WorldWideScience

Sample records for absolute risk representation

  1. Absolute risk, absolute risk reduction and relative risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose Andres Calvache

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article illustrates the epidemiological concepts of absolute risk, absolute risk reduction and relative risk through a clinical example. In addition, it emphasizes the usefulness of these concepts in clinical practice, clinical research and health decision-making process.

  2. Relational versus absolute representation in categorization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Darren J; Pothos, Emmanuel M; Perlman, Amotz

    2012-01-01

    This study explores relational-like and absolute-like representations in categorization. Although there is much evidence that categorization processes can involve information about both the particular physical properties of studied instances and abstract (relational) properties, there has been little work on the factors that lead to one kind of representation as opposed to the other. We tested 370 participants in 6 experiments, in which participants had to classify new items into predefined artificial categories. In 4 experiments, we observed a predominantly relational-like mode of classification, and in 2 experiments we observed a shift toward an absolute-like mode of classification. These results suggest 3 factors that promote a relational-like mode of classification: fewer items per group, more training groups, and the presence of a time delay. Overall, we propose that less information about the distributional properties of a category or weaker memory traces for the category exemplars (induced, e.g., by having smaller categories or a time delay) can encourage relational-like categorization.

  3. Absolute risk representation in cardiovascular disease prevention: comprehension and preferences of health care consumers and general practitioners involved in a focus group study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryan Rebecca

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Communicating risk is part of primary prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke, collectively referred to as cardiovascular disease (CVD. In Australia, health organisations have promoted an absolute risk approach, thereby raising the question of suitable standardised formats for risk communication. Methods Sixteen formats of risk representation were prepared including statements, icons, graphical formats, alone or in combination, and with variable use of colours. All presented the same risk, i.e., the absolute risk for a 55 year old woman, 16% risk of CVD in five years. Preferences for a five or ten-year timeframe were explored. Australian GPs and consumers were recruited for participation in focus groups, with the data analysed thematically and preferred formats tallied. Results Three focus groups with health consumers and three with GPs were held, involving 19 consumers and 18 GPs. Consumers and GPs had similar views on which formats were more easily comprehended and which conveyed 16% risk as a high risk. A simple summation of preferences resulted in three graphical formats (thermometers, vertical bar chart and one statement format as the top choices. The use of colour to distinguish risk (red, yellow, green and comparative information (age, sex, smoking status were important ingredients. Consumers found formats which combined information helpful, such as colour, effect of changing behaviour on risk, or comparison with a healthy older person. GPs preferred formats that helped them relate the information about risk of CVD to their patients, and could be used to motivate patients to change behaviour. Several formats were reported as confusing, such as a percentage risk with no contextual information, line graphs, and icons, particularly those with larger numbers. Whilst consumers and GPs shared preferences, the use of one format for all situations was not recommended. Overall, people across groups felt that risk

  4. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfeiffer, R M; Petracci, E

    2011-07-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates.

  5. Relative and absolute risk in epidemiology and health physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldsmith, R.; Peterson, H.T. Jr.

    1983-01-01

    The health risk from ionizing radiation commonly is expressed in two forms: (1) the relative risk, which is the percentage increase in natural disease rate and (2) the absolute or attributable risk which represents the difference between the natural rate and the rate associated with the agent in question. Relative risk estimates for ionizing radiation generally are higher than those expressed as the absolute risk. This raises the question of which risk estimator is the most appropriate under different conditions. The absolute risk has generally been used for radiation risk assessment, although mathematical combinations such as the arithmetic or geometric mean of both the absolute and relative risks, have also been used. Combinations of the two risk estimators are not valid because the absolute and relative risk are not independent variables. Both human epidemiologic studies and animal experimental data can be found to illustrate the functional relationship between the natural cancer risk and the risk associated with radiation. This implies that the radiation risk estimate derived from one population may not be appropriate for predictions in another population, unless it is adjusted for the difference in the natural disease incidence between the two populations

  6. Population-based absolute risk estimation with survey data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalchik, Stephanie A.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.

    2013-01-01

    Absolute risk is the probability that a cause-specific event occurs in a given time interval in the presence of competing events. We present methods to estimate population-based absolute risk from a complex survey cohort that can accommodate multiple exposure-specific competing risks. The hazard function for each event type consists of an individualized relative risk multiplied by a baseline hazard function, which is modeled nonparametrically or parametrically with a piecewise exponential model. An influence method is used to derive a Taylor-linearized variance estimate for the absolute risk estimates. We introduce novel measures of the cause-specific influences that can guide modeling choices for the competing event components of the model. To illustrate our methodology, we build and validate cause-specific absolute risk models for cardiovascular and cancer deaths using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our applications demonstrate the usefulness of survey-based risk prediction models for predicting health outcomes and quantifying the potential impact of disease prevention programs at the population level. PMID:23686614

  7. Communicating cardiovascular disease risk: an interview study of General Practitioners' use of absolute risk within tailored communication strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonner, Carissa; Jansen, Jesse; McKinn, Shannon; Irwig, Les; Doust, Jenny; Glasziou, Paul; McCaffery, Kirsten

    2014-05-29

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention guidelines encourage assessment of absolute CVD risk - the probability of a CVD event within a fixed time period, based on the most predictive risk factors. However, few General Practitioners (GPs) use absolute CVD risk consistently, and communication difficulties have been identified as a barrier to changing practice. This study aimed to explore GPs' descriptions of their CVD risk communication strategies, including the role of absolute risk. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 25 GPs in New South Wales, Australia. Transcribed audio-recordings were thematically coded, using the Framework Analysis method to ensure rigour. GPs used absolute CVD risk within three different communication strategies: 'positive', 'scare tactic', and 'indirect'. A 'positive' strategy, which aimed to reassure and motivate, was used for patients with low risk, determination to change lifestyle, and some concern about CVD risk. Absolute risk was used to show how they could reduce risk. A 'scare tactic' strategy was used for patients with high risk, lack of motivation, and a dismissive attitude. Absolute risk was used to 'scare' them into taking action. An 'indirect' strategy, where CVD risk was not the main focus, was used for patients with low risk but some lifestyle risk factors, high anxiety, high resistance to change, or difficulty understanding probabilities. Non-quantitative absolute risk formats were found to be helpful in these situations. This study demonstrated how GPs use three different communication strategies to address the issue of CVD risk, depending on their perception of patient risk, motivation and anxiety. Absolute risk played a different role within each strategy. Providing GPs with alternative ways of explaining absolute risk, in order to achieve different communication aims, may improve their use of absolute CVD risk assessment in practice.

  8. Binomial Distribution Sample Confidence Intervals Estimation 7. Absolute Risk Reduction and ARR-like Expressions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei ACHIMAŞ CADARIU

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available Assessments of a controlled clinical trial suppose to interpret some key parameters as the controlled event rate, experimental event date, relative risk, absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, number needed to treat when the effect of the treatment are dichotomous variables. Defined as the difference in the event rate between treatment and control groups, the absolute risk reduction is the parameter that allowed computing the number needed to treat. The absolute risk reduction is compute when the experimental treatment reduces the risk for an undesirable outcome/event. In medical literature when the absolute risk reduction is report with its confidence intervals, the method used is the asymptotic one, even if it is well know that may be inadequate. The aim of this paper is to introduce and assess nine methods of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction and absolute risk reduction – like function.Computer implementations of the methods use the PHP language. Methods comparison uses the experimental errors, the standard deviations, and the deviation relative to the imposed significance level for specified sample sizes. Six methods of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction and absolute risk reduction-like functions were assessed using random binomial variables and random sample sizes.The experiments shows that the ADAC, and ADAC1 methods obtains the best overall performance of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction.

  9. Investigating Absolute Value: A Real World Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidd, Margaret; Pagni, David

    2009-01-01

    Making connections between various representations is important in mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the numeric, algebraic, and graphical representations of sums of absolute values of linear functions. The initial explanations are accessible to all students who have experience graphing and who understand that absolute value simply…

  10. The gender- and age-specific 10-year and lifetime absolute fracture risk in Tromso, Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, Luai A.; Schirmer, Henrik; Bjornerem, Ashild; Emaus, Nina; Jorgensen, Lone; Stormer, Jan; Joakimsen, Ragnar M.

    2009-01-01

    Aim of this study is to estimate the gender- and age-specific 10-year and lifetime absolute risks of non-vertebral and osteoporotic (included hip, distal forearm and proximal humerus) fractures in a large cohort of men and women. This is a population-based 10 years follow-up study of 26,891 subjects aged 25 years and older in Tromso, Norway. All non-vertebral fractures were registered from 1995 throughout 2004 by computerized search in radiographic archives. Absolute risks were estimated by life-table method taking into account the competing risk of death. The absolute fracture risk at each year of age was estimated for the next 10 years (10-year risk) or up to the age of 90 years (lifetime risk). The estimated 10-year absolute risk of all non-vertebral fracture was higher in men than women before but not after the age of 45 years. The 10-year absolute risk for non-vertebral and osteoporotic fractures was over 10%, respectively, in men over 65 and 70 years and in women over 45 and 50 years of age. The 10-year absolute risks of hip fractures at the age of 65 and 80 years were 4.2 and 18.6% in men, and 9.0 and 24.0% in women, respectively. The risk estimates for distal forearm and proximal humerus fractures were under 5% in men and 13% in women. The estimated lifetime risks for all fracture locations were higher in women than men at all ages. At the age of 50 years, the risks were 38.1 and 24.8% in men and 67.4 and 55.0% in women for all non-vertebral and osteoporotic fractures, respectively. The estimated gender- and age-specific 10-year and lifetime absolute fracture risk were higher in Tromso than in other populations. The high lifetime fracture risk reflects the increased burden of fractures in this cohort

  11. Absolute Risk Aversion and the Returns to Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunello, Giorgio

    2002-01-01

    Uses 1995 Italian household income and wealth survey to measure individual absolute risk aversion of 1,583 married Italian male household heads. Uses this measure as an instrument for attained education in a standard-log earnings equation. Finds that the IV estimate of the marginal return to schooling is much higher than the ordinary least squares…

  12. Ergonomic risk: social representations of dental students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luana Kelle Batista Moura

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To learn the social representations of ergonomic risk prepared ​​by dental students. Methodology: This exploratory study, subsidized the Theory of Social Representations, with 64 dental students of an educational institution, by means of interviews. The data were processed in Alceste4.8 and lexical analysis done by the descending hierarchical classification. Results: In two categories: knowledge about exposure to ergonomic risk end attitude of students on preventing and treating injuries caused by repetitive motion. For students, the ergonomic risk is related to the attitude in the dental office. Conclusion: Prevention of ergonomic risk for dental students has not been incorporated as a set of necessary measures for their health and the patients, to prevent ergonomic hazards that can result in harm to the patient caused by work-related musculoskeletal disorder, which is reflected in a lower quality practice.

  13. FATHERS' AND MOTHERS' REPRESENTATIONS OF THE INFANT: ASSOCIATIONS WITH PRENATAL RISK FACTORS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vreeswijk, Charlotte M J M; Rijk, Catharina H A M; Maas, A Janneke B M; van Bakel, Hedwig J A

    2015-01-01

    Parents' representations of their infants consist of parents' subjective experiences of how they perceive their infants. They provide important information about the quality of the parent-infant relationship and are closely related to parenting behavior and infant attachment. Previous studies have shown that parents' representations emerge during pregnancy. However, little is known about prenatal (risk) factors that are related to parents' representations. In a prospective study, 308 mothers and 243 fathers were followed during pregnancy and postpartum. Prenatal risk factors were assessed with an adapted version of the Dunedin Family Services Indicator (T.G. Egan et al., ; R.C. Muir et al., ). At 26 weeks' gestation and 6 months' postpartum, parents' representations of their children were assessed with the Working Model of the Child Interview (C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, L. Hirshberg, M.L. Barton, & C. Regan). Results showed stability between pre- and postnatal representations, with fathers having more disengaged representations than did mothers. In addition, prenatal risk factors of parenting problems were associated with the quality of parents' prenatal (only in mothers) and postnatal representations. This study provides valuable information concerning parents at risk of developing nonbalanced representations of their children. In clinical practice, these families could be monitored more intensively and may be supported in developing a more optimal parent-infant relationship. © 2015 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

  14. High-Risk and Low-Risk Human Papillomavirus and the Absolute Risk of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia or Cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Louise T; Frederiksen, Kirsten; Munk, Christian

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To determine the absolute risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 3 or cervical cancer (CIN 3 or worse) after detection of low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) and after a negative high-risk HPV test. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, consecutive liquid......-based cervical cytology samples were collected from women screened for cervical cancer in Copenhagen, Denmark, during 2002-2005. Samples were tested with a clinical test for 13 high-risk and five low-risk HPV types. The cohort (N=35,539; aged 14-90 years) was monitored in a nationwide pathology register for up...... cytology. Detection of low-risk HPV does not predict CIN 3 or worse. Cervical cancer screening should not include testing for low-risk HPV types. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II....

  15. Common pitfalls in statistical analysis: Absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, and number needed to treat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranganathan, Priya; Pramesh, C. S.; Aggarwal, Rakesh

    2016-01-01

    In the previous article in this series on common pitfalls in statistical analysis, we looked at the difference between risk and odds. Risk, which refers to the probability of occurrence of an event or outcome, can be defined in absolute or relative terms. Understanding what these measures represent is essential for the accurate interpretation of study results. PMID:26952180

  16. Adequacy of relative and absolute risk models for lifetime risk estimate of radiation-induced cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McBride, M.; Coldman, A.J.

    1988-03-01

    This report examines the applicability of the relative (multiplicative) and absolute (additive) models in predicting lifetime risk of radiation-induced cancer. A review of the epidemiologic literature, and a discussion of the mathematical models of carcinogenesis and their relationship to these models of lifetime risk, are included. Based on the available data, the relative risk model for the estimation of lifetime risk is preferred for non-sex-specific epithelial tumours. However, because of lack of knowledge concerning other determinants of radiation risk and of background incidence rates, considerable uncertainty in modelling lifetime risk still exists. Therefore, it is essential that follow-up of exposed cohorts be continued so that population-based estimates of lifetime risk are available

  17. Pre-Feedback Risk Expectancies and Reception of Low-Risk Health Feedback: Absolute and Comparative Lack of Reassurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamp, Martina; Renner, Britta

    2016-11-01

    Personalised health-risk assessment is one of the most common components of health promotion programs. Previous research on responses to health risk feedback has commonly focused on the reception of bad news (high-risk feedback). The reception of low-risk feedback has been comparably neglected since it is assumed that good news is reassuring and readily received. However, field studies suggest mixed responses to low-risk health feedback. Accordingly, we examine whether pre-feedback risk expectancies can mitigate the reassuring effects of good news. In two studies (N = 187, N = 565), after assessing pre-feedback risk expectancies, participants received low-risk personalised feedback about their own risk of developing (the fictitious) Tucson Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (TCFS). Study 2 also included peer TCFS risk status feedback. Afterwards, self- and peer-related risk perception for TCFS was assessed. In both studies, participants who expected to be at high risk but received good news (unexpected low-risk feedback) showed absolute lack of reassurance. Specifically, they felt at significantly greater TCFS risk than participants who received expected good news. Moreover, the unexpected low-risk group even believed that their risk was as high as (Study 1) or higher (Study 2) than that of their peers (comparative lack of reassurance). Results support the notion that high pre-feedback risk expectancies can mitigate absolute and comparative reassuring effects of good news. © 2016 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

  18. Greater absolute risk for all subtypes of breast cancer in the US than Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horne, Hisani N; Beena Devi, C R; Sung, Hyuna; Tang, Tieng Swee; Rosenberg, Philip S; Hewitt, Stephen M; Sherman, Mark E; Anderson, William F; Yang, Xiaohong R

    2015-01-01

    Hormone receptor (HR) negative breast cancers are relatively more common in low-risk than high-risk countries and/or populations. However, the absolute variations between these different populations are not well established given the limited number of cancer registries with incidence rate data by breast cancer subtype. We, therefore, used two unique population-based resources with molecular data to compare incidence rates for the 'intrinsic' breast cancer subtypes between a low-risk Asian population in Malaysia and high-risk non-Hispanic white population in the National Cancer Institute's surveillance, epidemiology, and end results 18 registries database (SEER 18). The intrinsic breast cancer subtypes were recapitulated with the joint expression of the HRs (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). Invasive breast cancer incidence rates overall were fivefold greater in SEER 18 than in Malaysia. The majority of breast cancers were HR-positive in SEER 18 and HR-negative in Malaysia. Notwithstanding the greater relative distribution for HR-negative cancers in Malaysia, there was a greater absolute risk for all subtypes in SEER 18; incidence rates were nearly 7-fold higher for HR-positive and 2-fold higher for HR-negative cancers in SEER 18. Despite the well-established relative breast cancer differences between low-risk and high-risk countries and/or populations, there was a greater absolute risk for HR-positive and HR-negative subtypes in the US than Malaysia. Additional analytical studies are sorely needed to determine the factors responsible for the elevated risk of all subtypes of breast cancer in high-risk countries like the United States.

