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We used an adapted alternating treatment single-case design to compare the effect of affirmative feedback to affirmative plus suggestive feedback on educators’ use of naturalistic instruction. Three early childhood special educators and a focus child within their preschool classrooms participated. Visual analysis of our data suggest that affirmative plus suggestive feedback produced stronger effects compared to affirmative feedback. Based on these data, faculty and professional development providers should plan to provide their educators with both affirmative and suggestive feedback to strengthen educators’ practice. Implications for practice and research are included.

In most states, Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) with a Birth-Kindergarten teaching license serve as both the general education teacher and special education teacher for children and their families in inclusive early childhood education (ECE) settings. Prior research suggests that inclusive programming does not guarantee these ECE settings are high-quality. Although evidence-based practices (EBP) and the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices (RPs) have been established, a research-to-practice gap still exists in the inclusive, ECE classroom. Additional research indicates that coaching teachers may influence their implementation of EBPs in classrooms. This study provided early childhood educators (ECEs) the opportunity to share their perceptions about the support they receive from mentors and evaluators, as well as report the specific aspects of coaching needed to be successful while working in inclusive pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) classrooms. Qualitative research methods using an ethnomethodological framework were used to examine ECEs’ responses to semi-structured questions. Findings from this study can inform a prospective coaching model that includes explicit modeling, a deeply reflective component, and an array of professional development (PD) opportunities.

This exploratory review was conducted to examine recent literature regarding the preparation of doctoral students in special education. Specifically, articles included in this search focused on doctoral preparation in special education between 2005 and 2020. A total of 15 articles were identified and coded for type of study design and themes were developed using qualitative research methods. Results of the qualitative analysis suggest three overarching themes related to special education doctoral preparation. Implications for developing and revising doctoral programs are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of Part C programs and how funding has impacted the quality of services for children and families given ongoing budgetary concerns. Perceptions of State Early Intervention Coordinators (EICs) regarding their state Part C systems were obtained through an online survey. Using survey research methods to collect and analyze data, two primary questions were addressed in the current study: (a) What are the general characteristics of Part C programs that may be related to fiscal issues? and (b) What is the perceived impact of funding on the quality of services for children and families? A majority of respondents indicated their state program implements a primary service provider model, relies heavily on medical funding streams such as Medicaid, and is experiencing provider shortages. In addition, respondents commented on quality, trends, and funding of their state Part C programs. The findings of this study provide insight about the general characteristics of Part C programs, along with the perceived impact of funding on Part C services at the national level for policy makers, administrators, professionals, and families.

This study developed a computational strategy that utilizes data inputs from multiple spatial scales to investigate how variability within individual fields can impact sustainable residue removal for bioenergy production. Sustainable use of agricultural residues for bioenergy production requires consideration of the important role that residues play in limiting soil erosion and maintaining soil C, health, and productivity. Increased availability of subfield-scale data sets such as grain yield data, high-fidelity digital elevation models, and soil characteristic data provides an opportunity to investigate the impacts of subfield-scale variability on sustainable agricultural residue removal. Using three representative fields in Iowa, this study contrasted the results of current NRCS conservation management planning analysis with subfield-scale analysis for rake-and-bale removal of agricultural residue. The results of the comparison show that the field-average assumptions used in NRCS conservation management planning may lead to unsustainable residue removal decisions for significant portions of some fields. This highlights the need for additional research on subfield-scale sustainable agricultural residue removal including the development of real-time variable removal technologies for agricultural residue.

Tournament selection is a versatile method of selection and replacement used in evolutionary computation. Normally tournaments are chosen uniformly at random. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of planning tournaments in advance to control information flow within a population being evolved for optimization. Tests are performed on a variety of evolutionary test problems, finding that different planned tournament schemes yield significant differences in performance. The correct type of planned tournament is found to be problem dependent. In addition to a linear-function scheme for planning tournaments, this study also introduces a technique called multi-deme planned tournaments selection which permits simpler cases of a problem to be automatically used to reduce the time required to solve more complex cases.

