Texting While Driving: A Test of Self-Control Theory

The consequences of texting and driving have never been more pertinent concerns than they are presently. As reports of injuries and death increase and are paralleled by direct and indirect emotional and financial costs, it is important to uncover why, even in the face of such escalations, individuals choose to engage in this behavior. This study examines texting while driving behavior in the context of self-control theory and postulates that low self-control is a significant predictor of the conduct. An online questionnaire was distributed via email to all enrolled students at Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk Virginia, during the summer of 2014. Data were collected which tapped into student\u27s texting while driving behaviors, measured their respective levels of self-control, and ascertained demographical information. Results of the analysis indicated that self-control was a not significant predictor of texting while driving behavior when controlling for other factors. Suggestions for future research and limitations of this study are discussed

Tree-Independent Dual-Tree Algorithms

Dual-tree algorithms are a widely used class of branch-and-bound algorithms. Unfortunately, developing dual-tree algorithms for use with different trees and problems is often complex and burdensome. We introduce a four-part logical split: the tree, the traversal, the point-to-point base case, and the pruning rule. We provide a meta-algorithm which allows development of dual-tree algorithms in a tree-independent manner and easy extension to entirely new types of trees. Representations are provided for five common algorithms; for k-nearest neighbor search, this leads to a novel, tighter pruning bound. The meta-algorithm also allows straightforward extensions to massively parallel settings.Comment: accepted in ICML 201

Assessing the Sensitivity of Different Life Stages for Sexual Disruption in Roach (Rutilus rutilus) Exposed to Effluents from Wastewater Treatment Works

Surveys of U.K. rivers have shown a high incidence of sexual disruption in populations of wild roach (Rutilus rutilus) living downstream from wastewater treatment works (WwTW), and the degree of intersex (gonads containing both male and female structural characteristics) has been correlated with the concentration of effluent in those rivers. In this study, we investigated feminized responses to two estrogenic WwTWs in roach exposed for periods during life stages of germ cell division (early life and the postspawning period). Roach were exposed as embryos from fertilization up to 300 days posthatch (dph; to include the period of gonadal sex differentiation) or as postspawning adult males, and including fish that had received previous estrogen exposure, for either 60 or 120 days when the annual event of germ cell proliferation occurs. Both effluents induced vitellogenin synthesis in both life stages studied, and the magnitude of the vitellogenic responses paralleled the effluent content of steroid estrogens. Feminization of the reproductive ducts occurred in male fish in a concentration-dependent manner when the exposure occurred during early life, but we found no effects on the reproductive ducts in adult males. Depuration studies (maintenance of fish in clean water after exposure to WwTW effluent) confirmed that the feminization of the reproductive duct was permanent. We found no evidence of ovotestis development in fish that had no previous estrogen exposure for any of the treatments. In wild adult roach that had previously received exposure to estrogen and were intersex, the degree of intersex increased during the study period, but this was not related to the immediate effluent exposure, suggesting a previously determined programming of ovotestis formation

Coherent Population Trapping of Electron Spins in a Semiconductor

In high-purity n-type GaAs under strong magnetic field, we are able to isolate a lambda system composed of two Zeeman states of neutral-donor bound electrons and the lowest Zeeman state of bound excitons. When the two-photon detuning of this system is zero, we observe a pronounced dip in the excited-state photoluminescence indicating the creation of the coherent population-trapped state. Our data are consistent with a steady-state three-level density-matrix model. The observation of coherent population trapping in GaAs indicates that this and similar semiconductor systems could be used for various EIT-type experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures replaced 6/25/2007 with PRL versio

Modeling Boundary Layer Ingestion Using a Coupled Aeropropulsive Analysis

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143109/1/1.C034601.pd

Modifications to the University of Michigan 83‐Inch Cyclotron to Improve Beam Quality

Recent studies of the internal and extracted beams at the higher energies (up to 40‐MeV deuterons and 80‐MeV α‐particles) led us to convert the dee system of the 83‐inch cyclotron from two 150° dees to one 180° dee. The primary purpose was to remove from the deflector channel the rf dee voltage, which because of its phase opposes the dc deflector voltage and in addition introduces an energy spread in the extracted beam. The one‐dee system offers further advantages. The equivalent first harmonic due to a gap‐crossing driving force which is a function of the dee geometry and dee voltage balance in the two‐dee system, is essentially eliminated, and control of the central orbits, in particular the selection of phase width, is facilitated. The measured values of the beam quality and energy spread are in good agreement with calculations. These results, together with the diagnostic instrumentation used in obtaining them, are described.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87291/2/366_1.pd

Beating patterns of filaments in viscoelastic fluids

Many swimming microorganisms, such as bacteria and sperm, use flexible flagella to move through viscoelastic media in their natural environments. In this paper we address the effects a viscoelastic fluid has on the motion and beating patterns of elastic filaments. We treat both a passive filament which is actuated at one end, and an active filament with bending forces arising from internal motors distributed along its length. We describe how viscoelasticity modifies the hydrodynamic forces exerted on the filaments, and how these modified forces affect the beating patterns. We show how high viscosity of purely viscous or viscoelastic solutions can lead to the experimentally observed beating patterns of sperm flagella, in which motion is concentrated at the distal end of the flagella

Field and Forage Crop Fertilization in the Rio Grande Plains.

4 p

Field and Forage Crop Fertilization in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

4 p

Aeropropulsive Design Optimization of a Turboelectric Boundary Layer Ingestion Propulsion System

Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) for aircraft applications was first proposed by Apollo Smith and Howard Roberts in a 1947 paper that studied the use of jet intakes embedded in the boundary layer as a means to maintain laminar flow and reduce aircraft drag. While the use of BLI in aviation didn't catch on it was heavily studied and utilized for marine applications. In 1993 interest in BLI applications to aircraft design was renewed when Leyroy Smith published novel work using a boundary layer analysis combined with basic propulsion modeling to show the potential for significant fuel burn reduction. Smith identified the tightly coupled aero-propulsive nature of BLI as a key challenge in the analysis and design of the concept