  19. Realized volatility and absolute return volatility: a comparison indicating market risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Zeyu; Qiao, Zhi; Takaishi, Tetsuya; Stanley, H Eugene; Li, Baowen

    2014-01-01

    Measuring volatility in financial markets is a primary challenge in the theory and practice of risk management and is essential when developing investment strategies. Although the vast literature on the topic describes many different models, two nonparametric measurements have emerged and received wide use over the past decade: realized volatility and absolute return volatility. The former is strongly favored in the financial sector and the latter by econophysicists. We examine the memory and clustering features of these two methods and find that both enable strong predictions. We compare the two in detail and find that although realized volatility has a better short-term effect that allows predictions of near-future market behavior, absolute return volatility is easier to calculate and, as a risk indicator, has approximately the same sensitivity as realized volatility. Our detailed empirical analysis yields valuable guidelines for both researchers and market participants because it provides a significantly clearer comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods.

  20. Realized volatility and absolute return volatility: a comparison indicating market risk.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeyu Zheng

    Full Text Available Measuring volatility in financial markets is a primary challenge in the theory and practice of risk management and is essential when developing investment strategies. Although the vast literature on the topic describes many different models, two nonparametric measurements have emerged and received wide use over the past decade: realized volatility and absolute return volatility. The former is strongly favored in the financial sector and the latter by econophysicists. We examine the memory and clustering features of these two methods and find that both enable strong predictions. We compare the two in detail and find that although realized volatility has a better short-term effect that allows predictions of near-future market behavior, absolute return volatility is easier to calculate and, as a risk indicator, has approximately the same sensitivity as realized volatility. Our detailed empirical analysis yields valuable guidelines for both researchers and market participants because it provides a significantly clearer comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods.

  1. The utility of absolute risk prediction using FRAX® and Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator in daily practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Geel, Tineke A C M; Eisman, John A; Geusens, Piet P; van den Bergh, Joop P W; Center, Jacqueline R; Dinant, Geert-Jan

    2014-02-01

    There are two commonly used fracture risk prediction tools FRAX(®) and Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator (GARVAN-FRC). The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of these tools in daily practice. A prospective population-based 5-year follow-up study was conducted in ten general practice centres in the Netherlands. For the analyses, the FRAX(®) and GARVAN-FRC 10-year absolute risks (FRAX(®) does not have 5-year risk prediction) for all fractures were used. Among 506 postmenopausal women aged ≥60 years (mean age: 67.8±5.8 years), 48 (9.5%) sustained a fracture during follow-up. Both tools, using BMD values, distinguish between women who did and did not fracture (10.2% vs. 6.8%, respectively for FRAX(®) and 32.4% vs. 39.1%, respectively for GARVAN-FRC, pbetter for women who sustained a fracture (higher sensitivity) and FRAX(®) for women who did not sustain a fracture (higher specificity). Similar results were obtained using age related cut off points. The discriminant value of both models is at least as good as models used in other medical conditions; hence they can be used to communicate the fracture risk to patients. However, given differences in the estimated risks between FRAX(®) and GARVAN-FRC, the significance of the absolute risk must be related to country-specific recommended intervention thresholds to inform the patient. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. The absolute risk of venous thrombosis after air travel: a cohort study of 8,755 employees of international organisations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuipers, Saskia; Cannegieter, Suzanne C.; Middeldorp, Saskia; Robyn, Luc; Buller, Harry R.; Rosendaal, Frits R.

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The risk of venous thrombosis is approximately 2- to 4-fold increased after air travel, but the absolute risk is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the absolute risk of venous thrombosis after air travel. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cohort study among employees

  3. Confusing Relative Risk with Absolute Risk Is Associated with More Enthusiastic Beliefs about the Value of Cancer Screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caverly, Tanner J; Prochazka, Allan V; Binswanger, Ingrid A; Kutner, Jean S; Matlock, Daniel D

    2014-07-01

    Reviews of how data are presented in medical literature document that the benefit from an intervention is often exaggerated relative to the harm (e.g., relative risk for benefit and absolute risk for harm). Such mismatched presentations may create unwarranted enthusiasm, especially among those who misinterpret the statistics presented. The objective was to determine whether misinterpretation of risk data predicts enthusiasm for cancer screening. The authors administered a survey with 14 items assessing beliefs about cancer screening and 6 items measuring data interpretation ability. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the association between data interpretation and enthusiasm for cancer screening, with adjustment for gender and year graduated from medical school. Eighty-eight of 139 physicians at a state-wide professional meeting returned completed surveys (63% response rate). Lower data interpretation scores were associated with higher enthusiasm for cancer screening scores (P = 0.004) in the adjusted primary analysis. Confusing relative risk with absolute risk appeared to drive the overall association. Biased presentations of risk data could affect general beliefs about the value of cancer screening, especially among physicians who uncritically accept mismatched presentations of data. © The Author(s) 2014.

  4. Targeting LDL Cholesterol: Beyond Absolute Goals Toward Personalized Risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leibowitz, Morton; Cohen-Stavi, Chandra; Basu, Sanjay; Balicer, Ran D

    2017-06-01

    The aim of this study was to review and assess the evidence for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment goals as presented in current guidelines for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Different sets of guidelines and clinical studies for secondary prevention have centered on lower absolute LDL-C targets [achieve greater reductions in cardiovascular risk. Population-based risk models serve as the basis for statin initiation in primary prevention. Reviews of current population risk models for primary prevention show moderate ability to discriminate [with c-statistics ranging from 0.67 to 0.77 (95% CIs from 0.62 to 0.83) for men and women] with poor calibration and overestimation of risk. Individual clinical trial data are not compelling to support specific LDL-C targets and percent reductions in secondary prevention. Increasing utilization of electronic health records and data analytics will enable the development of individualized treatment goals in both primary and secondary prevention.

  5. The absolute power of relative risk in debates on repeat cesareans and home birth in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Declercq, Eugene

    2013-01-01

    Changes in policies and practices related to repeat cesareans and home birth in the U.S. have been influenced by different interpretations of the risk of poor outcomes. This article examines two cases-vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) and home birth to illustrate how an emphasis on relative over absolute risk has been used to characterize outcomes associated with these practices. The case studies will rely on reviews of the research literature and examination of data on birth trends and outcomes. Childbirth involves some unique challenges in assessing health risks, specifically the issues of: (1) timing of risks (lowering health risk in a current birth can increase it in subsequent births); (2) the potential weighing of risks to the mother's versus the infant's health; (3) the fact that birth is a condition of health and many of the feared outcomes (for example, symptomatic uterine rupture) involve very low absolute risk of occurrence; and (4) a malpractice environment that seizes upon those rare poor outcomes in highly publicized lawsuits that receive widespread attention in the clinical community. In the cases of VBAC and home birth, the result has been considerable emphasis on relative risks, typically an adjusted odds ratio, with little consideration of absolute risks. Assessments of the safety of interventions in childbirth should involve careful consideration and communication of the multiple dimensions of risk, particularly a balancing of relative and absolute risks of poor health outcomes.

  6. One idea of portfolio risk control for absolute return strategy risk adjustments by signals from correlation behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishiyama, N.

    2001-12-01

    Absolute return strategy provided from fund of funds (FOFs) investment schemes is the focus in Japanese Financial Community. FOFs investment mainly consists of hedge fund investment and it has two major characteristics which are low correlation against benchmark index and little impact from various external changes in the environment given maximizing return. According to the historical track record of survival hedge funds in this business world, they maintain a stable high return and low risk. However, one must keep in mind that low risk would not be equal to risk free. The failure of Long-term capital management (LTCM) that took place in the summer of 1998 was a symbolized phenomenon. The summer of 1998 exhibited a certain limitation of traditional value at risk (VaR) and some possibility that traditional VaR could be ineffectual to the nonlinear type of fluctuation in the market. In this paper, I try to bring self-organized criticality (SOC) into portfolio risk control. SOC would be well known as a model of decay in the natural world. I analyzed nonlinear type of fluctuation in the market as SOC and applied SOC to capture complicated market movement using threshold point of SOC and risk adjustments by scenario correlation as implicit signals. Threshold becomes the control parameter of risk exposure to set downside floor and forecast extreme nonlinear type of fluctuation under a certain probability. Simulation results would show synergy effect of portfolio risk control between SOC and absolute return strategy.

  7. Homelessness: patterns of emergency department use and risk factors for re-presentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, G; Gerdtz, M F; Hepworth, G; Manias, E

    2011-05-01

    To describe patterns of service use and to predict risk factors for re-presentation to a metropolitan emergency department (ED) among people who are homeless. A retrospective cohort analysis was undertaken over a 24-month period from a principal referral hospital in Melbourne, Australia. All ED visits relating to people classified as homeless were included. A predictive model for risk of re-presentation was developed using logistic regression with random effects. Rates of re-presentation, defined as the total number of visits to the same ED within 28 days of discharge, were measured. The study period was 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004. The re-presentation rate for homeless people was 47.8% (3199/6689) of ED visits and 45.5% (725/1595) of the patients. The final predictive model included risk factors, which incorporated both hospital and community service use. Those characteristics that resulted in significantly increased odds of re-presentation were leaving hospital at own risk (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.10 to 1.56), treatment in another hospital (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.72) and being in receipt of community-based case management (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.54) or pension (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.62). The predictive model identified nine risk factors of re-presentation to the ED for people who are homeless. Early identification of these factors among homeless people may alert clinicians to the complexity of issues influencing an individual ED visit. This information can be used at admission and discharge by ensuring that homeless people have access to services commensurate with their health needs. Improved linkage between community and hospital services must be underscored by the capacity to provide safe and secure housing.

  8. Family cumulative risk and at-risk kindergarteners' social competence: the mediating role of parent representations of the attachment relationship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparks, Lauren A; Trentacosta, Christopher J; Owusu, Erika; McLear, Caitlin; Smith-Darden, Joanne

    2018-08-01

    Secure attachment relationships have been linked to social competence in at-risk children. In the current study, we examined the role of parent secure base scripts in predicting at-risk kindergarteners' social competence. Parent representations of secure attachment were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between lower family cumulative risk and children's social competence. Participants included 106 kindergarteners and their primary caregivers recruited from three urban charter schools serving low-income families as a part of a longitudinal study. Lower levels of cumulative risk predicted greater secure attachment representations in parents, and scores on the secure base script assessment predicted children's social competence. An indirect relationship between lower cumulative risk and kindergarteners' social competence via parent secure base script scores was also supported. Parent script-based representations of the attachment relationship appear to be an important link between lower levels of cumulative risk and low-income kindergarteners' social competence. Implications of these findings for future interventions are discussed.

  9. Uncertainty representation of grey numbers and grey sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yingjie; Liu, Sifeng; John, Robert

    2014-09-01

    In the literature, there is a presumption that a grey set and an interval-valued fuzzy set are equivalent. This presumption ignores the existence of discrete components in a grey number. In this paper, new measurements of uncertainties of grey numbers and grey sets, consisting of both absolute and relative uncertainties, are defined to give a comprehensive representation of uncertainties in a grey number and a grey set. Some simple examples are provided to illustrate that the proposed uncertainty measurement can give an effective representation of both absolute and relative uncertainties in a grey number and a grey set. The relationships between grey sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets are also analyzed from the point of view of the proposed uncertainty representation. The analysis demonstrates that grey sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets provide different but overlapping models for uncertainty representation in sets.

  10. Cross-sensory mapping of feature values in the size-brightness correspondence can be more relative than absolute

    OpenAIRE

    Walker, Laura; Walker, Peter

    2016-01-01

    A role for conceptual representations in cross-sensory correspondences has been linked to the relative (context-sensitive) mapping of feature values, whereas a role for sensory-perceptual representations has been linked to their absolute (context-insensitive) mapping. Demonstrating the relative nature of the automatic mapping underlying a cross-sensory correspondence therefore offers one way of confirming its conceptual basis. After identifying several prerequisites for relative and absolute ...

  11. Absolute calibration in vivo measurement systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruchten, D.A.; Hickman, D.P.

    1991-02-01

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is currently investigating a new method for obtaining absolute calibration factors for radiation measurement systems used to measure internally deposited radionuclides in vivo. Absolute calibration of in vivo measurement systems will eliminate the need to generate a series of human surrogate structures (i.e., phantoms) for calibrating in vivo measurement systems. The absolute calibration of in vivo measurement systems utilizes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to define physiological structure, size, and composition. The MRI image provides a digitized representation of the physiological structure, which allows for any mathematical distribution of radionuclides within the body. Using Monte Carlo transport codes, the emission spectrum from the body is predicted. The in vivo measurement equipment is calibrated using the Monte Carlo code and adjusting for the intrinsic properties of the detection system. The calibration factors are verified using measurements of existing phantoms and previously obtained measurements of human volunteers. 8 refs

  12. Recommendations for benefit-risk assessment methodologies and visual representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hughes, Diana; Waddingham, Ed; Mt-Isa, Shahrul

    2016-01-01

    PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to draw on the practical experience from the PROTECT BR case studies and make recommendations regarding the application of a number of methodologies and visual representations for benefit-risk assessment. METHODS: Eight case studies based on the benefit......-risk balance of real medicines were used to test various methodologies that had been identified from the literature as having potential applications in benefit-risk assessment. Recommendations were drawn up based on the results of the case studies. RESULTS: A general pathway through the case studies...

  13. Constitutionalising the Right Legal Representation at CCMA ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Recently, the issue of legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings and CCMA arbitrations has been a fervent topic of labour law discourse in South Africa. While the courts have consistently accepted the common law principle that there is no absolute right to legal representation at tribunals other than courts of law, ...

  14. Ten-year absolute risk of osteoporotic fractures according to BMD T score at menopause: the Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abrahamsen, Bo; Vestergaard, Peter; Rud, Bo

    2006-01-01

    was 10.9% as opposed to an expected risk of 5.7%. Relative risk gradients were similar to those of the recent meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy women, examined in the first year or two after menopause, 10-year fracture risk was higher at each level of BMD T score than expected from the model...... by Kanis et al. Inclusion of HRT users in the cohorts used may have led to higher BMD values and lower absolute fracture risk in the Kanis model. These longitudinal data can be used directly in estimating absolute fracture risk in untreated north European women from BMD at menopause....

  15. Relative and absolute risk models for cancer mortality in ankylosing spondylitis patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muirhead, C.R.; Darby, S.C.