Ideas and tools developed for the Semantic Web can also be applied to and integrated with engineering tools and software. The ideas upon which the Semantic Web are founded, along with the technologies that are used to implement it, provide a platform on which virtual engineering tools and interfaces can be extended to create a web in which contextual information is readily accessible to engineers. When the Semantic Web and virtual engineering methods are fully realized, computer hardware and networking capabilities will work to provide information and tools to access information meaningfully. The question that must be answered today is: how will information be integrated in a manner that will allow commercial and proprietary software tools to remain separate while also being integrated so that the end user can control and query these tools with little to no knowledge of the tools’ implementation or inner-working details? The answer to this question will depend largely on the ability to implement open interfaces and schemas that can evolve over time as well as open source toolkits that enable development teams to collaborate at a high level. This paper discusses potential applications of the Semantic Web to explore these questions. In addition, specific capabilities being developed in VE-Suite are discussed.

Leptin has been shown to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an enzyme that regulates the activities of key enzymes of lipid synthesis and metabolism. We assess here (i) whether AMPK activity is diminished in rodents deficient in leptin or the leptin receptor, and (ii) the effects of treating the diabetes-prone, leptin-receptor-deficient Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat with an AMPK activator.AMPK activity and related parameters were measured in muscle and or liver of fa/fa and ZDF rats and ob/ob mice. We also explored the effect of treatment with the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole 4-carboxamide 1-beta-D ribofuranoside (AICAR) (7.4 mmol/l, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 15 weeks, beginning at 7 weeks of age) on the phenotype of the ZDF rat.AMPK activity was diminished in muscle and/or liver of fa/fa (leptin-receptor-deficient, non-diabetic) and ZDF (leptin-receptor-deficient, diabetes-prone) rats and ob/ob mice (leptin-deficient). ZDF rats that had free access to food became hyperglycaemic (22.2 mmol/l) and hyperphagic after 2 to 5 weeks and remained so during the remainder of the study. Treatment of ZDF rats with AICAR prevented the development of diabetes, as well as increases of triglyceride content in liver, muscle and the pancreatic islets. It also attenuated the morphological abnormalities observed in the islets of untreated rats. Rats diet-matched with the AICAR-treated animals developed diabetes of intermediate severity and showed decreases in triglyceride content in the islets, but not in liver or muscle.The results indicate that a deficiency of leptin or the leptin receptor is associated with a decrease in AMPK activity in muscle and/or liver. They also suggest that treatment with an AMPK activator prevents the development of diabetes and ectopic lipid accumulation in the ZDF rat.

This paper examines the simultaneous use of graph based evolutionary algorithms (GBEAs) and a real-time estimate of the final fitness for evolutionary optimization of systems modeled using computational fluid dynamics (CFDs). GBEAs are used to control the rate at which information travels, enabling the diversity of the population to be tuned to match the solution space. During each fitness evaluation, the CFD solver iteratively solves the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of the proposed design. In this paper, an artificial neural network is used to develop a real-time estimate of the final fitness and error bounds at each iteration of the solver. Using these estimates, the evolutionary algorithm can determine when the fitness of the design is known with sufficient accuracy for the evolutionary process. This significantly reduces the overall compute time. These techniques are demonstrated by optimizing the spatial temperature profile of the cooking surface of a biomass cookstove. In this cookstove, hot gases from biomass combustion flow under the cooking surface. Within this flow area, a set of baffles direct the flow of hot gases and establish the spatial temperature profile of the stove's cooking surface. The location and size of a series of baffles within the hot gas flow area are determined by the optimization routine. In this design problem, it is found that the two techniques are compatible; both the number of fitness evaluations and the time required for each CFD fitness evaluation are reduced while utilizing GBEAs to preserve the diversity of the population.

This paper examines the use of graph based evolutionary algorithms (GBEAs) for optimization of heat transfer in a complex system. The specific case examined in this paper is the optimization of heat transfer in a biomass cookstove utilizing three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics to generate the fitness function. In this stove hot combustion gases are used to heat a cooking surface. The goal is to provide an even spatial temperature distribution on the cooking surface by redirecting the flow of combustion gases with baffles. The variables in the optimization are the position and size of the baffles, which are described by integer values. GBEAs are a novel type of EA in which a topology or geography is imposed on an evolving population of solutions. The choice of graph controls the rate at which solutions can spread within the population, impacting the diversity of solutions and convergence rate of the EAs. In this study, the choice of graph in the GBEAs changes the number of mating events required for convergence by a factor of approximately 2.25 and the diversity of the population by a factor of 2. These results confirm that by tuning the graph and parameters in GBEAs, computational time can be significantly reduced.

