bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Approaches and Practices
Authors: Caernarven-Smith Patricia
Published: March 2007

With so many computers and so many software packages abroad in the land, the business- or technical-communication buyer may be thoroughly confused during the purchase process. Many such buyers turn to the reviews now avail able in magazines, journals, and business publications. Often, these reviews are seriously flawed: by the reviewer's lack of experience with similar systems, by the lack of adequate testing time, by ragged and inconsistent review crite ria, and by a mismatch between the reviewer's needs and the reader's. This article spells out minimum review criteria for software reviewers, seeking to aid the business- and technical-communication community in selecting soft ware.
Teaching Professional Communication in the Information Age: Problems in sustaining Relevance
Authors: Tebeaux Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

The teaching of professional communication must reflect the realities of the Information Age if our courses are to adequately prepare students for a work place that is being radically transformed by communication technology. Professional-communication instruction must reflect such changes as exces sive information, meaning lag, the conceptual nature of work in an informa tion society, the inextricable meshing of computers and communication, and the reality of global communications. Professional-communication theory must reflect the problem of excessive information. Audience analysis must take into account the realities imposed by computer conferencing and elec tronic mail. Assignments must teach students to transform raw data into in formation and then into communication for readers with various information requirements. The use of computers in writing instruction must be reexam ined to insure that the computer as a communication tool is effectively inte grated. International-communication strategies and protocols must be stud ied. Dictation instruction must be included.
Dependence of Adaptability on Environmental Structure in a Simple Evolutionary Model
Authors: Fletcher Jeffrey A. , Bedau Mark A. , Zwick Martin
Published: March 2007

This article concerns the relationship between the detectable and useful structure in an environment and the degree to which a population can adapt to that environment. We explore the hypothesis that adaptability will depend unimodally on environmental variety, and we measure this component of environmental structure using the information-theoretical uncertainty (Shannon entropy) of detectable environmental conditions. We define adaptability as the degree to which a certain kind of population successfully adapts to a certain kind of environment, and we measure adaptability by comparing a population's size to the size of a nonadapting, but otherwise comparable, population in the same environment. We study the relationship between adaptability and environmental structure in an evolving artificial population of sensorimotor agents that live, reproduce, and die in a variety of environments. We find that adaptability does not show a unimodal dependence on environmental variety alone, although there is justification for preserving our unimodal hypothesis if we consider other aspects of environmental structure. In particular, adaptability depends not just on how much structural information is detectable in the environment but also on the extent to which this information is unambiguous and valuable (i.e., whether the information accurately signals a difference that makes a difference). How best to measure and integrate these other components of environmental structure remains unresolved.
Layered Control Architectures in Robots and Vertebrates
Authors: Prescott Tony J. , Redgrave Peter , Gurney Kevin
Published: March 2007

We revieiv recent research in robotics, neuroscience, evolutionary neurobiology, and ethology with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we com pare Brooks' (1986) subsumption architecture for robot control with research in neuroscience demonstrating layered control systems in vertebrate brains, and with research in ethology that emphasizes the decomposition of control into multiple, intertwined behavior systems. From this perspective we then describe interesting parallels between the subsumption architecture and the natural layered behavior system that determines defense reactions in the rat. We then consider the action selection problem for robots and vertebrates and argue that, in addition to subsumption- like conflict resolution mechanisms, the vertebrate nervous system employs specialized selection mechanisms located in a group of central brain structures termed the basal ganglia. We suggest that similar specialized switching mechanisms might be employed in layered robot control archi tectures to provide effective and flexible action selection.
Bibliography of Cross-Cultural Studies: Supplement I
Authors: O'Leary Timothy J.
Published: March 2007

The first supplement to O'Leary's 1969 bibliography of cross-cultural studies is presented. Naroll's classification of types of hologeistic studies is followed, and the number of kinds of annotation is increased.
The Fear of Death in Primitive Societies
Authors: Lester David
Published: March 2007

The present study sought to test two hypotheses for correlates of the fear of death in nonliterate societies. Evidence was found for an associa tion between the use of love-oriented techniques of punishment and a high fear of death and for an association between a high need to achieve and a high fear of death.
The Prediction of Suicide and Homicide Rates Cross-Nationally by Means of Stepwise Multiple Regression
Authors: Lester David
Published: March 2007

Stepwise multiple regression techniques were used to find predictors of the male and female suicide and homicide rates in a sample of eighteen industrialized nations. The best predictors of both male and female suicide rates were the birth rate and the nation's need to affiliate. The best pre dictors of the male and female homicide rates were somewhat different: thunderstorm days and population density for the male rate, and ciga rette consumption and thunderstorms for the female rate.
Focused Ethnographic Bibliography: Standard Cross-Cultural Sample
Authors: White Douglas R.
Published: March 2007

