Scaffolded writing and rewriting in the discipline: A web-based reciprocal peer review system

This paper describes how SWoRD (scaffolded writing and rewriting in the discipline), a web-based reciprocal peer review system, supports writing practice, particularly for large content courses in which writing is considered critical but not feasibly included. To help students gain content knowledge as well as writing and reviewing skills, SWoRD supports the whole cycle of writing, reviews, back-reviews, and rewriting by scaffolding the journal publication process as its authentic practice model. In addition, SWoRD includes algorithms that compute individual reviewer’s review accuracy, which is in turn used to support the various drawbacks of reciprocal peer reviews (e.g., variation in motivation or ability of reviewers). Finally, this paper describes an empirical evaluation showing that the SWoRD approach is effective in improving writing quality in content classes.     

Depressive symptomatology in maritally discordant women and men: The role of individual and relationship variables.

Marital discord and depressive symptomatology have repeatedly been found to be associated, but little is known about variables that influence this relationship. Data were collected from 139 couples seeking marital therapy, and analyses were conducted separately by gender. For wives, lower problem-solving ability, physical aggression by the partner, and 1 relationship belief predicted depressive symptomatology after the variance due to marital discord was removed in regression analyses. In addition to these predictors, less spouse-specific assertiveness, unemployment, and 1 other relationship belief were associated with depressive symptomatology for women after the variance due to marital discord was removed in partial correlation analyses. For men, only lower problem-solving ability added to the prediction of depressive symptomatology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IDENTIFICATION OF NITROGEN COMPOUNDS AND THEIR EVOLUTIONDURINGAGEING NABSENCE ANDPRESENCE OF ADDITIVES EFFICIENCYOFHYDROTREATMENT

As established by several previous works, nitrogen compounds play a prominent role in the evolution of middle distillates containing cracked components, particularly regarding sediment formation and color evolution.

In a first part, this paper describes and compares stability properties of fuel blends using both an accelerated ageing method at 120°C (248°F ) and long term storage methods at 43°C(110°F) -ASTM 0 4625 - and at ambient temperature. Effectiveness of stabilizing additives is also evaluated. In mixtures containing LCOs, insoluble products are formed progressively during ageings, more or less rapidly according to the chemical constitution of the mixtures.

Then, it reports the complete identification of nitrogen compounds using gas chromatography equipped with a selective nitrogen detector and mass spectrometry showing that in light cycle oils, alkyl indoles and carbazoles are the main families.

Evolution of these compounds was followed kinetically during ageings in absence and presence of additives and alkyl indoles appeared as the moat evolutionary.

It appeared that some additives avoided evolutions of alkyl indoles without preventing sediment formation and color evolution. Oxidation mechanism involving nitrogen compounds should not be the only one to explain the storage evolutions of middle distillates.

Hydrotreatment converts all the alkyl indoles of LCO and prevents coloration end deposits in the storage of the mixtures of steaight-run distillates and LCOs.     

Measuring interdiffusion at an interface between two elastomers with tapping-mode and contact-resonance atomic force microscopy imaging

Despite the common use of tapping-mode atomic force microscopy to image composites or polymer blends, very few studies have focused on the measurement of the interdiffusion at an interface between two polymers in contact. In this study, we show how to assess the interphase between two polymers with two methods. First, stable and robust tapping conditions are established, and the problem of the phase contrast is discussed. Second, a contact-resonance method is presented: the tip in contact with the sample is electrostatically excited at its resonance frequency by a self-controlled oscillator. The gain and frequency images allow us to measure the interdiffusion width. Both methods (using high and weak mechanical solicitation) give the same assessment of the interdiffusion width. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Fast and accurate pricing of discretely monitored barrier options by numerical path integration

Barrier options are financial derivative contracts that are activated or deactivated according to the crossing of specified barriers by an underlying asset price. Exact models for pricing barrier options assume continuous monitoring of the underlying dynamics, usually a stock price. Barrier options in traded markets, however, nearly always assume less frequent observation, e.g. daily or weekly. These situations require approximate solutions to the pricing problem. We present a new approach to pricing such discretely monitored barrier options that may be applied in many realistic situations. In particular, we study daily monitored up-and-out call options of the European type with a single underlying stock. The approach is based on numerical approximation of the transition probability density associated with the stochastic differential equation describing the stock price dynamics, and provides accurate results in less than one second whenever a contract expires in a year or less. The flexibility of the method permits more complex underlying dynamics than the Black and Scholes paradigm, and its relative simplicity renders it quite easy to implement.     

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Stability, in-Vitro and in-Vivo Release Studies from Metronidazole Ointments

The influence of ointment formulation on the stability, the in-vitro release and the in-vivo absorption through the skin of rabbits was investigated. The choice of the selected ointments has no influence on the drug stability with the exception of an acidified emulsion base. A good correlation between in-vitro release and in-vivo absorption was found revealing that metronidazole was quickly released and effectively absorbed from a polyethylene glycol base.     

Evaluation of the accuracy of real-time ultrasonic measurements of backfat and loin muscle area in swine using multiple statistical analysis procedures

Real-time ultrasonic measurements of 10th-rib backfat (BF10) and loin muscle area (LMA) were made by a single technician at four mean BW (67.4, 80.3, 93.4, and 104.9 kg) on live hogs to assess the accuracy of predicting carcass measurements before and at slaughter weight. Records were evaluated on 655 purebred barrows and 472 purebred gilts in two tests. Residual correlations-accounting for test, sex, and breed effects, among and between scans and carcass measurements--were moderate to high for BF10 (r=.69 to .82) and LMA (r=.57 to .68), with the largest correlations at 104.9 kg of live weight. Ultrasonic BF10 and LMA were within +/-4 mm and +/-6.45 cm2, respectively, of the corresponding carcass measurement 75.9 and 89.8% of the time. Sex differences for LMA bias were significant (P < .001); ultrasonic LMA was overestimated in barrows by .75 cm2 and underestimated in gilts by .91 cm2. Breed differences were significant (P < .001) for BF10 and LMA bias. Standard errors of prediction (SEP) for BF10 and LMA across the two tests were 3.46 mm and 4.04 cm2, respectively. The SEP for BF10 were 3.60 mm for barrows and 3.19 mm for gilts. The SEP for LMA were 3.77 cm2 for barrows and 4.22 cm2 for gilts. The SEP for BF10 within breeds ranged from 3.25 to 3.72 mm, and for LMA, ranged from 2.98 cm2 to 4.90 cm2. Ultrasound measurements overestimated the carcass measurement by .57 mm for carcasses measuring < 24.1 mm and underestimated by 2.81 mm carcasses with BF10 > 30.3 mm. Ultrasonic LMA overestimated the carcass by 2.35 cm2 in carcasses measuring < 32.5 cm2 and underestimated by 2.29 cm2 in carcasses measuring greater than 37.9 cm2. Results indicate that the magnitude of the carcass measurement affects bias and accuracy of prediction for real-time ultrasonic measurements of BF10 and LMA. The SEP statistic is more consistent in evaluating accuracy of ultrasonic measurement than bias, absolute deviations, and percentage of absolute deviation.