Directed flow of deuterons, tritons, ${}^{3}\mathrm{He},$ and ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ is studied in Au+Au collisions at a beam momentum of $10.8A\mathrm{GeV}/c.$ Flow of all particles is analyzed as a function of transverse momentum for different centralities of the collision. The directed flow signal, ${v}_{1}{(p}_{t}),$ is found to increase with particle mass. This mass dependence is strongest in the projectile rapidity region.

In this article recent results of the E877 collaboration are presented. They include double differential multiplicities and rapidity densities of hadrons produced in Au+Au collisions at 11 AgeV/c, two-particle correlations of like and unlike particles, as well as some recent results on particle flow.

Results are presented of an analysis of proton and charged pion azimuthal distributions measured with respect to the reaction plane in Au + Au collisions at a beam momentum of about 11A GeV/c. The azimuthal anisotropy is studied as a function of particle rapidity and transverse momentum for different centralities of the collisions. The triple differential (in rapidity, transverse momentum, and azimuthal angle) distributions are reconstructed. A comparison of the results with a previous analysis of charged-particle and transverse energy flow as well as with model predictions are presented. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

The production of pions, protons and deuterons is studied at a laboratory angle of 144° in 28 Si+Pb collisions at 14.6 GeV/ c per nucleon. The centrality dependence of the pion yields is studied over the full impact parameter range using a zero degree calorimeter. The results are compared with the hadronic cascade model RQMD. These calculations are generally in agreement with the experimental results. According to these calculations, the pion yield in our acceptance is completely dominated by Δ-decay at freeze-out. Our measurements thus support the importance of baryon resonance production as one of the central features of relativistic heavy ion collisions at AGS energies. Although the strength of the pion spectrum is adequately described for kinetic energies above 50 MeV, an additional very soft component is observed in the pion spectra which is not predicted by RQMD. This very soft component accounts for a significant fraction of the total pion yield in this rapidity range but remains unexplained.

Experimental results and a detailed analysis are presented of the transverse energy and charged particle azimuthal distributions measured by the E877 Collaboration for different centralities of Au+Au collisions at a beam momentum of 10.8A GeV/c. The anisotropy of these distributions is studied with respect to the reaction plane reconstructed on an event-by-event basis using the transverse energy distribution measured by calorimeters. Results are corrected for the reaction plane resolution. For semicentral events we observe directed flow signals of up to 10{percent}. We observe a stronger anisotropy for slow charged particles. For both the charged particle and transverse energy distributions we observe a small but nonzero elliptic anisotropy with the major axis pointing into the reaction plane. Combining the information on transverse energy and charged particle flow we obtain information on the flow of nucleons and pions. The data are compared to event generators and the need to introduce a mean field or nucleon-nucleon potential is discussed. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

Two-particle correlation functions have been measured in Au+Au collisions at the AGS. The one-dimensional correlations are compared to the RQMD predictions. A multidimensional analysis of two-pion correlations allows to extract the average phase space density of pions at freeze-out and the pion source velocity.

An investigation of the production of neutron-rich isotopes from the fragmentation of {sup 28}Si projectiles at {ital p}{sub lab}=14.6 GeV/{ital c} per nucleon was performed using the BNL-AGS-E814 spectrometer. We have measured the inclusive production cross sections of neutron-rich fragments ({sup 6}He, {sup 8}He, {sup 8}Li, {sup 9}Li, {sup 10}Be, {sup 11}Be, and {sup 13}B). We have also measured the transverse momentum distributions for {sup 6}He and {sup 9}Li, and the forward and transverse energy distributions associated with {sup 6}He production. The momentum distributions were analyzed in the context of the Goldhaber model. The question of whether the fragments are produced in the decay of the projectile following its electromagnetic excitation was also investigated.

We have studied in detail the electromagnetic dissociation of [sup 28]Si projectiles at 14.6 GeV/([ital c] nucleon), interacting with Pb, Sn, Cu, and Al targets. Exclusive cross sections were measured for several decay channels, including final states involving the emission of protons, neutrons, and [alpha] particles. Excitation energy distributions for the 1[ital n]+[sup 27]Si and 2[ital p]+[sup 26]Mg decay channels were reconstructed with a resolution of 2 MeV, using a constrained kinematic fit. The energy distributions obtained for 1[ital n]+[sup 27]Si are in good agreement with the [sigma]([gamma],[ital n]) photoneutron cross sections multiplied by the virtual photon spectrum obtained in the Weizsaecker-Williams approximation. A search for the double photon excitation process, based on the dependence of the cross sections on the target atomic number, was performed.

