Development and Application of a Phosphorus Model for a Shallow Oxbow Lake

A three-dimensional numerical model was developed for simulating the phosphorus concentration in shallow lakes. In this model, the computational domain was divided into two parts: the water column and the bed sediment layer. The processes of mineralization, settling, adsorption, desorption, bed release (diffusion), growth, and death of phytoplankton were taken into account, and the concentration of organic phosphorus, phosphate, and related water quality constituents was simulated. The concentrations of adsorbed (particulate) and dissolved phosphate due to adsorption-desorption were calculated using two formulas derived based on the Langmuir equation. The release rate of phosphorus from the bed sediment layer was calculated by considering the effects of the concentration gradient across the water-sediment interface, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and flow conditions. The adsorption and desorption of phosphate from sediment particles, as well as its release from bed sediment, were verified using laboratory experimental data. The model was calibrated and applied to Deep Hollow Lake in the Mississippi alluvial plain. The simulated trends and magnitudes of phosphorus concentration were compared with field observations. The simulation results show that there are strong interactions between sediment-related processes and phosphorus concentration.     

Removing edges from hypercubes to obtain vertex‐symmetric networks with small diameter

The binary hypercube Q _n has a small diameter, but a relatively large number of links. Because of this, efforts have been made to determine the maximum number of links that can be deleted without increasing the diameter. However, the resulting networks are not vertex‐symmetric. We propose a family of vertex‐symmetric spanning subnetworks of Q _n , whose diameter differs from that of Q _n by only a small constant factor. When n=2^k, the cube‐connected cycles network of dimension n is a vertex‐symmetric spanning subnetwork of Q _{n+lg n} . By selectively adding hypercube links, we obtain a degree 6 vertex‐symmetric network with diameter 3n/2. We also introduce a vertex‐symmetric spanning subnetwork of Q _n−1 with degree log₂ n, diameter 3n/2−2, log₂ n‐connectivity and maximal fault tolerance. This network hosts Q _n−1 with dilation 2(log₂ n)−1. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of grocery chain pharmacists' work-related behaviors

OBJECTIVE: To measure grocery chain pharmacists' work-related behaviors to assess the impact of a Pharmaceutical Care Certificate Program (PCCP) and other future interventions intended to alter pharmacists' practice behaviors. DESIGN: This study used multidimensional work sampling (MWS), a work measurement methodology that breaks "work" into three components: activity (what was done), contact (with whom the activity was performed), and function (the purpose or objective of the activity). Pharmacists were signaled at random intervals during the workday by a random signal generator. A selection was made from a list of items in each of the three dimensions of work to form an activity-contact-function combination code that described the work-related behavior at that point in time. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Pharmacists in 15 grocery chain stores in the Indianapolis area; 20 pharmacists were enrolled in Purdue University's PCCP and 10 served as controls. Data were collected for a period of six weeks during April through June 1997 before the beginning of the PCCP program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pharmacists' work-related behaviors. RESULTS: Writing/keyboarding was the most frequently recorded activity (22%), followed by one-to-one meetings (21.6%), and drug preparation (18%). Pharmacists spent most of their time working alone (62.9%), while a smaller but still substantial proportion of time was spent interacting with patients (17.9%). The most frequently recorded purpose (i.e., function) of pharmacists' activities was drug distribution (23.9%), followed by personal time (12.4%), receiving or transferring a medication order (10.2%), and patient counseling (6.6%). Out of a possible, 1,760 activity-contact-function combinations, 10 accounted for 46.3% of all reported observations, with "Prepare drug-Self-Drug distribution" representing the most frequently recorded activity-contact-function combination (15.7%). CONCLUSION: MWS is useful in helping grocery chain management better understand how pharmacy personnel are currently being utilized. This study provides a baseline for evaluating the impact of training programs or other alterations in the practice environment on pharmacists' work-related behaviors.     

