Fundamental Constant

Source: Roberto Leon, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA In contrast to the production of cars or toasters, where millions of identical copies are made and extensive prototype testing is possible, each civil engineering structure is unique and very expensive to reproduce (Fig.1). Therefore, civil engineers must extensively rely on analytical modeling to design their structures. These models are simplified abstractions of reality and are used to...

According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...

Source: Kay Stewart, RVT, RLATG, CMAR; Valerie A. Schroeder, RVT, RLATG. University of Notre Dame, IN Millions of mice and rats are bred for use in biomedical research each year. Worldwide, there are several large commercial breeding facilities that supply mice to research laboratories, but many facilities also choose to breed mice and rats in-house to reduce costs and increase research options. When breeding in the animal facility, researchers are able to manipulate the genetics of the...

Introduction An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a diagnostic tool for identifying cardiac conditions such as arrhythmias, conduction abnormalities, and myocardial ischemia. Definition An electrocardiogram (ECG) visualizes the heart's electrical activity by tracing the electrical movement associated with each heartbeat on a graph or monitor. As the heart beats, an electrical wave passes through it, correlating with the cardiac cycle events. Parts of an ECG An ECG utilizes electrodes on the skin to...

Calorimetry is a technique used to measure the amount of heat involved in a chemical or physical process or to measure the heat transferred to or from a substance. The heat is exchanged with a calibrated and insulated device called the calorimeter. Calorimetry experiments are based on the assumption that there is no heat exchange between the insulated calorimeter and the external environment. The well-insulated calorimeters prevent the transfer of heat between the calorimeter and its external...