Use of a thick-film capillary column for the analysis of organic acids in body fluids

Contradictory evidence as to the effects of alcohol on early information processing stages has been obtained from behavioral and psychophysiological investigations. In the present study, choice reaction times, error rates, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a task in which variations in stimulus discriminability and of the (task irrelevant) correspondence between stimulus location and response location were orthogonally combined. Both discriminability and stimulus-response correspondence affected reaction time and electrophysiological chronometric measures as expected. However, no behavioral effects of alcohol were observed, possibly because of strategic adjustments. Psychophysiological chronometric measures indicated that alcohol leaves the initial flow of perceptual evidence to motor stages unimpaired, whereas it appears to increase the duration of stimulus evaluation. Interestingly, a number of alcohol effects appeared in the ERP amplitudes. Decrements in early ERP components indicate alcohol-induced impairments of involuntary visual attention and/or the automatic stimulus location-dependent activation of response channels. In contrast, a strong enhancement of a late slow-wave component under alcohol may reflect the investment of processing resources in order to maintain normal performance levels.     

A kinematic analysis of the modified flight telerobotic servicer manipulator system

A reverse analysis of a 6 degree of freedom (dof) subchain of a modified 7 dof flight telerobotic servicer (FTS) manipulator system is presented. The 6 dof subchain is designated as a TR-RT* chain. At the outset, it was considered that the reverse analysis would be similar to a TTT manipulator analyzed previously for which the third and fourth joints intersect at a finite point. This was not, however, the case and a sixteenth-degree tan-half-angle polynomial was derived for the TR-RT manipulator. The elimination procedure is interesting and much simpler than the procedures for the general case.     

Dynamic Policy-Based Network Management for a Secure Coalition Environment

This article reports the latest results of an R&D effort to develop a prototype implementation of a dynamic policy-based network management (PBNM) system that can be used to configure and manage a secure network for a coalition environment across an unsecured wide area network. The prototype, based on a distributed architecture, includes capabilities for policy creation and management, dynamic policy negotiation, and dynamic policy provisioning. The policy negotiation facilitates the rapid deployment of a coalition network while the dynamic policy provisioning automates the configuration and management of network services including firewalls, virtual private network connections, routing, quality of service (QoS), and domain name services. Such a PBNM system enhances an organization's ability to react to network incidents identified by a network situational awareness assessment. Although the focus of the current research is a military coalition environment, the system can be used in any distributed enterprise or collaborative environment     

Age-related response of male melon fliesDacus cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) to cue-lure

Laboratory-reared and wild adults of the melon fly,Dacus cucurbitae Coquillett, were tested for response to cue-lure at various ages. Virgin laboratory (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 days old) and wild (10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 days old) flies were released into outdoor field cages and trapped from 0800 until 1600 hr. Response of males to cue-lure increased with age and corresponded with sexual maturity for each strain. Females of both strains were relatively nonresponsive to cue-lure. Failure to eradicate in past male annihilation programs againstD. cucurbitae may be explained in part by the fact that only older males, which may have already mated with gravid females, respond to cue-lure.     

Predictors of individual differences in mail-coding skills and their variation with ability level.

Personality and cognitive predictors of mail coding were investigated in 2 samples, 1 of high coding ability (N?=?56) and 1 of mixed ability (N?=?158). Two approaches to predicting correlates of skill within groups of differing ability were compared: P. L. Ackerman's (1988) ability theory and D. A. Norman and T. Shallice's (1985) account of levels of action control. The predictors of mail-coding skill varied with ability: Personality variables were more predictive among higher ability Ss, and cognitive measures were more predictive among lower ability Ss. Implications of the findings for theories of individual differences in skill are discussed. There were 2 main practical conclusions. First, the measures used were more predictive than a standard psychometric selection test. Second, correlates of skill may be different among unselected job applicants and among the subset of applicants hired for subsequent operational training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Embedded micromachined fiber-optic Fabry-Perot pressure sensors in aerodynamics applications

Small size, high bandwidth pressure sensors are required for instrumentation of probes and test models in aerodynamic studies of complex unsteady flows. Optical-fiber pressure sensors promise potential advantages of small size and low cost in comparison with their electrical counterparts. We describe miniature Fabry-Perot cavity pressure sensors constructed by micromachining techniques in a turbine test application. The sensor bodies are 500 /spl mu/m squared, 300 /spl mu/m deep with a /spl sim/2 /spl mu/m-thick copper diaphragm electroplated on one face. The sensor cavity is formed between the diaphragm and the cleaved end of a single mode fiber sealed to the sensor by epoxy. Each sensor is addressed interferometrically in reflection by three wavelengths simultaneously, giving an unambiguous phase determination; a pressure sensitivity of 1.6 radbar/sup -1/ was measured, with a typical range of vacuum to 600 kPa. Five sensors were embedded in the trailing edge of a nozzle guide vane installed upstream of a rotor in a full-scale turbine stage transient test facility. Pressure signals in the trailing edge flow show marked structure at the 8 kHz blade passing frequency. To our knowledge, this is the first report of sensors located at the trailing edge of a normal-sized turbine blade.     

Water absorption properties of phosphate glass fiber‐reinforced poly‐ϵ‐caprolactone composites for craniofacial bone repair

The moisture uptake of polymers and composites has increasing significance where these materials are specified for invasive, long‐term medical applications. Here we analyze mass gain and the ensuing degradation mechanisms in phosphate glass fiber reinforced poly‐?‐caprolactone laminates. Specimens were manufactured using in situ polymerization of ?‐caprolactone around a bed of phosphate glass fibers. The latter were sized with 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane to control the rate of modulus degradation. Fiber content was the main variable in the study, and it was found that the moisture diffusion coefficient increased significantly with increasing fiber volume fraction. Diffusion, plasticization, and leaching of constituents appear to be the dominant aspects of the process over these short‐term tests. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008