WorldWideScience

Sample records for previous theoretical approaches

  1. Dramaturgical and Music-Theoretical Approaches to Improvisation Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huovinen, Erkki; Tenkanen, Atte; Kuusinen, Vesa-Pekka

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this article is to assess the relative merits of two approaches to teaching musical improvisation: a music-theoretical approach, focusing on chords and scales, and a "dramaturgical" one, emphasizing questions of balance, variation and tension. Adult students of music pedagogy, with limited previous experience in improvisation,…

  2. A Theoretical Approach

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    NICO

    L-rhamnose and L-fucose: A Theoretical Approach ... L-ramnose and L-fucose, by means of the Monte Carlo conformational search method. The energy of the conformers ..... which indicates an increased probability for the occurrence of.

  3. Set-Theoretic Approach to Maturity Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lasrado, Lester Allan

    Despite being widely accepted and applied, maturity models in Information Systems (IS) have been criticized for the lack of theoretical grounding, methodological rigor, empirical validations, and ignorance of multiple and non-linear paths to maturity. This PhD thesis focuses on addressing...... these criticisms by incorporating recent developments in configuration theory, in particular application of set-theoretic approaches. The aim is to show the potential of employing a set-theoretic approach for maturity model research and empirically demonstrating equifinal paths to maturity. Specifically...... methodological guidelines consisting of detailed procedures to systematically apply set theoretic approaches for maturity model research and provides demonstrations of it application on three datasets. The thesis is a collection of six research papers that are written in a sequential manner. The first paper...

  4. Theoretical approaches to elections defining

    OpenAIRE

    Natalya V. Lebedeva

    2011-01-01

    Theoretical approaches to elections defining develop the nature, essence and content of elections, help to determine their place and a role as one of the major national law institutions in democratic system.

  5. Theoretical approaches to elections defining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalya V. Lebedeva

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Theoretical approaches to elections defining develop the nature, essence and content of elections, help to determine their place and a role as one of the major national law institutions in democratic system.

  6. Game theoretic approaches for spectrum redistribution

    CERN Document Server

    Wu, Fan

    2014-01-01

    This brief examines issues of spectrum allocation for the limited resources of radio spectrum. It uses a game-theoretic perspective, in which the nodes in the wireless network are rational and always pursue their own objectives. It provides a systematic study of the approaches that can guarantee the system's convergence at an equilibrium state, in which the system performance is optimal or sub-optimal. The author provides a short tutorial on game theory, explains game-theoretic channel allocation in clique and in multi-hop wireless networks and explores challenges in designing game-theoretic m

  7. Merged ontology for engineering design: Contrasting empirical and theoretical approaches to develop engineering ontologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahmed, Saeema; Storga, M

    2009-01-01

    to developing the ontology engineering design integrated taxonomies (EDIT) with a theoretical approach in which concepts and relations are elicited from engineering design theories ontology (DO) The limitations and advantages of each approach are discussed. The research methodology adopted is to map......This paper presents a comparison of two previous and separate efforts to develop an ontology in the engineering design domain, together with an ontology proposal from which ontologies for a specific application may be derived. The research contrasts an empirical, user-centered approach...

  8. Theoretical Approaches to Political Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chesebro, James W.

    Political communication appears to be emerging as a theoretical and methodological academic area of research within both speech-communication and political science. Five complimentary approaches to political science (Machiavellian, iconic, ritualistic, confirmational, and dramatistic) may be viewed as a series of variations which emphasize the…

  9. UNCERTAINTY IN NEOCLASSICAL AND KEYNESIAN THEORETICAL APPROACHES: A BEHAVIOURAL PERSPECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinziana BALTATESCU

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The ”mainstream” neoclassical assumptions about human economic behavior are currently challenged by both behavioural researches on human behaviour and other theoretical approaches which, in the context of the recent economic and financial crisis find arguments to reinforce their theoretical statements. The neoclassical “perfect rationality” assumption is most criticized and provokes the mainstream theoretical approach to efforts of revisiting the theoretical framework in order to re-state the economic models validity. Uncertainty seems, in this context, to be the concept that allows other theoretical approaches to take into consideration a more realistic individual from the psychological perspective. This paper is trying to present a comparison between the neoclassical and Keynesian approach of the uncertainty, considering the behavioural arguments and challenges addressed to the mainstream theory.

  10. A Set Theoretical Approach to Maturity Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lasrado, Lester; Vatrapu, Ravi; Andersen, Kim Normann

    2016-01-01

    characterized by equifinality, multiple conjunctural causation, and case diversity. We prescribe methodological guidelines consisting of a six-step procedure to systematically apply set theoretic methods to conceptualize, develop, and empirically derive maturity models and provide a demonstration......Maturity Model research in IS has been criticized for the lack of theoretical grounding, methodological rigor, empirical validations, and ignorance of multiple and non-linear paths to maturity. To address these criticisms, this paper proposes a novel set-theoretical approach to maturity models...

  11. Theoretical Approaches to Coping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofia Zyga

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Dealing with stress requires conscious effort, it cannot be perceived as equal to individual's spontaneous reactions. The intentional management of stress must not be confused withdefense mechanisms. Coping differs from adjustment in that the latter is more general, has a broader meaning and includes diverse ways of facing a difficulty.Aim: An exploration of the definition of the term "coping", the function of the coping process as well as its differentiation from other similar meanings through a literature review.Methodology: Three theoretical approaches of coping are introduced; the psychoanalytic approach; approaching by characteristics; and the Lazarus and Folkman interactive model.Results: The strategic methods of the coping approaches are described and the article ends with a review of the approaches including the functioning of the stress-coping process , the classificationtypes of coping strategies in stress-inducing situations and with a criticism of coping approaches.Conclusions: The comparison of coping in different situations is difficult, if not impossible. The coping process is a slow process, so an individual may select one method of coping under one set ofcircumstances and a different strategy at some other time. Such selection of strategies takes place as the situation changes.

  12. One-dimensional barcode reading: an information theoretic approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houni, Karim; Sawaya, Wadih; Delignon, Yves

    2008-03-01

    In the convergence context of identification technology and information-data transmission, the barcode found its place as the simplest and the most pervasive solution for new uses, especially within mobile commerce, bringing youth to this long-lived technology. From a communication theory point of view, a barcode is a singular coding based on a graphical representation of the information to be transmitted. We present an information theoretic approach for 1D image-based barcode reading analysis. With a barcode facing the camera, distortions and acquisition are modeled as a communication channel. The performance of the system is evaluated by means of the average mutual information quantity. On the basis of this theoretical criterion for a reliable transmission, we introduce two new measures: the theoretical depth of field and the theoretical resolution. Simulations illustrate the gain of this approach.

  13. The dynamics of alliances. A game theoretical approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ridder, A. de

    2007-01-01

    In this dissertation, Annelies de Ridder presents a game theoretical approach to strategic alliances. More specifically, the dynamics of and within alliances have been studied. To do so, four new models have been developed in the game theoretical tradition. Both coalition theory and strategic game

  14. Theoretical approaches to social innovation – A critical literature review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Butzin, A.; Davis, A.; Domanski, D.; Dhondt, S.; Howaldt, J.; Kaletka, C.; Kesselring, A.; Kopp, R.; Millard, J.; Oeij, P.; Rehfeld, D.; Schaper-Rinkel, P.; Schwartz, M.; Scoppetta, A.; Wagner-Luptacik, P.; Weber, M.

    2014-01-01

    The SI-DRIVE report “Theoretical approaches to Social Innovation – A Critical Literature Review” delivers a comprehensive overview on the state of the art of theoretically relevant building blocks for advancing a theoretical understanding of social innovation. It collects different theoretical

  15. Radiotherapy problem under fuzzy theoretic approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ammar, E.E.; Hussein, M.L.

    2003-01-01

    A fuzzy set theoretic approach is used for radiotherapy problem. The problem is faced with two goals: the first is to maximize the fraction of surviving normal cells and the second is to minimize the fraction of surviving tumor cells. The theory of fuzzy sets has been employed to formulate and solve the problem. A linguistic variable approach is used for treating the first goal. The solutions obtained by the modified approach are always efficient and best compromise. A sensitivity analysis of the solutions to the differential weights is given

  16. Online adaptive approach for a game-theoretic strategy for complete vehicle energy management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, H.; Kessels, J.T.B.A.; Weiland, S.

    2015-01-01

    This paper introduces an adaptive approach for a game-theoretic strategy on Complete Vehicle Energy Management. The proposed method enhances the game-theoretic approach such that the strategy is able to adapt to real driving behavior. The classical game-theoretic approach relies on one probability

  17. A gauge-theoretic approach to gravity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krasnov, Kirill

    2012-08-08

    Einstein's general relativity (GR) is a dynamical theory of the space-time metric. We describe an approach in which GR becomes an SU(2) gauge theory. We start at the linearized level and show how a gauge-theoretic Lagrangian for non-interacting massless spin two particles (gravitons) takes a much more simple and compact form than in the standard metric description. Moreover, in contrast to the GR situation, the gauge theory Lagrangian is convex. We then proceed with a formulation of the full nonlinear theory. The equivalence to the metric-based GR holds only at the level of solutions of the field equations, that is, on-shell. The gauge-theoretic approach also makes it clear that GR is not the only interacting theory of massless spin two particles, in spite of the GR uniqueness theorems available in the metric description. Thus, there is an infinite-parameter class of gravity theories all describing just two propagating polarizations of the graviton. We describe how matter can be coupled to gravity in this formulation and, in particular, how both the gravity and Yang-Mills arise as sectors of a general diffeomorphism-invariant gauge theory. We finish by outlining a possible scenario of the ultraviolet completion of quantum gravity within this approach.

  18. The person-oriented approach: A short theoretical and practical guide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lars R. Bergman

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available A short overview of the person-oriented approach is given as a guide to the researcher interested in carrying out person-oriented research. Theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations of the approach are discussed. First, some historical roots are traced, followed by a description of the holisticinteractionistic research paradigm, which provided the general framework for the development of the modern person-oriented approach. The approach has both a theoretical and a methodological facet and after presenting its key theoretical tenets, an overview is given of some common person-oriented methods. Central to the person-oriented approach is a system view with its components together forming a pattern regarded as indivisible. This pattern should be understood and studied as a whole, not broken up into pieces (variables that are studied as separate entities. Hence, usually methodological tools are used by which whole patterns are analysed (e.g. cluster analysis. An empirical example is given where the pattern development of school grades is studied.

  19. Computational and Game-Theoretic Approaches for Modeling Bounded Rationality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L. Waltman (Ludo)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractThis thesis studies various computational and game-theoretic approaches to economic modeling. Unlike traditional approaches to economic modeling, the approaches studied in this thesis do not rely on the assumption that economic agents behave in a fully rational way. Instead, economic

  20. SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF INTERNET: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE NETWORK ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. E. Dobrinskaya

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The network is an efficient way of social structure analysis for contemporary sociologists. It gives broad opportunities for detailed and fruitful research of different patterns of ties and social relations by quantitative analytical methods and visualization of network models. The network metaphor is used as the most representative tool for description of a new type of society. This new type is characterized by flexibility, decentralization and individualization. Network organizational form became the dominant form in modern societies. The network is also used as a mode of inquiry. Actually three theoretical network approaches in the Internet research case are the most relevant: social network analysis, “network society” theory and actor-network theory. Every theoretical approach has got its own notion of network. Their special methodological and theoretical features contribute to the Internet studies in different ways. The article represents a brief overview of these network approaches. This overview demonstrates the absence of a unified semantic space of the notion of “network” category. This fact, in turn, points out the need for detailed analysis of these approaches to reveal their theoretical and empirical possibilities in application to the Internet studies. 

  1. Preservation of Newspapers: Theoretical Approaches and Practical Achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasenay, Damir; Krtalic, Maja

    2010-01-01

    The preservation of newspapers is the main topic of this paper. A theoretical overview of newspaper preservation is given, with an emphasis on the importance of a systematic and comprehensive approach. Efficient newspaper preservation implies understanding the meaning of preservation in general, as well as understanding specific approaches,…

  2. Factors determining early internationalization of entrepreneurial SMEs: Theoretical approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agne Matiusinaite

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – This study extends the scientific discussion of early internationalization of SMEs. The main purpose of this paper – to develop a theoretical framework to investigate factors determining early internationalization of international new ventures. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is built on the analysis and synthesis of scientific literature. Findings – This paper presents different factors, which determine early internationalization of international new ventures. These factors are divided to entrepreneurial, organizational and contextual factors. We argue that early internationalization of international new ventures is defined by entrepreneurial characteristics and previous experience of the entrepreneur, opportunities recognition and exploitation, risk tolerance, specific of the organization, involvement into networks and contextual factors. Study proved that only interaction between factors and categories has an effect for business development and successful implementation of early internationalization. Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted on the theoretical basis of scientific literature. The future studies could include a practical confirmation or denial of such allocation of factors. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the finding that factor itself has limited effect to early internationalization. Only the interoperability of categories and factors gives a positive impact on early internationalization of entrepreneurial SMEs.

  3. A Theoretical Assessment of the Formation of IT clusters in Kazakhstan: Approaches and Positive Effects

    OpenAIRE

    Anel A. Kireyeva

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The aim of this research is to develop new theoretical approaches of the formation of IT clusters in order to strengthen of trend of the innovative industrialization and competitiveness of the country. Keeping with the previous literature, this study determines by the novelty of the problem, concerning the formation of IT clusters, which can become a driving force of transformation due to the interaction, improving efficiency and introducing advanced technology. In this research,...

  4. When the Mannequin Dies, Creation and Exploration of a Theoretical Framework Using a Mixed Methods Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tripathy, Shreepada; Miller, Karen H; Berkenbosch, John W; McKinley, Tara F; Boland, Kimberly A; Brown, Seth A; Calhoun, Aaron W

    2016-06-01

    Controversy exists in the simulation community as to the emotional and educational ramifications of mannequin death due to learner action or inaction. No theoretical framework to guide future investigations of learner actions currently exists. The purpose of our study was to generate a model of the learner experience of mannequin death using a mixed methods approach. The study consisted of an initial focus group phase composed of 11 learners who had previously experienced mannequin death due to action or inaction on the part of learners as defined by Leighton (Clin Simul Nurs. 2009;5(2):e59-e62). Transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory to generate a list of relevant themes that were further organized into a theoretical framework. With the use of this framework, a survey was generated and distributed to additional learners who had experienced mannequin death due to action or inaction. Results were analyzed using a mixed methods approach. Forty-one clinicians completed the survey. A correlation was found between the emotional experience of mannequin death and degree of presession anxiety (P framework. Using the previous approach, we created a model of the effect of mannequin death on the educational and psychological state of learners. We offer the final model as a guide to future research regarding the learner experience of mannequin death.

  5. New Theoretical Approach Integrated Education and Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Gang

    2010-01-01

    The paper focuses on exploring new theoretical approach in education with development of online learning technology, from e-learning to u-learning and virtual reality technology, and points out possibilities such as constructing a new teaching ecological system, ubiquitous educational awareness with ubiquitous technology, and changing the…

  6. A Game-theoretical Approach for Distributed Cooperative Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

    KAUST Repository

    Lu, Yimeng

    2018-05-01

    This thesis explores a game-theoretical approach for underwater environmental monitoring applications. We first apply game-theoretical algorithm to multi-agent resource coverage problem in drifting environments. Furthermore, existing utility design and learning process of the algorithm are modified to fit specific constraints of underwater exploration/monitoring tasks. The revised approach can take the real scenario of underwater monitoring applications such as the effect of sea current, previous knowledge of the resource and occasional communications between agents into account, and adapt to them to reach better performance. As the motivation of this thesis is from real applications, in this work we emphasize highly on implementation phase. A ROS-Gazebo simulation environment was created for preparation of actual tests. The algorithms are implemented in simulating both the dynamics of vehicles and the environment. After that, a multi-agent underwater autonomous robotic system was developed for hardware test in real settings with local controllers to make their own decisions. These systems are used for testing above mentioned algorithms and future development of other underwater projects. After that, other works related to robotics during this thesis will be briefly mentioned, including contributions in MBZIRC robotics competition and distributed control of UAVs in an adversarial environment.

  7. A theoretical approach to photosynthetically active radiation silicon sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamasi, M.J.L.; Martínez Bogado, M.G.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a theoretical approach for the development of low cost radiometers to measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Two alternatives are considered: a) glass optical filters attached to a silicon sensor, and b) dielectric coating on a silicon sensor. The devices proposed are based on radiometers previously developed by the Argentine National Atomic Energy Commission. The objective of this work is to adapt these low cost radiometers to construct reliable instruments for measuring PAR. The transmittance of optical filters and sensor response have been analyzed for different dielectric materials, number of layers deposited, and incidence angles. Uncertainties in thickness of layer deposition were evaluated. - Highlights: • Design of radiometers to measure photosynthetically active radiation • The study has used a filter and a Si sensor to modify spectral response. • Dielectric multilayers on glass and silicon sensor • Spectral response related to different incidence angles, materials and spectra

  8. BEHAVIORAL INPUTS TO THE THEORETICAL APPROACH OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinziana BALTATESCU

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The current economic and financial crisis gave room for the theoretical debates to reemerge. The economic reality challenged the mainstream neoclassical approach leaving the opportunity for the Austrian School, Post Keynesianism or Institutionalists to bring in front theories that seem to better explain the economic crisis and thus, leaving space for more efficient economic policies to result. In this context, the main assumptions of the mainstream theoretical approach are challenged and reevaluated, behavioral economics is one of the main challengers. Without developing in an integrated school of thought yet, behavioral economics brings new elements within the framework of economic thinking. How are the main theoretical approaches integrating these new elements and whether this process is going to narrow the theory or enrich it to be more comprehensive are questions to which this paper tries to answer, or, at least, to leave room for an answer.

  9. Partial discharge transients: The field theoretical approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McAllister, Iain Wilson; Crichton, George C

    1998-01-01

    Up until the mid-1980s the theory of partial discharge transients was essentially static. This situation had arisen because of the fixation with the concept of void capacitance and the use of circuit theory to address what is in essence a field problem. Pedersen rejected this approach and instead...... began to apply field theory to the problem of partial discharge transients. In the present paper, the contributions of Pedersen using the field theoretical approach will be reviewed and discussed....

  10. A Methodological Demonstration of Set-theoretical Approach to Social Media Maturity Models Using Necessary Condition Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lasrado, Lester Allan; Vatrapu, Ravi; Andersen, Kim Normann

    2016-01-01

    Despite being widely accepted and applied across research domains, maturity models have been criticized for lacking academic rigor, especially methodologically rigorous and empirically grounded or tested maturity models are quite rare. Attempting to close this gap, we adopt a set-theoretic approach...... and evaluate some of arguments presented by previous conceptual focused social media maturity models....... by applying the Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) technique to derive maturity stages and stage boundaries conditions. The ontology is to view stages (boundaries) in maturity models as a collection of necessary condition. Using social media maturity data, we demonstrate the strength of our approach...

  11. Twistor-theoretic approach to topological field theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ito, Kei.

    1991-12-01

    The two-dimensional topological field theory which describes a four-dimensional self-dual space-time (gravitational instanton) as a target space, which we constructed before, is shown to be deeply connected with Penrose's 'twistor theory'. The relations are presented in detail. Thus our theory offers a 'twistor theoretic' approach to topological field theories. (author)

  12. Child education and management: theoretical approaches on legislation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rúbia Borges

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work was to investigate theoretical approaches regarding to daycare centers and management, considering childhood education for different audiences, such children and babies on the childhood perspective. On qualitative approach, this research is bibliographical and reflects on official documents about the theme. The development of this research occurred through analysis on educational Brazilian laws, starting by the Federal Constitution (FC, Law of Guidelines and Bases for National Education (LGB, National Curriculum Guidelines and the Education National Plan (ENP. The results point to a generalist legislation that allow certain autonomy on the education. However, there is the need to deepen theoretical and practical studies on the reality of institutions which have the education as the paramount purpose, in order to offer education with quality and attending to the needs from the audience in these institutions.

  13. An Information-Theoretic Approach to PMU Placement in Electric Power Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Qiao; Cui, Tao; Weng, Yang; Negi, Rohit; Franchetti, Franz; Ilic, Marija D.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents an information-theoretic approach to address the phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement problem in electric power systems. Different from the conventional 'topological observability' based approaches, this paper advocates a much more refined, information-theoretic criterion, namely the mutual information (MI) between the PMU measurements and the power system states. The proposed MI criterion can not only include the full system observability as a special case, but also ca...

  14. A queer-theoretical approach to community health psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Easpaig, Bróna R Nic Giolla; Fryer, David M; Linn, Seònaid E; Humphrey, Rhianna H

    2014-01-01

    Queer-theoretical resources offer ways of productively rethinking how central concepts such as 'person-context', 'identity' and 'difference' may be understood for community health psychologists. This would require going beyond consideration of the problems with which queer theory is popularly associated to cautiously engage with the aspects of this work relevant to the promotion of collective practice and engaging with processes of marginalisation. In this article, we will draw upon and illustrate the queer-theoretical concepts of 'performativity' and 'cultural intelligibility' before moving towards a preliminary mapping of what a queer-informed approach to community health psychology might involve.

  15. Theoretical Approaches in Evolutionary Ecology: Environmental Feedback as a Unifying Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lion, Sébastien

    2018-01-01

    Evolutionary biology and ecology have a strong theoretical underpinning, and this has fostered a variety of modeling approaches. A major challenge of this theoretical work has been to unravel the tangled feedback loop between ecology and evolution. This has prompted the development of two main classes of models. While quantitative genetics models jointly consider the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of a focal population, a separation of timescales between ecology and evolution is assumed by evolutionary game theory, adaptive dynamics, and inclusive fitness theory. As a result, theoretical evolutionary ecology tends to be divided among different schools of thought, with different toolboxes and motivations. My aim in this synthesis is to highlight the connections between these different approaches and clarify the current state of theory in evolutionary ecology. Central to this approach is to make explicit the dependence on environmental dynamics of the population and evolutionary dynamics, thereby materializing the eco-evolutionary feedback loop. This perspective sheds light on the interplay between environmental feedback and the timescales of ecological and evolutionary processes. I conclude by discussing some potential extensions and challenges to our current theoretical understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics.

  16. A relevance theoretic approach to intertextuality in print advertising

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Anonymous vs. acknowledged intertexts: A relevance theoretic approach to intertextuality in print advertising. ... make intertextual references to texts from mass media genres other than advertising as part of an ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  17. A new theoretical approach to adsorption desorption behavior of Ga on GaAs surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kangawa, Y.; Ito, T.; Taguchi, A.; Shiraishi, K.; Ohachi, T.

    2001-11-01

    We propose a new theoretical approach for studying adsorption-desorption behavior of atoms on semiconductor surfaces. The new theoretical approach based on the ab initio calculations incorporates the free energy of gas phase; therefore we can calculate how adsorption and desorption depends on growth temperature and beam equivalent pressure (BEP). The versatility of the new theoretical approach was confirmed by the calculation of Ga adsorption-desorption transition temperatures and transition BEPs on the GaAs(0 0 1)-(4×2)β2 Ga-rich surface. This new approach is feasible to predict how adsorption and desorption depend on the growth conditions.

  18. Field-theoretic approach to gravity in the flat space-time

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cavalleri, G [Centro Informazioni Studi Esperienze, Milan (Italy); Milan Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica); Spinelli, G [Istituto di Matematica del Politecnico di Milano, Milano (Italy)

    1980-01-01

    In this paper it is discussed how the field-theoretical approach to gravity starting from the flat space-time is wider than the Einstein approach. The flat approach is able to predict the structure of the observable space as a consequence of the behaviour of the particle proper masses. The field equations are formally equal to Einstein's equations without the cosmological term.

  19. Theoretical and methodological approaches in discourse analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Chris

    2004-01-01

    Discourse analysis (DA) embodies two main approaches: Foucauldian DA and radical social constructionist DA. Both are underpinned by social constructionism to a lesser or greater extent. Social constructionism has contested areas in relation to power, embodiment, and materialism, although Foucauldian DA does focus on the issue of power Embodiment and materialism may be especially relevant for researchers of nursing where the physical body is prominent. However, the contested nature of social constructionism allows a fusion of theoretical and methodological approaches tailored to a specific research interest. In this paper, Chris Stevenson suggests a framework for working out and declaring the DA approach to be taken in relation to a research area, as well as to aid anticipating methodological critique. Method, validity, reliability and scholarship are discussed from within a discourse analytic frame of reference.

  20. Theoretical and methodological approaches in discourse analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Chris

    2004-10-01

    Discourse analysis (DA) embodies two main approaches: Foucauldian DA and radical social constructionist DA. Both are underpinned by social constructionism to a lesser or greater extent. Social constructionism has contested areas in relation to power, embodiment, and materialism, although Foucauldian DA does focus on the issue of power. Embodiment and materialism may be especially relevant for researchers of nursing where the physical body is prominent. However, the contested nature of social constructionism allows a fusion of theoretical and methodological approaches tailored to a specific research interest. In this paper, Chris Stevenson suggests a frame- work for working out and declaring the DA approach to be taken in relation to a research area, as well as to aid anticipating methodological critique. Method, validity, reliability and scholarship are discussed from within a discourse analytic frame of reference.

  1. A Theoretical Explanation of Marital Conflicts by Paradigmatic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    اسماعیل جهانی دولت آباد

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Due to the economic, social and cultural changes in recent decades and consequently alterations in the form and duties of families and expectations of individuals from marriage, the institution of the family and marriage are enormously involved with different challenges and conflicts in comparison to past years. Fragile marital relationships, conflicts and divorce are results of such situations in Iran. Accordingly, the present study, which is designed through meta-analysis and deduction based on the concept analysis and reconceptualization of recent studies, has committed to manifest a proper different paradigm to explain marital conflicts. This paradigm is relying on various theoretical approaches, particularly the theory of symbolic interactionism as the main explanatory mean, and also applying the concept of “Marital Paradigm” as the missing information in previous studies of this field. It explains the marital conflicts between couples as paradigmatic conflicts; and its main idea is that marital conflict is not the result of one or more fixed and specified factors, but it is the production of encountering the opposing (or different paradigms.

  2. An attempt of classification of theoretical approaches to national identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milošević-Đorđević Jasna S.

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available It is compulsory that complex social concepts should be defined in different ways and approached from the perspective of different science disciplines. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely define them without overlapping of meaning with other similar concepts. This paper has made an attempt towards theoretical classification of the national identity and differentiate that concept in comparison to the other related concepts (race, ethnic group, nation, national background, authoritativeness, patriarchy. Theoretical assessments are classified into two groups: ones that are dealing with nature of national identity and others that are stating one or more dimensions of national identity, crucial for its determination. On the contrary to the primordialistic concept of national identity, describing it as a fundamental, deeply rooted human feature, there are many numerous contemporary theoretical approaches (instrumentalist, constructivist, functionalistic, emphasizing changeable, fluid, instrumentalist function of the national identity. Fundamental determinants of national identity are: language, culture (music, traditional myths, state symbols (territory, citizenship, self-categorization, religion, set of personal characteristics and values.

  3. Multiple stakeholders in road pricing: A game theoretic approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ohazulike, Anthony; Still, Georg J.; Kern, Walter; van Berkum, Eric C.; Hausken, Kjell; Zhuang, Jun

    2015-01-01

    We investigate a game theoretic approach as an alternative to the standard multi-objective optimization models for road pricing. Assuming that various, partly conflicting traffic externalities (congestion, air pollution, noise, safety, etcetera) are represented by corresponding players acting on a

  4. Theoretical Approaches to Nuclear Proliferation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin S. Tarasov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses discussions between representatives of three schools in the theory of international relations - realism, liberalism and constructivism - on the driving factors of nuclear proliferation. The paper examines major theoretical approaches, outlined in the studies of Russian and foreign scientists, to the causes of nuclear weapons development, while unveiling their advantages and limitations. Much of the article has been devoted to alternative approaches, particularly, the role of mathematical modeling in assessing proliferation risks. The analysis also reveals a variety of different approaches to nuclear weapons acquisition, as well as the absence of a comprehensive proliferation theory. Based on the research results the study uncovers major factors both favoring and impeding nuclear proliferation. The author shows that the lack of consensus between realists, liberals and constructivists on the nature of proliferation led a number of scientists to an attempt to explain nuclear rationale by drawing from the insights of more than one school in the theory of IR. Detailed study of the proliferation puzzle contributes to a greater understating of contemporary international realities, helps to identify mechanisms that are most likely to deter states from obtaining nuclear weapons and is of the outmost importance in predicting short- and long-term security environment. Furthermore, analysis of the existing scientific literature on nuclear proliferation helps to determine future research agenda of the subject at hand.

  5. A sign-theoretic approach to biotechnology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bruni, Luis Emilio

    ” semiotic networks across hierarchical levels and for relating the different emergent codes in living systems. I consider this an important part of the work because there I define some of the main concepts that will help me to analyse different codes and semiotic processes in living systems in order...... to exemplify what is the relevance of a sign-theoretic approach to biotechnology. In particular, I introduce the notion of digital-analogical consensus as a semiotic pattern for the creation of complex logical products that constitute specific signs. The chapter ends with some examples of conspicuous semiotic...... to exemplify how a semiotic approach can be of help when organising the knowledge that can lead us to understanding the relevance, the role and the position of signal transduction networks in relation to the larger semiotic networks in which they function, i.e.: in the hierarchical formal processes of mapping...

  6. A System Theoretical Inspired Approach to Knowledge Construction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathiasen, Helle

    2008-01-01

    student's knowledge construction, in the light of operative constructivism, inspired by the German sociologist N. Luhmann's system theoretical approach to epistemology. Taking observations as operations based on distinction and indication (selection) contingency becomes a fundamental condition in learning......  Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss the relation between teaching and learning. The point of departure is that teaching environments (communication forums) is a potential facilitator for learning processes and knowledge construction. The paper present a theoretical frame work, to discuss...... processes, and a condition which teaching must address as far as teaching strives to stimulate non-random learning outcomes. Thus learning outcomes understood as the individual learner's knowledge construction cannot be directly predicted from events and characteristics in the environment. This has...

  7. The Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to the Definition of Audit Risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Berezhniy Yevgeniy B.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The risk category is one of the key factors in planning the audit and assessing its results. The article is aimed at generalizing the theoretical and empirical approaches to the definition of audit risk and methods of its reduction. The structure of audit risk was analyzed and it has been determined, that each of researchers approached to structuring of audit risk from the subjective point of view. The author’s own model of audit risk has been proposed. The basic methods of assessment of audit risk are generalized, the theoretical and empirical approaches to its definition are allocated, also it is noted, that application of any of the given models can be suitable rather for approximate estimation, than for exact calculation of an audit risk, as it is accompanied by certain shortcomings.

  8. Model selection and inference a practical information-theoretic approach

    CERN Document Server

    Burnham, Kenneth P

    1998-01-01

    This book is unique in that it covers the philosophy of model-based data analysis and an omnibus strategy for the analysis of empirical data The book introduces information theoretic approaches and focuses critical attention on a priori modeling and the selection of a good approximating model that best represents the inference supported by the data Kullback-Leibler information represents a fundamental quantity in science and is Hirotugu Akaike's basis for model selection The maximized log-likelihood function can be bias-corrected to provide an estimate of expected, relative Kullback-Leibler information This leads to Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) and various extensions and these are relatively simple and easy to use in practice, but little taught in statistics classes and far less understood in the applied sciences than should be the case The information theoretic approaches provide a unified and rigorous theory, an extension of likelihood theory, an important application of information theory, and are ...

  9. A theoretical approach to artificial intelligence systems in medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spyropoulos, B; Papagounos, G

    1995-10-01

    The various theoretical models of disease, the nosology which is accepted by the medical community and the prevalent logic of diagnosis determine both the medical approach as well as the development of the relevant technology including the structure and function of the A.I. systems involved. A.I. systems in medicine, in addition to the specific parameters which enable them to reach a diagnostic and/or therapeutic proposal, entail implicitly theoretical assumptions and socio-cultural attitudes which prejudice the orientation and the final outcome of the procedure. The various models -causal, probabilistic, case-based etc. -are critically examined and their ethical and methodological limitations are brought to light. The lack of a self-consistent theoretical framework in medicine, the multi-faceted character of the human organism as well as the non-explicit nature of the theoretical assumptions involved in A.I. systems restrict them to the role of decision supporting "instruments" rather than regarding them as decision making "devices". This supporting role and, especially, the important function which A.I. systems should have in the structure, the methods and the content of medical education underscore the need of further research in the theoretical aspects and the actual development of such systems.

  10. Theoretical triangulation as an approach for revealing the complexity of a classroom discussion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Drie, J.; Dekker, R.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we explore the value of theoretical triangulation as a methodological approach for the analysis of classroom interaction. We analyze an excerpt of a whole-class discussion in history from three theoretical perspectives: interactivity of the discourse, conceptual level raising and

  11. Monoenergetic approximation of a polyenergetic beam: a theoretical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, D.M.; Scrimger, J.W.

    1991-01-01

    There exist numerous occasions in which it is desirable to approximate the polyenergetic beams employed in radiation therapy by a beam of photons of a single energy. In some instances, commonly used rules of thumb for the selection of an appropriate energy may be valid. A more accurate approximate energy, however, may be determined by an analysis which takes into account both the spectral qualities of the beam and the material through which it passes. The theoretical basis of this method of analysis is presented in this paper. Experimental agreement with theory for a range of materials and beam qualities is also presented and demonstrates the validity of the theoretical approach taken. (author)

  12. Blogging in Higher Education: Theoretical and Practical Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Gulfidan CAN; Devrim OZDEMIR

    2006-01-01

    In this paper the blogging method, which includes new forms of writing, is supported as an alternative approach to address the frequently asserted problems in higher education such as product-oriented assessment and lack of value given to students' writing as contribution to the discourse of the academic disciplines. Both theoretical and research background information is provided to clarify the rationale of using this method in higher education. Furthermore, recommended way of using this met...

  13. Principle-theoretic approach of kondo and construction-theoretic formalism of gauge theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jain, L.C.

    1986-01-01

    Einstein classified various theories in physics as principle-theories and constructive-theories. In this lecture Kondo's approach to microscopic and macroscopic phenomena is analysed for its principle theoretic pursuit as followed by construction. The fundamentals of his theory may be recalled as Tristimulus principle, Observation principle, Kawaguchi spaces, empirical information, epistemological point of view, unitarity, intrinsicality, and dimensional analysis subject to logical and geometrical achievement. On the other hand, various physicists have evolved constructive gauge theories through the phenomenological point of view, often a collective one. Their synthetic method involves fibre bundles and connections, path integrals as well as other hypothetical structures. They lead towards clarity, completeness and adaptability

  14. Theoretical and expert system approach to photoionization theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrović Ivan D.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The influence of the ponderomotive and the Stark shifts on the tunneling transition rate was observed, for non-relativistic linearly polarized laser field for alkali atoms, with three different theoretical models, the Keldysh theory, the Perelomov, Popov, Terent'ev (PPT theory, and the Ammosov, Delone, Krainov (ADK theory. We showed that aforementioned shifts affect the transition rate differently for different approaches. Finally, we presented a simple expert system for analysis of photoionization theories.

  15. A game-theoretic approach to real-time system testing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    David, Alexandre; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand; Li, Shuhao

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a game-theoretic approach to the testing of uncontrollable real-time systems. By modelling the systems with Timed I/O Game Automata and specifying the test purposes as Timed CTL formulas, we employ a recently developed timed game solver UPPAAL-TIGA to synthesize winning...... strategies, and then use these strategies to conduct black-box conformance testing of the systems. The testing process is proved to be sound and complete with respect to the given test purposes. Case study and preliminary experimental results indicate that this is a viable approach to uncontrollable timed...... system testing....

  16. Introduction to superfluidity field-theoretical approach and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Schmitt, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Superfluidity – and closely related to it, superconductivity – are very general phenomena that can occur on vastly different energy scales. Their underlying theoretical mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking is even more general and applies to a multitude of physical systems.  In these lecture notes, a pedagogical introduction to the field-theory approach to superfluidity is presented. The connection to more traditional approaches, often formulated in a different language, is carefully explained in order to provide a consistent picture that is useful for students and researchers in all fields of physics. After introducing the basic concepts, such as the two-fluid model and the Goldstone mode, selected topics of current research are addressed, such as the BCS-BEC crossover and Cooper pairing with mismatched Fermi momenta.

  17. Nuclear Fermi Dynamics: physical content versus theoretical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griffin, J.J.

    1977-01-01

    Those qualitative properties of nuclei, and of their energetic collisions, which seem of most importance for the flow of nuclear matter are listed and briefly discussed. It is suggested that nuclear matter flow is novel among fluid dynamical problems. The name, Nuclear Fermi Dynamics, is proposed as an appropriate unambiguous label. The Principle of Commensurability, which suggests the measurement of the theoretical content of an approach against its expected predictive range is set forth and discussed. Several of the current approaches to the nuclear matter flow problem are listed and subjected to such a test. It is found that the Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) description, alone of all the major theoretical approaches currently in vogue, incorporates each of the major qualitative features within its very concise single mathematical assumption. Some limitations of the conventional TDHF method are noted, and one particular defect is discussed in detail: the Spurious Cross Channel Correlations which arise whenever several asymptotic reaction channels must be simultaneously described by a single determinant. A reformulated Time-Dependent-S-Matrix Hartree-Fock Theory is proposed, which obviates this difficulty. It is noted that the structure of TD-S-HF can be applied to a more general class of non-linear wave mechanical problems than simple TDHF. Physical requirements minimal to assure that TD-S-HF represents a sensible reaction theory are utilized to prescribe the definition of acceptable asymptotic channels. That definition, in turn, defines the physical range of the TD-S-HF theory as the description of collisions of certain mathematically well-defined objects of mixed quantal and classical character, the ''TDHF droplets.''

  18. Understanding employee motivation and organizational performance: Arguments for a set-theoretic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael T. Lee

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Empirical evidence demonstrates that motivated employees mean better organizational performance. The objective of this conceptual paper is to articulate the progress that has been made in understanding employee motivation and organizational performance, and to suggest how the theory concerning employee motivation and organizational performance may be advanced. We acknowledge the existing limitations of theory development and suggest an alternative research approach. Current motivation theory development is based on conventional quantitative analysis (e.g., multiple regression analysis, structural equation modeling. Since researchers are interested in context and understanding of this social phenomena holistically, they think in terms of combinations and configurations of a set of pertinent variables. We suggest that researchers take a set-theoretic approach to complement existing conventional quantitative analysis. To advance current thinking, we propose a set-theoretic approach to leverage employee motivation for organizational performance.

  19. Research in theoretical nuclear physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Udagawa, T.

    1993-11-01

    This report describes the accomplishments in basic research in nuclear physics carried out by the theoretical nuclear physics group in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, during the period of November 1, 1992 to October 31, 1993. The work done covers three separate areas, low-energy nuclear reactions, intermediate energy physics, and nuclear structure studies. Although the subjects are thus spread among different areas, they are based on two techniques developed in previous years. These techniques are a powerful method for continuum-random-phase-approximation (CRPA) calculations of nuclear response and the breakup-fusion (BF) approach to incomplete fusion reactions, which calculation on a single footing of various incomplete fusion reaction cross sections within the framework of direct reaction theories. The approach was developed as a part of a more general program for establishing an approach to describing all different types of nuclear reactions, i.e., complete fusion, incomplete fusion and direct reactions, in a systematic way based on single theoretical framework

  20. A new theoretical approach to analyze complex processes in cytoskeleton proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B

    2014-03-20

    Cytoskeleton proteins are filament structures that support a large number of important biological processes. These dynamic biopolymers exist in nonequilibrium conditions stimulated by hydrolysis chemical reactions in their monomers. Current theoretical methods provide a comprehensive picture of biochemical and biophysical processes in cytoskeleton proteins. However, the description is only qualitative under biologically relevant conditions because utilized theoretical mean-field models neglect correlations. We develop a new theoretical method to describe dynamic processes in cytoskeleton proteins that takes into account spatial correlations in the chemical composition of these biopolymers. Our approach is based on analysis of probabilities of different clusters of subunits. It allows us to obtain exact analytical expressions for a variety of dynamic properties of cytoskeleton filaments. By comparing theoretical predictions with Monte Carlo computer simulations, it is shown that our method provides a fully quantitative description of complex dynamic phenomena in cytoskeleton proteins under all conditions.

  1. The strong coupling constant: its theoretical derivation from a geometric approach to hadron structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Recami, E.; Tonin-Zanchin, V.

    1991-01-01

    Since more than a decade, a bi-scale, unified approach to strong and gravitational interactions has been proposed, that uses the geometrical methods of general relativity, and yielded results similar to strong gravity theory's. We fix our attention, in this note, on hadron structure, and show that also the strong interaction strength α s, ordinarily called the (perturbative) coupling-constant square, can be evaluated within our theory, and found to decrease (increase) as the distance r decreases (increases). This yields both the confinement of the hadron constituents for large values of r, and their asymptotic freedom [for small values of r inside the hadron]: in qualitative agreement with the experimental evidence. In other words, our approach leads us, on a purely theoretical ground, to a dependence of α s on r which had been previously found only on phenomenological and heuristical grounds. We expect the above agreement to be also quantitative, on the basis of a few checks performed in this paper, and of further work of ours about calculating meson mass-spectra. (author)

  2. SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF INTERNET: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE NETWORK ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. E. Dobrinskaya

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Internet studies are carried out by various scientific disciplines and in different research perspectives. Sociological studies of the Internet deal with a new technology, a revolutionary means of mass communication and a social space. There is a set of research difficulties associated with the Internet. Firstly, the high speed and wide spread of Internet technologies’ development. Secondly, the collection and filtration of materials concerning with Internet studies. Lastly, the development of new conceptual categories, which are able to reflect the impact of the Internet development in contemporary world. In that regard the question of the “network” category use is essential. Network is the base of Internet functioning, on the one hand. On the other hand, network is the ground for almost all social interactions in modern society. So such society is called network society. Three theoretical network approaches in the Internet research case are the most relevant: network society theory, social network analysis and actor-network theory. Each of these theoretical approaches contributes to the study of the Internet. They shape various images of interactions between human beings in their entity and dynamics. All these approaches also provide information about the nature of these interactions. 

  3. Analysing Buyers' and Sellers' Strategic Interactions in Marketplaces: An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vytelingum, Perukrishnen; Cliff, Dave; Jennings, Nicholas R.

    We develop a new model to analyse the strategic behaviour of buyers and sellers in market mechanisms. In particular, we wish to understand how the different strategies they adopt affect their economic efficiency in the market and to understand the impact of these choices on the overall efficiency of the marketplace. To this end, we adopt a two-population evolutionary game theoretic approach, where we consider how the behaviours of both buyers and sellers evolve in marketplaces. In so doing, we address the shortcomings of the previous state-of-the-art analytical model that assumes that buyers and sellers have to adopt the same mixed strategy in the market. Finally, we apply our model in one of the most common market mechanisms, the Continuous Double Auction, and demonstrate how it allows us to provide new insights into the strategic interactions of such trading agents.

  4. An Activity Theoretical Approach to Social Interaction during Study Abroad

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shively, Rachel L.

    2016-01-01

    This case study examines how one study abroad student oriented to social interaction during a semester in Spain. Using an activity theoretical approach, the findings indicate that the student not only viewed social interaction with his Spanish host family and an expert-Spanish-speaking age peer as an opportunity for second language (L2) learning,…

  5. Towards a Set Theoretical Approach to Big Data Analytics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mukkamala, Raghava Rao; Hussain, Abid; Vatrapu, Ravi

    2014-01-01

    Formal methods, models and tools for social big data analytics are largely limited to graph theoretical approaches such as social network analysis (SNA) informed by relational sociology. There are no other unified modeling approaches to social big data that integrate the conceptual, formal...... this technique to the data analysis of big social data collected from Facebook page of the fast fashion company, H&M....... and software realms. In this paper, we first present and discuss a theory and conceptual model of social data. Second, we outline a formal model based on set theory and discuss the semantics of the formal model with a real-world social data example from Facebook. Third, we briefly present and discuss...

  6. Decision support models for solid waste management: Review and game-theoretic approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karmperis, Athanasios C.; Aravossis, Konstantinos; Tatsiopoulos, Ilias P.; Sotirchos, Anastasios

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► The mainly used decision support frameworks for solid waste management are reviewed. ► The LCA, CBA and MCDM models are presented and their strengths, weaknesses, similarities and possible combinations are analyzed. ► The game-theoretic approach in a solid waste management context is presented. ► The waste management bargaining game is introduced as a specific decision support framework. ► Cooperative and non-cooperative game-theoretic approaches to decision support for solid waste management are discussed. - Abstract: This paper surveys decision support models that are commonly used in the solid waste management area. Most models are mainly developed within three decision support frameworks, which are the life-cycle assessment, the cost–benefit analysis and the multi-criteria decision-making. These frameworks are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses as well as their critical issues are analyzed, while their possible combinations and extensions are also discussed. Furthermore, the paper presents how cooperative and non-cooperative game-theoretic approaches can be used for the purpose of modeling and analyzing decision-making in situations with multiple stakeholders. Specifically, since a waste management model is sustainable when considering not only environmental and economic but also social aspects, the waste management bargaining game is introduced as a specific decision support framework in which future models can be developed

  7. Decision support models for solid waste management: Review and game-theoretic approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karmperis, Athanasios C., E-mail: athkarmp@mail.ntua.gr [Sector of Industrial Management and Operational Research, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, 15780 Athens (Greece); Army Corps of Engineers, Hellenic Army General Staff, Ministry of Defence (Greece); Aravossis, Konstantinos; Tatsiopoulos, Ilias P.; Sotirchos, Anastasios [Sector of Industrial Management and Operational Research, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, 15780 Athens (Greece)

    2013-05-15

    Highlights: ► The mainly used decision support frameworks for solid waste management are reviewed. ► The LCA, CBA and MCDM models are presented and their strengths, weaknesses, similarities and possible combinations are analyzed. ► The game-theoretic approach in a solid waste management context is presented. ► The waste management bargaining game is introduced as a specific decision support framework. ► Cooperative and non-cooperative game-theoretic approaches to decision support for solid waste management are discussed. - Abstract: This paper surveys decision support models that are commonly used in the solid waste management area. Most models are mainly developed within three decision support frameworks, which are the life-cycle assessment, the cost–benefit analysis and the multi-criteria decision-making. These frameworks are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses as well as their critical issues are analyzed, while their possible combinations and extensions are also discussed. Furthermore, the paper presents how cooperative and non-cooperative game-theoretic approaches can be used for the purpose of modeling and analyzing decision-making in situations with multiple stakeholders. Specifically, since a waste management model is sustainable when considering not only environmental and economic but also social aspects, the waste management bargaining game is introduced as a specific decision support framework in which future models can be developed.

  8. Analytic game—theoretic approach to ground-water extraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loáiciga, Hugo A.

    2004-09-01

    The roles of cooperation and non-cooperation in the sustainable exploitation of a jointly used groundwater resource have been quantified mathematically using an analytical game-theoretic formulation. Cooperative equilibrium arises when ground-water users respect water-level constraints and consider mutual impacts, which allows them to derive economic benefits from ground-water indefinitely, that is, to achieve sustainability. This work shows that cooperative equilibrium can be obtained from the solution of a quadratic programming problem. For cooperative equilibrium to hold, however, enforcement must be effective. Otherwise, according to the commonized costs-privatized profits paradox, there is a natural tendency towards non-cooperation and non-sustainable aquifer mining, of which overdraft is a typical symptom. Non-cooperative behavior arises when at least one ground-water user neglects the externalities of his adopted ground-water pumping strategy. In this instance, water-level constraints may be violated in a relatively short time and the economic benefits from ground-water extraction fall below those obtained with cooperative aquifer use. One example illustrates the game theoretic approach of this work.

  9. A website evaluation model by integration of previous evaluation models using a quantitative approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Moeini

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Regarding the ecommerce growth, websites play an essential role in business success. Therefore, many authors have offered website evaluation models since 1995. Although, the multiplicity and diversity of evaluation models make it difficult to integrate them into a single comprehensive model. In this paper a quantitative method has been used to integrate previous models into a comprehensive model that is compatible with them. In this approach the researcher judgment has no role in integration of models and the new model takes its validity from 93 previous models and systematic quantitative approach.

  10. Theoretical approaches to determining the financial provision of public transportation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.A. Vygovska

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The work is devoted to the improvement of theoretical approaches in determining the financial provision of transportation by public transport at the regional level. The author summarizes the concept of the «financial security» and defines the main difference from the term «financing». The systematization of key differences in the financial provision of a transport company from other financial entities of the economic sector at the national and regional levels is carried out. The disadvantages and advantages of sources of financial support are analyzed. The purpose of the article is to study theoretical approaches in determining the financial provision of transportation by public transport at the regional level. The prospects for further scientific research are the need to identify new scientific approaches and techniques to substantiate and elaborate the concept of the «financial provision of transportation by public transport». The practical application of the research should be formed in a detailed analysis of cash flow streams in the system of «state – regional authority – economic entity». The financial provision of transportation by public transport at the regional level has not been given the sufficient attention in the scientific research within the country. This fact confirms the need for a thorough analysis of the transport industry as a whole.

  11. An information-theoretic approach to assess practical identifiability of parametric dynamical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pant, Sanjay; Lombardi, Damiano

    2015-10-01

    A new approach for assessing parameter identifiability of dynamical systems in a Bayesian setting is presented. The concept of Shannon entropy is employed to measure the inherent uncertainty in the parameters. The expected reduction in this uncertainty is seen as the amount of information one expects to gain about the parameters due to the availability of noisy measurements of the dynamical system. Such expected information gain is interpreted in terms of the variance of a hypothetical measurement device that can measure the parameters directly, and is related to practical identifiability of the parameters. If the individual parameters are unidentifiable, correlation between parameter combinations is assessed through conditional mutual information to determine which sets of parameters can be identified together. The information theoretic quantities of entropy and information are evaluated numerically through a combination of Monte Carlo and k-nearest neighbour methods in a non-parametric fashion. Unlike many methods to evaluate identifiability proposed in the literature, the proposed approach takes the measurement-noise into account and is not restricted to any particular noise-structure. Whilst computationally intensive for large dynamical systems, it is easily parallelisable and is non-intrusive as it does not necessitate re-writing of the numerical solvers of the dynamical system. The application of such an approach is presented for a variety of dynamical systems--ranging from systems governed by ordinary differential equations to partial differential equations--and, where possible, validated against results previously published in the literature. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Vanadium supersaturated silicon system: a theoretical and experimental approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Hemme, Eric; García, Gregorio; Palacios, Pablo; Montero, Daniel; García-Hernansanz, Rodrigo; Gonzalez-Diaz, Germán; Wahnon, Perla

    2017-12-01

    The effect of high dose vanadium ion implantation and pulsed laser annealing on the crystal structure and sub-bandgap optical absorption features of V-supersaturated silicon samples has been studied through the combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. Interest in V-supersaturated Si focusses on its potential as a material having a new band within the Si bandgap. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry measurements and formation energies computed through quantum calculations provide evidence that V atoms are mainly located at interstitial positions. The response of sub-bandgap spectral photoconductance is extended far into the infrared region of the spectrum. Theoretical simulations (based on density functional theory and many-body perturbation in GW approximation) bring to light that, in addition to V atoms at interstitial positions, Si defects should also be taken into account in explaining the experimental profile of the spectral photoconductance. The combination of experimental and theoretical methods provides evidence that the improved spectral photoconductance up to 6.2 µm (0.2 eV) is due to new sub-bandgap transitions, for which the new band due to V atoms within the Si bandgap plays an essential role. This enables the use of V-supersaturated silicon in the third generation of photovoltaic devices.

  13. How cells engulf: a review of theoretical approaches to phagocytosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, David M.; Endres, Robert G.

    2017-12-01

    Phagocytosis is a fascinating process whereby a cell surrounds and engulfs particles such as bacteria and dead cells. This is crucial both for single-cell organisms (as a way of acquiring nutrients) and as part of the immune system (to destroy foreign invaders). This whole process is hugely complex and involves multiple coordinated events such as membrane remodelling, receptor motion, cytoskeleton reorganisation and intracellular signalling. Because of this, phagocytosis is an excellent system for theoretical study, benefiting from biophysical approaches combined with mathematical modelling. Here, we review these theoretical approaches and discuss the recent mathematical and computational models, including models based on receptors, models focusing on the forces involved, and models employing energetic considerations. Along the way, we highlight a beautiful connection to the physics of phase transitions, consider the role of stochasticity, and examine links between phagocytosis and other types of endocytosis. We cover the recently discovered multistage nature of phagocytosis, showing that the size of the phagocytic cup grows in distinct stages, with an initial slow stage followed by a much quicker second stage starting around half engulfment. We also address the issue of target shape dependence, which is relevant to both pathogen infection and drug delivery, covering both one-dimensional and two-dimensional results. Throughout, we pay particular attention to recent experimental techniques that continue to inform the theoretical studies and provide a means to test model predictions. Finally, we discuss population models, connections to other biological processes, and how physics and modelling will continue to play a key role in future work in this area.

  14. Supply chain collaboration: A Game-theoretic approach to profit allocation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ponte, B.; Fernández, I.; Rosillo, R.; Parreño, J.; García, N.

    2016-07-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework for profit allocation, as a mechanism for aligning incentives, in collaborative supply chains. Design/methodology/approach: The issue of profit distribution is approached from a game-theoretic perspective. We use the nucleolus concept. The framework is illustrated through a numerical example based on the Beer Game scenario. Findings: The nucleolus offers a powerful perspective to tackle this problem, as it takes into consideration the bargaining power of the different echelons. We show that this framework outperforms classical alternatives. Research limitations/implications: The allocation of the overall supply chain profit is analyzed from a static perspective. Considering the dynamic nature of the problem would be an interesting next step. Practical implications: We provide evidence of drawbacks derived from classical solutions to the profit allocation problem. Real-world collaborative supply chains need of robust mechanisms like the one tackled in this work to align incentives from the various actors. Originality/value: Adopting an efficient collaborative solution is a major challenge for supply chains, since it is a wide and complex process that requires an appropriate scheme. Within this framework, profit allocation is essential.

