Digital Commons Network^™

Health Insurance Portability: The Consequences Of Cobra, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

THE RESPONSE OF THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION and Congress to the failed attempt at fundamental health care reform in 1993 has been a series of incremental measures that expand the government’s role in the health care system. One recent initiative, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), restricts the ability of insurers to exclude preexisting medical conditions from insurance coverage. It also requires insurance companies to issue or renew coverage for individuals who have been insured but who no longer have access to group health insurance coverage. Those provisions are intended to address the issue of health insurance …

Modeling Soot Derived From Pulverized Coal, Alexander L. Brown, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

A semiempirical model has been developed for predicting coal-derived soot. The main feature of the model is a transport equation for soot mass fraction. Tar prediction options include either an empirical or a transport equation approach, which directly impacts the source term for soot formation. Also, the number of soot particles per unit mass of gas may be calculated using either a transport equation or an assumed average. Kinetics are based on Arrhenius rates taken from published measurements. Radiative properties are calculated as a function of averaged optical constants, predicted gas temperatures, predicted gas densities, and the soot mass fractions. …

Evaluation Of Ch4/Nox Reduced Mechanisms Used For Modeling Lean Premixed Turbulent Combustion Of Natural Gas, Hemant P. Mallampalli, Thomas H. Fletcher, J Y. Chen

Faculty Publications

This study has identified useful reduced kinetic schemes that can be used in comprehensive multi-dimensional gas-turbine combustor models. Reduced mechanisms lessen computational cost and possess the capability to accurately predict the overall flame structure, including gas temperatures and key intermediate species such as CH₄, CO and NO_x. In this study, four-new global mechanisms with 5, 6, 7, and 9 steps based on the full GRI 2.11 mechanism, were developed and evaluated for their potential to model natural-gas chemistry (including NO_x chemistry) in gas turbine combustors. These new reduced mechanisms were optimized to model the high …

Chancellor Kent And The Search For The Elements Of Impeachable Offenses, Michael J. Gerhardt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Statistical Continuum Theory For Inelastic Behavior Of A Two-Phase Medium, Brent L. Adams, H. Garmestani, S. Lin

Faculty Publications

This work was supported in part (B.L. Adams) by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award no. DMR-9632556. Further support was provided by the Center for Materials Research and Technology (MARTECH at FSU) and Center for Nonlinear and Nonequilibrium Sciences (CENNAS at FAMU). A statistical contiuum mechanics formulation is presented to predict the inelastic behavior of a medium consisting of two isotropic phases. The phase distribution and morphology are represented by a two-point probability function. The isotropic behavior of the single phase medium is represented by a power law relationship between the strain rate and the resolved …

Bias And The Probability Of Generalization, Tony R. Martinez, D. Randall Wilson

Faculty Publications

In order to be useful, a learning algorithm must be able to generalize well when faced with inputs not previously presented to the system. A bias is necessary for any generalization, and as shown by several researchers in recent years, no bias can lead to strictly better generalization than any other when summed over all possible functions or applications. This paper provides examples to illustrate this fact, but also explains how a bias or learning algorithm can be “better” than another in practice when the probability of the occurrence of functions is taken into account. It shows how domain knowledge …

A New Dynamic Mechanism Of Topological Charge Creation In A Commensurate One-Dimensional Charge Density Wave Near The Contact With A Normal Metal, A. S. Rozhavsky, Yuriy V. Pershin Dr, A. S. Kovalev

Faculty Publications

The dynamics of conversion of conduction electrons into topological solitons of a charge density wave (CDW) commensurability in an external electric field is investigated. A novel mechanism of initiation of a nonlinear CDW current in the vicinity of the interface between a CDW and a normal metal is revealed and explained. The nonlinear current is produced by the conduction solitons created by the moving profile of the order parameter, formed during the conversion of electrons into collective phase excitations of a CDW. The field dependence of the current is of threshold nature and has no analogs in the bulk mechanisms …

Annotated Bibliography Of Research In The Teaching Of English, Deborah Brown, Richard L. Larson, Melissa Whiting

Faculty Publications

Twice a year, in the May and December issues, RTE publishes a selected bibliography Of recent research in the teaching of English. Most of the studies listed appeared during the six-month period preceding the complication of the bibliography (January through lune, 1997, for the present bibliography), but some studies that appeared earlier are occasionally included. The listing is selective; it makes no attempt to include all research and research-related studies that appeared in the period under review. Comments on the bibliography and suggestions about items for inclusion may be directed to the bibliography editors. We encourage you to send your …

The Idaho Territorial Penitentiary's First Female Inmate, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

While doing research on the experience of Mormon polygamists incarcerated at the Idaho Penitentiary, Fred Woods became curious about a woman imprisoned there at the same time. The Idaho Penitentiary's Convict Register names "Heneba" as the first female inmate received, on May 31, 1887. Next to her name is written in parentheses "squaw." For many years it has been unclear whether "Heneba" was her first or last name and what the background of this mysterious Native American was. Information about her age at the time of her incarceration, her family life, and the details of her later years and death …

Pant-Legs And Pathology: The Marriage Of Individual And Family Assessment, Steven M. Harris, Dean M. Busby

Faculty Publications

Bowen family systems theory suggests that individuals who report high levels of individual pathology will also report having been raised in families characterized by high conflict and low adaptability. Combining individual and family assessment measures, or using one type of measure to understand the results of the other may be possible through the application of systems theory. Therapeutic implications of the study reported here indicate that practitioners should consider the value of focusing on family of origin processes before a primary focus on isolated traumatic events guides the direction of therapy.

