Pore closure models for gas-solid reactions: The effect of bulk flow and reversibility

A pore closure model of gas-solid reactions has been extended to include the effect of bulk flow and reversible reactions. Both effects are shown to be of major importance in the chlorination of magnesia. During the course of reaction the controlling resistance is shown to change from pore diffusion to product layer diffusion to pore diffusion caused by closure of the pore.     

Phase studies in the systems CaOAl2O3CaCrO4 and SrOAl2O3SrCrO4

Exploratory studies in the two systems have established the joins which exist between the 3:3:1 compounds and the binary compounds in the respective CaOAl₂O₃ and SrOAl₂O₃ systems. More detailed studies showed that the compound 3CaO·3Al₂O₃·CaCrO₄ takes CaO·Al₂O₃, CaO·2Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ into solid solution to the extent of 30, 20, and 25 mole percent, respectively. The compound 3SrO·3Al₂O₃·SrCrO₄ takes SrO·Al₂O₃, SrO·2Al₂O₃, SrO·6Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ into solid solution to the extent of 35, 30, 10 and 50 mole percent, respectively. The haüynite solid solutions have potential as yellow or yellow-green pigments in applications where hexavalent chromium can be tolerated.     

Accuracy of self-reported data for estimating crash severity

Estimated traveling speed and speed limit have typically been used in population-based surveillance data to estimate crash severity. The accuracy of these measures in predicting crash severity is unknown. The Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS) surveillance system offers a unique opportunity to compare these measures, as well as a novel measure of crash severity, “self-report” delta-V, to the accepted measure of delta-V estimated during detailed crash-investigations in 118 crashes. This “self-report” delta-V was computed from the estimated traveling speeds and direction of impact obtained from telephone interviews with drivers. These “self-reported” delta-V estimates are modestly associated with crash-investigation delta-V estimates, with the degree of association a function of the direction of impact: when the respondent was struck from the rear, the degree of association is strong; frontal, side, and single-vehicle crashes yield weaker associations. This “self-reported” delta-V measure, however, is a substantial improvement over use of estimated traveling speed or speed limit only.     

Assembly of cytochrome c oxidase within the mitochondrion

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is an oligomeric complex localized within the mitochondrial inner membrane. Assembly of the active oxidase complex requires the coordinate assembly of subunits synthesized in both the cytoplasm and the mitochondrion. In addition, assembly is dependent on the insertion of five types of cofactors, including two hemes, three copper ions, and one Zn, Mg, and Na ion. A series of accessory proteins are critical for synthesis of the heme A cofactor and insertion of the copper ions. This Account will focus on the steps in the coordinate assembly of CcO subunits, the formation of heme A, and the delivery and insertion of copper ions.     

The impact of continuing care adherence on environmental risks, substance use, and substance-related problems following adolescent residential treatment.

The effectiveness of adolescent treatment to reduce substance use has been demonstrated by a number of different literature reviews, yet longer term outcome studies have suggested that continued alcohol and other drug use is common. Participation in continuing care services and reductions in environmental risk factors (e.g., peer substance use or alcohol or drug use in the home) have both been found to be associated with improved posttreatment substance use. The authors conducted Path analysis to examine the experimental direct effect of the Assertive Continuing Care Protocol (S. H. Godley, M. D. Godley, & M. L. Dennis, 2001) on general continuing care adherence following residential treatment and the protocol's indirect effect (via general continuing care adherence) on social and environmental risk factors, as well as subsequent substance use and substance-related problems. Supporting previous findings, the final model indicates that greater adherence to continuing care is associated with reductions in environmental risk, which in turn is associated with reduced adolescent substance use and substance-related problems 9 months after discharge from residential treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluoxetine, smoking, and history of major depression: A randomized controlled trial.

The study was a randomized placebo-controlled trial testing whether fluoxetine selectively enhances cessation for smokers with a history of depression. Euthymic smokers with (H+, n = 109) or without (H-, n = 138) a history of major depression received 60 mg fluoxetine or placebo plus group behavioral quit-smoking treatment for 12 weeks. Fluoxetine initially enhanced cessation for H+ smokers (p = .02) but subsequently impaired cessation regardless of depressive history. Six months after quit date, fluoxetine-treated participants were 3.3 times more likely to be smoking (p = .02). Further research is warranted to determine why high-dose fluoxetine produces continuing effects that oppose tobacco abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Platform ontologies for the model-driven architecture

The model-driven architecture enables the deployment of software applications on different platforms. It is based on a pattern in which a platform-independent model is transformed into a platform-specific model, given a platform model (PM). Currently, the model transformations used for this task implicitly assume this PM, which makes it unclear whether a model transformation can be used for platforms other than the one assumed. In order to target very specific platforms and platform variants, model transformations must be reusable beyond their assumed platform. We propose an explicit PM that can be used to reason about platform dependencies of model transformations and their applicability to specific platforms. In addition, we show how PMs can be integrated in a model-driven configuration management framework.     

EXPERIMENTS WITH ONLINE REINFORCEMENT LEARNING IN REAL-TIME STRATEGY GAMES

Real-time strategy (RTS) games provide a challenging platform to implement online reinforcement learning (RL) techniques in a real application. Computer, as one game player, monitors opponents’ (human or other computers) strategies and then updates its own policy using RL methods. In this article, we first examine the suitability of applying the online RL in various computer games. Reinforcement learning application depends on both RL complexity and the game features. We then propose a multi-layer framework for implementing online RL in an RTS game. The framework significantly reduces RL computational complexity by decomposing the state space in a hierarchical manner. We implement an RTS game—Tank General—and perform a thorough test on the proposed framework. We consider three typical profiles of RTS game players and compare two basic RL techniques applied in the game. The results show the effectiveness of our proposed framework and shed light on relevant issues in using online RL in RTS games.