  15. Supply chain collaboration: A Game-theoretic approach to profit allocation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ponte, B.; Fernández, I.; Rosillo, R.; Parreño, J.; García, N.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework for profit allocation, as a mechanism for aligning incentives, in collaborative supply chains. Design/methodology/approach: The issue of profit distribution is approached from a game-theoretic perspective. We use the nucleolus concept. The framework is illustrated through a numerical example based on the Beer Game scenario. Findings: The nucleolus offers a powerful perspective to tackle this problem, as it takes into consideration the bargaining power of the different echelons. We show that this framework outperforms classical alternatives. Research limitations/implications: The allocation of the overall supply chain profit is analyzed from a static perspective. Considering the dynamic nature of the problem would be an interesting next step. Practical implications: We provide evidence of drawbacks derived from classical solutions to the profit allocation problem. Real-world collaborative supply chains need of robust mechanisms like the one tackled in this work to align incentives from the various actors. Originality/value: Adopting an efficient collaborative solution is a major challenge for supply chains, since it is a wide and complex process that requires an appropriate scheme. Within this framework, profit allocation is essential.

  16. Reflections on the conceptualization and operationalization of a set-theoretic approach to employee motivation and performance research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Christopher Ryan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The current commentary offers a reflection on the conceptualizations of Lee and Raschke's (2016 proposal for a set-theoretic approach to employee motivation and organizational performance. The commentary is informed by the current author's operationalization of set-theoretic research on employee motivation which occurred contemporaneously to the work of Lee and Raschke. Observations on the state of current research on employee motivation, development of motivation theory and future directions of set-theoretic approaches to employee motivation and performance are offered.

  17. Theoretical investigation of shock stand-off distance for non-equilibrium flows over spheres

    KAUST Repository

    Shen, Hua; WEN, Chih-Yung

    2018-01-01

    We derived a theoretical solution of the shock stand-off distance for a non-equilibrium flow over spheres based on Wen and Hornung’s solution and Olivier’s solution. Compared with previous approaches, the main advantage of the present approach

  18. Quantum noise in the mirror–field system: A field theoretic approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsiang, Jen-Tsung; Wu, Tai-Hung; Lee, Da-Shin; King, Sun-Kun; Wu, Chun-Hsien

    2013-01-01

    We revisit the quantum noise problem in the mirror–field system by a field-theoretic approach. Here a perfectly reflecting mirror is illuminated by a single-mode coherent state of the massless scalar field. The associated radiation pressure is described by a surface integral of the stress-tensor of the field. The read-out field is measured by a monopole detector, from which the effective distance between the detector and mirror can be obtained. In the slow-motion limit of the mirror, this field-theoretic approach allows to identify various sources of quantum noise that all in all leads to uncertainty of the read-out measurement. In addition to well-known sources from shot noise and radiation pressure fluctuations, a new source of noise is found from field fluctuations modified by the mirror’s displacement. Correlation between different sources of noise can be established in the read-out measurement as the consequence of interference between the incident field and the field reflected off the mirror. In the case of negative correlation, we found that the uncertainty can be lowered than the value predicted by the standard quantum limit. Since the particle-number approach is often used in quantum optics, we compared results obtained by both approaches and examine its validity. We also derive a Langevin equation that describes the stochastic dynamics of the mirror. The underlying fluctuation–dissipation relation is briefly mentioned. Finally we discuss the backreaction induced by the radiation pressure. It will alter the mean displacement of the mirror, but we argue this backreaction can be ignored for a slowly moving mirror. - Highlights: ► The quantum noise problem in the mirror–field system is re-visited by a field-theoretic approach. ► Other than the shot noise and radiation pressure noise, we show there are new sources of noise and correlation between them. ► The noise correlations can be used to suppress the overall quantum noise on the mirror.

  19. Quantum noise in the mirror-field system: A field theoretic approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hsiang, Jen-Tsung, E-mail: cosmology@gmail.com [Department of Physics, National Dong-Hwa University, Hua-lien, Taiwan, ROC (China); Wu, Tai-Hung [Department of Physics, National Dong-Hwa University, Hua-lien, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lee, Da-Shin, E-mail: dslee@mail.ndhu.edu.tw [Department of Physics, National Dong-Hwa University, Hua-lien, Taiwan, ROC (China); King, Sun-Kun [Institutes of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC (China); Wu, Chun-Hsien [Department of Physics, Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2013-02-15

    We revisit the quantum noise problem in the mirror-field system by a field-theoretic approach. Here a perfectly reflecting mirror is illuminated by a single-mode coherent state of the massless scalar field. The associated radiation pressure is described by a surface integral of the stress-tensor of the field. The read-out field is measured by a monopole detector, from which the effective distance between the detector and mirror can be obtained. In the slow-motion limit of the mirror, this field-theoretic approach allows to identify various sources of quantum noise that all in all leads to uncertainty of the read-out measurement. In addition to well-known sources from shot noise and radiation pressure fluctuations, a new source of noise is found from field fluctuations modified by the mirror's displacement. Correlation between different sources of noise can be established in the read-out measurement as the consequence of interference between the incident field and the field reflected off the mirror. In the case of negative correlation, we found that the uncertainty can be lowered than the value predicted by the standard quantum limit. Since the particle-number approach is often used in quantum optics, we compared results obtained by both approaches and examine its validity. We also derive a Langevin equation that describes the stochastic dynamics of the mirror. The underlying fluctuation-dissipation relation is briefly mentioned. Finally we discuss the backreaction induced by the radiation pressure. It will alter the mean displacement of the mirror, but we argue this backreaction can be ignored for a slowly moving mirror. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The quantum noise problem in the mirror-field system is re-visited by a field-theoretic approach. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Other than the shot noise and radiation pressure noise, we show there are new sources of noise and correlation between them. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The noise

  20. A Game Theoretic Approach to Nuclear Security Analysis against Insider Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kyonam; Kim, So Young; Yim, Mansung [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Schneider, Erich [Univ. of Texas at Austin, Texas (United States)

    2014-05-15

    As individuals with authorized access to a facility and system who use their trusted position for unauthorized purposes, insiders are able to take advantage of their access rights and knowledge of a facility to bypass dedicated security measures. They can also capitalize on their knowledge to exploit any vulnerabilities in safety-related systems, with cyber security of safety-critical information technology systems offering an important example of the 3S interface. While this Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) approach is appropriate for describing fundamentally random events like component failure of a safety system, it does not capture the adversary's intentions, nor does it account for adversarial response and adaptation to defensive investments. To address these issues of intentionality and interactions, this study adopts a game theoretic approach. The interaction between defender and adversary is modeled as a two-person Stackelberg game. The optimal strategy of both players is found from the equilibrium of this game. A defender strategy consists of a set of design modifications and/or post-construction security upgrades. An attacker strategy involves selection of a target as well as a pathway to that target. In this study, application of the game theoretic approach is demonstrated using a simplified test case problem. Novel to our approach is the modeling of insider threat that affects the non-detection probability of an adversary. The game-theoretic approach has the advantage of modelling an intelligent adversary who has an intention and complete knowledge of the facility. In this study, we analyzed the expected adversarial path and security upgrades with a limited budget with insider threat modeled as increasing the non-detection probability. Our test case problem categorized three groups of adversary paths assisted by insiders and derived the largest insider threat in terms of the budget for security upgrades. Certainly more work needs to be done to

  1. A Game Theoretic Approach to Nuclear Security Analysis against Insider Threat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyonam; Kim, So Young; Yim, Mansung; Schneider, Erich

    2014-01-01

    As individuals with authorized access to a facility and system who use their trusted position for unauthorized purposes, insiders are able to take advantage of their access rights and knowledge of a facility to bypass dedicated security measures. They can also capitalize on their knowledge to exploit any vulnerabilities in safety-related systems, with cyber security of safety-critical information technology systems offering an important example of the 3S interface. While this Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) approach is appropriate for describing fundamentally random events like component failure of a safety system, it does not capture the adversary's intentions, nor does it account for adversarial response and adaptation to defensive investments. To address these issues of intentionality and interactions, this study adopts a game theoretic approach. The interaction between defender and adversary is modeled as a two-person Stackelberg game. The optimal strategy of both players is found from the equilibrium of this game. A defender strategy consists of a set of design modifications and/or post-construction security upgrades. An attacker strategy involves selection of a target as well as a pathway to that target. In this study, application of the game theoretic approach is demonstrated using a simplified test case problem. Novel to our approach is the modeling of insider threat that affects the non-detection probability of an adversary. The game-theoretic approach has the advantage of modelling an intelligent adversary who has an intention and complete knowledge of the facility. In this study, we analyzed the expected adversarial path and security upgrades with a limited budget with insider threat modeled as increasing the non-detection probability. Our test case problem categorized three groups of adversary paths assisted by insiders and derived the largest insider threat in terms of the budget for security upgrades. Certainly more work needs to be done to

  2. On the electric dipole moments of small sodium clusters from different theoretical approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguado, Andrés; Largo, Antonio; Vega, Andrés; Balbás, Luis Carlos

    2012-01-01

    Graphical abstract: The dipole moments and polarizabilities of a few isomers of sodium clusters of selected sizes (n = 13, 14, 16) are calculated using density functional theory methods as well as ab initio MP2, CASSCF, and MR-CI methods. Among the density functional approaches, we consider the usual local density and generalized gradient approximations, as well as a recent van der Waals self-consistent functional accounting for non-local dispersion interactions. Highlights: ► Dipole moment and polarizability of sodium clusters from DFT and ab initio methods. ► New van der Waals selfconsistent implementation of non-local dispersion interactions. ► New starting isomeric geometries from extensive search of global minimum structures. ► Good agreement with recent experiments at cryogenic temperatures. - Abstract: The dipole moments of Na n clusters in the size range 10 n clusters of selected sizes (n = 13, 14, 16), obtained recently through an extensive unbiased search of the global minimum structures, and using density functional theory methods as well as ab initio MP2, CASSCF, and MR-CI methods. Among the density functional approaches, we consider the usual local density and generalized gradient approximations, as well as a recent van der Waals self-consistent functional accounting for non-local dispersion interactions. Both non-local pseudopotentials and all-electron implementations are employed and compared in order to assess the possible contribution of the core electrons to the electric dipole moments. Our new geometries possess significantly smaller electric dipole moments than previous density functional results, mostly when combined with the van der Waals exchange–correlation functional. However, although the agreement with experiment clearly improves upon previous calculations, the theoretical dipole moments are still about one order of magnitude larger than the experimental values, suggesting that the correct global minimum structures have not been

  3. Theoretical orientations in environmental planning: An inquiry into alternative approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briassoulis, Helen

    1989-07-01

    In the process of devising courses of action to resolve problems arising at the society-environment interface, a variety of planning approaches are followed, whose adoption is influenced by—among other things—the characteristics of environmental problems, the nature of the decision-making context, and the intellectual traditions of the disciplines contributing to the study of these problems. This article provides a systematic analysis of six alternative environmental planning approaches—comprehensive/rational, incremental, adaptive, contingency, advocacy, and participatory/consensual. The relative influence of the abovementioned factors is examined, the occurrence of these approaches in real-world situations is noted, and their environmental soundness and political realism is evaluated. Because of the disparity between plan formulation and implementation and between theoretical form and empirical reality, a synthetic view of environmental planning approaches is taken and approaches in action are identified, which characterize the totality of the planning process from problem definition to plan implementation, as well as approaches in the becoming, which may be on the horizon of environmental planning of tomorrow. The suggested future research directions include case studies to verify and detail the presence of the approaches discussed, developing measures of success of a given approach in a given decision setting, and an intertemporal analysis of environmental planning approaches.

  4. Information Ergonomics A theoretical approach and practical experience in transportation

    CERN Document Server

    Sandl, Peter

    2012-01-01

    The variety and increasing availability of hypermedia information systems, which are used in stationary applications like operators’ consoles as well as mobile systems, e.g. driver information and navigation systems in automobiles form a foundation for the mediatization of the society. From the human engineering point of view this development and the ensuing increased importance of information systems for economic and private needs require careful deliberation of the derivation and application of ergonomics methods particularly in the field of information systems. This book consists of two closely intertwined parts. The first, theoretical part defines the concept of an information system, followed by an explanation of action regulation as well as cognitive theories to describe man information system interaction. A comprehensive description of information ergonomics concludes the theoretical approach. In the second, practically oriented part of this book authors from industry as well as from academic institu...

  5. EVOLUTION OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE DEFINITION OF THE CATEGORY “PERSONNEL POTENTIAL”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Аlexandra Deshchenko

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The article describes the evolution of theoretical approaches to definition of the category «personnel potential» based on the analysis of approaches to definition of the conceptual apparatus of labor Economics, including such categories as: labor force, labor resources, labor potential, human resources, human capital, human capital different authors. The analysis of the evolution of the terms in accordance with the stages of development of a society.

  6. [Systemic inflammation: theoretical and methodological approaches to description of general pathological process model. Part 3. Backgroung for nonsyndromic approach].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gusev, E Yu; Chereshnev, V A

    2013-01-01

    Theoretical and methodological approaches to description of systemic inflammation as general pathological process are discussed. It is shown, that there is a need of integration of wide range of types of researches to develop a model of systemic inflammation.

  7. On the electric dipole moments of small sodium clusters from different theoretical approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aguado, Andres, E-mail: aguado@metodos.fam.cie.uva.es [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica, y Optica, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain); Largo, Antonio, E-mail: alargo@qf.uva.es [Departamento de Quimica Fisica y Quimica Inorganica, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain); Vega, Andres, E-mail: vega@fta.uva.es [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica, y Optica, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain); Balbas, Luis Carlos, E-mail: balbas@fta.uva.es [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica, y Optica, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain)

    2012-05-03

    contribution of the core electrons to the electric dipole moments. Our new geometries possess significantly smaller electric dipole moments than previous density functional results, mostly when combined with the van der Waals exchange-correlation functional. However, although the agreement with experiment clearly improves upon previous calculations, the theoretical dipole moments are still about one order of magnitude larger than the experimental values, suggesting that the correct global minimum structures have not been located yet.

  8. A Group Theoretic Approach to Metaheuristic Local Search for Partitioning Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-05-01

    Tabu Search. Mathematical and Computer Modeling 39: 599-616. 107 Daskin , M.S., E. Stern. 1981. A Hierarchical Objective Set Covering Model for EMS... A Group Theoretic Approach to Metaheuristic Local Search for Partitioning Problems by Gary W. Kinney Jr., B.G.S., M.S. Dissertation Presented to the...DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A Approved for Public Release Distribution Unlimited The University of Texas at Austin May, 2005 20050504 002 REPORT

  9. Success Determination by Innovation: A Theoretical Approach in Marketing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raj Kumar Gautam

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper aims at to identify the main issues in the marketing which needs immediate attention of the marketers. The importance of innovation in the marketing has also been highlighted and marketing mix have been related to innovative and creative ideas. The study is based on the secondary data, various research papers, articles has been studied to develop a innovative approach in the marketing. Marketing innovative ideas relating to business lead generation, product, price, distribution, promotion of product, and revenue generation have been highlighted in the paper. All the suggestions are theoretical and may have relevance and implication to the marketers.

  10. Success Determination by Innovation: A Theoretical Approach in Marketing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raj Kumar Gautam

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper aims at to identify the main issues in the marketing which needs immediate attention of the marketers. The importance of innovation in the marketing has also been highlighted and marketing mix have been related to innovative and creative ideas. The study is based on the secondary data, various research papers, articles has been studied to develop a innovative approach in the marketing. Marketing innovative ideas relating to business lead generation, product, price, distribution, promotion of product, and revenue generation have been highlighted in the paper. All the suggestions are theoretical and may have relevance and implication to the marketers.

  11. MEDIATIC NARRATIVES AND IDENTIFICATION PROCESSES. A THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salomé Sola Morales

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This article, theoretical and argumentative, lays the conceptual and methodological basis for the study of the link between identity and narrative media identification processes undertaken by individuals and groups. Thus, the setting national identifications, professional, religious or gender is here proposed as the result of the dialectic between the 'media narrative identity', which the media produce and convey, and identification processes that individuals and groups perform. Furthermore we propose the use of the biographical method as a form of empirical approach to psycho-social phenomenon

  12. THE REPURCHASE OF SHARES - ANOTHER FORM OF REWARDING INVESTORS - A THEORETICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PRISACARIU Maria

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Among the shareholder remuneration policies, in recent years, share repurchases are gaining more and more ground. Like any other phenomenon or financial practice, repurchases lacked no theories to explain their motivation, effects and controversies. This paper proposes a theoretical approach to the subject by summarizing relevant research in order to highlight the motivations behind this decision and its implications.

  13. Evolution of the Theoretical Approaches to Disclosing the Economic Substance of Accumulation of Capital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yemets Vadym V.

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The article proposes a classification for periods of evolution of theoretical approaches to disclosing the economic substance of accumulation of capital, taking into account the civilizational approach to the development of society. The author has proposed five stages in the evolution of theoretical approaches, which are closely related to the development of economy and stipulate dominance of a certain form of accumulation of capital. So, the first stage (time period B.C. – the 5th Century is referred to as Individual-social significance of accumulation of capital; the second stage (from the 6th century to the 16th century – Accumulation of monetary capitals; the third stage (from the mid-17th century until the end of the 18th century – Industrialproduction accumulation of capital; the fourth stage (from the mid-19th century until the 70s of the 20th century – Investment-oriented accumulation of capital; the fifth stage (from the 70s of the 20th century up to the current period – Globally-intensive accumulation of capital.

  14. Black hole state counting in loop quantum gravity: a number-theoretical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agulló, Iván; Barbero G, J Fernando; Díaz-Polo, Jacobo; Fernández-Borja, Enrique; Villaseñor, Eduardo J S

    2008-05-30

    We give an efficient method, combining number-theoretic and combinatorial ideas, to exactly compute black hole entropy in the framework of loop quantum gravity. Along the way we provide a complete characterization of the relevant sector of the spectrum of the area operator, including degeneracies, and explicitly determine the number of solutions to the projection constraint. We use a computer implementation of the proposed algorithm to confirm and extend previous results on the detailed structure of the black hole degeneracy spectrum.

  15. Mesoscopic structure prediction of nanoparticle assembly and coassembly: Theoretical foundation

    KAUST Repository

    Hur, Kahyun

    2010-01-01

    In this work, we present a theoretical framework that unifies polymer field theory and density functional theory in order to efficiently predict ordered nanostructure formation of systems having considerable complexity in terms of molecular structures and interactions. We validate our approach by comparing its predictions with previous simulation results for model systems. We illustrate the flexibility of our approach by applying it to hybrid systems composed of block copolymers and ligand coated nanoparticles. We expect that our approach will enable the treatment of multicomponent self-assembly with a level of molecular complexity that approaches experimental systems. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

  16. Topological charge on the lattice: a field theoretical view of the geometrical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rastelli, L.; Rossi, P.; Vicari, E.

    1997-01-01

    We construct sequences of ''field theoretical'' lattice topological charge density operators which formally approach geometrical definitions in 2D CP N-1 models and 4D SU(N) Yang-Mills theories. The analysis of these sequences of operators suggests a new way of looking at the geometrical method, showing that geometrical charges can be interpreted as limits of sequences of field theoretical (analytical) operators. In perturbation theory, renormalization effects formally tend to vanish along such sequences. But, since the perturbative expansion is asymptotic, this does not necessarily lead to well-behaved geometrical limits. It indeed leaves open the possibility that non-perturbative renormalizations survive. (orig.)

  17. Strategy for a numerical Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. Further development of the theoretical/numerical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olofsson, Isabelle; Fredriksson, Anders

    2005-05-01

    The Swedish Nuclear and Fuel Management Company (SKB) is conducting Preliminary Site Investigations at two different locations in Sweden in order to study the possibility of a Deep Repository for spent fuel. In the frame of these Site Investigations, Site Descriptive Models are achieved. These products are the result of an interaction of several disciplines such as geology, hydrogeology, and meteorology. The Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model constitutes one of these models. Before the start of the Site Investigations a numerical method using Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) models and the 2D numerical software UDEC was developed. Numerical simulations were the tool chosen for applying the theoretical approach for characterising the mechanical rock mass properties. Some shortcomings were identified when developing the methodology. Their impacts on the modelling (in term of time and quality assurance of results) were estimated to be so important that the improvement of the methodology with another numerical tool was investigated. The theoretical approach is still based on DFN models but the numerical software used is 3DEC. The main assets of the programme compared to UDEC are an optimised algorithm for the generation of fractures in the model and for the assignment of mechanical fracture properties. Due to some numerical constraints the test conditions were set-up in order to simulate 2D plane strain tests. Numerical simulations were conducted on the same data set as used previously for the UDEC modelling in order to estimate and validate the results from the new methodology. A real 3D simulation was also conducted in order to assess the effect of the '2D' conditions in the 3DEC model. Based on the quality of the results it was decided to update the theoretical model and introduce the new methodology based on DFN models and 3DEC simulations for the establishment of the Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. By separating the spatial variability into two parts, one

  18. Theoretical Approaches to Lignin Chemistry

    OpenAIRE

    Shevchenko, Sergey M.

    1994-01-01

    A critical review is presented of the applications of theoretical methods to the studies of the structure and chemical reactivity of lignin, including simulation of macromolecular properties, conformational calculations, quantum chemical analyses of electronic structure, spectra and chemical reactivity. Modern concepts of spatial organization and chemical reactivity of lignins are discussed.

  19. Recent Theoretical Approaches to Minimal Artificial Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabio Mavelli

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Minimal artificial cells (MACs are self-assembled chemical systems able to mimic the behavior of living cells at a minimal level, i.e. to exhibit self-maintenance, self-reproduction and the capability of evolution. The bottom-up approach to the construction of MACs is mainly based on the encapsulation of chemical reacting systems inside lipid vesicles, i.e. chemical systems enclosed (compartmentalized by a double-layered lipid membrane. Several researchers are currently interested in synthesizing such simple cellular models for biotechnological purposes or for investigating origin of life scenarios. Within this context, the properties of lipid vesicles (e.g., their stability, permeability, growth dynamics, potential to host reactions or undergo division processes… play a central role, in combination with the dynamics of the encapsulated chemical or biochemical networks. Thus, from a theoretical standpoint, it is very important to develop kinetic equations in order to explore first—and specify later—the conditions that allow the robust implementation of these complex chemically reacting systems, as well as their controlled reproduction. Due to being compartmentalized in small volumes, the population of reacting molecules can be very low in terms of the number of molecules and therefore their behavior becomes highly affected by stochastic effects both in the time course of reactions and in occupancy distribution among the vesicle population. In this short review we report our mathematical approaches to model artificial cell systems in this complex scenario by giving a summary of three recent simulations studies on the topic of primitive cell (protocell systems.

  20. Field theoretical approach to proton-nucleus reactions: II-Multiple-step excitation process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eiras, A.; Kodama, T.; Nemes, M.

    1989-01-01

    A field theoretical formulation to multiple step excitation process in proton-nucleus collision within the context of a relativistic eikonal approach is presented. A closed form expression for the double differential cross section can be obtained whose structure is very simple and makes the physics transparent. Glauber's formulation of the same process is obtained as a limit of ours and the necessary approximations are studied and discussed. (author) [pt

  1. Theoretical, Methodological, and Empirical Approaches to Cost Savings: A Compendium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M Weimar

    1998-12-10

    This publication summarizes and contains the original documentation for understanding why the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) privatization approach provides cost savings and the different approaches that could be used in calculating cost savings for the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Phase I contract. The initial section summarizes the approaches in the different papers. The appendices are the individual source papers which have been reviewed by individuals outside of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the TWRS Program. Appendix A provides a theoretical basis for and estimate of the level of savings that can be" obtained from a fixed-priced contract with performance risk maintained by the contractor. Appendix B provides the methodology for determining cost savings when comparing a fixed-priced contractor with a Management and Operations (M&O) contractor (cost-plus contractor). Appendix C summarizes the economic model used to calculate cost savings and provides hypothetical output from preliminary calculations. Appendix D provides the summary of the approach for the DOE-Richland Operations Office (RL) estimate of the M&O contractor to perform the same work as BNFL Inc. Appendix E contains information on cost growth and per metric ton of glass costs for high-level waste at two other DOE sites, West Valley and Savannah River. Appendix F addresses a risk allocation analysis of the BNFL proposal that indicates,that the current approach is still better than the alternative.

  2. Comparison of subset-based local and FE-based global digital image correlation: Theoretical error analysis and validation

    KAUST Repository

    Pan, B.

    2016-03-22

    Subset-based local and finite-element-based (FE-based) global digital image correlation (DIC) approaches are the two primary image matching algorithms widely used for full-field displacement mapping. Very recently, the performances of these different DIC approaches have been experimentally investigated using numerical and real-world experimental tests. The results have shown that in typical cases, where the subset (element) size is no less than a few pixels and the local deformation within a subset (element) can be well approximated by the adopted shape functions, the subset-based local DIC outperforms FE-based global DIC approaches because the former provides slightly smaller root-mean-square errors and offers much higher computation efficiency. Here we investigate the theoretical origin and lay a solid theoretical basis for the previous comparison. We assume that systematic errors due to imperfect intensity interpolation and undermatched shape functions are negligibly small, and perform a theoretical analysis of the random errors or standard deviation (SD) errors in the displacements measured by two local DIC approaches (i.e., a subset-based local DIC and an element-based local DIC) and two FE-based global DIC approaches (i.e., Q4-DIC and Q8-DIC). The equations that govern the random errors in the displacements measured by these local and global DIC approaches are theoretically derived. The correctness of the theoretically predicted SD errors is validated through numerical translation tests under various noise levels. We demonstrate that the SD errors induced by the Q4-element-based local DIC, the global Q4-DIC and the global Q8-DIC are 4, 1.8-2.2 and 1.2-1.6 times greater, respectively, than that associated with the subset-based local DIC, which is consistent with our conclusions from previous work. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. The decays Psub(c) -> VP in the group theoretical and quark diagrammatic approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuan, S.F.; Xiaoyuan Li.

    1983-08-01

    Decays of charmed meson into one vector meson and one pseudoscalar meson Psub(c) -> VP in both the group theoretical and quark diagrammatic approaches are considered. A complete decay amplitude analysis is given. The present available experimental data can be accomodated if the contributions from exotic final states and exotic piece of weak Hamiltonian are also taken into account. (orig.)

  4. Theoretical approach to the destruction or sterilization of drugs in aqueous solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slegers, Catherine; Tilquin, Bernard

    2005-01-01

    Two novel applications in the radiation processing of aqueous solutions of drugs are the sterilization of injectable drugs and the decontamination of hospital wastewaters by ionizing radiation. The parameters influencing the destruction of the drug in aqueous solutions are studied with a computer simulation program. This theoretical approach has revealed that the dose rate is the most important parameter that can be easily varied in order to optimize the destruction or the protection of the drug

  5. Towards a capability approach to child growth: A theoretical framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haisma, Hinke; Yousefzadeh, Sepideh; Boele Van Hensbroek, Pieter

    2018-04-01

    Child malnutrition is an important cause of under-5 mortality and morbidity around the globe. Despite the partial success of (inter)national efforts to reduce child mortality, under-5 mortality rates continue to be high. The multidimensional approaches of the Sustainable Development Goals may suggest new directions for rethinking strategies for reducing child mortality and malnutrition. We propose a theoretical framework for developing a "capability" approach to child growth. The current child growth monitoring practices are based on 2 assumptions: (a) that anthropometric and motor development measures are the appropriate indicators; and (b) that child growth can be assessed using a single universal standard that is applicable around the world. These practices may be further advanced by applying a capability approach to child growth, whereby growth is redefined as the achievement of certain capabilities (of society, parents, and children). This framework is similar to the multidimensional approach to societal development presented in the seminal work of Amartya Sen. To identify the dimensions of healthy child growth, we draw upon theories from the social sciences and evolutionary biology. Conceptually, we consider growth as a plural space and propose assessing growth by means of a child growth matrix in which the context is embedded in the assessment. This approach will better address the diversities and the inequalities in child growth. Such a multidimensional measure will have implications for interventions and policy, including prevention and counselling, and could have an impact on child malnutrition and mortality. © 2017 The Authors. Maternal and Child Nutrition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Information-Theoretic Approaches for Evaluating Complex Adaptive Social Simulation Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Omitaomu, Olufemi A [ORNL; Ganguly, Auroop R [ORNL; Jiao, Yu [ORNL

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we propose information-theoretic approaches for comparing and evaluating complex agent-based models. In information theoretic terms, entropy and mutual information are two measures of system complexity. We used entropy as a measure of the regularity of the number of agents in a social class; and mutual information as a measure of information shared by two social classes. Using our approaches, we compared two analogous agent-based (AB) models developed for regional-scale social-simulation system. The first AB model, called ABM-1, is a complex AB built with 10,000 agents on a desktop environment and used aggregate data; the second AB model, ABM-2, was built with 31 million agents on a highperformance computing framework located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and fine-resolution data from the LandScan Global Population Database. The initializations were slightly different, with ABM-1 using samples from a probability distribution and ABM-2 using polling data from Gallop for a deterministic initialization. The geographical and temporal domain was present-day Afghanistan, and the end result was the number of agents with one of three behavioral modes (proinsurgent, neutral, and pro-government) corresponding to the population mindshare. The theories embedded in each model were identical, and the test simulations focused on a test of three leadership theories - legitimacy, coercion, and representative, and two social mobilization theories - social influence and repression. The theories are tied together using the Cobb-Douglas utility function. Based on our results, the hypothesis that performance measures can be developed to compare and contrast AB models appears to be supported. Furthermore, we observed significant bias in the two models. Even so, further tests and investigations are required not only with a wider class of theories and AB models, but also with additional observed or simulated data and more comprehensive performance measures.

  7. NON-TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY IN RUSSIA: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana RUDNEVA

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite the theoretical possibility to use non-territorial autonomy as a mechanism through which ethnic groups can fulfil their right to selfdetermination along with other minority rights, not many states have been willing to put theory into practice. The article offers an explanation why wider applicability of NTA is problematic by arguing that the theory itself is not yet polished enough to be implemented. The study includes examination of both theoretical approaches and empirical data from a case study of an attempt to establish NTAs in the Russian Federation. The findings suggest that inconsistencies and unclarities in the theory do correlate with practical flaws of NTAs, which allows to suggest that when the theory is tested empirically, the reality reveals all the flaws of the theory. The results indicate that the concept of NTA needs further refinement and development to make it more practice-oriented and applicable. As the problem of minority rights is still to be dealt with, we also propose a model of global union of NTAs where each ethnic group is represented by a non-governmental organisation, which seems to be more applicable than the others, alongside a number of other mechanisms that are even more essential and universal and focus on defending basic human rights

  8. Investigations on Actuator Dynamics through Theoretical and Finite Element Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somashekhar S. Hiremath

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper gives a new approach for modeling the fluid-structure interaction of servovalve component-actuator. The analyzed valve is a precision flow control valve-jet pipe electrohydraulic servovalve. The positioning of an actuator depends upon the flow rate from control ports, in turn depends on the spool position. Theoretical investigation is made for No-load condition and Load condition for an actuator. These are used in finite element modeling of an actuator. The fluid-structure-interaction (FSI is established between the piston and the fluid cavities at the piston end. The fluid cavities were modeled with special purpose hydrostatic fluid elements while the piston is modeled with brick elements. The finite element method is used to simulate the variation of cavity pressure, cavity volume, mass flow rate, and the actuator velocity. The finite element analysis is extended to study the system's linearized response to harmonic excitation using direct solution steady-state dynamics. It was observed from the analysis that the natural frequency of the actuator depends upon the position of the piston in the cylinder. This is a close match with theoretical and simulation results. The effect of bulk modulus is also presented in the paper.

  9. Theoretical approach in optimization of stability of the multicomponent solid waste form

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raicevic, S.; Plecas, I.; Mandic, M.

    1998-01-01

    Chemical precipitation of radionuclides and their immobilization into the solid matrix represents an important approach in the radioactive wastewater treatment. Unfortunately, because of the complexity of the system, optimization of this process in terms of its efficacy and safety represents a serious practical problem, even in treatment of the monocomponent nuclear waste. This situation is additionally complicated in the case of the polycomponent nuclear waste because of the synergic effects of interactions between the radioactive components and the solid matrix. Recently, we have proposed a general theoretical approach for optimization of the process of precipitation and immobilization of metal impurities by the solid matrix. One of the main advantages of this approach represents the possibility of treatment of the multicomponent liquid waste, immobilized by the solid matrix. This approach was used here for investigation of the stability of the system hydroxyapatite (HAP) - Pb/Cd, which was selected as a model multicomponent waste system. In this analysis, we have used a structurally dependent term of the cohesive energy as a stability criterion. (author)

  10. Theoretical NMR and conformational analysis of solvated oximes for organophosphates-inhibited acetylcholinesterase reactivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Jorge Alberto Valle; Modesto-Costa, Lucas; de Koning, Martijn C.; Borges, Itamar; França, Tanos Celmar Costa

    2018-01-01

    In this work, quaternary and non-quaternary oximes designed to bind at the peripheral site of acetylcholinesterase previously inhibited by organophosphates were investigated theoretically. Some of those oximes have a large number of degrees of freedom, thus requiring an accurate method to obtain molecular geometries. For this reason, the density functional theory (DFT) was employed to refine their molecular geometries after conformational analysis and to compare their 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) theoretical signals in gas-phase and in solvent. A good agreement with experimental data was achieved and the same theoretical approach was employed to obtain the geometries in water environment for further studies.

  11. An integrated theoretical and practical approach for teaching hydrogeology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonomi, Tullia; Fumagalli, Letizia; Cavallin, Angelo

    2013-04-01

    Hydrogeology as an earth science intersects the broader disciplines of geology, engineering, and environmental studies but it does not overlap fully with any of them. It is focused on its own range of problems and over time has developed a rich variety of methods and approaches. The resolution of many hydrogeological problems requires knowledge of elements of geology, hydraulics, physics and chemistry; moreover in recent years the knowledge of modelling techniques has become a necessary ability. Successful transfer of all this knowledge to the students depends on the breadth of material taught in courses, the natural skills of the students and any practical experience the students can obtain. In the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Milano-Bicocca, the teaching of hydrogeology is developed in three inter-related courses: 1) general hydrogeology, 2) applied hydrogeology, 3) groundwater pollution and remediation. The sequence focuses on both groundwater flux and contaminant transport, supplemented by workshops involving case studies and computer labs, which provide the students with practical translation of the theoretical aspects of the science into the world of work. A second key aspect of the program utilizes the students' skill at learning through online approaches, and this is done through three approaches: A) by developing the courses on a University e-learning platform that allows the students to download lectures, articles, and teacher comments, and to participate in online forums; B) by carring out exercises through computer labs where the student analyze and process hydrogeological data by means of different numerical codes, that in turn enable them to manage databases and to perform aquifer test analysis, geostatistical analysis, and flux and transport modelling both in the unsaturated and saturated zone. These exercises are of course preceded by theoretical lectures on codes and software, highlighting their features and

  12. A short course in quantum information theory an approach from theoretical physics

    CERN Document Server

    Diosi, Lajos

    2011-01-01

    This short and concise primer takes the vantage point of theoretical physics and the unity of physics. It sets out to strip the burgeoning field of quantum information science to its basics by linking it to universal concepts in physics. An extensive lecture rather than a comprehensive textbook, this volume is based on courses delivered over several years to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, but essentially it addresses anyone with a working knowledge of basic quantum physics. Readers will find these lectures a most adequate entry point for theoretical studies in this field. For the second edition, the authors has succeeded in adding many new topics while sticking to the conciseness of the overall approach. A new chapter on qubit thermodynamics has been added, while new sections and subsections have been incorporated in various chapter to deal with weak and time-continuous measurements, period-finding quantum algorithms and quantum error corrections. From the reviews of the first edition...

  13. Studies of the tautomeric equilibrium of 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione: Theoretical and experimental approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abbehausen, Camilla; Paiva, Raphael E.F. de [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Formiga, Andre L.B., E-mail: formiga@iqm.unicamp.br [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Corbi, Pedro P. [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil)

    2012-10-26

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Tautomeric equilibrium in solution. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Spectroscopic and theoretical studies. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer UV-Vis theoretical and experimental spectra. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer {sup 1}H NMR theoretical and experimental spectra. -- Abstract: The tautomeric equilibrium of the thione/thiol forms of 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopies. Density functional theory was used to support the experimental data and indicates the predominance of the thione tautomer in the solid state, being in agreement with previously reported crystallographic data. In solution, the tautomeric equilibrium was evaluated using {sup 1}H NMR at different temperatures in four deuterated solvents acetonitrile, dimethylsulfoxide, chloroform and methanol. The equilibrium constants, K = (thiol)/(thione), and free Gibbs energies were obtained by integration of N bonded hydrogen signals at each temperature for each solvent, excluding methanol. The endothermic tautomerization is entropy-driven and the combined effect of solvent and temperature can be used to achieve almost 50% thiol concentrations in solution. The nature of the electronic transitions was investigated theoretically and the assignment of the bands was made using time-dependent DFT as well as the influence of solvent on the energy of the most important bands of the spectra.

  14. A theoretical approach to medication adherence for children and youth with psychiatric disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charach, Alice; Volpe, Tiziana; Boydell, Katherine M; Gearing, Robin E

    2008-01-01

    This article provides a theoretical review of treatment adherence for children and youth with psychiatric disorders where pharmacological agents are first-line interventions. Four empirically based models of health behavior are reviewed and applied to the sparse literature about medication adherence for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and young people with first-episode psychosis. Three qualitative studies of medication use are summarized, and details from the first-person narratives are used to illustrate the theoretical models. These studies indicate, when taken together, that the clinical approach to addressing poor medication adherence in children and youth with psychiatric disorders should be guided by more than one theoretical model. Mental health experts should clarify beliefs, address misconceptions, and support exploration of alternative treatment options unless contraindicated. Recognizing the larger context of the family, allowing time for parents and children to change their attitudes, and offering opportunities for easy access to medication in the future are important ways of respecting patient preferences, while steering them toward best-evidence interventions. Future research using qualitative methods of inquiry to investigate parent, child, and youth experiences of mental health interventions should identify effective ways to improve treatment adherence.

  15. A review of the nurtured heart approach to parenting: evaluation of its theoretical and empirical foundations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hektner, Joel M; Brennan, Alison L; Brotherson, Sean E

    2013-09-01

    The Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting (NHA; Glasser & Easley, 2008) is summarized and evaluated in terms of its alignment with current theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence in family studies and developmental science. Originally conceived and promoted as a behavior management approach for parents of difficult children (i.e., with behavior disorders), NHA is increasingly offered as a valuable strategy for parents of any children, despite a lack of published empirical support. Parents using NHA are trained to minimize attention to undesired behaviors, provide positive attention and praise for compliance with rules, help children be successful by scaffolding and shaping desired behavior, and establish a set of clear rules and consequences. Many elements of the approach have strong support in the theoretical and empirical literature; however, some of the assumptions are more questionable, such as that negative child behavior can always be attributed to unintentional positive reinforcement by parents responding with negative attention. On balance, NHA appears to promote effective and validated parenting practices, but its effectiveness now needs to be tested empirically. © FPI, Inc.

  16. Child Language Acquisition: Contrasting Theoretical Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambridge, Ben; Lieven, Elena V. M.

    2011-01-01

    Is children's language acquisition based on innate linguistic structures or built from cognitive and communicative skills? This book summarises the major theoretical debates in all of the core domains of child language acquisition research (phonology, word-learning, inflectional morphology, syntax and binding) and includes a complete introduction…

  17. Optimization of rootkit revealing system resources – A game theoretic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Muthumanickam

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Malicious rootkit is a collection of programs designed with the intent of infecting and monitoring the victim computer without the user’s permission. After the victim has been compromised, the remote attacker can easily cause further damage. In order to infect, compromise and monitor, rootkits adopt Native Application Programming Interface (API hooking technique. To reveal the hidden rootkits, current rootkit detection techniques check different data structures which hold reference to Native APIs. To verify these data structures, a large amount of system resources are required. This is because of the number of APIs in these data structures being quite large. Game theoretic approach is a useful mathematical tool to simulate network attacks. In this paper, a mathematical model is framed to optimize resource consumption using game-theory. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to be proposed for optimizing resource consumption while revealing rootkit presence using game theory. Non-cooperative game model is taken to discuss the problem. Analysis and simulation results show that our game theoretic model can effectively reduce the resource consumption by selectively monitoring the number of APIs in windows platform.

  18. A study of brain networks associated with swallowing using graph-theoretical approaches.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Luan

    Full Text Available Functional connectivity between brain regions during swallowing tasks is still not well understood. Understanding these complex interactions is of great interest from both a scientific and a clinical perspective. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI was utilized to study brain functional networks during voluntary saliva swallowing in twenty-two adult healthy subjects (all females, [Formula: see text] years of age. To construct these functional connections, we computed mean partial correlation matrices over ninety brain regions for each participant. Two regions were determined to be functionally connected if their correlation was above a certain threshold. These correlation matrices were then analyzed using graph-theoretical approaches. In particular, we considered several network measures for the whole brain and for swallowing-related brain regions. The results have shown that significant pairwise functional connections were, mostly, either local and intra-hemispheric or symmetrically inter-hemispheric. Furthermore, we showed that all human brain functional network, although varying in some degree, had typical small-world properties as compared to regular networks and random networks. These properties allow information transfer within the network at a relatively high efficiency. Swallowing-related brain regions also had higher values for some of the network measures in comparison to when these measures were calculated for the whole brain. The current results warrant further investigation of graph-theoretical approaches as a potential tool for understanding the neural basis of dysphagia.

  19. Conceptual aspects: analyses law, ethical, human, technical, social factors of development ICT, e-learning and intercultural development in different countries setting out the previous new theoretical model and preliminary findings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kommers, Petrus A.M.; Smyrnova-Trybulska, Eugenia; Morze, Natalia; Issa, Tomayess; Issa, Theodora

    2015-01-01

    This paper, prepared by an international team of authors focuses on the conceptual aspects: analyses law, ethical, human, technical, social factors of ICT development, e-learning and intercultural development in different countries, setting out the previous and new theoretical model and preliminary

  20. Machine learning a theoretical approach

    CERN Document Server

    Natarajan, Balas K

    2014-01-01

    This is the first comprehensive introduction to computational learning theory. The author's uniform presentation of fundamental results and their applications offers AI researchers a theoretical perspective on the problems they study. The book presents tools for the analysis of probabilistic models of learning, tools that crisply classify what is and is not efficiently learnable. After a general introduction to Valiant's PAC paradigm and the important notion of the Vapnik-Chervonenkis dimension, the author explores specific topics such as finite automata and neural networks. The presentation

  1. Reflective practice and vocational training: theoretical approaches in the field of Health and Nursing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana Netto

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective: Theoretical reflection that uses Reflexivity as a theoretical reference and its objective is to approach Donald Schön's reflective thinking, interrelating it with the innovative curriculum. Method: The writings of Schön and other authors who addressed the themes in their works were used. Results: The innovative curriculum as an expression of dissatisfaction with the fragmentation paradigm may favor reflective practice, since it is necessary to mobilize reflexivity for actions and contexts that are unpredictable in the field of health promotion. Conclusions: The innovative curriculum favors and is favored by a reflective practice and the development of competencies for the promotion of health. Implications for practice: The findings apply to the practice of nurses to deal with the conditioning and determinants of the health-disease process.

  2. Forming Limits in Sheet Metal Forming for Non-Proportional Loading Conditions - Experimental and Theoretical Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ofenheimer, Aldo; Buchmayr, Bruno; Kolleck, Ralf; Merklein, Marion

    2005-01-01

    The influence of strain paths (loading history) on material formability is well known in sheet forming processes. Sophisticated experimental methods are used to determine the entire shape of strain paths of forming limits for aluminum AA6016-T4 alloy. Forming limits for sheet metal in as-received condition as well as for different pre-deformation are presented. A theoretical approach based on Arrieux's intrinsic Forming Limit Stress Curve (FLSC) concept is employed to numerically predict the influence of loading history on forming severity. The detailed experimental strain paths are used in the theoretical study instead of any linear or bilinear simplified loading histories to demonstrate the predictive quality of forming limits in the state of stress

  3. Molecular approach of uranyl/mineral surfaces: theoretical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roques, J.

    2009-01-01

    As migration of radio-toxic elements through the geosphere is one of the processes which may affect the safety of a radioactive waste storage site, the author shows that numerical modelling is a support to experimental result exploitation, and allows the development of new interpretation and prediction codes. He shows that molecular modelling can be used to study processes of interaction between an actinide ion (notably a uranyl ion) and a mineral surface (a TiO 2 substrate). He also reports the predictive theoretical study of the interaction between an uranyl ion and a gibbsite substrate

  4. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PROTEST ACTIVITY IN THE WESTERN SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT

    OpenAIRE

    Купрєєва, Ю. О.

    2015-01-01

    In this article the author discusses the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of protest activity. Among them - the theory of collective behavior, the relative deprivation theory, the new social movements theory and the resource mobilization theory. Highlighted their strengths and weaknesses. Focused on the new direction of protest studies connected with the development of the Internet.

  5. A Game-Theoretic Approach to Branching Time Abstract-Check-Refine Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yi; Tamai, Tetsuo

    2009-01-01

    Since the complexity of software systems continues to grow, most engineers face two serious problems: the state space explosion problem and the problem of how to debug systems. In this paper, we propose a game-theoretic approach to full branching time model checking on three-valued semantics. The three-valued models and logics provide successful abstraction that overcomes the state space explosion problem. The game style model checking that generates counter-examples can guide refinement or identify validated formulas, which solves the system debugging problem. Furthermore, output of our game style method will give significant information to engineers in detecting where errors have occurred and what the causes of the errors are.

  6. An effectiveness analysis of healthcare systems using a systems theoretic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inder Kerry

    2009-10-01

    surveyors is developed that provides a systematic search for improving the impact of accreditation on quality of care and hence on the accreditation/performance correlation. Conclusion There is clear value in developing a theoretical systems approach to achieving quality in health care. The introduction of the systematic surveyor-based search for improvements creates an adaptive-control system to optimize health care quality. It is hoped that these outcomes will stimulate further research in the development of strategic planning using systems theoretic approach for the improvement of quality in health care.

  7. An effectiveness analysis of healthcare systems using a systems theoretic approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuang, Sheuwen; Inder, Kerry

    2009-10-24

    improving the impact of accreditation on quality of care and hence on the accreditation/performance correlation. There is clear value in developing a theoretical systems approach to achieving quality in health care. The introduction of the systematic surveyor-based search for improvements creates an adaptive-control system to optimize health care quality. It is hoped that these outcomes will stimulate further research in the development of strategic planning using systems theoretic approach for the improvement of quality in health care.

  8. Laparoscopic approach for inflammatory bowel disease surgical managment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maggiori, Léon; Panis, Yves

    2012-01-01

    For IBD surgical management, laparoscopic approach offers several theoretical advantages over the open approach. However, the frequent presence of adhesions from previous surgery and the high rate of inflammatory lesions have initially questioned its feasibility and safety. In the present review article, we will discuss the role of laparoscopic approach for IBD surgical management, along with its potential benefits as compared to the open approach.

  9. Theoretical nuclear physics

    CERN Document Server

    Blatt, John M

    1979-01-01

    A classic work by two leading physicists and scientific educators endures as an uncommonly clear and cogent investigation and correlation of key aspects of theoretical nuclear physics. It is probably the most widely adopted book on the subject. The authors approach the subject as ""the theoretical concepts, methods, and considerations which have been devised in order to interpret the experimental material and to advance our ability to predict and control nuclear phenomena.""The present volume does not pretend to cover all aspects of theoretical nuclear physics. Its coverage is restricted to

  10. Optimization of Investment Planning Based on Game-Theoretic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Vladimirovna Butsenko

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The game-theoretic approach has a vast potential in solving economic problems. On the other hand, the theory of games itself can be enriched by the studies of real problems of decision-making. Hence, this study is aimed at developing and testing the game-theoretic technique to optimize the management of investment planning. This technique enables to forecast the results and manage the processes of investment planning. The proposed method of optimizing the management of investment planning allows to choose the best development strategy of an enterprise. This technique uses the “game with nature” model, and the Wald criterion, the maximum criterion and the Hurwitz criterion as criteria. The article presents a new algorithm for constructing the proposed econometric method to optimize investment project management. This algorithm combines the methods of matrix games. Furthermore, I show the implementation of this technique in a block diagram. The algorithm includes the formation of initial data, the elements of the payment matrix, as well as the definition of maximin, maximal, compromise and optimal management strategies. The methodology is tested on the example of the passenger transportation enterprise of the Sverdlovsk Railway in Ekaterinburg. The application of the proposed methodology and the corresponding algorithm allowed to obtain an optimal price strategy for transporting passengers for one direction of traffic. This price strategy contributes to an increase in the company’s income with minimal risk from the launch of this direction. The obtained results and conclusions show the effectiveness of using the developed methodology for optimizing the management of investment processes in the enterprise. The results of the research can be used as a basis for the development of an appropriate tool and applied by any economic entity in its investment activities.

  11. Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability method with quadratic flux approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shafii, Mohammad Ali; Meidianti, Rahma; Wildian,; Fitriyani, Dian; Tongkukut, Seni H. J.; Arkundato, Artoto

    2014-01-01

    Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability (CP) method with quadratic flux approach has been carried out. In general, the solution of the neutron transport using the CP method is performed with the flat flux approach. In this research, the CP method is implemented in the cylindrical nuclear fuel cell with the spatial of mesh being conducted into non flat flux approach. It means that the neutron flux at any point in the nuclear fuel cell are considered different each other followed the distribution pattern of quadratic flux. The result is presented here in the form of quadratic flux that is better understanding of the real condition in the cell calculation and as a starting point to be applied in computational calculation

  12. Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability method with quadratic flux approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shafii, Mohammad Ali, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Meidianti, Rahma, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Wildian,, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Fitriyani, Dian, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id [Department of Physics, Andalas University Padang West Sumatera Indonesia (Indonesia); Tongkukut, Seni H. J. [Department of Physics, Sam Ratulangi University Manado North Sulawesi Indonesia (Indonesia); Arkundato, Artoto [Department of Physics, Jember University Jember East Java Indonesia (Indonesia)

    2014-09-30

    Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability (CP) method with quadratic flux approach has been carried out. In general, the solution of the neutron transport using the CP method is performed with the flat flux approach. In this research, the CP method is implemented in the cylindrical nuclear fuel cell with the spatial of mesh being conducted into non flat flux approach. It means that the neutron flux at any point in the nuclear fuel cell are considered different each other followed the distribution pattern of quadratic flux. The result is presented here in the form of quadratic flux that is better understanding of the real condition in the cell calculation and as a starting point to be applied in computational calculation.

  13. A game-theoretical approach for reciprocal security-related prevention investment decisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reniers, Genserik; Soudan, Karel

    2010-01-01

    Every company situated within a chemical cluster faces important security risks from neighbouring companies. Investing in reciprocal security preventive measures is therefore necessary to avoid major accidents. These investments do not, however, provide a direct return on investment for the investor-company and thus plants are hesitative to invest. Moreover, there is likelihood that even if a company has fully invested in reciprocal security prevention, its neighbour has not, and as a result the company can experience a major accident caused by an initial (minor or major) accident that occurred in an adjacent chemical enterprise. In this article we employ a game-theoretic approach to interpret and model behaviour of two neighbouring chemical plants while negotiating and deciding on reciprocal security prevention investments.

  14. Theoretical and empirical approaches to using films as a means to increase communication efficiency.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiselnikova, N.V.

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical framework of this analytic study is based on studies in the field of film perception. Films are considered as a communicative system that is encrypted in an ordered series of shots, and decoding proceeds during perception. The shots are the elements of a cinematic message that must be “read” by viewer. The objective of this work is to analyze the existing theoretical approaches to using films in psychotherapy and education. An original approach to film therapy that is based on teaching clients to use new communicative sets and psychotherapeutic patterns through watching films is presented. The article specifies the main emphasized points in theories of film therapy and education. It considers the specifics of film therapy in the process of increasing the effectiveness of communication. It discusses the advantages and limitations of the proposed method. The contemporary forms of film therapy and the formats of cinema clubs are criticized. The theoretical assumptions and empirical research that could be used as a basis for a method of developing effective communication by means of films are discussed. Our studies demonstrate that the usage of film therapy must include an educational stage for more effective and stable results. This means teaching viewers how to recognize certain psychotherapeutic and communicative patterns in the material of films, to practice the skill of finding as many examples as possible for each pattern and to transfer the acquired schemes of analyzing and recognizing patterns into one’s own life circumstances. The four stages of the film therapeutic process as well as the effects that are achieved at each stage are described in detail. In conclusion, the conditions under which the usage of the film therapy method would be the most effective are observed. Various properties of client groups and psychotherapeutic scenarios for using the method of active film therapy are described.