Dynamic Data Driven Simulations in Stochastic Environments

To improve the predictions in dynamic data driven simulations (DDDAS) for subsurface problems, we propose the permeability update based on observed measurements. Based on measurement errors and a priori information about the permeability field, such as covariance of permeability field and its values at the measurement locations, the permeability field is sampled. This sampling problem is highly nonlinear and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is used. We show that using the sampled realizations of the permeability field, the predictions can be significantly improved and the uncertainties can be assessed for this highly nonlinear problem.     

Active centers, catalytic behavior, symbiosis and redox properties of MoV(Nb,Ta)TeO ammoxidation catalysts

Selective as well as waste forming active centers were defined for MoVNbTeO and MoVTaTeO catalysts in the ammoxidation of propane to acrylonitrile and all catalytic functionalities were assigned to specific elements at the respective active centers. Symbiosis between M1 and M2 phases of these catalysts was observed, with phase cooperation being more extensive in the Nb than Ta containing compositions. The difference in catalytic effectiveness arises most likely because contact and surface area exposure of the two respective, cooperating phase pairs are not equal. The M1 phase of the catalysts is reducible by propane and ammonia in the absence of dioxygen and is regenerable to its original, fully oxidized state by dioxygen (air). No structural collapse is observed even after 120 C₃H₈ + NH₃ reduction pulses. The so induced reduction of the catalyst extends up to 70 layers deep. The product distribution over the first few pulses is very similar to that under catalytic conditions, supporting the concept that lattice oxygen is involved in the catalytic ammoxidation process. Therefore, the ammoxidation of paraffins is a redox process, as is of course the well-known olefin ammoxidation process.     

Toughening of epoxy resins with thermoplastics. Ii. Tetrafunctional epoxy resin-polyetherimide blends

A series of blends has been prepared by adding a polyetherimide (PEI), in varying proportions, to a tetrafunctional epoxy resin, tetraglycidyl-diaminodiphenylmethane (TGDDM), cured with 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulphone (DDS). All the materials exhibited two-phase morphologies which were characterised by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Addition of the thermoplastic gave a modest improvement in fracture properties (K_1c and G_1c), as determined by three-point bending experiments, although no obvious correlation with the marked morphological changes was observed.     

Acetate adsorption and metal overlayers on electrode surfaces

Acetate adsorbs onto platinum surfaces under moderate conditions and the presence of acetate on the electrode surface is apparent by voltammetric studies. The adsorption of acetate lends an unusual stability to layers of zinc acetate on the electrode surface. The reduction of an oxidized platinum surface under a zinc acetate coating is sensitive to polar organic molecules in the bulk solution. This sensitivity may provide an avenue to a new class of analytical sensors.     

Memory liabilities associated with hypnosis: does low hypnotizability confer immunity?

Retrospective analyses of data from the authors' program of research on hypnosis and memory are presented, with special emphasis on effects observed among low hypnotizable individuals. In Experiment 1, participants completed seven forced-recall trials in an attempt to remember a series of pictures that had been shown 1 week earlier. For half the participants, the middle five trials were carried out using hypnotic procedures; the remaining participants performed all recall attempts in a motivated waking condition. Hypnosis failed to enhance correct recall for either high or low hypnotizable participants beyond the hypermnesia and reminiscence effects associated with repeated retrieval attempts over time. However, whereas high hypnotizable participants produced substantial numbers of confident recall errors (i.e., intrusions) independent of the use of hypnosis, low hypnotizable participants exposed to hypnotic procedures reported significantly more intrusions than their counterparts in the waking condition. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to identify whether specific recollections, reported during two forced-interrogatory recall tests conducted 1 week earlier, had originated in the first or second of those tests. A general bias to misattribute previously reported recollections to the first of two recall occasions was observed; however, the effect was greatest among low hypnotizables who had undergone the second recall attempt in hypnosis. The findings imply that highly hypnotizable individuals are not unique in their vulnerability to distortions of memory induced by hypnotic techniques. Individuals of lesser hypnotic capacity also manifest memory alterations when exposed to such procedures.