This bibliography consists, for each society in the Standard Sample, of (1) the sources cited by each of the major studies that contributed extensive sets of coded ethnographic variables; (2) any new sources that have been published or become available or known to the author since the original "pinpointing" sheets were prepared; and (3) citations to all of the above sources that are contained, as of 1988, in the Human Relations Area Files (1976, updated 1985, 1988).
Women's Power, Children's Labor
Authors: Bradley Candice
Published: March 2007

Data coded for 91 Standard Cross-Cultural Sample Societies are used to examine the sexual division of labor between adults and children cross-culturally. Results from cross-tabulations of 15 adults' and children's activities in these societies indicate that women are the main recipients of the benefits of children's labor. The gender of the child is the main determinant of children's work assignment. Children of both genders in most societies perform women's activi ties, whereas girls rarely do men's activities in any society.
Being and Becoming Moral in a Chinese Culture: Unique or Universal?
Authors: Ting Lei
Published: March 2007

The state of being moral and the process of becoming moral was examined in a sample of 211 Chinese students from Taiwan who were divided into seven age groups. "Structured wholeness" was demonstrated by cross-sectional data that showed that moral mean ings associated with the self are organized coherently across different situations; this finding describes the state of being moral. With respect to the process of becoming moral, the longitudinal data suggested an invariant sequence of moral reasoning stages, with little retrogression or skipping of stages by most subjects. Social class but not gender had a positive although modest effect on rate of development. A comparison of the Chinese data with previous American and Israeli data points to basic cross-cultural similari ties in terms of sequence of stages and rate of development.
Sex, Science, and Social Responsibility: Cross-Cultural Research on Same-Sex Eroticism and Sexual Intolerance
Authors: Bolton Ralph
Published: March 2007

Efforts to contain the global AIDS pandemic have dramatically and urgently increased the need for fundamental information on human sexuality in all cultures. Unfortunately, this crisis has also revealed the deplorable poverty of the cross-cultural research record in this domain. The author focuses on the scientific contributions made by comparativists to our understanding ofboth same-sex eroticism and sexual intolerance and argues that social and behavioral scien tists, including cross-culturalists, need to give higher priority to research on controversial subjects on applied problems and on issues of human rights and social justice, including those related to sexual orientation.
Yin and Yang: Musings While Meandering the "Bits-of-Data Bikepath"
Authors: Starr B. James
Published: March 2007

This article examines some of the scientific, cultural, and social ramifications of our cultural courtship with the concepts of relativism and pluralism. Western social science, with U.S. hegemony, has come full circle from early absolutist tendencies to a more widely accepting posture. The orientation is of whole cloth with current U.S. culture in many realms where a sometimes virulent form of relativism pervades many of our social and moral judgments and actions. Although the orientation may be transitory, many of its features can inform us in valuable ways on a variety of our endeavors.
Antonymy and Semantic Relations: The Case for a Linguistic Universal
Authors: Raybeck Douglas , Herrmann Douglas
Published: March 2007

There is an enduring debate concerning the degree to which linguis tic phenomena are culturally specific or universal. We review evi dence that suggests that many linguistic processes are cross-culturally common and likely to be a function of human physiology, but we also acknowledge strong evidence for particularistic linguistic phe nomena relating to content and communication context. In support of our position, we examine subject responses to semantic relations in nine different cultures. Consistent with cognitive theories, we find a pronounced pattern of cross-cultural agreement concerning the manner in which antonyms are employed. In an effort to assess the interaction between judgments of semantic relations and the cul tural context of subjects, we have conducted a detailed analysis of the responses of Kelantan, Malay, subjects to a set of 15 semantic relations. The results continue to support an argument for the universality of antonymic meaning.
The Essential Tension Between Particularism and Generalization
Authors: Frayser Suzanne G.
Published: March 2007

As a researcher at the Cross-Cultural Cumulative Coding Center, I worked closely with Murdock in developing the codes and coding the data for the settlement patterns/community organization and theories of illness codes. While there I experienced the angst of accommodating my training in the particularistic tradition of British social anthropology to Murdock's emphasis on the cross- cultural method and generalization. In reconciling these seemingly disparate perspectives, I received not only an invaluable education in cultural patterns worldwide but also a theoretical and methodological perspective that encourages a meticulous interdisciplinary examination of the concepts, data, and conclusions used to support generalizations in social science.
Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in Singapore
Authors: Tay Lynette S. , Gibbons Judith L.
Published: March 2007