  15. Beyond the Cognitive and the Virtue Approaches to Moral Education: Some Theoretical Foundations for an Integrated Account of Moral Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roh, Young-Ran

    2000-01-01

    Explores theoretical foundation for integrated approach to moral education; discusses rational choice and moral action within human reflective structure; investigates moral values required for integrative approach to moral education; discusses content of moral motivation, including role of emotion and reason. (Contains 15 references.) (PKP)

  16. A game theoretic approach to assignment problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klijn, F.

    2000-01-01

    Game theory deals with the mathematical modeling and analysis of conflict and cooperation in the interaction of multiple decision makers. This thesis adopts two game theoretic methods to analyze a range of assignment problems that arise in various economic situations. The first method has as

  17. Determination of pKa and the corresponding structures of quinclorac using combined experimental and theoretical approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Dean; Sun, Huiqing; Jiang, Xiaohua; Kong, Fanyu; Qiang, Zhimin; Zhang, Aiqian; Liu, Huijuan; Qu, Jiuhui

    2018-01-01

    As an emerging environmental contaminant, the herbicide quinclorac has attracted much attention in recent years. However, a very fundamental issue, the acid dissociation of quinclorac has not yet to be studied in detail. Herein, the pKa value and the corresponding structures of quinclorac were systematically investigated using combined experimental and theoretical approaches. The experimental pKa of quinclorac was determined by the spectrophotometric method to be 2.65 at 25 °C with ionic strength of 0.05 M, and was corrected to be 2.56 at ionic strength of zero. The molecular structures of quinclorac were then located by employing the DFT calculation. The anionic quinclorac was directly located with the carboxylic group perpendicular to the aromatic ring, while neutral quinclorac was found to be the equivalent twin structures. The result was further confirmed by analyzing the UV/Vis and MS-MS2 spectra from both experimental and theoretical viewpoints. By employing the QSPR approach, the theoretical pKa of QCR was determined to be 2.50, which is excellent agreement with the experimental result obtained herein. The protonation of QCR at the carboxylic group instead of the quinoline structure was attributed to the weak electronegative property of nitrogen atom induced by the electron-withdrawing groups. It is anticipated that this work could not only help in gaining a deep insight into the acid dissociation of quinclorac but also offering the key information on its reaction and interaction with others.

  18. A novel game theoretic approach for modeling competitive information diffusion in social networks with heterogeneous nodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agha Mohammad Ali Kermani, Mehrdad; Fatemi Ardestani, Seyed Farshad; Aliahmadi, Alireza; Barzinpour, Farnaz

    2017-01-01

    Influence maximization deals with identification of the most influential nodes in a social network given an influence model. In this paper, a game theoretic framework is developed that models a competitive influence maximization problem. A novel competitive influence model is additionally proposed that incorporates user heterogeneity, message content, and network structure. The proposed game-theoretic model is solved using Nash Equilibrium in a real-world dataset. It is shown that none of the well-known strategies are stable and at least one player has the incentive to deviate from the proposed strategy. Moreover, violation of Nash equilibrium strategy by each player leads to their reduced payoff. Contrary to previous works, our results demonstrate that graph topology, as well as the nodes' sociability and initial tendency measures have an effect on the determination of the influential node in the network.

  19. A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE TRANSITION FROM A RESOURCE BASED TO A KNOWLEDGE-ECONOMY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana GIOACASI

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Economic development and the emergence of new technologies have changed the optics on the factors that are generating added value. The transition from a resource-dependent economy to one focused on tangible non-financial factors has progressed in a gradual manner and took place under the influence of globalization and of the internet boom. The aim of this article is to provide a theoretical approach to this phenomenon from the perspective of the temporal evolution of enterprise resources.

  20. A Balanced Theoretical and Empirical Approach for the Development of a Design Support Tool

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Thomas Aakjær; Hansen, Claus Thorp

    1996-01-01

    The introduction of a new design support system may change the engineering designer's work situation. Therefore, it may not be possible to derive all the functionalities for a design support system from solely empirical studies of manual design work. Alternatively the design support system could ...... system, indicating a proposal for how to balance a theoretical and empirical approach. The result of this research will be utilized in the development of a Designer's Workbench to support the synthesis activity in mechanical design....

  1. An Information-Theoretic Approach for Indirect Train Traffic Monitoring Using Building Vibration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susu Xu

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces an indirect train traffic monitoring method to detect and infer real-time train events based on the vibration response of a nearby building. Monitoring and characterizing traffic events are important for cities to improve the efficiency of transportation systems (e.g., train passing, heavy trucks, and traffic. Most prior work falls into two categories: (1 methods that require intensive labor to manually record events or (2 systems that require deployment of dedicated sensors. These approaches are difficult and costly to execute and maintain. In addition, most prior work uses dedicated sensors designed for a single purpose, resulting in deployment of multiple sensor systems. This further increases costs. Meanwhile, with the increasing demands of structural health monitoring, many vibration sensors are being deployed in commercial buildings. Traffic events create ground vibration that propagates to nearby building structures inducing noisy vibration responses. We present an information-theoretic method for train event monitoring using commonly existing vibration sensors deployed for building health monitoring. The key idea is to represent the wave propagation in a building induced by train traffic as information conveyed in noisy measurement signals. Our technique first uses wavelet analysis to detect train events. Then, by analyzing information exchange patterns of building vibration signals, we infer the category of the events (i.e., southbound or northbound train. Our algorithm is evaluated with an 11-story building where trains pass by frequently. The results show that the method can robustly achieve a train event detection accuracy of up to a 93% true positive rate and an 80% true negative rate. For direction categorization, compared with the traditional signal processing method, our information-theoretic approach reduces categorization error from 32.1 to 12.1%, which is a 2.5× improvement.

  2. Set-theoretic methods in control

    CERN Document Server

    Blanchini, Franco

    2015-01-01

    The second edition of this monograph describes the set-theoretic approach for the control and analysis of dynamic systems, both from a theoretical and practical standpoint.  This approach is linked to fundamental control problems, such as Lyapunov stability analysis and stabilization, optimal control, control under constraints, persistent disturbance rejection, and uncertain systems analysis and synthesis.  Completely self-contained, this book provides a solid foundation of mathematical techniques and applications, extensive references to the relevant literature, and numerous avenues for further theoretical study. All the material from the first edition has been updated to reflect the most recent developments in the field, and a new chapter on switching systems has been added.  Each chapter contains examples, case studies, and exercises to allow for a better understanding of theoretical concepts by practical application. The mathematical language is kept to the minimum level necessary for the adequate for...

  3. Nonlocal approach to the analysis of the stress distribution in granular systems. I. Theoretical framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenkre, V. M.; Scott, J. E.; Pease, E. A.; Hurd, A. J.

    1998-05-01

    A theoretical framework for the analysis of the stress distribution in granular materials is presented. It makes use of a transformation of the vertical spatial coordinate into a formal time variable and the subsequent study of a generally non-Markoffian, i.e., memory-possessing (nonlocal) propagation equation. Previous treatments are obtained as particular cases corresponding to, respectively, wavelike and diffusive limits of the general evolution. Calculations are presented for stress propagation in bounded and unbounded media. They can be used to obtain desired features such as a prescribed stress distribution within the compact.

  4. Strategic exploration of battery waste management: A game-theoretic approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaushal, Rajendra Kumar; Nema, Arvind K; Chaudhary, Jyoti

    2015-07-01

    Electronic waste or e-waste is the fastest growing stream of solid waste today. It contains both toxic substances as well as valuable resources. The present study uses a non-cooperative game-theoretic approach for efficient management of e-waste, particularly batteries that contribute a major portion of any e-waste stream and further analyses the economic consequences of recycling of these obsolete, discarded batteries. Results suggest that the recycler would prefer to collect the obsolete batteries directly from the consumer rather than from the manufacturer, only if, the incentive return to the consumer is less than 33.92% of the price of the battery, the recycling fee is less than 6.46% of the price of the battery, and the price of the recycled material is more than 31.08% of the price of the battery. The manufacturer's preferred choice of charging a green tax from the consumer can be fruitful for the battery recycling chain. © The Author(s) 2015.

  5. WOMEN, FOOTBALL AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION. AIMS AND QUESTIONS, METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gertrud Pfister

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to introduce a new research topic and provide information about a European research project focusing on football as a means of European integration. Using the results of available studies of the author and other scholars, it is to be discussed whether and how women can participate in football cultures and contribute to a European identity. Based on theoretical approaches to national identity, gender and socialization, as well as and on the analysis of various intersections between gender, football and fandom, it can be concluded that women are still outsiders in the world of football and that it is doubtful whether female players and fans will contribute decisively to Europeanization processes.

  6. Alternative sources of power generation, incentives and regulatory mandates: a theoretical approach to the Colombian case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zapata, Carlos M; Zuluaga Monica M; Dyner, Isaac

    2005-01-01

    Alternative Energy Generation Sources are turning relevant in several countries worldwide because of technology improvement and the environmental treatment. In this paper, the most common problems of renewable energy sources are accomplished, different incentives and regulatory mandates from several countries are exposed, and a first theoretical approach to a renewable energies incentive system in Colombia is discussed. The paper is fundamentally in theoretical aspects and international experience in renewable energies incentives to accelerate their diffusion; features are analyzed towards a special incentive system for renewable energies in Colombia. As a conclusion, in Colombia will be apply indirect incentives like low interest rate, taxes exemptions and so on. But these incentives are applied to limit the support of electricity productivity in generating organizations.

  7. Intelligent cognitive radio jamming - a game-theoretical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dabcevic, Kresimir; Betancourt, Alejandro; Marcenaro, Lucio; Regazzoni, Carlo S.

    2014-12-01

    Cognitive radio (CR) promises to be a solution for the spectrum underutilization problems. However, security issues pertaining to cognitive radio technology are still an understudied topic. One of the prevailing such issues are intelligent radio frequency (RF) jamming attacks, where adversaries are able to exploit on-the-fly reconfigurability potentials and learning mechanisms of cognitive radios in order to devise and deploy advanced jamming tactics. In this paper, we use a game-theoretical approach to analyze jamming/anti-jamming behavior between cognitive radio systems. A non-zero-sum game with incomplete information on an opponent's strategy and payoff is modelled as an extension of Markov decision process (MDP). Learning algorithms based on adaptive payoff play and fictitious play are considered. A combination of frequency hopping and power alteration is deployed as an anti-jamming scheme. A real-life software-defined radio (SDR) platform is used in order to perform measurements useful for quantifying the jamming impacts, as well as to infer relevant hardware-related properties. Results of these measurements are then used as parameters for the modelled jamming/anti-jamming game and are compared to the Nash equilibrium of the game. Simulation results indicate, among other, the benefit provided to the jammer when it is employed with the spectrum sensing algorithm in proactive frequency hopping and power alteration schemes.

  8. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIAL CONNECTIONS AMONG YOUTH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofia Alexandrovna Zverkova

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The urgency is due to the virtualization of communication in modern society, especially among young people, affecting social relations and social support services. Stressed the need for a more in-depth study of network virtualization of social relations of society, due to the ambiguous consequences of this phenomenon among the youth.Purpose. Analyze classic and contemporary theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of social ties and social support in terms of technological progress.Results. The article presents a sociological analysis of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of problems of interaction and social support among youth through strong and weak social ties in cyberspace and in the real world.Practical implications. The analysis gives the opportunity for a wide range of examining social relations in various fields of sociology, such as sociology of youth, sociology of communications.

  9. Developing TheoreticalMethodological Approaches to Assessment of Export Potential of Ukrainian Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matyushenko Igor Yu.

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying the existing theoretical-methodological approaches to the analysis and assessment of export potential. The opinions by scientists regarding the disclosure of the categorial content of the concept of «export potential» have been considered, an own definition of the indicated economic category has been suggested. The main types of analytical procedures for assessment have been classified, some authorial methodical approaches to determine the level of export potential have been analyzed. The export potential of a hypothetical enterprise has been calculated by the selected methodologies of assessment. The urgency of improving and refining existing methods to implement more detailed and quantitative analysis has been substantiated. It has been suggested to implement a prognosis assessment of export potential of enterprises by combining the results of several methodologies in the aggregate indicator of export potential efficiency. A prognosis model for the dynamics of export potential of a hypothetical enterprise has been built, value of the aggregate indicator has been calculated on the basis of three selected valuation methodologies.

  10. A novel approach for absolute radar calibration: formulation and theoretical validation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Merker

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical framework of a novel approach for absolute radar calibration is presented and its potential analysed by means of synthetic data to lay out a solid basis for future practical application. The method presents the advantage of an absolute calibration with respect to the directly measured reflectivity, without needing a previously calibrated reference device. It requires a setup comprising three radars: two devices oriented towards each other, measuring reflectivity along the same horizontal beam and operating within a strongly attenuated frequency range (e.g. K or X band, and one vertical reflectivity and drop size distribution (DSD profiler below this connecting line, which is to be calibrated. The absolute determination of the calibration factor is based on attenuation estimates. Using synthetic, smooth and geometrically idealised data, calibration is found to perform best using homogeneous precipitation events with rain rates high enough to ensure a distinct attenuation signal (reflectivity above ca. 30 dBZ. Furthermore, the choice of the interval width (in measuring range gates around the vertically pointing radar, needed for attenuation estimation, is found to have an impact on the calibration results. Further analysis is done by means of synthetic data with realistic, inhomogeneous precipitation fields taken from measurements. A calibration factor is calculated for each considered case using the presented method. Based on the distribution of the calculated calibration factors, the most probable value is determined by estimating the mode of a fitted shifted logarithmic normal distribution function. After filtering the data set with respect to rain rate and inhomogeneity and choosing an appropriate length of the considered attenuation path, the estimated uncertainty of the calibration factor is of the order of 1 to 11 %, depending on the chosen interval width. Considering stability and accuracy of the method, an interval of

  11. A Theoretical Approach to Understanding Population Dynamics with Seasonal Developmental Durations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lou, Yijun; Zhao, Xiao-Qiang

    2017-04-01

    There is a growing body of biological investigations to understand impacts of seasonally changing environmental conditions on population dynamics in various research fields such as single population growth and disease transmission. On the other side, understanding the population dynamics subject to seasonally changing weather conditions plays a fundamental role in predicting the trends of population patterns and disease transmission risks under the scenarios of climate change. With the host-macroparasite interaction as a motivating example, we propose a synthesized approach for investigating the population dynamics subject to seasonal environmental variations from theoretical point of view, where the model development, basic reproduction ratio formulation and computation, and rigorous mathematical analysis are involved. The resultant model with periodic delay presents a novel term related to the rate of change of the developmental duration, bringing new challenges to dynamics analysis. By investigating a periodic semiflow on a suitably chosen phase space, the global dynamics of a threshold type is established: all solutions either go to zero when basic reproduction ratio is less than one, or stabilize at a positive periodic state when the reproduction ratio is greater than one. The synthesized approach developed here is applicable to broader contexts of investigating biological systems with seasonal developmental durations.

  12. Lateral Load Capacity of Piles: A Comparative Study Between Indian Standards and Theoretical Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayasree, P. K.; Arun, K. V.; Oormila, R.; Sreelakshmi, H.

    2018-05-01

    As per Indian Standards, laterally loaded piles are usually analysed using the method adopted by IS 2911-2010 (Part 1/Section 2). But the practising engineers are of the opinion that the IS method is very conservative in design. This work aims at determining the extent to which the conventional IS design approach is conservative. This is done through a comparative study between IS approach and the theoretical model based on Vesic's equation. Bore log details for six different bridges were collected from the Kerala Public Works Department. Cast in situ fixed head piles embedded in three soil conditions both end bearing as well as friction piles were considered and analyzed separately. Piles were also modelled in STAAD.Pro software based on IS approach and the results were validated using Matlock and Reese (In Proceedings of fifth international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, 1961) equation. The results were presented as the percentage variation in values of bending moment and deflection obtained by different methods. The results obtained from the mathematical model based on Vesic's equation and that obtained as per the IS approach were compared and the IS method was found to be uneconomical and conservative.

  13. Game-theoretic interference coordination approaches for dynamic spectrum access

    CERN Document Server

    Xu, Yuhua

    2016-01-01

    Written by experts in the field, this book is based on recent research findings in dynamic spectrum access for cognitive radio networks. It establishes a game-theoretic framework and presents cutting-edge technologies for distributed interference coordination. With game-theoretic formulation and the designed distributed learning algorithms, it provides insights into the interactions between multiple decision-makers and the converging stable states. Researchers, scientists and engineers in the field of cognitive radio networks will benefit from the book, which provides valuable information, useful methods and practical algorithms for use in emerging 5G wireless communication.

  14. Theoretical approaches to maternal-infant interaction: which approach best discriminates between mothers with and without postpartum depression?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Logsdon, M Cynthia; Mittelberg, Meghan; Morrison, David; Robertson, Ashley; Luther, James F; Wisniewski, Stephen R; Confer, Andrea; Eng, Heather; Sit, Dorothy K Y; Wisner, Katherine L

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine which of the four common approaches to coding maternal-infant interaction best discriminates between mothers with and without postpartum depression. After extensive training, four research assistants coded 83 three minute videotapes of maternal infant interaction at 12month postpartum visits. Four theoretical approaches to coding (Maternal Behavior Q-Sort, the Dyadic Mini Code, Ainsworth Maternal Sensitivity Scale, and the Child-Caregiver Mutual Regulation Scale) were used. Twelve month data were chosen to allow the maximum possible exposure of the infant to maternal depression during the first postpartum year. The videotapes were created in a laboratory with standard procedures. Inter-rater reliabilities for each coding method ranged from .7 to .9. The coders were blind to depression status of the mother. Twenty-seven of the women had major depressive disorder during the 12month postpartum period. Receiver operating characteristics analysis indicated that none of the four methods of analyzing maternal infant interaction discriminated between mothers with and without major depressive disorder. Limitations of the study include the cross-sectional design and the low number of women with major depressive disorder. Further analysis should include data from videotapes at earlier postpartum time periods, and alternative coding approaches should be considered. Nurses should continue to examine culturally appropriate ways in which new mothers can be supported in how to best nurture their babies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Numerical Methods Application for Reinforced Concrete Elements-Theoretical Approach for Direct Stiffness Matrix Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergiu Ciprian Catinas

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available A detailed theoretical and practical investigation of the reinforced concrete elements is due to recent techniques and method that are implemented in the construction market. More over a theoretical study is a demand for a better and faster approach nowadays due to rapid development of the calculus technique. The paper above will present a study for implementing in a static calculus the direct stiffness matrix method in order capable to address phenomena related to different stages of loading, rapid change of cross section area and physical properties. The method is a demand due to the fact that in our days the FEM (Finite Element Method is the only alternative to such a calculus and FEM are considered as expensive methods from the time and calculus resources point of view. The main goal in such a method is to create the moment-curvature diagram in the cross section that is analyzed. The paper above will express some of the most important techniques and new ideas as well in order to create the moment curvature graphic in the cross sections considered.

  16. Theoretical Computer Science

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2002-01-01

    The proceedings contains 8 papers from the Conference on Theoretical Computer Science. Topics discussed include: query by committee, linear separation and random walks; hardness results for neural network approximation problems; a geometric approach to leveraging weak learners; mind change...

  17. Renormalization group-theoretic approach to electron localization in disordered systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, N.; Heinrichs, J.

    1977-06-01

    The localization problem for the Anderson tight-binding model with site-diagonal (gaussian) disorder is studied, using a previously established analogy between this problem and the statistical mechanics of a zero-component classical field. The equivalent free-energy functional turns out to have complex coefficients in the bilinear terms but involves a real repulsive quartic interaction. The averaged one-electron propagator corresponds to the two-point correlation function for the equivalent statistical problem and the critical point gives the mobility edge, which is identified with the (real) fixed point energy of the associated renormalization group. Since for convergence reasons the conventional perturbative treatment of Wilson's formula is invalid, it is resorted to a non-perturbative approach which leads to a physical fixed point corresponding to a repulsive quartic interaction. The results for the mobility edge in three dimensions and for the critical disorder for an Anderson transition in two dimensions agree well with previous detailed predictions. The critical indices describing the approach of the transition at the mobility edge of various physical quantities, within the epsilon-expansion are also discussed. The more general problem where both diagonal and off-diagonal disorder is present in the Anderson hamiltonian is considered. In this case it is shown that the Hamilton function for the equivalent zero-component classical field model involves an additional biquadratic exchange term. From a simple generalization of Wilson's recursion relation and its non-perturbative solution explicit expressions for the mobility edges for weak diagonal and off-diagonal disorder in two and three dimensions are obtained. Our treatment casts doubts on the validity of recent conclusions about electron localization based on the renormalization group study of the nm-component spin model

  18. The power of theoretical knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alligood, Martha Raile

    2011-10-01

    Nursing theoretical knowledge has demonstrated powerful contributions to education, research, administration and professional practice for guiding nursing thought and action. That knowledge has shifted the primary focus of the nurse from nursing functions to the person. Theoretical views of the person raise new questions, create new approaches and instruments for nursing research, and expand nursing scholarship throughout the world.

  19. Theoretical approach for plasma series resonance effect in geometrically symmetric dual radio frequency plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bora, B.; Bhuyan, H.; Favre, M.; Wyndham, E.; Chuaqui, H.

    2012-01-01

    Plasma series resonance (PSR) effect is well known in geometrically asymmetric capacitively couple radio frequency plasma. However, plasma series resonance effect in geometrically symmetric plasma has not been properly investigated. In this work, a theoretical approach is made to investigate the plasma series resonance effect and its influence on Ohmic and stochastic heating in geometrically symmetric discharge. Electrical asymmetry effect by means of dual frequency voltage waveform is applied to excite the plasma series resonance. The results show considerable variation in heating with phase difference between the voltage waveforms, which may be applicable in controlling the plasma parameters in such plasma.

  20. A comparison of SAR ATR performance with information theoretic predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blacknell, David

    2003-09-01

    Performance assessment of automatic target detection and recognition algorithms for SAR systems (or indeed any other sensors) is essential if the military utility of the system / algorithm mix is to be quantified. This is a relatively straightforward task if extensive trials data from an existing system is used. However, a crucial requirement is to assess the potential performance of novel systems as a guide to procurement decisions. This task is no longer straightforward since a hypothetical system cannot provide experimental trials data. QinetiQ has previously developed a theoretical technique for classification algorithm performance assessment based on information theory. The purpose of the study presented here has been to validate this approach. To this end, experimental SAR imagery of targets has been collected using the QinetiQ Enhanced Surveillance Radar to allow algorithm performance assessments as a number of parameters are varied. In particular, performance comparisons can be made for (i) resolutions up to 0.1m, (ii) single channel versus polarimetric (iii) targets in the open versus targets in scrubland and (iv) use versus non-use of camouflage. The change in performance as these parameters are varied has been quantified from the experimental imagery whilst the information theoretic approach has been used to predict the expected variation of performance with parameter value. A comparison of these measured and predicted assessments has revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the theoretical technique as will be discussed in the paper.

  1. Game Theoretical Approach to Supply Chain Microfinance

    OpenAIRE

    Sim , Jaehun; Prabhu , Vittaldas ,

    2013-01-01

    Part 1: Sustainable Production; International audience; This paper considers a supply chain microfinance model in which a manufacturer acts as a lender and a raw material supplier as a borrower. Using a game theoretical analysis, the study investigates how investment levels, raw material prices, and profit margins are influenced by loan interest rates under two types of decentralized channel policies: manufacturer Stackelberg and vertical Nash game. In addition, the study shows how the profit...

  2. Model-free information-theoretic approach to infer leadership in pairs of zebrafish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butail, Sachit; Mwaffo, Violet; Porfiri, Maurizio

    2016-04-01

    Collective behavior affords several advantages to fish in avoiding predators, foraging, mating, and swimming. Although fish schools have been traditionally considered egalitarian superorganisms, a number of empirical observations suggest the emergence of leadership in gregarious groups. Detecting and classifying leader-follower relationships is central to elucidate the behavioral and physiological causes of leadership and understand its consequences. Here, we demonstrate an information-theoretic approach to infer leadership from positional data of fish swimming. In this framework, we measure social interactions between fish pairs through the mathematical construct of transfer entropy, which quantifies the predictive power of a time series to anticipate another, possibly coupled, time series. We focus on the zebrafish model organism, which is rapidly emerging as a species of choice in preclinical research for its genetic similarity to humans and reduced neurobiological complexity with respect to mammals. To overcome experimental confounds and generate test data sets on which we can thoroughly assess our approach, we adapt and calibrate a data-driven stochastic model of zebrafish motion for the simulation of a coupled dynamical system of zebrafish pairs. In this synthetic data set, the extent and direction of the coupling between the fish are systematically varied across a wide parameter range to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of transfer entropy in inferring leadership. Our approach is expected to aid in the analysis of collective behavior, providing a data-driven perspective to understand social interactions.

  3. A game theoretic approach to a finite-time disturbance attenuation problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhee, Ihnseok; Speyer, Jason L.

    1991-01-01

    A disturbance attenuation problem over a finite-time interval is considered by a game theoretic approach where the control, restricted to a function of the measurement history, plays against adversaries composed of the process and measurement disturbances, and the initial state. A zero-sum game, formulated as a quadratic cost criterion subject to linear time-varying dynamics and measurements, is solved by a calculus of variation technique. By first maximizing the quadratic cost criterion with respect to the process disturbance and initial state, a full information game between the control and the measurement residual subject to the estimator dynamics results. The resulting solution produces an n-dimensional compensator which expresses the controller as a linear combination of the measurement history. A disturbance attenuation problem is solved based on the results of the game problem. For time-invariant systems it is shown that under certain conditions the time-varying controller becomes time-invariant on the infinite-time interval. The resulting controller satisfies an H(infinity) norm bound.

  4. Region innovation and investment development: conceptual theoretical approach and business solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zozulya D.M.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article describes essential problems of the region business innovation and investment development under current conditions, issues of crisis restrictions negotiation and innovation-driven economy formation. The relevance of the research is defined by the need of effective tools creation for business innovation and investment development and support, which can be applied, first, to increase efficiency of the region industrial activity, then improve production competitiveness on the innovative basis, overcome existing problems and provide sustainable innovation development in the region. The results of conducted research are represented in the article including region innovation and investment development concept model made up by the authors on the basis of system theoretical approach. The tools of the region innovation development defined in the concept model are briefly reviewed in the article. The most important of them include engineering marketing (marketing of scientific and technical innovations, strategic planning, benchmarking, place marketing and business process modeling.

  5. Mechanisms of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reduction of Two Carcinogenic Nitro-Aromatics, 3-Nitrobenzanthrone and Aristolochic Acid I: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Stiborová

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This review summarizes the results found in studies investigating the enzymatic activation of two genotoxic nitro-aromatics, an environmental pollutant and carcinogen 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA and a natural plant nephrotoxin and carcinogen aristolochic acid I (AAI, to reactive species forming covalent DNA adducts. Experimental and theoretical approaches determined the reasons why human NAD(PH:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1 and cytochromes P450 (CYP 1A1 and 1A2 have the potential to reductively activate both nitro-aromatics. The results also contributed to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of these reactions. The contribution of conjugation enzymes such as N,O-acetyltransferases (NATs and sulfotransferases (SULTs to the activation of 3-NBA and AAI was also examined. The results indicated differences in the abilities of 3-NBA and AAI metabolites to be further activated by these conjugation enzymes. The formation of DNA adducts generated by both carcinogens during their reductive activation by the NOQ1 and CYP1A1/2 enzymes was investigated with pure enzymes, enzymes present in subcellular cytosolic and microsomal fractions, selective inhibitors, and animal models (including knock-out and humanized animals. For the theoretical approaches, flexible in silico docking methods as well as ab initio calculations were employed. The results summarized in this review demonstrate that a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches is a useful tool to study the enzyme-mediated reaction mechanisms of 3-NBA and AAI reduction.

  6. Mechanisms of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reduction of Two Carcinogenic Nitro-Aromatics, 3-Nitrobenzanthrone and Aristolochic Acid I: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stiborová, Marie; Frei, Eva; Schmeiser, Heinz H.; Arlt, Volker M.; Martínek, Václav

    2014-01-01

    This review summarizes the results found in studies investigating the enzymatic activation of two genotoxic nitro-aromatics, an environmental pollutant and carcinogen 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA) and a natural plant nephrotoxin and carcinogen aristolochic acid I (AAI), to reactive species forming covalent DNA adducts. Experimental and theoretical approaches determined the reasons why human NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) and cytochromes P450 (CYP) 1A1 and 1A2 have the potential to reductively activate both nitro-aromatics. The results also contributed to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of these reactions. The contribution of conjugation enzymes such as N,O-acetyltransferases (NATs) and sulfotransferases (SULTs) to the activation of 3-NBA and AAI was also examined. The results indicated differences in the abilities of 3-NBA and AAI metabolites to be further activated by these conjugation enzymes. The formation of DNA adducts generated by both carcinogens during their reductive activation by the NOQ1 and CYP1A1/2 enzymes was investigated with pure enzymes, enzymes present in subcellular cytosolic and microsomal fractions, selective inhibitors, and animal models (including knock-out and humanized animals). For the theoretical approaches, flexible in silico docking methods as well as ab initio calculations were employed. The results summarized in this review demonstrate that a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches is a useful tool to study the enzyme-mediated reaction mechanisms of 3-NBA and AAI reduction. PMID:24918288

  7. Resilience or Flexibility– A Theoretical Approach on Romanian Development Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roxana Voicu – Dorobanțu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes a theoretical contextualization of flexibility, sustainability, durability and resilience, in the context of the sustainable development goals. The main purpose is to identify the theoretical handles that may be used in the creation of a flexibility indicator. Thus, research questions related to the theoretical differentiation between durable and sustainable, flexible and resilient are answered. Further on, the paper describes the situation of the Romanian regions in terms of development indicators, based on Eurostat data, as a premise for further research on the possibility of their leapfrogging. This work was financially supported through the project “Routes of academic excellence in doctoral and post-doctoral research- REACH” co-financed through the European Social Fund, by Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, contract no POSDRU/59/1.5/S/137926.

  8. A Theoretical Analysis of the Mission Statement Based on the Axiological Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius-Costel EŞI

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work is focused on a theoretical analysis of formulating the mission statement of business organizations in relation to the idea of the organizational axiological core. On one hand, we consider the CSR-Corporate Social Responsibility which, in our view, must be brought into direct connection both with the moral entrepreneurship (which should support the philosophical perspective of the statement of business organizations mission and the purely economic entrepreneurship based on profit maximization (which should support the pragmatic perspective. On the other hand, an analysis of the moral concepts which should underpin business is becoming fundamental, in our view, as far as the idea of the social specific value of the social entrepreneurship is evidenced. Therefore, our approach highlights a number of epistemic explanations in relation to the actual practice dimension.

  9. Modified economic order quantity (EOQ model for items with imperfect quality: Game-theoretical approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milad Elyasi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In the recent decade, studying the economic order quantity (EOQ models with imperfect quality has appealed to many researchers. Only few papers are published discussing EOQ models with imperfect items in a supply chain. In this paper, a two-echelon decentralized supply chain consisting of a manufacture and a supplier that both face just in time (JIT inventory problem is considered. It is sought to find the optimal number of the shipments and the quantity of each shipment in a way that minimizes the both manufacturer’s and the supplier’s cost functions. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first paper that deals with imperfect items in a decentralized supply chain. Thereby, three different game theoretical solution approaches consisting of two non-cooperative games and a cooperative game are proposed. Comparing the results of three different scenarios with those of the centralized model, the conclusions are drawn to obtain the best approach.

  10. An information-theoretic approach to motor action decoding with a reconfigurable parallel architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craciun, Stefan; Brockmeier, Austin J; George, Alan D; Lam, Herman; Príncipe, José C

    2011-01-01

    Methods for decoding movements from neural spike counts using adaptive filters often rely on minimizing the mean-squared error. However, for non-Gaussian distribution of errors, this approach is not optimal for performance. Therefore, rather than using probabilistic modeling, we propose an alternate non-parametric approach. In order to extract more structure from the input signal (neuronal spike counts) we propose using minimum error entropy (MEE), an information-theoretic approach that minimizes the error entropy as part of an iterative cost function. However, the disadvantage of using MEE as the cost function for adaptive filters is the increase in computational complexity. In this paper we present a comparison between the decoding performance of the analytic Wiener filter and a linear filter trained with MEE, which is then mapped to a parallel architecture in reconfigurable hardware tailored to the computational needs of the MEE filter. We observe considerable speedup from the hardware design. The adaptation of filter weights for the multiple-input, multiple-output linear filters, necessary in motor decoding, is a highly parallelizable algorithm. It can be decomposed into many independent computational blocks with a parallel architecture readily mapped to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and scales to large numbers of neurons. By pipelining and parallelizing independent computations in the algorithm, the proposed parallel architecture has sublinear increases in execution time with respect to both window size and filter order.

  11. A theoretical analysis of ballistic electron emission microscopy: band structure effects and attenuation lengths

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andres, P.L. de; Reuter, K.; Garcia-Vidal, F.J.; Flores, F.; Hohenester, U.; Kocevar, P.

    1998-01-01

    Using quantum mechanical approach, we compute the ballistic electron emission microscopy current distribution in reciprocal space to compare experimental and theoretical spectroscopic I(V) curves. In the elastic limit, this formalism is a 'parameter free' representation of the problem. At low voltages, low temperatures, and for thin metallic layers, the elastic approximation is enough to explain the experiments (ballistic conditions). At low temperatures, inelastic effects can be taken into account approximately by introducing an effective electron-electron lifetime as an imaginary part in the energy. Ensemble Monte Carlo calculations were also performed to obtain ballistic electron emission microscopy currents in good agreement with the previous approach. (author)

  12. Theoretical investigation of shock stand-off distance for non-equilibrium flows over spheres

    KAUST Repository

    Shen, Hua

    2018-02-20

    We derived a theoretical solution of the shock stand-off distance for a non-equilibrium flow over spheres based on Wen and Hornung’s solution and Olivier’s solution. Compared with previous approaches, the main advantage of the present approach is allowing an analytic solution without involving any semi-empirical parameter for the whole non-equilibrium flow regimes. The effects of some important physical quantities therefore can be fully revealed via the analytic solution. By combining the current solution with Ideal Dissociating Gas (IDG) model, we investigate the effects of free stream kinetic energy and free stream dissociation level (which can be very different between different facilities) on the shock stand-off distance.

  13. Enhanced diffusion under alpha self-irradiation in spent nuclear fuel: Theoretical approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferry, Cecile; Lovera, Patrick; Poinssot, Christophe; Garcia, Philippe

    2005-01-01

    Various theoretical approaches have been developed in order to estimate the enhanced diffusion coefficient of fission products under alpha self-irradiation in spent nuclear fuel. These simplified models calculate the effects of alpha particles and recoil atoms on mobility of uranium atoms in UO 2 . They lead to a diffusion coefficient which is proportional to the volume alpha activity with a proportionality factor of about 10 -44 (m 5 ). However, the same models applied for fission lead to a radiation-enhanced diffusion coefficient which is approximately two orders of magnitude lower than values reported in literature for U and Pu. Other models are based on an extrapolation of radiation-enhanced diffusion measured either in reactors or under heavy ion bombardment. These models lead to a proportionality factor between the alpha self-irradiation enhanced diffusion coefficient and the volume alpha activity of 2 x 10 -41 (m 5 )

  14. A Markov game theoretic data fusion approach for cyber situational awareness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe; Cruz, Jose B., Jr.; Haynes, Leonard; Kruger, Martin; Blasch, Erik

    2007-04-01

    This paper proposes an innovative data-fusion/ data-mining game theoretic situation awareness and impact assessment approach for cyber network defense. Alerts generated by Intrusion Detection Sensors (IDSs) or Intrusion Prevention Sensors (IPSs) are fed into the data refinement (Level 0) and object assessment (L1) data fusion components. High-level situation/threat assessment (L2/L3) data fusion based on Markov game model and Hierarchical Entity Aggregation (HEA) are proposed to refine the primitive prediction generated by adaptive feature/pattern recognition and capture new unknown features. A Markov (Stochastic) game method is used to estimate the belief of each possible cyber attack pattern. Game theory captures the nature of cyber conflicts: determination of the attacking-force strategies is tightly coupled to determination of the defense-force strategies and vice versa. Also, Markov game theory deals with uncertainty and incompleteness of available information. A software tool is developed to demonstrate the performance of the high level information fusion for cyber network defense situation and a simulation example shows the enhanced understating of cyber-network defense.

  15. Combination of real options and game-theoretic approach in investment analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arasteh, Abdollah

    2016-09-01

    Investments in technology create a large amount of capital investments by major companies. Assessing such investment projects is identified as critical to the efficient assignment of resources. Viewing investment projects as real options, this paper expands a method for assessing technology investment decisions in the linkage existence of uncertainty and competition. It combines the game-theoretic models of strategic market interactions with a real options approach. Several key characteristics underlie the model. First, our study shows how investment strategies rely on competitive interactions. Under the force of competition, firms hurry to exercise their options early. The resulting "hurry equilibrium" destroys the option value of waiting and involves violent investment behavior. Second, we get best investment policies and critical investment entrances. This suggests that integrating will be unavoidable in some information product markets. The model creates some new intuitions into the forces that shape market behavior as noticed in the information technology industry. It can be used to specify best investment policies for technology innovations and adoptions, multistage R&D, and investment projects in information technology.

  16. Theoretical approach to the institutionalization of forms of governance resource provision of innovative activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. S. Asmolova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge economy research due to the actualization of the role of knowledge and information. Management, its impact and the institutionalization of management resource provision designed to overcome the problems inherent in the present stage of development. An important research direction is to carry out theoretical analysis of economic resources in the context of their occurrence, development and improvement. This assertion has identified the need to consider the theoretical approach to the institutionalization of forms of resource management software innovation and analysis and typology of approaches by different parameters on the basis of analysis of a large number of sources. The features of the concept of institutionalization as defined phenomenon in a time perspective. In an analysis conducted by scientists used studies from different periods in the development of economic science. The analysis of numerous professional and scientific research led to the conclusion that knowledge and information should be dis-regarded as a new type of economic production factors. Separately, analyzed the impact of globalization processes that have affected the scientific and innovative sphere. Allocated to a separate study by side issues of innovative development of the Russian economy, which prevents the unresolved improve the competitiveness of the national economic and inhibits the formation of regional and national innovation system, restraining the transition to an innovative model of development. Citing as evidence of the deepening of economic globalization, the role of new information technologies and the formation of a single information space. Noting the fact that if the earlier science developed to deepen knowledge on the basis of the social division of Sciences, in the coming century should happen deepening of knowledge on the basis of their socialization.

  17. Theoretical study of molecular vibrations in electron momentum spectroscopy experiments on furan: An analytical versus a molecular dynamical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morini, Filippo; Deleuze, Michael S.; Watanabe, Noboru; Takahashi, Masahiko

    2015-01-01

    The influence of thermally induced nuclear dynamics (molecular vibrations) in the initial electronic ground state on the valence orbital momentum profiles of furan has been theoretically investigated using two different approaches. The first of these approaches employs the principles of Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, whereas the so-called harmonic analytical quantum mechanical approach resorts to an analytical decomposition of contributions arising from quantized harmonic vibrational eigenstates. In spite of their intrinsic differences, the two approaches enable consistent insights into the electron momentum distributions inferred from new measurements employing electron momentum spectroscopy and an electron impact energy of 1.2 keV. Both approaches point out in particular an appreciable influence of a few specific molecular vibrations of A 1 symmetry on the 9a 1 momentum profile, which can be unravelled from considerations on the symmetry characteristics of orbitals and their energy spacing

  18. Experimental and theoretical study of the energy loss of C and O in Zn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cantero, E. D.; Lantschner, G. H.; Arista, N. R. [Centro Atomico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina); Montanari, C. C.; Miraglia, J. E. [Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio (CONICET-UBA), Buenos Aires (Argentina); Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Behar, M.; Fadanelli, R. C. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Bento Goncalves 9500, Porto Alegre-RS (Brazil)

    2011-07-15

    We present a combined experimental-theoretical study of the energy loss of C and O ions in Zn in the energy range 50-1000 keV/amu. This contribution has a double purpose, experimental and theoretical. On the experimental side, we present stopping power measurements that fill a gap in the literature for these projectile-target combinations and cover an extended energy range, including the stopping maximum. On the theoretical side, we make a quantitative test on the applicability of various theoretical approaches to calculate the energy loss of heavy swift ions in solids. The description is performed using different models for valence and inner-shell electrons: a nonperturbative scattering calculation based on the transport cross section formalism to describe the Zn valence electron contribution, and two different models for the inner-shell contribution: the shellwise local plasma approximation (SLPA) and the convolution approximation for swift particles (CasP). The experimental results indicate that C is the limit for the applicability of the SLPA approach, which previously was successfully applied to projectiles from H to B. We find that this model clearly overestimates the stopping data for O ions. The origin of these discrepancies is related to the perturbative approximation involved in the SLPA. This shortcoming has been solved by using the nonperturbative CasP results to describe the inner-shell contribution, which yields a very good agreement with the experiments for both C and O ions.

  19. Modeling the economic impact of medication adherence in type 2 diabetes: a theoretical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cobden, David S; Niessen, Louis W; Rutten, Frans Fh; Redekop, W Ken

    2010-09-07

    While strong correlations exist between medication adherence and health economic outcomes in type 2 diabetes, current economic analyses do not adequately consider them. We propose a new approach to incorporate adherence in cost-effectiveness analysis. We describe a theoretical approach to incorporating the effect of adherence when estimating the long-term costs and effectiveness of an antidiabetic medication. This approach was applied in a Markov model which includes common diabetic health states. We compared two treatments using hypothetical patient cohorts: injectable insulin (IDM) and oral (OAD) medications. Two analyses were performed, one which ignored adherence (analysis 1) and one which incorporated it (analysis 2). Results from the two analyses were then compared to explore the extent to which adherence may impact incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. In both analyses, IDM was more costly and more effective than OAD. When adherence was ignored, IDM generated an incremental cost-effectiveness of $12,097 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained versus OAD. Incorporation of adherence resulted in a slightly higher ratio ($16,241/QALY). This increase was primarily due to better adherence with OAD than with IDM, and the higher direct medical costs for IDM. Incorporating medication adherence into economic analyses can meaningfully influence the estimated cost-effectiveness of type 2 diabetes treatments, and should therefore be considered in health care decision-making. Future work on the impact of adherence on health economic outcomes, and validation of different approaches to modeling adherence, is warranted.

  20. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO REGIONAL COMPETITION INVESTIGATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.I. Tatarkin

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available The article is dedicated to theoretical-methodological issues of regional economy competitiveness investigation. Economic essence of regional competitiveness is analyzed, its definition is given. The factors that determine relations of competition on medium and macrolevels are proved. The basic differences between world-economical and inter-regional communications are formulated. The specific features of globalization processes as form of competitive struggle are considered.

  1. Molecular acidity: An accurate description with information-theoretic approach in density functional reactivity theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Xiaofang; Rong, Chunying; Zhong, Aiguo; Lu, Tian; Liu, Shubin

    2018-01-15

    Molecular acidity is one of the important physiochemical properties of a molecular system, yet its accurate calculation and prediction are still an unresolved problem in the literature. In this work, we propose to make use of the quantities from the information-theoretic (IT) approach in density functional reactivity theory and provide an accurate description of molecular acidity from a completely new perspective. To illustrate our point, five different categories of acidic series, singly and doubly substituted benzoic acids, singly substituted benzenesulfinic acids, benzeneseleninic acids, phenols, and alkyl carboxylic acids, have been thoroughly examined. We show that using IT quantities such as Shannon entropy, Fisher information, Ghosh-Berkowitz-Parr entropy, information gain, Onicescu information energy, and relative Rényi entropy, one is able to simultaneously predict experimental pKa values of these different categories of compounds. Because of the universality of the quantities employed in this work, which are all density dependent, our approach should be general and be applicable to other systems as well. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Variational approach to excitation of atomic hydrogen atoms by impacts of protons at intermediate velocities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lasri, B.; Bouamoud, M.; Gayet, R.

    2006-01-01

    A variational approach to the excitation of atoms by ion impacts at intermediate velocities is re-examined. Contributions from intermediate states of the target continuum, that were ignored in previous applications of this approach, are taken into account. With this improved variational approach, excitation cross sections of hydrogen atoms by intermediate energy protons are calculated and compared to recent experimental data and to previous theoretical cross sections. The influence of the intermediate target continuum is found to be very weak. In addition, the present approach is shown to apply as long as the capture process is negligible

  3. Annual Gross Primary Production from Vegetation Indices: A Theoretically Sound Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Amparo Gilabert

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available A linear relationship between the annual gross primary production (GPP and a PAR-weighted vegetation index is theoretically derived from the Monteith equation. A semi-empirical model is then proposed to estimate the annual GPP from commonly available vegetation indices images and a representative PAR, which does not require actual meteorological data. A cross validation procedure is used to calibrate and validate the model predictions against reference data. As the calibration/validation process depends on the reference GPP product, the higher the quality of the reference GPP, the better the performance of the semi-empirical model. The annual GPP has been estimated at 1-km scale from MODIS NDVI and EVI images for eight years. Two reference data sets have been used: an optimized GPP product for the study area previously obtained and the MOD17A3 product. Different statistics show a good agreement between the estimates and the reference GPP data, with correlation coefficient around 0.9 and relative RMSE around 20%. The annual GPP is overestimated in semiarid areas and slightly underestimated in dense forest areas. With the above limitations, the model provides an excellent compromise between simplicity and accuracy for the calculation of long time series of annual GPP.

  4. Game Theoretic Modeling of Water Resources Allocation Under Hydro-Climatic Uncertainty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, C.; Lall, U.; Siegfried, T.

    2005-12-01

    Typical hydrologic and economic modeling approaches rely on assumptions of climate stationarity and economic conditions of ideal markets and rational decision-makers. In this study, we incorporate hydroclimatic variability with a game theoretic approach to simulate and evaluate common water allocation paradigms. Game Theory may be particularly appropriate for modeling water allocation decisions. First, a game theoretic approach allows economic analysis in situations where price theory doesn't apply, which is typically the case in water resources where markets are thin, players are few, and rules of exchange are highly constrained by legal or cultural traditions. Previous studies confirm that game theory is applicable to water resources decision problems, yet applications and modeling based on these principles is only rarely observed in the literature. Second, there are numerous existing theoretical and empirical studies of specific games and human behavior that may be applied in the development of predictive water allocation models. With this framework, one can evaluate alternative orderings and rules regarding the fraction of available water that one is allowed to appropriate. Specific attributes of the players involved in water resources management complicate the determination of solutions to game theory models. While an analytical approach will be useful for providing general insights, the variety of preference structures of individual players in a realistic water scenario will likely require a simulation approach. We propose a simulation approach incorporating the rationality, self-interest and equilibrium concepts of game theory with an agent-based modeling framework that allows the distinct properties of each player to be expressed and allows the performance of the system to manifest the integrative effect of these factors. Underlying this framework, we apply a realistic representation of spatio-temporal hydrologic variability and incorporate the impact of

  5. A Game Theoretic Approach for Balancing Energy Consumption in Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Liu; Lu, Yinzhi; Xiong, Lian; Tao, Yang; Zhong, Yuanchang

    2017-11-17

    Clustering is an effective topology control method in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), since it can enhance the network lifetime and scalability. To prolong the network lifetime in clustered WSNs, an efficient cluster head (CH) optimization policy is essential to distribute the energy among sensor nodes. Recently, game theory has been introduced to model clustering. Each sensor node is considered as a rational and selfish player which will play a clustering game with an equilibrium strategy. Then it decides whether to act as the CH according to this strategy for a tradeoff between providing required services and energy conservation. However, how to get the equilibrium strategy while maximizing the payoff of sensor nodes has rarely been addressed to date. In this paper, we present a game theoretic approach for balancing energy consumption in clustered WSNs. With our novel payoff function, realistic sensor behaviors can be captured well. The energy heterogeneity of nodes is considered by incorporating a penalty mechanism in the payoff function, so the nodes with more energy will compete for CHs more actively. We have obtained the Nash equilibrium (NE) strategy of the clustering game through convex optimization. Specifically, each sensor node can achieve its own maximal payoff when it makes the decision according to this strategy. Through plenty of simulations, our proposed game theoretic clustering is proved to have a good energy balancing performance and consequently the network lifetime is greatly enhanced.

  6. Measuring and Managing Value Co-Creation Process: Overview of Existing Theoretical Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Skaržauskaitė

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose — the article is to provide a holistic view on concept of value co-creation and existing models for measuring and managing it by conducting theoretical analysis of scientific literature sources targeting the integration of various approaches. Most important and relevant results of the literature study are presented with a focus on changed roles of organizations and consumers. This article aims at contributing theoretically to the research stream of measuring co-creation of value in order to gain knowledge for improvement of organizational performance and enabling new and innovative means of value creation. Design/methodology/approach. The nature of this research is exploratory – theoretical analysis and synthesis of scientific literature sources targeting the integration of various approaches was performed. This approach was chosen due to the absence of established theory on models of co-creation, possible uses in organizations and systematic overview of tools measuring/suggesting how to measure co-creation. Findings. While the principles of managing and measuring co-creation in regards of consumer motivation and involvement are widely researched, little attempt has been made to identify critical factors and create models dealing with organizational capabilities and managerial implications of value co-creation. Systematic analysis of literature revealed a gap not only in empirical research concerning organization’s role in co-creation process, but in theoretical and conceptual levels, too. Research limitations/implications. The limitations of this work as a literature review lies in its nature – the complete reliance on previously published research papers and the availability of these studies. For a deeper understanding of co-creation management and for developing models that can be used in real-life organizations, a broader theoretical, as well as empirical, research is necessary. Practical implications. Analysis of the

  7. Aperture Array Photonic Metamaterials: Theoretical approaches, numerical techniques and a novel application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lansey, Eli

    Optical or photonic metamaterials that operate in the infrared and visible frequency regimes show tremendous promise for solving problems in renewable energy, infrared imaging, and telecommunications. However, many of the theoretical and simulation techniques used at lower frequencies are not applicable to this higher-frequency regime. Furthermore, technological and financial limitations of photonic metamaterial fabrication increases the importance of reliable theoretical models and computational techniques for predicting the optical response of photonic metamaterials. This thesis focuses on aperture array metamaterials. That is, a rectangular, circular, or other shaped cavity or hole embedded in, or penetrating through a metal film. The research in the first portion of this dissertation reflects our interest in developing a fundamental, theoretical understanding of the behavior of light's interaction with these aperture arrays, specifically regarding enhanced optical transmission. We develop an approximate boundary condition for metals at optical frequencies, and a comprehensive, analytical explanation of the physics underlying this effect. These theoretical analyses are augmented by computational techniques in the second portion of this thesis, used both for verification of the theoretical work, and solving more complicated structures. Finally, the last portion of this thesis discusses the results from designing, fabricating and characterizing a light-splitting metamaterial.

  8. External Validity in the Study of Human Development: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultsch, David F.; Hickey, Tom

    1978-01-01

    An examination of the concept of external validity from two theoretical perspectives: a traditional mechanistic approach and a dialectical organismic approach. Examines the theoretical and methodological implications of these perspectives. (BD)

  9. ANALYSIS OF THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOKS FOR STUDENTS OF HIGHER AGRICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Yu. Balalaieva

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with theoretical and methodological approaches to the design of electronic textbook, in particular systems, competence, activity, personality oriented, technological one, that in complex reflect the general trends in the formation of a new educational paradigm, distinctive features of which lie in constructing the heuristic searching model of the learning process, focusing on developmental teaching, knowledge integration, skills development for the independent information search and processing, technification of the learning process. The approach in this study is used in a broad sense as a synthesis of the basic ideas, views, principles that determine the overall research strategy. The main provisions of modern approaches to design are not antagonistic, they should be applied in a complex, taking into account the advantages of each of them and leveling shortcomings for the development of optimal concept of electronic textbook. The model of electronic textbook designing and components of methodology for its using based on these approaches are described.

  10. Information theoretic quantification of diagnostic uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westover, M Brandon; Eiseman, Nathaniel A; Cash, Sydney S; Bianchi, Matt T

    2012-01-01

    Diagnostic test interpretation remains a challenge in clinical practice. Most physicians receive training in the use of Bayes' rule, which specifies how the sensitivity and specificity of a test for a given disease combine with the pre-test probability to quantify the change in disease probability incurred by a new test result. However, multiple studies demonstrate physicians' deficiencies in probabilistic reasoning, especially with unexpected test results. Information theory, a branch of probability theory dealing explicitly with the quantification of uncertainty, has been proposed as an alternative framework for diagnostic test interpretation, but is even less familiar to physicians. We have previously addressed one key challenge in the practical application of Bayes theorem: the handling of uncertainty in the critical first step of estimating the pre-test probability of disease. This essay aims to present the essential concepts of information theory to physicians in an accessible manner, and to extend previous work regarding uncertainty in pre-test probability estimation by placing this type of uncertainty within a principled information theoretic framework. We address several obstacles hindering physicians' application of information theoretic concepts to diagnostic test interpretation. These include issues of terminology (mathematical meanings of certain information theoretic terms differ from clinical or common parlance) as well as the underlying mathematical assumptions. Finally, we illustrate how, in information theoretic terms, one can understand the effect on diagnostic uncertainty of considering ranges instead of simple point estimates of pre-test probability.

  11. A combined experimental and theoretical approach to establish the relationship between shear force and clay platelet delamination in melt-processed polypropylene nanocomposites

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Bandyopadhyay, J

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In this article, a combined experimental and theoretical approach has been proposed to establish a relationship between the required shear force and the degree of delamination of clay tactoids during the melt-processing of polymer nanocomposites...