Unfolding Of The Period-Two Bifurcation In A Fiber Laser Pumped With Two Modulation Tones, Scott Glasgow, T. C. Newell, A. Gavrielides, V. Kovanis, D. Sukow, T. Erneux

Faculty Publications

The effect of a small second frequency component on a pump modulated neodymium fiber laser is investigated experimentally and theoretically. This term, whose frequency is exactly half the primary driver, incites an unfolding of the attractor. It breaks the period two pitchfork bifurcation and splits the period one orbit. The modification of the bifurcation diagram is studied analytically by employing a map derived from the class B laser rate equations. We determine specific conditions and scaling laws for this phenomenon. Our analytical predictions are in good agreement with recorded experimental data.

Predator Deterrence And 2,4-Dibromophenol Conservation By The Enteropneusts Saccoglossus Bromophenolosus And Protoglossus Graveolens, Cem Giray, Gary M. King

Faculty Publications

Saccoglossus bromophenolosus King et al., 1994 and Protoglossus graveolens Giray and King, 1996 contain high concentrations of 2,4-dibromophenol (DBP), the function of which is uncertain. Mature enteropneusts that were collected from the field and maintained in vitro without bromide retained DBP, which is inconsistent with active DBP secretion into the burrow environment. DBP was also conserved during field manipulations that decreased food availability in situ. Further, DBP did not deter predation in feeding experiments with the anomuran crab Pagurus longicarpus and the polychaetes Glycera dibranchiata, Nereis virens and Nepthys incisa. The hermit crabs fed on S. bromophenolosus readily, and in …

Nonlinear Optimal Control Of A Hydraulically Actuated Positioning System, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard

Faculty Publications

In this paper, the nonlinear optimal control problem is formulated for the position control of an electrohydraulic servo system. The optimal control is given by the solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, which in this case cannot be solved explicitly. An alternative method, based upon successive Galerkin approximation, is used to obtain an approximate optimal solution. Preliminary simulation results, demonstrating the application of this approach to the position control of a hydraulically actuated device, are presented.

Extracting The Relative Grain Boundary Free Energy And Mobility Functions From The Geometry Of Microstructures, Brent L. Adams, D. Kinderlehrer, W. W. Mullins, Anthony D. Rollett, Shlomo Ta'asan

Faculty Publications

This work was supported primarily by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award Number DMR-9632556. This paper describes a method for extracting, from measurements of a polycrystal, the relative excess free energy and the relative mobility of the grain boundaries as functions of the crystallographic type (five degrees of freedom) and relevant thermodynamic variables. The method requires the simultaneous measurement of both the geometry and the crystallography of a large number of grain boundary intersections; the crystallographic information may be obtained from orientation imaging microscopy (OIM). For simplicity, the intersections will be assumed to be triple junctions …

Robotic Tcf And Rigid-Body Calibration Methods, Edward Red, Xuguang Wang

Faculty Publications

For off-line programming to work, systematic methods must be developed to account for non-ideal performance of the parts and devices in the manufacturing cell. Although much of the literature focuses on robot inaccuracy, this paper considers practical methods for the tool control frame (TCF) calibration and rigid-body compensation required to close the inverse kinematics loop for target driven tasks.

The Congregation: Critical Location For Faith And The Other, Patrick R. Keifert

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Esther: A Theological Approach, By Angel Manuel Rodriguez, Jacques R. Doukhan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Bibleworks For Windows 3.5, Gerald Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

The first area of discussion is the structure of each government system. This analysis not only sets the legal framework for later analysis, but demonstrates how both Israel and Iran have brought religion into the very fabric of their legal institutions.The second area of analysis in Part II focuses on the principles of sovereignty and constitutional interpretation utilized by each State. Familiarity with these concepts is necessary in order to learn which religious principles, if any, are incorporated into each nation's general legal environment. These principles, which are implicitly understood by members of the society, are often unstated in judicial …

The Coexistence Of Multiple Distribution Systems For Financial Services: The Case Of Property-Liability Insurance, Allen N. Berger, J. David Cummins, Mary A. Weiss

Faculty Publications

Property-liability insurance is distributed through a direct-writer system, where agents represent one insurer, and an independent- agency system, where agents represent several insurers. Independent-agency insurers have higher costs than direct writers. The market- imperfections hypothesis attributes the coexistence of the two types of insurers to impediments to competition, while the product-quality hypothesis holds that independent-agency insurers provide higher-quality services. We measure cost efficiency and profit efficiency for property-liability insurers and find strong support for the product-quality hypothesis, implying that independent-agency insurers produce higher-quality outputs and are compensated by higher revenues.