Adolescents (246, ages 12 through 15 years) attending four Singaporean secondary schools from three categories (nonselective, moderately selective, and highly selective) completed the Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), rated the importance of 10 characteristics of the ideal woman and man, and drew the ideal person in an activity. Less traditional attitudes toward women's roles were found among girls than among boys, and among students attending highly selective schools compared to those at tending a nonselective school. Ratings of the importance of qualities of the ideal person also varied by school category and by gender. Differences by school category remained significant after covarying out indicators of socioeconomic status and primary language spoken at home. The school setting may provide a context in which gender ideologies and values of adolescents develop.
Hawaiian Humpback Whales and ATOC: A Conflict of Interests
Authors: Herman Louis M.
Published: March 2007

The island of Kauai has been selected as a site for the transmission of high-intensity low-frequency sounds as part of the ATOC project. However, Kauai is also a winter habitat of increasing importance to humpback whales and endangered species. Major reproductive activities-seeking and finding mates, and bearing and rearing calves-take place in Kauai and other areas of the humpback's winter range. At Kauai, male whales produce long, complex songs throughout the winter months. The songs are dynamic in composition but all singers tend to converge on the same rendition at the same time, indicating they are listening to one another. Also, females may derive information from the song about the singer's desirability or fitness as a mate. Components of the song lie within the frequency band of the ATOC signal. During ATOC transmissions these components will be partially masked, making them less detectable or recognizable to listening whales, and thereby degrading auditory communication. Also, whales residing in the waters of north Kauai for extended periods will be exposed to the potentially stressful effects of the high ambient noise levels produced byATOC transmissions, but these effects will be difficult to detect by any behavioral monitoring program. It is recommended, therefore, that the ATOC project seek an alternative site for its sound transmissions that is not regularly inhabited by humpback whales or other endangered baleen whales having low-frequency hearing. Several alternative sites are suggested.
Cytokines and Virus Proteins: Modulators of Glial Electrophysiological Properties
Authors: Köller Hubertus , Fischer Hans-Georg
Published: March 2007

Cytokines are released during acute and chronic inflammatory diseases of the CNS and activate receptors on glial cells, thereby inducing various effects such as proliferation, expression of major histocompatibility complex genes or secretion of growth factors. Here, we summarize current evidence indicating that K+ currents, Ca 2+ currents, and the activity of ion transporters on astrocytes, microglial cells, and oligodendrocytes are also affected by cytokines. In disease states with associated elevated cytokine titers, such alterations in electrophysiological properties of glial cells might contribute to the patho genesis of neurological symptoms. NEUROSCIENTIST 5:142-146, 1999
Modal Filters and Neural Networks for Adaptive Vibration Control
Authors: Bosse Albert , Lim Tae W. , Shelley Stuart
Published: March 2007

An adaptive control algorithm is investigated for the vibration suppression of a space truss structure using modal filters for independent modal space control and a neural network for online system identification. The modal filters are computed off-line using measured frequency response functions and estimated pole values for the modes of interest. They are used to conduct transformation of response measurements from physical coordinates to modal coordinates. The time histories in the modal coordinates are then processed in real time by the neural network to extract estimates of modal parameters, namely, natural frequency, damping ratio, and modal gain. To examine the performance of the adaptive control approach, a controller was designed using the modal filters and implemented on a laboratory space truss using a single reaction-mass actuator and 32 accelerometers. The performance of the modal filter-based controller is compared to that of a local rate feedback controller using the same actuator. The applicability of the neural network to adaptive control was demonstrated by real-time estimation of the modal parameters of the truss with and without control. Because the modal filter control gain can be adjusted to maintain a desired closed-loop damping ratio, which is tracked by the neural network, adaptive control of individual modes in a time-varying system is possible. Eventually, this type of adaptive controller will help develop a control system that can maintain desired closed- loop performance characteristics under significant modal parameter variations.
A Nonclassical Vibration Absorber for Pendulation Reduction
Authors: Lacarbonara Walter , Soper R. Randall , Nayfeh Ali H. , Mook Dean T.
Published: March 2007

A passive vibration absorber for reducing the motion of a planar pendulum is developed. The system is excited by the horizontal motion of the support. The design transforms the original one-degree-of- freedom pendulum into a double pendulum by adding a small secondary pendulating sacrificial mass between the main system and the base excitation point and two pretensioned springs that generate negative restoring moments (i.e., of opposite sign to that of the gravity-induced restoring moments). Optimal conditions for enhancing the transfer of energy from the main (lower) to the secondary (upper) pendulum are sought. The damping is assumed to be of a linear viscous-type. Due to the action of the springs, the transfer function between the pendulation angle of the main system and the disturbance, in the undamped linearized case, can be reduced to zero for any excitation frequency This is accomplished by requiring that the two spring stiffnesses satisfy an algebraic tuning relation. Due to the inherent inertial coupling, the two normal coordi nates are coupled through off-diagonal terms in the damping matrix. Hence, the vibration absorber acts to block the transfer of disturbance energy to the main system while enhancing the transfer of energy due to initial conditions from the main pendulum to the secondary pendulum. The absorber design is based on a frequency-domain approach borrowed from linear theory. Therefore, to corroborate the effectiveness of the absorber in the nonlinear operating regime (for higher excitation levels), representative responses to initial conditions and frequency-response curves are computed by applying a path-following algorithm to the full nonlinear governing equations. The overall effect of the design is somehow a "linearization" of the system behavior with increased damping properties. In fact, the proposed absorber reduces the response of the sys tem by more than 30 decibels near resonance, exhibits good attenuation characteristics in a broad range of frequencies away from resonance, and remarkably improves the initial-condition response.
System Parameter Adaptive Control of a Spring Supported Truss Member
Authors: Haslach Henry W.
Published: March 2007