Electricity is a critical need for the rural poor in developing countries. Often this need is met with disposable batteries. This results in high cost and problems with disposal. For example it was recently reported that an isolated rural village in West Africa with a population of 770 uses more than 21,000 disposable batteries per year and that purchase of these batteries accounts for 20–40% of household expense. As a result many organizations are seeking way to meet the need for village energy. This paper presents a case study of one such experience. In this study the efforts to meet the lighting needs of a cluster of eight rural villages with a population of approximately 8,000 people are discussed. A key aspect of this discussion is the challenge of creating a continuing and sustainable village lighting solution. In this case the technology chosen to implement a lighting system was a distributed micro-grid managed locally in each village. The success of this lighting grid has been in large part due to the continuing support of the local micro-grid system both financially and through continued engagement to maintain and upgrade the micro-grid systems.Copyright © 2012 by ASME

Agricultural residues are the largest potential near term source of biomass for bioenergy production. Sustainable use of agricultural residues for bioenergy production requires consideration of the important role that residues play in maintaining soil health and productivity. Innovation equipment designs for residue harvesting systems can help economically collect agricultural residues while mitigating sustainability concerns. A key challenge in developing these equipment designs is establishing sustainable reside removal rates at the sub-field scale. Several previous analysis studies have developed methodologies and tools to estimate sustainable agricultural residue removal by considering environmental constraints including soil loss from wind and water erosion and soil organic carbon at field scale or larger but have not considered variation at the sub-field scale. This paper introduces a computational strategy to integrate data and models from multiple spatial scales to investigate how variability of soil, grade, and yield within an individual cornfield can impact sustainable residue removal for bioenergy production. This strategy includes the current modeling tools (i.e., RUSLE2, WEPS, and SCI), the existing data sources (i.e., SSURGO soils, CLIGEN, WINDGEN, and NRCS managements), and the available high fidelity spatial information (i.e., LiDAR slope and crop yield monitor output). Rather than using average or representative values for crop yields, soil characteristics, and slope for a field, county, or larger area, the modeling inputs are based on the same spatial scale as the precision farming data available. There are three challenges for developing an integrated model for sub-field variability of sustainable agricultural residue removal—the computational challenge of iteratively computing with 400 or more spatial points per hectare, the inclusion of geoprocessing tools, and the integration of data from different spatial scales. Using a representative field in Iowa, this paper demonstrates the computational algorithms used and establishes key design parameters for an innovative residue removal equipment design concept.

A prototype electromagnetic liquid argon calorimeter with accordion geometry, using absorber material in all electrodes, has been constructed and tested. This construction results in twice the sampling frequency compared to the conventional accordion electrode structure. The energy resolution, measured with 15 GeV electrons, was found to be 6.3%/√E, in good agreement with the value expected from Monte Carlo simulations.

We present the results of a study of amplitude and timing measurements made in a liquid krypton electromagnetic calorimeter, using multiply sampled signals of the shaped waveform. The measurements were designed to emulate the type of data that will be available from a calorimeter operating at future hadron-hadron colliders with short (∼ 20 ns) spacing between bunch crossings. Data have been collected with 18 ns sample spacing on waveforms from individual calorimeter sections with a shaping time of 40 ns and from 5 × 5 tower analog sums with a shaping time of 50 ns. The amplitude was measured using the analog sum signal, and the timing was measured using the signal from the individual sections. The data were processed using the method of optimal filtering, and a reduction in the noise of about a factor of two over that for a single sample is seen when using multiple samples for determining the amplitude. We find an energy resolution of 6.7%E, in agreement with the resolution measured for the same calorimeter using a single sample measured at the peak of the waveform. The timing resolution for a section of a calorimeter tower with deposited energy ∈ can be expressed as (c∈)2 + σcal2, with a value of c of 0.38 GeV ns for the front section (the first 6 radiation lengths) and 0.70 GeV ns for the back section, and a value of 0.15 ns for σcal.

We have measured cross sections for the synthesis of nuclei of mass [ital A][le]4 in collisions of 14.6[ital A] GeV/[ital c] [sup 28]Si nuclei with targets of Pb, Cu, and Al. The data are measured at close to center-of-mass rapidities, and are unique in their exploration of the centrality dependence of nucleosynthesis. Simple coalescence models that were used to study nucleosynthesis at lower energies are inadequate for the description of our measurements. Our data and improved models are used to extract parameters related to the size of the interaction volume at freeze-out.

