A relativistic temporal algebra for efficient design of distributed systems

Adequate methods for checking the specification and design of distributed systems must allow for reasoning about asynchronous activities; efficient methods must perform the reasoning in polynomial time. This paper lays the groundwork for such an efficient deductive system by providing a very general temporal relation algebra that can be used by constraint propagation techniques to perform the required reasoning. Major choices exist when selecting an appropriate temporal model: discrete/dense, linear/nonlinear, and point/interval. James Allen and others have indicated the possible atomic relations between two intervals for the dense-linear-interval model, while Anger, Ladkin, and Rodriguez have shown those needed for a dense-branching-interval model. Rodriguez and Anger further developed a dense-relativistic-interval model based on Lamport'sprecede andcan affect arrows, determining a large number of atomic relations. This paper shows that those same atomic relations are exactly the correct ones for intervals in dense relativistic space-time if intervals are taken as pairs of points (E _s ,E _f ) in space-time such that it is possible to move fromE _s toE _f at less than the speed of light. The relations are defined and named consistently with the earlier work of Rodriguez and Anger, and the relationship between the two models is pursued. The relevance of the results to the verification of distributed specifications and algorithms is discussed.     

不同来源区洪水对黄河下游游荡河段河床横断面形态调整过程的影响

以黄河下游实测流量过程等水文资料为基础 ,从流域系统的角度出发 ,以洪水作为联系流域系统各子系统耦合关系的指标 ,揭示了不同来源区洪水对黄河下游游荡河段洪水前后河床横断面形态变化的不同影响及其原因。上少沙来源区洪水使河床形态变宽浅为主 ,变宽浅主要由于主槽淤积所造成 ;下少沙来源区洪水使河床宽深比以变窄深为主 ,主要由于主槽冲刷所造成 ;多沙粗沙来源区洪水造成河床宽深比减小 ,主要由于高含沙洪水淤滩刷槽所造成 ;多沙细沙来源区的洪水后宽深比变化不大 ,仅略减小 ,也存在淤滩刷槽的过程     

Stress and smoking in adolescence: A test of directional hypotheses.

The authors conducted a comparative test of the hypotheses that (a) stress is an etiological factor for smoking and (b) cigarette smoking causes increases in stress (A. C. Parrott, 1999). Participants were a sample of 1,364 adolescents, initially surveyed at mean age 12.4 years and followed at 3 yearly intervals. Measures of negative affect, negative life events, and cigarette smoking were obtained at all 4 assessments. Latent growth modeling showed negative affect was related to increase in smoking over time; there was no path from initial smoking to change in negative affect. Comparable results were found for negative life events, with no evidence for reverse causation. Results are discussed with respect to theoretical models of nicotine effects and implications for prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What Situations Induce Intimate Partner Violence? A Reliability and Validity Study of the Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) Scale.

The current study investigated the reliability of a new self-report questionnaire assessing stimuli that would likely elicit intimate partner violence. The Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) scale is a 30-item, Likert-type measure designed to assess situations that would reportedly precede the use of violence. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis on a clinical sample revealed 3 factors: Violence to Control, Violence Out of Jealousy, and Violence Following Verbal Abuse. In Study 2, the factor structure was replicated on a community sample using confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, different types of batterers, on the basis of A. Holtzworth-Munroe and G. L. Stuart's (1994) typology, scored differently on the 3 factors in ways consistent with theory. Therefore, the PAVE shows promise as a reliable and valid tool to help to understand the context and function of intimate partner violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Screening for posttraumatic stress disorder: An evaluation of two self-report scales among crime victims.

The validity of the Impact of Events Scale (IES) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptom Scale, Self-Report version (PSS-SR) was examined among crime victims. Both instruments performed well as screeners for PTSD. For the IES, sensitivity ranged between .93 and 1.00; for the PSS-SR, sensitivity ranged between .80 and .90. Specificity for the IES ranged between .78 and .84 and for the PSS-SR ranged between .84 and .88. Some individual items from the 2 scales performed just as well as the total scales. The authors conclude that either of these short self-report instruments or their individual items are suitable as screeners for PTSD, specifically in settings where mental health professionals are unavailable. Cross-validation of these results is necessary because of the small sample size in this study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural Differences in Young Children's Vulnerability to Injuries: A Risk and Protection Perspective.

Interview data from 100 lower income Hispanic and 50 White mothers from a nutritional service clinic extended prior research on cultural differences in the risk for unintentional pediatric injuries. Group differences were expected in reported injury incidence and in the prevalence and impact of contributing factors. As predicted, White mothers reported more injuries for a young child, and among Hispanic mothers, English language preference and use were associated with more reported injuries. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that risky behaviors, mother's judgment about child compliance, and stressful life events were better predictors of injuries than housing quality, but among Hispanics, the impact of certain factors (e.g.. child temperament) was qualified by mother's acculturation level. Stress and child temperament explained injury differences between more- and less-acculturated Hispanic families but only partially accounted for differences between White mothers and less-acculturated Hispanics. Pediatric injury risk and protective factors seemed to operate in concert with cultural processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

合成纤维改善钢筋混凝土板受弯性能的试验研究

通过掺有合成纤维钢筋混凝土板的受弯性能试验，对不同纤维掺量的钢筋混凝土板的受力和变形性能进行了比较分析，分析认为在正常使用荷载水平下，合成纤维能有效改善混凝土板的开裂形态，增强其变形能力．     

Minima equalization: A useful strategy in automatic processing of microscopic images

Specifically stained features in microscopic images rarely have a unique range of grey levels which would permit selection of the features by simple thresholding. The spaces between features and immediately surrounding them are often as dark or darker than the more lightly stained features. An algorithm for minima equalization which facilitates the extraction and segmentation of such features was designed and is explained in intuitive terms. It is applied to the analysis of cross-sections of peripheral myelinated nerve fibres. It is shown that the binary image obtained can be combined with a gradient image to give a binary image which accurately reflects the thickness of the myelin in the original image. Using silver-impregnated nerve endings and bile canaliculi stained for thiamine pyrophosphatase, binary images like those prepared manually from thick specimens using a camera lucida can be obtained using the minima equalization procedure. The image processor is used to develop a composite image by combining images at various focal planes through the thick specimen. This image is then processed to obtain the binary image.     

Efficient decision tree design for discrete variable pattern recognition problems

An algorithm is developed for the design of an efficient decision tree with application to the pattern recognition problems involving discrete variables. The problem of evaluating an extremely large number of trees in search of a minimum cost decision tree is tackled by defining a criterion to estimate the minimum expected cost of a tree in terms of the weights of its terminal nodes and costs of the measurements, which then is used to establish the search procedure for the efficient decision tree. The concept of prime events is used to obtain the number of modes and the corresponding weights in the design samples. An application of the proposed algorithm is presented for the design of an efficient decision tree for classifying Devanagri numerals.