Structures that are described by bifurcating static and dynamic systems can deform drastically when parameters are varied so that the system passes through a degenerate singularity. An important nonlinear control problem for adaptive structures, in which the load is a bifurcation parameter, is to return the structure to its undeformed position by controlling a structure parameter other than the load. A simple structure whose behavior undergoes bifurcation as the load varies is a spring and pin supported rigid truss member. The critical point of its Hamiltonian pitchfork bifurcation corresponds to the cusp catastrophe degenerate singularity of its potential function. A diffeomorphic coordinate change reduces the potential to its four-jet, which determines the dynamic behavior. For this four-jet, under a fixed load greater than the critical value, two dynamic control schemes are proposed to return the system to its undeformed configuration. One strategy, which is robust and global and which requires damping, varies a structural parameter at a constant rate to shift the critical bifurcation value in state-control space. A slower and less robust method is a closed-loop feedback control, which stabilizes a center manifold approximation to the dynamic system at the critical point without using damping.
An Experimental Investigation of Energy Transfer from a High- Frequency Mode to a Low-Frequency Mode in a Flexible Structure
Authors: Popovic Pavol , Nayfeh Ali H. , Oh Kyoyul , Nayfeh Samir A.
Published: March 2007

The objective of the present article is to experimentally observe and characterize the transfer of energy from low-amplitude, high-frequency modes to high-amplitude, low-frequency modes. The subject of the study is a three-beam frame. The excitation amplitude is restricted to below 2 g peak. The authors have focused on observing, characterizing, and documenting the excitation of the first mode by high-frequency forcing. The energy-transfer processes are identified by power spectra and characterized further by frequency and amplitude sweeps. The energy-transfer routes observed in the experiment are subharmonic resonance of order one-half, combination resonance of the additive type, and interaction between widely spaced modes. In the latter route, an excitation at a frequency that is more than 100 times the first-mode frequency has been observed to excite the first mode.
Nonlinear Interaction of Acoustical Waves Due to Cracks and Its Possible Usage for Cracks Detection
Authors: Zaitsev V. Yu. , Sutin A.M. , Belyaeva I. Yu. , Nazarov V.E.
Published: March 2007

An interaction of a CW acoustic wave and a powerful acoustic pulse due to nonlinear properties of a crack-type discontinuity in a solid is considered. Characteristics of nonstationary variations of the reflected wave amplitude and the phase of the transmitted wave, which are induced by the powerful pulse, are determined. The effects should allow one to distinguish cracks from other scatterers and can be used as a base of a new method of crack detection and positioning. Demonstrative signal estimates based on two simplified crack models are presented.
Digital Adaptive Flutter Suppression and Simulation Using Approximate Transonic Aerodynamics
Authors: Pak Chan-Gi , Friedmann Peretz P. , Livne Eli
Published: March 2007

A digital adaptive controller, using a trailing edge control surface, is introduced for the active flutter suppression of wings undergoing time varying flight conditions. The aeroservoelastic system is modeled in the time domain by a deterministic Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model together with a parameter estimator. Linear quadratic controller gains at each time step are obtained using an iterative Riccati solver. Aeroservoelastic transient response is obtained using Roger's approximation, state transition matrices, and an iterative time marching algorithm. Simulations of system performance for flights into the transonic speed regime are used to demonstrate suppression of flutter and divergence instabilities.
Time Optimal Attitude Control of Asymmetric Rigid Spacecraft
Authors: Byers R.M.
Published: March 2007

Time optimal rest-to-rest reorientation of a rigid spacecraft with an arbitrary initial attitude and distinct principal moments of inertia is discussed. The effect of the gyroscopic coupling terms in Euler's equations on the control switch times is shown. A method for recursively generating coefficients for a truncated Taylor series solution of Euler's equations and the differential equations for the Euler parameter state transition matrix is shown. These solutions are used to solve for the optimal control switch times.
Free Vibration Analysis of Symmetrical Cylindrical Honeycomb Panels by Using the Finite Strip Method
Authors: Xuanli Hu
Published: March 2007

