Horn equational theories and paramodulation

A language of equational programs together with an inference system, based on paramodulation is defined. The semantics of the language is given with respect to least models, least fixpoints and success sets and its soundness and completeness is proven using fixpoint theory. The necessity of the functional reflexive axioms is investigated in detail. Finally, the application of these ideas to term rewriting systems is outlined by discussing directed paramodulation and narrowing.     

Domain-specific knowledge and memory performance: A comparison of high- and low-aptitude children.

Two studies compared memory performance and text comprehension of groups that were equivalent on domain-specific knowledge but differed in overall aptitude, to investigate whether prior knowledge about a particular domain or overall aptitude level was more important when the task was to acquire and use new information in the domain of interest. Both studies dealt with third-, fifth-, and seventh-grade soccer experts' and novices' memory and comprehension of a story dealing with a soccer game. Several measures of memory performance, memory monitoring, and text comprehension were used. Levels of soccer knowledge and of overall aptitude were varied in a factorial design. Neither study detected significant differences between high-aptitude and low-aptitude experts, regardless of their ages. Low aptitude experts outperformed high-aptitude novices on all memory and comprehension measures. The results indicate that domain-specific knowledge can compensate for low overall aptitude on domain-related cognitive tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accelerated life-test experiments on low-power rectifier diodes

Low-power rectifier diodes were stressed by different forward currents I_F, reverse voltages U_R, and ambient temperatures _a for a time interval (0, t*) in order to analyse the resulting distributions. Owing to the limitations in the test time, t*, the gathering of comprehensive information about their performance requires high stress levels without exceeding either physical limits or the limits for initiating thermal runaway. First, the results of lifetime experiments related to the middle stress region were described by a Weibull distribution with constant shape parameter and stress-dependent scale parameter. This model, however, did not fit sufficiently the typical features of the real-life distribution. Therefore a non-parametric measure called the average initial reliability in (O,t*) was defined using the experimental results. Its stress dependence was estimated. The results are guiding figures of stress conditions both for accelerated tests and for circuits with high demands on reliability.     

Interfacial Energy in Phase-Separated Glasses from Emulsion Rheology

Classical theories of emulsion rheology yield information on the deformation of a liquid drop dispersed into another liquid matrix phase. By connecting the deformation and relaxation, respectively, and the capillary number of the dispersed phase, interfacial energy can be estimated. This was applied to demixing borosilicate and lead borate glasses, which are known to exhibit significant form anisotropy after elongation. Interfacial energies in these two systems were calculated based on graphical data of prior isothermal elongation experiments. The method is discussed in terms of experimental difficulties. It might provide an alternative way to overcome the obvious lack of information on interfacial energies in glasses.     

Optimisation of isolation and purification of the jack bean enzyme urease by extraction and subsequent crystallization

A detailed investigation into the isolation by extraction and the purification by crystallization of the enzyme urease from jack bean meal is presented with a view to developing a large-scale process. The effect of different extraction solvents and additives upon the resulting crystals is characterised in terms of crystal size, protein yield and protein purity. The enzymatic activity of urease is exploited in order to quantify the amount and purity of the protein obtained. The extraction procedure was optimised and all stages of the process were monitored in order to provide as detailed a picture as possible of the impact of different process stages upon the intermediate products. Almost all protein is extracted in a single extraction step. Further extraction steps using the same meal but fresh solvent yield only small additional protein yields. Less than 10% of total protein is extracted in a second step, less than 3% in a third extraction. Different solvents lead to clear differences in product quality, with no single solvent optimising all quality criteria. In addition, the point at which the acetone precipitant is introduced into the process has a clear influence on the product. Judicious choice of extraction conditions can significantly increase the size of the urease crystals at the cost of product purity, quantified by specific activity. High product purity (a maximum 138-fold increase in purity was observed with a maximum yield of 8.4%), in contrast, leads to smaller crystals. Comparison to the purest commercially available urease revealed a similar urease content.