    1989-01-01

    The updated analyses presented in this paper have indicated that, even after allowing for the effects of other variables, the relative risk of all cancers excluding leukaemia and colon cancer among the irradiated spondylitics tails off beyond twenty-five years following exposure. Additionally, the corresponding absolute excess risk also tails off. This is still the only major study to show a wearing off of the radiation-related risk for such a grouping of cancers (although some wearing off has been seen for individual cancers such as bone in other studies). Further analysis of the spondylitic data (Darby, Doll and Smith, 1988) has not found any artificial explanation for the tailing off in risk, such as changes in lifestyle. However, it is noticeable that the dose was delivered to the spondylitics in fractions (see Lewis et al., 1988, table IV) rather than instantaneously, although it is not immediately obvious why this should have affected the temporal pattern of the risk. (author)

  16. Predicting absolute risk of type 2 diabetes using age and waist circumference values in an aboriginal Australian community.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Odewumi Adegbija

    Full Text Available To predict in an Australian Aboriginal community, the 10-year absolute risk of type 2 diabetes associated with waist circumference and age on baseline examination.A sample of 803 diabetes-free adults (82.3% of the age-eligible population from baseline data of participants collected from 1992 to 1998 were followed-up for up to 20 years till 2012. The Cox-proportional hazard model was used to estimate the effects of waist circumference and other risk factors, including age, smoking and alcohol consumption status, of males and females on prediction of type 2 diabetes, identified through subsequent hospitalisation data during the follow-up period. The Weibull regression model was used to calculate the absolute risk estimates of type 2 diabetes with waist circumference and age as predictors.Of 803 participants, 110 were recorded as having developed type 2 diabetes, in subsequent hospitalizations over a follow-up of 12633.4 person-years. Waist circumference was strongly associated with subsequent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes with P<0.0001 for both genders and remained statistically significant after adjusting for confounding factors. Hazard ratios of type 2 diabetes associated with 1 standard deviation increase in waist circumference were 1.7 (95%CI 1.3 to 2.2 for males and 2.1 (95%CI 1.7 to 2.6 for females. At 45 years of age with baseline waist circumference of 100 cm, a male had an absolute diabetic risk of 10.9%, while a female had a 14.3% risk of the disease.The constructed model predicts the 10-year absolute diabetes risk in an Aboriginal Australian community. It is simple and easily understood and will help identify individuals at risk of diabetes in relation to waist circumference values. Our findings on the relationship between waist circumference and diabetes on gender will be useful for clinical consultation, public health education and establishing WC cut-off points for Aboriginal Australians.

  17. Analysis of Large Flexible Body Deformation in Multibody Systems Using Absolute Coordinates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dombrowski, Stefan von [Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR) (Germany)], E-mail: stefan.von.dombrowski@dlr.de

    2002-11-15

    To consider large deformation problems in multibody system simulations a finite element approach, called absolute nodal coordinate.formulation,has been proposed. In this formulation absolute nodal coordinates and their material derivatives are applied to represent both deformation and rigid body motion. The choice of nodal variables allows a fully nonlinear representation of rigid body motion and can provide the exact rigid body inertia in the case of large rotations. The methodology is especially suited for but not limited to modeling of beams, cables and shells in multibody dynamics.This paper summarizes the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for a 3D Euler-Bernoulli beam model, in particular the definition of nodal variables, corresponding generalized elastic and inertia forces and equations of motion. The element stiffness matrix is a nonlinear function of the nodal variables even in the case of linearized strain/displacement relations. Nonlinear strain/displacement relations can be calculated from the global displacements using quadrature formulae.Computational examples are given which demonstrate the capabilities of the applied methodology. Consequences of the choice of shape.functions on the representation of internal forces are discussed. Linearized strain/displacement modeling is compared to the nonlinear approach and significant advantages of the latter, when using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, are outlined.

  18. Analysis of Large Flexible Body Deformation in Multibody Systems Using Absolute Coordinates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dombrowski, Stefan von

    2002-01-01

    To consider large deformation problems in multibody system simulations a finite element approach, called absolute nodal coordinate.formulation,has been proposed. In this formulation absolute nodal coordinates and their material derivatives are applied to represent both deformation and rigid body motion. The choice of nodal variables allows a fully nonlinear representation of rigid body motion and can provide the exact rigid body inertia in the case of large rotations. The methodology is especially suited for but not limited to modeling of beams, cables and shells in multibody dynamics.This paper summarizes the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for a 3D Euler-Bernoulli beam model, in particular the definition of nodal variables, corresponding generalized elastic and inertia forces and equations of motion. The element stiffness matrix is a nonlinear function of the nodal variables even in the case of linearized strain/displacement relations. Nonlinear strain/displacement relations can be calculated from the global displacements using quadrature formulae.Computational examples are given which demonstrate the capabilities of the applied methodology. Consequences of the choice of shape.functions on the representation of internal forces are discussed. Linearized strain/displacement modeling is compared to the nonlinear approach and significant advantages of the latter, when using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, are outlined

  19. Methodological issues in cardiovascular epidemiology: the risk of determining absolute risk through statistical models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Demosthenes B Panagiotakos

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Vassilis StavrinosOffice of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Department of Dietetics, Nutrition, Harokopio University, Athens, GreeceAbstract: During the past years there has been increasing interest in the development of cardiovascular disease functions that predict future events at individual level. However, this effort has not been so far very successful, since several investigators have reported large differences in the estimation of the absolute risk among different populations. For example, it seems that predictive models that have been derived from US or north European populations  overestimate the incidence of cardiovascular events in south European and Japanese populations. A potential explanation could be attributed to several factors such as geographical, cultural, social, behavioral, as well as genetic variations between the investigated populations in addition to various methodological, statistical, issues relating to the estimation of these predictive models. Based on current literature it can be concluded that, while risk prediction of future cardiovascular events is a useful tool and might be valuable in controlling the burden of the disease in a population, further work is required to improve the accuracy of the present predictive models.Keywords: cardiovascular disease, risk, models

  20. Flux and permanence of risk perceptions: Tourists' perception of the relative and absolute risk for various destinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Katharina; Larsen, Svein

    2016-12-01

    The present investigation is a cross-sectional, multi-national, quantitative, and quasi-experimental comparison of tourists' risk perceptions regarding different destinations throughout the past decade. Over 10,000 tourists to Norway from 89 different countries filled in a questionnaire rating the perceived risk for various destinations. Data were collected during 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 and allow for a comparison of perceived risk across time, place and nationality. Results show that while absolute risk judgments for different destinations fluctuate somewhat over the years, relative risk judgments remain constant. Findings also reveal a "home-is-safer-then-abroad-bias" with tourists consistently perceiving their home country among the safest destinations. The current investigation is rare because it looks at more than one destination at a time. Insights gained from the present findings diverge from what would have been concluded from employing case studies, that is, looking at one destination at a time. © 2016 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Organizing learning processes on risks by using the bow-tie representation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chevreau, F.R. [Ecole des Mines de Paris, 06904 Sophia-Antipolis (France)]. E-mail: chevreau@cindy.ensmp.fr; Wybo, J.L. [Ecole des Mines de Paris, 06904 Sophia-Antipolis (France)]. E-mail: wybo@cindy.ensmp.fr; Cauchois, D. [Process Safety Department, Sanofi-Aventis, Site de Production de Vitry sur Seine, 9 Quai Jules Guesdes, 94400 Vitry sur Seine (France)]. E-mail: didier.cauchois@sanofi-aventis.com

    2006-03-31

    The Aramis method proposes a complete and efficient way to manage risk analysis by using the bow-tie representation. This paper shows how the bow-tie representation can also be appropriate for experience learning. It describes how a pharmaceutical production plant uses bow-ties for incident and accident analysis. Two levels of bow-ties are constructed: standard bow-ties concern generic risks of the plant whereas local bow-ties represent accident scenarios specific to each workplace. When incidents or accidents are analyzed, knowledge that is gained is added to existing local bow-ties. Regularly, local bow-ties that have been updated are compared to standard bow-ties in order to revise them. Knowledge on safety at the global and at local levels is hence as accurate as possible and memorized in a real time framework. As it relies on the communication between safety experts and local operators, this use of the bow-ties contributes therefore to organizational learning for safety.

  2. Organizing learning processes on risks by using the bow-tie representation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chevreau, F.R.; Wybo, J.L.; Cauchois, D.

    2006-01-01

    The Aramis method proposes a complete and efficient way to manage risk analysis by using the bow-tie representation. This paper shows how the bow-tie representation can also be appropriate for experience learning. It describes how a pharmaceutical production plant uses bow-ties for incident and accident analysis. Two levels of bow-ties are constructed: standard bow-ties concern generic risks of the plant whereas local bow-ties represent accident scenarios specific to each workplace. When incidents or accidents are analyzed, knowledge that is gained is added to existing local bow-ties. Regularly, local bow-ties that have been updated are compared to standard bow-ties in order to revise them. Knowledge on safety at the global and at local levels is hence as accurate as possible and memorized in a real time framework. As it relies on the communication between safety experts and local operators, this use of the bow-ties contributes therefore to organizational learning for safety

  3. Portfolio optimization using Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD and Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucas Pelegrin da Silva

    Full Text Available Abstract This paper investigates the efficiency of traditional portfolio optimization models when the returns of financial assets are highly volatile, e.g., in financial crises periods. We also develop alternative optimization models that combine the mean absolute deviation (MAD and the conditional value at risk (CVaR, attempting to mitigate inefficient, low return and/or high-risk, portfolios. Three methodologies for estimating the probability of the asset’s historical returns are also compared. By using historical data on the Brazilian stock market between 2004 and 2013, we analyze the efficiency of the proposed approaches. Our results show that the traditional models provide portfolios with higher returns, but our propose model are able to generate lower risk portfolios, which might be more attractive in volatile markets. In addition, we find that models that do not use equiprobable scenarios produce better results in terms of return and risk.

  4. Interpretations of alternative uncertainty representations in a reliability and risk analysis context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aven, T.

    2011-01-01

    Probability is the predominant tool used to measure uncertainties in reliability and risk analyses. However, other representations also exist, including imprecise (interval) probability, fuzzy probability and representations based on the theories of evidence (belief functions) and possibility. Many researchers in the field are strong proponents of these alternative methods, but some are also sceptical. In this paper, we address one basic requirement set for quantitative measures of uncertainty: the interpretation needed to explain what an uncertainty number expresses. We question to what extent the various measures meet this requirement. Comparisons are made with probabilistic analysis, where uncertainty is represented by subjective probabilities, using either a betting interpretation or a reference to an uncertainty standard interpretation. By distinguishing between chances (expressing variation) and subjective probabilities, new insights are gained into the link between the alternative uncertainty representations and probability.

  5. Wide variation in absolute cardiovascular risk assessment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with Type 2 diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhakti Ramesh Vasant

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Absolute cardiovascular risk assessment (CVRA is based on the combined effects of multiple risk factors and can identify asymptomatic individuals at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Our study aimed to investigate variations in the use of absolute CVRA in patients with diabetes at Indigenous community healthcare centres, and to identify patient and health centre characteristics that may contribute to this variation. Methods: Audits of clinical records of 1,728 patients with a known diagnosis of diabetes across 121 health centres over the period 2012–2014 were conducted as part of a large-scale continuous quality improvement program. Multilevel regression modelling was used to quantify variation in recording of CVRA attributable to health centre and patient characteristics. Results: The proportion of eligible patients with documented CVRA was 33% (n=574/1,728. The majority (95% of assessments were conducted in the Northern Territory (NT. Multilevel regression analysis showed health centre characteristics accounted for 70% of the variation in assessments in the NT. Government-operated health centres had 18.8 times the odds (95% CI 7.7–46.2 of recording CVRA delivery compared with other health centres. Conclusion: Health centres in the NT delivered the majority of absolute CVRA to Indigenous patients with diabetes in our study. Health systems factors that may have facilitated provision of CVRA in the NT include decision support tools and a reporting process for CVRA delivery. Implementation of similar systems in other jurisdictions may help improve CVRA delivery. Early identification and treatment of high risk individuals through wider use of CVRA may help reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Indigenous Australians with diabetes.

  6. VAR Portfolio Optimal: Perbandingan Antara Metode Markowitz dan Mean Absolute Deviation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Agus Sartono

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Portfolio selection method which have been introduced by Harry Markowitz (1952 used variance or deviation standard as a measure of risk. Kanno and Yamazaki (1991 introduced another method and used mean absolute deviation as a measure of risk instead of variance. The Value-at Risk (VaR is a relatively new method to capitalized risk that been used by financial institutions. The aim of this research is compare between mean variance and mean absolute deviation of two portfolios. Next, we attempt to assess the VaR of two portfolios using delta normal method and historical simulation. We use the secondary data from the Jakarta Stock Exchange – LQ45 during 2003. We find that there is a weak-positive correlation between deviation standard and return in both portfolios. The VaR nolmal delta based on mean absolute deviation method eventually is higher than the VaR normal delta based on mean variance method. However, based on the historical simulation the VaR of two methods is statistically insignificant. Thus, the deviation standard is sufficient measures of portfolio risk.Keywords: optimalisasi portofolio, mean-variance, mean-absolute deviation, value-at-risk, metode delta normal, metode simulasi historis

  7. H1N1 and TV News in Colombia: Risk Representations and Imaginaries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina Mondragón Pérez

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The media play a significant role in public health issues, particularly when they become the main or one of the main sources of information for citizens. Their role is key in risk perceptions of the population no matters if it’s near or away from the actual risk. This work studied the forms of treatment that three Colombian news made of the topic of H1N1 flu in the early days that the news appeared in the media agenda. The analysis here allowed us to meet relevant elements of the position taken by the national news Noticias RCN, Noticias Caracol and CM& in the coverage of the virus, which was characterized by a tendency towards dramatization of the content shown in overexposure of the subject. We searched some elements to approach the representations given by the media and possible matches, and resonance with the public representations with this issue, related to this event and with more general aspects of health risks, whose importance is growing in Colombian and Latin-American media.

  8. Risk and Representation in Research Ethics: The NunatuKavut Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunger, Fern; Russell, Todd

    2015-10-01

    This article examines Canadian policy governing the ethics of research involving Indigenous communities. Academics and community members collaborated in research to examine how best to apply the Tri-Council Policy Statement guidelines in a community with complex and multiple political and cultural jurisdictions. We examined issues of NunatuKavut (Southern Inuit) authority and representation in relation to governance of research in a context where community identity is complex and shifting, and new provincial legislation mandates centralized ethics review. We describe the politics of risk--the ways in which collective identity and research risks are co-constructed. Our case study illustrates that collective consent to research must emphasize shifting identity construction in relation to the particular risks and benefits invoked by the research question, to ascertain with which groups or individuals the negotiation of risk should take place in the first place. We conclude by describing a necessary re-imagining of policy governing research ethics involving Indigenous communities. © The Author(s) 2015.

  9. VAR Portfolio Optimal: Perbandingan Antara Metode Markowitz Dan Mean Absolute Deviation

    OpenAIRE

    Sartono, R. Agus; Setiawan, Arie Andika

    2006-01-01

    Portfolio selection method which have been introduced by Harry Markowitz (1952) used variance or deviation standard as a measure of risk. Kanno and Yamazaki (1991) introduced another method and used mean absolute deviation as a measure of risk instead of variance. The Value-at Risk (VaR) is a relatively new method to capitalized risk that been used by financial institutions. The aim of this research is compare between mean variance and mean absolute deviation of two portfolios. Next, we attem...