Finite strip analysis is used for evaluation of natural frequencies and modes of symmetrical, cylindrical honeycomb panels. First, the strip element matrices are given. The convergence of high-order natural frequencies versus strip division and the constraint conditions at the straight ends are discussed in detail. It is found that some natural frequencies predicted are independent of the strip division, and the finite strip analysis always gives one more frequencies than do the analytical solutions. All of these problems are discussed in detail.
Parametric Identification of Chaotic Systems
Authors: Yuan C.M. , Feeny B.F.
Published: March 2007

Parameters are identified in chaotic systems. Periodic orbits are first extracted from a chaotic set. The harmonic-balance method is applied to these periodic orbits, resulting in a linear equation in the unknown parameters, which can then be solved in the least squares sense. The idea is applied numerically to forced and autonomous systems. The effects of noise and errors in the periodic orbit extraction are outlined. The benefit of extracting several periodic orbits from the chaotic set is revealed.
A Maximum Principle for Optimal Control Using Spatially Distributed Pointwise Controllers
Authors: Sadek I.S. , Sloss J.M. , Adali S. , Bruch J.C.
Published: March 2007

The problem of characterizing optimal controls for a class of damped distributed parameter systems is considered. The system is governed by a variable-coefficient, linear-partial differential equation involving up to second-order time derivatives and up to fourth-order space derivatives of the state variable. Pointwise controllers extending over the spatial region occupied by the system are considered. A class of performance indexes is introduced that includes convex functions of the state velocity, spatial state derivatives, and the control force. The state variable and its derivatives are evaluated at a preassigned terminal time. A maximum principle is given that facilitates the determination of the optimal control, which is shown to be unique. The use of the maximum principle is demonstrated by determining the optimal pointwise control of the vibrations for a uniform undamped Euler-Bernoulli beam.
Diagnosing Spindle Defects Using 4-D Holospectrum
Authors: Chen Yuedong , Du R.
Published: March 2007

A spindle is one of the most commonly used mechanical devices in many industrial sectors, such as the large rotating machinery industry and the machine tool industry. Diagnosing spindle defects, such as unbalance, misalignment, and crack, plays a very important role in reducing operation and maintenance costs. This article presents a new method of diagnosing spindle defects using a newly developed sensor signal processing technique called four-dimensional (4-D) holospectrum. The experimental results show that the spindle defects, including unbalance, misalignment, and crack, have distinct features in the 4-D holospectrum. Compared to the conventional spectral analysis and/or modal analysis methods, the 4-D holospectrum method is more suitable for computer-automated diagnosis.
Rigid Body and Nonlinear Mount Identification : Application to Onboard Equipment With Hysteretic Suspension
Authors: Gjika K. , Dufour R.
Published: March 2007

This article describes a step-by-step procedure for improving the dynamic behavior of a rigid body mounted on a linear flexible structure with nonlinear hysteretic suspension. Special attention is paid to the inertia property identification carried out with an original experimental technique. The hysteretic suspen sion parameters are measured with a specific device. Condensation and modal methods permit reducing the number of equations of the finite element model of the structure with localized nonlinearities. The technique (numerical and experimental) is applied to an onboard camera that, under real operating conditions, is carried externally on a helicopter. As the model is validated by experiments, the simulated modification, which better reduces the vibration level of the camera, is retained. The new assembly has been designed and successfully tested.
An Automated Design Technique for Nonlinear Structures and Controllers
Authors: Song X. , Schulz M.J. , Pai P.F. , Naser A.S.
Published: March 2007

A design technique to simultaneously optimize the structure and controller to suppress vibration of nonlinear structures is presented. Newmark-beta explicit time integration is used to solve the nonlinear ordinary differential equations describing the closed-loop system. Computations in the integration only in volve addition and multiplication of sparse matrices, and thus it is feasible to carry out the solution for a large number of time steps. The structure and controller parameters are optimized to drive the forced nonlinear system to its zero equilibrium solution using the minimum control force. Computations in the optimization are streamlined by computing the gradients of the design variables in closed form, or semianalytically, de pending on the type of finite elements used in the model. No additional function evaluations or recursion are required to compute the gradient. A nonlinear truss is modeled using a geometrically exact structural the ory to test the nonlinear design technique. The nonlinear behavior of the truss and the optimization of the nonlinear structure and design of linear and nonlinear controllers are discussed.
A Theoretical and Experimental Study of the Vibratory Dynamics of High-Precision Optical Positioning Systems
Authors: Basdogan I. , Royston T.J.
Published: March 2007

