architecture pattern along with a companion Component pattern. Together they provide a basis for hierarchical simulation models, graphical displays, and network I/O in a real-time environment. For both LVCs and DVSs the relationship between consistency and interactivity is established by mapping threads created by a simulation application to factors that control both interactivity and shared state consistency throughout a distributed environment

More from the horse's mouth: What scientists say about science as a social practice

This research study sought to identify prominent features of the nature of science (NOS) embedded in authentic scientific inquiry. Fourteen well-established scientists from different parts of the world, working in experimental or theoretical research, in both traditional fields such as astrophysics and rapidly growing research fields such as molecular biology, participated as the informants of the study. The descriptions of their practices revealed eight prominent categories of NOS features. In an earlier paper of ours, we have reported four categories under the two themes: (1) the methods of scientific investigation and (2) the role and status of scientific knowledge. In this paper, we focus on the remaining four categories under the theme: social dimensions of science. Scientists' descriptions of their practices have 'put some flesh on the bones' of the assertion that science is socially and culturally embedded. These descriptions also have considerable potential for development into interesting case studies as teaching resources to enhance and enrich students' understanding of NOS. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.postprin

Triple mode Cepheid masses

Unconventional composition structures are proposed to explain the periods of the triple mode Cepheid aC And. A strong Cepheid wind appears to enrich helium in the convection zones down to about 60,000 K or 70,000 K. Then some downward partial mixing occurs to the bottom of a layer with about 1-q = .0005 of the stellar mass. It was found that AC And was not unlike anomalous Cepheids. However, masses of betwen one and two solar masses are suggested and the population is more likely a type two

A Low Cost Remote Sensing System Using PC and Stereo Equipment

A system using a personal computer, speaker, and a microphone is used to detect objects, and make crude measurements using a carrier modulated by a pseudorandom noise (PN) code. This system can be constructed using a personal computer and audio equipment commonly found in the laboratory or at home, or more sophisticated equipment that can be purchased at reasonable cost. We demonstrate its value as an instructional tool for teaching concepts of remote sensing and digital signal processing.Comment: Accepted for publication in American Journal of Physic

Copper Toxicity in Erwinia amylovora : An X-Ray Microanalytical Study

The effect of Cu2+ ions on the growth and elemental composition of the phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora was investigated by in vitro culture in nutrient broth supplemented with CuSO4. No detectable inhibition in bacterial growth occurred with medium supplemented at 10-4M Cu (compared to control medium with no added Cu), but partial inhibition occurred at 10-3M Cu (limiting toxicity) and complete inhibition at 10-2M Cu. Under conditions of limiting toxicity, incubation in Cu2+ ions leads to a reduction in the general synthesis of cell materials and the formation of abnormally large cells with a small dry mass. X-ray analysis revealed the uptake of small levels of Cu2+ under these conditions, plus wide-ranging changes in other major elements present in the bacterial cells. These changes included a reduction in the level of K and increased levels of the divalent cations Ca and Fe. The results obtained are consistent with the toxic effect of Cu being mediated via its effect on the cell membrane, with internal elemental changes resulting from a perturbation of membrane permeability

Modeling Quantum Optical Components, Pulses and Fiber Channels Using OMNeT++

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an innovative technology which exploits the laws of quantum mechanics to generate and distribute unconditionally secure cryptographic keys. While QKD offers the promise of unconditionally secure key distribution, real world systems are built from non-ideal components which necessitates the need to model and understand the impact these non-idealities have on system performance and security. OMNeT++ has been used as a basis to develop a simulation framework to support this endeavor. This framework, referred to as "qkdX" extends OMNeT++'s module and message abstractions to efficiently model optical components, optical pulses, operating protocols and processes. This paper presents the design of this framework including how OMNeT++'s abstractions have been utilized to model quantum optical components, optical pulses, fiber and free space channels. Furthermore, from our toolbox of created components, we present various notional and real QKD systems, which have been studied and analyzed.Comment: Published in: A. F\"orster, C. Minkenberg, G. R. Herrera, M. Kirsche (Eds.), Proc. of the 2nd OMNeT++ Community Summit, IBM Research - Zurich, Switzerland, September 3-4, 201