Planning R and D projects using GERT

Research and development project planning described and analyzed by GER

Four GERT views of planning R and D projects

Graphical evaluation and review technique for research and development planning proces

On network modeling of manufacturing and related processes using GERT Summary report

Network modeling of manufacturing and related processes using Graphical Evaluation and Review Techniqu

Postnatal changes in the growth dynamics of the human face revealed from bone modelling patterns

Human skull morphology results from complex processes that involve the coordinated growth and interaction of its skeletal components to keep a functional and structural balance. Previous histological works have studied the growth of different craniofacial regions and their relationship to functional spaces in humans up to 14 years old. Nevertheless, how the growth dynamics of the facial skeleton and the mandible are related and how this relationship changes through the late ontogeny remain poorly understood. To approach these two questions, we have compared the bone modelling activities of the craniofacial skeleton from a sample of subadult and adult humans. In this study, we have established for the first time the bone modelling pattern of the face and the mandible from adult humans. Our analyses reveal a patchy distribution of the bone modelling fields (overemphasized by the presence of surface islands with no histological information) reflecting the complex growth dynamics associated to the individual morphology. Subadult and adult specimens show important differences in the bone modelling patterns of the anterior region of the facial skeleton and the posterior region of the mandible. These differences indicate developmental changes in the growth directions of the whole craniofacial complex, from a predominantly downward growth in subadults that turns to a forward growth observed in the adult craniofacial skeleton. We hypothesize that these ontogenetic changes would respond to the physiological and physical requirements to enlarge the oral and nasal cavities once maturation of the brain and the closure of the cranial sutures have taken place during craniofacial development.This research is founded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects CGL2009-09013 and CGL2012-36682)Peer reviewe

Effects of Prenatal Social Stress and Maternal Dietary Fatty Acid Ratio on Infant Temperament: Does Race Matter?

Background: Infant temperament predicts a range of developmental and behavioral outcomes throughout childhood. Both maternal fatty acid intake and psychosocial stress exposures during pregnancy may influence infant temperament. Furthermore, maternal race may modify prenatal diet and stress effects. The goals of this study are to examine the joint effects of prenatal diet and stress and the modifying effects of race on infant behavior. Methods: Analyses included N=255 mother-infant dyads, primarily minorities (21% Blacks; 42% Hispanics), enrolled in an urban pregnancy cohort. Maternal prenatal stress was indexed by a negative life events (NLEs) score on the Crisis in Family Systems-Revised survey. Prenatal total daily intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (n3, n6) were estimated from a food frequency questionnaire; n3:n6 ratios were calculated. Mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R), a measure of infant temperament, when the children were 6 months old. Three commonly used dimensions were derived: Orienting & Regulation, Extraversion, and Negative Affectivity. Associations among prenatal stress, maternal n3:n6 ratio, and race/ethnicity on infant temperament, controlling for maternal education and age and child sex, were examined. Results: Among Blacks, prenatal stress effects on infant Orienting & Regulation scores were modified by maternal n3:n6 ratios (p=0.03): As NLEs increased, lower n3:n6 ratios predicted lower infant Orienting & Regulation scores, whereas higher n3:n6 ratios attenuated the effect of prenatal stress. There were no main or interaction effects predicting Extraversion or Negative Affectivity. Conclusions: An optimal PUFA ratio may protect the fetus from stress effects on infant behavior, particularly among Blacks. These findings may have implications for later neurodevelopment and social functioning predicted by early temperamental characteristics

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as an Index of Vagal Activity during Stress in Infants: Respiratory Influences and Their Control

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is related to cardiac vagal outflow and the respiratory pattern. Prior infant studies have not systematically examined respiration rate and tidal volume influences on infant RSA or the extent to which infants' breathing is too fast to extract a valid RSA. We therefore monitored cardiac activity, respiration, and physical activity in 23 six-month old infants during a standardized laboratory stressor protocol. On average, 12.6% (range 0–58.2%) of analyzed breaths were too short for RSA extraction. Higher respiration rate was associated with lower RSA amplitude in most infants, and lower tidal volume was associated with lower RSA amplitude in some infants. RSA amplitude corrected for respiration rate and tidal volume influences showed theoretically expected strong reductions during stress, whereas performance of uncorrected RSA was less consistent. We conclude that stress-induced changes of peak-valley RSA and effects of variations in breathing patterns on RSA can be determined for a representative percentage of infant breaths. As expected, breathing substantially affects infant RSA and needs to be considered in studies of infant psychophysiology

Approximation Via Degree Reduction of Nonlinearities with Applications to Turbulent Flows, Flame Fronts, and Magnetohydrodynamics

We perform an analytical and computational investigation on the effectiveness of a locally bounded truncation function, which we call a calming function, when applied to the nonlinear terms of several dissipative partial differential equations. In particular, the 3D Navier-Stokes equations of incompressible fluid flow, the 2D Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equations of laminar flame fronts, and the 2D MHD-Boussinesq equations of magnetohydrodynamics. Each of these equations have open questions about the global existence and uniqueness of their solutions. These calming functions effectively reduce the algebraic degree of select nonlinear terms, thus one can verify global wellposedness for these calmed systems. More specifically, in this work we show analytically in this work that the solutions to the calmed systems are globally well-posed, have higher-order regularity, and converge to solutions of the original models on short-time intervals as an introduced parameter in the calmed system tends to 0. We obtain additional results in the case of the 3D Calmed Navier-Stokes equations: when applying calming to the nonlinear term written in its rotational form, we find that the dynamical system generated by the calmed NSE in the rotational form possesses both an energy identity and a global attractor. Moreover, for calmed Navier-Stokes written either in its advective form or rotational form, we show that strong solutions to the calmed equations converge to strong solutions of the NSE without assuming their existence, providing a new proof of the short-time existence of strong solutions to the 3D Navier-Stokes equations

The Corporate Conception of the State and the Origins of Limited Constitutional Government

This Essay discusses the corporate conception of the state in European and American legal history

Adopting a Child

Adoption is the method through which people become parents legally rather than biologically. Yet, the joys of being an adoptive parent are no less than if one had given birth to his own child. Adoption is serious and for that reason most child care experts feel that the best way to adopt a child is through a licensed child placement agency. The social worker with a licensed agency takes time to assist both the natural and adoptive parents in reaching their decisions. The child\u27s and parent\u27s best interests are considered

Is There a Self in this Text? Satire, Passing, and Life in \u3ci\u3eCaucasia\u3c/i\u3e

In this paper, I explore the ways in which Danzy Senna’s Caucasia exposes the racism of the American Dream through use of a satirical passing narrative. I draw on the existing scholarship surrounding satire and traditional passing narratives and apply it to Senna’s work to analyze the ways this novel differs from traditional passing narratives to comment on the absurdity of white desirability and the racial binary. Specifically, I look at Caucasia as a location that the main characters—biracial Birdie and Cole Lee; their white mother, Sandy; and their black father, Deck—must inhabit. This depiction of an all-white space the characters are forced to continually live in informs their racial identities and desires, which leads to a double consciousness within the narrator, Birdie. Ultimately, Senna’s satire illuminates the double consciousness African Americans and biracial individuals embody because of America’s fixation on the white, American Dream that manifests itself as life in Caucasia