At the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation facility at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), high-precision optical positioning systems are needed to conduct a wide range of experiments using the high-brilliance X-ray beam. Precision may be compromised by low-level, low- frequency vibrations from flow-structure interactions in the cooling systems and from facility-based distur bances propagating through the floor. To predict the vibratory response of the positioning systems, a linearized multibody formulation has been developed. It has been applied to specific example cases—an optical table and a mirror support system—used at the experimental stations of the APS. Comparisons of resonant fre quency and mode shape predictions based on the theoretical formulation with experimental measurements il lustrate the crucial importance of properly modeling the kinematic joints and components that comprise these multibody structures. Improved experimental and theoretical methods have been introduced to estimate their dynamic properties. The results obtained by theory compare well with experimental findings. The proposed methodology is precise and generic in predicting the coupled multidimensional, multi-degree-of-freedom vi bratory motion of the positioning systems for the given positioning configurations. It is easily adaptable to numerous systems at the APS and similar facilities.
Effect of Humps on the Dynamic Response of Single-Span Bridges
Authors: Al-Khaleefi Abdulateef M. , Abdel-Rohman Mohamed
Published: March 2007

This paper investigates the effect of trapezoidal and sinusoidal humps on the dynamic response of single-span bridges. The humps exist due to several factors such as the braking action of heavy trucks, artificial barriers to reduce vehicle speed, and misalignment at the bridge expansion joints. The bridge is modeled as a single-span beam with simple or hinged-hinged supports. The authors study the effects of hump type, the hump's location on the bridge, and characteristics of the hump that affect the bridge's deflection and acceleration responses. The effects of the hump parameters are studied with other parameters that affect the dynamic response of the bridge, such as vehicle speed and tire stiffness.
The Changing Clinical Applications of Newer Antipsychotic Drugs
Authors: O'Connor Francine L.
Published: March 2007

The printing and distribution of this supplement to the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association are supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc.
Professional Progress Notes
Authors: Billings Carolyn V.
Published: March 2007

Professional Progress Notes reports innovations, ideas, and insights relevant to the advancement of psychiatric nurs ing. Readers are encouraged to contribute their observations about front line issues, new approaches to care, and other related matters for inclusion in this regular feature.
Showcasing the Skilled Business Graduate: Expanding the Tool Kit
Authors: Moody Janette , Stewart Brent , Bolt-Lee Cynthia
Published: March 2007

To aid in selecting employees, recruiters use such tools as the interview, resume, academic portfolio, and videos. However, these tools are not equally effective in helping job candidates showcase specific skills during the hiring process. In a survey, we asked recruiters about the skills they seek in applicants and the best method for students to demonstrate those skills. The top five skills sought, not unexpectedly, are 1: communication (oral and written); 2. computer literacy; 3. interpersonal/social; 4. critical thinking/leadership (tied); and 5. teamwork. Recruiters still favored the resume and interview as methods for demonstrating these skills, but they also felt a portfolio was useful in providing evidence of these skills in context. None recommended video presentation. Based on this study, we suggest that instructors provide students with explicit instruction on developing resumes and portfolios and in performing well in interviews.
Human Subjects Research by Business Students: Beyond the Red Tape
Authors: Jenson Jill D. , Mackiewicz Jo , Riley Kathryn
Published: March 2007

Business communication faculty often assign projects that require students to interview, survey, or observe human subjects. Depending on the nature of the project and the policies at the faculty member's university, such projects may require prior approval by the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB). Therefore, business communication faculty will benefit from an understanding of three areas related to IRB review of class projects involving human subjects research: (1) whether their institution requires such class projects to be reviewed by the university's IRB and, if so, what form the review takes; (2) how they can adapt classroom activities, materials, and assignments so that human subjects research by students complies with IRB policies; and (3) how they can relate IRB policies to issues that students may face in their future professional lives.
Helping Interviewees Tell Their Stories
Authors: Ralston Steven M. , Kirkwood William G. , Burant Patricia A.
Published: March 2007

Employers' use of behavioral description interviews has increased dramatically within the past decade. Yet the pedagogical literature geared toward helping appli cants respond to these unique interviewing questions has not kept pace. Evidence shows that behavioral description questions require respondents to tell stories and that storytelling is now critical to applicants' success in employment interviews. We present criteria by which to judge the effectiveness of applicants' stories and demonstrate how business communication instructors might use these criteria to help applicants tell better stories. Specifically, the criteria presented in this article are : To what degree is a story internally consistent? To what degree is a story con sistent with facts the listener holds to be true? To what degree is a story relevant to the question asked and the claim being made? To what degree is a story univocal? To what degree does a story provide details that support the claim being made? How does the way a story is told reflect the teller's beliefs and values?
Shared Teaching Models for Business Communication in a Research Environment
Authors: Booth Rosemary , Dixon-Brown Melody , Kohut Gary
Published: March 2007

