EFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION OF FUNCTION: A COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT IMPLEMENTERS DURING FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES

Functional analyses (FAs) are a common tool used in the assessment and treatment of severe problem behaviors and often occur in the context of clinical settings with unfamiliar, trained staff. Previous research suggests that inconsistent outcomes can emerge when caregivers with an existing history of seeing their child’s challenging behavior are trained to implement the assessment in place of clinical staff. The purpose of the current study was to expand on existing literature by comparing FA implemented by clinical staff and caregivers in the context of a clinical setting. Results demonstrate that efficient identification of function and differentiated rates of problem behavior given the inclusion of caregivers during assessment may vary based on the child’s existing history of responding with those caregivers. Implications of results for researchers and practitioners are discussed

Using Genetic Algorithms and SWAT to Minimize Sediment Yield From an Agriculturally Dominated Watershed

Non-point source pollution is well recognized as one of the most critical environmental hazards of modern times. In Illinois, non-point source pollution is the major cause of water quality problems, and soil erosion from agricultural lands is the major source of such pollution. Accelerated by anthropogenic activities, soil erosion reduces crop productivity and leads to subsequent problems from deposition on farmlands and in water bodies. Watershed management, however, promotes protection and restoration of these natural resources while allowing for sustainable economic growth and development. In this study a discrete time optimal control methodology and computational model are developed for determining land use and management alternatives that minimize sediment yield from agriculturally dominated watersheds. The methodology is based on an interface between a genetic algorithm and a U.S. Department of Agriculture watershed model known as Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The original structure of the SWAT model is preserved and modifications are embedded for computational efficiency. The analysis is based on a farm field level to capture the perspectives of different stakeholders. The model thus supports Illinois EPA’s plan of developing a program based on enabling and empowering local stakeholders to take charge of the fate of their watershed. Management alternatives available for all land uses modeled by SWAT are developed considering rotation patterns of three years. The decision support tool is applied to Big Creek sub-watershed in the Cache River watershed, located in Southern Illinois. Big Creek subwatershed has been sighted by the Illinois EPA for excessive sediment and nutrient loadings and has been targeted by the Illinois Pilot Watershed Program. This research is part of an ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive decision support tool that uses multi-criteria evaluation to address social, economic and hydrologic issues for integrative watershed management

Towards a first principles description of phonons in Ni50_{50}Pt50_{50} disordered alloys: the role of relaxation

Using a combination of density-functional perturbation theory and the itinerant coherent potential approximation, we study the effects of atomic relaxation on the inelastic incoherent neutron scattering cross sections of disordered Ni$_{50}$Pt$_{50}$ alloys. We build on previous work, where empirical force constants were adjusted {\it ad hoc} to agree with experiment. After first relaxing all structural parameters within the local-density approximation for ordered NiPt compounds, density-functional perturbation theory is then used to compute phonon spectra, densities of states, and the force constants. The resulting nearest-neighbor force constants are first compared to those of other ordered structures of different stoichiometry, and then used to generate the inelastic scattering cross sections within the itinerant coherent potential approximation. We find that structural relaxation substantially affects the computed force constants and resulting inelastic cross sections, and that the effect is much more pronounced in random alloys than in ordered alloys.Comment: 8 pages, 3 eps figures, uses revtex

Constructing Meaning from Literature: Examining Discourse in Departmentalized, Multidisciplinary, and Interdisciplinary Contexts

This naturalistic study examines the literary discourse which occurred in a sixth-grade language arts classroom within a departmentalized, a multidisciplinary, and then an interdisciplinary context. Audio tapes and accompanying field notes of all literature discussions surrounding three novels served as the primary data source. Secondary data sources included informal and formal interviews with the participants. Using a constant-comparative approach we identified elements of discourse and organized these elements into the following broad themes: 1) the text and the story world; 2) the reader and the story world; and 3) discipline knowledge and the story world. The literary discussions within the three contexts differed in terms of the overall approaches used, the elements which were emphasized, and the students\u27 processes of constructing meaning. In particular the findings raised new questions regarding the use of literature within interdisciplinary units. Integration across the curriculum has often been seen as crucial in helping students overcome the fragmentation that is pervasive in schooling. However, we saw that when the unit topic becomes the force of attention, the literary experience itself can become fragmented. Thus as teachers move to interdisciplinary perspectives, they may wish to monitor their own use of literature and the role literature is to play in the unit