  10. Absolutely continuous functions of two variables in the sense of Carathéodory

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šremr, Jiří

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 2010, č. 154 (2010), s. 1-11 ISSN 1072-6691 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA201/06/0254 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : absolutely continuous function * Carathéodory sense * integral representation * derivative of double integral Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  11. Risk assessment by dynamic representation of vulnerability, exploitation, and impact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cam, Hasan

    2015-05-01

    Assessing and quantifying cyber risk accurately in real-time is essential to providing security and mission assurance in any system and network. This paper presents a modeling and dynamic analysis approach to assessing cyber risk of a network in real-time by representing dynamically its vulnerabilities, exploitations, and impact using integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. Given the set of vulnerabilities detected by a vulnerability scanner in a network, this paper addresses how its risk can be assessed by estimating in real-time the exploit likelihood and impact of vulnerability exploitation on the network, based on real-time observations and measurements over the network. The dynamic representation of the network in terms of its vulnerabilities, sensor measurements, and observations is constructed dynamically using the integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. The transition rates of outgoing and incoming links of states in hidden Markov models are used in determining exploit likelihood and impact of attacks, whereas emission rates help quantify the attack states of vulnerabilities. Simulation results show the quantification and evolving risk scores over time for individual and aggregated vulnerabilities of a network.

  12. Telling in-tune from out-of-tune: widespread evidence for implicit absolute intonation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Huang, Alex; Rutstein, Brooke; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2017-04-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name or produce an isolated musical note without the aid of a reference note. One skill thought to be unique to AP possessors is the ability to provide absolute intonation judgments (e.g., classifying an isolated note as "in-tune" or "out-of-tune"). Recent work has suggested that absolute intonation perception among AP possessors is not crystallized in a critical period of development, but is dynamically maintained by the listening environment, in which the vast majority of Western music is tuned to a specific cultural standard. Given that all listeners of Western music are constantly exposed to this specific cultural tuning standard, our experiments address whether absolute intonation perception extends beyond AP possessors. We demonstrate that non-AP listeners are able to accurately judge the intonation of completely isolated notes. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed evidence for absolute intonation recognition when listening to familiar timbres (piano and violin). When testing unfamiliar timbres (triangle and inverted sine waves), only musicians showed weak evidence of absolute intonation recognition (Experiment 2). Overall, these results highlight a previously unknown similarity between AP and non-AP possessors' long-term musical note representations, including evidence of sensitivity to frequency.

  13. Model linear absolute and relative risk estimates for cancer induced by ionizing radiation in Mexican cohort of occupationally exposed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez, R.J.T.; Trovar, M.V.M; González, J.F.

    2015-01-01

    From the rate of natural mortality m s cancer (t) for every 100 thousand habitants, modeled by a fourth-degree polynomial function of the age data of the Mexican population (2008), and assuming: a) a relationship 1: 5 of cancer induced radiation respect to presented spontaneously, b) a size of initial cohort No = 100 k SOPs, c) a speed of H E = (2 ± 1) mSv / received by the SOPs from 18 to 65 years, d) a latency of 8 years for cancer induction after irradiation, e) a time tracking cohort to 75 years, f) and taking the coefficients absolute and relative risk BEIRs induction of cancer models II and VII (excluding leukemia); It determined: BEIR II for a total of 125 and 400 deaths from cancer for absolute and relative linear models respectively. For BEIR VII has a number of fatal cases of 345 and 927 deaths respectively for absolute and relative linear model cancer. [es

  14. Absolut x Adbusters: vínculos sociais da publicidade revelados pela antipublicidade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Rocha

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste artigo é evidenciar alguns vínculos que a publicidade estabelece com o mundo social por meio do olhar tensionador da antipublicidade. Tomando por base autores como Stuart Hall e Michel Foucault, e através de uma análise sociossemiótica de anúncios da Absolut Vodka e dos spoof ads da ONG canadense Adbusters, procuramos evidenciar alguns dos modos pelos quais a masculinidade é uma representação socialmente compartilhada, tornando-se um elemento relevante a ser considerado na construção de campanhas publicitárias. Palavras-chave: Antipublicidade; publicidade; representações sociais. ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to evidence the links which advertisements build with the social world from the questioning point of view of spoof ads. Based on authors such as Stuart Hall and Michel Foucault, and through a socio- semiotic analysis of Absolut Vodka ads and the spoof ads produced by Canadian NGO Adbusters, we try to highlight some of the ways in which masculinity is a socially shared representation, thus an important factor to be considered in the construction of advertising campaigns. Keywords: Spoof ads; advertisement; social representations.

  15. Absolute cardiovascular risk in a Fiji medical zone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyaneshwar, Rajat; Naidu, Swaran; Raban, Magdalena Z; Naidu, Sheetal; Linhart, Christine; Morrell, Stephen; Tukana, Isimeli; Taylor, Richard

    2016-02-09

    The population of Fiji has experienced emergence of non-communicable disease (NCD) and a plateau in life expectancy over the past 20 years. A mini-STEPS survey (n = 2765) was conducted in Viseisei in Western Fiji to assess NCD risk factors (RFs) in i-Taukei (Melanesians) and those of Indian descent aged 25-64 years (response 73 %). Hypertension (HT) was defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg or on medication for HT; type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as fasting plasma glucose ≥7.0 mmol/L or on medication for T2DM; and obesity as a body mass index (kilograms/height(metres)(2)) ≥30. Data were age-adjusted to 2007 Fiji Census. Associations between RFs and ethnicity/education were investigated. Comparisons with Fiji STEPS surveys were undertaken, and the absolute risk of a cardiovascular disease (CVD) event/death in 10 years was estimated from multiple RF charts. NCD/RFs increased with age except excessive alcohol intake and daily smoking (women) which declined. Daily smoking was higher in men 33 % (95 % confidence interval: 31-36) than women 14 % (12-116); women were more obese 40 % (37-43) than men 23 % (20-26); HT was similar in men 37 % (34-40) and women 34 % (31-36), as was T2DM in men 15 % (13-17) and women 17 % (15-19). i-Taukei men had an odds ratio (OR) of 0.41 (0.28-0.58) for T2DM compared to Indians (1.00); and i-Taukei (both sexes) had a higher OR for obesity and low fruit/vegetable intake, daily smoking, excessive alcohol intake and HT in females. Increasing education correlated with lesser smoking, but with higher obesity and lower fruit/vegetable intake. Compared to the 2011 Fiji STEPS survey, no significant differences were evident in obesity, HT or T2DM prevalences. The proportion (40-64 years) classified at high or very high risk (≥20 %) of a CVD event/death (over 10 years) based on multiple RFs was 8.3 % for men (8.1 % i-Taukei, 8.5 % Indian), and 6.7 % for women (7.9 % i-Taukei, 6.0 % Indian). The results

  16. National cohort study of absolute risk and age-specific incidence of multiple adverse outcomes between adolescence and early middle age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mok, Pearl L H; Antonsen, Sussie; Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker; Appleby, Louis; Shaw, Jenny; Webb, Roger T

    2015-09-19

    Psychiatric illness, substance misuse, suicidality, criminality and premature death represent major public health challenges that afflict a sizeable proportion of young people. However, studies of multiple adverse outcomes in the same cohort at risk are rare. In a national Danish cohort we estimated sex- and age-specific incidence rates and absolute risks of these outcomes between adolescence and early middle age. Using interlinked registers, persons born in Denmark 1966-1996 were followed from their 15(th) until 40(th) birthday or December 2011 (N = 2,070,904). We estimated sex- and age-specific incidence rates of nine adverse outcomes, in three main categories: Premature mortality (all-causes, suicide, accident); Psychiatric morbidity (any mental illness diagnosis, suicide attempt, alcohol or drug misuse disorder); Criminality (violent offending, receiving custodial sentence, driving under influence of alcohol or drugs). Cumulative incidences were also calculated using competing risk survival analyses. For cohort members alive on their 15(th) birthday, the absolute risks of dying by age 40 were 1.99 % for males [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.95-2.03 %] and 0.85 % for females (95 % CI 0.83-0.88 %). The risks of substance misuse and criminality were also much higher for males, especially younger males, than for females. Specifically, the risk of a first conviction for a violent offence was highest amongst males aged below 20. Females, however, were more likely than males to have a hospital-treated psychiatric disorder. By age 40, 13.25 % of females (95 % CI 13.16-13.33 %) and 9.98 % of males (95 % CI 9.91-10.06 %) had been treated. Women aged below 25 were also more likely than men to first attempt suicide, but this pattern was reversed beyond this age. The greatest gender differentials in incidence rates were in criminality outcomes. This is the first comprehensive assessment of the incidence rates and absolute risks of these multiple adverse outcomes

  17. Representations of commonsense knowledge

    CERN Document Server

    Davis, Ernest

    1990-01-01

    Representations of Commonsense Knowledge provides a rich language for expressing commonsense knowledge and inference techniques for carrying out commonsense knowledge. This book provides a survey of the research on commonsense knowledge.Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the basic ideas on artificial intelligence commonsense reasoning. This text then examines the structure of logic, which is roughly analogous to that of a programming language. Other chapters describe how rules of universal validity can be applied to facts known with absolute certainty to deduce ot

  18. Performance of models for estimating absolute risk difference in multicenter trials with binary outcome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Pedroza

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Reporting of absolute risk difference (RD is recommended for clinical and epidemiological prospective studies. In analyses of multicenter studies, adjustment for center is necessary when randomization is stratified by center or when there is large variation in patients outcomes across centers. While regression methods are used to estimate RD adjusted for baseline predictors and clustering, no formal evaluation of their performance has been previously conducted. Methods We performed a simulation study to evaluate 6 regression methods fitted under a generalized estimating equation framework: binomial identity, Poisson identity, Normal identity, log binomial, log Poisson, and logistic regression model. We compared the model estimates to unadjusted estimates. We varied the true response function (identity or log, number of subjects per center, true risk difference, control outcome rate, effect of baseline predictor, and intracenter correlation. We compared the models in terms of convergence, absolute bias and coverage of 95 % confidence intervals for RD. Results The 6 models performed very similar to each other for the majority of scenarios. However, the log binomial model did not converge for a large portion of the scenarios including a baseline predictor. In scenarios with outcome rate close to the parameter boundary, the binomial and Poisson identity models had the best performance, but differences from other models were negligible. The unadjusted method introduced little bias to the RD estimates, but its coverage was larger than the nominal value in some scenarios with an identity response. Under the log response, coverage from the unadjusted method was well below the nominal value (<80 % for some scenarios. Conclusions We recommend the use of a binomial or Poisson GEE model with identity link to estimate RD for correlated binary outcome data. If these models fail to run, then either a logistic regression, log Poisson

  19. The absolute risk of venous thrombosis after air travel: a cohort study of 8,755 employees of international organisations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saskia Kuipers

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The risk of venous thrombosis is approximately 2- to 4-fold increased after air travel, but the absolute risk is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the absolute risk of venous thrombosis after air travel. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cohort study among employees of large international companies and organisations, who were followed between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2005. The occurrence of symptomatic venous thrombosis was linked to exposure to air travel, as assessed by travel records provided by the companies and organisations. A long-haul flight was defined as a flight of at least 4 h and participants were considered exposed for a postflight period of 8 wk. A total of 8,755 employees were followed during a total follow-up time of 38,910 person-years (PY. The total time employees were exposed to a long-haul flight was 6,872 PY. In the follow-up period, 53 thromboses occurred, 22 of which within 8 wk of a long-haul flight, yielding an incidence rate of 3.2/1,000 PY, as compared to 1.0/1,000 PY in individuals not exposed to air travel (incidence rate ratio 3.2, 95% confidence interval 1.8-5.6. This rate was equivalent to a risk of one event per 4,656 long-haul flights. The risk increased with exposure to more flights within a short time frame and with increasing duration of flights. The incidence was highest in the first 2 wk after travel and gradually decreased to baseline after 8 wk. The risk was particularly high in employees under age 30 y, women who used oral contraceptives, and individuals who were particularly short, tall, or overweight. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of symptomatic venous thrombosis after air travel is moderately increased on average, and rises with increasing exposure and in high-risk groups.

  20. Encasing the Absolutes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uroš Martinčič

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper explores the issue of structure and case in English absolute constructions, whose subjects are deduced by several descriptive grammars as being in the nominative case due to its supposed neutrality in terms of register. This deduction is countered by systematic accounts presented within the framework of the Minimalist Program which relate the case of absolute constructions to specific grammatical factors. Each proposal is shown as an attempt of analysing absolute constructions as basic predication structures, either full clauses or small clauses. I argue in favour of the small clause approach due to its minimal reliance on transformations and unique stipulations. Furthermore, I propose that small clauses project a singular category, and show that the use of two cases in English absolute constructions can be accounted for if they are analysed as depictive phrases, possibly selected by prepositions. The case of the subject in absolutes is shown to be a result of syntactic and non-syntactic factors. I thus argue in accordance with Minimalist goals that syntactic case does not exist, attributing its role in absolutes to other mechanisms.

  1. Absolute advantage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.G.M. van Marrewijk (Charles)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractA country is said to have an absolute advantage over another country in the production of a good or service if it can produce that good or service using fewer real resources. Equivalently, using the same inputs, the country can produce more output. The concept of absolute advantage can

  2. A randomized trial of computer-based communications using imagery and text information to alter representations of heart disease risk and motivate protective behaviour.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Tarryn J; Cameron, Linda D; Wünsche, Burkhard; Stevens, Carey

    2011-02-01

    Advances in web-based animation technologies provide new opportunities to develop graphic health communications for dissemination throughout communities. We developed imagery and text contents of brief, computer-based programmes about heart disease risk, with both imagery and text contents guided by the common-sense model (CSM) of self-regulation. The imagery depicts a three-dimensional, beating heart tailored to user-specific information. A 2 × 2 × 4 factorial design was used to manipulate concrete imagery (imagery vs. no imagery) and conceptual information (text vs. no text) about heart disease risk in prevention-oriented programmes and assess changes in representations and behavioural motivations from baseline to 2 days, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks post-intervention. Sedentary young adults (N= 80) were randomized to view one of four programmes: imagery plus text, imagery only, text only, or control. Participants completed measures of risk representations, worry, and physical activity and healthy diet intentions and behaviours at baseline, 2 days post-intervention (except behaviours), and 2 weeks (intentions and behaviours only) and 4 weeks later. The imagery contents increased representational beliefs and mental imagery relating to heart disease, worry, and intentions at post-intervention. Increases in sense of coherence (understanding of heart disease) and worry were sustained after 1 month. The imagery contents also increased healthy diet efforts after 2 weeks. The text contents increased beliefs about causal factors, mental images of clogged arteries, and worry at post-intervention, and increased physical activity 2 weeks later and sense of coherence 1 month later. The CSM-based programmes induced short-term changes in risk representations and behaviour motivation. The combination of CSM-based text and imagery appears to be most effective in instilling risk representations that motivate protective behaviour. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

  3. Oral contraceptives and the absolute risk of venous thromboembolism in women with single or multiple thrombophilic defects - Results from a retrospective family cohort study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Vlijmen, Elizabeth F. W.; Brouwer, Jan-Leendert P.; Veeger, Nic J. G. M.; Eskes, Tom K. A. B.; de Graeff, Pieter A.; van der Meer, Jan

    2007-01-01

    Background: The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) is attributed to changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis. Their impact may be greater in women with preexistent thrombophilic defects. Methods: We assessed the effects of COCs on absolute VTE

  4. Residual lifetime and 10 year absolute risks of osteoporotic fractures in Chinese men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Si, Lei; Winzenberg, Tania M; Chen, Mingsheng; Jiang, Qicheng; Palmer, Andrew J

    2015-06-01

    To determine the residual lifetime and 10 year absolute risks of osteoporotic fractures in Chinese men and women. A validated state-transition microsimulation model was used. Microsimulation and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to address the uncertainties in the model. All parameters including fracture incidence rates and mortality rates were retrieved from published literature. Simulated subjects were run through the model until they died to estimate the residual lifetime fracture risks. A 10 year time horizon was used to determine the 10 year fracture risks. We estimated the risk of only the first osteoporotic fracture during the simulation time horizon. The residual lifetime and 10 year risks of having the first osteoporotic (hip, clinical vertebral or wrist) fracture for Chinese women aged 50 years were 40.9% (95% CI: 38.3-44.0%) and 8.2% (95% CI: 6.8-9.3%) respectively. For men, the residual lifetime and 10 year fracture risks were 8.7% (95% CI: 7.5-9.8%) and 1.2% (95% CI: 0.8-1.7%) respectively. The residual lifetime fracture risks declined with age, whilst the 10 year fracture risks increased with age until the short-term mortality risks outstripped the fracture risks. Residual lifetime and 10 year clinical vertebral fracture risks were higher than those of hip and wrist fractures in both sexes. More than one third of the Chinese women and approximately one tenth of the Chinese men aged 50 years are expected to sustain a major osteoporotic fracture in their remaining lifetimes. Due to increased fracture risks and a rapidly ageing population, osteoporosis will present a great challenge to the Chinese healthcare system. While national data was used wherever possible, regional Chinese hip and clinical vertebral fracture incidence rates were used, wrist fracture rates were taken from a Norwegian study and calibrated to the Chinese population. Other fracture sites like tibia, humerus, ribs and pelvis were not included in the analysis, thus these

  5. Uniformly bounded representations of the Lorentz groups

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brega, A.O.

