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In this paper we discuss the early stages of development of a survey instrument to assess students' problem-solving abilities in a first-term, undergraduate, calculus-based physics course. Specifically, we present our motivation for the development of such a survey, details of a preliminary version of the survey, and some sample items. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of several texture analysis parameters to differentiate textured samples from a smooth control on images obtained with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Surface roughness plays a major role in the realm of material science, especially in integrated electronic devices. As these devices become smaller and smaller, new materials with better electrical properties are needed. New materials with smoother surface morphology have been found to have superior electrical properties than their rougher counterparts. Therefore, in many cases surface texture is indicative of the electrical properties that material will have. Physical vapor deposition techniques such as Jet Vapor Deposition and Molecular Beam Epitaxy are being utilized to synthesize these materials as they have been found to create pure and uniform thin layers. For the current study, growth parameters were varied to produce a spectrum of textured samples. The focus of this study was the image processing techniques associated with quantifying surface texture. As a result of the limited sample size, there was no attempt to draw conclusions about specimen processing methods. The samples were imaged using an AFM in tapping mode. In the process of collecting images, it was discovered that roughness data was much better depicted in the microscope's "height" mode as opposed to "equal area" mode. The AFM quantified the surface texture of each image by returning RMS roughness and the first order histogram statistics of mean roughness, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Color images from the AFM were then processed on an off line computer running NIH ImageJ with an image texture plug in. This plug in produced another set of first order statistics computed from each images' histogram as well as second order statistics computed from each images' cooccurrence matrix. The second order statistics, which were originally proposed by Haralick, include contrast, angular second moment, correlation, inverse difference moment, and entropy. These features were computed in the 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° directions. The findings of this study propose that the best combination of quantitative texture parameters is standard deviation, 0° inverse difference moment, and 0° entropy, all of which are obtained from the NIH ImageJ texture plug in. © 2010 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.

Valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy is used to investigate the plasmon excitations of ultrathin SrTiO3 sandwiched between amorphous Si and crystalline Si. Two plasmon excitations were observed, one at 15.8 eV and the other at 28.7 eV. Our calculations, based on dielectric-function theory, suggest that the former peak originates from the coupling of the Si layers and is related to the geometry of the structure, and the latter peak results from the SrTiO3 bulk plasmon after a redshift. Our findings demonstrate the value of valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy in detecting a local change in the effective electron mass. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

A method has been developed to use the finite escape depth of the photoelectrons emitted in ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) to determine the electronic density-of-states at the interface between two dissimilar metal oxides. Ultrathin films of one oxide are grown heteroepitaxially, one monolayer at a time, on a single-crystal substrate of the other oxide, and UPS spectra are taken after each complete monolayer. By comparing experimental UPS spectra with calculated spectra based on specific models of the interfacial structure, the interfacial density-of-states can be extracted. The two oxide systems studied here are NiO-Fe 3O 4 and CoO-Fe 3O 4. The former system is found to have an atomically abrupt interface, with no significant density of interface states. For CoO, however, an interfacial electronic spectrum, different from that of either the substrate or the overlayer, is found. The spatial extent and possible origin of those interfacial states is discussed. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH &. Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Abstract: In the past, major scientific and technological revolutions, like the Copernican Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, have had profound effects, not only upon society in general, but also upon Philosophy. Today's Information Revolution is no exception. Already it has had significant impacts upon our understanding of human nature, the nature of society, even the nature of the universe. Given these developments, this essay considers some of the philosophical contributions of two “philosophers of the Information Age”—Norbert Wiener and Luciano Floridi—with regard to the nature of the universe, human nature, the nature of society, and the nature of “artificial agents” such as robots, softbots, and cyborgs.

This paper defends the thesis that privacy as a right is derived from fundamental rights to life, liberty, and property and does not permit restricting the commodification of bodily material; however, privacy as life, liberty, property does require conventions that ensure a robust and just market in bodily material. The analysis proceeds by defending a general commitment to liberty and markets, but not in the manner one might expect from a 'doctrinaire' libertarian. Ethical concerns about commodification are legitimate in the context of new medical and information technologies, but these concerns are not sufficiently well defined to justify political conclusions, since not every ethical concern is in itself a political concern, and the best way to resolve certain ethical difficulties is to draw up political boundaries that facilitate the discovery and testing of various solutions to our ethical puzzles. To illustrate the point, I will indicate how privacy as life, liberty, property defines such a dynamic solution to the problems of commodification of human bodily material and slippery information in insurance markets.

