Guest Post: Fear and Loathing at Shiloh

Everyone is and has been talking about the Shiloh 150th commemoration, whether it be the NPS event starting this week or the battle reenactment that took place this past weekend. It has been called the \u27Antietam of the West.\u27 All the events surrounding its 150th anniversary have been heralded as being one of \u27the big ones\u27 this year. Over 23,000 casualties of both sides in two days - a pretty significant and bloody battle. [excerpt

Variants of Schroeder Dissections

Some formulae are given for the enumeration of certain types of dissections of the convex (n+2)-gon by non-crossing diagonals. The classical Schroeder and Motzkin numbers are addressed using a cataloguing tool, the "reversive symbol". The elementary details are referred to three Web addresses.Comment: 2 page

Peripheral Constraint Versus On-line Programming in Rapid Aimed Sequestial Movements

The purpose of this investigation was to examine how the programming and control of a rapid aiming sequence shifts with increased complexity. One objective was to determine if a preprogramming/peripheral constraint explanation is adequate to characterize control of an increasingly complex rapid aiming sequence, and if not, at what point on-line programming better accounts for the data. A second objective was to examine when on-line programming occurs. Three experiments were conducted in which complexity was manipulated by increasing the number of targets from 1 to 11. Initiation- and execution-timing patterns, probe reaction time, and movement kinematics were measured. Results supported the peripheral constraint/pre-programming explanation for sequences up to 7 targets if they were executed in a blocked fashion. For sequences executed in a random fashion (one length followed by a different length), preprogramming did not increase with complexity, and on-line programming occurred without time cost. Across all sequences there was evidence that the later targets created a peripheral constraint on movements to previous targets. We suggest that programming is influenced by two factors: the overall spatial trajectory, which is consistent with Sidaway’s subtended angle hypothesis (1991), and average velocity, with the latter established based on the number of targets in the sequence. As the number of targets increases, average velocity decreases, which controls variability of error in the extent of each movement segment. Overall the data support a continuous model of processing, one in which programming and execution co-occur, and can do so without time cost

Manual control analysis of drug effects on driving performance

The effects of secobarbital, diazepam, alcohol, and marihuana on car-driver transfer functions obtained using a driving simulator were studied. The first three substances, all CNS depressants, reduced gain, crossover frequency, and coherence which resulted in poorer tracking performance. Marihuana also impaired tracking performance but the only effect on the transfer function parameters was to reduce coherence

FOOD DISTRIBUTION CHANGES FROM A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

Agribusiness,

Vehicle Steering control: A model of learning

A hierarchy of strategies were postulated to describe the process of learning steering control. Vehicle motion and steering control data were recorded for twelve novices who drove an instrumented car twice a week during and after a driver training course. Car-driver describing functions were calculated, the probable control structure determined, and the driver-alone transfer function modelled. The data suggested that the largest changes in steering control with learning were in the way the driver used the lateral position cue

Householder transformations and optimal linear combinations

Several theorems related to the Householder transformation and separability criteria are proven. Orthogonal transformations, topology, divergence, mathematical matrices, and group theory are discussed