PBDEs, PBBs, and PCNs in three communities of free-ranging killer whales (Orcinus orca) from the northeastern Pacific Ocean

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) were quantified in blubber biopsy samples collected from free-ranging male and female killer whales (Orcinus orca) belonging to three distinct communities (southern residents, northern residents, and transients) from the northeastern Pacific Ocean. High concentrations of sigmaPBDE were observed in male southern residents (942+/-582 ng/g Iw), male and female transients (1015+/-605 and 885+/-706 ng/g Iw, respectively), and male and female northern residents (203+/-116 and 415+/-676 ng/g Iw, respectively). Because of large variation within sample groups, sigmaPBDE levels generally did not differ statistically with the exception of male northern residents, which had lower sigmaPBDE concentrations than male southern residents, male transients, and female transients, perhaps reflecting the consumption of less contaminated prey items. Male transient killer whales, which consume high trophic level prey including other cetaceans and occasionally spend time near populated areas, had sigmaPBDE concentrations approximately equal to southern residents. No significant age-related relationships were observed for sigmaPBDE concentrations. sigmaPBDE concentrations were approximately 1-3 orders of magnitude greater than those of sigmaPBB (3.0-31 ng/g Iw) and sigmaPCN (20-167 ng/g Iw) measured in a subset of samples, suggesting that PBDEs may represent a contaminant class of concern in these marine mammals.     

The Power of Ada

Many new programming languages offer little beyond traditional features and lack a compelling reason for the industry to adopt them. However, the Ada programming language, developed and promoted by the Department of Defense, offers powerful new capabilities for developing large programs, ultimately improving the ability to deploy reliable and less costly information systems.     

A New Era of Minimal Effects? A Response to Bennett and Iyengar

This article takes up Bennett and Iyengar's (2008) call for debate about the future of political communication effects research. We outline 4 key criticisms. First, Bennett and Iyengar are too quick to dismiss the importance of attitude reinforcement, long recognized as an important type of political media influence. Second, the authors take too narrow a view of the sources of political information, remaining fixated on news. Third, they offer an incomplete portrayal of selective exposure, exaggerating the extent to which individuals avoid attitude-discrepant information. Finally, they lean toward determinism when describing the role technologies play in shaping our political environment. In addition, we challenge Bennett and Iyengar's assertion that only brand new theory can serve to help researchers understand today's political communication landscape. We argue that existing tools, notably the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), retain much utility for examining political media effects. Contrary to Bennett and Iyengar's claims, the ELM suggests that the contemporary political information environment does not necessarily lead to minimal effects.     

Corrosion of CVD Silicon Carbide in 500°C Supercritical Water

A high-purity CVD β-SiC showed a relatively low corrosion rate in deoxygenated supercritical water at 500°C. The corrosion rate was lower than that previously reported for CVD SiC in 360°C water and much lower than that reported for sintered and reaction-bonded SiC. The present study confirmed that CVD SiC was preferentially attacked at the grain boundaries. Analytical examinations did not reveal the presence of a measurable oxide scale. As a result, it is believed that corrosion of the high-purity SiC occurred via hydrolysis to hydrated silica species at the surface that were rapidly dissolved into the supercritical water.     

Evaluation of the Fracture Strength for Silicon Carbide Layers in the Tri-Isotropic-Coated Fuel Particle

A program to develop new methods to measure the fracture strength of the chemical vapor deposition SiC coatings in nuclear fuel particles has been carried out. Internal pressurization and crush test techniques were developed and applied to prototype-sized tubular and hemispherical shell specimens. The fracture strength measured from each test method applying the Weibull two-parameter distribution, and Weibull parameters were measured. It was shown that data generated with each test technique were independent of the test technique applied. This implies that the developed test methods are reliable and provide reasonable strength data. For the same material, fracture strength varied with the specimen geometry and loading configuration. These size and loading configuration effects on the fracture strength are explained with the concept of effective surface.     

A diversity scheme for a phase-coherent frequency-hoppingspread-spectrum system

Frequency diversity for a phase-coherent frequency-hopping spread-spectrum system is proposed. The frequency band of the communicator is partitioned into L disjoint subbands on which L replicas of the communicator signal are simultaneously transmitted; each signal replica hops independently in its subband. Therefore, both phase continuity and coherent optimal combining of the received replicas are possible. Optimum diversity is thus at least 6 dB better than the conventional noncoherent FH-SS system. We show that a smart jammer should be present in all subbands. We also give a sufficient condition that forces the jammer to spread its interference signal on the whole communicator frequency band     

Numerical simulation of one‐dimensional flows through porous media with shock waves

This work studies an unsaturated flow of a Newtonian fluid through a rigid porous matrix, using a mixture theory approach in its modelling. The mixture consists of three overlapping continuous constituents: a solid (porous medium), a liquid (Newtonian fluid) and an inert gas (to account for the mixture compressibility). A set of two nonlinear partial differential equations describes the problem, which is approximated by means of a Glimm's scheme, combined with an operator splitting technique. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does psi exist? Comments on Milton and Wiseman's (1999) meta-analysis of Ganzfield research.

J. Milton and R. Wiseman (1999) attempted to replicate D. Bern and C. Honorton's (1994) meta-analysis, which yielded evidence that the ganzfeld is a suitable method for demonstrating anomalous communication. Using a database of 30 ganzfeld and autoganzfeld studies, Milton and Wiseman's meta-analysis yielded an effect size (ES) of only 0.013 (Stouffer Z?=?0.70, p?=?.24, one-tailed). Thus they failed to replicate Bem and Honorton's finding (ES?=?0.162, Stouffer Z?=?2.52, p?=?5.90?×?10-3, one-tailed). The authors conducted stepwise performance comparisons between all available databases of ganzfeld research. Larger aggregates of such studies were formed, including a database comprising 79 ganzfeld-autoganzfeld studies (ES?=?0.138, Stouffer Z?=?5.66, p?=?7.78?×?10-9). Thus Bern and Honorton's positive conclusion was confirmed. More accurate population parameters for the ganzfeld and autoganzfeld domains were calculated. Significant bidirectional psi effects were also found in all databases. The ganzfeld appears to be a replicable technique for producing psi effects in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)