    1982-01-01

    For the Lorentz group G = SO/sub e/(n + 1, 1)(ngreater than or equal to 2) the author constructs a family of uniformly bounded representations by means of analytically continuing a certain normalization of the unitary principal series. The method the author uses relies on an analysis of various operators under a Mellin transform and extends earlier work of E.N. Wilson. In a series of papers Kunze and Stein initiated the theory of uniformly bounded representations of semisimple Lie groups; the starting point is the unitary principal series T(sigma,s) obtained in a certain subgroup M of G and a purely imaginary number s. From there Kunze and Stein constructed families of representations R(sigma,s) depending analytically on a parameter s in a domain D of C containing the imaginary axis which are unitarily equilvalent to T(sigma,s) for s contained in the set of imaginary numbers and whose operator norms are uniformly bounded for each s in D. In the case of the Lorentz groups SO/sub e/(n + 1, 1)(ngreater than or equal to2) and the trivial representation 1 of M, E.N. Wilson obtained such a family R(1,s) for the domain D = [s contained in the set of C: absolute value Re(s) Vertical Bar2]. For this domain D and for any representation sigma of M the author provides a family R(sigma,s) of uniformly bounded representations analytically continuing T(sigma,s), thereby generalizing Wilson's work. The author has also investigated certain symmetry properties of the representations R(sigma,s) under the action of the Weyl group. The trivial representation is Weyl group invariant and the family R(1,s) obtained by Wilson satisfies R(1,s) = R(1,-s) reflecting this. Obtained was the analogous result R(sigma,s) = R(sigma,-s) for some well known representations sigma that are Weyl group invariant. This involves the explicit computation of certain constants arising in the Fourier transforms of intertwining operators

  6. Absolutely relative or relatively absolute: violations of value invariance in human decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teodorescu, Andrei R; Moran, Rani; Usher, Marius

    2016-02-01

    Making decisions based on relative rather than absolute information processing is tied to choice optimality via the accumulation of evidence differences and to canonical neural processing via accumulation of evidence ratios. These theoretical frameworks predict invariance of decision latencies to absolute intensities that maintain differences and ratios, respectively. While information about the absolute values of the choice alternatives is not necessary for choosing the best alternative, it may nevertheless hold valuable information about the context of the decision. To test the sensitivity of human decision making to absolute values, we manipulated the intensities of brightness stimuli pairs while preserving either their differences or their ratios. Although asked to choose the brighter alternative relative to the other, participants responded faster to higher absolute values. Thus, our results provide empirical evidence for human sensitivity to task irrelevant absolute values indicating a hard-wired mechanism that precedes executive control. Computational investigations of several modelling architectures reveal two alternative accounts for this phenomenon, which combine absolute and relative processing. One account involves accumulation of differences with activation dependent processing noise and the other emerges from accumulation of absolute values subject to the temporal dynamics of lateral inhibition. The potential adaptive role of such choice mechanisms is discussed.

  7. Dyslexia risk gene relates to representation of sound in the auditory brainstem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neef, Nicole E; Müller, Bent; Liebig, Johanna; Schaadt, Gesa; Grigutsch, Maren; Gunter, Thomas C; Wilcke, Arndt; Kirsten, Holger; Skeide, Michael A; Kraft, Indra; Kraus, Nina; Emmrich, Frank; Brauer, Jens; Boltze, Johannes; Friederici, Angela D

    2017-04-01

    Dyslexia is a reading disorder with strong associations with KIAA0319 and DCDC2. Both genes play a functional role in spike time precision of neurons. Strikingly, poor readers show an imprecise encoding of fast transients of speech in the auditory brainstem. Whether dyslexia risk genes are related to the quality of sound encoding in the auditory brainstem remains to be investigated. Here, we quantified the response consistency of speech-evoked brainstem responses to the acoustically presented syllable [da] in 159 genotyped, literate and preliterate children. When controlling for age, sex, familial risk and intelligence, partial correlation analyses associated a higher dyslexia risk loading with KIAA0319 with noisier responses. In contrast, a higher risk loading with DCDC2 was associated with a trend towards more stable responses. These results suggest that unstable representation of sound, and thus, reduced neural discrimination ability of stop consonants, occurred in genotypes carrying a higher amount of KIAA0319 risk alleles. Current data provide the first evidence that the dyslexia-associated gene KIAA0319 can alter brainstem responses and impair phoneme processing in the auditory brainstem. This brain-gene relationship provides insight into the complex relationships between phenotype and genotype thereby improving the understanding of the dyslexia-inherent complex multifactorial condition. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  8. THE EFFECT OF DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS ON BANK RISKS, RELEVANCE AND FAITHFUL REPRESENTATION: EVIDENCE FROM BANKS IN HUNGARY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toth Kornel

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In a continuously changing business environment accounting data have to provide useful information in order to achieve relevant and faithful representation in financial statements. Since global markets have changed radically, growing international trade means the horizons of investors and borrowers have now become global, which has increased the level of their risks. Concerning international trade and investment, one of the most important risks is uncertainty about future foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. Changes in financial markets have increased the use of derivative instruments (such as forwards, futures, swaps, and options to hedge risk exposure worldwide, while the related accounting standards have not kept pace with those changes. Because of the complexity and variety of these instruments, reporting on derivatives faces many difficulties, since a different framework and different accounting concepts are required to present useful financial information. For these reasons the growing use of derivative financial instruments and the challenges of the global financial system have intensified and sharpened debates about whether derivative instruments increase or decrease the risk of banks, affecting faithful representation based on their financial statements and decision usefulness of the reported information. This study aims to describe the transformation of accounting concepts and its effect on fair value accounting for derivative financial instruments in the information economy. The research question of the paper is whether the advantages of fair value accounting exceed the disadvantages, especially in the case of derivatives, in reducing the uncertainty and risk associated with financial reporting. Based on this question, the purpose of the empirical research is to assess the level of different risks which banks operating in Hungary face when using derivative financial instruments and to investigate how and to what extent

  9. The changing demographic, legal, and technological contexts of political representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forest, Benjamin

    2005-10-25

    Three developments have created challenges for political representation in the U.S. and particularly for the use of territorially based representation (election by district). First, the demographic complexity of the U.S. population has grown both in absolute terms and in terms of residential patterns. Second, legal developments since the 1960s have recognized an increasing number of groups as eligible for voting rights protection. Third, the growing technical capacities of computer technology, particularly Geographic Information Systems, have allowed political parties and other organizations to create election districts with increasingly precise political and demographic characteristics. Scholars have made considerable progress in measuring and evaluating the racial and partisan biases of districting plans, and some states have tried to use Geographic Information Systems technology to produce more representative districts. However, case studies of Texas and Arizona illustrate that such analytic and technical advances have not overcome the basic contradictions that underlie the American system of territorial political representation.

  10. Death representation of caregivers in hospice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andruccioli, Jessica; Russo, Maria Maffia; Bruschi, Angela; Pedrabissi, Luigi; Sarti, Donatella; Monterubbianesi, Maria Cristina; Rossi, Sabina; Rocconi, Sabina; Raffaeli, William

    2012-11-01

    In this study, we investigated caregiver's death representation in hospice. The results presented here are a further analysis of the data collected in our previous study, concerning the evaluation of the caregiver in hospice. The data analysis of 24 caregivers of patients hospitalized in Rimini Hospice (Italy) underlined that caregivers avoiding death representation of the patient admitted to hospice had fewer protective factors (52.3%) and more risk factors (47.7%) than caregivers nonavoiding (66.5% and 33.5%, respectively). Caregivers avoiding death representation, moreover, experienced a greater distress (58%) than those nonavoiding (42%).

  11. Mass media and risk factors for cancer: the under-representation of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macdonald, Sara; Cunningham, Yvonne; Patterson, Chris; Robb, Katie; Macleod, Una; Anker, Thomas; Hilton, Shona

    2018-04-26

    Increasing age is a risk factor for developing cancer. Yet, older people commonly underestimate this risk, are less likely to be aware of the early symptoms, and are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. Mass media are a key influence on the public's understanding health issues, including cancer risk. This study investigates how news media have represented age and other risk factors in the most common cancers over time. Eight hundred articles about the four most common cancers (breast, prostate, lung and colorectal) published within eight UK national newspapers in 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 were identified using the Nexis database. Relevant manifest content of articles was coded quantitatively and subjected to descriptive statistical analysis in SPSS to identify patterns across the data. Risk was presented in half of the articles but this was rarely discussed in any depth and around a quarter of all articles introduced more than one risk factor, irrespective of cancer site. Age was mentioned as a risk factor in approximately 12% of all articles and this varied by cancer site. Age was most frequently reported in relation to prostate cancer and least often in articles about lung cancer. Articles featuring personal narratives more frequently focused on younger people and this was more pronounced in non-celebrity stories; only 15% of non-celebrity narratives were about people over 60. Other common risks discussed were family history and genetics, smoking, diet, alcohol, and environmental factors. Family history and genetics together featured as the most common risk factors. Risk factor reporting varied by site and family history was most commonly associated with breast cancer, diet with bowel cancer and smoking with lung cancer. Age and older adults were largely obscured in media representation of cancer and cancer experience. Indeed common risk factors in general were rarely discussed in any depth. Our findings will usefully inform the development of

  12. Trends in absolute and relative educational inequalities in four modifiable ischaemic heart disease risk factors: repeated cross-sectional surveys from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 1984–2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernstsen Linda

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There has been an overall decrease in incident ischaemic heart disease (IHD, but the reduction in IHD risk factors has been greater among those with higher social position. Increased social inequalities in IHD mortality in Scandinavian countries is often referred to as the Scandinavian “public health puzzle”. The objective of this study was to examine trends in absolute and relative educational inequalities in four modifiable ischaemic heart disease risk factors (smoking, diabetes, hypertension and high total cholesterol over the last three decades among Norwegian middle-aged women and men. Methods Population-based, cross-sectional data from The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT: HUNT 1 (1984–1986, HUNT 2 (1995–1997 and HUNT 3 (2006–2008, women and men 40–59 years old. Educational inequalities were assessed using the Slope Index of Inequality (SII and The Relative Index of Inequality (RII. Results Smoking prevalence increased for all education groups among women and decreased in men. Relative and absolute educational inequalities in smoking widened in both genders, with significantly higher absolute inequalities among women than men in the two last surveys. Diabetes prevalence increased in all groups. Relative inequalities in diabetes were stable, while absolute inequalities increased both among women (p = 0.05 and among men (p = 0.01. Hypertension prevalence decreased in all groups. Relative inequalities in hypertension widened over time in both genders. However, absolute inequalities in hypertension decreased among women (p = 0.05 and were stable among men (p = 0.33. For high total cholesterol relative and absolute inequalities remained stable in both genders. Conclusion Widening absolute educational inequalities in smoking and diabetes over the last three decades gives rise to concern. The mechanisms behind these results are less clear, and future studies are needed to assess if educational

  13. ABSOLUTE NEUTRINO MASSES

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schechter, J.; Shahid, M. N.

    2012-01-01

    We discuss the possibility of using experiments timing the propagation of neutrino beams over large distances to help determine the absolute masses of the three neutrinos.......We discuss the possibility of using experiments timing the propagation of neutrino beams over large distances to help determine the absolute masses of the three neutrinos....

  14. When data representation compromise data security

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simonsen, Eivind Ortind; Dahl, Mads Ronald

    WHEN DATA REPRESENTATION COMPROMISE DATA SECURITY The workflow of transforming data into informative representations makes extensive usage of computers and software. Scientists have a conventional tradition for producing publications that include tables and graphs as data representations....... These representations can be used for multiple purposes such as publications in journals, teaching and conference material. But when created, stored and distributed in a digital form there is a risk of compromising data security. Data beyond the once used specifically to create the representation can be included...... on the internet over many years? A new legislation proposed in 2012 by the European Commission on protection of personal data will be implemented from 2015. The new law will impose sanction options ranging from a warning to a fine up to 100.000.000 EUR. We argue that this new law will lead to especially...

  15. Absolute nuclear material assay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2010-07-13

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  16. Evolution of the excess absolute risk (EAR) in the Valencian breast cancer screening programme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrer, S.; Ramos, M.; Villaescusa, J. I.; Verdu, G.; Salas, M. D.; Cuevas, M. D.

    2004-01-01

    Breast cancer is one of the most frequent diseases in women, with a high incidence rate. The best fight against the breast cancer is the early detection by menas of mammograms in a screening programme. The Valencian Breast Cancer Screening Programme (VBCSP) started at 1992, and it is composed of twenty-two mammography units. The programme is targeted towards asympotomatic women dfrom 45 to 69 years old, but this screening has a negative influence in the studied woman, whatever the diagnosis was. By means of MCNP-4c2 Monte Carlo code, some conversion factors from air kerma air kerma to glandular dose have been developed. Different breast woamn models, according to the Valencian brest anathomy (taking into account the relation breast radius / breast compression thickness obtained from real samples, have been simulated in order to obtain the glandular breast dose values. Quality control parameters as ESAK values were also employed for developing the methods. The conversion factors give a simple and fast wasy to obtain the mean glandular dose from mammography exposition parameters. The glandular dose has been also calculated following the European Protocol on Dosimetry in order to compare the results of the new methodology. Four sample populations of 100 omen from each uunit of the VBCSP have been taken innnn order to estimate the mean glandular dose and the associated excess absolute risk (EAR). Once the doses for each woman from the samples are obtained and according to the age of them, the EAR value for each sample has been determinated following the UNSCEAR 2000 projection risk model, which takes into account the characteristics of the Valencian population and gives the EAR for radio-induced breast cancer. The results have been calculated and compared by means of the ASQRAD software, but with an older risk projection model, the UNSCEAR 1994. Once the four sample average EAR have been calculated, the evolution of the induced risk in the Valencian Breast Cancer

  17. Thermodynamics of negative absolute pressures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lukacs, B.; Martinas, K.

