University of Akron

About: University of Akron is a education organization based out in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Polymer & Polymerization. The organization has 17401 authors who have published 29127 publications receiving 702386 citations. The organization is also known as: The University of Akron.

Silver and its application as an antimicrobial agent

Abstract: This review summarises patents published from 2001 to 2004 on the microcidal properties of silver-releasing materials for healthcare and medicine. The anti-inflammatory, re-epitheliasation and antihaemorrhagic properties of the silver-releasing materials are also disclosed. A biological evaluation of the anti-viral properties of silver tetra-silver tetra-oxide is discussed, but no biological data have been reported to support the claim that silver (I) has anti--viral prop-erties, as disclosed by most of the patents.

Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics

Abstract: Party activists have played a leading role in “conflict extension”—the polarization of the parties along multiple issue dimensions—in contemporary American politics. We argue that open nomination systems and the ambitious politicians competing within those systems encourage activists with extreme views on a variety of issue dimensions to become involved in party politics, thus motivating candidates to take noncentrist positions on a range of issues. Once that happens, continuing activists with strong partisan commitments bring their views into line with the new candidate agendas, thus extending the domain of interparty conflict. Using cross-sectional and panel surveys of national convention delegates, we find clear evidence for conflict extension among party activists, evidence tentatively suggesting a leading role for activists in partisan conflict extension more generally, and strong support for our argument about change among continuing activists. Issue conversion among activists has contributed substantially to conflict extension and party commitment has played a key role in motivating that conversion.

Human action learning via hidden Markov model

Abstract: To successfully interact with and learn from humans in cooperative modes, robots need a mechanism for recognizing, characterizing, and emulating human skills. In particular, it is our interest to develop the mechanism for recognizing and emulating simple human actions, i.e., a simple activity in a manual operation where no sensory feedback is available. To this end, we have developed a method to model such actions using a hidden Markov model (HMM) representation. We proposed an approach to address two critical problems in action modeling: classifying human action-intent, and learning human skill, for which we elaborated on the method, procedure, and implementation issues in this paper. This work provides a framework for modeling and learning human actions from observations. The approach can be applied to intelligent recognition of manual actions and high-level programming of control input within a supervisory control paradigm, as well as automatic transfer of human skills to robotic systems.

Stress, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in late adolescents.

Abstract: The relationships among stress, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in late adolescents were examined in a group of college students. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both stress and self-esteem were significantly related to suicidal ideation; low self-esteem and stressful life events significantly predicted suicidal ideation. The hypothesis that self-esteem would moderate the effects of life stressors on suicidal ideation was supported at the .06 level. A significant minority of the sample indicated having thoughts severe enough to be classified as clinical suicidal ideation. In general, participants who had experienced negative life events in the 6 to 12 months prior to participating in the study had lower self-esteem than those who had similar stresses within the prior six months. However, the opposite was true for clinical suicidal ideators; those who experienced negative life stressors recently had lower self-esteem than those who experienced negative life events six months to a year in the past.

A review on thermally conductive polymeric composites: classification, measurement, model and equations, mechanism and fabrication methods

Abstract: With the fast-developing miniaturization and integration of microelectronics packaging materials, ultrahigh-voltage electrical devices, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and in areas which require good heat dissipation and low thermal expansion, the investigations on the polymeric composites with highly thermal conductivities and excellent thermal stabilities are urgently required, which would be beneficial to transferring the heat to the outside of the products, finally to effectively avoid substantial overheating and prolong their working life. Our article reviews recent progress in the classification, measurement methods, model and equations, mechanisms, commonly used thermally conductive fillers, and the correlative fabrication methods for the thermally conductive polymeric composites, aiming to understand and grasp how to enhance the λ value effectively. And future perspectives, focusing scientific problems and technical difficulties of the present thermally conductive polymeric composites are also described and evaluated.