Modeling aviation baggage screening security systems: a case study

Aviation security protects vital national interests, as well as passengers and aircraft. Key components of an aviation security system include baggage and passenger screening devices and operations. Determining how and where to assign (deploy) such devices can be quite challenging. Moreover, even after such systems are in place, it can be difficult to measure their effectiveness. This paper describes how discrete optimization models can be used to address these questions, based on three performance measures that quantify the effectiveness of airport baggage screening security device systems. These models are used to solve for optimal airport baggage screening security device deployments considering the number of passengers on a set of flights who have not been cleared using a security risk assessment system in use by the Federal Aviation Administration (i.e., passengers whose baggage is subjected to screening), the number of flights in this set, and the size of the aircraft for such flights. Several examples are provided to illustrate these results, including an example that uses data available from the Official Airline Guide.     

Nanocrystalline Ni coatings strengthened with ultrafine particles

In this study, nanocrystalline Ni powders and thermally sprayed coatings, containing ultrafine AlN particles, were synthesized and characterized. The results indicated that the presence of AlN particles in the powders drastically decreased the dimension of agglomerates formed by cryomilling and increased the surface roughness of the agglomerates. The AlN phase was broken down into ultrafine particles of approximately 30 nm in size. These particles were dispersed in the Ni matrix and enhanced the development of a nanocrystalline structure in the Ni matrix during cryomilling. Selected-area diffraction patterns, obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray mapping with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confirmed the presence of AlN particles in the coatings. The presence of AlN particles also led to an increase in the amount of NiO phase that was distributed in the coating, in the form of ultrafine, round particles. AlN particles increased the microhardness of the Ni coating by approximately 60 pct. Indentation-fracture results also indicated that the fine, dispersed AlN particles raised the apparent toughness of the Ni coating. The synthesized Ni coatings containing ultrafine AlN particles were characterized as equiaxed nanocrystalline grains with an average size of 24 nm, in which twins were observed. The increase in microhardness resulted from both grain refinement and the presence of ultrafine particles. The latter played the primary role in strengthening.     

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems is complex. Developing a measure of performance useful for evaluating alternate designs continues to be interesting. Here, total productivity of the system is proposed as an appropriate measure. Specification of parameters based upon strategic considerations for this measure are discussed. Finally, the usefulness of the measure is demonstrated through an example.     

Expressed emotion, social skill, and response to negative affect in schizophrenia.

Examined social skills and social perception of 48 schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients (aged 18–55 yrs) in response to negative affect as a function of family expressed emotion (EE). Ss participated in a role-play test, a social perception test, and a problem-solving discussion with a family member and were assessed on several measures of symptomatology. EE of family members was evaluated with the Camberwell Family Interview. On the role-play test, Ss with less critical relatives became more assertive in response to increased negative affect from a confederate portraying either a family member or friend, but Ss with highly critical relatives did not. Ss with highly critical relatives were also less assertive when confronted with negative affect from a confederate portraying a family member rather than a friend. The behaviors of both relatives and Ss during a family problem-solving interaction were related to the EE dimensions of criticism, emotional overinvolvement, and warmth. Patient gender was also related to family problem solving but was independent of EE. S's ratings of affect on a videotaped social perception task were not related to family EE, and there were few differences in psychopathology between Ss with high and low EE relatives.… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversing the Lecture/Homework Paradigm Using eTEACH® Web‐based Streaming Video Software

A new online streaming video and multi‐media application called eTEACH, http:eTEACH.engr.wisc.edu was used to reform a large, lecture‐based computer science course for engineering majors. In‐class lectures were replaced with videotaped lectures and other materials that students viewed on the Internet on their own schedule, making it possible to use the live class periods for small, team problem‐solving sessions facilitated by the professors and a teaching assistant. By using the eTEACH application to transform course lectures into “homework” and free up the face‐to‐face class time for working on problems that were similar to homework assignments, the professors effectively reversed the lecture and homework paradigm of a typical large lecture course. A thorough course evaluation over two semesters showed that students who took the online lecture version of the course gave significantly higher ratings to all aspects of the course, including lecture usefulness, professor responsiveness, the course overall, and the instructor. Although a few students missed having the opportunity to ask questions during lectures, about two‐thirds of the 531 students surveyed felt it was easier to take notes and understand the lectures presented via eTEACH than it would have been while attending the same lecture live, and 78% of students appreciated the ability to view and review course lectures on their own schedule.     

Depressed mood does not explain neuropsychological deficits in HIV-infected persons.