    1984-03-01

    The authors show that the possibility of negative absolute pressure can be incorporated into the axiomatic thermodynamics, analogously to the negative absolute temperature. There are examples for such systems (GUT, QCD) processing negative absolute pressure in such domains where it can be expected from thermodynamical considerations. (author)

  18. Absolute Memory for Tempo in Musicians and Non-Musicians.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Gratton

    Full Text Available The ability to remember tempo (the perceived frequency of musical pulse without external references may be defined, by analogy with the notion of absolute pitch, as absolute tempo (AT. Anecdotal reports and sparse empirical evidence suggest that at least some individuals possess AT. However, to our knowledge, no systematic assessments of AT have been performed using laboratory tasks comparable to those assessing absolute pitch. In the present study, we operationalize AT as the ability to identify and reproduce tempo in the absence of rhythmic or melodic frames of reference and assess these abilities in musically trained and untrained participants. We asked 15 musicians and 15 non-musicians to listen to a seven-step `tempo scale' of metronome beats, each associated to a numerical label, and then to perform two memory tasks. In the first task, participants heard one of the tempi and attempted to report the correct label (identification task, in the second, they saw one label and attempted to tap the correct tempo (production task. A musical and visual excerpt was presented between successive trials as a distractor to prevent participants from using previous tempi as anchors. Thus, participants needed to encode tempo information with the corresponding label, store the information, and recall it to give the response. We found that more than half were able to perform above chance in at least one of the tasks, and that musical training differentiated between participants in identification, but not in production. These results suggest that AT is relatively wide-spread, relatively independent of musical training in tempo production, but further refined by training in tempo identification. We propose that at least in production, the underlying motor representations are related to tactus, a basic internal rhythmic period that may provide a body-based reference for encoding tempo.

  19. Quantifying risk: the role of absolute and relative measures in interpreting risk of adverse reactions from product labels of antipsychotic medications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Citrome, Leslie

    2009-09-01

    Pharmaceutical product labeling as approved by regulatory agencies include statements of adverse event risk. Product labels include descriptive statements such as whether events are uncommon or rare, as well as percentage occurrence for more common events. In addition tables are provided with the frequencies of the latter events for both product and placebo as observed in clinical trials. Competing products are not mentioned in a specific drug's product labeling but indirect comparisons can be made using the corresponding label information for the alternate product. Two types of tools are easily used for this purpose: absolute measures such as number needed to harm (NNH), and relative measures such as relative risk increase (RRI). The calculations for both of these types of quantitative measures are presented using as examples the oral first-line second-generation antipsychotic medications. Among three sample outcomes selected a priori, akathisia, weight gain, and discontinuation from a clinical trial because of an adverse reaction, there appears to be differences among the different antipsychotics versus placebo. Aripiprazole was associated with the highest risk for akathisia, particularly when used as adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (NNH 5, 95% CI 4-7; RRI 525%, 95% CI 267%-964%). Although insufficient information was available in product labeling to calculate the CI, olanzapine was associated with the highest risk for weight gain of at least 7% from baseline (NNH 6, RRI 640% for adults; NNH 4, RRI 314% for adolescents), and quetiapine for the indication of bipolar depression was associated with the highest risk of discontinuation from a clinical trial because of an adverse reaction (NNH 8, RRI 265% for 600 mg/d; NNH 15, RRI 137% for 300 mg/d). In conclusion, with certain limitations, it is possible for the clinician to extract information from medication product labeling regarding the frequency with which certain adverse reactions can be

  20. Communicating risk using absolute risk reduction or prolongation of life formats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harmsen, Charlotte Gry; Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø; Larsen, Pia Veldt

    2014-01-01

    . The COMRADE questionnaire was used to measure patients' confidence in their decision and satisfaction with the risk communication. RESULTS: Of the 240 patients included for analyses, 112 were allocated to POL information and 128 to ARR. Patients redeeming a statin prescription totalled six (5.4%) when...... informed using POL, and 32 (25.0%) when using ARR. The level of confidence in decision and satisfaction with risk communication did not differ between the risk formats. CONCLUSION: Patients redeemed statin prescriptions less often when their GP communicated treatment effectiveness using POL compared......BACKGROUND: It is important that patients are well-informed about risks and benefits of therapies to help them decide whether to accept medical therapy. Different numerical formats can be used in risk communication but It remains unclear how the different formats affect decisions made by real...

  1. Prospective validation of a predictive model that identifies homeless people at risk of re-presentation to the emergency department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Gaye; Hepworth, Graham; Weiland, Tracey; Manias, Elizabeth; Gerdtz, Marie Frances; Kelaher, Margaret; Dunt, David

    2012-02-01

    To prospectively evaluate the accuracy of a predictive model to identify homeless people at risk of representation to an emergency department. A prospective cohort analysis utilised one month of data from a Principal Referral Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. All visits involving people classified as homeless were included, excluding those who died. Homelessness was defined as living on the streets, in crisis accommodation, in boarding houses or residing in unstable housing. Rates of re-presentation, defined as the total number of visits to the same emergency department within 28 days of discharge from hospital, were measured. Performance of the risk screening tool was assessed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and likelihood ratios. Over the study period (April 1, 2009 to April 30, 2009), 3298 presentations from 2888 individuals were recorded. The homeless population accounted for 10% (n=327) of all visits and 7% (n=211) of all patients. A total of 90 (43%) homeless people re-presented to the emergency department. The predictive model included nine variables and achieved 98% (CI, 0.92-0.99) sensitivity and 66% (CI, 0.57-0.74) specificity. The positive predictive value was 68% and the negative predictive value was 98%. The positive likelihood ratio 2.9 (CI, 2.2-3.7) and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.03 (CI, 0.01-0.13). The high emergency department re-presentation rate for people who were homeless identifies unresolved psychosocial health needs. The emergency department remains a vital access point for homeless people, particularly after hours. The risk screening tool is key to identify medical and social aspects of a homeless patient's presentation to assist early identification and referral. Copyright © 2012 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Polarised press reporting about HIV prevention: Social representations of pre-exposure prophylaxis in the UK press.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaspal, Rusi; Nerlich, Brigitte

    2017-09-01

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis is a novel biomedical HIV prevention option for individuals at high risk of HIV acquisition. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis has yielded encouraging results in various clinical trials, opponents argue that pre-exposure prophylaxis poses a number of risks to human health and to sexually transmitted infection prevention efforts. Using qualitative thematic analysis and social representation theory, this article explores coverage of pre-exposure prophylaxis in the UK print media between 2008 and 2015 in order to chart the emerging social representations of this novel HIV prevention strategy. The analysis revealed two competing social representations of pre-exposure prophylaxis: (1) as a positive development in the 'battle' against HIV (the hope representation) and (2) as a medical, social and psychological setback in this battle, particularly for gay/bisexual men (the risk representation). These social representations map onto the themes of pre-exposure prophylaxis as a superlatively positive development; pre-exposure prophylaxis as a weapon in the battle against HIV/AIDS; and risk, uncertainty and fear in relation to pre-exposure prophylaxis. The hope representation focuses on taking (individual and collective) responsibility, while the risk representation focuses on attributing (individual and collective) blame. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.

  3. Danish Towns during Absolutism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    This anthology, No. 4 in the Danish Urban Studies Series, presents in English recent significant research on Denmark's urban development during the Age of Absolutism, 1660-1848, and features 13 articles written by leading Danish urban historians. The years of Absolutism were marked by a general...

  4. Visual Representations of Radiation Risk and the Question of Public (Mis-Trust in Post-Fukushima Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Feldhoff

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the aftermath of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, an estimated 150,000 residents of Fukushima Prefecture were displaced because of both real and perceived risks of radioactive contamination. While previous research has provided ample insight into the causes and effects of the disaster, there is a lack of analysis of the production of visual representations of radiation risk. This article aims to fill this gap by exploring the question of what different cartographic representations of the types and levels of radioactive radiation are available; what information is released and how people get informed; how certain areas are considered ‘safe’; and how arbitrarily government organizations draw and remove spatial boundaries of ‘safe areas’. Due to the particular concern of children, who have a comparatively low-threshold radiation tolerance, the focus is on child care facilities and elementary schools. The article identifies different sources of public mistrust in the context of information seeking and sharing and addresses this issue as part of the larger question of institutionalized information processes in Japan. This also includes a prudent assessment of the increasing importance of citizen science in Japan, a society of traditionally technocratic, paternalistic, top-down approaches to public policy making. The paper concludes that because of the growing mistrust of the general public in Japan’s elites, civic engagement should focus on gaining more influence on the political discourse, agenda-setting and collaborative planning and policy.

  5. Sparse representation of multi parametric DCE-MRI features using K-SVD for classifying gene expression based breast cancer recurrence risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahrooghy, Majid; Ashraf, Ahmed B.; Daye, Dania; Mies, Carolyn; Rosen, Mark; Feldman, Michael; Kontos, Despina

    2014-03-01

    We evaluate the prognostic value of sparse representation-based features by applying the K-SVD algorithm on multiparametric kinetic, textural, and morphologic features in breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). K-SVD is an iterative dimensionality reduction method that optimally reduces the initial feature space by updating the dictionary columns jointly with the sparse representation coefficients. Therefore, by using K-SVD, we not only provide sparse representation of the features and condense the information in a few coefficients but also we reduce the dimensionality. The extracted K-SVD features are evaluated by a machine learning algorithm including a logistic regression classifier for the task of classifying high versus low breast cancer recurrence risk as determined by a validated gene expression assay. The features are evaluated using ROC curve analysis and leave one-out cross validation for different sparse representation and dimensionality reduction numbers. Optimal sparse representation is obtained when the number of dictionary elements is 4 (K=4) and maximum non-zero coefficients is 2 (L=2). We compare K-SVD with ANOVA based feature selection for the same prognostic features. The ROC results show that the AUC of the K-SVD based (K=4, L=2), the ANOVA based, and the original features (i.e., no dimensionality reduction) are 0.78, 0.71. and 0.68, respectively. From the results, it can be inferred that by using sparse representation of the originally extracted multi-parametric, high-dimensional data, we can condense the information on a few coefficients with the highest predictive value. In addition, the dimensionality reduction introduced by K-SVD can prevent models from over-fitting.

  6. Transposed-letter priming of prelexical orthographic representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinoshita, Sachiko; Norris, Dennis

    2009-01-01

    A prime generated by transposing two internal letters (e.g., jugde) produces strong priming of the original word (judge). In lexical decision, this transposed-letter (TL) priming effect is generally weak or absent for nonword targets; thus, it is unclear whether the origin of this effect is lexical or prelexical. The authors describe the Bayesian Reader theory of masked priming (D. Norris & S. Kinoshita, 2008), which explains why nonwords do not show priming in lexical decision but why they do in the cross-case same-different task. This analysis is followed by 3 experiments that show that priming in this task is not based on low-level perceptual similarity between the prime and target, or on phonology, to make the case that priming is based on prelexical orthographic representation. The authors then use this task to demonstrate equivalent TL priming effects for nonwords and words. The results are interpreted as the first reliable evidence based on the masked priming procedure that letter position is not coded absolutely within the prelexical, orthographic representation. The implications of the results for current letter position coding schemes are discussed.

  7. Prediction of absolute risk of fragility fracture at 10 years in a Spanish population: validation of the WHO FRAX ™ tool in Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solà Sílvia

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Age-related bone loss is asymptomatic, and the morbidity of osteoporosis is secondary to the fractures that occur. Common sites of fracture include the spine, hip, forearm and proximal humerus. Fractures at the hip incur the greatest morbidity and mortality and give rise to the highest direct costs for health services. Their incidence increases exponentially with age. Independently changes in population demography, the age - and sex- specific incidence of osteoporotic fractures appears to be increasing in developing and developed countries. This could mean more than double the expected burden of osteoporotic fractures in the next 50 years. Methods/Design To assess the predictive power of the WHO FRAX™ tool to identify the subjects with the highest absolute risk of fragility fracture at 10 years in a Spanish population, a predictive validation study of the tool will be carried out. For this purpose, the participants recruited by 1999 will be assessed. These were referred to scan-DXA Department from primary healthcare centres, non hospital and hospital consultations. Study population: Patients attended in the national health services integrated into a FRIDEX cohort with at least one Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA measurement and one extensive questionnaire related to fracture risk factors. Measurements: At baseline bone mineral density measurement using DXA, clinical fracture risk factors questionnaire, dietary calcium intake assessment, history of previous fractures, and related drugs. Follow up by telephone interview to know fragility fractures in the 10 years with verification in electronic medical records and also to know the number of falls in the last year. The absolute risk of fracture will be estimated using the FRAX™ tool from the official web site. Discussion Since more than 10 years ago numerous publications have recognised the importance of other risk factors for new osteoporotic fractures in addition to

  8. A method for determining weights for excess relative risk and excess absolute risk when applied in the calculation of lifetime risk of cancer from radiation exposure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walsh, Linda [Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Department of Radiation Protection and Health, Oberschleissheim (Germany); University of Manchester, The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, Manchester (United Kingdom); Schneider, Uwe [University of Zurich, Vetsuisse Faculty, Zurich (Switzerland); Radiotherapy Hirslanden AG, Aarau (Switzerland)

    2013-03-15

    Radiation-related risks of cancer can be transported from one population to another population at risk, for the purpose of calculating lifetime risks from radiation exposure. Transfer via excess relative risks (ERR) or excess absolute risks (EAR) or a mixture of both (i.e., from the life span study (LSS) of Japanese atomic bomb survivors) has been done in the past based on qualitative weighting. Consequently, the values of the weights applied and the method of application of the weights (i.e., as additive or geometric weighted means) have varied both between reports produced at different times by the same regulatory body and also between reports produced at similar times by different regulatory bodies. Since the gender and age patterns are often markedly different between EAR and ERR models, it is useful to have an evidence-based method for determining the relative goodness of fit of such models to the data. This paper identifies a method, using Akaike model weights, which could aid expert judgment and be applied to help to achieve consistency of approach and quantitative evidence-based results in future health risk assessments. The results of applying this method to recent LSS cancer incidence models are that the relative EAR weighting by cancer solid cancer site, on a scale of 0-1, is zero for breast and colon, 0.02 for all solid, 0.03 for lung, 0.08 for liver, 0.15 for thyroid, 0.18 for bladder and 0.93 for stomach. The EAR weighting for female breast cancer increases from 0 to 0.3, if a generally observed change in the trend between female age-specific breast cancer incidence rates and attained age, associated with menopause, is accounted for in the EAR model. Application of this method to preferred models from a study of multi-model inference from many models fitted to the LSS leukemia mortality data, results in an EAR weighting of 0. From these results it can be seen that lifetime risk transfer is most highly weighted by EAR only for stomach cancer. However

  9. Near threshold absolute TDCS: First results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roesel, T.; Schlemmer, P.; Roeder, J.; Frost, L.; Jung, K.; Ehrhardt, H.

    1992-01-01

    A new method, and first results for an impact energy 2 eV above the threshold of ionisation of helium, are presented for the measurement of absolute triple differential cross sections (TDCS) in a crossed beam experiment. The method is based upon measurement of beam/target overlap densities using known absolute total ionisation cross sections and of detection efficiencies using known absolute double differential cross sections (DDCS). For the present work the necessary absolute DDCS for 1 eV electrons had also to be measured. Results are presented for several different coplanar kinematics and are compared with recent DWBA calculations. (orig.)

  10. Absolute entropy of ions in methanol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abakshin, V.A.; Kobenin, V.A.; Krestov, G.A.

    1978-01-01

    By measuring the initial thermoelectromotive forces of chains with bromo-silver electrodes in tetraalkylammonium bromide solutions the absolute entropy of bromide-ion in methanol is determined in the 298.15-318.15 K range. The anti Ssub(Brsup(-))sup(0) = 9.8 entropy units value is used for calculation of the absolute partial molar entropy of alkali metal ions and halogenide ions. It has been found that, absolute entropy of Cs + =12.0 entropy units, I - =14.0 entropy units. The obtained ion absolute entropies in methanol at 298.15 K within 1-2 entropy units is in an agreement with published data

  11. riskRegression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ozenne, Brice; Sørensen, Anne Lyngholm; Scheike, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    In the presence of competing risks a prediction of the time-dynamic absolute risk of an event can be based on cause-specific Cox regression models for the event and the competing risks (Benichou and Gail, 1990). We present computationally fast and memory optimized C++ functions with an R interface...... for predicting the covariate specific absolute risks, their confidence intervals, and their confidence bands based on right censored time to event data. We provide explicit formulas for our implementation of the estimator of the (stratified) baseline hazard function in the presence of tied event times. As a by...... functionals. The software presented here is implemented in the riskRegression package....