The two-pion correlation function has been measured for charged pions produced in central 14.6 A GeV/ c Si + Pb collisions at the AGS. Data for like-sign pions show a clear quantum interference effect as expected for identical bosons. The experimental correlation function agrees well with that obtained for events generated by a cascade code (RQMD). The present data are consistent with a time-averaged rms freeze-out radius of 8.3 fm and a mean duration of pion emission of 9 fm/ c . The system has expanded considerably before freeze-out.

Test results of a liquid krypton/argon electromagnetic calorimeter with accordion type electrode structure are presented. The test was carried out at the Brookhaven AGS in a negative beam with good electron identification at momenta 5, 10, 15, and 20 GeV/c. Results on energy resolution, linearity, pointing resolution, and muon response are presented. The results are in good agreement with Monte Carlo calculations. The energy resolution of 6.7% E was achieved using liquid krypton and 7.7% E with liquid argon, with a negligible constant term.

We present the results of an analysis of two charged particle and transverse energy correlations in Si+Pb collisions at BNL AGS at 14.6 GeV/{ital c} per nucleon. The measured semi-inclusive normalized two particle pseudorapidity corrleation function exhibits short range correlations similar to the correlations observed in hadron-hadron and hadron-nucleus collisions at higher energies, although the observed correlations are smaller than the values scaled from {ital hp} and {ital hA} data. Estimates, provided by the observed correlations, of the intermittency indices as well as of the parameters of the cluster model are presented. Predictions using the FRITIOF event generator, which at this level of statistical accuracy show no pseudorapidity correlations, are not in agreement with our data. Azimuthal angle two particle correlations show nonzero back-to-back correlations in the central region (consistent with FRITIOF predictions) and are almost flat in the projectile fragmentation region. We also present results on the transverse energy azimuthal correlation function, which are similar to those from the two particle correlation function.

In this article the authors summarize recent results from the E814 forward spectrometer on proton and pion distributions that give insight into the initial baryon (and energy) density achieved in central collisions as well as the temperature of the system at freeze-out. An independent measure for the latter, complementing the slope constants of particle spectra, is the population of nucleon excited states, in particular the {Delta}(1232) resonance. Besides its influence on the pion spectra it has also been identified directly in the experiment and first results are discussed. The first results from E814 on kaon spectra at low transverse momentum p{sub t} are presented; the spectra show an unexpected very steep rise at the lowest p{sub t}. The two pion correlation function has been studied for positive and negative pions and the authors show that it is consistent with a large source size at freeze-out. Finally, they show that the present data give a consistent picture of a system in thermal and chemical equilibrium at freeze-out.

Several recent reports and workshops have identified integrated computational engineering as an emerging technology with the potential to transform engineering design. The goal is to integrate geometric models, analyses, simulations, optimization and decision-making tools, and all other aspects of the engineering process into a shared, interactive computer-generated environment that facilitates multidisciplinary and collaborative engineering. While integrated computational engineering environments can be constructed from scratch with high-level programming languages, the complexity of these proposed environments makes this type of approach prohibitively slow and expensive. Rather, a high-level software framework is needed to provide the user with the capability to construct an application in an intuitive manner using existing models and engineering tools with minimal programming. In this paper, we present an exploratory open source software framework that can be used to integrate the geometric models, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and optimization tools needed for shape optimization of complex systems. This framework is demonstrated using the multiphase flow analysis of a complete coal transport system for an 800 MW pulverized coal power station. The framework uses engineering objects and three-dimensional visualization to enable the user to interactively design and optimize the performance of the coal transport system.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Agricultural residues have significant potential as a feedstock for bioenergy production, but removing these residues from the land can have negative impacts on soil health. Because of this computational tools are needed that can help guide decisions on the amount of agricultural residue that can be sustainably removed. Models and datasets that can support decisions about sustainable agricultural residue removal are available; however, no tools currently exist that are capable of simultaneously addressing all of the environmental factors that can limit the availability of residue for bioenergy production. This paper presents an integrated framework of models and data that provide a coupled a set of environmental process models and databases that can support agricultural residue removal decisions. Specifically the RUSLE2, WEPS, and Soil Conditioning Index models have been integrated together with the disparate set of databases providing the soils, climate, and management practice data required. The integrated system has been demonstrated for two example cases. In the first case the potential impact of agricultural residue removal is explored. In the second case an aggregate assessment of the agricultural residues available bioenergy production in the state of Iowa is performed.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