  12. Perturbative Field-Theoretical Renormalization Group Approach to Driven-Dissipative Bose-Einstein Criticality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uwe C. Täuber

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The universal critical behavior of the driven-dissipative nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation transition is investigated employing the field-theoretical renormalization group method. Such criticality may be realized in broad ranges of driven open systems on the interface of quantum optics and many-body physics, from exciton-polariton condensates to cold atomic gases. The starting point is a noisy and dissipative Gross-Pitaevski equation corresponding to a complex-valued Landau-Ginzburg functional, which captures the near critical nonequilibrium dynamics, and generalizes model A for classical relaxational dynamics with nonconserved order parameter. We confirm and further develop the physical picture previously established by means of a functional renormalization group study of this system. Complementing this earlier numerical analysis, we analytically compute the static and dynamical critical exponents at the condensation transition to lowest nontrivial order in the dimensional ε expansion about the upper critical dimension d_{c}=4 and establish the emergence of a novel universal scaling exponent associated with the nonequilibrium drive. We also discuss the corresponding situation for a conserved order parameter field, i.e., (subdiffusive model B with complex coefficients.

  13. Systemic-constructivist couple therapy (SCCT): Description of approach, theoretical advances, and published longitudinal evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, David W; Doell, Faye K; Dalton, E Jane; Ahmad, Saunia

    2008-12-01

    The systemic-constructivist approach to studying and benefiting couples was derived from qualitative and quantitative research on distressed couples over the past 10 years. Systemic-constructivist couple therapy (SCCT) is the clinical intervention that accompanies the approach. SCCT guides the therapist to work with both the intrapersonal and the interpersonal aspects of marriage while also integrating the social-environmental context of the couple. The theory that underlies SCCT is explained, including concepts such as we-ness and interpersonal processing. The primary components of the therapy are described. Findings described previously in an inaugural monograph containing extensive research demonstrating the long-term utility of SCCT are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Theoretical and methodological approaches to economic competitiveness (Part I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macari Vadim

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is based on study of several representative bibliographical sources,it is tried to examine, to order from logical and scientific point of view some of the most common theoretical and methodological understandings of the essence, definition, phenomenon, types, haracteristics and indices of economic competitiveness.

  15. Theoretical and methodological approaches to economic competitiveness (part II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macari Vadim

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This article, on the basis of the study of many representative bibliographic sources, examines and tries to order from logical and scientific point of view some of the most common theoretical and methodological treatments of the essence, definition, phenomenon, types, characteristics and indices of economic competitiveness.

  16. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS (Part II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vadim MACARI

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This article, on the basis of the study of many representative bibliographic sources, examines and tries to order from logical and scientific point of view some of the most common theoretical and methodological treatments of the essence, definition, phenomenon, types, characteristics and indices of economic competitiveness.

  17. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS (Part I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vadim MACARI

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is based on study of several representative bibliographical sources,it is tried to examine, to order from logical and scientific point of view some of the most common theoretical and methodological understandings of the essence, definition, phenomenon, types, characteristics and indices of economic competitiveness.

  18. A short course in quantum information theory. An approach from theoretical physics. 2. ed.

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diosi, Lajos

    2011-01-01

    This short and concise primer takes the vantage point of theoretical physics and the unity of physics. It sets out to strip the burgeoning field of quantum information science to its basics by linking it to universal concepts in physics. An extensive lecture rather than a comprehensive textbook, this volume is based on courses delivered over several years to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, but essentially it addresses anyone with a working knowledge of basic quantum physics. Readers will find these lectures a most adequate entry point for theoretical studies in this field. For the second edition, the authors has succeeded in adding many new topics while sticking to the conciseness of the overall approach. A new chapter on qubit thermodynamics has been added, while new sections and subsections have been incorporated in various chapter to deal with weak and time-continuous measurements, period-finding quantum algorithms and quantum error corrections. From the reviews of the first edition: ''The best things about this book are its brevity and clarity. In around 100 pages it provides a tutorial introduction to quantum information theory, including problems and solutions.. it's worth a look if you want to quickly get up to speed with the language and central concepts of quantum information theory, including the background classical information theory.'' (Craig Savage, Australian Physics, Vol. 44 (2), 2007). (orig.)

  19. Representing electrons a biographical approach to theoretical entities

    CERN Document Server

    Arabatzis, Theodore

    2006-01-01

    Both a history and a metahistory, Representing Electrons focuses on the development of various theoretical representations of electrons from the late 1890s to 1925 and the methodological problems associated with writing about unobservable scientific entities. Using the electron-or rather its representation-as a historical actor, Theodore Arabatzis illustrates the emergence and gradual consolidation of its representation in physics, its career throughout old quantum theory, and its appropriation and reinterpretation by chemists. As Arabatzis develops this novel biographical

  20. Theoretical clarity is not “Manicheanism”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjørland, Birger

    2011-01-01

    It is argued that in order to establish a new theoretical approach to information science it is necessary to express disagreement with some established views. The “social turn” in information science is not just exemplified in relation to the works of Marcia Bates but in relation to many different...... researchers in the field. Therefore it should not be taken personally, and the debate should focus on the substance. Marcia Bates has contributed considerably to information science. In spite of this some of her theoretical points of departure may be challenged. It is important to seek theoretical clarity...... and this may involve a degree of schematic confrontation that should not be confused with theoretical one-sidedness, “Manicheanism” or lack of respect....

  1. Nuclear energy policy analysis under uncertainties : applications of new utility theoretic approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ra, Ki Yong

    1992-02-01

    For the purpose of analyzing the nuclear energy policy under uncertainties, new utility theoretic approaches were applied. The main discoveries of new utility theories are that, firstly, the consequences can affect the perceived probabilities, secondly, the utilities are not fixed but can change, and finally, utilities and probabilities thus should be combined dependently to determine the overall worth of risky option. These conclusions were applied to develop the modified expected utility model and to establish the probabilistic nuclear safety criterion. The modified expected utility model was developed in order to resolve the inconsistencies between the expected utility model and the actual decision behaviors. Based on information theory and Bayesian inference, the modified probabilities were obtained as the stated probabilities times substitutional factors. The model theoretically predicts that the extreme value outcomes are perceived as to be more likely to occur than medium value outcomes. This prediction is consistent with the first finding of new utility theories that the consequences can after the perceived probabilities. And further with this theoretical prediction, the decision behavior of buying lottery ticket, of paying for insurance and of nuclear catastrophic risk aversion can well be explained. Through the numerical application, it is shown that the developed model can well explain the common consequence effect, common ratio effect and reflection effect. The probabilistic nuclear safety criterion for core melt frequency was established: Firstly, the distribution of the public's safety goal (DPSG) was proposed for representing the public's group preference under risk. Secondly, a new probabilistic safety criterion (PSC) was established, in which the DPSG was used as a benchmark for evaluating the results of probabilistic safety assessment. Thirdly, a log-normal distribution was proposed as the appropriate DPSG for core melt frequency using the

  2. Merging Theoretical Models and Therapy Approaches in the Context of Internet Gaming Disorder: A Personal Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Kimberly S.; Brand, Matthias

    2017-01-01

    Although, it is not yet officially recognized as a clinical entity which is diagnosable, Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included in section III for further study in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). This is important because there is increasing evidence that people of all ages, in particular teens and young adults, are facing very real and sometimes very severe consequences in daily life resulting from an addictive use of online games. This article summarizes general aspects of IGD including diagnostic criteria and arguments for the classification as an addictive disorder including evidence from neurobiological studies. Based on previous theoretical considerations and empirical findings, this paper examines the use of one recently proposed model, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, for inspiring future research and for developing new treatment protocols for IGD. The I-PACE model is a theoretical framework that explains symptoms of Internet addiction by looking at interactions between predisposing factors, moderators, and mediators in combination with reduced executive functioning and diminished decision making. Finally, the paper discusses how current treatment protocols focusing on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet addiction (CBT-IA) fit with the processes hypothesized in the I-PACE model. PMID:29104555

  3. Merging Theoretical Models and Therapy Approaches in the Context of Internet Gaming Disorder: A Personal Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Kimberly S; Brand, Matthias

    2017-01-01

    Although, it is not yet officially recognized as a clinical entity which is diagnosable, Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included in section III for further study in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). This is important because there is increasing evidence that people of all ages, in particular teens and young adults, are facing very real and sometimes very severe consequences in daily life resulting from an addictive use of online games. This article summarizes general aspects of IGD including diagnostic criteria and arguments for the classification as an addictive disorder including evidence from neurobiological studies. Based on previous theoretical considerations and empirical findings, this paper examines the use of one recently proposed model, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, for inspiring future research and for developing new treatment protocols for IGD. The I-PACE model is a theoretical framework that explains symptoms of Internet addiction by looking at interactions between predisposing factors, moderators, and mediators in combination with reduced executive functioning and diminished decision making. Finally, the paper discusses how current treatment protocols focusing on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet addiction (CBT-IA) fit with the processes hypothesized in the I-PACE model.

  4. Merging Theoretical Models and Therapy Approaches in the Context of Internet Gaming Disorder: A Personal Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kimberly S. Young

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Although, it is not yet officially recognized as a clinical entity which is diagnosable, Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD has been included in section III for further study in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013. This is important because there is increasing evidence that people of all ages, in particular teens and young adults, are facing very real and sometimes very severe consequences in daily life resulting from an addictive use of online games. This article summarizes general aspects of IGD including diagnostic criteria and arguments for the classification as an addictive disorder including evidence from neurobiological studies. Based on previous theoretical considerations and empirical findings, this paper examines the use of one recently proposed model, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE model, for inspiring future research and for developing new treatment protocols for IGD. The I-PACE model is a theoretical framework that explains symptoms of Internet addiction by looking at interactions between predisposing factors, moderators, and mediators in combination with reduced executive functioning and diminished decision making. Finally, the paper discusses how current treatment protocols focusing on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet addiction (CBT-IA fit with the processes hypothesized in the I-PACE model.

  5. Group theoretic approach for solving the problem of diffusion of a drug through a thin membrane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd-El-Malek, Mina B.; Kassem, Magda M.; Meky, Mohammed L. M.

    2002-03-01

    The transformation group theoretic approach is applied to study the diffusion process of a drug through a skin-like membrane which tends to partially absorb the drug. Two cases are considered for the diffusion coefficient. The application of one parameter group reduces the number of independent variables by one, and consequently the partial differential equation governing the diffusion process with the boundary and initial conditions is transformed into an ordinary differential equation with the corresponding conditions. The obtained differential equation is solved numerically using the shooting method, and the results are illustrated graphically and in tables.

  6. The production of scientific videos: a theoretical approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Ernesto Gavilondo Rodriguez

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the results of theoretical research on the production of scientific videos and its application to the teaching-learning process carried out in schools in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is located within the production line and Audiovisual Communication. Creation of scientific videos, from the Communication major with a concentration in audiovisual production and multimedia of the Salesian Polytechnic University. For the realization of the article it was necessary to use key terms that helped subsequently to data collection. used terms such as: audiovisual production, understood as the production of content for audiovisual media; the following term used audiovisual communication is recognized as the process in which there is an exchange of messages through an audible and / or visual system; and the last term we use is scientifically video, which is one that uses audiovisual resources to obtain relevant and reliable information.As part of the theoretical results a methodological proposal for the video production is presented for educational purposes. In conclusion set out, first, that from the communicative statement in recent times, current social relations, constitute a successful context of possibilities shown to education to generate meeting points between the world of the everyday and the knowledge. Another indicator validated as part of the investigation, is that teachers surveyed use the potential of the audiovisual media, and supported them, deploy alternatives for use. 

  7. A Theoretical and Methodological Evaluation of Leadership Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lashbrook, Velma J.; Lashbrook, William B.

    This paper isolates some of the strengths and weaknesses of leadership research by evaluating it from both a theoretical and methodological perspective. The seven theories or approaches examined are: great man, trait, situational, style, functional, social influence, and interaction positions. General theoretical, conceptual, and measurement…

  8. Stress transfer from pile group in saturated and unsaturated soil using theoretical and experimental approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    al-Omari Raid R.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Piles are often used in groups, and the behavior of pile groups under the applied loads is generally different from that of single pile due to the interaction of neighboring piles, therefore, one of the main objectives of this paper is to investigate the influence of pile group (bearing capacity, load transfer sharing for pile shaft and tip in comparison to that of single piles. Determination of the influence of load transfer from the pile group to the surrounding soil and the mechanism of this transfer with increasing the load increment on the tip and pile shaft for the soil in saturated and unsaturated state (when there is a negative pore water pressure. Different basic properties are used that is (S = 90%, γd = 15 kN / m3, S = 90%, γd = 17 kN / m3 and S = 60%, γd =15 kN / m3. Seven model piles were tested, these was: single pile (compression and pull out test, 2×1, 3×1, 2×2, 3×2 and 3×3 group. The stress was measured with 5 cm diameter soil pressure transducer positioned at a depth of 5 cm below the pile tip for all pile groups. The measured stresses below the pile tip using a soil pressure transducer positioned at a depth of 0.25L (where L is the pile length below the pile tip are compared with those calculated using theoretical and conventional approaches. These methods are: the conventional 2V:1H method and the method used the theory of elasticity. The results showed that the method of measuring the soil stresses with soil pressure transducer adopted in this study, gives in general, good results of stress transfer compared with the results obtained from the theoretical and conventional approaches.

  9. Domino effects within a chemical cluster: a game-theoretical modeling approach by using Nash-equilibrium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reniers, Genserik; Dullaert, Wout; Karel, Soudan

    2009-08-15

    Every company situated within a chemical cluster faces domino effect risks, whose magnitude depends on every company's own risk management strategies and on those of all others. Preventing domino effects is therefore very important to avoid catastrophes in the chemical process industry. Given that chemical companies are interlinked by domino effect accident links, there is some likelihood that even if certain companies fully invest in domino effects prevention measures, they can nonetheless experience an external domino effect caused by an accident which occurred in another chemical enterprise of the cluster. In this article a game-theoretic approach to interpret and model behaviour of chemical plants within chemical clusters while negotiating and deciding on domino effects prevention investments is employed.

  10. The current status of theoretically based approaches to the prediction of the critical heat flux in flow boiling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisman, J.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on the phenomena governing the critical heat flux in flow boiling. Inducts which vary with the flow pattern. Separate models are needed for dryout in annular flow, wall overheating in plug or slug flow and formation of a vapor blanket in dispersed flow. The major theories and their current status are described for the annular and dispersed regions. The need for development of the theoretical approach in the plug and slug flow region is indicated

  11. Dynamic Load on a Pipe Caused by Acetylene Detonations – Experiments and Theoretical Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Axel Sperber

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available The load acting on the wall of a pipe by a detonation, which is travelling through, is not yet well characterized. The main reasons are the limited amount of sufficiently accurate pressure time history data and the requirement of considering the dynamics of the system. Laser vibrometry measurements were performed to determine the dynamic response of the pipe wall on a detonation. Different modelling approaches were used to quantify, theoretically, the radial displacements of the pipe wall. There is good agreement between measured and predicted values of vibration frequencies and the propagation velocities of transverse waves. Discrepancies mainly due to wave propagation effects were found in the amplitudes of the radial velocities. They might be overcome by the use of a dynamic load factor or improved modelling methods.

  12. Theoretical and numerical investigations of TAP experiments. New approaches for variable pressure conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Senechal, U.; Breitkopf, C. [Technische Univ. Dresden (Germany). Inst. fuer Energietechnik

    2011-07-01

    Temporal analysis of products (TAP) is a valuable tool for characterization of porous catalytic structures. Established TAP-modeling requires a spatially constant diffusion coefficient and neglect convective flows, which is only valid in Knudsen diffusion regime. Therefore in experiments, the number of molecules per pulse must be chosen accordingly. New approaches for variable process conditions are highly required. Thus, a new theoretical model is developed for estimating the number of molecules per pulse to meet these requirements under any conditions and at any time. The void volume is calculated as the biggest sphere fitting between three pellets. The total number of pulsed molecules is assumed to fill the first void volume at the inlet immediately. Molecule numbers from these calculations can be understood as maximum possible molecules at any time in the reactor to be in Knudsen diffusion regime, i.e., above the Knudsen number of 2. Moreover, a new methodology for generating a full three-dimensional geometrical representation of beds is presented and used for numerical simulations to investigate spatial effects. Based on a freely available open-source game physics engine library (BULLET), beds of arbitrary-sized pellets can be generated and transformed to CFD-usable geometry. In CFD-software (ANSYS CFX registered) a transient diffusive transport equation with time-dependent inlet boundary conditions is solved. Three different pellet diameters were investigated with 1e18 molecules per pulse, which is higher than the limit from the theoretical calculation. Spatial and temporal distributions of transported species show regions inside the reactor, where non-Knudsen conditions exist. From this results, the distance from inlet can be calculated where the theoretical pressure limit (Knudsen number equals 2) is obtained, i.e., from this point to the end of the reactor Knudsen regime can be assumed. Due to linear dependency of pressure and concentration (assuming ideal

  13. Resource Allocation for Multicell Device-to-Device Communications in Cellular Network: A Game Theoretic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Huang

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Device-to-Device (D2D communication has recently emerged as a promising technology to improve the capacity and coverage of cellular systems. To successfully implement D2D communications underlaying a cellular network, resource allocation for D2D links plays a critical role. While most of prior resource allocation mechanisms for D2D communications have focused on interference within a single-cell system, this paper investigates the resource allocation problem for a multicell cellular network in which a D2D link reuses available spectrum resources of multiple cells. A repeated game theoretic approach is proposed to address the problem. In this game, the base stations (BSs act as players that compete for resource supply of D2D, and the utility of each player is formulated as revenue collected from both cellular and D2D users using resources. Extensive simulations are conducted to verify the proposed approach and the results show that it can considerably enhance the system performance in terms of sum rate and sum rate gain.

  14. What is the optimal value of the g-ratio for myelinated fibers in the rat CNS? A theoretical approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taylor Chomiak

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available The biological process underlying axonal myelination is complex and often prone to injury and disease. The ratio of the inner axonal diameter to the total outer diameter or g-ratio is widely utilized as a functional and structural index of optimal axonal myelination. Based on the speed of fiber conduction, Rushton was the first to derive a theoretical estimate of the optimal g-ratio of 0.6 [1]. This theoretical limit nicely explains the experimental data for myelinated axons obtained for some peripheral fibers but appears significantly lower than that found for CNS fibers. This is, however, hardly surprising given that in the CNS, axonal myelination must achieve multiple goals including reducing conduction delays, promoting conduction fidelity, lowering energy costs, and saving space.In this study we explore the notion that a balanced set-point can be achieved at a functional level as the micro-structure of individual axons becomes optimized, particularly for the central system where axons tend to be smaller and their myelin sheath thinner. We used an intuitive yet novel theoretical approach based on the fundamental biophysical properties describing axonal structure and function to show that an optimal g-ratio can be defined for the central nervous system (approximately 0.77. Furthermore, by reducing the influence of volume constraints on structural design by about 40%, this approach can also predict the g-ratio observed in some peripheral fibers (approximately 0.6.These results support the notion of optimization theory in nervous system design and construction and may also help explain why the central and peripheral systems have evolved different g-ratios as a result of volume constraints.

  15. What is the optimal value of the g-ratio for myelinated fibers in the rat CNS? A theoretical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chomiak, Taylor; Hu, Bin

    2009-11-13

    The biological process underlying axonal myelination is complex and often prone to injury and disease. The ratio of the inner axonal diameter to the total outer diameter or g-ratio is widely utilized as a functional and structural index of optimal axonal myelination. Based on the speed of fiber conduction, Rushton was the first to derive a theoretical estimate of the optimal g-ratio of 0.6 [1]. This theoretical limit nicely explains the experimental data for myelinated axons obtained for some peripheral fibers but appears significantly lower than that found for CNS fibers. This is, however, hardly surprising given that in the CNS, axonal myelination must achieve multiple goals including reducing conduction delays, promoting conduction fidelity, lowering energy costs, and saving space. In this study we explore the notion that a balanced set-point can be achieved at a functional level as the micro-structure of individual axons becomes optimized, particularly for the central system where axons tend to be smaller and their myelin sheath thinner. We used an intuitive yet novel theoretical approach based on the fundamental biophysical properties describing axonal structure and function to show that an optimal g-ratio can be defined for the central nervous system (approximately 0.77). Furthermore, by reducing the influence of volume constraints on structural design by about 40%, this approach can also predict the g-ratio observed in some peripheral fibers (approximately 0.6). These results support the notion of optimization theory in nervous system design and construction and may also help explain why the central and peripheral systems have evolved different g-ratios as a result of volume constraints.

  16. Distinguishing prognostic and predictive biomarkers: An information theoretic approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sechidis, Konstantinos; Papangelou, Konstantinos; Metcalfe, Paul D; Svensson, David; Weatherall, James; Brown, Gavin

    2018-05-02

    The identification of biomarkers to support decision-making is central to personalised medicine, in both clinical and research scenarios. The challenge can be seen in two halves: identifying predictive markers, which guide the development/use of tailored therapies; and identifying prognostic markers, which guide other aspects of care and clinical trial planning, i.e. prognostic markers can be considered as covariates for stratification. Mistakenly assuming a biomarker to be predictive, when it is in fact largely prognostic (and vice-versa) is highly undesirable, and can result in financial, ethical and personal consequences. We present a framework for data-driven ranking of biomarkers on their prognostic/predictive strength, using a novel information theoretic method. This approach provides a natural algebra to discuss and quantify the individual predictive and prognostic strength, in a self-consistent mathematical framework. Our contribution is a novel procedure, INFO+, which naturally distinguishes the prognostic vs predictive role of each biomarker and handles higher order interactions. In a comprehensive empirical evaluation INFO+ outperforms more complex methods, most notably when noise factors dominate, and biomarkers are likely to be falsely identified as predictive, when in fact they are just strongly prognostic. Furthermore, we show that our methods can be 1-3 orders of magnitude faster than competitors, making it useful for biomarker discovery in 'big data' scenarios. Finally, we apply our methods to identify predictive biomarkers on two real clinical trials, and introduce a new graphical representation that provides greater insight into the prognostic and predictive strength of each biomarker. R implementations of the suggested methods are available at https://github.com/sechidis. konstantinos.sechidis@manchester.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  17. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND ITS FORMS - A THEORETICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bac Dorin

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available From the second half of the twentieth century, the importance of the tourism industry to the world economy continued to grow, reaching today impressive figures: receipts of almost $ 1,000 billion and direct employment for over 70 million people (WTTC 2012, without taking into account the multiplier effect (according to the same statistics of WTTC, if considering the multiplier effect, the values are: $ 5,990 billion in tourism receipts, and 253.5 million jobs. We can say that tourism: has a higher capacity to generate and distribute incomes compared to other sectors; has a high multiplier effect; determines a high level of consumption of varied products and services. In this context, voices began to emerge, which presented the problems and challenges generated by the tourism activity. Many regions are facing real problems generated by tourism entrepreneurs and tourists who visit the community. Therefore, at the end of the last century, there were authors who sought to define a new form of tourism, which eliminated the negative impacts and increased the positive ones. As a generic term they used alternative tourism, but because of the ambiguity of the term, they tried to find a more precise term, which would define the concept easier. Thus emerged: ecotourism, rural tourism, Pro Poor Tourism etc.. All these forms have been introduced under the umbrella concept of sustainable tourism. In the present paper we will take a theoretical approach, in order to present some forms of sustainable tourism. During our research we covered the ideas and concepts promoted by several authors and academics but also some international organizations with focus on tourism. We considered these forms of tourism, as they respect all the rules of sustainable tourism and some of them have great potential to grow in both developed and emerging countries. The forms of sustainable tourism we identified are: ecotourism, pro-poor tourism, volunteer tourism and slow tourism. In

  18. Patient Autonomy in a High-Tech Care Context - A Theoretical Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindberg, Catharina; Fagerström, Cecilia; Willman, Ania

    2018-06-12

    To synthesise and interpret previous findings with the aim of developing a theoretical framework for patient autonomy in a high-tech care context. Putting the somewhat abstract concept of patient autonomy into practice can prove difficult since when it is highlighted in healthcare literature the patient perspective is often invisible. Autonomy presumes that a person has experience, education, self-discipline and decision-making capacity. Reference to autonomy in relation to patients in high-tech care environments could therefore be considered paradoxical, as in most cases these persons are vulnerable, with impaired physical and/or metacognitive capacity, thus making extended knowledge of patient autonomy for these persons even more important. Theory development. The basic approaches in theory development by Walker and Avant were used to create a theoretical framework through an amalgamation of the results from three qualitative studies conducted previously by the same research group. A theoretical framework - the control-partnership-transition framework - was delineated disclosing different parts co-creating the prerequisites for patient autonomy in high-tech care environments. Assumptions and propositional statements that guide theory development were also outlined, as were guiding principles for use in day-to-day nursing care. Four strategies used by patients were revealed: the strategy of control, the strategy of partnership, the strategy of trust, and the strategy of transition. An extended knowledge base, founded on theoretical reasoning about patient autonomy, could facilitate nursing care that would allow people to remain/become autonomous in the role of patient in high-tech care environments. The control-partnership-transition framework would be of help in supporting and defending patient autonomy when caring for individual patients, as it provides an understanding of the strategies employed by patients to achieve autonomy in high-tech care contexts. The

  19. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF PUBLIC SERVANTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. V. Vashalomidze

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The relevance of the topic chosen due to the presence of performance motivation development problems of civil servants, including their motivation for continuous professional development, as one of the main directions of development of the civil service in general, approved by the relevant Presidential Decree on 2016–2018 years. In the first part of this article provides a brief analytical overview and an assessment of content and process of theoretical and methodological approaches to solving the problems of motivation of the personnel of socio-economic systems. In the second part of the article on the basis of the research proposed motivating factors in the development of the approaches set out in the first part of the article.The purpose / goal. The aim of the article is to provide methodological assistance to academic institutions involved in the solution of scientific and practical problems of motivation of civil servants to the continuous professional development in accordance with the Presidential Decree of 11 August 2016 № 408.Methodology. The methodological basis of this article are: a comprehensive analysis of normative legal provision of state of the Russian Federation; systematic approach and historical analysis of the theory and methodology of solving problems of staff motivation; method of expert evaluations; the scientific method of analogies.Conclusions / relevance. The practical significance of the article is in the operational delivery of the scientific and methodological assistance to the implementation of the Russian Federation "On the main directions of the state civil service of the Russian Federation in the years 2016–2018" Presidential Decree of 11 August number 403 regarding the establishment of mechanisms to motivate civil servants to continuous professional development.

  20. The Formation of Instruments of Management of Industrial Enterprises According to the Theoretical and Functional Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raiko Diana V.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at the substantiation based on the analysis of the company theories of the basic theoretical provisions on the formation of industrial enterprise management instruments. The article determines that the subject of research in theories is enterprise, the object is the process of management of potential according to the forms of business organization and technology of partnership relations, the goal is high financial results, stabilization of the activity, and social responsibility. The publication carries out an analysis of enterprise theories on the determining of its essence as a socio-economic system in the following directions: technical preparation of production, economic theory and law, theory of systems, marketing-management. As a result of the research, the general set of functions has been identified – the socio-economic functions of enterprise by groups: information-legal, production, marketing-management, social responsibility. When building management instruments, it is suggested to take into consideration the direct and inverse relationships of enterprise at all levels of management – micro, meso and macro. On this ground, the authors have developed provisions on formation of instruments of management of industrial enterprises according to two approachestheoretical and functional.

  1. Theoretical approaches to digital services and digital democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoff, Jens Villiam; Scheele, Christian Elling

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework, which can be used in the analysis of all types of (political-administrative) web applications. Through a discussion and criticism of social construction of technology (SCOT), an earlier version of this model based on new medium theory...... are translated into specific (political-administrative) practices, and how these practices are produced through the interplay between discourses, actors and technology. However, the new version places practices more firmly at the centre of the model, as practices, following Reckwitz, is seen as the enactment...

  2. Broadening the Study of Participation in the Life Sciences: How Critical Theoretical and Mixed-Methodological Approaches Can Enhance Efforts to Broaden Participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalf, Heather

    2016-01-01

    This research methods Essay details the usefulness of critical theoretical frameworks and critical mixed-methodological approaches for life sciences education research on broadening participation in the life sciences. First, I draw on multidisciplinary research to discuss critical theory and methodologies. Then, I demonstrate the benefits of these…

  3. Game theoretic analysis of physical protection system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Canion, B.; Schneider, E.; Bickel, E.; Hadlock, C.; Morton, D.

    2013-01-01

    The physical protection system (PPS) of a fictional small modular reactor (SMR) facility have been modeled as a platform for a game theoretic approach to security decision analysis. To demonstrate the game theoretic approach, a rational adversary with complete knowledge of the facility has been modeled attempting a sabotage attack. The adversary adjusts his decisions in response to investments made by the defender to enhance the security measures. This can lead to a conservative physical protection system design. Since defender upgrades were limited by a budget, cost benefit analysis may be conducted upon security upgrades. One approach to cost benefit analysis is the efficient frontier, which depicts the reduction in expected consequence per incremental increase in the security budget

  4. Cartography, new technologies and geographic education: theoretical approaches to research the field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seneme do Canto, Tânia

    2018-05-01

    In order to understand the roles that digital mapping can play in cartographic and geographic education, this paper discusses the theoretical and methodological approach used in a research that is undertaking in the education of geography teachers. To develop the study, we found in the works of Lankshear and Knobel (2013) a notion of new literacies that allows us looking at the practices within digital mapping in a sociocultural perspective. From them, we conclude that in order to understand the changes that digital cartography is able to foment in geography teaching, it is necessary to go beyond the substitution of means in the classroom and being able to explore what makes the new mapping practices different from others already consolidated in geography teaching. Therefore, we comment on some features of new forms of cartographic literacy that are in full development with digital technologies, but which are not determined solely by their use. The ideas of Kitchin and Dodge (2007) and Del Casino Junior and Hanna (2006) are also an important reference for the research. Methodologically, this approach helps us to understand that in the seek to comprehend maps and their meanings, irrespective of the medium used, we are dealing with a process of literacy that is very particular and emergent because it involves not only the characteristics of the map artifact and of the individual that produces or consumes it, but depends mainly on a diversity of interconnections that are being built between them (map and individual) and the world.

  5. Combined action of ionizing radiation with another factor: common rules and theoretical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jin Kyu; Roh, Changhyun; Komarova, Ludmila N.; Petin, Vladislav G.

    2013-01-01

    Two or more factors can simultaneously make their combined effects on the biological objects. This study has focused on theoretical approach to synergistic interaction due to the combined action of radiation and another factor on cell inactivation. A mathematical model for the synergistic interaction of different environmental agents was suggested for quantitative prediction of irreversibly damaged cells after combined exposures. The model takes into account the synergistic interaction of agents and based on the supposition that additional effective damages responsible for the synergy are irreversible and originated from an interaction of ineffective sub lesions. The experimental results regarding the irreversible component of radiation damage of diploid yeast cells simultaneous exposed to heat with ionizing radiation or UV light are presented. A good agreement of experimental results with model predictions was demonstrated. The importance of the results obtained for the interpretation of the mechanism of synergistic interaction of various environmental factors is discussed. (author)

  6. Combined action of ionizing radiation with another factor: common rules and theoretical approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jin Kyu; Roh, Changhyun, E-mail: jkkim@kaeri.re.kr [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup (Korea, Republic of); Komarova, Ludmila N.; Petin, Vladislav G., E-mail: vgpetin@yahoo.com [Medical Radiological Research Center, Obninsk (Russian Federation)

    2013-07-01

    Two or more factors can simultaneously make their combined effects on the biological objects. This study has focused on theoretical approach to synergistic interaction due to the combined action of radiation and another factor on cell inactivation. A mathematical model for the synergistic interaction of different environmental agents was suggested for quantitative prediction of irreversibly damaged cells after combined exposures. The model takes into account the synergistic interaction of agents and based on the supposition that additional effective damages responsible for the synergy are irreversible and originated from an interaction of ineffective sub lesions. The experimental results regarding the irreversible component of radiation damage of diploid yeast cells simultaneous exposed to heat with ionizing radiation or UV light are presented. A good agreement of experimental results with model predictions was demonstrated. The importance of the results obtained for the interpretation of the mechanism of synergistic interaction of various environmental factors is discussed. (author)

  7. Cross-cultural undergraduate medical education in North America: theoretical concepts and educational approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reitmanova, Sylvia

    2011-04-01

    Cross-cultural undergraduate medical education in North America lacks conceptual clarity. Consequently, school curricula are unsystematic, nonuniform, and fragmented. This article provides a literature review about available conceptual models of cross-cultural medical education. The clarification of these models may inform the development of effective educational programs to enable students to provide better quality care to patients from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. The approaches to cross-cultural health education can be organized under the rubric of two specific conceptual models: cultural competence and critical culturalism. The variation in the conception of culture adopted in these two models results in differences in all curricular components: learning outcomes, content, educational strategies, teaching methods, student assessment, and program evaluation. Medical schools could benefit from more theoretical guidance on the learning outcomes, content, and educational strategies provided to them by governing and licensing bodies. More student assessments and program evaluations are needed in order to appraise the effectiveness of cross-cultural undergraduate medical education.

  8. Understanding small biomolecule-biomaterial interactions: a review of fundamental theoretical and experimental approaches for biomolecule interactions with inorganic surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Dominique; Garrain, Pierre-Alain; Baaden, Marc

    2013-04-01

    Interactions between biomolecules and inorganic surfaces play an important role in natural environments and in industry, including a wide variety of conditions: marine environment, ship hulls (fouling), water treatment, heat exchange, membrane separation, soils, mineral particles at the earth's surface, hospitals (hygiene), art and buildings (degradation and biocorrosion), paper industry (fouling) and more. To better control the first steps leading to adsorption of a biomolecule on an inorganic surface, it is mandatory to understand the adsorption mechanisms of biomolecules of several sizes at the atomic scale, that is, the nature of the chemical interaction between the biomolecule and the surface and the resulting biomolecule conformations once adsorbed at the surface. This remains a challenging and unsolved problem. Here, we review the state of art in experimental and theoretical approaches. We focus on metallic biomaterial surfaces such as TiO(2) and stainless steel, mentioning some remarkable results on hydroxyapatite. Experimental techniques include atomic force microscopy, surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microbalance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, sum frequency generation and time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Theoretical models range from detailed quantum mechanical representations to classical forcefield-based approaches. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. A Hybrid Chaotic and Number Theoretic Approach for Securing DICOM Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeyamala Chandrasekaran

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The advancements in telecommunication and networking technologies have led to the increased popularity and widespread usage of telemedicine. Telemedicine involves storage and exchange of large volume of medical records for remote diagnosis and improved health care services. Images in medical records are characterized by huge volume, high redundancy, and strong correlation among adjacent pixels. This research work proposes a novel idea of integrating number theoretic approach with Henon map for secure and efficient encryption. Modular exponentiation of the primitive roots of the chosen prime in the range of its residual set is employed in the generation of two-dimensional array of keys. The key matrix is permuted and chaotically controlled by Henon map to decide the encryption keys for every pixel of DICOM image. The proposed system is highly secure because of the randomness introduced due to the application of modular exponentiation key generation and application of Henon maps for permutation of keys. Experiments have been conducted to analyze key space, key sensitivity, avalanche effect, correlation distribution, entropy, and histograms. The corresponding results confirm the strength of the proposed design towards statistical and differential crypt analysis. The computational requirements for encryption/decryption have been reduced significantly owing to the reduced number of computations in the process of encryption/decryption.

  10. Is the rotation of the femural head a potential initiation for cutting out? A theoretical and experimental approach

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Lenich, Andreas

    2011-04-22

    Abstract Background Since cut-out still remains one of the major clinical challenges in the field of osteoporotic proximal femur fractures, remarkable developments have been made in improving treatment concepts. However, the mechanics of these complications have not been fully understood. We hypothesize using the experimental data and a theoretical model that a previous rotation of the femoral head due to de-central implant positioning can initiate a cut-out. Methods In this investigation we analysed our experimental data using two common screws (DHS\\/Gamma 3) and helical blades (PFN A\\/TFN) for the fixation of femur fractures in a simple theoretical model applying typical gait pattern on de-central positioned implants. In previous tests during a forced implant rotation by a biomechanical testing machine in a human femoral head the two screws showed failure symptoms (2-6Nm) at the same magnitude as torques acting in the hip during daily activities with de-central implant positioning, while the helical blades showed a better stability (10-20Nm). To calculate the torque of the head around the implant only the force and the leverarm is needed (N [Nm] = F [N] * × [m]). The force F is a product of the mass M [kg] multiplied by the acceleration g [m\\/s2]. The leverarm is the distance between the center of the head of femur and the implant center on a horizontal line. Results Using 50% of 75 kg body weight a torque of 0.37Nm for the 1 mm decentralized position and 1.1Nm for the 3 mm decentralized position of the implant was calculated. At 250% BW, appropriate to a normal step, torques of 1.8Nm (1 mm) and 5.5Nm (3 mm) have been calculated. Comparing of the experimental and theoretical results shows that both screws fail in the same magnitude as torques occur in a more than 3 mm de-central positioned implant. Conclusion We conclude the center-center position in the head of femur of any kind of lag screw or blade is to be achieved to minimize rotation of the femoral head

  11. Is the rotation of the femoral head a potential initiation for cutting out? A theoretical and experimental approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenich, Andreas; Bachmeier, Samuel; Prantl, Lukas; Nerlich, Michael; Hammer, Jochen; Mayr, Edgar; Al-Munajjed, Amir Andreas; Füchtmeier, Bernd

    2011-04-22

    Since cut-out still remains one of the major clinical challenges in the field of osteoporotic proximal femur fractures, remarkable developments have been made in improving treatment concepts. However, the mechanics of these complications have not been fully understood.We hypothesize using the experimental data and a theoretical model that a previous rotation of the femoral head due to de-central implant positioning can initiate a cut-out. In this investigation we analysed our experimental data using two common screws (DHS/Gamma 3) and helical blades (PFN A/TFN) for the fixation of femur fractures in a simple theoretical model applying typical gait pattern on de-central positioned implants. In previous tests during a forced implant rotation by a biomechanical testing machine in a human femoral head the two screws showed failure symptoms (2-6Nm) at the same magnitude as torques acting in the hip during daily activities with de-central implant positioning, while the helical blades showed a better stability (10-20Nm).To calculate the torque of the head around the implant only the force and the leverarm is needed (N [Nm] = F [N] * × [m]). The force F is a product of the mass M [kg] multiplied by the acceleration g [m/s2]. The leverarm is the distance between the center of the head of femur and the implant center on a horizontal line. Using 50% of 75 kg body weight a torque of 0.37Nm for the 1 mm decentralized position and 1.1Nm for the 3 mm decentralized position of the implant was calculated. At 250% BW, appropriate to a normal step, torques of 1.8Nm (1 mm) and 5.5Nm (3 mm) have been calculated.Comparing of the experimental and theoretical results shows that both screws fail in the same magnitude as torques occur in a more than 3 mm de-central positioned implant. We conclude the center-center position in the head of femur of any kind of lag screw or blade is to be achieved to minimize rotation of the femoral head and to prevent further mechanical complications.

  12. On the information-theoretic approach to G\\"odel's incompleteness theorem

    OpenAIRE

    D'Abramo, Germano

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we briefly review and analyze three published proofs of Chaitin's theorem, the celebrated information-theoretic version of G\\"odel's incompleteness theorem. Then, we discuss our main perplexity concerning a key step common to all these demonstrations.

  13. Endovascular approach to treat ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm in a patient with previous CABG and very high surgical risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zago, Alexandre C; Saadi, Eduardo K; Zago, Alcides J

    2011-10-01

    Pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta is an uncommon pathology and a challenge in high-risk patients who undergo conventional surgery because of high operative morbidity and mortality. Endovascular exclusion of an aortic pseudoaneurysm using an endoprosthesis is a less invasive approach, but few such cases have been reported. Moreover, the use of this approach poses unique therapeutic challenges because there is no specific endoprosthesis for ascending aortic repair, particularly to treat patients with previous coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). We describe the case of a 74-year-old patient who had undergone CABG and later presented with an iatrogenic ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm that occurred during an angiography. This patient was at very high risk for surgical treatment and, therefore, an endovascular approach was adopted: percutaneous coronary intervention for the left main coronary artery, left anterior descending and left circumflex native coronary arteries followed by endovascular endoprosthesis deployment in the ascending aorta to exclude the pseudoaneurysm. Both procedures were successfully performed, and the patient was discharged without complications 4 days later. At 5 months' clinical follow-up, his clinical condition was good and he had no complications. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  14. THE THEORETICAL AND METHODICAL APPROACH TO AN ASSESSMENT OF A LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENTERPRISE IN CONDITIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Shved

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this article is theoretical, methodical and practical aspects of enterprise development in conditions of globalization. The purpose of this research is to provide theoretical and methodical approach to an assessment of a level of development of the enterprise, which is based on the relationship between the factors and influence, illustrating the effect of the internal and external environment of enterprises functioning, and indicates the level of development of the enterprise. Methodology. Theoretical basis of the study was the examination and rethinking of the main achievements of world and domestic science on the development of enterprises. To achieve the objectives of the research following methods were used: systemic and structural analysis for the formation of methodical approaches to the selection of the factors, influencing the development of enterprises; abstract and logical – for the formulation of conclusions and proposals; the method of valuation and expert assessments to the implementation of the proposed theoretical and methodical approach to an assessment of a level of development of the enterprise in conditions of globalization. Results of the research is the proposed theoretical and methodical to an assessment of a level of development of the enterprise in conditions of globalization, which is associated with the idea of development of the enterprise as a system with inputs–factors, influencing on the development , and outputs – indicators of the level of enterprise development within these factors. So, the chosen factors – resources, financial-economic activity, innovation and investment activities, competition, government influence, and foreign trade. Indicators that express these factors, are capital productivity, labour productivity, material efficiency within the first factor; the profitability of the activity, the coefficient of current assets, the total liquidity coefficient, financial stability

  15. Research in theoretical nuclear physics. Final report, April 1, 1993 - March 31, 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Udagawa, Takeshi

    1997-08-01

    This report describes the accomplishments in basic research in nuclear physics carried out by the theoretical nuclear physics group in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, during the period of April 1, 1993 to March 31, 1996. The work done covers three separate areas, low energy nuclear reactions, intermediate energy physics, and nuclear structure studies. Although the various subjects are spread among different areas, they are all based on two techniques that they have developed in previous years. These techniques are: (a) a powerful method for continuum-random-phase-approximation (CRPA) calculations of the nuclear response; and, (b) the direct reaction approach to complete and incomplete fusion reactions, which enables them to describe on a single footing all the different types of nuclear reactions, i.e., complete fusion, incomplete fusion and direct reactions, in a systematic way based on a single theoretical framework. In this report, the authors first summarize their achievements in these three areas, and then present final remarks

  16. δ-Cut Decision-Theoretic Rough Set Approach: Model and Attribute Reductions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hengrong Ju

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Decision-theoretic rough set is a quite useful rough set by introducing the decision cost into probabilistic approximations of the target. However, Yao’s decision-theoretic rough set is based on the classical indiscernibility relation; such a relation may be too strict in many applications. To solve this problem, a δ-cut decision-theoretic rough set is proposed, which is based on the δ-cut quantitative indiscernibility relation. Furthermore, with respect to criterions of decision-monotonicity and cost decreasing, two different algorithms are designed to compute reducts, respectively. The comparisons between these two algorithms show us the following: (1 with respect to the original data set, the reducts based on decision-monotonicity criterion can generate more rules supported by the lower approximation region and less rules supported by the boundary region, and it follows that the uncertainty which comes from boundary region can be decreased; (2 with respect to the reducts based on decision-monotonicity criterion, the reducts based on cost minimum criterion can obtain the lowest decision costs and the largest approximation qualities. This study suggests potential application areas and new research trends concerning rough set theory.

  17. Devil in the Details: A Critical Review of "Theoretical Loss".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tom, Matthew A; Shaffer, Howard J

    2016-09-01

    In their review of Internet gambling studies, Auer and Griffiths (J Gambl Stud 30(4), 879-887, 2014) question the validity of using bet size as an indicator of gambling intensity. Instead, in that review and in a response (Auer and Griffiths, J Gambl Stud 31(3), 921-931, 2015) to a previous comment (Braverman et al., J Gambl Stud 31(2), 359-366, 2015), Auer and Griffiths suggested using "theoretical loss" as a preferable measure of gambling intensity. This comment extends and advances the discussion about measures of gambling intensity. In this paper, we describe previously identified problems that Auer and Griffiths need to address to sustain theoretical loss as a viable measure of gambling intensity and add details to the discussion that demonstrate difficulties associated with the use of theoretical loss with certain gambling games.

  18. Scientific-theoretical research approach to practical theology in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    All of them work with practical theological hermeneutics. The basic hermeneutic approach of Daniël Louw is widened with an integrated approach by Richard R. Osmer in which practical theology as a hermeneutic discipline also includes the empirical aspect which the action theory approach has contributed to the ...

  19. Theoretical Fundamentals of Human Factor

    OpenAIRE

    Nicoleta Maria Ienciu

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to identify the theoretical approaches presented by the literature on the human factor. In order to achieve such objective we have performed a qualitative research by analyzing the content of several papers published in internationally renowned journals, classified according to the list of journals' ranking provided by the Association of Business Schools (UK), in relation to the theories that have been approached within it. Our findings suggest that from all ident...

  20. Game Theoretical Approaches for Transport-Aware Channel Selection in Cognitive Radio Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Shih-Ho

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Effectively sharing channels among secondary users (SUs is one of the greatest challenges in cognitive radio network (CRN. In the past, many studies have proposed channel selection schemes at the physical or the MAC layer that allow SUs swiftly respond to the spectrum states. However, they may not lead to enhance performance due to slow response of the transport layer flow control mechanism. This paper presents a cross-layer design framework called Transport Aware Channel Selection (TACS scheme to optimize the transport throughput based on states, such as RTT and congestion window size, of TCP flow control mechanism. We formulate the TACS problem as two different game theoretic approaches: Selfish Spectrum Sharing Game (SSSG and Cooperative Spectrum Sharing Game (CSSG and present novel distributed heuristic algorithms to optimize TCP throughput. Computer simulations show that SSSG and CSSG could double the SUs throughput of current MAC-based scheme when primary users (PUs use their channel infrequently, and with up to 12% to 100% throughput increase when PUs are more active. The simulation results also illustrated that CSSG performs up to 20% better than SSSG in terms of the throughput.

  1. A theoretical approach to dual practice regulations in the health sector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González, Paula; Macho-Stadler, Inés

    2013-01-01

    Internationally, there is wide cross-country heterogeneity in government responses to dual practice in the health sector. This paper provides a uniform theoretical framework to analyze and compare some of the most common regulations. We focus on three interventions: banning dual practice, offering rewarding contracts to public physicians, and limiting dual practice (including both limits to private earnings of dual providers and limits to involvement in private activities). An ancillary objective of the paper is to investigate whether regulations that are optimal for developed countries are adequate for developing countries as well. Our results offer theoretical support for the desirability of different regulations in different economic environments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Rock mechanics site descriptive model-theoretical approach. Preliminary site description Forsmark area - version 1.2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fredriksson, Anders; Olofsson, Isabelle [Golder Associates AB, Uppsala (Sweden)

    2005-12-15

    The present report summarises the theoretical approach to estimate the mechanical properties of the rock mass in relation to the Preliminary Site Descriptive Modelling, version 1.2 Forsmark. The theoretical approach is based on a discrete fracture network (DFN) description of the fracture system in the rock mass and on the results of mechanical testing of intact rock and on rock fractures. To estimate the mechanical properties of the rock mass a load test on a rock block with fractures is simulated with the numerical code 3DEC. The location and size of the fractures are given by DFN-realisations. The rock block was loaded in plain strain condition. From the calculated relationship between stresses and deformations the mechanical properties of the rock mass were determined. The influence of the geometrical properties of the fracture system on the mechanical properties of the rock mass was analysed by loading 20 blocks based on different DFN-realisations. The material properties of the intact rock and the fractures were kept constant. The properties are set equal to the mean value of each measured material property. The influence of the variation of the properties of the intact rock and variation of the mechanical properties of the fractures are estimated by analysing numerical load tests on one specific block (one DFN-realisation) with combinations of properties for intact rock and fractures. Each parameter varies from its lowest values to its highest values while the rest of the parameters are held constant, equal to the mean value. The resulting distribution was expressed as a variation around the value determined with mean values on all parameters. To estimate the resulting distribution of the mechanical properties of the rock mass a Monte-Carlo simulation was performed by generating values from the two distributions independent of each other. The two values were added and the statistical properties of the resulting distribution were determined.

  3. Rock mechanics site descriptive model-theoretical approach. Preliminary site description Forsmark area - version 1.2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fredriksson, Anders; Olofsson, Isabelle

    2005-12-01

    The present report summarises the theoretical approach to estimate the mechanical properties of the rock mass in relation to the Preliminary Site Descriptive Modelling, version 1.2 Forsmark. The theoretical approach is based on a discrete fracture network (DFN) description of the fracture system in the rock mass and on the results of mechanical testing of intact rock and on rock fractures. To estimate the mechanical properties of the rock mass a load test on a rock block with fractures is simulated with the numerical code 3DEC. The location and size of the fractures are given by DFN-realisations. The rock block was loaded in plain strain condition. From the calculated relationship between stresses and deformations the mechanical properties of the rock mass were determined. The influence of the geometrical properties of the fracture system on the mechanical properties of the rock mass was analysed by loading 20 blocks based on different DFN-realisations. The material properties of the intact rock and the fractures were kept constant. The properties are set equal to the mean value of each measured material property. The influence of the variation of the properties of the intact rock and variation of the mechanical properties of the fractures are estimated by analysing numerical load tests on one specific block (one DFN-realisation) with combinations of properties for intact rock and fractures. Each parameter varies from its lowest values to its highest values while the rest of the parameters are held constant, equal to the mean value. The resulting distribution was expressed as a variation around the value determined with mean values on all parameters. To estimate the resulting distribution of the mechanical properties of the rock mass a Monte-Carlo simulation was performed by generating values from the two distributions independent of each other. The two values were added and the statistical properties of the resulting distribution were determined

  4. Field theoretical approach to proton-nucleus reactions. I - One step inelastic scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eiras, A.; Kodama, T.; Nemes, M.C.

    1988-01-01

    In this work we obtain a closed form expression to the double differential cross section for one step proton-nucleus reaction within a field theoretical framework. Energy and momentum conservation as well as nuclear structure effects are consistently taken into account within the field theoretical eikonal approximation. In our formulation the kinematics of such reaction is not dominated by the free nucleon-nucleon cross section but a new factor which we call relativistic differential cross section in a Born Approximation. (author) [pt

  5. The self-schema model: a theoretical approach to the self-concept in eating disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, K F

    1996-04-01

    Over the last several decades, the self-concept has been implicated as a important determinant of eating disorders (ED). Although considerable progress has been made, questions remain unanswered about the properties of self-concept that distinguish women with an ED from other populations, and mechanisms that link the self-concept to the disordered behaviors. Markus's self-schema model is presented as a theoretical approach to explore the role of the self-concept in ED. To show how the schema model can be integrated with existing work on the self-concept in ED, a framework is proposed that addresses the number, content, and accessibility of the self-schemas. More specifically, it is posited that a limited collection of positive self-schemas available in memory, in combination with a chronically and inflexibly accessible body-weight self-schema, lead to the disordered behaviors associated with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

  6. Theoretical design and discovery of the most-promising, previously overlooked hybrid perovskite compounds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zunger, Alex [University of Colorado Boulder; Kazmerski, Lawrence [University of Colorado Boulder; Dalpian, Gustavo [University of Colorado Boulder

    2018-03-14

    The material class of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (AMX3) has risen rapidly from a virtually unknown material in photovoltaic applications a short 8-years ago into 20-23% efficient thin-film solar cell devices. As promising as this class of materials is, however, there are limitations associated with its poor long-term stability, non-optimal band gap, and the presence of toxic Pb atom on the metalloid site. An Edisonian laboratory exploration (i.e., growth + characterization) via trial-and-error processes of all other candidate materials, is unpractical. Our approach uses high speed computational design and discovery to screen the ‘best of class” candidates based upon optimal functionalities.

  7. Theoretical foundations of electron spin resonance

    CERN Document Server

    Harriman, John E

    2013-01-01

    Theoretical Foundations of Electron Spin Resonance deals with the theoretical approach to electron paramagnetic resonance. The book discusses electron spin resonance in applications related to polyatomic, probably organic, free radicals in condensed phases. The book also focuses on essentially static phenomena, that is, the description and determination of stationary-state energy levels. The author reviews the Dirac theory of the electron in which a four-component wave function is responsible for the behavior of the electron. The author then connects this theory with the nonrelativistic wave f

  8. Theoretical Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stöltzner, Michael

    Answering to the double-faced influence of string theory on mathematical practice and rigour, the mathematical physicists Arthur Jaffe and Frank Quinn have contemplated the idea that there exists a `theoretical' mathematics (alongside `theoretical' physics) whose basic structures and results still require independent corroboration by mathematical proof. In this paper, I shall take the Jaffe-Quinn debate mainly as a problem of mathematical ontology and analyse it against the backdrop of two philosophical views that are appreciative towards informal mathematical development and conjectural results: Lakatos's methodology of proofs and refutations and John von Neumann's opportunistic reading of Hilbert's axiomatic method. The comparison of both approaches shows that mitigating Lakatos's falsificationism makes his insights about mathematical quasi-ontology more relevant to 20th century mathematics in which new structures are introduced by axiomatisation and not necessarily motivated by informal ancestors. The final section discusses the consequences of string theorists' claim to finality for the theory's mathematical make-up. I argue that ontological reductionism as advocated by particle physicists and the quest for mathematically deeper axioms do not necessarily lead to identical results.

  9. Fear of cancer recurrence: a theoretical review and novel cognitive processing formulation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fardell, J.E.; Thewes, B.; Turner, J.; Gilchrist, J.; Sharpe, L.; Smith, A.; Girgis, A.; Butow, P.