  12. Representations of stem cell clinics on Twitter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamenova, Kalina; Reshef, Amir; Caulfield, Timothy

    2014-12-01

    The practice of travelling abroad to receive unproven and unregulated stem cell treatments has become an increasingly problematic global phenomenon known as 'stem cell tourism'. In this paper, we examine representations of nine major clinics and providers of such treatments on the microblogging network Twitter. We collected and conducted a content analysis of Twitter posts (n = 363) by these establishments and by other users mentioning them, focusing specifically on marketing claims about treatment procedures and outcomes, discussions of safety and efficacy of stem cell transplants, and specific representations of patients' experiences. Our analysis has shown that there were explicit claims or suggestions of benefits associated with unproven stem cell treatments in approximately one third of the tweets and that patients' experiences, whenever referenced, were presented as invariably positive and as testimonials about the efficacy of stem cell transplants. Furthermore, the results indicated that the tone of most tweets (60.2 %) was overwhelmingly positive and there were rarely critical discussions about significant health risks associated with unproven stem cell therapies. When placed in the context of past research on the problems associated with the marketing of unproven stem cell therapies, this analysis of representations on Twitter suggests that discussions in social media have also remained largely uncritical of the stem cell tourism phenomenon, with inaccurate representations of risks and benefits for patients.

  13. No Absolutism Here: Harm Predicts Moral Judgment 30× Better Than Disgust-Commentary on Scott, Inbar, & Rozin (2016).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Kurt; Schein, Chelsea

    2016-05-01

    Moral absolutism is the idea that people's moral judgments are insensitive to considerations of harm. Scott, Inbar, and Rozin (2016, this issue) claim that most moral opponents to genetically modified organisms are absolutely opposed-motivated by disgust and not harm. Yet there is no evidence for moral absolutism in their data. Perceived risk/harm is the most significant predictor of moral judgments for "absolutists," accounting for 30 times more variance than disgust. Reanalyses suggest that disgust is not even a significant predictor of the moral judgments of absolutists once accounting for perceived harm and anger. Instead of revealing actual moral absolutism, Scott et al. find only empty absolutism: hypothetical, forecasted, self-reported moral absolutism. Strikingly, the moral judgments of so-called absolutists are somewhat more sensitive to consequentialist concerns than those of nonabsolutists. Mediation reanalyses reveal that moral judgments are most proximally predicted by harm and not disgust, consistent with dyadic morality. © The Author(s) 2016.

  14. Projective absoluteness for Sacks forcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ikegami, D.

    2009-01-01

    We show that Sigma(1)(3)-absoluteness for Sacks forcing is equivalent to the nonexistence of a Delta(1)(2) Bernstein set. We also show that Sacks forcing is the weakest forcing notion among all of the preorders that add a new real with respect to Sigma(1)(3) forcing absoluteness.

  15. Forecasting Error Calculation with Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khair, Ummul; Fahmi, Hasanul; Hakim, Sarudin Al; Rahim, Robbi

    2017-12-01

    Prediction using a forecasting method is one of the most important things for an organization, the selection of appropriate forecasting methods is also important but the percentage error of a method is more important in order for decision makers to adopt the right culture, the use of the Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error to calculate the percentage of mistakes in the least square method resulted in a percentage of 9.77% and it was decided that the least square method be worked for time series and trend data.

  16. Cylindrical Taylor states conserving total absolute magnetic helicity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, B. C.; Fang, F.

    2014-09-01

    The Taylor state of a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field in an upright cylindrical domain V is derived from first principles as an extremum of the total magnetic energy subject to a conserved, total absolute helicity Habs. This new helicity [Low, Phys. Plasmas 18, 052901 (2011)] is distinct from the well known classical total helicity and relative total helicity in common use to describe wholly-contained and anchored fields, respectively. A given field B, tangential along the cylindrical side of V, may be represented as a unique linear superposition of two flux systems, an axially extended system along V and a strictly transverse system carrying information on field-circulation. This specialized Chandrasekhar-Kendall representation defines Habs and permits a neat formulation of the boundary-value problem (BVP) for the Taylor state as a constant-α force-free field, treating 3D wholly-contained and anchored fields on the same conceptual basis. In this formulation, the governing equation is a scalar integro-partial differential equation (PDE). A family of series solutions for an anchored field is presented as an illustration of this class of BVPs. Past treatments of the constant-α field in 3D cylindrical geometry are based on a scalar Helmholtz PDE as the governing equation, with issues of inconsistency in the published field solutions discussed over time in the journal literature. The constant-α force-free equation reduces to a scalar Helmholtz PDE only as special cases of the 3D integro-PDE derived here. In contrast, the constant-α force-free equation and the scalar Helmholtz PDE are absolutely equivalent in the spherical domain as discussed in Appendix. This theoretical study is motivated by the investigation of the Sun's corona but the results are also relevant to laboratory plasmas.

  17. An absolute scale for measuring the utility of money

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, P. J.

    2010-07-01

    Measurement of the utility of money is essential in the insurance industry, for prioritising public spending schemes and for the evaluation of decisions on protection systems in high-hazard industries. Up to this time, however, there has been no universally agreed measure for the utility of money, with many utility functions being in common use. In this paper, we shall derive a single family of utility functions, which have risk-aversion as the only free parameter. The fact that they return a utility of zero at their low, reference datum, either the utility of no money or of one unit of money, irrespective of the value of risk-aversion used, qualifies them to be regarded as absolute scales for the utility of money. Evidence of validation for the concept will be offered based on inferential measurements of risk-aversion, using diverse measurement data.

  18. Risk perception and risk communication: lessons learned

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baillif, L.; Sackur, J.

    1998-01-01

    Industry can master risks but it cannot master the representations people have of these risks. This is why distortions may occur, as the public perceives risks where they are not, or in a totally deformed way. To deal with this type of situation which is dangerous in the long run, both for society and industry, it is necessary to study in detail where and how the difference between real risks and perceived risks is introduced. It then becomes possible to determine what means of action are available to manage the representations and the perceptions of risks. We shall mention two rather different examples of type of direct contact with the industrial reality; in France, we have determined policy of visits of nuclear sites (more than 10 000 people visit Cogema- la Hague site yearly), mainly addressed to school children and people living in the vicinity of the site. During these visits there is of course no question of explaining the detailed operation of the facility or the risks it generates. The purpose is to make the representation of the nuclear industry just as familiar as the representation of another large-scale technology tool: trains, dams,. In a different manner, missions are organised by Cogema - B.N.F.L.- O.R.C. (Overseas reprocessing Committee) to de dramatize the transport of high level vitrified wastes from Europe to Japan. these missions travel through those countries the ship come close to. Here, again, although the target is more the relays of opinion, the effective presence of specialized transport ship is a crucial element in putting a halt to phantasmic representations, as they are born from the remoteness of the object. (N.C.)

  19. Racial and gender representations in primary education: researching ‘with’ children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bianca Salazar Guizzo

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this article was to discuss and problematize how certain gender, ethnic and racial representations are constructed and reiterated daily in the school environment and circulate almost as absolute truths. This analysis relies on theories of Cultural Studies in Education and presents data collected on everyday situations at schools and interviews excerpts applied over a year of field work with children from kindergarten in a public school and children elementary school at a private institution, both located in Rio Grande do Sul. Our results indicate that, since childhood, children already incorporate and disseminate ‘stereotypical’ representations regarding gender, ethnic and racial affiliations. In particular, it was observed that the individuals who did not fit in the phenotypic characteristics considered ideal were negatively represented and discriminated. However, this study also showed the importance of pedagogies that question and dislocate the dominant representationsof race and gender, from the perspective of an anti-racist education.

  20. Mental representation for action in the elderly: implications for movement efficiency and injury risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabbard, Carl

    2015-04-01

    Recent research findings indicate that with older adulthood, there are functional decrements in spatial cognition and more specially, in the ability to mentally represent and effectively plan motor actions. A typical finding is a significant over- or underestimation of one's actual physical abilities with movement planning-planning that has implications for movement efficiency and physical safety. A practical, daily life example is estimation of reachability--a situation that for the elderly may be linked with fall incidence. A strategy used to mentally represent action is the use of motor imagery--an ability that also declines with advancing older age. This brief review highlights research findings on mental representation and motor imagery in the elderly and addresses the implications for improving movement efficiency and lowering the risk of movement-related injury. © The Author(s) 2013.

  1. Absolute determination of the deuterium content of heavy water, measurement of absolute density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ceccaldi, M.; Riedinger, M.; Menache, M.

    1975-01-01

    The absolute density of two heavy water samples rich in deuterium (with a grade higher than 99.9%) was determined with the hydrostatic method. The exact isotopic composition of this water (hydrogen and oxygen isotopes) was very carefully studied. A theoretical estimate enabled us to get the absolute density value of isotopically pure D 2 16 O. This value was found to be 1104.750 kg.m -3 at t 68 =22.3 0 C and under the pressure of one atmosphere. (orig.) [de

  2. Impact of the Absolute Difference in Diastolic Blood Pressure Between Arms in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hitaka, Yuka; Miura, Shin-Ichiro; Koyoshi, Rie; Shiga, Yuhei; Miyase, Yuiko; Norimatsu, Kenji; Nakamura, Ayumi; Adachi, Sen; Kuwano, Takashi; Sugihara, Makoto; Ike, Amane; Nishikawa, Hiroaki; Saku, Keijiro

    2015-11-01

    We investigated the relationship between the severity and presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and a difference in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) between arms or between lower limbs. We enrolled 277 patients who underwent coronary angiography. We calculated the absolute (|right BP (rt. BP) - left BP (lt. BP)|) and relative (rt. BP - lt. BP) differences in SBP or DBP between arms or between lower limbs, and assessed the severity of CAD in terms of the Gensini score. The absolute difference in DBP between arms in the CAD group was significantly lower than that in the non-CAD group, whereas the absolute difference in DBP between lower limbs in the CAD group was significantly higher. There were no differences in the absolute or relative difference in SBP between arms or lower limbs between the groups. The absolute difference in DBP between arms decreased as the Gensini score increased. In a logistic regression analysis, the presence of CAD was independently associated with the absolute difference in DBP between arms, in addition to male, family history, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The absolute difference in DBP between arms in addition to traditional factors may be a critical risk factor for the presence of CAD.

  3. The absolute environmental performance of buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brejnrod, Kathrine Nykjær; Kalbar, Pradip; Petersen, Steffen

    2017-01-01

    Our paper presents a novel approach for absolute sustainability assessment of a building's environmental performance. It is demonstrated how the absolute sustainable share of the earth carrying capacity of a specific building type can be estimated using carrying capacity based normalization factors....... A building is considered absolute sustainable if its annual environmental burden is less than its share of the earth environmental carrying capacity. Two case buildings – a standard house and an upcycled single-family house located in Denmark – were assessed according to this approach and both were found...... to exceed the target values of three (almost four) of the eleven impact categories included in the study. The worst-case excess was for the case building, representing prevalent Danish building practices, which utilized 1563% of the Climate Change carrying capacity. Four paths to reach absolute...

  4. Absolute Summ

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Alfred, Jr.

    Summ means the entirety of the multiverse. It seems clear, from the inflation theories of A. Guth and others, that the creation of many universes is plausible. We argue that Absolute cosmological ideas, not unlike those of I. Newton, may be consistent with dynamic multiverse creations. As suggested in W. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and with the Anthropic Principle defended by S. Hawking, et al., human consciousness, buttressed by findings of neuroscience, may have to be considered in our models. Predictability, as A. Einstein realized with Invariants and General Relativity, may be required for new ideas to be part of physics. We present here a two postulate model geared to an Absolute Summ. The seedbed of this work is part of Akhnaton's philosophy (see S. Freud, Moses and Monotheism). Most important, however, is that the structure of human consciousness, manifest in Kenya's Rift Valley 200,000 years ago as Homo sapiens, who were the culmination of the six million year co-creation process of Hominins and Nature in Africa, allows us to do the physics that we do. .

  5. Representation of age and ageing identities in popular music texts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Jacinta; Watson, Roger; Pankratova, Marina; Pedzeni, Ann-Marie

    2016-06-01

    To critically examine the representation of ageing identities in popular music texts. Having a positive outlook provides both short-term benefits and has been proven to help people live longer. Music is capable of conveying positive and negative emotion towards ageing, however, only a limited number of unpublished studies exist on how age and ageing is represented in popular music. Qualitative discourse analysis. In July 2014, a search without time limits was completed of the music lyrics databases, The Music Lyric Database, Songfacts, The Macronium and Absolute lyrics for English language music texts relating to age and ageing. Findings revealed (N = 76) relevant music texts offering up negative and positive discourses of age and ageing, with negative predominating. Identities of age and ageing were categorized as 'contented and celebrated aged', 'pitiful and petulant pensioners' and 'frail and flagging old folks'. From this study, it is evident that mainly negative representations of age and ageing are available in popular music texts. It is imagined that the negative representations of age and ageing can be dispiriting, confidence and esteem lowering for older people and their potential impact might be considered carefully by artists. However, while evidence exists that negative and positive emotions can influence health and well-being, further qualitative research is needed to explore what impact precisely the negative texts have on those experiencing ageing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. MOTHERS' AND FATHERS' PRENATAL REPRESENTATIONS IN RELATION TO MARITAL DISTRESS AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlqvist-Björkroth, Sari; Korja, Riikka; Junttila, Niina; Savonlahti, Elina; Pajulo, Marjukka; Räihä, Hannele; Aromaa, Minna

    2016-07-01

    Marital distress, parental depression, and weak quality of parental representations are all known risk factors for parent-child relationships. However, the relation between marital distress, depressive symptoms, and parents' prenatal representation is uncertain, especially regarding fathers. The present study aimed to explore how mothers' and fathers' prenatal experience of marital distress and depressive symptoms affects the organization of their prenatal representations in late pregnancy. Participants were 153 pregnant couples from a Finnish follow-up study called "Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-being of Children" (H. Lagström et al., ). Marital distress (Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale; D.M. Busby, C. Christensen, D. Crane, & J. Larson, 1995) and depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) were assessed at 20 gestational weeks, and prenatal representations (Working Model of the Child Interview; D. Benoit, K.C.H. Parker, & C.H. Zeanah, 1997; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, M. Barton, & L. Hirshberg, 1996) were assessed between 29 and 32 gestational weeks. The mothers' risks of distorted representations increased significantly when they had at least minor depressive symptoms. Marital distress was associated with the fathers' prenatal representations, although the association was weak; fathers within the marital distress group had less balanced representations. Coexisting marital distress and depressive symptoms were only associated with the mothers' representations; lack of marital distress and depressive symptoms increased the likelihood for mothers to have balanced representations. The results imply that marital distress and depressive symptoms are differently related to the organizations of mothers' and fathers' prenatal representations. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

  7. Absolute flux scale for radioastronomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, V.P.; Stankevich, K.S.

    1986-01-01

    The authors propose and provide support for a new absolute flux scale for radio astronomy, which is not encumbered with the inadequacies of the previous scales. In constructing it the method of relative spectra was used (a powerful tool for choosing reference spectra). A review is given of previous flux scales. The authors compare the AIS scale with the scale they propose. Both scales are based on absolute measurements by the ''artificial moon'' method, and they are practically coincident in the range from 0.96 to 6 GHz. At frequencies above 6 GHz, 0.96 GHz, the AIS scale is overestimated because of incorrect extrapolation of the spectra of the primary and secondary standards. The major results which have emerged from this review of absolute scales in radio astronomy are summarized

  8. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, T. J.; Jackett, D. R.; Millero, F. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Barker, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg-1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).

