Cloud Shadow Effects on Remote Sensing

On relatively clear days, the shadow cast by an isolated, optically dense cloud produces an effect which is similar in extent and magnitude to the adjacency effects associated with high-contrast ground albedo boundaries. We have used a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model to examine the intensity and its components, comparing the cloud shadow case with that for a Lambertian albedo boundary. Although the behavior of the total intensity is nearly the same for both cases, the behaviors of the intensity components differ significantly.     

Cost-Effective Allocation of Research Funds for Emerging Technologies

Developers of emerging technologies, and the agencies who fund them, need an alternative to traditional cost-based risk prediction methods to help them predict how the costs of their technologies might change under future deployment scenarios. Often the only data available for predicting risk are the limited but complex data generated by field testing emerging technologies in the prototype phase of development. This paper presents a conceptual framework for evaluating cost and performance constraints of emerging technologies; the framework can be used to prioritize the allocation of research and development funds for the development of such technologies.     

Vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of change management teams: An examination of aversive, directive, transactional, transformational, and empowering leader behaviors.

This study investigated vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of 71 change management teams. Vertical leadership stems from an appointed or formal leader of a team, whereas shared leadership (C. L. Pearce, 1997; C. L. Pearce & J. A. Conger, in press; C. L. Pearce & H. P. Sims, 2000) is a group process in which leadership is distributed among, and stems from, team members. Team effectiveness was measured approximately 6 months after the assessment of leadership and was also measured from the viewpoints of managers, internal customers, and team members. Using multiple regression, the authors found both vertical and shared leadership to be significantly related to team effectiveness (p     

Experimental Results for Four-Phase Digital Matched Filtering of Spread-Spectrum Waveforms

In this paper, the implementation and experimental testing of a noncoherent four-phase digital matched filter (DMF) is presented. The DMF represents the experimental realization of A. Baier's theory of complex valued envelope matched filtering [1].     

Scale transition and enforcement of RVE boundary conditions in second‐order computational homogenization

Formulation of the scale transition equations coupling the microscopic and macroscopic variables in the second‐order computational homogenization of heterogeneous materials and the enforcement of generalized boundary conditions for the representative volume element (RVE) are considered. The proposed formulation builds on current approaches by allowing any type of RVE boundary conditions (e.g. displacement, traction, periodic) and arbitrary shapes of RVE to be applied in a unified manner. The formulation offers a useful geometric interpretation for the assumptions associated with the microstructural displacement fluctuation field within the RVE, which is here extended to second‐order computational homogenization. A unified approach to the enforcement of the boundary conditions has been undertaken using multiple constraint projection matrices. The results of an illustrative shear layer model problem indicate that the displacement and traction RVE boundary conditions provide the upper and lower bounds of the response determined via second‐order computational homogenization, and the solution associated with the periodic RVE boundary conditions lies between them. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The use of porous plastic filters in the preparation of cell suspensions.

Suspensions of cells were prepared by dissociation of various tissues with the proteolytic enzyme pronase. Debris, undisrupted tissue and cell clumps were effectively removed from the suspensions by passage through VYON F porous plastic filters whereas isolated cells were recovered without significant losses. The viability of the cells, as judged by dye exclusion and subsequent behavior in tissue culture, was not affected by the treatment.     

Configural associations in discrimination learning.

In 4 experiments, Sprague-Dawley rats and homing pigeons received training with an A+ AB0 BC+ discrimination, in which food (+) accompanied trials with A and BC. Food was not presented (0) on trials with the compound AB. Subsequent test trials revealed that responding during C by itself, or the compound ABC, was slower than during either A or BC. Responding during the ABC compound was also found to be slower after training with the A+ AB0 BC+ than an A0 AB+ BC+ discrimination. We argue that these findings demonstrate the importance of configural associations in discrimination learning. Two accounts for the way in which these associations exert their influence are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blends of poly(vinyl chloride) with plasticized polyaniline

A series of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/polyaniline (PANI) blends plasticized and protonated simulataneously by bis(2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphate, bis(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate, diphenyl phosphate, or dibenzyl phosphate was prepared by a mass homogenization technique. Thermal analysis studies by means of thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that PVC/PANI blends with bis(2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphate were characterized by the highest thermal stability values. Kinetic analysis of the decomposition process by the isoconversional Friedman method showed that the activation energy did not change substantially over the broad conversion range; further advanced kinetic analysis by a nonlinear regression method revealed that the kinetic function that was the best approximation for the experimental data was based on a reaction of nth order.