    2016-01-01

    PURPOSE: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is prevalent among survivors. However, a comprehensive and universally accepted theoretical framework of FCR to guide intervention is lacking. This paper reviews theoretical frameworks previously used to explain FCR and describes the formulation of a novel

  10. Using a Systematic Approach and Theoretical Framework to Design a Curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linnell, Jessica D; Zidenberg-Cherr, Sheri; Briggs, Marilyn; Scherr, Rachel E; Brian, Kelley M; Hillhouse, Carol; Smith, Martin H

    2016-01-01

    To examine the use of a systematic approach and theoretical framework to develop an inquiry-based, garden-enhanced nutrition curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program. Curriculum development occurred in 3 steps: identification of learning objectives, determination of evidence of learning, and activity development. Curriculum activities were further refined through pilot-testing, which was conducted in 2 phases. Formative data collected during pilot-testing resulted in improvements to activities. Using a systematic, iterative process resulted in a curriculum called Discovering Healthy Choices, which has a strong foundation in Social Cognitive Theory and constructivist learning theory. Furthermore, the Backward Design method provided the design team with a systematic approach to ensure activities addressed targeted learning objectives and overall Shaping Healthy Choices Program goals. The process by which a nutrition curriculum is developed may have a direct effect on student outcomes. Processes by which nutrition curricula are designed and learning objectives are selected, and how theory and pedagogy are applied should be further investigated so that effective approaches to developing garden-enhanced nutrition interventions can be determined and replicated. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Demystifying Theoretical Sampling in Grounded Theory Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenna Breckenridge BSc(Hons,Ph.D.Candidate

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Theoretical sampling is a central tenet of classic grounded theory and is essential to the development and refinement of a theory that is ‘grounded’ in data. While many authors appear to share concurrent definitions of theoretical sampling, the ways in which the process is actually executed remain largely elusive and inconsistent. As such, employing and describing the theoretical sampling process can present a particular challenge to novice researchers embarking upon their first grounded theory study. This article has been written in response to the challenges faced by the first author whilst writing a grounded theory proposal. It is intended to clarify theoretical sampling for new grounded theory researchers, offering some insight into the practicalities of selecting and employing a theoretical sampling strategy. It demonstrates that the credibility of a theory cannot be dissociated from the process by which it has been generated and seeks to encourage and challenge researchers to approach theoretical sampling in a way that is apposite to the core principles of the classic grounded theory methodology.

  12. Do pseudo-absence selection strategies influence species distribution models and their predictions? An information-theoretic approach based on simulated data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guisan Antoine

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Multiple logistic regression is precluded from many practical applications in ecology that aim to predict the geographic distributions of species because it requires absence data, which are rarely available or are unreliable. In order to use multiple logistic regression, many studies have simulated "pseudo-absences" through a number of strategies, but it is unknown how the choice of strategy influences models and their geographic predictions of species. In this paper we evaluate the effect of several prevailing pseudo-absence strategies on the predictions of the geographic distribution of a virtual species whose "true" distribution and relationship to three environmental predictors was predefined. We evaluated the effect of using a real absences b pseudo-absences selected randomly from the background and c two-step approaches: pseudo-absences selected from low suitability areas predicted by either Ecological Niche Factor Analysis: (ENFA or BIOCLIM. We compared how the choice of pseudo-absence strategy affected model fit, predictive power, and information-theoretic model selection results. Results Models built with true absences had the best predictive power, best discriminatory power, and the "true" model (the one that contained the correct predictors was supported by the data according to AIC, as expected. Models based on random pseudo-absences had among the lowest fit, but yielded the second highest AUC value (0.97, and the "true" model was also supported by the data. Models based on two-step approaches had intermediate fit, the lowest predictive power, and the "true" model was not supported by the data. Conclusion If ecologists wish to build parsimonious GLM models that will allow them to make robust predictions, a reasonable approach is to use a large number of randomly selected pseudo-absences, and perform model selection based on an information theoretic approach. However, the resulting models can be expected to have

  13. Responsible Practices are Culturally Embedded: Theoretical Considerations on Industry-Specific Corporate Social Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Beschorner, Thomas; Hajduk, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we develop our argument in three steps: Firstly, we elaborate on some theoretical perspectives for industry-specific CSR by referring to cultural business ethics, a theoretical approach which is located between purely business perspectives and purely normative perspectives on CSR. Secondly, we briefly introduce the papers of this special issue, which covers a wide range of theoretical approaches and empirical studies in the field of industry-specific CSR. Thirdly, we draw atten...

  14. Development of a theoretical framework for analyzing cerebrospinal fluid dynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vedel Søren

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To date hydrocephalus researchers acknowledge the need for rigorous but utilitarian fluid mechanics understanding and methodologies in studying normal and hydrocephalic intracranial dynamics. Pressure volume models and electric circuit analogs introduced pressure into volume conservation; but control volume analysis enforces independent conditions on pressure and volume. Previously, utilization of clinical measurements has been limited to understanding of the relative amplitude and timing of flow, volume and pressure waveforms; qualitative approaches without a clear framework for meaningful quantitative comparison. Methods Control volume analysis is presented to introduce the reader to the theoretical background of this foundational fluid mechanics technique for application to general control volumes. This approach is able to directly incorporate the diverse measurements obtained by clinicians to better elucidate intracranial dynamics and progression to disorder. Results Several examples of meaningful intracranial control volumes and the particular measurement sets needed for the analysis are discussed. Conclusion Control volume analysis provides a framework to guide the type and location of measurements and also a way to interpret the resulting data within a fundamental fluid physics analysis.

  15. A short course in quantum information theory. An approach from theoretical physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diosi, L.

    2007-01-01

    This short and concise primer takes the vantage point of theoretical physics and the unity of physics. It sets out to strip the burgeoning field of quantum information science to its basics by linking it to universal concepts in physics. An extensive lecture rather than a comprehensive textbook, this volume is based on courses delivered over several years to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, but essentially it addresses anyone with a working knowledge of basic quantum physics. Readers will find these lectures a most adequate entry point for theoretical studies in this field. (orig.)

  16. Theoretical aspects of strategic adaptation management of enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khaustova Ksenya Mykhailivna

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In the article the theoretical foundations of strategic adaptation management as an actual approach to the management of enterprise under conditions that are constantly changing have been developed. The theoretical approaches to the definition of “adaptation enterprise” have been studied and systematized. The essence and principles of strategic management adaptation were expounded. The model of strategic management was improved through the introduction of continuous monitoring and evaluation of changes in the environment and the actual adjustments to the system and processes. The essence and features adaptive capacity of the enterprise as a key element of strategic management have been investigated.

  17. Field-theoretic approach to fluctuation effects in neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buice, Michael A.; Cowan, Jack D.

    2007-01-01

    A well-defined stochastic theory for neural activity, which permits the calculation of arbitrary statistical moments and equations governing them, is a potentially valuable tool for theoretical neuroscience. We produce such a theory by analyzing the dynamics of neural activity using field theoretic methods for nonequilibrium statistical processes. Assuming that neural network activity is Markovian, we construct the effective spike model, which describes both neural fluctuations and response. This analysis leads to a systematic expansion of corrections to mean field theory, which for the effective spike model is a simple version of the Wilson-Cowan equation. We argue that neural activity governed by this model exhibits a dynamical phase transition which is in the universality class of directed percolation. More general models (which may incorporate refractoriness) can exhibit other universality classes, such as dynamic isotropic percolation. Because of the extremely high connectivity in typical networks, it is expected that higher-order terms in the systematic expansion are small for experimentally accessible measurements, and thus, consistent with measurements in neocortical slice preparations, we expect mean field exponents for the transition. We provide a quantitative criterion for the relative magnitude of each term in the systematic expansion, analogous to the Ginsburg criterion. Experimental identification of dynamic universality classes in vivo is an outstanding and important question for neuroscience

  18. Breaking the theoretical scaling limit for predicting quasiparticle energies: the stochastic GW approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuhauser, Daniel; Gao, Yi; Arntsen, Christopher; Karshenas, Cyrus; Rabani, Eran; Baer, Roi

    2014-08-15

    We develop a formalism to calculate the quasiparticle energy within the GW many-body perturbation correction to the density functional theory. The occupied and virtual orbitals of the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian are replaced by stochastic orbitals used to evaluate the Green function G, the polarization potential W, and, thereby, the GW self-energy. The stochastic GW (sGW) formalism relies on novel theoretical concepts such as stochastic time-dependent Hartree propagation, stochastic matrix compression, and spatial or temporal stochastic decoupling techniques. Beyond the theoretical interest, the formalism enables linear scaling GW calculations breaking the theoretical scaling limit for GW as well as circumventing the need for energy cutoff approximations. We illustrate the method for silicon nanocrystals of varying sizes with N_{e}>3000 electrons.

  19. Managerial Leadership - A Theoretical Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felicia Cornelia MACARIE

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper endeavors to offer an overview of the major theories on leadership and the way in which it influences the management of contemporary organizations. Numerous scholars highlight that there are numerous overlaps between the concepts of management and leadership. This is the reason why the first section of the paper focuses on providing an extensive overview of the literature regarding the meaning of the two aforementioned concepts. The second section addresses more in depth the concept of leadership and managerial leadership and focuses on the ideal profile of the leader. The last section of the paper critically discusses various types of leadership and more specifically modern approaches to the concept and practices of leadership.

  20. Neutrosophic Game Theoretic Approach to Indo-Pak Conflict over Jammu-Kashmir

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Surapati Pramanik

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The study deals with the enduring conflict between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. The ongoing conflict is analyzed as an enduring rivalry; characterized by three major wars (1947-48, 1965, 1971, low intensity military conflict (Siachen, mini war at Kargil (1999, internal insurgency, cross border terrorism. We examine the progress and the status of the dispute, as well as the dynamics of the India Pakistan relationship by considering the influence of USA and China in crisis dynamics. We discuss the possible solutions offered by the various study groups and persons. Most of the studies were done in crisp environment. Pramanik and Roy (S. Pramanik and T.K. Roy, Game theoretic model to the Jammu-Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. International Journal of Mathematical Archive (IJMA, 4(8 (2013, 162-170. studied game theoretic model toJammu and Kashmir conflict in crisp environment. In the present study we have extended the concept of the game theoric model of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict in neutrosophic envirorment. We have explored the possibilities and developed arguments for an application of principle of neutrosophic game theory to understand properly of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict in terms of goals and strategy of either side. Standard 2×2 zero-sum game theoretic model used to identify an optimal solution.

  1. The game as strategy for approach to sexuality with adolescents: theoretical-methodological reflections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vânia de Souza

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the Papo Reto [Straight Talk] game and reflect on its theoretical-methodological basis. Method: Analytical study on the process of elaboration of the Papo Reto online game, destined to adolescents aged 15-18 years, with access to the Game between 2014 and 2015. Results: the interactions of 60 adolescents from Belo Horizonte and São Paulo constituted examples of the potentialities of the Game to favor the approach to sexuality with adolescents through simulation of reality, invention and interaction. Based on those potentialities, four thinking categories were discussed: the game as pedagogic device; the game as simulation of realities; the game as device for inventive learning; and the game empowering the interaction. Conclusion: By permitting that the adolescents take risks on new ways, the Game allows them to become creative and active in the production of senses, in the creation of their discourses and in the ways of thinking, feeling and acting in the sexuality field.

  2. The game as strategy for approach to sexuality with adolescents: theoretical-methodological reflections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souza, Vânia de; Gazzinelli, Maria Flávia; Soares, Amanda Nathale; Fernandes, Marconi Moura; Oliveira, Rebeca Nunes Guedes de; Fonseca, Rosa Maria Godoy Serpa da

    2017-04-01

    To describe the Papo Reto [Straight Talk] game and reflect on its theoretical-methodological basis. Analytical study on the process of elaboration of the Papo Reto online game, destined to adolescents aged 15-18 years, with access to the Game between 2014 and 2015. the interactions of 60 adolescents from Belo Horizonte and São Paulo constituted examples of the potentialities of the Game to favor the approach to sexuality with adolescents through simulation of reality, invention and interaction. Based on those potentialities, four thinking categories were discussed: the game as pedagogic device; the game as simulation of realities; the game as device for inventive learning; and the game empowering the interaction. By permitting that the adolescents take risks on new ways, the Game allows them to become creative and active in the production of senses, in the creation of their discourses and in the ways of thinking, feeling and acting in the sexuality field.

  3. Data, Methods, and Theoretical Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannagan, Rebecca J.; Schneider, Monica C.; Greenlee, Jill S.

    2012-01-01

    Within the subfields of political psychology and the study of gender, the introduction of new data collection efforts, methodologies, and theoretical approaches are transforming our understandings of these two fields and the places at which they intersect. In this article we present an overview of the research that was presented at a National…

  4. Theoretical analysis of two ACO approaches for the traveling salesman problem

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kötzing, Timo; Neumann, Frank; Röglin, Heiko

    2012-01-01

    Bioinspired algorithms, such as evolutionary algorithms and ant colony optimization, are widely used for different combinatorial optimization problems. These algorithms rely heavily on the use of randomness and are hard to understand from a theoretical point of view. This paper contributes...... to the theoretical analysis of ant colony optimization and studies this type of algorithm on one of the most prominent combinatorial optimization problems, namely the traveling salesperson problem (TSP). We present a new construction graph and show that it has a stronger local property than one commonly used...... for constructing solutions of the TSP. The rigorous runtime analysis for two ant colony optimization algorithms, based on these two construction procedures, shows that they lead to good approximation in expected polynomial time on random instances. Furthermore, we point out in which situations our algorithms get...

  5. Sustainable development, tourism and territory. Previous elements towards a systemic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pierre TORRENTE

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Today, tourism is one of the major challenges for many countries and territories. The balance of payments, an ever-increasing number of visitors and the significant development of the tourism offer clearly illustrate the booming trend in this sector. This macro-economic approach is often used by the organizations in charge of tourism, WTO for instance. Quantitative assessments which consider the satisfaction of customers’ needs as an end in itself have prevailed both in tourism development schemes and in prospective approaches since the sixties.

  6. A Narrative Approach to Both Teaching and Learning About Democracy with Young Children: A Theoretical Exploration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    maila dinia husni rahim

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available As adults, we often believe that children are only interested with games and children’s ‘stuff’. However research has shown that children do indeed show a greater interest in the world around them, including about politics, elections, and democracy. If we need to teach children about democracy, what are the best methods of teaching democracy to young children? Narrative is considered as an effective medium to convey messages to children and discuss hard subjects. This paper is a theoretical exploration that looks at the narrative approach to teaching and learning about democracy with young children. The researchers has used a literature review to look at why narratives should be used, what narratives should be used and how to use narratives.

  7. Theoretical analysis of the axial growth of nanowires starting with a binary eutectic droplet via vapor-liquid-solid mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Qing; Li, Hejun; Zhang, Yulei; Zhao, Zhigang

    2018-06-01

    A series of theoretical analysis is carried out for the axial vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth of nanowires starting with a binary eutectic droplet. The growth model considering the entire process of axial VLS growth is a development of the approaches already developed by previous studies. In this model, the steady and unsteady state growth are considered both. The amount of solute species in a variable liquid droplet, the nanowire length, radius, growth rate and all other parameters during the entire axial growth process are treated as functions of growth time. The model provides theoretical predictions for the formation of nanowire shape, the length-radius and growth rate-radius dependences. It is also suggested by the model that the initial growth of single nanowire is significantly affected by Gibbs-Thompson effect due to the shape change. The model was applied on predictions of available experimental data of Si and Ge nanowires grown from Au-Si and Au-Ge systems respectively reported by other works. The calculations with the proposed model are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental results of the previous works.

  8. An integrated approach to sensor FDI and signal reconstruction in HTGRs – Part I: Theoretical framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uren, Kenneth R.; Schoor, George van; Rand, Carel P. du; Botha, Anrika

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An integrated sensor fault detection and isolation method for nuclear power plants. • Utilise techniques such as non-temporal parity space and principal component analysis. • Utilise statistical methods and fuzzy systems for sensor fault isolation. • Allow the detection of multiple sensor faults. • Proposed methodology suitable for online implementation. - Abstract: Sensor fault detection and isolation (FDI) is an important element in modern nuclear power plant (NPP) diagnostic systems. In this respect, sensor FDI of generation II and III water-cooled nuclear energy systems has become an active research topic to continually improve levels of reliability, safety, and operation. However, evolutionary advances in reactor and component technology together with different energy conversion methodologies support the investigation of alternative approaches to sensor FDI. Within this context, the basic aim of this two part series is to propose, implement and evaluate an integrated approach for sensor FDI and signal reconstruction in generation IV nuclear high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). In part I of this two part series, the methodology and theoretical background of the integrated sensor FDI and signal reconstruction approach are given. This approach combines techniques such as non-temporal parity space analysis (PSA), principal component analysis (PCA), sensor fusion and fuzzy decision systems to form a more powerful sensor FDI methodology that exploits the strengths of the individual techniques. An illustrative example of the PCA algorithm is given making use of actual data retrieved from a pilot plant called the pebble bed micro model (PBMM). This is a prototype gas turbine power plant based on the first design configuration of the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR). In part II, the described integrated sensor fault detection approach will be evaluated by means of two case studies. In the first case study the approach will be evaluated

  9. Photodynamic therapy: Theoretical and experimental approaches to dosimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ken Kang-Hsin

    Singlet oxygen (1O2) is the major cytotoxic species generated during photodynamic therapy (PDT), and 1O 2 reactions with biological targets define the photodynamic dose at the most fundamental level. We have developed a theoretical model for rigorously describing the spatial and temporal dynamics of oxygen (3O 2) consumption and transport and microscopic 1O 2 dose deposition during PDT in vivo. Using experimentally established physiological and photophysical parameters, the mathematical model allows computation of the dynamic variation of hemoglobin-3O 2 saturation within vessels, irreversible photosensitizer degradation due to photobleaching, therapy-induced blood flow decrease and the microscopic distributions of 3O2 and 1O 2 dose deposition under various irradiation conditions. mTHPC, a promising photosensitizer for PDT, is approved in Europe for the palliative treatment of head and neck cancer. Using the theoretical model and informed by intratumor sensitizer concentrations and distributions, we calculated photodynamic dose depositions for mTHPC-PDT. Our results demonstrate that the 1O 2 dose to the tumor volume does not track even qualitatively with long-term tumor responses. Thus, in this evaluation of mTHPC-PDT, any PDT dose metric that is proportional to singlet oxygen creation and/or deposition would fail to predict the tumor response. In situations like this one, other reporters of biological response to therapy would be necessary. In addition to the case study of mTHPC-PDT, we also use the mathematical model to simulate clinical photobleaching data, informed by a possible blood flow reduction during treatment. In a recently completed clinical trial at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, patients with superficial basal cell carcinoma received topical application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and were irradiated with 633 nm light at 10-150 mW cm-2 . Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) photobleaching in the lesion and the adjacent perilesion normal margin was monitored by

  10. Modeling the economic impact of medication adherence in type 2 diabetes: a theoretical approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David S Cobden

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available David S Cobden1, Louis W Niessen2, Frans FH Rutten1, W Ken Redekop11Department of Health Policy and Management, Section of Health Economics – Medical Technology Assessment (HE-MTA, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 2Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USAAims: While strong correlations exist between medication adherence and health economic outcomes in type 2 diabetes, current economic analyses do not adequately consider them. We propose a new approach to incorporate adherence in cost-effectiveness analysis.Methods: We describe a theoretical approach to incorporating the effect of adherence when estimating the long-term costs and effectiveness of an antidiabetic medication. This approach was applied in a Markov model which includes common diabetic health states. We compared two treatments using hypothetical patient cohorts: injectable insulin (IDM and oral (OAD medications. Two analyses were performed, one which ignored adherence (analysis 1 and one which incorporated it (analysis 2. Results from the two analyses were then compared to explore the extent to which adherence may impact incremental cost-effectiveness ratios.Results: In both analyses, IDM was more costly and more effective than OAD. When adherence was ignored, IDM generated an incremental cost-effectiveness of $12,097 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY gained versus OAD. Incorporation of adherence resulted in a slightly higher ratio ($16,241/QALY. This increase was primarily due to better adherence with OAD than with IDM, and the higher direct medical costs for IDM.Conclusions: Incorporating medication adherence into economic analyses can meaningfully influence the estimated cost-effectiveness of type 2 diabetes treatments, and should therefore be ­considered in health care decision-making. Future work on the impact of adherence on health

  11. Intelligence, previous convictions and interrogative suggestibility: a path analysis of alleged false-confession cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharrock, R; Gudjonsson, G H

    1993-05-01

    The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between interrogative suggestibility and previous convictions among 108 defendants in criminal trials, using a path analysis technique. It was hypothesized that previous convictions, which may provide defendants with interrogative experiences, would correlate negatively with 'shift' as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (Gudjonsson, 1984a), after intelligence and memory had been controlled for. The hypothesis was partially confirmed and the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

  12. Theoretical Study of the Compound Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. Subhi S. Mahammed; Dr. Hameed J. Khalaf; Tadahmun A. Yassen

    2012-01-01

    Theoretical design of compound parabolic trough solar collector (CPC) without tracking is presented in this work. The thermal efficiency is obtained by using FORTRAN 90 program. The thermal efficiency is between (60-67)% at mass flow rate between (0.02-0.03) kg/s at concentration ratio of (3.8) without need to tracking system.The total and diffused radiation is calculated for Tikrit city by using theoretical equations. Good agreement between present work and the previous work.

  13. Economic growth factors system: theoretical and methodological aspect

    OpenAIRE

    H.Ya. Hlukha

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the article. The main objective of the article is to create theoretical grounds to build the system of economic growth factors, to modernize their classification, to define exogenous and endogenous factors, to analyze them within the state economic policy structure. The results of the analysis. The article focuses on economic growth factors theoretical studies: - economic growth factors classification characteristics have been highlighted; - various approaches to determine...

  14. Study of some physical aspects previous to design of an exponential experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caro, R.; Francisco, J. L. de

    1961-01-01

    This report presents the theoretical study of some physical aspects previous to the design of an exponential facility. The are: Fast and slow flux distribution in the multiplicative medium and in the thermal column, slowing down in the thermal column, geometrical distribution and minimum needed intensity of sources access channels and perturbations produced by possible variations in its position and intensity. (Author) 4 refs

  15. A theoretical approach to the problem of dose-volume constraint estimation and their impact on the dose-volume histogram selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schinkel, Colleen; Stavrev, Pavel; Stavreva, Nadia; Fallone, B. Gino

    2006-01-01

    This paper outlines a theoretical approach to the problem of estimating and choosing dose-volume constraints. Following this approach, a method of choosing dose-volume constraints based on biological criteria is proposed. This method is called ''reverse normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) mapping into dose-volume space'' and may be used as a general guidance to the problem of dose-volume constraint estimation. Dose-volume histograms (DVHs) are randomly simulated, and those resulting in clinically acceptable levels of complication, such as NTCP of 5±0.5%, are selected and averaged producing a mean DVH that is proven to result in the same level of NTCP. The points from the averaged DVH are proposed to serve as physical dose-volume constraints. The population-based critical volume and Lyman NTCP models with parameter sets taken from literature sources were used for the NTCP estimation. The impact of the prescribed value of the maximum dose to the organ, D max , on the averaged DVH and the dose-volume constraint points is investigated. Constraint points for 16 organs are calculated. The impact of the number of constraints to be fulfilled based on the likelihood that a DVH satisfying them will result in an acceptable NTCP is also investigated. It is theoretically proven that the radiation treatment optimization based on physical objective functions can sufficiently well restrict the dose to the organs at risk, resulting in sufficiently low NTCP values through the employment of several appropriate dose-volume constraints. At the same time, the pure physical approach to optimization is self-restrictive due to the preassignment of acceptable NTCP levels thus excluding possible better solutions to the problem

  16. 2nd International Conference on Proof-Theoretic Semantics

    CERN Document Server

    Schroeder-Heister, Peter

    2016-01-01

    This volume is the first ever collection devoted to the field of proof-theoretic semantics. Contributions address topics including the systematics of introduction and elimination rules and proofs of normalization, the categorial characterization of deductions, the relation between Heyting's and Gentzen's approaches to meaning, knowability paradoxes, proof-theoretic foundations of set theory, Dummett's justification of logical laws, Kreisel's theory of constructions, paradoxical reasoning, and the defence of model theory. The field of proof-theoretic semantics has existed for almost 50 years, but the term itself was proposed by Schroeder-Heister in the 1980s. Proof-theoretic semantics explains the meaning of linguistic expressions in general and of logical constants in particular in terms of the notion of proof. This volume emerges from presentations at the Second International Conference on Proof-Theoretic Semantics in Tübingen in 2013, where contributing authors were asked to provide a self-contained descri...

  17. Theoretical Study of the Compound Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Subhi S. Mahammed

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Theoretical design of compound parabolic trough solar collector (CPC without tracking is presented in this work. The thermal efficiency is obtained by using FORTRAN 90 program. The thermal efficiency is between (60-67% at mass flow rate between (0.02-0.03 kg/s at concentration ratio of (3.8 without need to tracking system.The total and diffused radiation is calculated for Tikrit city by using theoretical equations. Good agreement between present work and the previous work.

  18. The question of representation in the psychoanalytical and cognitive-behavioural approaches. Some theoretical aspects and therapy considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe eDe Timary

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper compares the cognitive-behavioural and psychoanalytical approaches with respect to the way in which each of them conceives of representation and deals with the issues that this involves. In both of them conscious and latent (unconscious representations play a crucial role. Highlighting similarities and differences facilitate communication on a theoretical level but also prove helpful to the clinical practitioners involved. We try to put forward an attempt at comparison, with the idea of going beyond the -- obviously important -- differences in vocabulary. In this attempt at comparison, we have successively compared the definitions of representation and the respective therapeutic interventions proposed by each approach. There are no doubt many overlapping elements in the way in which the workings of the mind are conceived of in these approaches, particularly as regards their links with affects. We next developed the implications of representation deficits in pathology, suggesting the important role played by elements that are avoided, suppressed from memory or repressed, and with respect to the need to treat such material in a specific manner so as to ensure some progress as to the symptoms presented. We finally summarized common and distinct aspects of the two perspectives. The very fact that two approaches that follow very distinct methodologies reach the same conclusion concerning the importance of distortions and failures of representation in generating mental distress strengthens, in our view, the epistemological reliability of the role of representation in psychopathology.

  19. Theoretical information measurement in nonrelativistic time-dependent approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najafizade, S. A.; Hassanabadi, H.; Zarrinkamar, S.

    2018-02-01

    The information-theoretic measures of time-dependent Schrödinger equation are investigated via the Shannon information entropy, variance and local Fisher quantities. In our calculations, we consider the two first states n = 0,1 and obtain the position Sx (t) and momentum Sp (t) Shannon entropies as well as Fisher information Ix (t) in position and momentum Ip (t) spaces. Using the Fourier transformed wave function, we obtain the results in momentum space. Some interesting features of the information entropy densities ρs (x,t) and γs (p,t), as well as the probability densities ρ (x,t) and γ (p,t) for time-dependent states are demonstrated. We establish a general relation between variance and Fisher's information. The Bialynicki-Birula-Mycielski inequality is tested and verified for the states n = 0,1.

  20. The Assessment Methodology RADAR – A Theoretical Approach of a Methodology for Coordinating the Efforts to Improve the Organizational Processes to Achieve Excellence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Raluca Popescu

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In the paper “The Assessment Methodology RADAR – A Theoretical Approach of a Methodology for Coordinating the Efforts to Improve the Organizational Processes to Achieve Excellence” the authors present the basic features of the assessment methodology RADAR that is designed to coordinate the efforts to improve the organizational processes in order to achieve excellence.

  1. Compendium of theoretical physics

    CERN Document Server

    Wachter, Armin

    2006-01-01

    Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, and Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics comprise the canonical undergraduate curriculum of theoretical physics. In Compendium of Theoretical Physics, Armin Wachter and Henning Hoeber offer a concise, rigorous and structured overview that will be invaluable for students preparing for their qualifying examinations, readers needing a supplement to standard textbooks, and research or industrial physicists seeking a bridge between extensive textbooks and formula books. The authors take an axiomatic-deductive approach to each topic, starting the discussion of each theory with its fundamental equations. By subsequently deriving the various physical relationships and laws in logical rather than chronological order, and by using a consistent presentation and notation throughout, they emphasize the connections between the individual theories. The reader’s understanding is then reinforced with exercises, solutions and topic summaries. Unique Features: Every topic is ...

  2. Substituent effects on the relaxation dynamics of furan, furfural and β-furfural: a combined theoretical and experimental approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oesterling, Sven; Schalk, Oliver; Geng, Ting; Thomas, Richard D; Hansson, Tony; de Vivie-Riedle, Regina

    2017-01-18

    For the series furan, furfural and β-furfural we investigated the effect of substituents and their positioning on the photoinduced relaxation dynamics in a combined theoretical and experimental approach. Using time resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with a high intensity probe pulse, we can, for the first time, follow the whole deactivation process of furan through a two photon probe signal. Using the extended 2-electron 2-orbital model [Nenov et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2011, 135, 034304] we explain the formation of one central conical intersection and predict the influence of the aldehyde group of the derivatives on its geometry. This, as well as the relaxation mechanisms from photoexcitation to the final outcome was investigated using a variety of theoretical methods. Complete active space self consistent field was used for on-the-fly calculations while complete active space perturbation theory and coupled cluster theory were used to accurately describe critical configurations. Experiment and theory show the relaxation dynamics of furfural and β-furfural to be slowed down, and together they disclose an additional deactivation pathway, which is attributed to the n O lonepair state introduced with the aldehyde group.

  3. Group theoretic approaches to nuclear and hadronic collective motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biedenharn, L.C.

    1982-01-01

    Three approaches to nuclear and hadronic collective motion are reviewed, compared and contrasted: the standard symmetry approach as typified by the Interacting Boson Model, the kinematic symmetry group approach of Gell-Mann and Tomonaga, and the recent direct construction by Buck. 50 references

  4. Group theoretic approaches to nuclear and hadronic collective motion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Biedenharn, L.C.

    1982-01-01

    Three approaches to nuclear and hadronic collective motion are reviewed, compared and contrasted: the standard symmetry approach as typified by the Interacting Boson Model, the kinematic symmetry group approach of Gell-Mann and Tomonaga, and the recent direct construction by Buck. 50 references.

  5. Theoretical investigation of phase-controlled bias effect in capacitively coupled plasma discharges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Deuk-Chul; Yoon, Jung-Sik

    2011-01-01

    We theoretically investigated the effect of phase difference between powered electrodes in capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharges. Previous experimental result has shown that the plasma potential could be controlled by using a phase-shift controller in CCP discharges. In this work, based on the previously developed radio frequency sheath models, we developed a circuit model to self-consistently determine the bias voltage from the plasma parameters. Results show that the present theoretical model explains the experimental results quite well and there is an optimum value of the phase difference for which the V dc /V pp ratio becomes a minimum.

  6. Self, College Experiences, and Society: Rethinking the Theoretical Foundations of Student Development Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winkle-Wagner, Rachelle

    2012-01-01

    This article examines the psychological theoretical foundations of college student development theory and the theoretical assumptions of this framework. A complimentary, sociological perspective and the theoretical assumptions of this approach are offered. The potential limitations of the overuse of each perspective are considered. The conclusion…

  7. A game-theoretic approach for calibration of low-cost magnetometers under noise uncertainty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siddharth, S.; Ali, A. S.; El-Sheimy, N.; Goodall, C. L.; Syed, Z. F.

    2012-02-01

    Pedestrian heading estimation is a fundamental challenge in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environments. Additionally, the heading observability considerably degrades in low-speed mode of operation (e.g. walking), making this problem even more challenging. The goal of this work is to improve the heading solution when hand-held personal/portable devices, such as cell phones, are used for positioning and to improve the heading estimation in GNSS-denied signal environments. Most smart phones are now equipped with self-contained, low cost, small size and power-efficient sensors, such as magnetometers, gyroscopes and accelerometers. A magnetometer needs calibration before it can be properly employed for navigation purposes. Magnetometers play an important role in absolute heading estimation and are embedded in many smart phones. Before the users navigate with the phone, a calibration is invoked to ensure an improved signal quality. This signal is used later in the heading estimation. In most of the magnetometer-calibration approaches, the motion modes are seldom described to achieve a robust calibration. Also, suitable calibration approaches fail to discuss the stopping criteria for calibration. In this paper, the following three topics are discussed in detail that are important to achieve proper magnetometer-calibration results and in turn the most robust heading solution for the user while taking care of the device misalignment with respect to the user: (a) game-theoretic concepts to attain better filter parameter tuning and robustness in noise uncertainty, (b) best maneuvers with focus on 3D and 2D motion modes and related challenges and (c) investigation of the calibration termination criteria leveraging the calibration robustness and efficiency.

  8. A game-theoretic approach for calibration of low-cost magnetometers under noise uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siddharth, S; Ali, A S; El-Sheimy, N; Goodall, C L; Syed, Z F

    2012-01-01

    Pedestrian heading estimation is a fundamental challenge in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environments. Additionally, the heading observability considerably degrades in low-speed mode of operation (e.g. walking), making this problem even more challenging. The goal of this work is to improve the heading solution when hand-held personal/portable devices, such as cell phones, are used for positioning and to improve the heading estimation in GNSS-denied signal environments. Most smart phones are now equipped with self-contained, low cost, small size and power-efficient sensors, such as magnetometers, gyroscopes and accelerometers. A magnetometer needs calibration before it can be properly employed for navigation purposes. Magnetometers play an important role in absolute heading estimation and are embedded in many smart phones. Before the users navigate with the phone, a calibration is invoked to ensure an improved signal quality. This signal is used later in the heading estimation. In most of the magnetometer-calibration approaches, the motion modes are seldom described to achieve a robust calibration. Also, suitable calibration approaches fail to discuss the stopping criteria for calibration. In this paper, the following three topics are discussed in detail that are important to achieve proper magnetometer-calibration results and in turn the most robust heading solution for the user while taking care of the device misalignment with respect to the user: (a) game-theoretic concepts to attain better filter parameter tuning and robustness in noise uncertainty, (b) best maneuvers with focus on 3D and 2D motion modes and related challenges and (c) investigation of the calibration termination criteria leveraging the calibration robustness and efficiency. (paper)

  9. Excitation and ionization of hydrogen and helium atoms by femtosecond laser pulses: theoretical approach by Coulomb-Volkov states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guichard, R.

    2007-12-01

    We present a theoretical approach using Coulomb-Volkov states that appears useful for the study of atomic multi-photonic processes induced by intense XUV femtosecond laser pulses. It predicts hydrogen ionization spectra when it is irradiated by laser pulses in perturbations conditions. Three ways have been investigated. Extension to strong fields when ℎω > I p : it requires to include the hydrogen ground state population, introducing it in standard Coulomb-Volkov amplitude leads to saturated multi-photonic ionization. Extension to multi-photonic transitions with ℎω p : new quantum paths are open by the possibility to excite the lower hydrogen bound states. Multiphoton excitation of these states is investigated using a Coulomb-Volkov approach. Extension to helium: two-photon double ionization study shows the influence of electronic correlations in both ground and final state. Huge quantity of information such as angular and energetic distributions as well as total cross sections is available. (author)

  10. Thermalization and prethermalization in isolated quantum systems: a theoretical overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori, Takashi; Ikeda, Tatsuhiko N.; Kaminishi, Eriko; Ueda, Masahito

    2018-06-01

    The approach to thermal equilibrium, or thermalization, in isolated quantum systems is among the most fundamental problems in statistical physics. Recent theoretical studies have revealed that thermalization in isolated quantum systems has several remarkable features, which emerge from quantum entanglement and are quite distinct from those in classical systems. Experimentally, well isolated and highly controllable ultracold quantum gases offer an ideal testbed to study the nonequilibrium dynamics in isolated quantum systems, promoting intensive recent theoretical endeavors on this fundamental subject. Besides thermalization, many isolated quantum systems show intriguing behavior in relaxation processes, especially prethermalization. Prethermalization occurs when there is a clear separation of relevant time scales and has several different physical origins depending on individual systems. In this review, we overview theoretical approaches to the problems of thermalization and prethermalization.

  11. Sampling from a system-theoretic viewpoint

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meinsma, Gjerrit; Mirkin, Leonid

    2009-01-01

    This paper studies a system-theoretic approach to the problem of reconstructing an analog signal from its samples. The idea, borrowed from earlier treatments in the control literature, is to address the problem as a hybrid model-matching problem in which performance is measured by system norms. The

  12. Surface physics theoretical models and experimental methods

    CERN Document Server

    Mamonova, Marina V; Prudnikova, I A

    2016-01-01

    The demands of production, such as thin films in microelectronics, rely on consideration of factors influencing the interaction of dissimilar materials that make contact with their surfaces. Bond formation between surface layers of dissimilar condensed solids-termed adhesion-depends on the nature of the contacting bodies. Thus, it is necessary to determine the characteristics of adhesion interaction of different materials from both applied and fundamental perspectives of surface phenomena. Given the difficulty in obtaining reliable experimental values of the adhesion strength of coatings, the theoretical approach to determining adhesion characteristics becomes more important. Surface Physics: Theoretical Models and Experimental Methods presents straightforward and efficient approaches and methods developed by the authors that enable the calculation of surface and adhesion characteristics for a wide range of materials: metals, alloys, semiconductors, and complex compounds. The authors compare results from the ...

  13. A Dialectical Approach to Theoretical Integration in Developmental-Contextual Identity Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seaman, Jayson; Sharp, Erin Hiley; Coppens, Andrew D.

    2017-01-01

    Future advances in identity research will depend on integration across major theoretical traditions. Developmental-contextualism has established essential criteria to guide this effort, including specifying the context of identity development, its timing over the life course, and its content. This article assesses 4 major traditions of identity…

  14. Theoretical approach to description of some corrosion product transport processes in PWRs primary circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zmitko, M.

    1990-10-01

    The behavior and mass transport of corrosion products in primary circuits of PWR type reactors are described assuming that the products occur in ionic form, in colloidal form (about 0.01-0.6 μm in size) and in particulate form. The transport of the soluble form is treated as a diffusion process. For the colloidal form, allowance is made for its Van der Waals attraction and repulsion interaction with the surfaces. For particles and their agglomerates, the hydrodynamical effects of the flowing liquid on the agglomerate breakdown and re-formation of the particle suspension are taken into account. Efforts were made to employ theoretical relations rather than particular experimental data, for the conclusions to be applicable to different facilities. It is believed that the complex approach to the problem can contribute to gaining insight into the role of the individual factors and processes involved, particularly as regards colloidal particles whose effect on the formation of radiation fields is not yet fully understood. (author). 3 figs., 10 refs

  15. A Theoretical Framework for Ecological Interface Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vicente, Kim J.; Rasmussen, Jens

    1988-01-01

    A theoretical framework for designing interfaces for complex systems is de-scribed. The framework, called ecological interface design (EID), suggests a set of principles for designing interfaces in a way that supports the funda-mental properties of human cognition. The basis of EID is the skills...... of the task require. The EID approach extends the concept of direct manipulation inter-faces by taking into account the added complications introduced by complex systems. In this paper, we describe the development of the framework, its theoretical foundations, and examples of its application to various work...

  16. Dynamics in Higher Education Politics: A Theoretical Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauko, Jaakko

    2013-01-01

    This article presents a model for analysing dynamics in higher education politics (DHEP). Theoretically the model draws on the conceptual history of political contingency, agenda-setting theories and previous research on higher education dynamics. According to the model, socio-historical complexity can best be analysed along two dimensions: the…

  17. Theoretical Studies of Aqueous Systems above 25 deg C. 2. The Iron - Water System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lewis, Derek

    1971-09-15

    A theoretical study of the iron-water system at elevated temperatures is reported. Values for the equilibrium constants for the principle reactions in the system up to 374 deg C, obtained by a method described previously, are given and equilibrium diagrams are presented that illustrate the results for 50, 150, 250 and 350 deg C. The results indicate that, among other things, the most important metal-bearing ions in the iron-water system at elevated temperatures are Fe(OH){sub 2}+, Fe(OH)+ and HFeO{sub 2}- The conditions for the stability of solid iron oxides are also examined. Finally, some limitations of the thermodynamic approach to corrosion problems are discussed briefly

  18. Theoretical approaches to creation of robotic coal mines based on the synthesis of simulation technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fryanov, V. N.; Pavlova, L. D.; Temlyantsev, M. V.

    2017-09-01

    Methodological approaches to theoretical substantiation of the structure and parameters of robotic coal mines are outlined. The results of mathematical and numerical modeling revealed the features of manifestation of geomechanical and gas dynamic processes in the conditions of robotic mines. Technological solutions for the design and manufacture of technical means for robotic mine are adopted using the method of economic and mathematical modeling and in accordance with the current regulatory documents. For a comparative performance evaluation of technological schemes of traditional and robotic mines, methods of cognitive modeling and matrix search for subsystem elements in the synthesis of a complex geotechnological system are applied. It is substantiated that the process of technical re-equipment of a traditional mine with a phased transition to a robotic mine will reduce unit costs by almost 1.5 times with a significant social effect due to a reduction in the number of personnel engaged in hazardous work.

  19. Particle-beam driven inertial confinement fusion. A theoretical approach of the particle beam-matter interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duborgel, Bernard; Dufour, J.M.; Fedotoff, Michel; Gouard, Philippe.

    1981-11-01

    A major difficulty in the relativistic electron beam (REB) inertial confinement approach is the low REB-target coupling resulting from long electron range in the matter. The beam stagnation mechanism, induced in a thin target by macroscopic electric and magnetic fields, can appreciably enhance this coupling. The chapter 2 of the rapport contributes to the theoretical study of this effect. Models and numerical programs are described, which permit to establish the characteristics of this mechanism and evaluate the role of the various parameters. These models were used to interpret thin foils heating experiments performed on CHANTECLAIR generator at the Centre of Valduc. The orientation of particle research to the light ions beams (LIB) has to led to an intensive study of ions-matter interaction. DEPION model described in chapter 3 of the report provides an evaluation of energy deposition characteristics for any ion incident upon a target, taking into account their evolution during the plasma heating phase [fr

  20. A Game Theoretic Approach to Minimize the Completion Time of Network Coded Cooperative Data Exchange

    KAUST Repository

    Douik, Ahmed S.

    2014-05-11

    In this paper, we introduce a game theoretic framework for studying the problem of minimizing the completion time of instantly decodable network coding (IDNC) for cooperative data exchange (CDE) in decentralized wireless network. In this configuration, clients cooperate with each other to recover the erased packets without a central controller. Game theory is employed herein as a tool for improving the distributed solution by overcoming the need for a central controller or additional signaling in the system. We model the session by self-interested players in a non-cooperative potential game. The utility function is designed such that increasing individual payoff results in a collective behavior achieving both a desirable system performance in a shared network environment and the Pareto optimal solution. Through extensive simulations, our approach is compared to the best performance that could be found in the conventional point-to-multipoint (PMP) recovery process. Numerical results show that our formulation largely outperforms the conventional PMP scheme in most practical situations and achieves a lower delay.

  1. A Game Theoretic Approach to Minimize the Completion Time of Network Coded Cooperative Data Exchange

    KAUST Repository

    Douik, Ahmed S.; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Sorour, Sameh; Tembine, Hamidou

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we introduce a game theoretic framework for studying the problem of minimizing the completion time of instantly decodable network coding (IDNC) for cooperative data exchange (CDE) in decentralized wireless network. In this configuration, clients cooperate with each other to recover the erased packets without a central controller. Game theory is employed herein as a tool for improving the distributed solution by overcoming the need for a central controller or additional signaling in the system. We model the session by self-interested players in a non-cooperative potential game. The utility function is designed such that increasing individual payoff results in a collective behavior achieving both a desirable system performance in a shared network environment and the Pareto optimal solution. Through extensive simulations, our approach is compared to the best performance that could be found in the conventional point-to-multipoint (PMP) recovery process. Numerical results show that our formulation largely outperforms the conventional PMP scheme in most practical situations and achieves a lower delay.

  2. 3rd Joint Dutch-Brazil School on Theoretical Physics

    CERN Document Server

    2015-01-01

    The Joint Dutch-Brazil School on Theoretical Physics is now in its third edition with previous schools in 2007 and 2011. This edition of the school will feature minicourses by Nima Arkani-Hamed (IAS Princeton), Jan de Boer (University of Amsterdam) and Cumrun Vafa (Harvard University), as well as student presentations. The school is jointly organized with the Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics (DRSTP) and is intended for graduate students and researchers in the field of high-energy theoretical physics. There is no registration fee and limited funds are available for local and travel support of participants. This school in São Paulo will be preceded by the XVIII J. A. Swieca School in Campos de Jordão.

  3. A Representation-Theoretic Approach to Reversible Computation with Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maniotis, Andreas Milton

    Reversible computing is a sub-discipline of computer science that helps to understand the foundations of the interplay between physics, algebra, and logic in the context of computation. Its subjects of study are computational devices and abstract models of computation that satisfy the constraint ......, there is still no uniform and consistent theory that is general in the sense of giving a model-independent account to the field....... of information conservation. Such machine models, which are known as reversible models of computation, have been examined both from a theoretical perspective and from an engineering perspective. While a bundle of many isolated successful findings and applications concerning reversible computing exists...

  4. Towards e-Government project assessment: European approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavel Mates

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the paper is to analyse current approaches to the assessment of e-Government projects as the specifi c public projects and to suggest how to improve these approaches in order to eliminate their shortcomings. The nonnormative theoretical methods are used to analyse empirical results of previous researches; particularly the deduction method is used to prove that current approaches to the evaluation of e-Government projects have some inequalities, the analogy and comparison methods are used to create general typology of e-Government projects and the induction method is used to seek examples of the indicators and metrics. The results are based on analysis of extensive amount of e-Government projects, which have been realized in different European countries in the past twenty years. The basic result of the research is creation of the ten most common types of e-Government projects typology. The fundamental conclusion obtained from the results of this research is that this typology can be used as the core of new E-Government General Assessment Framework, which eliminates problems of previous approaches, allows adjusting metrics and indicators to each type of projects, keeps comparability of results and thus making possible the use of benchmarking methods.

  5. Hybrid quantum teleportation: A theoretical model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takeda, Shuntaro; Mizuta, Takahiro; Fuwa, Maria; Yoshikawa, Jun-ichi; Yonezawa, Hidehiro; Furusawa, Akira [Department of Applied Physics, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)

    2014-12-04

    Hybrid quantum teleportation – continuous-variable teleportation of qubits – is a promising approach for deterministically teleporting photonic qubits. We propose how to implement it with current technology. Our theoretical model shows that faithful qubit transfer can be achieved for this teleportation by choosing an optimal gain for the teleporter’s classical channel.

  6. A game-theoretic approach to donor kidney sharing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, B J

    1988-01-01

    Graft survival in renal transplantation is a function, amongst other things, of the degree of histocompatibility lymphocyte-A (HLA) tissue matching achieved between donor and recipient. Yet a donor procured at centre A might match a transplant candidate at centre B and vice versa. This raises the question of whether, and under what circumstances, surgeons will offer and exchange donor kidneys and gain from such trade in terms of graft survival. We analyse the problem in a game-theoretic framework where the choice of strategy 'to offer or not?' is evaluated in the context of the uncertainty of reciprocation by the other player(s) in the game. The equilibrium solution to a number of variations of the game is predicted to be non-cooperation resulting in collectively sub-optimal graft survival rates. Some policy options for improving cooperation are considered including exchange incentives and coercive measures.

  7. THE NETWORKS IN TOURISM: A THEORETICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria TĂTĂRUȘANU

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The economic world in which tourism companies act today is in a continuous changing process. The most important factor of these changes is the globalization of their environment, both in economic, social, natural and cultural aspects. The tourism companies can benefit from the opportunities brought by globalization, but also could be menaced by the new context. How could react the companies to these changes in order to create and maintain long term competitive advantage for their business? In the present paper we make a literature review of the new tourism companies´ business approach: the networks - a result and/or a reason for exploiting the opportunities or, on the contrary, for keeping their actual position on the market. It’s a qualitative approach and the research methods used are analyses, synthesis, abstraction, which are considered the most appropriate to achieve the objective of the paper.

  8. Theoretical elements for a historical approach to the family and its relations of violence during the transition between the XXth and XXIst centuries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bárbara Yadira García Sánchez

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this article is to relect upon the history of the ield of contemporary family and its changes from the revolution of youth in 1960s until the irst decade of the XXIst century. This historical approach is linked to the study of relations of violence inside the family context. The implementation of certain theoretical and methodological concepts allowed us to establish a contrast between several time periods, starting from the present and going back to situations of the past, following the track of micro social conlicts expressed in violence toward parental igures, as well as in violence between siblings, all of which are analyzed as typologies of what has been called domestic violence. The theoretical relection is supported by some approaches of Pierre Bourdieu regarding the reproduction of symbolic violence, and more speciically, the strategies of its reproduction in the ield of family. We emphasize on the strategies of symbolic, ethicaland educational inversion. The data used to support this article is taken from the database of two research projects on school violence in Bogota between 2009 and 2015.

  9. Something new: a new approach to correcting theoretical emitted intensities for absorption effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willis, J.P.; Lachance, G.R.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: For monochromatic incident radiation of wavelength λ, absorption only (no enhancement), and ignoring such effects as the absorption edge jump ratio, the fluorescence yield, and the probability that a Kα line will be emitted instead of a Kβ line, a simplified view of the theoretical emitted intensity of a characteristic line of element >i= from a layer in a specimen is given by a familiar equation which involves mass absorption coefficients. While this equation allows for the calculation of the theoretical emitted intensity, it is cumbersome to use when trying to explain X-ray excitation in a step-wise manner. It is therefore proposed that the mass attenuation coefficients (μ iλ , and the sum of μ sλ ' + μ sλi '' , in the numerator and denominator of this equation be replaced by the product of two coefficients correcting for absorption, namely aN H aO. The advantages of using the proposed equation in the stepwise calculation of theoretical intensities (in a similar manner to Monte Carlo calculations) will be discussed. Copyright (2002) Australian X-ray Analytical Association Inc

  10. The prediction of candidate genes for cervix related cancer through gene ontology and graph theoretical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindumathi, V; Kranthi, T; Rao, S B; Manimaran, P

    2014-06-01

    With rapidly changing technology, prediction of candidate genes has become an indispensable task in recent years mainly in the field of biological research. The empirical methods for candidate gene prioritization that succors to explore the potential pathway between genetic determinants and complex diseases are highly cumbersome and labor intensive. In such a scenario predicting potential targets for a disease state through in silico approaches are of researcher's interest. The prodigious availability of protein interaction data coupled with gene annotation renders an ease in the accurate determination of disease specific candidate genes. In our work we have prioritized the cervix related cancer candidate genes by employing Csaba Ortutay and his co-workers approach of identifying the candidate genes through graph theoretical centrality measures and gene ontology. With the advantage of the human protein interaction data, cervical cancer gene sets and the ontological terms, we were able to predict 15 novel candidates for cervical carcinogenesis. The disease relevance of the anticipated candidate genes was corroborated through a literature survey. Also the presence of the drugs for these candidates was detected through Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) and DrugMap Central (DMC) which affirms that they may be endowed as potential drug targets for cervical cancer.

  11. An information-theoretic approach to the modeling and analysis of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkinson, Garrett; Abante, Jordi; Feinberg, Andrew P; Goutsias, John

    2018-03-07

    DNA methylation is a stable form of epigenetic memory used by cells to control gene expression. Whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) has emerged as a gold-standard experimental technique for studying DNA methylation by producing high resolution genome-wide methylation profiles. Statistical modeling and analysis is employed to computationally extract and quantify information from these profiles in an effort to identify regions of the genome that demonstrate crucial or aberrant epigenetic behavior. However, the performance of most currently available methods for methylation analysis is hampered by their inability to directly account for statistical dependencies between neighboring methylation sites, thus ignoring significant information available in WGBS reads. We present a powerful information-theoretic approach for genome-wide modeling and analysis of WGBS data based on the 1D Ising model of statistical physics. This approach takes into account correlations in methylation by utilizing a joint probability model that encapsulates all information available in WGBS methylation reads and produces accurate results even when applied on single WGBS samples with low coverage. Using the Shannon entropy, our approach provides a rigorous quantification of methylation stochasticity in individual WGBS samples genome-wide. Furthermore, it utilizes the Jensen-Shannon distance to evaluate differences in methylation distributions between a test and a reference sample. Differential performance assessment using simulated and real human lung normal/cancer data demonstrate a clear superiority of our approach over DSS, a recently proposed method for WGBS data analysis. Critically, these results demonstrate that marginal methods become statistically invalid when correlations are present in the data. This contribution demonstrates clear benefits and the necessity of modeling joint probability distributions of methylation using the 1D Ising model of statistical physics and of

  12. Harmless survey of the theoretical situation in the high temperature superconductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorkov, L.P.

    1989-01-01

    The theoretical understanding of the new superconductors progresses slowly despite the large amount of publications. The intention of this paper is to show that partially this is so because a number of key problems remain unresolved experimentally. Meanwhile, some of the recent findings point out in the direction which, if correct, may drastically change theoretical views. Before the authors discuss these new experimental results, a brief overview of the different theoretical approaches is given below

  13. Numerical calculation of aerodynamics wind turbine blade S809 airfoil and comparison of theoretical calculations with experimental measurements and confirming with NREL data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sogukpinar, Haci; Bozkurt, Ismail

    2018-02-01

    Aerodynamic performance of the airfoil plays the most important role to obtain economically maximum efficiency from a wind turbine. Therefore airfoil should have an ideal aerodynamic shape. In this study, aerodynamic simulation of S809 airfoil is conducted and obtained result compared with previously made NASA experimental result and NREL theoretical data. At first, Lift coefficient, lift to drag ratio and pressure coefficient around S809 airfoil are calculated with SST turbulence model, and are compared with experimental and other theoretical data to correlate simulation correctness of the computational approaches. And result indicates good correlation with both experimental and theoretical data. This calculation point out that as the increasing relative velocity, lift to drag ratio increases. Lift to drag ratio attain maximum at the angle around 6 degree and after that starts to decrease again. Comparison shows that CFD code used in this calculation can predict aerodynamic properties of airfoil.