Power In Exchange Networks: Critique Of A New Theory, Barry N. Markovsky, David Willer, Brent Simpson, Michael J. Lovaglia

Faculty Publications

Markovsky et al criticize Yamaguchi's (1996) theory of power in social exchange networks, revealing internal theoretical contradictions. Yamaguchi responds to the criticisms.

Lawyer Creeds And Moral Seismography, James E. Moliterno

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Novel Laboratory Course On Advanced Chemical Engineering Experiments, Jochen A. Lauterbach, S. White, X. Lui, G. M. Bodner, W. N. Delgass

Faculty Publications

The chemical engineering curriculum in the United States has trained generations of technical experts who have successfully optimized chemical processes and products once they entered the chemical industry. The U.S. chemical industry, however, has entered a critical stage in which it must be able to create new and differentiated value through technical innovations that arc essential for long-term survival. This innovation process will require new skills that go far beyond the traditional expertise for the optimization of tasks possessed by young chemical engineers. The innovators must be able to identify new opportunities, explore the boundaries of technology, evaluate critical issues, …

Reshaping The Bedrock Of Democracy: American Jury Reform During The Past 30 Years, G. Thomas Munsterman, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore three broad areas of jury reform--administrative, structural, and procedural--as well as the problems they were intended to address and the consequences, both good and bad, that resulted from their implementation.

This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.

System For Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Measurements At High Pressure And Low Temperature, Ke Huang, Daniel L. Decker, H. Mark Nelson, J. Dean Barnett

Faculty Publications

Major improvements have been made on the sensitive high pressure electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) system developed previously in 1978 at this laboratory. These changes allow low temperature measurements and provide a more stable signal. The high pressure EPR cell is placed inside a vacuum chamber to provide thermal isolation, so that the system may be cooled by a closed cycle refrigerator to temperatures between 45 and 60 K, depending on the energy input to the modulation coil. The combination of high pressure and low temperature greatly expands the thermodynamic range over which EPR measurements can be made. An improved and …

Effect Of Naturally Occurring Bromophenols On Sulfate Reduction And Ammonia Oxidation In Intertidal Sediments, C. Giray, G. M. King

Faculty Publications

We examined the effect on ammonium oxidation and sulfate reduction of several brominated compounds [4-bromophenol, 2,4-dibromophenol (2,4-DBP), 2,6-dibromophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol] that occur naturally in enteropneusts. We compared rates of these processes with and without bromoorganics using bulk intertidal sediments and burrow wall sediments from 3 enteropneust species (2 containing 2,4-DBP and 1 containing 2,3,4-tribromopyrrole), a mollusc (Mya arenaria) and a polychaete (Nereis virens). Sulfate reduction in bulk sediment was unaffected by bromophenols at concentrations sediment, but was inhibited temporarily at 1 μmol cm-3. Sulfate reduction in burrow wall sediments differed from bulk sediments, but was not correlated with concentrations of …

Law And The Wisconsin Idea, Erika Lietzan, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Publications

We recall a summer of contentment when American law was suffused with optimism, a season ending a long winter of despair and disorder. For the first fifteen years of this century, many (and perhaps most) American lawyers were filled with confidence that America had healed the wounds of civil war and was healing those of class struggle. We could, and we would, overcome all obstacles to peace and prosperity, not only for our people but for all mankind. This, it was widely believed, would be our century. As early as 1879 Daniel Coit Gilman, the premier educator of his time, …

Appreciation, Please, Patricia Rushton

Faculty Publications

The question to be addressed in this study is "Why do actively employed registered nurses work?" The goal of the study is to determine what factor financial reimbursement is in maintaining active employment as a nurse.

Local Refinement Of Three-Dimensional Finite Element Meshes, M. L. Staten, Norman L. Jones

Faculty Publications

Mesh refinement is an important tool for editing finite element meshes in order to increase the accuracy of the solution. Refinement is performed in an iterative procedure in which a solution is found, error estimates are calculated, and elements in regions of high error are refined. This process is repeated until the desired accuracy is obtained.

Much research has been done on mesh refinement. Research has been focused on two-dimensional meshes and three-dimensional tetrahedral meshes ([1] Ning et al. (1993) Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 13, 299–318; [2] Rivara, M. (1991) …

Autopsy In The Cancer Patient: The Nurse's Role, Patricia Rushton

Faculty Publications

Nurses spend many hours with dying cancer patients, developing close relationships with both the patients and their families. However, nurses are frequently not involved in the process of requesting an autopsy, either by choice or tradition. During this time of great stress, the nurse can be more involved. The nurse who understands the reasons for autopsy and its ramification for the grieving process can be actively involved in supporting the physician who makes the request and the family members who must make the this difficult decision. It is possible that the nurse can be the health team member designated to …