Polydisperse fluid mixtures of adhesive colloidal particles

We investigate polydispersity effects on the average structure factor of colloidal suspensions of neutral particles with surface adhesion. A sticky hard sphere model alternative to Baxter's one is considered. The choice of factorizable stickiness parameters in the potential allows a simple analytic solution, within the ``mean spherical approximation'', for any number of components and arbitrary stickiness distribution. Two particular cases are discussed: i) all particles have different sizes but equal stickiness (Model I), and ii) each particle has a stickiness proportional to its size (Model II). The interplay between attraction and polydispersity yields a markedly different behaviour for the two Models in regimes of strong coupling (i.e. strong adhesive forces and low temperature) and large polydispersity. These results are then exploited to reanalyze experimental scattering data on sterically stabilized silica particles.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures (included), Physica A (2001) to appea

Density Functional for Anisotropic Fluids

We propose a density functional for anisotropic fluids of hard body particles. It interpolates between the well-established geometrically based Rosenfeld functional for hard spheres and the Onsager functional for elongated rods. We test the new approach by calculating the location of the the nematic-isotropic transition in systems of hard spherocylinders and hard ellipsoids. The results are compared with existing simulation data. Our functional predicts the location of the transition much more accurately than the Onsager functional, and almost as good as the theory by Parsons and Lee. We argue that it might be suited to study inhomogeneous systems.Comment: To appear in J. Physics: Condensed Matte

Non-verbal information in spontaneous speech -- towards a new framework of analysis

Non-verbal signals in speech are encoded by prosody and carry information that ranges from conversation action to attitude and emotion. Despite its importance, the principles that govern prosodic structure are not yet adequately understood. This paper offers an analytical schema and a technological proof-of-concept for the categorization of prosodic signals and their association with meaning. The schema interprets surface-representations of multi-layered prosodic events. As a first step towards implementation, we present a classification process that disentangles prosodic phenomena of three orders. It relies on fine-tuning a pre-trained speech recognition model, enabling the simultaneous multi-class/multi-label detection. It generalizes over a large variety of spontaneous data, performing on a par with, or superior to, human annotation. In addition to a standardized formalization of prosody, disentangling prosodic patterns can direct a theory of communication and speech organization. A welcome by-product is an interpretation of prosody that will enhance speech- and language-related technologies

Improving Oral Medications Compliance in Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Purpose: This quality improvement project aimed to improve medication compliance in patients with type 2 diabetes by providing education on their oral diabetic medication.Background: Ten percent of Arizonans have been diagnosed with diabetes, 95% of whom have type 2 diabetes. Oral diabetes medications are the central element of much diabetes therapy; however, inconsistent medication compliance continues to be a problem. Patient education on the importance of prescribed medication can help improve medication compliance. Methods: The participants were provided with education on diabetic medication based on a handout followed by a post-educational questionnaire. A pre-stamped envelope with a one-week post educational questionnaire was provided to be filled at home and mailed back a week later. The responses allowed to access for change in compliance, intent to be compliant, understanding of medications, and compliance a week following the education session. In the end, the results were analyzed using descriptive statists. Results: Five participants filled the post-educational questionnaire, and 80% sent back a one-week post-educational questionnaire. All participants stated intent to be compliant and knew more about diabetes pills and why they needed to take them. All participants showed consistent compliance in the week following the education. Conclusions: Following the educational session, all participants stated a better understanding of their oral medications and why they need to be taken. All participants stated intent to be compliant. The consistent compliance in the week following the educational session, together with their intent to be compliant, increases the probability of future compliance

Exploring Princeton¿s Scheduling Conundrum

Every semester, students complain that all the courses they want to take are at the same time. But how much of this is actually problematic, and how much of this is just perception ¿ toast always falling butter-side down, so to speak? Moreover, even if there is a problem, could the University feasibly fix it? My thesis aims to answer both of these questions by algorithmically scheduling university courses based on student preferences. It explores how poorly the current schedule performs, and also how efficient various scheduling attempts are given the size of the University and the number of students. I find that Princeton¿s schedules, as they stand now, do not necessarily satisfy student preferences, and offer a number of solutions to improve them. These algorithms lead to more efficient scheduling, and more satisfied students, which would improve the Princeton academic environment