  14. Game-theoretic approaches to optimal risk sharing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boonen, T.J.

    2014-01-01

    This Ph.D. thesis studies optimal risk capital allocation and optimal risk sharing. The first chapter deals with the problem of optimally allocating risk capital across divisions within a financial institution. To do so, an asymptotic approach is used to generalize the well-studied Aumann-Shapley

  15. Intraplate seismicity in Canada: a graph theoretic approach to data analysis and interpretation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Vasudevan

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Intraplate seismicity occurs in central and northern Canada, but the underlying origin and dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we apply a graph theoretic approach to characterize the statistical structure of spatiotemporal clustering exhibited by intraplate seismicity, a direct consequence of the underlying nonlinear dynamics. Using a recently proposed definition of "recurrences" based on record breaking processes (Davidsen et al., 2006, 2008, we have constructed directed graphs using catalogue data for three selected regions (Region 1: 45°−48° N/74°−80° W; Region 2: 51°−55° N/77°−83° W; and Region 3: 56°−70° N/65°−95° W, with attributes drawn from the location, origin time and the magnitude of the events. Based on comparisons with a null model derived from Poisson distribution or Monte Carlo shuffling of the catalogue data, our results provide strong evidence in support of spatiotemporal correlations of seismicity in all three regions considered. Similar evidence for spatiotemporal clustering has been documented using seismicity catalogues for southern California, suggesting possible similarities in underlying earthquake dynamics of both regions despite huge differences in the variability of seismic activity.

  16. PREFACE: The Second International Conference on Inverse Problems: Recent Theoretical Developments and Numerical Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jin; Hon, Yiu-Chung; Seo, Jin Keun; Yamamoto, Masahiro

    2005-01-01

    The Second International Conference on Inverse Problems: Recent Theoretical Developments and Numerical Approaches was held at Fudan University, Shanghai from 16-21 June 2004. The first conference in this series was held at the City University of Hong Kong in January 2002 and it was agreed to hold the conference once every two years in a Pan-Pacific Asian country. The next conference is scheduled to be held at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan in July 2006. The purpose of this series of biennial conferences is to establish and develop constant international collaboration, especially among the Pan-Pacific Asian countries. In recent decades, interest in inverse problems has been flourishing all over the globe because of both the theoretical interest and practical requirements. In particular, in Asian countries, one is witnessing remarkable new trends of research in inverse problems as well as the participation of many young talents. Considering these trends, the second conference was organized with the chairperson Professor Li Tat-tsien (Fudan University), in order to provide forums for developing research cooperation and to promote activities in the field of inverse problems. Because solutions to inverse problems are needed in various applied fields, we entertained a total of 92 participants at the second conference and arranged various talks which ranged from mathematical analyses to solutions of concrete inverse problems in the real world. This volume contains 18 selected papers, all of which have undergone peer review. The 18 papers are classified as follows: Surveys: four papers give reviews of specific inverse problems. Theoretical aspects: six papers investigate the uniqueness, stability, and reconstruction schemes. Numerical methods: four papers devise new numerical methods and their applications to inverse problems. Solutions to applied inverse problems: four papers discuss concrete inverse problems such as scattering problems and inverse problems in

  17. A decision theoretic approach to an accident sequence: when feedwater and auxiliary feedwater fail in a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Svenson, Ola

    1998-01-01

    This study applies a decision theoretic perspective on a severe accident management sequence in a processing industry. The sequence contains loss of feedwater and auxiliary feedwater in a boiling water nuclear reactor (BWR), which necessitates manual depressurization of the reactor pressure vessel to enable low pressure cooling of the core. The sequence is fast and is a major contributor to core damage in probabilistic risk analyses (PRAs) of this kind of plant. The management of the sequence also includes important, difficult and fast human decision making. The decision theoretic perspective, which is applied to a Swedish ABB-type reactor, stresses the roles played by uncertainties about plant state, consequences of different actions and goals during the management of a severe accident sequence. Based on a theoretical analysis and empirical simulator data the human error probabilities in the PRA for the plant are considered to be too small. Recommendations for how to improve safety are given and they include full automation of the sequence, improved operator training, and/or actions to assist the operators' decision making through reduction of uncertainties, for example, concerning water/steam level for sufficient cooling, time remaining before insufficient cooling level in the tank is reached and organizational cost-benefit evaluations of the events following a false alarm depressurization as well as the events following a successful depressurization at different points in time. Finally, it is pointed out that the approach exemplified in this study is applicable to any accident scenario which includes difficult human decision making with conflicting goals, uncertain information and with very serious consequences

  18. Exploring patient satisfaction predictors in relation to a theoretical model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grøndahl, Vigdis Abrahamsen; Hall-Lord, Marie Louise; Karlsson, Ingela; Appelgren, Jari; Wilde-Larsson, Bodil

    2013-01-01

    The aim is to describe patients' care quality perceptions and satisfaction and to explore potential patient satisfaction predictors as person-related conditions, external objective care conditions and patients' perception of actual care received ("PR") in relation to a theoretical model. A cross-sectional design was used. Data were collected using one questionnaire combining questions from four instruments: Quality from patients' perspective; Sense of coherence; Big five personality trait; and Emotional stress reaction questionnaire (ESRQ), together with questions from previous research. In total, 528 patients (83.7 per cent response rate) from eight medical, three surgical and one medical/surgical ward in five Norwegian hospitals participated. Answers from 373 respondents with complete ESRQ questionnaires were analysed. Sequential multiple regression analysis with ESRQ as dependent variable was run in three steps: person-related conditions, external objective care conditions, and PR (p person-related conditions) explained 51.7 per cent of the ESRQ variance. Step 2 (external objective care conditions) explained an additional 2.4 per cent. Step 3 (PR) gave no significant additional explanation (0.05 per cent). Steps 1 and 2 contributed statistical significance to the model. Patients rated both quality-of-care and satisfaction highly. The paper shows that the theoretical model using an emotion-oriented approach to assess patient satisfaction can explain 54 per cent of patient satisfaction in a statistically significant manner.

  19. Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks Used in Research on Family-School Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamauchi, Lois A.; Ponte, Eva; Ratliffe, Katherine T.; Traynor, Kevin

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the theoretical frameworks used to frame research on family-school partnerships over a five-year period. Although many researchers have described their theoretical approaches, little has been written about the diversity of frameworks used and how they are applied. Coders analyzed 215 journal articles published from 2007 to…

  20. A Theoretical Approach to Engineering a New Enzyme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Greg; Gomatam, Ravi; Behera, Raghu N.

    2016-01-01

    Density function theory, a subfield of quantum mechanics (QM), in combination with molecular mechanics (MM) has opened the way to engineer new artificial enzymes. Herein, we report theoretical calculations done using QM/MM to examine whether the regioselectivity and rate of chlorination of the enzyme chloroperoxidase can be improved by replacing the vanadium of this enzyme with niobium through dialysis. Our calculations show that a niobium substituted chloroperoxidase will be able to enter the initial steps of the catalytic cycle for chlorination. Although the protonation state of the niobium substituted enzyme is calculated to be different from than that of the natural vanadium substituted enzyme, our calculations show that the catalytic cycle can still proceed forward. Using natural bond orbitals, we analyse the electronic differences between the niobium substituted enzyme and the natural enzyme. We conclude by briefly examining how good of a model QM/MM provides for understanding the mechanism of catalysis of chloroperoxidase. (paper)

  1. Theoretical concepts of X-ray nanoscale analysis theory and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Benediktovitch, Andrei; Ulyanenkov, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    This book provides a concise survey of modern theoretical concepts of X-ray materials analysis. The principle features of the book are: basics of X-ray scattering, interaction between X-rays and matter and new theoretical concepts of X-ray scattering. The various X-ray techniques are considered in detail: high-resolution X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering and X-ray residual stress analysis. All the theoretical methods presented use the unified physical approach. This makes the book especially useful for readers learning and performing data ana

  2. Quantification of uncertainties in turbulence modeling: A comparison of physics-based and random matrix theoretic approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Jian-Xun; Sun, Rui; Xiao, Heng

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Compared physics-based and random matrix methods to quantify RANS model uncertainty. • Demonstrated applications of both methods in channel ow over periodic hills. • Examined the amount of information introduced in the physics-based approach. • Discussed implications to modeling turbulence in both near-wall and separated regions. - Abstract: Numerical models based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are widely used in engineering turbulence modeling. However, the RANS predictions have large model-form uncertainties for many complex flows, e.g., those with non-parallel shear layers or strong mean flow curvature. Quantification of these large uncertainties originating from the modeled Reynolds stresses has attracted attention in the turbulence modeling community. Recently, a physics-based Bayesian framework for quantifying model-form uncertainties has been proposed with successful applications to several flows. Nonetheless, how to specify proper priors without introducing unwarranted, artificial information remains challenging to the current form of the physics-based approach. Another recently proposed method based on random matrix theory provides the prior distributions with maximum entropy, which is an alternative for model-form uncertainty quantification in RANS simulations. This method has better mathematical rigorousness and provides the most non-committal prior distributions without introducing artificial constraints. On the other hand, the physics-based approach has the advantages of being more flexible to incorporate available physical insights. In this work, we compare and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches on model-form uncertainty quantification. In addition, we utilize the random matrix theoretic approach to assess and possibly improve the specification of priors used in the physics-based approach. The comparison is conducted through a test case using a canonical flow, the flow past

  3. Urban-architectural workshop as an opportunity for theoretical reflection: Example of the international urban-architectural workshop Maribor-South

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Šenk

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the international urban-architectural workshop Maribor-South (2010-11 as a model for “Maribor’s” urban-architectural workshops, which urban planners evaluate and use to direct urban development and theoretical discussion. The presented interdisciplinary project explored possibilities for designing the southern edge of the city in the area where the southern bypass construction is planned. In addition describing the example of the workshop, which develops the theoretical field through a “practical and project approach” with the defined project basis, i.e. the defined area of discussion and project issue, the paper also highlights the opportunity for a “theoretical approach”. The theoretical approach aims at providing a wider insight into the related theoretical field based on a generalised spatial issue. As one of the key priorities of contemporary urban planning and sustainable urban redevelopment, the planned direction of urban development in the areas of constructing transport infrastructure, which is evident in the first approach, moves into a wider referential field (no longer directly related to the project with the second approach by examining the issues of mobility, space, place, diversity of infrastructures of contemporary space, etc. While in the first approach developing design concepts strives for theoretical conceptualisation, the second approach facilitates focusing on finding links between the theoretical concept and manifestations in real space, though the approaches are always separated. Their operationality is possible only on the level of “combinatorial thinking” and remains beyond direct instrumentality.

  4. [Health, environment and nursing. Philosophical and theoretical foundations for the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology. Part III].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juvé-Udina, Maria-Eulàlia

    2012-06-01

    This manuscript is the third of a triad of papers introducing the philosophical and theoretical approaches that support the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology as a standard vocabulary designed to ease data entry into electronic health records, to produce information and to generate knowledge. To analyze the philosophical and theoretical approaches considered in the development of a new nursing interface terminology called ATIC. Review, analysis and discussion of the main philosophical orientations, high and mid-range theories and nursing scientific literature to develop an interpretative conceptualization of the metaparadigm concepts "Health", "Environment" and "Nursing". In the 2 previous papers the ATIC terminology, its foundation on pragmatism, holism, post-positivism and constructivism and the construction of the meaning for the concept elndividualh is discussed. In this third paper, Health is conceptualized as a multidimensional balance state and the concepts of Partial health status, Disease and Being ill are explored within. The analysis of the Environment theories drives its conceptualization as a group of variables that has the potential to affect health status. In this orientation, Nursing is understood as the scientific discipline focused on the study of health status in the particular environment and experience of the individuals, groups, communities or societies. ATIC terminology is rooted on an eclectic philosophical and theoretical foundation, allowing it to be used from different trends within the totality paradigm.

  5. Nucleation at high pressure I: Theoretical considerations.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luijten, C.C.M.; Dongen, van M.E.H.

    1999-01-01

    A theoretical approach is presented that accounts for the influence of high pressure background gases on the vapor-to-liquid nucleation process. The key idea is to treat the carrier gas pressure as a perturbation parameter that modifies the properties of the nucleating substance. Two important

  6. Theoretical Models, Assessment Frameworks and Test Construction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline

    1997-01-01

    Reviews the usefulness of proficiency models influencing second language testing. Findings indicate that several factors contribute to the lack of congruence between models and test construction and make a case for distinguishing between theoretical models. Underscores the significance of an empirical, contextualized and structured approach to the…

  7. Theoretical Frontiers in Black Holes and Cosmology School

    CERN Document Server

    Orazi, Emanuele

    2016-01-01

    These lecture notes are dedicated to the most recent theoretical applications of Black Hole solutions in high-energy physics. The main motivation of this volume is to present the latest black hole backgrounds that are relevant for gauge/gravity correspondence. Leading scientists in the field explain effective techniques for finding singular and cosmological solutions embedded in gauged supergravity, shedding light on underlying properties and symmetries. Starting from a basic level, the mathematical structures underlying black holes and cosmologies are revealed, helping the reader grasp the connection between theoretical approaches and physical observations with insights into possible future developments from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. The topics covered in this volume are based on lectures delivered during the “Theoretical Frontiers in Black Holes and Cosmology” school, held in Natal in June 2015.

  8. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

    2018-01-01

    The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

  9. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

    2017-01-01

    The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

  10. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leticia Pablos

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005 which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of

  11. Theoretical Studies Of Nucleation Kinetics And Nanodroplet Microstructure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilemski, Gerald

    2009-01-01

    The goals of this project were to (1) explore ways of bridging the gap between fundamental molecular nucleation theories and phenomenological approaches based on thermodynamic reasoning, (2) test and improve binary nucleation theory, and (3) provide the theoretical underpinning for a powerful new experimental technique, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) from nanodroplet aerosols, that can probe the compositional structure of nanodroplets. This report summarizes the accomplishments of this project in realizing these goals. Publications supported by this project fall into three general categories: (1) theoretical work on nucleation theory (2) experiments and modeling of nucleation and condensation in supersonic nozzles, and (3) experimental and theoretical work on nanodroplet structure and neutron scattering. These publications are listed and briefly summarized in this report.

  12. Force-induced bone growth and adaptation: A system theoretical approach to understanding bone mechanotransduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maldonado, Solvey; Findeisen, Rolf

    2010-01-01

    The modeling, analysis, and design of treatment therapies for bone disorders based on the paradigm of force-induced bone growth and adaptation is a challenging task. Mathematical models provide, in comparison to clinical, medical and biological approaches an structured alternative framework to understand the concurrent effects of the multiple factors involved in bone remodeling. By now, there are few mathematical models describing the appearing complex interactions. However, the resulting models are complex and difficult to analyze, due to the strong nonlinearities appearing in the equations, the wide range of variability of the states, and the uncertainties in parameters. In this work, we focus on analyzing the effects of changes in model structure and parameters/inputs variations on the overall steady state behavior using systems theoretical methods. Based on an briefly reviewed existing model that describes force-induced bone adaptation, the main objective of this work is to analyze the stationary behavior and to identify plausible treatment targets for remodeling related bone disorders. Identifying plausible targets can help in the development of optimal treatments combining both physical activity and drug-medication. Such treatments help to improve/maintain/restore bone strength, which deteriorates under bone disorder conditions, such as estrogen deficiency.

  13. A theoretical framework to support research of health service innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Amanda; Gardner, Glenn; Osborne, Sonya

    2015-02-01

    Health service managers and policy makers are increasingly concerned about the sustainability of innovations implemented in health care settings. The increasing demand on health services requires that innovations are both effective and sustainable; however, research in this field is limited, with multiple disciplines, approaches and paradigms influencing the field. These variations prevent a cohesive approach, and therefore the accumulation of research findings, in the development of a body of knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough examination of the research findings and provide an appropriate theoretical framework to examine sustainability of health service innovation. This paper presents an integrative review of the literature available in relation to sustainability of health service innovation and provides the development of a theoretical framework based on integration and synthesis of the literature. A theoretical framework serves to guide research, determine variables, influence data analysis and is central to the quest for ongoing knowledge development. This research outlines the sustainability of innovation framework; a theoretical framework suitable for examining the sustainability of health service innovation. If left unaddressed, health services research will continue in an ad hoc manner, preventing full utilisation of outcomes, recommendations and knowledge for effective provision of health services. The sustainability of innovation theoretical framework provides an operational basis upon which reliable future research can be conducted.

  14. Theoretical perspectives on narrative inquiry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emden, C

    1998-04-01

    Narrative inquiry is gaining momentum in the field of nursing. As a research approach it does not have any single heritage of methodology and its practitioners draw upon diverse sources of influence. Central to all narrative inquiry however, is attention to the potential of stories to give meaning to people's lives, and the treatment of data as stories. This is the first of two papers on the topic and addresses the theoretical influences upon a particular narrative inquiry into nursing scholars and scholarship. The second paper, Conducting a narrative analysis, describes the actual narrative analysis as it was conducted in this same study. Together, the papers provide sufficient detail for others wishing to pursue a similar approach to do so, or to develop the ideas and procedures according to their own way of thinking. Within this first theoretical paper, perspectives from Jerome Bruner (1987) and Wade Roof (1993) are outlined. These relate especially to the notion of stories as 'imaginative constructions' and as 'cultural narratives' and as such, highlight the profound importance of stories as being individually and culturally meaningful. As well, perspectives on narrative inquiry from nursing literature are highlighted. Narrative inquiry in this instance lies within the broader context of phenomenology.

  15. Strength of wood versus rate of testing - A theoretical approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Lauge Fuglsang

    2007-01-01

    Strength of wood is normally measured in ramp load experiments. Experience shows that strength increases with increasing rate of testing. This feature is considered theoretically in this paper. It is shown that the influence of testing rate is a phenomenon, which depends on the quality...... of the considered wood. Low quality wood shows lesser influence of testing rate. This observation agrees with the well-known statement made by Borg Madsen that weak wood subjected to a constant load, has a longer lifetime than strong wood. In general, the influence of testing rate on strength increases...

  16. Theoretical development and first-principles analysis of strongly correlated systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Chen [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    2016-12-17

    A variety of quantum many-body methods have been developed for studying the strongly correlated electron systems. We have also proposed a computationally efficient and accurate approach, named the correlation matrix renormalization (CMR) method, to address the challenges. The initial implementation of the CMR method is designed for molecules which have theoretical advantages, including small size of system, manifest mechanism and strongly correlation effect such as bond breaking process. The theoretic development and benchmark tests of the CMR method are included in this thesis. Meanwhile, ground state total energy is the most important property of electronic calculations. We also investigated an alternative approach to calculate the total energy, and extended this method for magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of ferromagnetic materials. In addition, another theoretical tool, dynamical mean- field theory (DMFT) on top of the DFT , has also been used in electronic structure calculations for an Iridium oxide to study the phase transition, which results from an interplay of the d electrons' internal degrees of freedom.

  17. Theoretical study of the electromechanical efficiency of a loaded tubular dielectric elastomer actuator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rechenbach, Björn; Willatzen, Morten; Lassen, Benny

    2016-01-01

    The electromechanical efficiency of a loaded tubular dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is investigated theoretically. In previous studies, the external system, on which the DEA performs mechanical work, is implemented implicitly by prescribing the stroke of the DEA in a closed operation cycle....... Here, a more generic approach, modelling the external system by a frequency-dependent mechanical impedance which exerts a certain force on the DEA depending on its deformation, is chosen. It admits studying the dependence of the electromechanical efficiency of the DEA on the external system. A closed...... operation cycle is realized by exciting the DEA electrically by a sinusoidal voltage around a bias voltage. A detailed parametric study shows that the electromechanical efficiency is highly dependent on the frequency, amplitude, and bias of the excitation voltage and the mechanical impedance of the external...

  18. Implant breast reconstruction after salvage mastectomy in previously irradiated patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persichetti, Paolo; Cagli, Barbara; Simone, Pierfranco; Cogliandro, Annalisa; Fortunato, Lucio; Altomare, Vittorio; Trodella, Lucio

    2009-04-01

    The most common surgical approach in case of local tumor recurrence after quadrantectomy and radiotherapy is salvage mastectomy. Breast reconstruction is the subsequent phase of the treatment and the plastic surgeon has to operate on previously irradiated and manipulated tissues. The medical literature highlights that breast reconstruction with tissue expanders is not a pursuable option, considering previous radiotherapy a contraindication. The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the influence of previous radiotherapy on 2-stage breast reconstruction (tissue expander/implant). Only patients with analogous timing of radiation therapy and the same demolitive and reconstructive procedures were recruited. The results of this study prove that, after salvage mastectomy in previously irradiated patients, implant reconstruction is still possible. Further comparative studies are, of course, advisable to draw any conclusion on the possibility to perform implant reconstruction in previously irradiated patients.

  19. Theoretical isotopic fractionation between structural boron in carbonates and aqueous boric acid and borate ion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balan, Etienne; Noireaux, Johanna; Mavromatis, Vasileios; Saldi, Giuseppe D.; Montouillout, Valérie; Blanchard, Marc; Pietrucci, Fabio; Gervais, Christel; Rustad, James R.; Schott, Jacques; Gaillardet, Jérôme

    2018-02-01

    The 11B/10B ratio in calcite and aragonite is an important proxy of oceanic water pH. However, the physico-chemical mechanisms underpinning this approach are still poorly known. In the present study, we theoretically determine the equilibrium isotopic fractionation properties of structural boron species in calcium carbonates, BO33-, BO2(OH)2- and B(OH)4- anions substituted for carbonate groups, as well as those of B(OH)4- and B(OH)3 species in vacuum. Significant variability of equilibrium isotopic fractionation properties is observed among these structural species which is related to their contrasted coordination state, Bsbnd O bond lengths and atomic-scale environment. The isotopic composition of structural boron does not only depend on its coordination number but also on its medium range environment, i.e. farther than its first coordination shell. The isotopic fractionation between aqueous species and their counterparts in vacuum are assessed using previous investigations based on similar quantum-mechanical modeling approaches. At 300 K, the equilibrium isotope composition of structural trigonal species is 7-15‰ lighter than that of aqueous boric acid molecules, whereas substituted tetrahedral borate ions are heavier than their aqueous counterparts by 10-13‰. Although significant uncertainties are known to affect the theoretical prediction of fractionation factors between solids and solutions, the usually assumed lack of isotopic fractionation during borate incorporation in carbonates is challenged by these theoretical results. The present theoretical equilibrium fractionation factors between structural boron and aqueous species differ from those inferred from experiments which may indicate that isotopic equilibrium, unlike chemical equilibrium, was not reached in most experiments. Further research into the isotopic fractionation processes at the interface between calcium carbonates and aqueous solution as well as long duration experiments aimed at

  20. Comparison of a rational vs. high throughput approach for rapid salt screening and selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collman, Benjamin M; Miller, Jonathan M; Seadeek, Christopher; Stambek, Julie A; Blackburn, Anthony C

    2013-01-01

    In recent years, high throughput (HT) screening has become the most widely used approach for early phase salt screening and selection in a drug discovery/development setting. The purpose of this study was to compare a rational approach for salt screening and selection to those results previously generated using a HT approach. The rational approach involved a much smaller number of initial trials (one salt synthesis attempt per counterion) that were selected based on a few strategic solubility determinations of the free form combined with a theoretical analysis of the ideal solvent solubility conditions for salt formation. Salt screening results for sertraline, tamoxifen, and trazodone using the rational approach were compared to those previously generated by HT screening. The rational approach produced similar results to HT screening, including identification of the commercially chosen salt forms, but with a fraction of the crystallization attempts. Moreover, the rational approach provided enough solid from the very initial crystallization of a salt for more thorough and reliable solid-state characterization and thus rapid decision-making. The crystallization techniques used in the rational approach mimic larger-scale process crystallization, allowing smoother technical transfer of the selected salt to the process chemist.

  1. Information theoretic preattentive saliency

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Loog, Marco

    2011-01-01

    Employing an information theoretic operational definition of bottom-up attention from the field of computational visual perception a very general expression for saliency is provided. As opposed to many of the current approaches to determining a saliency map there is no need for an explicit data...... of which features, image information is described. We illustrate our result by determining a few specific saliency maps based on particular choices of features. One of them makes the link with the mapping underlying well-known Harris interest points, which is a result recently obtained in isolation...

  2. A fluorescent sensor based on dansyl-diethylenetriamine-thiourea conjugate: a through theoretical investigation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen Khoa Hien; Nguyen Thi Ai Nhung; Duong Tuan Quang; Ho Quoc Dai; Nguyen Tien Trung

    2015-01-01

    A new dansyl-diethylenetriamine-thiourea conjugate (DT) for detection of Hg 2+ ions in aqueous solution has been theoretically designed and compared to our previously published results. The synthetic path, the optimized geometric structure and the characteristics of the DT were found by the theoretical calculations at the B3LYP/LanL2DZ level. Accordingly, the DT can react with Hg 2+ ion to form a product with quenched fluorescence. It is remarkable that the experimental results are in an excellent agreement with the theoretically evaluated data. (author)

  3. A typology of design knowledge: a theoretical framework

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mueller, Roland; Thoring, Katja

    2010-01-01

    This paper is a theoretical approach to structure design-specific knowledge into a framework, which can be used within the context of organizational and societal development. We conducted an extensive literature review about existing definitions of design knowledge, and knowledge in general. Based

  4. Building communities through performance: emerging approaches to interculturality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parent, Roger

    2009-08-01

    Changing definitions of culture are modifying approaches to intercultural education and training. This paper outlines the principal features of these emerging models for innovation and capacity building in communities. Semiotics provides a theoretical frame for the interdisciplinary analysis of research on cultural competency, especially regarding recent studies on "cultural intelligence", performance and creativity. Interdisciplinary research on cultural literacy is shifting from cultural knowledge to intercultural know-how. This know-how translates into the individual's capacity to innovate and illustrates the influence of culture on individual and group performance. Research on cultural intelligence, performance and creativity provides promising new models for capacity building in communities. These approaches constitute a synthesis of previous research on cultural competency and provide new avenues for innovative social action through intercultural exchange.

  5. Optimal information transfer in enzymatic networks: A field theoretic formulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samanta, Himadri S.; Hinczewski, Michael; Thirumalai, D.

    2017-07-01

    Signaling in enzymatic networks is typically triggered by environmental fluctuations, resulting in a series of stochastic chemical reactions, leading to corruption of the signal by noise. For example, information flow is initiated by binding of extracellular ligands to receptors, which is transmitted through a cascade involving kinase-phosphatase stochastic chemical reactions. For a class of such networks, we develop a general field-theoretic approach to calculate the error in signal transmission as a function of an appropriate control variable. Application of the theory to a simple push-pull network, a module in the kinase-phosphatase cascade, recovers the exact results for error in signal transmission previously obtained using umbral calculus [Hinczewski and Thirumalai, Phys. Rev. X 4, 041017 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevX.4.041017]. We illustrate the generality of the theory by studying the minimal errors in noise reduction in a reaction cascade with two connected push-pull modules. Such a cascade behaves as an effective three-species network with a pseudointermediate. In this case, optimal information transfer, resulting in the smallest square of the error between the input and output, occurs with a time delay, which is given by the inverse of the decay rate of the pseudointermediate. Surprisingly, in these examples the minimum error computed using simulations that take nonlinearities and discrete nature of molecules into account coincides with the predictions of a linear theory. In contrast, there are substantial deviations between simulations and predictions of the linear theory in error in signal propagation in an enzymatic push-pull network for a certain range of parameters. Inclusion of second-order perturbative corrections shows that differences between simulations and theoretical predictions are minimized. Our study establishes that a field theoretic formulation of stochastic biological signaling offers a systematic way to understand error propagation in

  6. Determination of 54 pesticides in waters of the Iberian Douro River estuary and risk assessment of environmentally relevant mixtures using theoretical approaches and Artemia salina and Daphnia magna bioassays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruzeiro, Catarina; Amaral, Sofia; Rocha, Eduardo; Rocha, Maria João

    2017-11-01

    As a case study, the estuary of the international Douro River (Iberian Peninsula) was sampled over a year (2010) at six sampling sites to determine the presence of 56 pesticides of different categories (insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides). 96% of measured pesticides were detected in 79% of the quantified samples. Individual average pesticide concentrations ranged from 39 to 1 265ng/L, indicating a ubiquitous presence of the selected compounds; moreover, twelve pesticides were above the 2013/39/EU Directive limits. Due to its highly impacted profile, a theoretical hazard assessment was done considering the average and maximum environmental mixtures of all measured pesticides to identify the most sensitive trophic level. For both environmental mixtures, the theoretical approach suggested that invertebrates were the most sensitive group. Therefore, short-time exposure assays using both invertebrates Artemia salina and Daphnia magna, were done using the referred mixtures. Data demonstrated significant toxic effects ─ high mortality rate and abnormal swimming behaviour ─ of the exposed animals. Both approaches (theoretical and experimental) support the analytical results, alerting for an intervention on this estuarine environment and of other comparable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Use of vibrational spectroscopy to study protein and DNA structure, hydration, and binding of biomolecules: A combined theoretical and experimental approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jalkanen, Karl J.; Jürgensen, Vibeke Würtz; Claussen, Anetta

    2006-01-01

    and experimental approach. The systems we have studied systematically are the amino acids (L-alanine, L-tryptophan, and L-histidine), peptides (N-acetyl L-alanine N'-methyl amide, N-acetyl L-tryptophan N'-methyl amide, N-acetyl L-histidine N'-methyl amide, L-alanyl L-alanine, tri-L-serine, N-acetyl L-alanine L......+disp, RHF, MP2, and DFT methodologies for the modeling studies with the goal of interpreting the experimentally measured vibrational spectra for these molecules to the greatest extent possible and to use this combined approach to understand the structure, function, and electronic properties......We report on our work with vibrational absorption, vibrational circular dichroism, Raman scattering, Raman optical activity, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to study protein and DNA structure, hydration, and the binding of ligands, drugs, pesticides, or herbicides via a combined theoretical...

  8. Some New Theoretical Issues in Systems Thinking Relevant for Modelling Corporate Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minati, Gianfranco

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe fundamental concepts and theoretical challenges with regard to systems, and to build on these in proposing new theoretical frameworks relevant to learning, for example in so-called learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on some crucial fundamental aspects introduced…

  9. New real space correlated-basis-functions approach for the electron correlations of the semiconductor inversion layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Weiguo; Wang Hongwei; Wu Xiang

    1989-12-01

    Based on the real space Correlated-Basis-Functions theory and the collective oscillation behaviour of the electron gas with effective Coulomb interaction, the many body wave function is obtained for the quasi-two-dimensional electron system in the semiconductor inversion layer. The pair-correlation function and the correlation energy of the system have been calculated by the integro-differential method in this paper. The comparison with the other previous theoretical results is also made. The new theoretical approach and its numerical results show that the pair-correlation functions are definitely positive and satisfy the normalization condition. (author). 10 refs, 2 figs

  10. Transport at basin scales: 1. Theoretical framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Rinaldo

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes the theoretical framework for a class of general continuous models of the hydrologic response including both flow and transport of reactive solutes. The approach orders theoretical results appeared in disparate fields into a coherent theoretical framework for both hydrologic flow and transport. In this paper we focus on the Lagrangian description of the carrier hydrologic runoff and of the processes embedding catchment-scale generation and transport of matter carried by runoff. The former defines travel time distributions, while the latter defines lifetime distributions, here thought of as contact times between mobile and immobile phases. Contact times are assumed to control mass transfer in a well-mixed approximation, appropriate in cases, like in basin-scale transport phenomena, where the characteristic size of the injection areas is much larger than that of heterogeneous features. As a result, we define general mass-response functions of catchments which extend to transport of matter geomorphologic theories of the hydrologic response. A set of examples is provided to clarify the theoretical results towards a computational framework for generalized applications, described in a companion paper.

  11. Strategy for a Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. Development and testing of the theoretical approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Staub, Isabelle; Fredriksson, Anders; Outters, Nils [Golder Associates AB, Uppsala (Sweden)

    2002-05-01

    In the purpose of studying the possibilities of a Deep Repository for spent fuel, the Swedish Nuclear and Fuel Management Company (SKB) is currently planning for Site Investigations. Data collected from these Site Investigations are interpreted and analysed to achieve the full Site Description, which is built up of models from all the disciplines that are considered of importance for the Site Description. One of these models is the Rock Mechanical Descriptive Model,which would be developed for any site in hard crystalline rock, and is a combination and evaluation of the characterisation of rock mass by means of empirical relationships and a theoretical approach based on numerical modelling. The present report describes the theoretical approach. The characterisation of the mechanical properties of the rock mass, viewed as a unit consisting of intact rock and fractures, is achieved by numerical simulations with following input parameters: initial stresses, fracture geometry, distribution of rock mechanical properties, such as deformation and strength parameters, for the intact rock and for the fractures. The numerical modelling was performed with the two-dimensional code UDEC, and the rock block models were generated from 2D trace sections extracted from the 3D Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) model. Assumptions and uncertainties related to the set-up of the model are considered. The numerical model was set-up to simulate a plain strain-loading test. Different boundary conditions were applied on the model for simulating stress conditions (I) in the undisturbed rock mass, and (II) at the proximity of a tunnel. In order to assess the reliability of the model sensitivity analyses have been conducted on some rock block models for defining the dependency of mechanical properties to in situ stresses, the influence of boundary conditions, rock material and joint constitutive models used to simulate the behaviour of intact rock and fractures, domain size and anisotropy. To

  12. Strategy for a Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. Development and testing of the theoretical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staub, Isabelle; Fredriksson, Anders; Outters, Nils

    2002-05-01

    In the purpose of studying the possibilities of a Deep Repository for spent fuel, the Swedish Nuclear and Fuel Management Company (SKB) is currently planning for Site Investigations. Data collected from these Site Investigations are interpreted and analysed to achieve the full Site Description, which is built up of models from all the disciplines that are considered of importance for the Site Description. One of these models is the Rock Mechanical Descriptive Model,which would be developed for any site in hard crystalline rock, and is a combination and evaluation of the characterisation of rock mass by means of empirical relationships and a theoretical approach based on numerical modelling. The present report describes the theoretical approach. The characterisation of the mechanical properties of the rock mass, viewed as a unit consisting of intact rock and fractures, is achieved by numerical simulations with following input parameters: initial stresses, fracture geometry, distribution of rock mechanical properties, such as deformation and strength parameters, for the intact rock and for the fractures. The numerical modelling was performed with the two-dimensional code UDEC, and the rock block models were generated from 2D trace sections extracted from the 3D Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) model. Assumptions and uncertainties related to the set-up of the model are considered. The numerical model was set-up to simulate a plain strain-loading test. Different boundary conditions were applied on the model for simulating stress conditions (I) in the undisturbed rock mass, and (II) at the proximity of a tunnel. In order to assess the reliability of the model sensitivity analyses have been conducted on some rock block models for defining the dependency of mechanical properties to in situ stresses, the influence of boundary conditions, rock material and joint constitutive models used to simulate the behaviour of intact rock and fractures, domain size and anisotropy. To

  13. The creation in question: a brief cartography of a theoretical course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tais Rodrigues Dassoler

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This article is the result of discussions produced during a theoretical course aboutcreativity in advertising. Instead of teaching how to create, the proposal of the course was to question what characterizes creation. Departing from this question, the route of a theoretical cartography is presented, trough the deconstruction of the idea of creation, the advertising device is shown in its creative demands. Mobilizing different theoretical perspectives, the text approaches creativity’s myth when problematizes the concept of authorship and presents creation as becomings produced by the very advertising device.

  14. Theoretical approach to the scanning tunneling microscope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noguera, C.

    1990-01-01

    Within a one-electron approach, based on a Green's-function formalism, a nonperturbative expression for the tunneling current is obtained and used to discuss which spectroscopic information may be deduced from a scanning-tunneling-microscope experiment. It is shown up to which limits the voltage dependence of the tunneling current reproduces the local density of states at the surface, and how the reflection coefficients of the electronic waves at the surface may modify it

  15. Theoretical physics. Quantum mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rebhan, Eckhard

    2008-01-01

    From the first in two comprehensive volumes appeared Theoretical Physics of the author by this after Mechanics and Electrodynamics also Quantum mechanics appears as thinner single volume. First the illustrative approach via wave mechanics is reproduced. The more abstract Hilbert-space formulation introduces the author later by postulates, which are because of the preceding wave mechanics sufficiently plausible. All concepts of quantum mechanics, which contradict often to the intuitive understanding formed by macroscopic experiences, are extensively discussed and made by means of many examples as well as problems - in the largest part provided with solutions - understandable. To the interpretation of quantum mechanics an extensive special chapter is dedicated. this book arose from courses on theoretical physics, which the author has held at the Heinrich-Heine University in Duesseldorf, and was in numerous repetitions fitted to the requirement of the studyings. it is so designed that it is also after the study suited as reference book or for the renewing. All problems are very thoroughly and such extensively studied that each step is separately reproducible. About motivation and good understandability is cared much

  16. Radiative efficiencies and global warming potentials using theoretically determined absorption cross-sections for several hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) and hydrofluoropolyethers (HFPEs)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bravo, Ivan; Marston, George; Nutt, David R.; Shine, Keith P.

    2011-01-01

    Integrated infrared cross-sections and wavenumber positions for the vibrational modes of a range of hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) and hydrofluoropolyethers (HFPEs) have been calculated. Spectra were determined using a density functional method with an empirically derived correction for the wavenumbers of band positions. Radiative efficiencies (REs) were determined using the Pinnock et al. method and were used with atmospheric lifetimes from the literature to determine global warming potentials (GWPs). For the HFEs and the majority of the molecules in the HG series HFPEs, theoretically determined absorption cross-sections and REs lie within ca. 10% of those determined using measured spectra. For the larger molecules in the HG series and the HG' series of HFPEs, agreement is less good, with theoretical values for the integrated cross-sections being up to 35% higher than the experimental values; REs are up to 45% higher. Our method gives better results than previous theoretical approaches, because of the level of theory chosen and, for REs, because an empirical wavenumber correction derived for perfluorocarbons is effective in predicting the positions of C-F stretching frequencies at around 1250 cm -1 for the molecules considered here.

  17. Organizational approach to estimating public resistance at proposed disposal sites for radioactive and hazardous wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Payne, B.A.

    1982-01-01

    This paper was intended to present an organizational approach to predicting collective action and then to apply that approach to the issue of siting of a nuclear or other hazardous waste repository. Borrowing largely from two previously developed models (one by Perry et al. at Battelle's Human Affairs Research Center and one by Charles Tilly), I developed a theoretical model. Indicators were identified for many of the variables, but they are not easily measured, requiring a number of decisions on thresholds which were not clarified in the paper. What remains is further discussion of these measurement problems, evaluation of the confirmation status of the propositions, and empirical tests of the model. In the meantime, however, the discussion should provide assessors of public resistance with a theoretical basis for their thinking and a guide to some revealing indicators of the potential for collective action

  18. A Game-Theoretical Approach to Multimedia Social Networks Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Enqiang; Liu, Zengliang; Shao, Fei; Zhang, Zhiyong

    2014-01-01

    The contents access and sharing in multimedia social networks (MSNs) mainly rely on access control models and mechanisms. Simple adoptions of security policies in the traditional access control model cannot effectively establish a trust relationship among parties. This paper proposed a novel two-party trust architecture (TPTA) to apply in a generic MSN scenario. According to the architecture, security policies are adopted through game-theoretic analyses and decisions. Based on formalized utilities of security policies and security rules, the choice of security policies in content access is described as a game between the content provider and the content requester. By the game method for the combination of security policies utility and its influences on each party's benefits, the Nash equilibrium is achieved, that is, an optimal and stable combination of security policies, to establish and enhance trust among stakeholders. PMID:24977226

  19. Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: a theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, R; Ferguson, E

    2014-02-01

    While blood donation is traditionally described as a behaviour motivated by pure altruism, the assessment of altruism in the blood donation literature has not been theoretically informed. Drawing on theories of altruism from psychology, economics and evolutionary biology, it is argued that a theoretically derived psychometric assessment of altruism is needed. Such a measure is developed in this study that can be used to help inform both our understanding of the altruistic motives of blood donors and recruitment intervention strategies. A cross-sectional survey (N = 414), with a 1-month behavioural follow-up (time 2, N = 77), was designed to assess theoretically derived constructs from psychological, economic and evolutionary biological theories of altruism. Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) variables and co-operation were also assessed at time 1 and a measure of behavioural co-operation at time 2. Five theoretical dimensions (impure altruism, kinship, self-regarding motives, reluctant altruism and egalitarian warm glow) of altruism were identified through factor analyses. These five altruistic motives differentiated blood donors from non-donors (donors scored higher on impure altruism and reluctant altruism), showed incremental validity over TPB constructs to predict donor intention and predicted future co-operative behaviour. These findings show that altruism in the context of blood donation is multifaceted and complex and, does not reflect pure altruism. This has implication for recruitment campaigns that focus solely on pure altruism. © 2013 The Authors. Vox Sanguinis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. on behalf of International Society of Blood Transfusion.

  20. Exploring SiSn as a performance enhancing semiconductor: A theoretical and experimental approach

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Aftab M.; Singh, Nirpendra; Fahad, Hossain M.; Rader, Kelly; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2014-01-01

    We present a novel semiconducting alloy, silicon-tin (SiSn), as channel material for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit applications. The material has been studied theoretically using first principles analysis as well

  1. Approaches to the Question, ‘What is Life?’: Reconciling Theoretical Biology with Philosophical Biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arran Gare

    2008-10-01

    , they are approaching the question: What is Life? from different directions. Focussing on the work of Robert Rosen, in this paper I will try to show what revisions in our understanding of science theoretical biologists need to accept in order to do justice to the insights of the philosophical biologists. I will suggest that these revisions should be accepted, and spell out some of the implications of such a science./span/p

  2. [Private health insurance in Brazil: approaches to public/private patterns in healthcare].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sestelo, José Antonio de Freitas; Souza, Luis Eugenio Portela Fernandes de; Bahia, Lígia

    2013-05-01

    This article draws on a previous review of 270 articles on private health plans published from 2000 to 2010 and selects 17 that specifically address the issue of the relationship between the public and private healthcare sectors. Content analysis considered the studies' concepts and terms, related theoretical elements, and predominant lines of argument. A reading of the argumentative strategies detected the existence of a critical view of the modus operandi in the public/private relationship based on Social Medicine and the theoretical tenets of the Brazilian Health Reform Movement. The study also identified contributions based on neoliberal business approaches that focus strictly on economic issues to discuss private health insurance. Understanding the public/private link in healthcare obviously requires the development of a solid empirical base, analyzed with adequate theoretical assumptions due to the inherent degree of complexity in the public/private healthcare interface.

  3. Theoretical microbial ecology without species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tikhonov, Mikhail

    2017-09-01

    Ecosystems are commonly conceptualized as networks of interacting species. However, partitioning natural diversity of organisms into discrete units is notoriously problematic and mounting experimental evidence raises the intriguing question whether this perspective is appropriate for the microbial world. Here an alternative formalism is proposed that does not require postulating the existence of species as fundamental ecological variables and provides a naturally hierarchical description of community dynamics. This formalism allows approaching the species problem from the opposite direction. While the classical models treat a world of imperfectly clustered organism types as a perturbation around well-clustered species, the presented approach allows gradually adding structure to a fully disordered background. The relevance of this theoretical construct for describing highly diverse natural ecosystems is discussed.

  4. Does Macaulay Duration Provide The Most Cost-Effective Immunization Method – A Theoretical Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaremba Leszek

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In the following, we offer a theoretical approach that attempts to explain (Comments 1-3 why and when the Macaulay duration concept happens to be a good approximation of a bond’s price sensitivity. We are concerned with the basic immunization problem with a single liability to be discharged at a future time q. Our idea is to divide the class K of all shifts a(t of a term structure of interest rates s(t into many classes and then to find a sufficient and necessary condition a given bond portfolio, dependent on a class of shifts, must satisfy to secure immunization at time q against all shifts a(t from that class. For this purpose, we introduce the notions of dedicated duration and dedicated convexity. For each class of shifts, we show how to choose from a bond market under consideration a portfolio with maximal dedicated convexity among all immunizing portfolios. We demonstrate that the portfolio yields the maximal unanticipated rate of return and appears to be uniquely determined as a barbell strategy (portfolio built up with 2 zero-coupon bearing bonds with maximal and respective minimal dedicated durations. Finally, an open problem addressed to researchers performing empirical studies is formulated.

  5. Theoretical Methods of Domain Structures in Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianyi Liu

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This review covers methods and recent developments of the theoretical study of domain structures in ultrathin ferroelectric films. The review begins with an introduction to some basic concepts and theories (e.g., polarization and its modern theory, ferroelectric phase transition, domain formation, and finite size effects, etc. that are relevant to the study of domain structures in ultrathin ferroelectric films. Basic techniques and recent progress of a variety of important approaches for domain structure simulation, including first-principles calculation, molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo simulation, effective Hamiltonian approach and phase field modeling, as well as multiscale simulation are then elaborated. For each approach, its important features and relative merits over other approaches for modeling domain structures in ultrathin ferroelectric films are discussed. Finally, we review recent theoretical studies on some important issues of domain structures in ultrathin ferroelectric films, with an emphasis on the effects of interfacial electrostatics, boundary conditions and external loads.

  6. Developing theory-informed behaviour change interventions to implement evidence into practice: a systematic approach using the Theoretical Domains Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    French Simon D

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is little systematic operational guidance about how best to develop complex interventions to reduce the gap between practice and evidence. This article is one in a Series of articles documenting the development and use of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF to advance the science of implementation research. Methods The intervention was developed considering three main components: theory, evidence, and practical issues. We used a four-step approach, consisting of guiding questions, to direct the choice of the most appropriate components of an implementation intervention: Who needs to do what, differently? Using a theoretical framework, which barriers and enablers need to be addressed? Which intervention components (behaviour change techniques and mode(s of delivery could overcome the modifiable barriers and enhance the enablers? And how can behaviour change be measured and understood? Results A complex implementation intervention was designed that aimed to improve acute low back pain management in primary care. We used the TDF to identify the barriers and enablers to the uptake of evidence into practice and to guide the choice of intervention components. These components were then combined into a cohesive intervention. The intervention was delivered via two facilitated interactive small group workshops. We also produced a DVD to distribute to all participants in the intervention group. We chose outcome measures in order to assess the mediating mechanisms of behaviour change. Conclusions We have illustrated a four-step systematic method for developing an intervention designed to change clinical practice based on a theoretical framework. The method of development provides a systematic framework that could be used by others developing complex implementation interventions. While this framework should be iteratively adjusted and refined to suit other contexts and settings, we believe that the four-step process should be

  7. Developing theory-informed behaviour change interventions to implement evidence into practice: a systematic approach using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    French, Simon D; Green, Sally E; O'Connor, Denise A; McKenzie, Joanne E; Francis, Jill J; Michie, Susan; Buchbinder, Rachelle; Schattner, Peter; Spike, Neil; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

    2012-04-24

    There is little systematic operational guidance about how best to develop complex interventions to reduce the gap between practice and evidence. This article is one in a Series of articles documenting the development and use of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to advance the science of implementation research. The intervention was developed considering three main components: theory, evidence, and practical issues. We used a four-step approach, consisting of guiding questions, to direct the choice of the most appropriate components of an implementation intervention: Who needs to do what, differently? Using a theoretical framework, which barriers and enablers need to be addressed? Which intervention components (behaviour change techniques and mode(s) of delivery) could overcome the modifiable barriers and enhance the enablers? And how can behaviour change be measured and understood? A complex implementation intervention was designed that aimed to improve acute low back pain management in primary care. We used the TDF to identify the barriers and enablers to the uptake of evidence into practice and to guide the choice of intervention components. These components were then combined into a cohesive intervention. The intervention was delivered via two facilitated interactive small group workshops. We also produced a DVD to distribute to all participants in the intervention group. We chose outcome measures in order to assess the mediating mechanisms of behaviour change. We have illustrated a four-step systematic method for developing an intervention designed to change clinical practice based on a theoretical framework. The method of development provides a systematic framework that could be used by others developing complex implementation interventions. While this framework should be iteratively adjusted and refined to suit other contexts and settings, we believe that the four-step process should be maintained as the primary framework to guide researchers through a

  8. What happens in recessions? A value-theoretic approach to Liquidity Preference

    OpenAIRE

    Freeman, Alan

    1998-01-01

    This paper develops the paper entitled ‘‘Time, the Value of Money and the Quantification of Value’ which was presented at the conference of the Middle East Technical University in September 1998. It presents the case for a value-theoretic treatment of liquidity preference in axiomatic form, based on a temporal analysis. It discusses why temporal analysis is universally excluded from economic discourse. It argues that economic thought is divided not by the schism between classical and marg...

  9. MEDICAL BRAIN DRAIN - A THEORETICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boncea Irina

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Medical brain drain is defined as the migration of health personnel from developing countries to developed countries and between industrialized nations in search for better opportunities. This phenomenon became a global growing concern due to its impact on both the donor and the destination countries. This article aims to present the main theoretical contributions starting from 1950 until today and the historical evolution, in the attempt of correlating the particular case of medical brain drain with the theory and evolution of the brain drain in general. This article raises questions and offers answers, identifies the main issues and looks for possible solutions in order to reduce the emigration of medical doctors. Factors of influence include push (low level of income, poor working conditions, the absence of job openings and social recognition, oppressive political climate and pull (better remuneration and working conditions, prospects for career development, job satisfaction, security factors. Developing countries are confronting with the loss of their most valuable intellectuals and the investment in their education, at the benefit of developed nations. An ethical debate arises as the disparities between countries increases, industrialized nations filling in the gaps in health systems with professionals from countries already facing shortages. However, recent literature emphasizes the possibility of a “beneficial brain drain” through education incentives offered by the emigration prospects. Other sources of “brain gain” for donor country are the remittances, the scientific networks and return migration. Measures to stem the medical brain drain involve the common effort and collaboration between developing and developed countries and international organizations. Measures adopted by donor countries include higher salaries, better working conditions, security, career opportunities, incentives to stimulate return migration. Destination

  10. PERAN REMUNERASI TERHADAP KUALITAS PELAYANAN PUBLIK: THEORETICAL REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ria Yuli Angliawati

    2016-10-01

      Public service is the most important element in improving the quality of social life in society. The poor quality of public service inflicts crisis of trust in society towards public bureaucracy. In order to create “clean” and “commanding” governance by forwarding the quality of public service that is superfine and optimal are not materialized well (effective without the decent welfare of employee. One of efforts to improve service quality is by giving an effective remuneration. This study uses qualitative approach with the theoretical review from the previous researches to emerge the newest research model about the relationship of remuneration and public service. The review result found the importance of giving remuneration in improving the quality of public service. In which employee is expected to commit in conducting their works depend on the major task and the function because the goal of accepted remuneration is enough and appropriate with workload and it creates employee to be motivated in providing the optimal service to public. So it will be materialized a “clean” and “good” governance.   Keywords: Remuneration, Service Quality, Public Service

  11. Theoretical XANES Study of the Activated Nickel (t-Amylisocyanide) Molecule

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glover, J. L.; Chantler, C. T.; Soldatov, A. V.; Smolentsev, G.; Feiters, M. C.

    2007-01-01

    XANES is one of the most powerful techniques for investigating the active centres of non-crystalline systems such as synthetic catalysts and enzymes. We have investigated XANES for an active species in the Ni-catalyzed polymerization of isocyanides, the activated Ni (t-amylisocyanide) complex, using two of the most popular theoretical approaches. This is a very large cluster for which it is extremely difficult to derive a converged solution using the Finite Difference Method. The cluster has been linked to important chemical developments for catalysts for isocyanide polymerization. Predicted XANES for the nano-cluster are compared with experimental data, providing an important test for different theoretical approaches. Developments of a finite element method gave excellent agreement with the experimental data, while simpler models were relatively unsuccessful

  12. Game Theoretic Approach for Systematic Feature Selection; Application in False Alarm Detection in Intensive Care Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Afghah

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Intensive Care Units (ICUs are equipped with many sophisticated sensors and monitoring devices to provide the highest quality of care for critically ill patients. However, these devices might generate false alarms that reduce standard of care and result in desensitization of caregivers to alarms. Therefore, reducing the number of false alarms is of great importance. Many approaches such as signal processing and machine learning, and designing more accurate sensors have been developed for this purpose. However, the significant intrinsic correlation among the extracted features from different sensors has been mostly overlooked. A majority of current data mining techniques fail to capture such correlation among the collected signals from different sensors that limits their alarm recognition capabilities. Here, we propose a novel information-theoretic predictive modeling technique based on the idea of coalition game theory to enhance the accuracy of false alarm detection in ICUs by accounting for the synergistic power of signal attributes in the feature selection stage. This approach brings together techniques from information theory and game theory to account for inter-features mutual information in determining the most correlated predictors with respect to false alarm by calculating Banzhaf power of each feature. The numerical results show that the proposed method can enhance classification accuracy and improve the area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristic curve compared to other feature selection techniques, when integrated in classifiers such as Bayes-Net that consider inter-features dependencies.