Shared teaching, also known as team teaching, is an innovative way to balance teaching and research. Shared teaching benefits students by providing the perspec tive of two or more professors in one class. Such an approach also benefits profes sors by giving them more concentrated time for their research. A review of the lit erature on the topic and examination of two distinct shared teaching models show that shared teaching has advantages and challenges for both faculty and students and is a viable option for reallocating resources.
From Swoosh to Swoon: Linguistic Analysis of Nike's Changing Image
Authors: Levin Leslie A. , Behrens Susan J.
Published: March 2007

Our research models one way in which linguistic theory can be applied to the study of business communication. Specifically, we use linguistic theory to analyze how Nike's image is created through internal and external forms of communication. We find a parallel use of positive images in communication created by both Nike and the media from the early 1980s to the late 1990s and a divergence of images when Nike is accused of labor violations. Introducing language analysis challenges busi ness students to assess carefully the structure of business communication in order to evaluate the reality behind the image.
Using Case Studies for International Business Communication Training
Authors: Zhao Jensen J.
Published: March 2007

Business students must possess the abilities of discovery, problem solving, and collaboration in international and cross-cultural business communication and management when entering a competitive, knowledge-based global econ omy. This paper describes how the case method can be used in business com munication classes to help students develop such important abilities. First, the paper defines the instructional rationale and the case-selection criteria. Then, the paper offers a step-by-step approach using a current international busi ness communication case as an example for case study activities.
A Focus on Focus Groups
Authors: Quible Zane K.
Published: March 2007

Focus groups provide users with valuable qualitative data not readily obtained with any other data-collection techniques. First developed for market researchers to determine the present or potential impact of a product or ser vice, focus groups also help administrators and developers gain information about programs, assess the effectiveness of healthcare and family-planning projects, design political campaigns, and evaluate graduate programs and research efforts, among other data-collection tasks. Business communication classes provide an excellent setting for learning about focus groups and putting such a process into practice.
Guiding Students in Finding information on the Web
Authors: Quible Zane K.
Published: March 2007

Searching for information on the Web can be a daunting, frustrating, mind-bog gling, and sometimes-futile activity. To increase the odds of finding the right infor mation, one needs to understand the operation of four search tools: Web directo ries, search engines, indexes, and spiders or robots. Understanding Boolean logic also helps. Business communication instructors can aid students in their research by introducing them to the terminology and functions of an efficient Web search process.
Interactions between water and EVOH food packaging films / Interacciones entre el agua y películas de EVOH para el envasado de alimentos
Authors: Aucejo S. , Catalá R. , Gavara R.
Published: March 2007

The transport of water in four EVOH copolymers commonly used in high barrier food packages was characterized through permeation (continuous flow) and gravimetric experiments at different rela tive humidities and 23 ± 2°C. Water sorption isotherms were fitted with the D'Arcy and Watts' equa tion. From these data, the value of the solubility coefficient (S, as defined by Henry's law) was deter mined and was found constant within a 0.2-0.75 water activity ( aw) range. Water uptake at the same aw increased as the EVOH ethylene content decreased. The permeability coefficient ( P) for water through EVOH was determined as a function of water activity. The permeability was constant within the range of 0.3-0.75 aw and decreased with EVOH ethylene content. At high relative humidities ( aw > 0.75) the value of permeability increased by up to two orders of magnitude. In this range, the higher the ethylene content the lesser the value of P.
Review: Use of the fruits and stems of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.) into human food
Authors: López A. Domínguez
Published: March 2007

The main aspects concerning the use of the young stems and fruits of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.) into human food are discussed. Topics considered include an overview of the prickly pear ecological characteristics, the biochemical composition of the cladodes and fruits, their postharvest behavior, and the possibilities of their industrial transformation and conservation. The food potential for all parts of the fruits and stems are reviewed. The prickly pears are a group of cactus species adapted to semiarid conditions and native to the American continent. Owing to crassulacean acid metabolism, these plants show a high water-use efficiency, they have a high relatively potential of biomass production, and they are extremely drought tolerant. Their fruits are highly regarded and consumed around the world. The tender young pads are an important part of the food in Mexico and in southern United States, and the mature cladodes are used as animal fodder.
Revisión: Espectro antimicrobiano, estructura, propiedades y mode de acción de la nisina, una bacteriocina producida por Lactococcus lactis/Review: Antimicrobial spectrum, structure, properties and mode of action of nisin, a bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis
Authors: Rodríguez J.M.
Published: March 2007