The relationship of depressed mood to cognitive disturbance in HIV infection was examined in a sample of 139 homosexual men. Ss were grouped according to the classification of the Centers for Disease Control: 39 were in Group IV, 62 were in Group II or Group III, and 38 were HIV-negative. Ss completed the Profile of Mood States and 10 neuropsychological tests. Analysis employing a classification approach indicated that, although symptoms of depression and neuropsychological impairment were more common in Ss who were HIV-positive, particularly those classified as Group IV, there were no systematic relationships between depression and neuropsychological impairment. Depressed mood and cognitive disturbance each seem to have unique associations to HIV illness status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The differential effectiveness of group psychotherapy: A meta-analytic perspective.

The differential effectiveness of group psychotherapy was estimated in a meta-analysis of 111 experimental and quasi-experimental studies published over the past 20 years. A number of client, therapist, group, and methodological variables were examined in an attempt to determine specific as well as generic effectiveness. Three different effect sizes were computed: active versus wait list, active versus alternative treatment, and pre- to posttreatment improvement rates. The active versus wait list overall effect size (0.58) indicated that the average recipient of group treatment is better off than 72% of untreated controls. Improvement was related to group composition, setting, and diagnosis. Findings are discussed within the context of what the authors have learned about group treatment, meta-analytic studies of the extant group literature, and what remains for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimization of a Ductile-Particle-Toughened Ceramic

The nature of the interfacial bond has a major effect on the degree of toughening that can be achieved in a ductile-particle-reinforced ceramic-matrix composite. The effect of variation of oxygen partial pressure during fabrication on the bonding in an alumina-nickel composite has been investigated. Calculations suggest that wetting of alumina by nickel should always be accompanied by spinel (NiAl₂O₄ formation. A range of microstructures within a single specimen have been produced, however, indicating that wetting occurs more rapidly than spinel formation and that reduction of oxygen partial pressure during the hot-pressing process can prevent spinel formation after wetting has occurred. Within this specimen, interfaces that have been formed under nonwetting conditions or conditions under which spinel formation has occurred are weak, whereas wetting without spinel formation produces chemically strengthened and mechanically interlocked interfaces that lead to crack interaction with the metallic particles and a higher toughening increment than for other microstructures. Subsequent specimens fabricated from preconsolidation-heat-treated powder exhibit favorable microstructures throughout, are tougher, and show more-desirable resistance-curve behavior in double-cantilever-beam tests than specimens produced from unreacted powder.     

Interference effects from grammatically unavailable constituents during sentence processing.

Evidence from 3 experiments reveals interference effects from structural relationships that are inconsistent with any grammatical parse of the perceived input. Processing disruption was observed when items occurring between a head and a dependent overlapped with either (or both) syntactic or semantic features of the dependent. Effects of syntactic interference occur in the earliest online measures in the region where the retrieval of a long-distance dependent occurs. Semantic interference effects occur in later online measures at the end of the sentence. Both effects endure in offline comprehension measures, suggesting that interfering items participate in incorrect interpretations that resist reanalysis. The data are discussed in terms of a cue-based retrieval account of parsing, which reconciles the fact that the parser must violate the grammar in order for these interference effects to occur. Broader implications of this research indicate a need for a precise specification of the interface between the parsing mechanism and the memory system that supports language comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Network politics in an educational organization

The electronic mail (EM) network in a large, multi-campus community college district was used by some employees to gain support for positions contrary to those of the leadership. The case study offered an opportunity to look at technology within an organizational setting. It raised questions about the loose coupling of the educational organization's technical and authority systems, about the strength of coupling among employee groups during the incident, about the boundaries of the EM political activists, and about the power manifested within educational organization's technical and authority systems. A variety of research methods (stages of event progression, fantasy types associated with consciousness-building, and evidence of user technical and rhetorical skills) were used to answer questions about the organization's loosely coupled systems during the EM political incident. Notes were taken of conversations and more formal interviews. From this the technical and authority systems of the institution were described and compared. Results indicated that (1) the loose coupling of the technical and the authority systems made the EM political incident possible; (2) employees were more tightly coupled on organizational goals and more loosely coupled on organizational means; (3) political activists did not make full use of the EM's political medium potential; and (4) when the college district's administration refused to limit anyone's use of the EM network, they reinforced the integrity of both the authority and the technical systems.

Implications included: (1) the potential of some of the research methods for EM study, especially fantasy theme analysis; (2) a political interpretation of EM language, especially flaming; (3) the importance of technical and rhetorical skills for mature EM users; and (4) the role of the authority and technical systems in the debate about appropriate EM network use within an organization.