  13. Individual behavioral phenotypes: an integrative meta-theoretical framework. Why "behavioral syndromes" are not analogs of "personality".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uher, Jana

    2011-09-01

    Animal researchers are increasingly interested in individual differences in behavior. Their interpretation as meaningful differences in behavioral strategies stable over time and across contexts, adaptive, heritable, and acted upon by natural selection has triggered new theoretical developments. However, the analytical approaches used to explore behavioral data still address population-level phenomena, and statistical methods suitable to analyze individual behavior are rarely applied. I discuss fundamental investigative principles and analytical approaches to explore whether, in what ways, and under which conditions individual behavioral differences are actually meaningful. I elaborate the meta-theoretical ideas underlying common theoretical concepts and integrate them into an overarching meta-theoretical and methodological framework. This unravels commonalities and differences, and shows that assumptions of analogy to concepts of human personality are not always warranted and that some theoretical developments may be based on methodological artifacts. Yet, my results also highlight possible directions for new theoretical developments in animal behavior research. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Improving the interpersonal competences of head nurses through Peplau's theoretical active learning approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suhariyanto; Hariyati, Rr Tutik Sri; Ungsianik, Titin

    2018-02-01

    Effective interpersonal skills are essential for head nurses in governing and managing their work units. Therefore, an active learning strategy could be the key to enhance the interpersonal competences of head nurses. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Peplau's theoretical approach of active learning on the improvement of head nurses' interpersonal skills. This study used a pre-experimental design with one group having pretests and posttests, without control group. A total sample of 25 head nurses from inpatient units of a wellknown private hospital in Jakarta was involved in the study. Data were analyzed using the paired t-test. The results showed a significant increase in head nurses' knowledge following the training to strengthen their interpersonal roles (P=.003). The results also revealed significant increases in the head nurses' skills in playing the roles of leader (P=.006), guardian (P=.014), and teacher/speaker (P=.015). Nonetheless, the results showed no significant increases in the head nurses' skills in playing the roles of counselor (P=.092) and stranger (P=.182). Training in strengthening the interpersonal roles of head nurses significantly increased the head nurses' knowledge and skills. The results of the study suggested the continuation of active learning strategies to improve the interpersonal abilities of head nurses. Furthermore, these strategies could be used to build the abilities of head nurses in other managerial fields. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  15. Theoretical simulations on the antioxidant mechanism of naturally occurring flavonoid: A DFT approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Praveena, R. [Department of Chemistry, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode, Tamil Nadu (India); Sadasivam, K. [Department of Physics, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2016-05-06

    Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are found to be toxic, hence non-carcinogenic naturally occurring radical scavengers especially flavonoids have gained considerable importance in the past two decades. In the present investigation, the radical scavenging activity of C-glycosyl flavonoids is evaluated using theoretical approach which could broaden its scope in therapeutic applications. Gas and solvent phase studies of structural and molecular characteristics of C-glycosyl flavonoid, isovitexin is investigated through hydrogen atom transfer mechanism (HAT), Electron transfer-proton transfer (ET–PT) and Sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET) by Density functional theory (DFT) using hybrid parameters. The computed values of the adiabatic ionization potential, electron affinity, hardness, softness, electronegativity and electrophilic index indicate that isovitexin possess good radical scavenging activity. The behavior of different –OH groups in polyphenolic compounds is assessed by considering electronic effects of the neighbouring groups and the overall geometry of molecule which in turn helps in analyzing the antioxidant capacity of the polyphenolic molecule. The studies indicate that the H–atom abstraction from 4’–OH site is preferred during the radical scavenging process. From Mulliken spin density analysis and FMOs, B–ring is found to be more delocalized center and capable of electron donation. Comparison of antioxidant activity of vitexin and isovitexin leads to the conclusion that isovitexin acts as a better radical scavenger. This is an evidence for the importance of position of glucose unit in the flavonoid.

  16. Theoretical simulations on the antioxidant mechanism of naturally occurring flavonoid: A DFT approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Praveena, R.; Sadasivam, K.

    2016-01-01

    Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are found to be toxic, hence non-carcinogenic naturally occurring radical scavengers especially flavonoids have gained considerable importance in the past two decades. In the present investigation, the radical scavenging activity of C-glycosyl flavonoids is evaluated using theoretical approach which could broaden its scope in therapeutic applications. Gas and solvent phase studies of structural and molecular characteristics of C-glycosyl flavonoid, isovitexin is investigated through hydrogen atom transfer mechanism (HAT), Electron transfer-proton transfer (ET–PT) and Sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET) by Density functional theory (DFT) using hybrid parameters. The computed values of the adiabatic ionization potential, electron affinity, hardness, softness, electronegativity and electrophilic index indicate that isovitexin possess good radical scavenging activity. The behavior of different –OH groups in polyphenolic compounds is assessed by considering electronic effects of the neighbouring groups and the overall geometry of molecule which in turn helps in analyzing the antioxidant capacity of the polyphenolic molecule. The studies indicate that the H–atom abstraction from 4’–OH site is preferred during the radical scavenging process. From Mulliken spin density analysis and FMOs, B–ring is found to be more delocalized center and capable of electron donation. Comparison of antioxidant activity of vitexin and isovitexin leads to the conclusion that isovitexin acts as a better radical scavenger. This is an evidence for the importance of position of glucose unit in the flavonoid.

  17. The theoretical preconditions for problem situation realization while studying information technology at school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ольга Александровна Прусакова

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Within the framework of modern pedagogy and educational practice there have been worked out and realized various theoretical conceptions, theories, educational approaches including humanistic, personality-oriented, activity-oriented, competence-oriented. One of such approaches to education and personality development is the problem-solving approach.

  18. Power Transmission Scheduling for Generators in a Deregulated Environment Based on a Game-Theoretic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bingtuan Gao

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In a deregulated environment of the power market, in order to lower their energy price and guarantee the stability of the power network, appropriate transmission lines have to be considered for electricity generators to sell their energy to the end users. This paper proposes a game-theoretic power transmission scheduling for multiple generators to lower their wheeling cost. Based on the embedded cost method, a wheeling cost model consisting of congestion cost, cost of losses and cost of transmission capacity is presented. By assuming each generator behaves in a selfish and rational way, the competition among the multiple generators is formulated as a non-cooperative game, where the players are the generators and the strategies are their daily schedules of power transmission. We will prove that there exists at least one pure-strategy Nash equilibrium of the formulated power transmission game. Moreover, a distributed algorithm will be provided to realize the optimization in terms of minimizing the wheeling cost. Finally, simulations were performed and discussed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed non-cooperative game approach for the generators in a deregulated environment.

  19. Exploring SiSn as a performance enhancing semiconductor: A theoretical and experimental approach

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Aftab M.

    2014-12-14

    We present a novel semiconducting alloy, silicon-tin (SiSn), as channel material for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit applications. The material has been studied theoretically using first principles analysis as well as experimentally by fabricating MOSFETs. Our study suggests that the alloy offers interesting possibilities in the realm of silicon band gap tuning. We have explored diffusion of tin (Sn) into the industry\\'s most widely used substrate, silicon (100), as it is the most cost effective, scalable and CMOS compatible way of obtaining SiSn. Our theoretical model predicts a higher mobility for p-channel SiSn MOSFETs, due to a lower effective mass of the holes, which has been experimentally validated using the fabricated MOSFETs. We report an increase of 13.6% in the average field effect hole mobility for SiSn devices compared to silicon control devices.

  20. Identifying determinants of medication adherence following myocardial infarction using the Theoretical Domains Framework and the Health Action Process Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Presseau, Justin; Schwalm, J D; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Witteman, Holly O; Natarajan, Madhu K; Linklater, Stefanie; Sullivan, Katrina; Ivers, Noah M

    2017-10-01

    Despite evidence-based recommendations, adherence with secondary prevention medications post-myocardial infarction (MI) remains low. Taking medication requires behaviour change, and using behavioural theories to identify what factors determine adherence could help to develop novel adherence interventions. Compare the utility of different behaviour theory-based approaches for identifying modifiable determinants of medication adherence post-MI that could be targeted by interventions. Two studies were conducted with patients 0-2, 3-12, 13-24 or 25-36 weeks post-MI. Study 1: 24 patients were interviewed about barriers and facilitators to medication adherence. Interviews were conducted and coded using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Study 2: 201 patients answered a telephone questionnaire assessing Health Action Process Approach constructs to predict intention and medication adherence (MMAS-8). Study 1: domains identified: Beliefs about Consequences, Memory/Attention/Decision Processes, Behavioural Regulation, Social Influences and Social Identity. Study 2: 64, 59, 42 and 58% reported high adherence at 0-2, 3-12, 13-24 and 25-36 weeks. Social Support and Action Planning predicted adherence at all time points, though the relationship between Action Planning and adherence decreased over time. Using two behaviour theory-based approaches provided complimentary findings and identified modifiable factors that could be targeted to help translate Intention into action to improve medication adherence post-MI.

  1. Introduction to a field-theoretical treatment of neutrino oscillations

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ... treatment of neutrino oscillations provides a beautiful and simple picture of ... This fact is best taken into account in the quantum field-theoretical approach where ..... which contain a real antineutrino of mass С , or in other words, in the limit Д.

  2. Accelerator simulation and theoretical modelling of radiation effects (SMoRE)

    CERN Document Server

    2018-01-01

    This publication summarizes the findings and conclusions of the IAEA coordinated research project (CRP) on accelerator simulation and theoretical modelling of radiation effects, aimed at supporting Member States in the development of advanced radiation-resistant structural materials for implementation in innovative nuclear systems. This aim can be achieved through enhancement of both experimental neutron-emulation capabilities of ion accelerators and improvement of the predictive efficiency of theoretical models and computer codes. This dual approach is challenging but necessary, because outputs of accelerator simulation experiments need adequate theoretical interpretation, and theoretical models and codes need high dose experimental data for their verification. Both ion irradiation investigations and computer modelling have been the specific subjects of the CRP, and the results of these studies are presented in this publication which also includes state-ofthe- art reviews of four major aspects of the project...

  3. Formation of Virtual Organizations in Grids: A Game-Theoretic Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Thomas E.; Grosu, Daniel

    The execution of large scale grid applications requires the use of several computational resources owned by various Grid Service Providers (GSPs). GSPs must form Virtual Organizations (VOs) to be able to provide the composite resource to these applications. We consider grids as self-organizing systems composed of autonomous, self-interested GSPs that will organize themselves into VOs with every GSP having the objective of maximizing its profit. We formulate the resource composition among GSPs as a coalition formation problem and propose a game-theoretic framework based on cooperation structures to model it. Using this framework, we design a resource management system that supports the VO formation among GSPs in a grid computing system.

  4. A theoretical model for predicting neutron fluxes for cyclic Neutron ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A theoretical model has been developed for prediction of thermal neutron fluxes required for cyclic irradiations of a sample to obtain the same activity previously used for the detection of any radionuclide of interest. The model is suitable for radiotracer production or for long-lived neutron activation products where the ...

  5. Adding Theoretical Grounding to Grounded Theory: Toward Multi-Grounded Theory

    OpenAIRE

    Göran Goldkuhl; Stefan Cronholm

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to challenge some of the cornerstones of the grounded theory approach and propose an extended and alternative approach for data analysis and theory development, which the authors call multi-grounded theory (MGT). A multi-grounded theory is not only empirically grounded; it is also grounded in other ways. Three different grounding processes are acknowledged: theoretical, empirical, and internal grounding. The authors go beyond the pure inductivist approach in GT an...

  6. Exploring Job Satisfaction of Nursing Faculty: Theoretical Approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yingchen; Liesveld, Judy

    2015-01-01

    The Future of Nursing report identified the shortage of nursing faculty as 1 of the barriers to nursing education. In light of this, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the work-life of nursing faculty. The current research focused on job satisfaction of nursing faculty from 4 theoretical perspectives: human capital theory, which emphasizes the expected monetary and nonmonetary returns for any career choices; structural theory, which emphasizes the impact of institutional features on job satisfaction; positive extrinsic environment by self-determination theory, which asserts that a positive extrinsic environment promotes competency and effective outcomes at work; and psychological theory, which emphasizes the proposed relationship between job performance and satisfaction. In addition to the measures for human capital theory, institutional variables (from structural theory and self-determination theory), and productivity measures (from psychological theory), the authors also selected sets of variables for personal characteristics to investigate their effects on job satisfaction. The results indicated that variables related to human capital theory, especially salary, contributed the most to job satisfaction, followed by those related to institutional variables. Personal variables and productivity variables as a whole contributed as well. The only other variable with marginal significance was faculty's perception of institutional support for teaching. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  7. Mundane science use in a practice theoretical perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halkier, Bente

    2017-01-01

    understanding and public engagement with science. Many of the public communication initiatives, however, address lay people as consumers rather than citizens. This creates specific challenges for understanding public engagement with science and scientific citizenship. The article compares five different...... understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public issue communication involving science, where the first four types are widely represented in the Public Understanding of Science discussions. The fifth understanding is a practice theoretical perspective. The article suggests how the public...... understanding of and engagement in science literature can benefit from including a practice theoretical approach to research about mundane science use and public engagement....

  8. Relativistic many-body theory a new field-theoretical approach

    CERN Document Server

    Lindgren, Ingvar

    2016-01-01

    This revised second edition of the author’s classic text offers readers a comprehensively updated review of relativistic atomic many-body theory, covering the many developments in the field since the publication of the original title.  In particular, a new final section extends the scope to cover the evaluation of QED effects for dynamical processes. The treatment of the book is based upon quantum-field theory, and demonstrates that when the procedure is carried to all orders of perturbation theory, two-particle systems are fully compatible with the relativistically covariant Bethe-Salpeter equation. This procedure can be applied to arbitrary open-shell systems, in analogy with the standard many-body theory, and it is also applicable to systems with more than two particles. Presently existing theoretical procedures for treating atomic systems are, in several cases, insufficient to explain the accurate experimental data recently obtained, particularly for highly charged ions. The main text is divided into...

  9. Laser debonding of ceramic orthodontic brackets: a theoretical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kearney, Kristine L.; Marangoni, Roy D.; Rickabaugh, Jeff L.

    1992-06-01

    Ceramic brackets are an esthetic substitute for conventional stainless steel brackets in orthodontic patients. However, ceramic brackets are more brittle and have higher bond strengths which can lead to bracket breakage and enamel damage during debonding. It has been demonstrated that various lasers can facilitate ceramic bracket removal. One mechanism with the laser is through the softening of the bracket adhesive. The high energy density from the laser on the bracket and adhesive can have a resultant deleterious thermal effect on the pulp of the tooth which may lead to pulpal death. A theoretical computer model of bracket, adhesive, enamel and dentin has been generated for predicting heat flow through this system. Heat fluxes at varying intensities and modes have been input into the program and the resultant temperatures at various points or nodes were determined. Further pursuit should lead to optimum parameters for laser debonding which would have minimal effects on the pulp.

  10. Relativistic Many-Body Theory A New Field-Theoretical Approach

    CERN Document Server

    Lindgren, Ingvar

    2011-01-01

    Relativistic Many-Body Theory treats — for the first time — the combination of relativistic atomic many-body theory with quantum-electrodynamics (QED) in a unified manner. This book can be regarded as a continuation of the book by Lindgren and Morrison, Atomic Many-Body Theory (Springer 1986), which deals with the non-relativistic theory of many-electron systems, describing several means of treating the electron correlation to essentially all orders of perturbation theory. The treatment of the present book is based upon quantum-field theory, and demonstrates that when the procedure is carried to all orders of perturbation theory, two-particle systems are fully compatible with the relativistically covariant Bethe-Salpeter equation. This procedure can be applied to arbitrary open-shell systems, in analogy with the standard many-body theory, and it is also applicable to systems with more than two particles. Presently existing theoretical procedures for treating atomic systems are, in several cases, insuffici...

  11. RELATIVISTIC HEAVY ION PHYSICS: A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    KHARZEEV,D.

    2004-03-28

    This is a mini-review of recent theoretical work in the field of relativistic heavy ion physics. The following topics are discussed initial conditions and the Color Glass Condensate; approach to thermalization and the hydrodynamic evolution; hard probes and the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Some of the unsolved problems and potentially promising directions for future research are listed as well.

  12. Game-Theoretic Learning in Distributed Control

    KAUST Repository

    Marden, Jason R.

    2018-01-05

    In distributed architecture control problems, there is a collection of interconnected decision-making components that seek to realize desirable collective behaviors through local interactions and by processing local information. Applications range from autonomous vehicles to energy to transportation. One approach to control of such distributed architectures is to view the components as players in a game. In this approach, two design considerations are the components’ incentives and the rules that dictate how components react to the decisions of other components. In game-theoretic language, the incentives are defined through utility functions, and the reaction rules are online learning dynamics. This chapter presents an overview of this approach, covering basic concepts in game theory, special game classes, measures of distributed efficiency, utility design, and online learning rules, all with the interpretation of using game theory as a prescriptive paradigm for distributed control design.

  13. Theoretical Analysis and Design of Ultrathin Broadband Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Ruixiang; Li, Meiling; Muneer, Badar; Zhu, Qi; Shi, Zaiying; Song, Lixin; Zhang, Tao

    2018-01-01

    Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorber (OTMMA) is of significant use in both civil and military field. In this paper, equivalent circuit model is adopted as springboard to navigate the design of OTMMA. The physical model and absorption mechanisms of ideal lightweight ultrathin OTMMA are comprehensively researched. Both the theoretical value of equivalent resistance and the quantitative relation between the equivalent inductance and equivalent capacitance are derived for design. Frequency-dependent characteristics of theoretical equivalent resistance are also investigated. Based on these theoretical works, an effective and controllable design approach is proposed. To validate the approach, a wideband OTMMA is designed, fabricated, analyzed and tested. The results reveal that high absorption more than 90% can be achieved in the whole 6~18 GHz band. The fabricated OTMMA also has an optical transparency up to 78% at 600 nm and is much thinner and lighter than its counterparts. PMID:29324686

  14. Theoretical Analysis and Design of Ultrathin Broadband Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorbers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruixiang Deng

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorber (OTMMA is of significant use in both civil and military field. In this paper, equivalent circuit model is adopted as springboard to navigate the design of OTMMA. The physical model and absorption mechanisms of ideal lightweight ultrathin OTMMA are comprehensively researched. Both the theoretical value of equivalent resistance and the quantitative relation between the equivalent inductance and equivalent capacitance are derived for design. Frequency-dependent characteristics of theoretical equivalent resistance are also investigated. Based on these theoretical works, an effective and controllable design approach is proposed. To validate the approach, a wideband OTMMA is designed, fabricated, analyzed and tested. The results reveal that high absorption more than 90% can be achieved in the whole 6~18 GHz band. The fabricated OTMMA also has an optical transparency up to 78% at 600 nm and is much thinner and lighter than its counterparts.

  15. Formation of modern theoretical regulations about organization concerning management development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhalinska I.V.

    2017-03-01

    success; modern theoretical development offers a wide range of business concepts that don’t make a single system; traditional business concepts undergo considerable transformation; the modern science of management doesn’t offer a unified approach for learning and explanation of organizational processes. The results of the current study allow to come to the conclusion about the necessity to learn organizational processes as the entity of organization theory. The current research direction can be considered as the next stage in the development of the science of management after the potential of the previous stages is over. Organizations are becoming significant independent entities in outdoor environment but not one of the factors of economic efficiency.

  16. Theoretical aspect of the development of 'corporate social responsibility' concept

    OpenAIRE

    Milanović, Vesna M.; Bučalina, Andrea D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a theoretical aspect of the development of 'corporate social responsibility' concept from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, with the focus on the following periods: up to 1950, between 1950 an 1970, from 1970 to 1990 and from 1990 to now. We employed historical approach. We had an insight into the results of theoretical research on 'corporate social responsibility' concept, which were mostly presented in scientific papers in the English language. The ab...

  17. THEORETICAL AND METHODICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION AND EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF TOURIST SERVICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliya Vasylykha

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The study, the results of which are described in the article, is devoted to analysing and substantiating approaches to the assessment and quality assurance of tourism services, which form their competitiveness, namely factors and indicators of quality. After all, the integration and globalization of the world society determine the development of tourism as a catalyst for these global processes, and world practice has proved that tourism can be an effective way to solve many socio-economic problems. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of assessing the quality of tourist services. Methodology. The methodological basis of the work is a system of general scientific and special scientific methods, mainly, in the process of research, there are used such methods as system-analytical and dialectical methods – for the theoretical generalization of the investigated material; structural and logical method – in systematizing factors and indicators of the quality of tourist services. The purpose of the article is a theoretical justification of approaches to the quality of tourist services and optimization of their quality assessment. In the research, approaches to the interpretation of the concept of quality are presented and analysed, features of services in general and tourism in particular are concentrated, and it is suggested to group and classify factors and indicators of their quality. The interpretation of the notion of quality is ambiguous, both in Ukrainian and in foreign literary sources, and depends on the point of view on this notion. In our opinion, the most thorough definition characterizes the quality of products and services as a complex feature that determines their suitability to the needs of the consumer. Taking into account the specificity of the term “service”, peculiarities determining the approaches to their evaluation are studied, such a service can be considered a product dominated by intangible elements and also

  18. Use of spatial symmetry in atomic--integral calculations: an efficient permutational approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rouzo, H.L.

    1979-01-01

    The minimal number of independent nonzero atomic integrals that occur over arbitrarily oriented basis orbitals of the form R(r).Y/sub lm/(Ω) is theoretically derived. The corresponding method can be easily applied to any point group, including the molecular continuous groups C/sub infinity v/ and D/sub infinity h/. On the basis of this (theoretical) lower bound, the efficiency of the permutational approach in generating sets of independent integrals is discussed. It is proved that lobe orbitals are always more efficient than the familiar Cartesian Gaussians, in the sense that GLOS provide the shortest integral lists. Moreover, it appears that the new axial GLOS often lead to a number of integrals, which is the theoretical lower bound previously defined. With AGLOS, the numbers of two-electron integrals to be computed, stored, and processed are divided by factors 2.9 (NH 3 ), 4.2 (C 5 H 5 ), and 3.6 (C 6 H 6 ) with reference to the corresponding CGTOS calculations. Remembering that in the permutational approach, atomic integrals are directly computed without any four-indice transformation, it appears that its utilization in connection with AGLOS provides one of the most powerful tools for treating symmetrical species. 34 references

  19. Energy confinement time and tokamak ignition - a theoretical viewpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sigmar, D.J.; Hsu, C.T.

    1989-01-01

    A rigorous approach developed earlier to obtain the global energy confinement time from theory based local thermal transport coefficients is applied to investigate the approach to thermonuclear fusion in the tokamak. Theory leads naturally to a generalized 'offset' form for the global energy confinement time. The limitations of the theoretical paradigm presented here are discussed and specific ignition contour results for a large 5 Tesla and 12 Tesla ignition experiment are given. (orig.) [de

  20. Empirical and theoretical challenges in aboveground-belowground ecology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    W.H. van der Putten,; R.D. Bardgett; P.C. de Ruiter

    2009-01-01

    of the current conceptual succession models into more predictive models can help targeting empirical studies and generalising their results. Then, we discuss how understanding succession may help to enhance managing arable crops, grasslands and invasive plants, as well as provide insights into the effects...... and environmental settings, we explore where and how they can be supported by theoretical approaches to develop testable predictions and to generalise empirical results. We review four key areas where a combined aboveground-belowground approach offers perspectives for enhancing ecological understanding, namely...

  1. Non-contact adhesion to self-affine surfaces: A theoretical model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makeev, Maxim A., E-mail: makeev@umich.edu

    2013-11-22

    Strength of adhesion between materials is known to be strongly influenced by interface irregularities. In this work, I devise a perturbative approach to describe the effect of self-affine roughness on non-contact adhesive interactions. The hierarchy of the obtained analytical solutions is the following. First, analytical formulae are deduced to describe roughness corrections to the van der Waals interaction energies between a hemi-space adherend, bounded by a self-affine surface, and a point-like adherent. Second, the problem of two hemi-spaces, one of which has a planar surface, and the other is bounded by a self-affine surface, is solved analytically. In the latter case, a numerical analysis is performed to delineate the behavior of the roughness corrections as a function of the parameters, characterizing self-affine fractal surface roughness. The problem of two hemi-spaces, both bounded by self-affine fractal surfaces, is also addressed in this work. The model's predictions are compared with previously reported theoretical results and available experimental data.

  2. A New Theoretical Approach to Postsecondary Student Disability: Disability-Diversity (Dis)Connect Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aquino, Katherine C.

    2016-01-01

    Disability is often viewed as an obstacle to postsecondary inclusion, but not a characteristic of student diversity. Additionally, current theoretical frameworks isolate disability from other student diversity characteristics. In response, a new conceptual framework, the Disability-Diversity (Dis)Connect Model (DDDM), was created to address…

  3. Theoretical Study on the Flow of Refilling Stage in a Safety Injection Tank

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jun Sang [Halla Univ. Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-10-15

    In this study, a theoretical analysis was performed to the flow of refilling stage in a safety injection tank, which is the core cooling system of nuclear power plant in an emergency. A theoretical model was proposed with a nonlinear governing equation defining on the flow of the refilling process of the coolant. Utilizing the Taylor-series expansion, the 1st - order approximation flow equation was obtained, along with its analytic solution of closed type, which could predict accurately the variations of free surface height and flow rate of the coolant. The availability of theoretical result was confirmed by comparing with previous experimental results.

  4. PRICE DISCRIMINATION AND MARKET POWER: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Smirnova

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the contemporary theoretical and empirical research in the field of impact assessment of market power and conclusions about the possibilities of the company to implement price discrimination in different market structures. The results of the analysis allow to evaluate current approaches to antitrust regulation of price discrimination.

  5. Power and Law in Enlightened Absolutism – Carl Gottlieb Svarez’ Theoretical and Practical Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Kuhli

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The term Enlightened Absolutism reflects a certain tension between its two components. This tension is in a way a continuation of the dichotomy between power on one hand and law on the other. The present paper shall provide an analysis of these two concepts from the perspective of Carl Gottlieb Svarez, who, in his position as a high-ranking Prussian civil servant and legal reformist, had unparalleled influence on the legislative history of the Prussian states towards the end of the 18th century. Working side-by-side with Johann Heinrich Casimir von Carmer, who held the post of Prussian minister of justice from 1779 to 1798, Svarez was able to make use of his talent for reforming and legislating. From 1780 to 1794 he was primarily responsible for the elaboration of the codification of the Prussian private law – the »Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten« in 1794. In the present paper, Svarez’ approach to the relation between law and power shall be analysed on two different levels. Firstly, on a theoretical level, the reformist’s thoughts and reflections as laid down in his numerous works, papers and memorandums, shall be discussed. Secondly, on a practical level, the question of the extent to which he implemented his ideas in Prussian legal reality shall be explored.

  6. Therapists' thoughts on therapy: clinicians' perceptions of the therapy processes that distinguish schema, cognitive behavioural and psychodynamic approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boterhoven De Haan, Katrina L; Lee, Christopher W

    2014-01-01

    Debates continue over shared factors in therapy processes between different theoretical orientations. By seeking the opinions of practicing clinicians, this study aimed to elucidate the similarities and differences between cognitive-behavioural (CBT), psychodynamic (PDT), and schema therapy (ST) approaches. Forty-eight practitioners aligning with one of the three approaches were asked to identify crucial processes in their therapy using a modified online version of the Psychotherapy Process Q-set. Distinct differences between each theoretical orientation with few shared common factors were found. A comparison with ratings from previous studies indicated that CBT therapists have not changed over the last 20 years, whereas PDT therapists have changed and the differences appeared consistent with modern PDT theory. The differences between the therapy approaches were consistent with theories underlying each model. PDT therapists valued a neutral relationship, CBT therapists emphasized a didactic interaction, and therapists form a ST orientation placed a greater emphasis on emotional involvement.

  7. Quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental results for the BCS-BEC crossover

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perali, A.; Pieri, P.; Strinati, G.C.

    2004-01-01

    Theoretical predictions for the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer-Bose-Einstein condensation crossover of trapped Fermi atoms are compared with recent experimental results for the density profiles of L 6 i. The calculations rest on a single theoretical approach that includes pairing fluctuations beyond mean-field. Excellent agreement with experimental results is obtained. Theoretical predictions for the zero-temperature chemical potential and gap at the unitarity limit are also found to compare extremely well with Quantum Monte Carlo simulations and with recent experimental results

  8. A theoretical approach on controlling agricultural pest by biological controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondal, Prasanta Kumar; Jana, Soovoojeet; Kar, T K

    2014-03-01

    In this paper we propose and analyze a prey-predator type dynamical system for pest control where prey population is treated as the pest. We consider two classes for the pest namely susceptible pest and infected pest and the predator population is the natural enemy of the pest. We also consider average delay for both the predation rate i.e. predation to the susceptible pest and infected pest. Considering a subsystem of original system in the absence of infection, we analyze the existence of all possible non-negative equilibria and their stability criteria for both the subsystem as well as the original system. We present the conditions for transcritical bifurcation and Hopf bifurcation in the disease free system. The theoretical evaluations are demonstrated through numerical simulations.

  9. Social self-esteem: theoretical and methodological approaches to research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Usova E.N.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The perspective of the analysis of the phenomenon of the social well-being of patients with chronic diseases from the standpoint of the sociology of medicine is proved. Modern approaches to the study of social well-being within the framework of sociological and psychological approaches are singled out. The importance of studying the levels of social well-being (institutional and individual is presented to explain the individual's chosen strategies of behavior in the disease situation. The vectors of operationalization of the category of social well-being within the sociology of medicine are indicated.

  10. A Holistic Theoretical Approach to Intellectual Disability: Going beyond the Four Current Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schalock, Robert L.; Luckasson, Ruth; Tassé, Marc J.; Verdugo, Miguel Angel

    2018-01-01

    This article describes a holistic theoretical framework that can be used to explain intellectual disability (ID) and organize relevant information into a usable roadmap to guide understanding and application. Developing the framework involved analyzing the four current perspectives on ID and synthesizing this information into a holistic…

  11. A decision-theoretic approach to collaboration: Principal description methods and efficient heuristic approximations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oliehoek, F.A.; Visser, A.; Babuška, R.; Groen, F.C.A

    2010-01-01

    This chapter gives an overview of the state of the art in decision-theoretic models to describe cooperation between multiple agents in a dynamic environment. Making (near-) optimal decisions in such settings gets harder when the number of agents grows or the uncertainty about the environment

  12. Development of theoretical oxygen saturation calibration curve based on optical density ratio and optical simulation approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jumadi, Nur Anida; Beng, Gan Kok; Ali, Mohd Alauddin Mohd; Zahedi, Edmond; Morsin, Marlia

    2017-09-01

    The implementation of surface-based Monte Carlo simulation technique for oxygen saturation (SaO2) calibration curve estimation is demonstrated in this paper. Generally, the calibration curve is estimated either from the empirical study using animals as the subject of experiment or is derived from mathematical equations. However, the determination of calibration curve using animal is time consuming and requires expertise to conduct the experiment. Alternatively, an optical simulation technique has been used widely in the biomedical optics field due to its capability to exhibit the real tissue behavior. The mathematical relationship between optical density (OD) and optical density ratios (ODR) associated with SaO2 during systole and diastole is used as the basis of obtaining the theoretical calibration curve. The optical properties correspond to systolic and diastolic behaviors were applied to the tissue model to mimic the optical properties of the tissues. Based on the absorbed ray flux at detectors, the OD and ODR were successfully calculated. The simulation results of optical density ratio occurred at every 20 % interval of SaO2 is presented with maximum error of 2.17 % when comparing it with previous numerical simulation technique (MC model). The findings reveal the potential of the proposed method to be used for extended calibration curve study using other wavelength pair.

  13. Micro sociological study of family relationships: heuristic potential theoretical principles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. P. Zolotnyik

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This article is devoted to demonstrate the heuristic potential of theoretical principles by microsoсiological analysis of one of the indicators of family – family relations. Theoretical analysis of the interaction experience is quite large, but there is the question about it’s possibility to describe the specifics of that relationship that arise in family interaction. The study of family relationships requires an integrated approach to the comprehension of many related components: system of spouses value orientations, family life cycle, socio­economic living conditions of couple. However, the accentuation exactly on action­behavioral aspect allows to make assumptions about correlations between: success of family interaction and microclimate in the family; satisfaction level of interpersonal interaction and overall satisfaction with marriage, familiarity of family interaction and density of childbearing, and so on. The presentation of microsoсiological theoretical achievements will be carried out of sociological schools, orientations and their members that are the most popular references in this area. this paper will presents the theory of exchange, supporters of symbolic interactionism, dramatic and etnometodological approach and family systems theory.

  14. Theoretical Aspects of the Technological Leadership of National Economies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dovgal Еlеna A.

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The main theoretical approaches to forming and defining the essence of the technological leadership of national economies have been considered. At present the global nature of the technological development factor is the main engine of development of economies in most world countries. Changes and improvement of all the elements of productive forces occur and innovations or new developments appear as a result of technological development. Different approaches to defining the essence of the technological leadership have been considered, the stages of its development, theoretical concepts of different scientific schools regarding the impact of the factor of technological development on the overall economic process of national economies have been analyzed. Characteristics of technological modes have been summarized and their influence on the formation of the technological leadership of the world countries has been revealed. The main approaches to identifying the technological leadership of various countries on the basis of calculation of international indices have been considered. The prospect for further research of the problem is a comprehensive study of determinants that reflect the technological leadership and give a general assessment of qualitative characteristics of the formation of its components

  15. Group-theoretical approach to relativistic eikonal physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leon, J; Quiros, M [Instituto de Enstructura de la Materia, C.S.I.C., Madrid (Spain); Departamento de Matematica, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Alcala (Spain)); Ramirez Mittelbrunn, J [Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, C.S.I.C., Madrid (Spain)

    1977-09-01

    A contraction of the Poincare group is performed leading to the eikonal approximation. Invariants, one-particle states, spinning particles and some interaction problems are studied with the following results: momenta of ultrarelativistic particles behave as lightlike, the little group being E/sub 2/, spin behaves as that of zero-mass particles, helicity being conserved in the presence of interactions. The full eikonal results are rederived for Green's functions, wave functions, etc. The way for computing corrections due to transverse momenta and spin-dependent interactions is outlined. A parallel analysis is made for the infinite-momentum frame, the similarities and differences between this formalism and the eikonal approach being disclosed.

  16. Perspectives on Cybersecurity Information Sharing among Multiple Stakeholders Using a Decision-Theoretic Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Meilin; Devine, Laura; Zhuang, Jun

    2018-02-01

    The government, private sectors, and others users of the Internet are increasingly faced with the risk of cyber incidents. Damage to computer systems and theft of sensitive data caused by cyber attacks have the potential to result in lasting harm to entities under attack, or to society as a whole. The effects of cyber attacks are not always obvious, and detecting them is not a simple proposition. As the U.S. federal government believes that information sharing on cybersecurity issues among organizations is essential to safety, security, and resilience, the importance of trusted information exchange has been emphasized to support public and private decision making by encouraging the creation of the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). Through a decision-theoretic approach, this article provides new perspectives on ISAC, and the advent of the new Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAOs), which are intended to provide similar benefits to organizations that cannot fit easily into the ISAC structure. To help understand the processes of information sharing against cyber threats, this article illustrates 15 representative information sharing structures between ISAC, government, and other participating entities, and provide discussions on the strategic interactions between different stakeholders. This article also identifies the costs of information sharing and information security borne by different parties in this public-private partnership both before and after cyber attacks, as well as the two main benefits. This article provides perspectives on the mechanism of information sharing and some detailed cost-benefit analysis. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  17. Hydrogen storage in lithium hydride: A theoretical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banger, Suman; Nayak, Vikas; Verma, U. P.

    2018-04-01

    First principles calculations have been carried out to analyze structural stability of lithium hydride (LiH) in NaCl phase using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). Calculations have been extended to physiosorbed H-atom compounds LiH·H2, LiH·3H2 and LiH·4H2. The obtained results are discussed in the paper. The results for LiH are in excellent agreement with earlier reported data. The obtained direct energy band gap of LiH is 3.0 eV which is in excellent agreement with earlier reported theoretical band gap. The electronic band structure plots of the hydrogen adsorbed compounds show metallic behavior. The elastic constants, anisotropy factor, shear modulus, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and cohesive energies of all the compounds are calculated. Calculation of the optical spectra such as the real and imaginary parts of dielectric function, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficient, optical conductivity, refractive index, extinction coefficient and electron energy loss are performed for the energy range 0-15 eV. The obtained results for LiH·H2, LiH·3H2 and LiH·4H2, are reported for the first time. This study has been made in search of materials for hydrogen storage. It is concluded that LiH is a promising material for hydrogen storage.

  18. A Game Theoretic Approach to Cyber Attack Prediction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng Liu

    2005-11-28

    The area investigated by this project is cyber attack prediction. With a focus on correlation-based prediction, current attack prediction methodologies overlook the strategic nature of cyber attack-defense scenarios. As a result, current cyber attack prediction methodologies are very limited in predicting strategic behaviors of attackers in enforcing nontrivial cyber attacks such as DDoS attacks, and may result in low accuracy in correlation-based predictions. This project develops a game theoretic framework for cyber attack prediction, where an automatic game-theory-based attack prediction method is proposed. Being able to quantitatively predict the likelihood of (sequences of) attack actions, our attack prediction methodology can predict fine-grained strategic behaviors of attackers and may greatly improve the accuracy of correlation-based prediction. To our best knowledge, this project develops the first comprehensive framework for incentive-based modeling and inference of attack intent, objectives, and strategies; and this project develops the first method that can predict fine-grained strategic behaviors of attackers. The significance of this research and the benefit to the public can be demonstrated to certain extent by (a) the severe threat of cyber attacks to the critical infrastructures of the nation, including many infrastructures overseen by the Department of Energy, (b) the importance of cyber security to critical infrastructure protection, and (c) the importance of cyber attack prediction to achieving cyber security.

  19. A NETWORK-THEORETICAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING INTERSTELLAR CHEMISTRY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jolley, Craig C.; Douglas, Trevor

    2010-01-01

    Recent years have seen dramatic advances in computational models of chemical processes in the interstellar medium (ISM). Typically, these models have been used to calculate changes in chemical abundances with time; the calculated abundances can then be compared with chemical abundances derived from observations. In this study, the output from an astrochemical simulation has been used to generate directed graphs with weighted edges; these have been analyzed with the tools of network theory to uncover whole-network properties of reaction systems in dark molecular clouds. The results allow the development of a model in which global network properties can be rationalized in terms of the basic physical properties of the reaction system. The ISM network exhibits an exponential degree distribution, which is likely to be a generic feature of chemical networks involving a broad range of reaction rate constants. While species abundances span several orders of magnitude, the formation and destruction rates for most species are approximately balanced-departures from this rule indicate species (such as CO) that play a critical role in shaping the dynamics of the system. Future theoretical or observational studies focusing on individual molecular species will be able to situate them in terms of their role in the complete system or quantify the degree to which they deviate from the typical system behavior.

  20. Information-theoretic temporal Bell inequality and quantum computation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morikoshi, Fumiaki

    2006-01-01

    An information-theoretic temporal Bell inequality is formulated to contrast classical and quantum computations. Any classical algorithm satisfies the inequality, while quantum ones can violate it. Therefore, the violation of the inequality is an immediate consequence of the quantumness in the computation. Furthermore, this approach suggests a notion of temporal nonlocality in quantum computation

  1. MBO: A Rational Approach and a Comparative Frameworks Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harries, T. W.

    1974-01-01

    Considering an organizational phenomenon from more than one theoretical perspective may be more fruitful than using a single rational approach. There is a danger that the restriction of information generation caused by the single approach may produce a false certainty engendered in part through the methodology itself. (Author/WM)

  2. Theoretical framework of community education improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaúl Brizuela Castillo

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper explains the connection between the approach selected for the analysis and development of community education and the contradictions manifested in its theoretical and practical comprehension. As a result, a comprehensive model for community education, describing the theoretical and methodological framework to improve community education, is devised. This framework is based on a conscious organizing of educative influences applied to the regular task of the community under the coordinate action of social institutions and organization that promote the transformational action of the neighborhood assuming a protagonist role in the improvement of the quality of live and morals related to the socialism updating process. The comprehensive model was proved experimentally at District 59 of San Miguel town; the transformation of the community was scientifically registered together with the information gather by means of observation and interviewing. The findings proved the pertinence and feasibility of the proposed model.

  3. On precipitation monitoring with theoretical statistical distributions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cindrić, Ksenija; Juras, Josip; Pasarić, Zoran

    2018-04-01

    A common practice in meteorological drought monitoring is to transform the observed precipitation amounts to the standardised precipitation index (SPI). Though the gamma distribution is usually employed for this purpose, some other distribution may be used, particularly in regions where zero precipitation amounts are recorded frequently. In this study, two distributions are considered alongside with the gamma distribution: the compound Poisson exponential distribution (CPE) and the square root normal distribution (SRN). They are fitted to monthly precipitation amounts measured at 24 stations in Croatia in the 55-year-long period (1961-2015). At five stations, long-term series (1901-2015) are available and they have been used for a more detailed investigation. The accommodation of the theoretical distributions to empirical ones is tested by comparison of the corresponding empirical and theoretical ratios of the skewness and the coefficient of variation. Furthermore, following the common approach to precipitation monitoring (CLIMAT reports), the comparison of the empirical and theoretical quintiles in the two periods (1961-1990 and 1991-2015) is examined. The results from the present study reveal that it would be more appropriate to implement theoretical distributions in such climate reports, since they provide better evaluation for monitoring purposes than the current empirical distribution. Nevertheless, deciding on an optimal theoretical distribution for different climate regimes and for different time periods is not easy to accomplish. With regard to Croatian stations (covering different climate regimes), the CPE or SRN distribution could also be the right choice in the climatological practice, in addition to the gamma distribution.

  4. State of the Art Review on Theoretical Tribology of Fluid Power Displacement Machines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerimagic, Remzija; Johansen, Per; Andersen, Torben O.

    2016-01-01

    machines, and also the work done to validate the theoretical models. This review is not a complete historical account, but aim to describe current trends in fluid power displacement machine tribology. The review considers the rheological models used in the theoretical approaches, the modeling...... and wear mechanisms in the lubricating gaps in fluid power machines is confined to simulation models, as experimental treatments of these mechanisms are very difficult. The aim of this paper is a state of the art review on the theoretical work for the design and optimization of fluid power displacement...... of elastohydrodynamic effects, the modeling of thermal effects, and finally the experimental validation of the theoretical models....

  5. Almost Free Modules Set-Theoretic Methods

    CERN Document Server

    Eklof, PC

    1990-01-01

    This is an extended treatment of the set-theoretic techniques which have transformed the study of abelian group and module theory over the last 15 years. Part of the book is new work which does not appear elsewhere in any form. In addition, a large body of material which has appeared previously (in scattered and sometimes inaccessible journal articles) has been extensively reworked and in many cases given new and improved proofs. The set theory required is carefully developed with algebraists in mind, and the independence results are derived from explicitly stated axioms. The book contains exe

  6. Chemical graph-theoretic cluster expansions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, D.J.

    1986-01-01

    A general computationally amenable chemico-graph-theoretic cluster expansion method is suggested as a paradigm for incorporation of chemical structure concepts in a systematic manner. The cluster expansion approach is presented in a formalism general enough to cover a variety of empirical, semiempirical, and even ab initio applications. Formally such approaches for the utilization of chemical structure-related concepts may be viewed as discrete analogues of Taylor series expansions. The efficacy of the chemical structure concepts then is simply bound up in the rate of convergence of the cluster expansions. In many empirical applications, e.g., boiling points, chromatographic separation coefficients, and biological activities, this rate of convergence has been observed to be quite rapid. More note will be made here of quantum chemical applications. Relations to questions concerning size extensivity of energies and size consistency of wave functions are addressed

  7. A theoretical approach to sputtering due to molecular ion bombardment, 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karashima, Shosuke; Ootoshi, Tsukuru; Kamiyama, Masahide; Kim, Pil-Hyon; Namba, Susumu.

    1981-01-01

    A shock wave model is proposed to explain theoretically the non-linear effects in sputtering phenomena by molecular ion bombardments. In this theory the sputtering processes are separated into two parts; one is due to linear effects and another is due to non-linear effects. The treatment of the linear parts is based on the statistical model by Schwarz and Helms concerning a broad range of atomic collision cascades. The non-linear parts are treated by the model of shock wave due to overlapping cascades, and useful equations to calculate the sputtering yields and the dynamical quantities in the system are derived. (author)

  8. Information theoretic description of networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilhelm, Thomas; Hollunder, Jens

    2007-11-01

    We present a new information theoretic approach for network characterizations. It is developed to describe the general type of networks with n nodes and L directed and weighted links, i.e., it also works for the simpler undirected and unweighted networks. The new information theoretic measures for network characterizations are based on a transmitter-receiver analogy of effluxes and influxes. Based on these measures, we classify networks as either complex or non-complex and as either democracy or dictatorship networks. Directed networks, in particular, are furthermore classified as either information spreading and information collecting networks. The complexity classification is based on the information theoretic network complexity measure medium articulation (MA). It is proven that special networks with a medium number of links ( L∼n1.5) show the theoretical maximum complexity MA=(log n)2/2. A network is complex if its MA is larger than the average MA of appropriately randomized networks: MA>MAr. A network is of the democracy type if its redundancy Rdictatorship network. In democracy networks all nodes are, on average, of similar importance, whereas in dictatorship networks some nodes play distinguished roles in network functioning. In other words, democracy networks are characterized by cycling of information (or mass, or energy), while in dictatorship networks there is a straight through-flow from sources to sinks. The classification of directed networks into information spreading and information collecting networks is based on the conditional entropies of the considered networks ( H(A/B)=uncertainty of sender node if receiver node is known, H(B/A)=uncertainty of receiver node if sender node is known): if H(A/B)>H(B/A), it is an information collecting network, otherwise an information spreading network. Finally, different real networks (directed and undirected, weighted and unweighted) are classified according to our general scheme.

  9. Bovine serum albumin adsorption onto functionalized polystyrene lattices: A theoretical modeling approach and error analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beragoui, Manel; Aguir, Chadlia; Khalfaoui, Mohamed; Enciso, Eduardo; Torralvo, Maria José; Duclaux, Laurent; Reinert, Laurence; Vayer, Marylène; Ben Lamine, Abdelmottaleb

    2015-03-01

    The present work involves the study of bovine serum albumin adsorption onto five functionalized polystyrene lattices. The adsorption measurements have been carried out using a quartz crystal microbalance. Poly(styrene-co-itaconic acid) was found to be an effective adsorbent for bovine serum albumin molecule adsorption. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using theoretical models based on a statistical physics approach, namely monolayer, double layer with two successive energy levels, finite multilayer, and modified Brunauer-Emmet-Teller. The equilibrium data were then analyzed using five different non-linear error analysis methods and it was found that the finite multilayer model best describes the protein adsorption data. Surface characteristics, i.e., surface charge density and number density of surface carboxyl groups, were used to investigate their effect on the adsorption capacity. The combination of the results obtained from the number of adsorbed layers, the number of adsorbed molecules per site, and the thickness of the adsorbed bovine serum albumin layer allows us to predict that the adsorption of this protein molecule can also be distinguished by monolayer or multilayer adsorption with end-on, side-on, and overlap conformations. The magnitudes of the calculated adsorption energy indicate that bovine serum albumin molecules are physisorbed onto the adsorbent lattices.

  10. THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP AS PART OF THE EU FOREIGN POLICY: A REVIEW OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei SCRINIC

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The Eastern Partnership (2009 as a component part of the European Neighbourhood Policy is a tool that aims at the economic integration and political cooperation of the countries that are included in this project by signing association and free trade agreements with the European Union (EU. The recent events in Ukraine have revealed the possibility of these countries to become EU member states depending on the progress made, which is confirmed by many European experts. However, there are big differences among the Eastern Partnership countries on their way to EU integration on the background of the strong pressure from Russia, aimed to suppress any pro-European manifestations of such countries. Despite the sharpening of geopolitical challenges, the EU continues to use the traditional ways of enlargement and deepening of cooperation processes with the Eastern Neighbourhood. This paper aims at reviewing the theoretical approaches through which the EU, as a normative power, exerts major influence on the Eastern Partnership (EaP countries by extending the neofunctional practices, intergovernmental cooperation and the constructivist model. However, in view of reaching the soft power objectives, we aim at transforming and strengthening the EU positions in the context of amplified economic and political-ideological problems at regional level.

  11. Theoretical evaluation of measurement uncertainties of two-color pyrometry applied to optical diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Tairan; Cheng Xiaofang; Yang Zangjian

    2008-01-01

    We present a theoretical analysis of two-color pyrometry applied to optical diagnostics. A two-color pyrometer built with a single CCD is advantageous due to the simple system design. We evaluate the possibility and degree of ill-conditionness on the basis of measurement uncertainties for different measurement approaches of this two-color system. We classify measurement approaches. The corresponding ill-conditionness criterion is established. The greater the criterion value is, the worse the ill-conditioned degree of solution is. So, the optimum choice of measurement approach for the two-color system is achieved through intercomparison of the criterion values. Numerical examples are also given to illustrate this point. The theoretical analysis not only provides an effective way of evaluating different measurement approaches, but also may help us to better understand the influences that determine the choices between wavelength/waveband measurements and calibration/noncalibration modes for temperature and soot distribution

  12. Adaptive information-theoretic bounded rational decision-making with parametric priors

    OpenAIRE

    Grau-Moya, Jordi; Braun, Daniel A.

    2015-01-01

    Deviations from rational decision-making due to limited computational resources have been studied in the field of bounded rationality, originally proposed by Herbert Simon. There have been a number of different approaches to model bounded rationality ranging from optimality principles to heuristics. Here we take an information-theoretic approach to bounded rationality, where information-processing costs are measured by the relative entropy between a posterior decision strategy and a given fix...

  13. Using Graph and Vertex Entropy to Compare Empirical Graphs with Theoretical Graph Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomasz Kajdanowicz

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Over the years, several theoretical graph generation models have been proposed. Among the most prominent are: the Erdős–Renyi random graph model, Watts–Strogatz small world model, Albert–Barabási preferential attachment model, Price citation model, and many more. Often, researchers working with real-world data are interested in understanding the generative phenomena underlying their empirical graphs. They want to know which of the theoretical graph generation models would most probably generate a particular empirical graph. In other words, they expect some similarity assessment between the empirical graph and graphs artificially created from theoretical graph generation models. Usually, in order to assess the similarity of two graphs, centrality measure distributions are compared. For a theoretical graph model this means comparing the empirical graph to a single realization of a theoretical graph model, where the realization is generated from the given model using an arbitrary set of parameters. The similarity between centrality measure distributions can be measured using standard statistical tests, e.g., the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test of distances between cumulative distributions. However, this approach is both error-prone and leads to incorrect conclusions, as we show in our experiments. Therefore, we propose a new method for graph comparison and type classification by comparing the entropies of centrality measure distributions (degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality. We demonstrate that our approach can help assign the empirical graph to the most similar theoretical model using a simple unsupervised learning method.

  14. Physical violence and psychological abuse among siblings :a theoretical and empirical analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Hoffman, Kristi L.

    1996-01-01

    This study develops and evaluates a theoretical model based on social learning, conflict, and feminist perspectives to explain teenage sibling physical violence and psychological abuse. Using regression analysis and data from 796 young adults, considerable support is found for all three theoretical approaches and suggests an integrated model best predicts acts of violence and abuse among siblings. For physical violence, males and brothers had significantly higher rates. Spousal...

  15. Fundamentals, financial factors and firm investment in India: A Panel VAR approach

    OpenAIRE

    Das, Pranab Kumar

    2008-01-01

    This study analyses the role of fundamentals and financial factors in determining firm investment in India with imperfect capital market in a panel VAR framework. Previous research in this area is based on the test of significance (or some variant of this) of the cash flow variable in the investment equation. In this strand of research, cash flow is considered to be a financial factor. The major theoretical problem of this approach is that in a forward-looking model cash flow might be cor...

  16. Theoretical Antecedents of Standing at Work: An Experience Sampling Approach Using the Theory of Planned Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, M Renée Umstattd; Wu, Cindy; Walsh, Shana M

    2016-01-01

    Time spent sitting has been associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and mental health impairments. However, 75% of Americans spend most of their days sitting, with work-sitting accounting for 63% of total daily sitting time. Little research examining theory-based antecedents of standing or sitting has been conducted. This lack of solid groundwork makes it difficult to design effective intervention strategies to decrease sitting behaviors. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as our theoretical lens to better understand factors related with beneficial standing behaviors already being practiced, we examined relationships between TPB constructs and time spent standing at work among "positive deviants" (those successful in behavior change). Experience sampling methodology (ESM), 4 times a day (midmorning, before lunch, afternoon, and before leaving work) for 5 consecutive workdays (Monday to Friday), was used to assess employees' standing time. TPB scales assessing attitude (α = 0.81-0.84), norms (α = 0.83), perceived behavioral control (α = 0.77), and intention (α = 0.78) were developed using recommended methods and collected once on the Friday before the ESM surveys started. ESM data are hierarchically nested, therefore we tested our hypotheses using multilevel structural equation modeling with Mplus. Hourly full-time university employees (n = 50; 70.6% female, 84.3% white, mean age = 44 (SD = 11), 88.2% in full-time staff positions) with sedentary occupation types (time at desk while working ≥6 hours/day) participated. A total of 871 daily surveys were completed. Only perceived behavioral control (β = 0.45, p work-standing at the event-level (model fit: just fit); mediation through intention was not supported. This is the first study to examine theoretical antecedents of real-time work-standing in a naturalistic field setting among positive deviants. These relationships should be further examined, and behavioral intervention

  17. Theoretical Antecedents of Standing at Work: An Experience Sampling Approach Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Renée Umstattd Meyer

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Time spent sitting has been associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and mental health impairments. However, 75% of Americans spend most of their days sitting, with work-sitting accounting for 63% of total daily sitting time. Little research examining theory-based antecedents of standing or sitting has been conducted. This lack of solid groundwork makes it difficult to design effective intervention strategies to decrease sitting behaviors. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB as our theoretical lens to better understand factors related with beneficial standing behaviors already being practiced, we examined relationships between TPB constructs and time spent standing at work among “positive deviants” (those successful in behavior change. Experience sampling methodology (ESM, 4 times a day (midmorning, before lunch, afternoon, and before leaving work for 5 consecutive workdays (Monday to Friday, was used to assess employees’ standing time. TPB scales assessing attitude (α = 0.81–0.84, norms (α = 0.83, perceived behavioral control (α = 0.77, and intention (α = 0.78 were developed using recommended methods and collected once on the Friday before the ESM surveys started. ESM data are hierarchically nested, therefore we tested our hypotheses using multilevel structural equation modeling with Mplus. Hourly full-time university employees (n = 50; 70.6% female, 84.3% white, mean age = 44 (SD = 11, 88.2%in full-time staff positions with sedentary occupation types (time at desk while working ≥6 hours/day participated. A total of 871 daily surveys were completed. Only perceived behavioral control (β = 0.45, p < 0.05 was related with work-standing at the event-level (model fit: just fit; mediation through intention was not supported. This is the first study to examine theoretical antecedents of real-time work-standing in a naturalistic field setting among positive deviants. These relationships should be further

  18. Green Logistic Practices: A Theoretical Approach of the Theme

    OpenAIRE

    Emanuele Engelage; Altair Borgert; Marcos Antonio De Souza

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to identify the main practices of green logistic considered in national and international academic literature. Using standard techniques for selection of previous studies, this study firts presents the definition of green logistic term in order to differentiate it from other concepts commonly treated similarly, as circular economy, the green chain management (GSCM), the reverse logistics and the environmental certifications (ISO 14001), to obtain clarity about their delimitati...