Nisin is a 34 amino acid antibacterial peptide produced by certain strains of Lactococcus lactis. This bacteriocin has found wide application as a food preservative owing to its non-toxic nature, its heat stability at acidic pH, its inactivation by proteolytic enzymes in the digestive tract and, especially, to its antimicrobial activity against a broad range of Gram-positive organisms, including food pathogens of concern in food industry such as Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes. However, the use of nisin has the limitation that its solubility and stability decrease progressively as the environ mental pH increases. The two natural variants of nisin, named nisin A and nisin Z, are ribosomally synthesized as 57 amino acid precursor peptides which are subjected to further modifications. The mature peptide displays several unusual features, such as the presence of dehydrated amino acids and lanthionine rings. Insertion of the peptide into the cytoplasmic membrane of susceptible cells leads to the formation of pores, dissipating the membrane potential and pH gradients.
Note: Diffuse reflectance profiles of goat's milk during coagulation by various enzymes / Nota: Evolución de la reflectancia difusa durante el proceso de coagulación de la leche de cabra con diferentes enzimas coagulantes
Authors: López M.B. , Jordán M.J. , Luna A. , Bañón S. , Garrido M.D. , Laencina J.
Published: March 2007

The behaviour of different coagulant enzymes during the coagulation of goat's milk was studied by diffuse reflectance. During the first 5 min a decrease was observed in the diffuse reflectance profile which correlated with the recorded decrease in viscosity measurements; this decrease was followed by a continuous increase in the reflectance value. The milk clotting time for all the enzymes studied can be calculated from a plot of the first derivative of the diffuse reflectance value vs time by assuming the maximum value of the first derivative. There were no significant differences ( p ≤ 0.05) between the milk clotting time determined by diffuse reflectance and the value obtained using the Berridge method.
Reduction of solids by liquid cyclones as an aid to clarification in apple juice processing Reducción de sólidos mediante ciclones para líquidos en la clarificación de zumo de manzana
Authors: Ortega-Rivas E. , Meza-Velásquez F. , Olivas-Vargas R.
Published: March 2007

The final step in apple juice clarification is normally carried out by pressure filtration. Since most pressure filters operate in a discontinuous manner, a reduction of suspended solids in the unclar ified juice would be expected to improve filter performance. Hydrocyclones could be used prior to filtration in order to increase removal efficiency or could be employed as an alternative to high cost centrifugation, when only a partial clarification was required. The suspended solids removal capability of a conventional hydrocyclone was explored. A small diameter unit (25.4 mm) following Rietema's proportions, at two pressure drops (300 and 500 kPa), two concentrations (5 and 8% by volume), and two different conditions (with and without anti-foaming agent), was used in this work. Results indicate that hydrocyclones may be an attractive option for separation of suspended solids from apple juice. At high pressure drop, combined with anti-foaming addition, suspended solids reductions of approximately 40% were obtained. In addition, a derived dimensionless scale- up relationship showed good agreement with values reported in the literature.
Dynamic analysis of on-line product quality attributes of a food extruder Análisis dinámico de los atributos de calidad de productos extrudados
Authors: Schonauer S.L. , Moreira R.G.
Published: March 2007

The dynamics of a twin screw food extrusion process, including product quality attributes (PQA), to change in feed rate, water rate, screw speed, and barrel temperature at zone 5 were defined. Two PQA variables clearly dominated, colour-b and collet moisture content, which were highly correlated to bulk density. Product temperature at the die also showed high steady-state correla tion with bulk density. Moisture in the barrel was the primary driver for the colour-b and collet moisture content responses. Barrel temperature-5 was important in the response of product temper ature, but excessive delay times made it less important as a control variable. The gains indicated a non-linear system over the response range explored.
Revisión: E1 polimorfismo del gen de la caseina αs1 caprina y su efecto sobre la producción, la composición y las propiedades tecnológicas de la leche y sobre la fabricación y la maduración del queso
Authors: Trujillo A.J. , Jordana J. , Guamis B. , Serradilla J.M. , Amills M.
Published: March 2007

The caprine α s1-casein gene displays a high degree of polymorphism, with eight different protein variants described up to date. The rate of synthesis of the mature protein is closely linked to the caprine αs1-casein genotype. There are three variants which are associated to high αs1-casein content in milk (A, B, and C), one to an intermediate content (E), three to a low content (D, F, and G) and one to a null content (O). During the last few years studies of goat milk protein polymorphism have gained renewed interest, as the ocurrence of certain milk protein genetic variants is correlated with the composititon of milk and also with some milk processing parameters. For instance, analyses of the physicochemical properties of milk from goats homozy gous for the three main α s1-casein alleles (A, E, F) confirm the effects of the genotypes on the percentage of casein and fat, and shows significant effects on the diameter of the micelles and their calcium content. These characteristics seem to be associated with enhanced clotting of goat milk, cheese curd firmness, curd syneresis and overall cheese yield. The caprine αs1-casein gene constitutes a very attractive model for studying the regulation of the expression of the corresponding protein, and might also become a very powerful tool in improving the technolog ical properties of goat milk.