An adjustable 0.5 to 3.0 MeV monoenergetic positron beam has been developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Positrons leaving a 22Na β+ source with a ∼ 6000 A thick W(100) transmission moderator are accelerated to higher energies in a 3.0 MeV Dynamitron. At a target position, located 12 m away from the exit of the accelerator, the beam has a maximum intensity of 5 × 105 e+/s inside a 1.1 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) spot and is characterized by an energy spread of

We have measured distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity of protons from interactions of 14.6 GeV/nucleon28Si projectiles with targets of Al and Pb. The transverse momentum spectra exhibit a thermal shape with a rapidity dependent temperature parameter. For very central or violent collisions the proton rapidity distributions exhibit the large rapidity shifts and (for Si+Al) a peak at midrapidity as required for full stopping.

The authors describe the results of a test run involving a transition radiation detector (TRD) that can both distinguish electrons from pions with momenta greater than 0.7 GeV/c and simultaneously track particles passing through the detector. The particle identification is accomplished through a combination of the detection of transition radiation from the electron and the differences in electron and pion energy loss (dE/dx) in the detector. The dE/dx particle separation is most efficient below 2 GeV/c while particle ID utilizing transition radiation is effective above 1.5 GeV/c. Combined, the electron-pion separation is better than 5*10/sup 2/. The single-wire, track position resolution for the TRD is approximately 230 mu m. >

Research barriers continue to exist in all phases of the emerging cellulosic ethanol biorefining industry. These barriers include the identification and development of a sustainable and abundant biomass feedstock, the assembly of viable assembly systems formatting the feedstock and moving it from the field (e.g., the forest) to the biorefinery, and improving conversion technologies. Each of these phases of cellulosic ethanol production are fundamentally connected, but computational tools used to support and inform analysis within each phase remain largely disparate. This paper discusses the integration of a feedstock assembly system modeling toolkit and an Aspen Plus® conversion process model. Many important biomass feedstock characteristics, such as composition, moisture, particle size and distribution, ash content, etc. are impacted and most effectively managed within the assembly system, but generally come at an economic cost. This integration of the assembly system and the conversion process modeling tools will facilitate a seamless investigation of the assembly system conversion process interface. Through the integrated framework, the user can design the assembly system for a particular biorefinery by specifying location, feedstock, equipment, and unit operation specifications. The assembly system modeling toolkit then provides economic valuation, and detailed biomass feedstock composition and formatting information. This data ismore » seamlessly and dynamically used to run the Aspen Plus® conversion process model. The model can then be used to investigate the design of systems for cellulosic ethanol production from field to final product.« less

The search for {ital s}-channel production of light neutral particles coupled to {ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}} has been extended by more than 3 orders of magnitude in lifetime beyond the region which is accessible to elastic {ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}} scattering. The whole mass range 1500{approx lt}{ital M}{sub {ital X}}{sup 0}{approx lt}1860 keV/{ital c}{sup 2} suggested by the observation of anomalous {ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}} pairs in heavy-ion collisions has been investigated. These measurements find no evidence for {ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}} states within lifetime ranges (90% C.L.) of 1.4{times}10{sup {minus}12}{approx lt}{tau}{approx lt}4{times}10{sup {minus}10} sec ({ital J}=0) and 1.4{times}10{sup {minus}12}{approx lt}{tau}{approx lt}6{times}10{sup {minus}10} sec ({ital J}=1), assuming that the state does not break up by interacting within the target.

Recent results from the E814 collaboration are presented for reactions of 14.6 GeV/nucleon 28 Si projectiles with targets of Al, Cu, and Pb. This includes transverse energy distributions over the full solid angle and the distribution of charged particle multiplicity in the forward hemisphere. Furthermore we present recent results on transverse momentum spectra and rapidity distributions for protons and discuss them in terms of stopping and/or transparency. A fraction of nucleons emerges at beam rapidity, even for the most central collisions. These ‘punch-through’ distributions are shown to yield information on the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section. Finally, we discuss antiproton production at 0° as a function of event centrality to shed some light on possible reabsorption.