  19. Theoretical and methodological approaches to determining the effectiveness of medical services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu. Yu. Shvets

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the results of theoretical and methodological studies on the effectiveness of the health care system. It formulated the concept and components of the efficiency of medical services it is an economic category of health care operations. In particular, it is determined that the efficiency of medical services is a characteristic effect and shows the feasibility of the use of material, financial and human resources in this event, method, intervention. The results showed that in respect of medical services is determined by the medical, social and economic efficiency, between which there is a relationship and interdependence. The article analyzes the fundamentals and methodological bases of social, medical and economic efficiency of medical services. It was determined that a priority in the health system are the very social and medical effectiveness, taking into account those of socially important tasks to perform which is directed the whole health system in the country. Given the ambiguous understanding of the relationship of efficiency of medical services with its quality, based on the analysis of theoretical developments, identified the common and distinctive features of the characteristics of the health service in order to determine their impact on software quality and affordable health care services to the population. In particular, the efficiency of medical services is considered in close conjunction with its quality. The quality and efficiency of medical services are interrelated characteristics. However, the results showed that it is not always effective healthcare services, particularly in terms of economic efficiency, can be qualitative, and not always high-quality medical services – can be called economically efficient.

  20. Decision-theoretic designs for a series of trials with correlated treatment effects using the Sarmanov multivariate beta-binomial distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hee, Siew Wan; Parsons, Nicholas; Stallard, Nigel

    2018-03-01

    The motivation for the work in this article is the setting in which a number of treatments are available for evaluation in phase II clinical trials and where it may be infeasible to try them concurrently because the intended population is small. This paper introduces an extension of previous work on decision-theoretic designs for a series of phase II trials. The program encompasses a series of sequential phase II trials with interim decision making and a single two-arm phase III trial. The design is based on a hybrid approach where the final analysis of the phase III data is based on a classical frequentist hypothesis test, whereas the trials are designed using a Bayesian decision-theoretic approach in which the unknown treatment effect is assumed to follow a known prior distribution. In addition, as treatments are intended for the same population it is not unrealistic to consider treatment effects to be correlated. Thus, the prior distribution will reflect this. Data from a randomized trial of severe arthritis of the hip are used to test the application of the design. We show that the design on average requires fewer patients in phase II than when the correlation is ignored. Correspondingly, the time required to recommend an efficacious treatment for phase III is quicker. © 2017 The Author. Biometrical Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. FEMINIST SOCIAL WORK: FROM A THEORETICAL REVIEW TO A PRACTICAL REDEFINITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Fernández-Montaño

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical review is structured around two main parts: In one hand, an approach to the key concepts for Feminist Social Work, such as gender, sexism, violence based on gender and patriarchy, and in the other hand, an approach about the role of social workers against gender inequality, both practically and theoretical, allowing the author to analyzes the need for redefinition in this profession as essential for social transformation that advocates to social justice for women and men. Social Work is often limited to a corseted intervention in a patriarchal social system whose values apprehended continue inequality between women and men. This is why explore situations of inequality, analyze sexism and their origin, questioning the social structures that support them, it should be a part of the practical field of this profession.

  2. A theoretical approach for energy saving in industrial steam boilers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabry, T.I.; Mohamed, N.H.; Elghonimy, A.M.

    1993-01-01

    Optimization of the performance characteristics of such a steam boiler has been analyzed theoretically. Suitable thermodynamic relations have been utilized here to construct a computer model that would carry out the boiler performance characteristics at different operating parameters (e.g.; amount of excess air, fuel type, rate of blowdown preheating of combustion air and flow gases temperature). The results demonstrate that this computer model is to be used successfully in selecting the different operating parameters of the steam boiler at variant loads considering the best economical operation. Besides, this model can be used to investigate the sensitivity of the performance characteristics to the deviation of the boiler operating parameters from their optimum values. It was found also that changing the operating parameters beside the type of fuel in a boiler affects its performance characteristics. 3 figs

  3. Inform: Efficient Information-Theoretic Analysis of Collective Behaviors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Douglas G. Moore

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The study of collective behavior has traditionally relied on a variety of different methodological tools ranging from more theoretical methods such as population or game-theoretic models to empirical ones like Monte Carlo or multi-agent simulations. An approach that is increasingly being explored is the use of information theory as a methodological framework to study the flow of information and the statistical properties of collectives of interacting agents. While a few general purpose toolkits exist, most of the existing software for information theoretic analysis of collective systems is limited in scope. We introduce Inform, an open-source framework for efficient information theoretic analysis that exploits the computational power of a C library while simplifying its use through a variety of wrappers for common higher-level scripting languages. We focus on two such wrappers here: PyInform (Python and rinform (R. Inform and its wrappers are cross-platform and general-purpose. They include classical information-theoretic measures, measures of information dynamics and information-based methods to study the statistical behavior of collective systems, and expose a lower-level API that allow users to construct measures of their own. We describe the architecture of the Inform framework, study its computational efficiency and use it to analyze three different case studies of collective behavior: biochemical information storage in regenerating planaria, nest-site selection in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus, and collective decision making in multi-agent simulations.

  4. Experimental and theoretical analysis of cracking in drying soils

    OpenAIRE

    Lakshmikantha, M.R.

    2009-01-01

    The thesis focuses on the experimental and theoretical aspects of the process of cracking in drying soils. The results and conclusions were drawn from an exhaustive experimental campaign characterised by innovative multidisciplinary aspects incorporating Fracture Mechanics and classical Soil mechanics, aided with image analysis techniques. A detailed study of the previous works on the topic showed the absence of large scale fully monitored laboratory tests, while the existing studies were per...

  5. Acidity and alkalinity in mine drainage: Theoretical considerations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirby, Carl S.; Cravotta,, Charles A.

    2004-01-01

    Acidity, net acidity, and net alkalinity are widely used parameters for the characterization of mine drainage, but these terms are not well defined and are often misunderstood. Incorrect interpretation of acidity, alkalinity, and derivative terms can lead to inadequate treatment design or poor regulatory decisions. We briefly explain derivations of theoretical expressions of three types of alkalinities (caustic, phenolphthalein, and total) and acidities (mineral, CO2, and total). Theoretically defined total alkalinity is closely analogous to measured alkalinity and presents few practical interpretation problems. Theoretically defined “CO2- acidity” is closely related to most standard titration methods used for mine drainage with an endpoint pH of 8.3, but it presents numerous interpretation problems, and it is unfortunately named because CO2 is intentionally driven off during titration of mine-drainage samples. Using the proton condition/massaction approach and employing graphs for visualization, we explore the concept of principal components and how to assign acidity contributions to solution species, including aqueous complexes, commonly found in mine drainage. We define a comprehensive theoretical definition of acidity in mine drainage on the basis of aqueous speciation at the sample pH and the capacity of these species to undergo hydrolysis to pH 8.3. This definition indicates the computed acidity in milligrams per liter (mg L-1 ) as CaCO3 (based on pH and analytical concentrations of dissolved FeIII , FeII , Mn, and Al in mg L-1 ): Aciditycomputed = 50. (10(3-pH) + 3.CFeIII/55.8 + 2.CFeII/55.8 + 2.CMn/54.9 + 3.CAl/27.0) underestimates contributions from HSO4 - and H+ , but overestimates the acidity due to Fe3+. These errors tend to approximately cancel each other. We demonstrate that “net alkalinity” is a valid mathematical construction based on theoretical definitions of alkalinity and acidity. We demonstrate that, for most mine-drainage solutions, a

  6. Exploring Environmental Factors in Nursing Workplaces That Promote Psychological Resilience: Constructing a Unified Theoretical Model

    OpenAIRE

    Cusack, Lynette; Smith, Morgan; Hegney, Desley; Rees, Clare S.; Breen, Lauren J.; Witt, Regina R.; Rogers, Cath; Williams, Allison; Cross, Wendy; Cheung, Kin

    2016-01-01

    Building nurses' resilience to complex and stressful practice environments is necessary to keep skilled nurses in the workplace and ensuring safe patient care. A unified theoretical framework titled Health Services Workplace Environmental Resilience Model (HSWERM), is presented to explain the environmental factors in the workplace that promote nurses' resilience. The framework builds on a previously-published theoretical model of individual resilience, which identified the key constructs of p...

  7. A Comparison of Approaches for Solving Hard Graph-Theoretic Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-04-29

    and Search”, in Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications, Book 7, CRC Press (1998): Boca Raton. [6] A. Lucas, “Ising Formulations of Many NP Problems...owner. 14. ABSTRACT In order to formulate mathematical conjectures likely to be true, a number of base cases must be determined. However, many... combinatorial problems are NP-hard and the computational complexity makes this research approach difficult using a standard brute force approach on a

  8. EFFICIENCY OF ISO 9001 IN PORTUGAL: A QUALITATIVE STUDY FROM A HOLISTIC THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alcina Dias

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analy se the efficiency of ISO 9001 from a holistic theoretical approach where the Contingency theory, the Institutional theory and the Resources-Based View are integrated. The study was carried out in companies of different sectors of activity in Portugal, based on a qualitative methodology (interviews. The fact of the interviews having been undertaken under an ISO 9001 structure made it easier for companies to grasp the issues under investigation. An ISO 9001 characterisation was carried out on a theoretical framework approach and findings point out efficiency gains and revealed that the absence of ISO 9001 would work as a competitive disadvantage. The contribution of this research aims to reinforce the state of art as concerns the theoretical scope of analysis of these issues enriched by the case study achievement.

  9. Vulnerability assessment of water resources - Translating a theoretical concept to an operational framework using systems thinking approach in a changing climate: Case study in Ogallala Aquifer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anandhi, Aavudai; Kannan, Narayanan

    2018-02-01

    Water is an essential natural resource. Among many stressors, altered climate is exerting pressure on water resource systems, increasing its demand and creating a need for vulnerability assessments. The overall objective of this study was to develop a novel tool that can translate a theoretical concept (vulnerability of water resources (VWR)) to an operational framework mainly under altered temperature and precipitation, as well as for population change (smaller extent). The developed tool had three stages and utilized a novel systems thinking approach. Stage-1: Translating theoretical concept to characteristics identified from studies; Stage-2: Operationalizing characteristics to methodology in VWR; Stage-3: Utilizing the methodology for development of a conceptual modeling tool for VWR: WR-VISTA (Water Resource Vulnerability assessment conceptual model using Indicators selected by System's Thinking Approach). The specific novelties were: 1) The important characteristics in VWR were identified in Stage-1 (target system, system components, scale, level of detail, data source, frameworks, and indicator); 2) WR-VISTA combined two vulnerability assessments frameworks: the European's Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework (DPSIR) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's framework (IPCC's); and 3) used systems thinking approaches in VWR for indicator selection. The developed application was demonstrated in Kansas (overlying the High Plains region/Ogallala Aquifer, considered the "breadbasket of the world"), using 26 indicators with intermediate level of detail. Our results indicate that the western part of the state is vulnerable from agricultural water use and the eastern part from urban water use. The developed tool can be easily replicated to other regions within and outside the US.

  10. [Memorandum IV: Theoretical and Normative Grounding of Health Services Research].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumann, W; Farin, E; Menzel-Begemann, A; Meyer, T

    2016-05-01

    With Memoranda and other initiatives, the German Network for Health Service Research [Deutsches Netzwerk Versorgungsforschung e.V. (DNVF)] is fostering the methodological quality of care research studies for years. Compared to the standards of empirical research, questions concerning the role and function of theories, theoretical approaches and scientific principles have not been taken up on its own. Therefore, the DNVF e.V. has set up a working group in 2013, which was commissioned to prepare a memorandum on "theories in health care research". This now presented memorandum will primarily challenge scholars in health care services research to pay more attention to questions concerning the theoretical arsenal and the background assumptions in the research process. The foundation in the philosophy of science, the reference to normative principles and the theory-bases of the research process are addressed. Moreover, the memorandum will call on to advance the theorizing in health services research and to strengthen not empirical approaches, research on basic principles or studies with regard to normative sciences and to incorporate these relevant disciplines in health services research. Research structures and funding of health services research needs more open space for theoretical reflection and for self-observation of their own, multidisciplinary research processes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  11. A theoretical framework to study variations in workplace violence experienced by emergency responders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L. van Reemst (Lisa)

    2016-01-01

    markdownabstractEmergency responders are often sent to the front line and are often confronted with aggression and violence in interaction with citizens. According to previous studies, some professionals experience more workplace violence than others. In this article, the theoretical framework to

  12. Modelling in Accounting. Theoretical and Practical Dimensions

    OpenAIRE

    Teresa Szot -Gabryś

    2010-01-01

    Accounting in the theoretical approach is a scientific discipline based on specific paradigms. In the practical aspect, accounting manifests itself through the introduction of a system for measurement of economic quantities which operates in a particular business entity. A characteristic of accounting is its flexibility and ability of adaptation to information needs of information recipients. One of the main currents in the development of accounting theory and practice is to cover by economic...

  13. Towards a child-robot symbiotic co-development : A theoretical approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Charisi, Vicky; Davison, Daniel; Wijnen, Frances; Van Der Meij, Jan; Reidsma, Dennis; Prescott, Tony; Van Joolingen, Wouter; Evers, Vanessa

    2015-01-01

    One of the main characteristics for an effective learning is the possibility for learners to choose their own ways and pace of learning, according to their personal previous experiences and needs. Social interaction during the learning process has a crucial role to the skills that learners may

  14. Decision-theoretic approaches to non-knowledge in economics

    OpenAIRE

    Svetlova, Ekaterina; van Elst, Henk

    2014-01-01

    We review two strands of conceptual approaches to the formal representation of a decision maker's non-knowledge at the initial stage of a static one-person, one-shot decision problem in economic theory. One focuses on representations of non-knowledge in terms of probability measures over sets of mutually exclusive and exhaustive consequence-relevant states of Nature, the other deals with unawareness of potentially important events by means of sets of states that are less complete than the ful...

  15. Tube Bulge Process : Theoretical Analysis and Finite Element Simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Velasco, Raphael; Boudeau, Nathalie

    2007-01-01

    This paper is focused on the determination of mechanics characteristics for tubular materials, using tube bulge process. A comparative study is made between two different models: theoretical model and finite element analysis. The theoretical model is completely developed, based first on a geometrical analysis of the tube profile during bulging, which is assumed to strain in arc of circles. Strain and stress analysis complete the theoretical model, which allows to evaluate tube thickness and state of stress, at any point of the free bulge region. Free bulging of a 304L stainless steel is simulated using Ls-Dyna 970. To validate FE simulations approach, a comparison between theoretical and finite elements models is led on several parameters such as: thickness variation at the free bulge region pole with bulge height, tube thickness variation with z axial coordinate, and von Mises stress variation with plastic strain. Finally, the influence of geometrical parameters deviations on flow stress curve is observed using analytical model: deviations of the tube outer diameter, its initial thickness and the bulge height measurement are taken into account to obtain a resulting error on plastic strain and von Mises stress

  16. Subsequent childbirth after a previous traumatic birth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Cheryl Tatano; Watson, Sue

    2010-01-01

    Nine percent of new mothers in the United States who participated in the Listening to Mothers II Postpartum Survey screened positive for meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder after childbirth. Women who have had a traumatic birth experience report fewer subsequent children and a longer length of time before their second baby. Childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder impacts couples' physical relationship, communication, conflict, emotions, and bonding with their children. The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of women's experiences of a subsequent childbirth after a previous traumatic birth. Phenomenology was the research design used. An international sample of 35 women participated in this Internet study. Women were asked, "Please describe in as much detail as you can remember your subsequent pregnancy, labor, and delivery following your previous traumatic birth." Colaizzi's phenomenological data analysis approach was used to analyze the stories of the 35 women. Data analysis yielded four themes: (a) riding the turbulent wave of panic during pregnancy; (b) strategizing: attempts to reclaim their body and complete the journey to motherhood; (c) bringing reverence to the birthing process and empowering women; and (d) still elusive: the longed-for healing birth experience. Subsequent childbirth after a previous birth trauma has the potential to either heal or retraumatize women. During pregnancy, women need permission and encouragement to grieve their prior traumatic births to help remove the burden of their invisible pain.

  17. A Comparative Study of Theoretical Graph Models for Characterizing Structural Networks of Human Brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaojin Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have investigated both structural and functional brain networks via graph-theoretical methods. However, there is an important issue that has not been adequately discussed before: what is the optimal theoretical graph model for describing the structural networks of human brain? In this paper, we perform a comparative study to address this problem. Firstly, large-scale cortical regions of interest (ROIs are localized by recently developed and validated brain reference system named Dense Individualized Common Connectivity-based Cortical Landmarks (DICCCOL to address the limitations in the identification of the brain network ROIs in previous studies. Then, we construct structural brain networks based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI data. Afterwards, the global and local graph properties of the constructed structural brain networks are measured using the state-of-the-art graph analysis algorithms and tools and are further compared with seven popular theoretical graph models. In addition, we compare the topological properties between two graph models, namely, stickiness-index-based model (STICKY and scale-free gene duplication model (SF-GD, that have higher similarity with the real structural brain networks in terms of global and local graph properties. Our experimental results suggest that among the seven theoretical graph models compared in this study, STICKY and SF-GD models have better performances in characterizing the structural human brain network.

  18. Spatial Economics: The Evolution of Approaches and Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minakir P. A.

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The evolution of theoretical principles and approaches to the study of spatial organization of the economy is set forth. The changes in the content of the category «economic region» are analyzed. A comparative assessment is given of theoretical approaches to studying spatial aspects of the economy. The limited character of theoretical and applied regional economic tools in studying spatial organization and spatial interactions between economic agents of the modern economy is shown

  19. Transport simulations TFTR: Theoretically-based transport models and current scaling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Redi, M.H.; Cummings, J.C.; Bush, C.E.; Fredrickson, E.; Grek, B.; Hahm, T.S.; Hill, K.W.; Johnson, D.W.; Mansfield, D.K.; Park, H.; Scott, S.D.; Stratton, B.C.; Synakowski, E.J.; Tang, W.M.; Taylor, G.

    1991-12-01

    In order to study the microscopic physics underlying observed L-mode current scaling, 1-1/2-d BALDUR has been used to simulate density and temperature profiles for high and low current, neutral beam heated discharges on TFTR with several semi-empirical, theoretically-based models previously compared for TFTR, including several versions of trapped electron drift wave driven transport. Experiments at TFTR, JET and D3-D show that I p scaling of τ E does not arise from edge modes as previously thought, and is most likely to arise from nonlocal processes or from the I p -dependence of local plasma core transport. Consistent with this, it is found that strong current scaling does not arise from any of several edge models of resistive ballooning. Simulations with the profile consistent drift wave model and with a new model for toroidal collisionless trapped electron mode core transport in a multimode formalism, lead to strong current scaling of τ E for the L-mode cases on TFTR. None of the theoretically-based models succeeded in simulating the measured temperature and density profiles for both high and low current experiments

  20. A theoretical approach to low multiplicity diffractive dissociation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bishari, M.

    1977-01-01

    The dynamics of low mass inelastic diffractive production in the framework of the ''1/N dual unitarization'' scheme are investigated. The smallness of inelastic diffractive dissociation is explicitly demonstrated by incorporating a Deck type mechanism with the crucial planar bootstrap equation. Although both inelastic and elastic pomeron couplings are of the same order in 1/N, the origin for their smallness is not identical. The work further confirms the validity of the iterative procedure, where the elastic amplitude is first generated from only non-diffractive intermediate states (except possibly for central collisions). Using a previous study of the ''Cylinder'' strength, a semi-quantitative results for the integrated cross-section for low multiplicity diffractive production is also presented, and is compared with the elastic cross-section at very high energies. (author)

  1. Theoretical framework to study exercise motivation for breast cancer risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Maureen E

    2008-01-01

    To identify an appropriate theoretical framework to study exercise motivation for breast cancer risk reduction among high-risk women. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to gather relevant information pertaining to the Health Promotion Model, self-determination theory, social cognitive theory, Health Belief Model, Transtheoretical Model, theory of planned behavior, and protection motivation theory. An iterative approach was used to summarize the literature related to exercise motivation within each theoretical framework. Protection motivation theory could be used to examine the effects of perceived risk and self-efficacy in motivating women to exercise to facilitate health-related behavioral change. Evidence-based research within a chosen theoretical model can aid practitioners when making practical recommendations to reduce breast cancer risk.

  2. Matching Adherence Interventions to Patient Determinants Using the Theoretical Domains Framework

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Allemann, S.S.; Nieuwlaat, R.; Bemt, B.J. van den; Hersberger, K.E.; Arnet, I.

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Despite much research, interventions to improve medication adherence report disappointing and inconsistent results. Tailored approaches that match interventions and patient determinants of non-adherence were seldom used in clinical trials. The presence of a multitude of theoretical

  3. A Theoretical Framework to Study Variations in Workplace Violence Experienced by Emergency Responders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L. van Reemst (Lisa)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractEmergency responders are often sent to the front line and are often confronted with aggression and violence in inter- action with citizens. According to previous studies, some professionals experience more workplace violence than others. In this article, the theoretical framework to

  4. Modeling theoretical uncertainties in phenomenological analyses for particle physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Charles, Jerome [CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, Universite de Toulon, CPT UMR 7332, Marseille Cedex 9 (France); Descotes-Genon, Sebastien [CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Universite Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire de Physique Theorique (UMR 8627), Orsay Cedex (France); Niess, Valentin [CNRS/IN2P3, UMR 6533, Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, Aubiere Cedex (France); Silva, Luiz Vale [CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Universite Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire de Physique Theorique (UMR 8627), Orsay Cedex (France); Univ. Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Paris-Saclay, Groupe de Physique Theorique, Institut de Physique Nucleaire, Orsay Cedex (France); J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, P. O. Box 3000, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

    2017-04-15

    The determination of the fundamental parameters of the Standard Model (and its extensions) is often limited by the presence of statistical and theoretical uncertainties. We present several models for the latter uncertainties (random, nuisance, external) in the frequentist framework, and we derive the corresponding p values. In the case of the nuisance approach where theoretical uncertainties are modeled as biases, we highlight the important, but arbitrary, issue of the range of variation chosen for the bias parameters. We introduce the concept of adaptive p value, which is obtained by adjusting the range of variation for the bias according to the significance considered, and which allows us to tackle metrology and exclusion tests with a single and well-defined unified tool, which exhibits interesting frequentist properties. We discuss how the determination of fundamental parameters is impacted by the model chosen for theoretical uncertainties, illustrating several issues with examples from quark flavor physics. (orig.)

  5. CONTENT ANALYSIS, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS, AND CONVERSATION ANALYSIS: PRELIMINARY STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL METHODOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anderson Tiago Peixoto Gonçalves

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical essay aims to reflect on three models of text interpretation used in qualitative research, which is often confused in its concepts and methodologies (Content Analysis, Discourse Analysis, and Conversation Analysis. After the presentation of the concepts, the essay proposes a preliminary discussion on conceptual and theoretical methodological differences perceived between them. A review of the literature was performed to support the conceptual and theoretical methodological discussion. It could be verified that the models have differences related to the type of strategy used in the treatment of texts, the type of approach, and the appropriate theoretical position.

  6. Theoretical bases analysis of scientific prediction on marketing principles

    OpenAIRE

    A.S. Rosohata

    2012-01-01

    The article presents an overview categorical apparatus of scientific predictions and theoretical foundations results of scientific forecasting. They are integral part of effective management of economic activities. The approaches to the prediction of scientists in different fields of Social science and the categories modification of scientific prediction, based on principles of marketing are proposed.

  7. Information-Theoretic Approach May Shed a Light to a Better Understanding and Sustaining the Integrity of Ecological-Societal Systems under Changing Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, J.

    2016-12-01

    Considering high levels of uncertainty, epistemological conflicts over facts and values, and a sense of urgency, normal paradigm-driven science will be insufficient to mobilize people and nation toward sustainability. The conceptual framework to bridge the societal system dynamics with that of natural ecosystems in which humanity operates remains deficient. The key to understanding their coevolution is to understand `self-organization.' Information-theoretic approach may shed a light to provide a potential framework which enables not only to bridge human and nature but also to generate useful knowledge for understanding and sustaining the integrity of ecological-societal systems. How can information theory help understand the interface between ecological systems and social systems? How to delineate self-organizing processes and ensure them to fulfil sustainability? How to evaluate the flow of information from data through models to decision-makers? These are the core questions posed by sustainability science in which visioneering (i.e., the engineering of vision) is an essential framework. Yet, visioneering has neither quantitative measure nor information theoretic framework to work with and teach. This presentation is an attempt to accommodate the framework of self-organizing hierarchical open systems with visioneering into a common information-theoretic framework. A case study is presented with the UN/FAO's communal vision of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) which pursues a trilemma of efficiency, mitigation, and resilience. Challenges of delineating and facilitating self-organizing systems are discussed using transdisciplinary toold such as complex systems thinking, dynamic process network analysis and multi-agent systems modeling. Acknowledgments: This study was supported by the Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program under Grant KMA-2012-0001-A (WISE project).

  8. The Theoretical Aspects of Controlling of Marketing in Enterprise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liakh Inna S.

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at generalizing the theoretical provisions on controlling of marketing in enterprise: to clarify the place of controlling of marketing within the management system, constituents, goals, tasks, and functions. The controlling of marketing was considered in terms of concepts such as management of enterprise, management of marketing, operative management of marketing, controlling, strategic and operational controlling of marketing, and operative management of marketing costs. The constituents and tools of controlling of marketing at the strategic and the operational levels have been defined. The definition of operative controlling of marketing has been revised, which emphasizes managerial decision-making about marketing costs, taking account of current situation and optimality of such costs as to purposes of enterprise. A systematic approach to studying this issue provides a holistic view of controlling of marketing within the enterprise management system. A study on the theoretical aspects of controlling of marketing as a modern management concept will make it possible to approach the issue of decision-making on marketing activity in a holistic manner.

  9. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMERS AND MARKET COMPETITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryna SOBOLIEVA

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available In the article we examine theoretical perspectives on the impact of advertising on consumer behavior, entry barriers in the industry, the structure of the industry, the competitive behavior of firms and market power; systemic structure of the research of advertising impact on consumer behavior; analyze the main results of empirical studies of the effects of advertising on the competitive relationship in the market.

  10. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMERS AND MARKET COMPETITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryna SOBOLIEVA

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available In the article we examine theoretical perspectives on the impact of advertising on consumer behavior, entry barriers in the industry, the structure of the industry, the competitive behavior of firms and market power; systemize structure of the research of advertising impact on consumer behavior; analyze the main results of empirical studies of the effects of advertising on the competitive relationship in the market.

  11. INFANTILISM: THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT AND OPERATIONALIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yelena V. Sabelnikova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the presented research is to define and operationalize theoretically the concept of infantilism and its construct. The content of theoretical construct «infantilism» is analyzed. Methods. The methods of theoretical research involve analysis and synthesis. The age and content criteria are analysed in the context of childhood and adulthood. The traits which can be interpreted as adult infantile traits are described. Results. The characteristics of adult infantilism in modern world taking into account the increasing of information flows and socio-economic changes are defined. The definition of the concept «infantilism» including its main features is given. Infantilism is defined as the personal organization including features and models of the previous age period not adequate for the real age stage with emphasis on immaturity of the emotional and volitional sphere. Scientific novelty. The main psychological characteristics of adulthood are described as the reflection, requirement to work and professional activity, existence of professional self-determination, possession of labor skills, need for selfrealization, maturity of the emotional and volitional sphere. As objective adulthood characteristics are considered the following: transition to economic and territorial independence of a parental family, and also development of new social roles, such as a worker, spouse, and parent. Two options of a possible operationalization of concept are allocated: objective (existence / absence in real human life of objective criteria of adulthood and subjective (the self-report on subjective feeling of existence / lack of psychological characteristics of adulthood. Practical significance consists in a construct operationalization of «infantilism» which at the moment has so many interpretations. That operationalization is necessary for the further analysis and carrying out various researches. 

  12. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE DEFINITION OF THE "INFORMATION RESOURCE"

    OpenAIRE

    I. Netreba

    2014-01-01

    Existing approaches to determining the nature of the category "information resource" are detailed and systematized. The relationships between the categories "information resource", "information technology", "information management system" are revealed. Determined the importance of information resources for the production process at the enterprise.

  13. Development of an Internet-Administered Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program (ENGAGE) for Parents of Children Previously Treated for Cancer: Participatory Action Research Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wikman, Anna; Kukkola, Laura; Börjesson, Helene; Cernvall, Martin; Woodford, Joanne; Grönqvist, Helena; von Essen, Louise

    2018-04-18

    Parenting a child through cancer is a distressing experience, and a subgroup of parents report negative long-term psychological consequences years after treatment completion. However, there is a lack of evidence-based psychological interventions for parents who experience distress in relation to a child's cancer disease after end of treatment. One aim of this study was to develop an internet-administered, cognitive behavior therapy-based, psychological, guided, self-help intervention (ENGAGE) for parents of children previously treated for cancer. Another aim was to identify acceptable procedures for future feasibility and efficacy studies testing and evaluating the intervention. Participatory action research methodology was used. The study included face-to-face workshops and related Web-based exercises. A total of 6 parents (4 mothers, 2 fathers) of children previously treated for cancer were involved as parent research partners. Moreover, 2 clinical psychologists were involved as expert research partners. Research partners and research group members worked collaboratively throughout the study. Data were analyzed iteratively using written summaries of the workshops and Web-based exercises parallel to data collection. A 10-week, internet-administered, cognitive behavior therapy-based, psychological, guided, self-help intervention (ENGAGE) was developed in collaboration with parent research partners and expert research partners. The content of the intervention, mode and frequency of e-therapist support, and the individualized approach for feedback were modified based on the research partner input. Shared solutions were reached regarding the type and timing of support from an e-therapist (eg, initial video or telephone call, multiple methods of e-therapist contact), duration and timing of intervention (eg, 10 weeks, 30-min assessments), and the removal of unnecessary support functions (eg, removal of chat and forum functions). Preferences for study procedures in

  14. Information-Theoretic Bounded Rationality and ε-Optimality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel A. Braun

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Bounded rationality concerns the study of decision makers with limited information processing resources. Previously, the free energy difference functional has been suggested to model bounded rational decision making, as it provides a natural trade-off between an energy or utility function that is to be optimized and information processing costs that are measured by entropic search costs. The main question of this article is how the information-theoretic free energy model relates to simple ε-optimality models of bounded rational decision making, where the decision maker is satisfied with any action in an ε-neighborhood of the optimal utility. We find that the stochastic policies that optimize the free energy trade-off comply with the notion of ε-optimality. Moreover, this optimality criterion even holds when the environment is adversarial. We conclude that the study of bounded rationality based on ε-optimality criteria that abstract away from the particulars of the information processing constraints is compatible with the information-theoretic free energy model of bounded rationality.

  15. Theoretical Neuroanatomy:Analyzing the Structure, Dynamics,and Function of Neuronal Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seth, Anil K.; Edelman, Gerald M.

    The mammalian brain is an extraordinary object: its networks give rise to our conscious experiences as well as to the generation of adaptive behavior for the organism within its environment. Progress in understanding the structure, dynamics and function of the brain faces many challenges. Biological neural networks change over time, their detailed structure is difficult to elucidate, and they are highly heterogeneous both in their neuronal units and synaptic connections. In facing these challenges, graph-theoretic and information-theoretic approaches have yielded a number of useful insights and promise many more.

  16. Tourism and international business: The theoretical approach and practical experiences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovičić Dobrica

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses the relationships between tourism and international business. The research is based upon combining various theoretical concepts, significant empirical experiences and own attitudes of the authors. The key conclusion of the paper is that, despite of the partial progress in understanding tourism businesses, the relationships between tourism and international business need additional stimulus. In other words, more complete research in the related domains is needed in future. Any understanding of tourism is inadequate without appreciating the contributions that international business might bring, yet at the same time international business is incomplete in its coverage of international trade unless tourism is considered. The consumption-driven agenda of much tourism research has been favoured over supply-side discourses of the production process it self. That is why the role of major transnational companies, setting the trends that other types of firms in the tourism sector follow is focused in the paper.

  17. Design of new triphenylamine-sensitized solar cells: a theoretical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preat, Julien; Jacquemin, Denis; Perpète, Eric A

    2010-07-15

    This work reports a theoretical study of the photovoltaic properties of a series of original conjugated metal-free organic dyes containing the triphenylamine (TPA) moiety. These compounds have recently been develop for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Our (TD)DFT-based procedure made it possible to get insights into the geometrical and electronic structures of the dyes and to unravel the structural modifications optimizing the properties of TPA-based DSSCs. In particular, we aimed at improving the electron injection process as well as the light harvesting efficiency of the dyes. On the other hand, molecular dynamic (MD) investigations of the kinetics of the regeneration step have been performed for both "classical" (CHCl(3)/I(3)(-)/I(-)/Li(+)) and iodide imidazolium-based solvent-free electrolytes (DMII(+)/I(-)). The MD simulations helped to understand the regeneration mechanism for the solvent-free electrolyte: it combines the DMII(+)/DMII(0) couple to the I(3)(-)/I(-) redox system which acts as a "mediator".

  18. Evaluation Procedures of Random Uncertainties in Theoretical Calculations of Cross Sections and Rate Coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kokoouline, V.; Richardson, W.

    2014-01-01

    Uncertainties in theoretical calculations may include: • Systematic uncertainty: Due to applicability limits of the chosen model. • Random: Within a model, uncertainties of model parameters result in uncertainties of final results (such as cross sections). • If uncertainties of experimental and theoretical data are known, for the purpose of data evaluation (to produce recommended data), one should combine two data sets to produce the best guess data with the smallest possible uncertainty. In many situations, it is possible to assess the accuracy of theoretical calculations because theoretical models usually rely on parameters that are uncertain, but not completely random, i.e. the uncertainties of the parameters of the models are approximately known. If there are one or several such parameters with corresponding uncertainties, even if some or all parameters are correlated, the above approach gives a conceptually simple way to calculate uncertainties of final cross sections (uncertainty propagation). Numerically, the statistical approach to the uncertainty propagation could be computationally expensive. However, in situations, where uncertainties are considered to be as important as the actual cross sections (for data validation or benchmark calculations, for example), such a numerical effort is justified. Having data from different sources (say, from theory and experiment), a systematic statistical approach allows one to compare the data and produce “unbiased” evaluated data with improved uncertainties, if uncertainties of initial data from different sources are available. Without uncertainties, the data evaluation/validation becomes impossible. This is the reason why theoreticians should assess the accuracy of their calculations in one way or another. A statistical and systematic approach, similar to the described above, is preferable.

  19. A unified grand tour of theoretical physics

    CERN Document Server

    Lawrie, Ian D

    2013-01-01

    A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics invites its readers to a guided exploration of the theoretical ideas that shape our contemporary understanding of the physical world at the fundamental level. Its central themes, comprising space-time geometry and the general relativistic account of gravity, quantum field theory and the gauge theories of fundamental forces, and statistical mechanics and the theory of phase transitions, are developed in explicit mathematical detail, with an emphasis on conceptual understanding. Straightforward treatments of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology are supplemented with introductory accounts of more speculative theories, including supersymmetry and string theory. This third edition of the Tour includes a new chapter on quantum gravity, focusing on the approach known as Loop Quantum Gravity, while new sections provide extended discussions of topics that have become prominent in recent years, such as the Higgs boson, massive neutrinos, cosmological perturba...

  20. Modelling in Accounting. Theoretical and Practical Dimensions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa Szot-Gabryś

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Accounting in the theoretical approach is a scientific discipline based on specific paradigms. In the practical aspect, accounting manifests itself through the introduction of a system for measurement of economic quantities which operates in a particular business entity. A characteristic of accounting is its flexibility and ability of adaptation to information needs of information recipients. One of the main currents in the development of accounting theory and practice is to cover by economic measurements areas which have not been hitherto covered by any accounting system (it applies, for example, to small businesses, agricultural farms, human capital, which requires the development of an appropriate theoretical and practical model. The article illustrates the issue of modelling in accounting based on the example of an accounting model developed for small businesses, i.e. economic entities which are not obliged by law to keep accounting records.

  1. A social constructionist approach to resilience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning academics and students in South African universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacques Rothmann

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a theoretical contemplation on how reciprocation of an assimilationist, liberationist and/or transgressive approach by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning (LGBTIQ+ individuals on university campuses may encourage transformation initiatives in South African universities. The author ascribe to the contributions of previous research studies on a social constructionist approach to resilience to debate how individuals potentially navigate the disparity between sexual structure and agency within their ideological and physical construction and enactment of their academic and student persona. A theoretical basis is provided for the influence of social resilience to emphasise the localised, intersectional and plural experiences of LGBTIQ+ individuals as opposed to a monolithic and universal ‘either/or’ account of their being solely docile victims or free agents in a heteronormative context.

  2. Theoretical approaches to many-body perturbation theory and the challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrett, Bruce R

    2005-01-01

    A brief review of the history of many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) and its applications in nuclear physics is given. Problems regarding its application to nuclear-structure calculations are discussed and analysed. It is concluded that the usefulness of nuclear MBPT in terms of an expansion in the nuclear reaction matrix G for the calculation of effective interactions in shell-model investigations is severely challenged and restricted by the problems and uncertainties connected with this approach. New methods based on unitary transformation approaches have proven to be more accurate and reliable, particularly for light nuclei

  3. A practical approach to temperature effects in dissociative electron attachment cross sections using local complex potential theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugioka, Yuji; Takayanagi, Toshiyuki

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Dissociative electron attachment cross sections for polyatomic molecules are calculated by a simple theoretical approach. ► Temperature effects can be reasonably reproduced with the present model. ► All the degrees-of-freedom are taken into account in the present dynamics approach. -- Abstract: We propose a practical computational scheme to obtain temperature dependence of dissociative electron attachment cross sections to polyatomic molecules within a local complex potential theory formalism. First we perform quantum path-integral molecular dynamics simulations on the potential energy surface for the neutral molecule in order to sample initial nuclear configurations as well as momenta. Classical trajectories are subsequently integrated on the potential energy surface for the anionic state and survival probabilities are simultaneously calculated along the obtained trajectories. We have applied this simple scheme to dissociative electron attachment processes to H 2 O and CF 3 Cl, for which several previous studies are available from both the experimental and theoretical sides.

  4. A practical approach to temperature effects in dissociative electron attachment cross sections using local complex potential theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sugioka, Yuji [Department of Chemistry, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama City, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan); Takayanagi, Toshiyuki, E-mail: tako@mail.saitama-u.ac.jp [Department of Chemistry, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama City, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan)

    2012-09-11

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Dissociative electron attachment cross sections for polyatomic molecules are calculated by a simple theoretical approach. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Temperature effects can be reasonably reproduced with the present model. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer All the degrees-of-freedom are taken into account in the present dynamics approach. -- Abstract: We propose a practical computational scheme to obtain temperature dependence of dissociative electron attachment cross sections to polyatomic molecules within a local complex potential theory formalism. First we perform quantum path-integral molecular dynamics simulations on the potential energy surface for the neutral molecule in order to sample initial nuclear configurations as well as momenta. Classical trajectories are subsequently integrated on the potential energy surface for the anionic state and survival probabilities are simultaneously calculated along the obtained trajectories. We have applied this simple scheme to dissociative electron attachment processes to H{sub 2}O and CF{sub 3}Cl, for which several previous studies are available from both the experimental and theoretical sides.

  5. Theoretical approach to the magnetocaloric effect with hysteresis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basso, V.; Bertotti, G.; LoBue, M.; Sasso, C.P.

    2005-01-01

    In this paper a thermodynamic model with internal variables is presented and applied to ferromagnetic hysteresis. The out-of-equilibrium Gibbs free energy of a magnetic system is expressed as a function of the internal state of the Preisach model. Expressions for the system entropy and the entropy production are derived. By this approach it is possible to reproduce the characteristic features of the experimentally observed temperature changes (of the order of 10 -4 K around room temperature) induced by the magnetic field along the hysteresis loop performed in iron under adiabatic condition

  6. Theoretical model for the mechanical behavior of prestressed beams under torsion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sérgio M.R. Lopes

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article, a global theoretical model previously developed and validated by the authors for reinforced concrete beams under torsion is reviewed and corrected in order to predict the global behavior of beams under torsion with uniform longitudinal prestress. These corrections are based on the introduction of prestress factors and on the modification of the equilibrium equations in order to incorporate the contribution of the prestressing reinforcement. The theoretical results obtained with the new model are compared with some available results of prestressed concrete (PC beams under torsion found in the literature. The results obtained in this study validate the proposed computing procedure to predict the overall behavior of PC beams under torsion.

  7. Designing Educative Curriculum Materials: A Theoretically and Empirically Driven Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Elizabeth A.; Palincsar, Annemarie Sullivan; Arias, Anna Maria; Bismack, Amber Schultz; Marulis, Loren M.; Iwashyna, Stefanie K.

    2014-01-01

    In this article, the authors argue for a design process in the development of educative curriculum materials that is theoretically and empirically driven. Using a design-based research approach, they describe their design process for incorporating educative features intended to promote teacher learning into existing, high-quality curriculum…

  8. Theoretical physics 3 electrodynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Nolting, Wolfgang

    2016-01-01

    This textbook offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to electrodynamics, one of the core components of undergraduate physics courses. It follows on naturally from the previous volumes in this series. The first part of the book describes the interaction of electric charges and magnetic moments by introducing electro- and magnetostatics. The second part of the book establishes deeper understanding of electrodynamics with the Maxwell equations, quasistationary fields and electromagnetic fields. All sections are accompanied by a detailed introduction to the math needed. Ideally suited to undergraduate students with some grounding in classical and analytical mechanics, the book is enhanced throughout with learning features such as boxed inserts and chapter summaries, with key mathematical derivations highlighted to aid understanding. The text is supported by numerous worked examples and end of chapter problem sets. About the Theoretical Physics series Translated from the renowned and highly successful Germa...

  9. Theoretical physics 5 thermodynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Nolting, Wolfgang

    2017-01-01

    This concise textbook offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to thermodynamics, one of the core components of undergraduate physics courses. It follows on naturally from the previous volumes in this series, defining macroscopic variables, such as internal energy, entropy and pressure,together with thermodynamic principles. The first part of the book introduces the laws of thermodynamics and thermodynamic potentials. More complex themes are covered in the second part of the book, which describes phases and phase transitions in depth. Ideally suited to undergraduate students with some grounding in classical mechanics, the book is enhanced throughout with learning features such as boxed inserts and chapter summaries, with key mathematical derivations highlighted to aid understanding. The text is supported by numerous worked examples and end of chapter problem sets. About the Theoretical Physics series Translated from the renowned and highly successful German editions, the eight volumes of this series cove...

  10. A game theoretical approach for QoS provisioning in heterogeneous networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.S.M. Zadid Shifat

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available With the proliferation of mobile phone users, interference management is a big concern in this neoteric years. To cope with this problem along with ensuring better Quality of Service (QoS, femtocell plays an imperious preamble in heterogeneous networks (HetNets for some of its noteworthy characteristics. In this paper, we propose a game theoretic algorithm along with dynamic channel allocation and hybrid access mechanism with self-organizing power control scheme. With a view to resolving prioritized access issue, the concept of primary and secondary users is applied. Existence of pure strategy Nash equilibrium (NE has been investigated and comes to a perfection that our proposed scheme can be adopted both increasing capacity and increasing revenue of operators considering optimal price for consumers.

  11. Hybrid rocket engine, theoretical model and experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chelaru, Teodor-Viorel; Mingireanu, Florin

    2011-06-01

    The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical model for the hybrid rocket engine/motor and to validate it using experimental results. The work approaches the main problems of the hybrid motor: the scalability, the stability/controllability of the operating parameters and the increasing of the solid fuel regression rate. At first, we focus on theoretical models for hybrid rocket motor and compare the results with already available experimental data from various research groups. A primary computation model is presented together with results from a numerical algorithm based on a computational model. We present theoretical predictions for several commercial hybrid rocket motors, having different scales and compare them with experimental measurements of those hybrid rocket motors. Next the paper focuses on tribrid rocket motor concept, which by supplementary liquid fuel injection can improve the thrust controllability. A complementary computation model is also presented to estimate regression rate increase of solid fuel doped with oxidizer. Finally, the stability of the hybrid rocket motor is investigated using Liapunov theory. Stability coefficients obtained are dependent on burning parameters while the stability and command matrixes are identified. The paper presents thoroughly the input data of the model, which ensures the reproducibility of the numerical results by independent researchers.

  12. Geometric Lagrangian approach to the physical degree of freedom count in field theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Díaz, Bogar; Montesinos, Merced

    2018-05-01

    To circumvent some technical difficulties faced by the geometric Lagrangian approach to the physical degree of freedom count presented in the work of Díaz, Higuita, and Montesinos [J. Math. Phys. 55, 122901 (2014)] that prevent its direct implementation to field theory, in this paper, we slightly modify the geometric Lagrangian approach in such a way that its resulting version works perfectly for field theory (and for particle systems, of course). As in previous work, the current approach also allows us to directly get the Lagrangian constraints, a new Lagrangian formula for the counting of the number of physical degrees of freedom, the gauge transformations, and the number of first- and second-class constraints for any action principle based on a Lagrangian depending on the fields and their first derivatives without performing any Dirac's canonical analysis. An advantage of this approach over the previous work is that it also allows us to handle the reducibility of the constraints and to get the off-shell gauge transformations. The theoretical framework is illustrated in 3-dimensional generalized general relativity (Palatini and Witten's exotic actions), Chern-Simons theory, 4-dimensional BF theory, and 4-dimensional general relativity given by Palatini's action with a cosmological constant.

  13. Social representations: a theoretical approach in health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaiane Santos Bittencourt

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To present the theory of social representations, placing its epistemology and knowing the basic concepts of its approach as a structural unit of knowledge for health studies. Justification: The use of this theory comes from the need to understand social eventsunder the lens of the meanings constructed by the community. Data Synthesis: This was a descriptive study of literature review, which used as a source of data collection the classical authors of social representations supported by articles from electronic search at Virtual Health Library (VHL. The definition and discussion of collected data enabled to introduce two themes, versed on the history and epistemology of representations and on the structuralapproach of representations in health studies. Conclusion: This review allowed highlight the importance of locating the objects of study with regard to contextual issues of individual and collective histories, valuing the plurality of relations, to come closer to reality that is represented by the subjects.

  14. Validation by theoretical approach to the experimental estimation of efficiency for gamma spectrometry of gas in 100 ml standard flask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohan, V.; Chudalayandi, K.; Sundaram, M.; Krishnamony, S.

    1996-01-01

    Estimation of gaseous activity forms an important component of air monitoring at Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). The gases of importance are argon 41 an air activation product and fission product noble gas xenon 133. For estimating the concentration, the experimental method is used in which a grab sample is collected in a 100 ml volumetric standard flask. The activity of gas is then computed by gamma spectrometry using a predetermined efficiency estimated experimentally. An attempt is made using theoretical approach to validate the experimental method of efficiency estimation. Two analytical models named relative flux model and absolute activity model were developed independently of each other. Attention is focussed on the efficiencies for 41 Ar and 133 Xe. Results show that the present method of sampling and analysis using 100 ml volumetric flask is adequate and acceptable. (author). 5 refs., 2 tabs

  15. An in-depth analysis of theoretical frameworks for the study of care coordination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine Van Houdt

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Complex chronic conditions often require long-term care from various healthcare professionals. Thus, maintaining quality care requires care coordination. Concepts for the study of care coordination require clarification to develop, study and evaluate coordination strategies. In 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defined care coordination and proposed five theoretical frameworks for exploring care coordination. This study aimed to update current theoretical frameworks and clarify key concepts related to care coordination. Methods: We performed a literature review to update existing theoretical frameworks. An in-depth analysis of these theoretical frameworks was conducted to formulate key concepts related to care coordination.Results: Our literature review found seven previously unidentified theoretical frameworks for studying care coordination. The in-depth analysis identified fourteen key concepts that the theoretical frameworks addressed. These were ‘external factors’, ‘structure’, ‘tasks characteristics’, ‘cultural factors’, ‘knowledge and technology’, ‘need for coordination’, ‘administrative operational processes’, ‘exchange of information’, ‘goals’, ‘roles’, ‘quality of relationship’, ‘patient outcome’, ‘team outcome’, and ‘(interorganizational outcome’.Conclusion: These 14 interrelated key concepts provide a base to develop or choose a framework for studying care coordination. The relational coordination theory and the multi-level framework are interesting as these are the most comprehensive.

  16. Theoretical relation between halo current-plasma energy displacement/deformation in EAST

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Shahab Ud-Din; Khan, Salah Ud-Din; Song, Yuntao; Dalong, Chen

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, theoretical model for calculating halo current has been developed. This work attained novelty as no theoretical calculations for halo current has been reported so far. This is the first time to use theoretical approach. The research started by calculating points for plasma energy in terms of poloidal and toroidal magnetic field orientations. While calculating these points, it was extended to calculate halo current and to developed theoretical model. Two cases were considered for analyzing the plasma energy when flows down/upward to the diverter. Poloidal as well as toroidal movement of plasma energy was investigated and mathematical formulations were designed as well. Two conducting points with respect to (R, Z) were calculated for halo current calculations and derivations. However, at first, halo current was established on the outer plate in clockwise direction. The maximum generation of halo current was estimated to be about 0.4 times of the plasma current. A Matlab program has been developed to calculate halo current and plasma energy calculation points. The main objective of the research was to establish theoretical relation with experimental results so as to precautionary evaluate the plasma behavior in any Tokamak.

  17. Fuzzy set theoretic approach to fault tree analysis | Tyagi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This approach can be widely used to improve the reliability and to reduce the operating cost of a system. The proposed techniques are discussed and illustrated by taking an example of a nuclear power plant. Keywords: Fault tree, Triangular and Trapezoidal fuzzy number, Fuzzy importance, Ranking of fuzzy numbers ...

  18. Exploring neoliberal social-reproduction: a working theoretical framework

    OpenAIRE

    Leyva, Rodolfo

    2012-01-01

    This article proposes a working theoretical framework to explain and explore processes of neoliberal social reproduction. I focus on the interplay between neoliberal political-economic discourses and practices, contemporary Western media-culture, and individual agency. I make the case that research concerned with the hegemony of neoliberalism and its effects on culture and subjectivity needs to take an interdisciplinary approach that rejects the longstanding structure and agency dichotomy. To...

  19. Theoretical calculations of positron lifetimes for metal oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mizuno, Masataka; Araki, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuharu

    2004-01-01

    Our recent positron lifetime measurements for metal oxides suggest that positron lifetimes of bulk state in metal oxides are shorter than previously reported values. We have performed theoretical calculations of positron lifetimes for bulk and vacancy states in MgO and ZnO using first-principles electronic structure calculations and discuss the validity of positron lifetime calculations for insulators. By comparing the calculated positron lifetimes to the experimental values, it wa found that the semiconductor model well reproduces the experimental positron lifetime. The longer positron lifetime previously reported can be considered to arise from not only the bulk but also from the vacancy induced by impurities. In the case of cation vacancy, the calculated positron lifetime based on semiconductor model is shorter than the experimental value, which suggests that the inward relaxation occurs around the cation vacancy trapping the positron. (author)

  20. A Game Theoretical Approach Based Bidding Strategy Optimization for Power Producers in Power Markets with Renewable Electricity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Tang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In a competitive electricity market with substantial involvement of renewable electricity, maximizing profits by optimizing bidding strategies is crucial to different power producers including conventional power plants and renewable ones. This paper proposes a game-theoretic bidding optimization method based on bi-level programming, where power producers are at the upper level and utility companies are at the lower level. The competition among the multiple power producers is formulated as a non-cooperative game in which bidding curves are their strategies, while uniform clearing pricing is considered for utility companies represented by an independent system operator. Consequently, based on the formulated game model, the bidding strategies for power producers are optimized for the day-ahead market and the intraday market with considering the properties of renewable energy; and the clearing pricing for the utility companies, with respect to the power quantity from different power producers, is optimized simultaneously. Furthermore, a distributed algorithm is provided to search the solution of the generalized Nash equilibrium. Finally, simulation results were performed and discussed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed non-cooperative game-based bi-level optimization approach.