A comprehensive agent-based architecture for intelligent information retrieval in a distributed heterogeneous environment

The Internet has become the global infrastructure supporting information acquisition and retrieval from many heterogeneous data sources containing high-speed text and rich multimedia images, audio, and video. AgentRAIDER is an ongoing research project at Texas Tech University designed to develop a comprehensive architecture for an intelligent information retrieval system with distributed heterogeneous data sources. The system is designed to support intelligent retrieval and integration of information from the Internet. Current systems of this nature focus only on specific aspects of the distributed heterogeneous problem such as database queries or information filtering. Consequently, these concepts and others have never been successfully integrated into a unified, cohesive architecture. This paper discusses the design and implementation of the AgentRAIDER system and identifies areas for applications of the system in various domains.     

The effect of exothermic reactions during regeneration on the NOX trapping efficiency of a NOX storage/reduction catalyst

An unusual behavior was observed during experiments conducted at 371 and 465 °C with a commercial NO_X storage/reduction catalyst: the outlet NO_X concentration during the trapping phase reached a cycle minimum after regeneration, increased for 20–30 s, as expected, but then surprisingly decreased, indicating the catalyst had become more efficient in trapping the entering NO_X. The results reported in this letter indicate that this phenomenon was caused by a superposition of two factors: a substantial exotherm associated with the regeneration event from reductant reacting with surface oxygen species and a negative impact of an evolving temperature profile on the dynamic NO_X storage capacity.     

Near Shannon limit performance of low density parity check codes

The authors report the empirical performance of Gallager's low density parity check codes on Gaussian channels. It is shown that performance substantially better than that of standard convolutional and concatenated codes can be achieved, indeed the performance is almost as close to the Shannon limit as that of Turbo codes     

Education reform: Challenges for psychology and psychologists.

National, state, and local education reform agendas have been on a fast track for more than a decade. Although some psychologists have been active in promoting psychology and psychological services in education reform initiatives, knowledge about their efforts is fragmented. In order to educate psychologists about education reform, this article highlights the impetus for the recent education reform movement, briefly reviews the latest waves of education reform, and discusses the development of the National Education Goals. Then, an argument is made for the integration of education, health, and social reform initiatives; state-level education reform principles and initiatives are highlighted, illustrated by the systemic education reform mandate in Kentucky. Next, progress toward the development and implementation of an APA-sponsored response to the National Education Goals is discussed. Finally, objectives and roles for psychologists in advancing education reform are presented, and guidelines for the education and training of future psychologists are introduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An energy policy for Australia: Extracts from the summary report and recommendations of the Task Force on Energy of The Institution of Engineers,Australia

Over the next few years, Australia must modify its dependence on natural oil and place greater reliance on other fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. The management of this transition is a major task, and can only be successfully achieved through a co-ordinated programme of action by Commonwealth and State Governments, supported by widespread public understanding of the issues involved.The recommendations in this report have arisen from the deliberations of the Task Force on Energy, which commenced work in 1975. The Task Force and its associated twelve working parties included many of the leading energy experts in Australia, in engineering, science and economics. They are associated with State Governments and energy instrumentalities, Commonwealth agencies, private enterprise, consulting engineering, universities and research bodies, but have co-operated in the work of the Task Force in their personal capacities. Overall, at least one hundred key specialists were associated with the working party studies. There was wide-ranging national co-operation in these studies, and information on critical energy issues throughout Australia was freely exchanged.     

Asymptotic solution to moving-bed exchange equations

Asymptotic solutions to countercurrent moving-bed exchange equations are discussed considering the effect of axial dispersion and interphase mass transfer. Existence conditions are derived by using perturbation theory in a properly defined moving coordinate system. The flow are ratio turns out to be a very important parameter and its effect on the exchange performance is carefully examined. In particular, the effect of interphase mass transfer disappears when the exchange zone becomes stationary. Applications are illustrated by using the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Numerical solutions of the transient equations show that the asymptotic solution may be useful.     

Canonical form and mathematical interpretation of electrolyte solution systems

We describe a canonical form of electrolyte solution systems for the mathematical interpretation of solidliquid equilibrium. The canonical form is obtained from the analysis of the algebraic structure of electrolyte solution systems and the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions for the minimization of the total Gibbs free energy. As a result, the mathematical role of solid species in the solid-liquid equilibrium problem is explained as a Lagrange multiplier of a sort of the linearly constrained optimization problem. This finding will add to the development of an efficient numerical algorithm for the simulation of electrolyte solution systems. This paper is dedicated to Professor Hyun-Ku Rhee on the occasion of his retirement from Seoul National University.     

A comparison of LISREL and two-stage least squares analysis of a hypothesized life–job satisfaction reciprocal relationship.

Investigated the nature of the relationship between life satisfaction and job satisfaction using both 2-stage least squares and the analysis of linear structural equations by LISREL. Both techniques provided the possibility of evaluating causal relationships that are bidirectional. 873 civil service workers were administered a battery of tests, including the Job Diagnostic Survey, the short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results are consistent with a model that hypothesizes a reciprocal relationship between job and life domains. Estimates of structural parameters were consistent across analysis techniques. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)