The Rabbit Who Married the Bear; A Visual Fairy Tale

In this thesis I describe how I have integrated the imagery and symbolism of the Bear and the Rabbit into my creative practice. I have proven how narratives and especially those of fairy tales, including but not limited to "The Woman Who Married a Bear" and "The Bear Skin" by the Brothers Grimm have greatly inspired my writing and thesis exhibition. In my current artistic work I explore the aesthetics of the Grotesque, Carnivalesque, and the Cute. I also address the concept and the symbolism of my installation of the "Cave", and describe the work in the exhibition space.</p

Inelastic neutron scattering in random binary alloys : an augmented space approach

Combining the augmented space representation for phonons with a generalized version of Yonezawa-Matsubara diagrammatic technique, we have set up a formalism to seperate the coherent and incoherent part of the total intensity of thermal neutron scattering from disordered alloys. This is done exacly without taking any recourse to mean-field like approximation (as done previously). The formalism includes disorder in masses, force constants and scattering lengths. Implementation of the formalism to realistic situations is performed by an augmented space Block recursion which calculates entire Green matrix and self energy matrix which in turn is needed to evaluate the coherent and incoherent intensities. we apply the formalism to NiPd and NiPt alloys. Numerical results on coherent and incoherent scattering cross sections are presented along the highest symmetry directions. Finally the incoherent intensities are compared with the CPA and also with experiments.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure

Evaluating alternatives for watershed-scale design of BMPs

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

Phonon densities of states and vibrational entropies of ordered and disordered Ni3Al

We performed inelastic neutron-scattering measurements on powdered Ni3Al. The alloy was prepared in two states of chemical order: (1) with equilibrium L12 order, and (2) with disorder (the material was a fcc solid solution prepared by high-energy ball milling). Procedures to convert the energy loss spectra into approximate phonon density of states (DOS) curves for Ni3Al in the two states of chemical order were guided by Born–von Kármán analyses with force constants obtained from previous single-crystal experiments on L12-ordered Ni3Al and fcc Ni metal. The main difference in the phonon DOS of the ordered and disordered alloys occurs near 39 meV, the energy of a peak arising from optical modes in the ordered alloy. These high-frequency optical modes involve primarily the vibrations of the aluminum-rich sublattice. The disordered alloy, which does not have such a sublattice, shows much less intensity at this energy. This difference in the phonon DOS around 39 meV is the main contributor to the difference in vibrational entropy of disordered and ordered Ni3Al, which we estimate to be Svibdis-Svibord=(+0.2±0.1)kB/atom at high temperatures

High-Pressure Neutron-Scattering Studies of Graphite and Stage-Two Graphite-SbCl₅

The longitudinal-acoustic (LA) phonons propagating along the c axis in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were investigated as a function of pressure up to 20 kbar using inelastic-neutron-scattering techniques. The phonon frequencies varied as (P,q)=A(P)sin[c(P)q/2], where A(P) and c(P) indicate the pressure dependences of the zone-center LO frequency of B1g1 symmetry and of the c-axis lattice spacing, respectively. From the measurements, the mode Grüneisen parameter for the LA branch was estimated to be 1.5 x 10-2 kbar-1 (independent of q); the elastic constant C33 for HOPG was found to be 3.40 x 1011 dyn/cm2 at 1 bar with a pressure coefficient of (1/C33)(dC33/dP)=2.91 x 10-2 kbar-1. The measured c-axis spacings were 6.71 and 12.72 Å for HOPG and stage-2 SbCl5-intercalated graphite, respectively, at atmospheric pressure; the corresponding compressibilities (1/c)(dc/dP) were -2.24 x 10-3 kbar-1 (HOPG) and -2.28 x 10-3 kbar-1 (SbCl5). Elastic-neutron-scattering studies up to 20 kbar were undertaken to search for stage transformations, but no evidence of any phase transition was observed

Symmetry constraints on phonon dispersion in graphene

Taking into account the constraints imposed by the lattice symmetry, we calculate the phonon dispersion for graphene with interactions between the first, second, and third nearest neighbors in the framework of the Born--von Karman model. Analytical expressions obtained for the dispersion of the out-of-plane (bending) modes give the nonzero sound velocity. The dispersion of four in-plane modes is determined by coupled equations. Values of the force constants are found in fitting with frequencies at critical points and with elastic constants measured on graphite.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure