Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Charlotte published in 1989"

Research Methods for Public Administrators

Abstract: This accessible, practical book introduces readers to the methodological tools administrators and policy analysts use to conduct research. Comprehensive coverage of the research process includes examples and step-by-step instructions focusing on common research techniques. This new edition is accompanied by an SPSS data disk tied directly to the exercises in the book.

Membrane fatty acid and virulence changes in the viable but nonculturable state of Vibrio vulnificus.

Abstract: The nonculturable state of Vibrio vulnificus and, for comparison, that of Escherichia coli were studied in artificial-seawater microcosms at 5 degrees C. Total cell counts were monitored by acridine orange epifluorescence, metabolic activity by direct viable counts, and culturability by plate counts on selective and nonselective media. Whereas total counts remained constant, plate counts of V. vulnificus suggested nonculturability by day 24. In contrast, direct viable counts indicated significant cell viability throughout 32 days of incubation. As an indication of the metabolic changes that occurred as cells entered the state of nonrecoverability, membrane fatty acid analyses were performed. At the point of nonculturability of V. vulnificus, the major fatty acid species (C16 and C16:1) had decreased 57% from the T0 level, concomitant with the appearance of several short-chain acids. Although the bacteria were still recoverable, a similar trend was observed with E. coli. Electron microscopy of nonculturable V. vulnificus showed that the cells were rounded and reduced in size and contained fewer ribosomes. Mouse infectivity studies conducted with these cells suggested loss of virulence.

Olfactory stimuli as context cues in human memory.

Abstract: Olfactory stimuli were used as context cues in a recognition memory paradigm. Male college students were exposed to 50 slides of the faces of college females while in the presence of a pleasant or an unpleasant odor. During the acquisition phase, ratings of physical attractiveness of the slides were collected. After a 48-hr delay, a recognition test was given using the original 50 slides and 50 new slides. The recognition test was conducted with either the original odor or the alternative odor present. A no-odor control group did not receive olfactory cues. The attractiveness ratings indicated that the odor variations had no effect on these social judgments. Analyses of d' scores, hits, and false alarms for the recognition performance indicated support for the predicted interaction in which presence of the same odor at both sessions led to better overall performance.

Response of Parents to Learning That Their Child Is Homosexual and Concern Over AIDS: A National Study

Abstract: This study was a survey of 402 parents of gay and lesbian children from the northeastern, southern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States. Of particular interest was parental response to the knowledge of their child's homosexuality and the AIDS outbreak. Although parents suffered emotional upset upon learning of their children's homosexuality, many progressed through a five-stage grief process that ended with acceptance. Fear of the spread of AIDS, that their offspring might contract AIDS, or that their child might suffer from the backlash related to AIDS were concerns for most parents. Attitudes toward AIDS were not very different between mothers and fathers. However, older parents were more likely to have more positive attitudes toward AIDS than younger parents, and liberal parents were more likely to have a more positive outlook than their conservative counterparts.

Vacuum microelectronics

Abstract: An overview of the progress, problems, and potential of vacuum microelectronics is presented. Particular attention is given to fabrication processes. It is emphasized that vacuum microelectronics represents a promising field with many potential applications niches (i.e. with intrinsic advantages over other technologies), rather than a single great revolution comparable to that of silicon. Important research problems that remain and potential applications are discussed. >

Comparison between electrical and free space optical interconnects for fine grain processor arrays based on interconnect density capabilities.

Abstract: Optically interconnected processor arrays are compared to conventional fully electronic processor arrays in terms of interconnect density capabilities. A complexity model is introduced that allows the calculation of the array area growth rate as an asymptotic function of the number of processing elements in the array. Lower bounds on the area growth rate of electrically interconnected processor arrays are compared to upper bounds for free-space optically interconnected circuits that employ computer generated holograms. Results indicate that for connection networks such as the hypercube, perfect shuffle and crossbar networks, that have a high minimum bisection width (a measure of the global nature of an interconnect topology) and contain some degree of spatial invariance, optically interconnected circuit area growth rates are below lower bounds on VLSI circuit growth rates.

Gender differences in the upward mobility of black managers: Double whammy or double advantage?

Abstract: This study draws upon the theory and research on intraorganizational mobility to examine gender differences in the upward mobility of black managers. Results suggest that neither the “double whammy” assumptions nor the “double advantage” assumptions are accurate descriptions of the contemporary experience of black female managers in corporate America. Upward mobility rates were nearly identical for both gender groups. Other findings and the implications of the results for future research are discussed.

The Origin and Diffusion of AIDS: A View from Medical Geography

Abstract: The integration of the history and geography of diseases is essential to understanding and revealing a true picture of epidemiology and disease patterns as they are today. This is particularly true for the current pandemic of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The complexity and capabilities of the disease agent, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type I (HIV-I), generate increasing concern about this fatal disease. Thus far, treatment merely temporarily extends lives of the victims, and hope for a vaccine against infection remains remote. Understanding the mechanisms and patterns of the origin and diffusion of the infection and disease are central to developing appropriate intervention strategies for controlling its spread. In this paper an overview of AIDS is presented from the perspective of medical geography. Characteristics of the virus and the mechanisms of infection are described, and, using available evidence, an attempt is made to piece together the spatial-temporal patterns of...

Influence of Tempering and Contraction Mismatch on Crack Development in Ceramic Surfaces

Abstract: Tempering of glass produces a state of compressive stress in surface regions which can enhance the resistance to crack initiation and growth. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of tempering on the sizes of surface cracks induced within the tempered surfaces of opaque porcelain-body porcelain discs, with contraction coefficient differences (αO- αB) of +3.2, +0.7, 0.0, -0.9, and -1.5 ppm/°C. We fired the discs to the maturing temperature (982°C) of body porcelain and then subjected them to three cooling procedures: slow cooling in a furnace (SC), fast cooling in air (FC), and tempering (T) by blasting the body porcelain surface with compressed air for 90 s. We used body porcelain discs as the thermally compatible (Δα = 0) control specimens. We measured the diameters of cracks induced by a microhardness indenter at an applied load of 4.9 N at 80 points along diametral lines within the surface of body porcelain.The mean values of the crack diameters varied from 75.9 μm (Δα = -1.5 ppm/°...

Strategies in Certiorari Voting on the United States Supreme Court

Abstract: Do justices on the United States Supreme Court pursue strategies in their certiorari voting? We inspected seven terms from the Vinson, Warren, and Burger Courts and discovered that the justices use the error correcting, prediction, and majority strategies, particularly when the strategies are consistent with each other. Such use is not indiscriminate but usually is tempered by the presence of adverse conditions. We also investigated the error correcting and prediction strategies through the focus of liberal and conservative justices in liberal and conservative courts. These two strategies and their combination work best for conservative justices in conservative courts. Liberal justices in liberal courts are substantially more grant prone than conservative justices in conservative courts.

The crimes of the homeless or the crime of homelessness? On the dialectics of criminalization, decriminalization, and victimization

Abstract: This paper is a limited attempt to synthesize the older and newer trends in radical criminology — to integrate the issues of criminalization, decriminalization, and victimization The object of our endeavor is homelessness and how society responds to it In the paper, we first examine the dialectics of criminalization, homelessness, and economic crisis in relation to some of the general trends in the developing political economy of welfare capitalism Second, we argue that criminologists should support and focus on effort to “criminalize” the condition of homelessness and, at the same time, to decriminalize most of the acts of survival of the homeless In pursuing this end, we urge criminologists to respond by doing things “with” rather than “for” or “to” the homeless Ultimately, we hope this paper contributes to the ideological and practical struggle for achieving stable institutional methods for satisfying basic human needs

Interconnect density capabilities of computer generated holograms for optical interconnection of very large scale integrated circuits.

Abstract: An upper bound on the area of a computer generated hologram (CGH) required to form space variant connections between N transmitters and N × F detectors is determined. The analysis is performed without employing paraxial or small transmitter divergence angle approximations. It is shown that a previously proposed method for performing space variant interconnects has limited usefulness for connecting transmitters with large divergence angles. A new architecture employing a double pass CGH is introduced, and an expression is derived for the interconnect density capabilities of this architecture.

Spatial Foraging Patterns of the African Honey Bee, Apis mellifera scutellata

Abstract: Recruitment patterns were investigated for the African honey bee in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana. The waggle dances of two observation colonies maintained in the field were monitored and used to construct maps of daily recruitment activity. These maps revealed that the African colonies frequently adjusted the allocation of recruits among food patches, recruited for 16–17 different food sites/day over areas of 55–80 km 2 ,and concentrated the majority of recruitment within 1 km of the hives (median foraging distances for the two colonies were 295 and 563 m). In both colonies pollen foragers were more abundant than nectar foragers, and pollen sources indicated by waggle dancers were significantly closer to the hives than nectar sources. Compared to the recruitment patterns of temperate climate colonies, the African colonies had smaller recruitment areas, smaller mean recruitment distances, and a greater emphasis on pollen foraging. These differences may be related to the contrasting survival strategies followed by tropical-versus temperate-climate honey bees.

Three-Dimensional Object Recognition Using Range Data

Abstract: For the past two decades, most computer vision research has been concerned with digitized gray scale intensity images as sensor data. Digitized intensity images do not, however, contain explicit information about depth or range. More recently, digitized range data from both active and passive sensors has been used for object recognition and image understanding. In this paper we present a 3-dimensional range data recognition scheme. This scheme is based on the association of a set of geometric features to a surface which approximates the surface of an unknown object. A key feature of this system is its efficient use of dense range data.

Magneto-inductive sensor for performing tactile and proximity sensing

Abstract: The present invention discloses a single sensor performing both tactile and proximity sensing. The sensor includes a magnetic field generator, a magnetic field sensor for sensing changes in the magnetic field in response to an object changing position with respect to the field to provide proximity sensing. By providing for relative movement between the response to the object touching the sensor, tactile sensing is provided.

Tempering Stresses in Feldspathic Porcelain

Abstract: The objective of this study was to develop an analytical model to calculate transient and residual (tempering) stresses in dental porcelain plates subjected to cooling rates used by commercial laboratories. The model incorporates linear viscoelasticity and structural relaxation effects.The viscosities of three experimental body porcelains and three experimental opaque porcelains as a function of temperature were calculated from creep rates measured in a bending beam viscometer. Measurements were made under thermal equilibrium conditions for temperatures ranging from 550°C to 625°C. Thermal expansion data measured in a differential dilatometer at slow heating rates were supplied by the manufacturer. Temperature distribution in the plates as a function of convective heat transfer coefficient, initial plate temperature, and plate thickness was calculated by use of standard numerical techniques.Calculations of transient and residual stress were performed for one body porcelain, for two plate thicknesses, and ...

An outcome evaluation of refusal skills program as a drug abuse prevention strategy.

Abstract: In recent years successful strategies developed in the antismoking campaign became the basis for widely publicized and federally endorsed antidrug "Just Say No" programs. Similarly, many refusal skills programs have been introduced as a new strategy in adolescent drug abuse prevention. However, none of these programs have been evaluated. While employing a typical refusal skills program entitled "WHOA! A Great Way To Say NO," the effectiveness of the program was examined. Through this outcome evaluation, it has been learned that the program was not able to impact on the "high-risk" attitudinal syndromes that are closely related to student drug involvement. Unexpectedly, a significantly larger proportion of students in the program felt it was more difficult to say "No" at the time of the posttest than during the time of the pretest. This seems to suggest that the program participants became more attentive to the issues surrounding saying "No" or, perhaps, were more sensitized to the whole issue involving saying "No," thereby making it more difficult for them to say "No" during the posttest period.

The Investment Performance of Common Stocks in Relation to Their Price–Earnings Ratios: An Update of the Basu Study

Abstract: In this paper, the relationship between the investment performances of equity securities and their price–earnings ratios is examined using an approach similar to the one employed by Basu in a 1977 paper. From the tests, we conclude that, from 1979 through 1984, there were some moderate excess rates of return earned by selecting stocks based on their price–earnings ratios but that these excess rates were not obtained from investing in low price–earnings stocks.

Thermal Curing Cycles for Composite Cylinders with Thick Walls and Thermoset Resins

Abstract: : This paper treats the motion of long, unidirectional, continuous fibers through a Newtonian resin. There is a consolidation force on the top row of fibers or effective force (loads) on all the fibers due to their tension in filament-wound cylinders. An asymptotic analysis for high fiber volume fraction is presented here. The results of the asymptotic solution are compared to the results of a previous application of the lubrication approximation. There are several objectives to be achieved during the consolidation of a composite material. The elimination of voids, the removal of air and excess resin, a uniform degree of curing, a uniform final fiber volume and conformation to a specified fiber orientation are all necessary in the final consolidated material. The consolidation process may be initiated with surface or pressure loading, or in the case of fiber winding, consolidation results from tensile stress on the fibers due to the winding. Both types of loading produce resin and void motion which depends on the resin matrix properties (such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, cure behavior), the initial fiber volume fraction, fiber orientation, and fiber properties (thermal conductivity, diameter, fiber length) . The work presented here is concerned with resin flow and fiber motion in a fiber-resin system with an initially high fiber volume typical of composites made with thermoplastic resins.

Birth order and Prominence in the History of Psychology

Abstract: The Birth Order Effect refers to the greater likelihood of first-born rather than later born children achieving eminence. In the present study, birth order information was obtained for 79 prominent figures in the history of psychology. The History of Psychology in Autobiography series was used as an indicator of prominence and as a primary source for family data for 61 individuals. This was supplemented by biographies of other historically important individuals. Nearly 52% of the subjects were found to have been either first-borns or only children, a figure significantly higher than one would have expected given the number of siblings present in their families. Using more selective criteria, such as APA presidency or election to the National Academy of Sciences, did not change the proportion of first-born to later born. The results demonstrate a birth order effect among prominent figures in the history of psychology. This would be expected from previous findings that first-borns are more likely to complete college and graduate education, thus admitting them to occupations in which eminence may be achieved.

Asymptotic Efficiencies of Spacings Tests for Goodness of Fit.

Abstract: Tests based on higher-order orm-step spacings have been considered in the literature for the goodness of fit problem. This paper studies the asymptotic distribution theory for such tests based on non-overlappingm-step spacings whenm, the length of the step, also increases with the sample sizen, to inifinity. By utilizing the asymptotic distributions under a sequence of close alternatives and studying their relative efficiencies, we try to answer a central question about the choice ofm in relation ton. Efficiency comparisons are made with tests based on overlappingm-step spacings, as well as corresponding chi-square tests.

Treponematosis: a possible case from the late prehistoric of North Carolina.

Abstract: The skeleton of an adult female exhibiting evidence of treponemal infection was recently recovered from the Hardin site in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Archaeological indicators suggest a late prehistoric affiliation. The skeleton is affected by a diffuse process resulting in surface changes, both destructive and appositional, node formation and shaft expansion, medullary encroachment and filling, cortical thickening, and fracture. There is both cranial and postcranial involvement. While treponemal infection is indicated, the atypical nature of the total pattern raises the possibility of multiple pathological processes operating simultaneously. The significance of this case is threefold. It provides information on the ability of prehistoric peoples to cope with disease. It reminds the paleopathologist of the dangers inherent in attempts at singular and specific diagnoses. It sheds new light on the epidemiology of the treponemal diseases.

The Impact of the “I'M Special” Program on Student Substance Abuse and other Related Student Problem Behavior

Abstract: There has been a proliferation of school-based substance abuse prevention programs geared toward reducing or delaying the onset of student use of illegal drugs. But the field has shown a general absence of evaluation dealing with the behavior consequences of these practices. This article fiis this gap by using the case of the “I'm Special” Program (ISP) targeted for fourth grade students. Using a quasiexperimental design, a comparison is made between the substance using and other problem behavior of students who have been exposed to the ISP and those who have not during their later school years in grades S through 12. At the aggregate level, the proportions of current substance users and the incidence of their related problem behavior were significantly lower among the ISP graduates than those who have not been exposed to the program. In particular, there were consistently lower proportions of current substance users among the ISP recipients than the nonrecipients in grades 5–7. However, the impact of the...

Holograms For Optical Interconnects For Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits Fabricated By Electron-Beam Lithography

Abstract: High performance holograms are a crucial part of realizing the predicted benefits of optical interconnection of electronic circuits. Fabrication of computer-generated holograms using electron-beam lithography provides access to the needed performance but presents new challenges in design, encoding, and data handling. Two holograms are described that represent different approaches in each of these areas. The first hologram connects a single laser source to several widely separated detectors. A paraxial imaging arrangement allows the holographic interferogram to be encoded as concentric circles of a Fresnel zone plate. The second hologram was designed to replace the row address lines on a 1 kbit RAM chip. In this case, broad separation of the sources prohibits use of the paraxial approximation. Instead, a piecewise approximation to the optimal phase function is encoded with a closed-contour fringe-tracing algorithm. Both holograms were evaluated in experimental systems involving photodetectors integrated onto a VLSI circuit chip and a discrete semiconductor laser.

The discovery of the principles of reinforcement, extinction, generalization, and differentiation of conditional reflexes in Pavlov's laboratories.

Abstract: The discovery of reinforcement, extinction, generalization, and differentiation with the conditional reflex method in Pavlov’s laboratories is described. Modern American introductory texts show that contemporary understanding of the experimental work on conditioning in Pavlov’s laboratories is derived from a 1927 English translation of Pavlov’s lectures on the conditional reflexes. The lectures present the discoveries topically, not chronologically. In contrast, this article presents a chronological account of the contributions of S. G. Vul’fson, I. F. Tolochinov, and B. P. Babkin, which led to the conceptualization of reinforcement and extinction, and the work of V. N. Boldyrev and N. A. Kashereninova, which led to the formulation of the concepts of generalization and differentiation. This historical approach avoids giving the impression that the development of the Pavlovian paradigm was a highly systematic pursuit.