The information ethics (IE) of Floridi and Sanders is evaluated here in the light of an alternative in virtue ethics that is antifoundationalist, particularist, and relativist in contrast to Floridi's foundationalist, impartialist, and universalist commitments. Drawing from disparate traditional sources like Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Emerson, as well as contemporary advocates of virtue ethics like Nussbaum, Foot, and Williams, the essay shows that the central contentions of IE, including especially the principle of ontological equality, must either express commitments grounded in the particular perspectives we already inhabit, or be without rational or ethical force for us. © 2010 Metaphilosophy LLC and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The conjecture of Wolmer Vasconcelos on the vanishing of the first Hilbert coefficient e1(Q) is solved affirmatively, where Q is a parameter ideal in a Noetherian local ring. Basic properties of the rings for which e 1(Q) vanishes are derived. The invariance of e1(Q) for parameter ideals Q and its relationship to Buchsbaum rings are studied. © 2010 London Mathematical Society.

Let R be an analytically unramified local ring with maximal ideal m and d = dimR > 0. If R is unmixed, then e1I (R) = 0 for every m-primary ideal I in R, where e1I (R) denotes the first coefficient of the normal Hilbert polynomial of R with respect to I. Thus the positivity conjecture on e1I(R) posed by Wolmer V. Vasconcelos is settled affirmatively. © 2010 American Mathematical Society.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined alcohol consumption patterns and trends at a public university in the Northeast from 2002 to 2008., PARTICIPANTS: Stratified random sampling was used to select undergraduate students enrolled in courses during spring semesters in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008., METHODS: Data were collected during regularly scheduled classes for 4 measures of alcohol consumption and 5 demographic categories using the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey., RESULTS: Four groups showed significant increases in both frequency and volume of alcohol consumption-students who were female, over 21 years of age or over, living off-campus, or performing well academically. There were no decreasing trends for any demographic group. These results differ from national college health surveys, which have shown alcohol use remaining steady during this period., CONCLUSIONS: Campus-specific trend data can provide unique perspectives and guide programming efforts. These trends suggest a need for new intervention strategies on this campus.

We develop a theory of advertising agency compensation, client evaluation and switching costs, with extensions to agency theory. When clients are exposed to high switching costs, they become more vulnerable to the risk of agency costs. In response, clients can select compensation and evaluation decisions that convey fairness, signal their commitment, and invite agency reciprocity. With high switching costs, outcome-based compensation and formal evaluation procedures are likely. High switching costs are associated with signifi'cant relationship investments, mature relationships, large clients, formal evaluation, and with clients that use their agencies as strategic partners. Clients surveyed in North America support the theory. © 2010 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Given the continued importance of the globalization era, there is an ever-increasing interest in the correlation between marketing mix standardization and the firm's market performance. This issue focuses on the firm's pursuit of global markets in an environment conditional to internal and external market factors. The research examines factors on multinational firm's marketing mix (program and process marketing) from Australia, Japan, and the United States and the impact on market performance. The results are mixed providing some support for marketing standardization and profit performance. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Purpose – Globalization has fostered greater interest in all aspects of standardization theory including the 4Ps of the marketing mix or program and process marketing. The purpose of this paper is to probe the question: “Is there a benefit to the firm's strategy of marketing standardization that correlates positively to the firm's profit?”. Design/methodology/approach – Multinational firms from Australia, Japan and the USA operating in a global environment were studied in order to correlate marketing standardization to profit performance. Several methods of analysis were used including regression and analysis of variance measures. Findings – The results indicate there is increasing support for a strategy of standardizing marketing mix components and contributing to a firm's profit performance. Originality/value – The paper adds to the current literature by providing further empirical research correlating marketing mix standardization to profit. © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Globalization has fostered greater interest in all aspects of standardization theory, including the four Ps (product, price, place [distribution], and promotion) of the marketing mix. The study researches the firm's strategy of marketing standardization as it correlates to the firm's profit. Multinational firms from Japan and the United States operating in a global environment were studied in order to correlate marketing standardization to profit performance. The results indicate there is increasing support for a strategy of standardizing marketing mix components and contributing to a firm's profit performance. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.