  9. aCNViewer: Comprehensive genome-wide visualization of absolute copy number and copy neutral variations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Renault

    Full Text Available Copy number variations (CNV include net gains or losses of part or whole chromosomal regions. They differ from copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH events which do not induce any net change in the copy number and are often associated with uniparental disomy. These phenomena have long been reported to be associated with diseases and particularly in cancer. Losses/gains of genomic regions are often correlated with lower/higher gene expression. On the other hand, loss of heterozygosity (LOH and cn-LOH are common events in cancer and may be associated with the loss of a functional tumor suppressor gene. Therefore, identifying recurrent CNV and cn-LOH events can be important as they may highlight common biological components and give insights into the development or mechanisms of a disease. However, no currently available tools allow a comprehensive whole-genome visualization of recurrent CNVs and cn-LOH in groups of samples providing absolute quantification of the aberrations leading to the loss of potentially important information.To overcome these limitations, we developed aCNViewer (Absolute CNV Viewer, a visualization tool for absolute CNVs and cn-LOH across a group of samples. aCNViewer proposes three graphical representations: dendrograms, bi-dimensional heatmaps showing chromosomal regions sharing similar abnormality patterns, and quantitative stacked histograms facilitating the identification of recurrent absolute CNVs and cn-LOH. We illustrated aCNViewer using publically available hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs Affymetrix SNP Array data (Fig 1A. Regions 1q and 8q present a similar percentage of total gains but significantly different copy number gain categories (p-value of 0.0103 with a Fisher exact test, validated by another cohort of HCCs (p-value of 5.6e-7 (Fig 2B.aCNViewer is implemented in python and R and is available with a GNU GPLv3 license on GitHub https://github.com/FJD-CEPH/aCNViewer and Docker https://hub.docker.com/r/fjdceph/acnviewer/.aCNViewer@cephb.fr.

  10. aCNViewer: Comprehensive genome-wide visualization of absolute copy number and copy neutral variations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renault, Victor; Tost, Jörg; Pichon, Fabien; Wang-Renault, Shu-Fang; Letouzé, Eric; Imbeaud, Sandrine; Zucman-Rossi, Jessica; Deleuze, Jean-François; How-Kit, Alexandre

    2017-01-01

    Copy number variations (CNV) include net gains or losses of part or whole chromosomal regions. They differ from copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH) events which do not induce any net change in the copy number and are often associated with uniparental disomy. These phenomena have long been reported to be associated with diseases and particularly in cancer. Losses/gains of genomic regions are often correlated with lower/higher gene expression. On the other hand, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and cn-LOH are common events in cancer and may be associated with the loss of a functional tumor suppressor gene. Therefore, identifying recurrent CNV and cn-LOH events can be important as they may highlight common biological components and give insights into the development or mechanisms of a disease. However, no currently available tools allow a comprehensive whole-genome visualization of recurrent CNVs and cn-LOH in groups of samples providing absolute quantification of the aberrations leading to the loss of potentially important information. To overcome these limitations, we developed aCNViewer (Absolute CNV Viewer), a visualization tool for absolute CNVs and cn-LOH across a group of samples. aCNViewer proposes three graphical representations: dendrograms, bi-dimensional heatmaps showing chromosomal regions sharing similar abnormality patterns, and quantitative stacked histograms facilitating the identification of recurrent absolute CNVs and cn-LOH. We illustrated aCNViewer using publically available hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) Affymetrix SNP Array data (Fig 1A). Regions 1q and 8q present a similar percentage of total gains but significantly different copy number gain categories (p-value of 0.0103 with a Fisher exact test), validated by another cohort of HCCs (p-value of 5.6e-7) (Fig 2B). aCNViewer is implemented in python and R and is available with a GNU GPLv3 license on GitHub https://github.com/FJD-CEPH/aCNViewer and Docker https

  11. Graphs to estimate an individualized risk of breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benichou, J; Gail, M H; Mulvihill, J J

    1996-01-01

    Clinicians who counsel women about their risk for developing breast cancer need a rapid method to estimate individualized risk (absolute risk), as well as the confidence limits around that point. The Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP) model (sometimes called the Gail model) assumes no genetic model and simultaneously incorporates five risk factors, but involves cumbersome calculations and interpolations. This report provides graphs to estimate the absolute risk of breast cancer from the BCDDP model. The BCDDP recruited 280,000 women from 1973 to 1980 who were monitored for 5 years. From this cohort, 2,852 white women developed breast cancer and 3,146 controls were selected, all with complete risk-factor information. The BCDDP model, previously developed from these data, was used to prepare graphs that relate a specific summary relative-risk estimate to the absolute risk of developing breast cancer over intervals of 10, 20, and 30 years. Once a summary relative risk is calculated, the appropriate graph is chosen that shows the 10-, 20-, or 30-year absolute risk of developing breast cancer. A separate graph gives the 95% confidence limits around the point estimate of absolute risk. Once a clinician rules out a single gene trait that predisposes to breast cancer and elicits information on age and four risk factors, the tables and figures permit an estimation of a women's absolute risk of developing breast cancer in the next three decades. These results are intended to be applied to women who undergo regular screening. They should be used only in a formal counseling program to maximize a woman's understanding of the estimates and the proper use of them.

  12. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. J. McDougall

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater – 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density than does Practical Salinity.

    When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic, Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg−1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p in the world ocean.

    To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811. In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally.

  13. Absolute versus relative measures of plasma fatty acids and health outcomes: example of phospholipid omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and all-cause mortality in women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miura, Kyoko; Hughes, Maria Celia B; Ungerer, Jacobus P J; Smith, David D; Green, Adèle C

    2018-03-01

    In a well-characterised community-based prospective study, we aimed to systematically assess the differences in associations of plasma omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid (FA) status with all-cause mortality when plasma FA status is expressed in absolute concentrations versus relative levels. In a community sample of 564 women aged 25-75 years in Queensland, Australia, baseline plasma phospholipid FA levels were measured using gas chromatography. Specific FAs analysed were eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, total long-chain omega-3 FAs, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, and total omega-6 FAs. Levels of each FA were expressed in absolute amounts (µg/mL) and relative levels (% of total FAs) and divided into thirds. Deaths were monitored for 17 years and hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals calculated to assess risk of death according to absolute versus relative plasma FA levels. In total 81 (14%) women died during follow-up. Agreement between absolute and relative measures of plasma FAs was higher in omega-3 than omega-6 FAs. The results of multivariate analyses for risk of all-cause mortality were generally similar with risk tending to inverse associations with plasma phospholipid omega-3 FAs and no association with omega-6 FAs. Sensitivity analyses examining effects of age and presence of serious medical conditions on risk of mortality did not alter findings. The directions and magnitude of associations with mortality of absolute versus relative FA levels were comparable. However, plasma FA expressed as absolute concentrations may be preferred for ease of comparison and since relative units can be deduced from absolute units.

  14. Coronary calcium predicts events better with absolute calcium scores than age-sex-race/ethnicity percentiles: MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budoff, Matthew J; Nasir, Khurram; McClelland, Robyn L; Detrano, Robert; Wong, Nathan; Blumenthal, Roger S; Kondos, George; Kronmal, Richard A

    2009-01-27

    In this study, we aimed to establish whether age-sex-specific percentiles of coronary artery calcium (CAC) predict cardiovascular outcomes better than the actual (absolute) CAC score. The presence and extent of CAC correlates with the overall magnitude of coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden and with the development of subsequent coronary events. MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) is a prospective cohort study of 6,814 asymptomatic participants followed for coronary heart disease (CHD) events including myocardial infarction, angina, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or CHD death. Time to incident CHD was modeled with Cox regression, and we compared models with percentiles based on age, sex, and/or race/ethnicity to categories commonly used (0, 1 to 100, 101 to 400, 400+ Agatston units). There were 163 (2.4%) incident CHD events (median follow-up 3.75 years). Expressing CAC in terms of age- and sex-specific percentiles had significantly lower area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) than when using absolute scores (women: AUC 0.73 versus 0.76, p = 0.044; men: AUC 0.73 versus 0.77, p better model fit with the overall score. Both methods robustly predicted events (>90th percentile associated with a hazard ratio [HR] of 16.4, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.30 to 28.9, and score >400 associated with HR of 20.6, 95% CI: 11.8 to 36.0). Within groups based on age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific percentiles there remains a clear trend of increasing risk across levels of the absolute CAC groups. In contrast, once absolute CAC category is fixed, there is no increasing trend across levels of age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific categories. Patients with low absolute scores are low-risk, regardless of age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific percentile rank. Persons with an absolute CAC score of >400 are high risk, regardless of percentile rank. Using absolute CAC in standard groups performed better than age-, sex-, and race

  15. Absolute coronary blood flow measurement and microvascular resistance in ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the acute and subacute phase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wijnbergen, Inge; Veer, Marcel van ' t [Department of Cardiology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Lammers, Jeroen; Ubachs, Joey [Department of Cardiology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Pijls, Nico H.J., E-mail: nico.pijls@cze.nl [Department of Cardiology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

    2016-03-15

    Background/Purpose: In a number of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), myocardial hypoperfusion, known as the no-reflow phenomenon, persists after primary percutaneous intervention (PPCI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a new quantitative method of measuring absolute blood flow and resistance within the perfusion bed of an infarct-related artery. Furthermore, we sought to study no-reflow by correlating these measurements to the index of microvascular resistance (IMR) and the area at risk (AR) as determined by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Methods: Measurements of absolute flow and myocardial resistance were performed in 20 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), first immediately following PPCI and then again after 3–5 days. These measurements used the technique of thermodilution during a continuous infusion of saline. Flow was expressed in ml/min per gram of tissue within the area at risk. Results: The average time needed for measurement of absolute flow, resistance and IMR was 20 min, and all measurements could be performed without complication. A higher flow supplying the AR correlated with a lower IMR in the acute phase. Absolute flow increased from 3.14 to 3.68 ml/min/g (p = 0.25) and absolute resistance decreased from 1317 to 1099 dyne.sec.cm-5/g (p = 0.40) between the first day and fifth day after STEMI. Conclusions: Measurement of absolute flow and microvascular resistance is safe and feasible in STEMI patients and may allow for a better understanding of microvascular (dys)function in the early phase of AMI. - Highlights: • We measured absolute coronary blood flow and microvascular resistance in STEMI patients in the acute phase and in the subacute phase, using the technique of thermodilution with low grade intracoronary continuous infusion of saline. • These measurements are safe and feasible during PPCI in STEMI patients. • In STEMI patients, absolute flow

  16. Invariant and Absolute Invariant Means of Double Sequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdullah Alotaibi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We examine some properties of the invariant mean, define the concepts of strong σ-convergence and absolute σ-convergence for double sequences, and determine the associated sublinear functionals. We also define the absolute invariant mean through which the space of absolutely σ-convergent double sequences is characterized.

  17. Self-perceived facture risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rothmann, M J; Ammentorp, J; Bech, M

    2015-01-01

    , and self-rated heath) and self-perceived fracture risk. Although women recognized the importance of some fracture risk factors, a number of significant risk factors appeared to be less well known. INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to investigate women's self-perceived fracture risk and potential...... factors associated with this and to compare self-perceived risk with absolute fracture risk estimated by FRAX® in women aged 65-80 years. METHODS: Data from 20,905 questionnaires from the ROSE study were analyzed. The questionnaire included 25 items on osteoporosis, risk factors for fractures, and self...... their fracture risk significantly higher than their peers. No correlation between self-perceived risk and absolute risk was found. The ordered logistic regression model showed a significant association between high self-perceived fracture risk and previous fragility fracture, parental hip fracture, falls, self...

  18. Absolute measurement of a tritium standard

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadzisehovic, M.; Mocilnik, I.; Buraei, K.; Pongrac, S.; Milojevic, A.

    1978-01-01

    For the determination of a tritium absolute activity standard, a method of internal gas counting has been used. The procedure involves water reduction by uranium and zinc further the measurement of the absolute disintegration rate of tritium per unit of the effective volume of the counter by a compensation method. Criteria for the choice of methods and procedures concerning the determination and measurement of gaseous 3 H yield, parameters of gaseous hydrogen, sample mass of HTO and the absolute disintegration rate of tritium are discussed. In order to obtain gaseous sources of 3 H (and 2 H), the same reversible chemical reaction was used, namely, the water - uranium hydride - hydrogen system. This reaction was proved to be quantitative above 500 deg C by measuring the yield of the gas obtained and the absolute activity of an HTO standard. A brief description of the measuring apparatus is given, as well as a critical discussion of the brass counter quality and the possibility of obtaining equal working conditions at the counter ends. (T.G.)

  19. Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, John J. (Inventor); Shams. Qamar A. (Inventor); Powers, William T. (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

  20. A developmental study of latent absolute pitch memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakubowski, Kelly; Müllensiefen, Daniel; Stewart, Lauren

    2017-03-01

    The ability to recall the absolute pitch level of familiar music (latent absolute pitch memory) is widespread in adults, in contrast to the rare ability to label single pitches without a reference tone (overt absolute pitch memory). The present research investigated the developmental profile of latent absolute pitch (AP) memory and explored individual differences related to this ability. In two experiments, 288 children from 4 to12 years of age performed significantly above chance at recognizing the absolute pitch level of familiar melodies. No age-related improvement or decline, nor effects of musical training, gender, or familiarity with the stimuli were found in regard to latent AP task performance. These findings suggest that latent AP memory is a stable ability that is developed from as early as age 4 and persists into adulthood.

  1. Narrative representations of caregivers and emotion dysregulation as predictors of maltreated children's rejection by peers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, A; Ryan, R M; Cicchetti, D

    2001-05-01

    This study examined whether maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to develop poor-quality representations of caregivers and whether these representations predicted children's rejection by peers. A narrative task assessing representations of mothers and fathers was administered to 76 maltreated and 45 nonmaltreated boys and girls (8-12 years old). Maltreated children's representations were more negative/constricted and less positive/coherent than those of nonmaltreated children. Maladaptive representations were associated with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and peer rejection, whereas positive/coherent representations were related to prosocial behavior and peer preference. Representations mediated maltreatment's effects on peer rejection in part by undermining emotion regulation. Findings suggest that representations of caregivers serve an important regulatory function in the peer relationships of at-risk children.

  2. Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

    2017-10-01

    We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

  3. Early and late changes in the distal forelimb representation of the supplementary motor area after injury to frontal motor areas in the squirrel monkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisner-Janowicz, Ines; Barbay, Scott; Hoover, Erica; Stowe, Ann M; Frost, Shawn B; Plautz, Erik J; Nudo, Randolph J

    2008-09-01

    Neuroimaging studies in stroke survivors have suggested that adaptive plasticity occurs following stroke. However, the complex temporal dynamics of neural reorganization after injury make the interpretation of functional imaging studies equivocal. In the present study in adult squirrel monkeys, intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) techniques were used to monitor changes in representational maps of the distal forelimb in the supplementary motor area (SMA) after a unilateral ischemic infarct of primary motor (M1) and premotor distal forelimb representations (DFLs). In each animal, ICMS maps were derived at early (3 wk) and late (13 wk) postinfarct stages. Lesions resulted in severe deficits in motor abilities on a reach and retrieval task. Limited behavioral recovery occurred and plateaued at 3 wk postinfarct. At both early and late postinfarct stages, distal forelimb movements could still be evoked by ICMS in SMA at low current levels. However, the size of the SMA DFL changed after the infarct. In particular, wrist-forearm representations enlarged significantly between early and late stages, attaining a size substantially larger than the preinfarct area. At the late postinfarct stage, the expansion in the SMA DFL area was directly proportional to the absolute size of the lesion. The motor performance scores were positively correlated to the absolute size of the SMA DFL at the late postinfarct stage. Together, these data suggest that, at least in squirrel monkeys, descending output from M1 and dorsal and ventral premotor cortices is not necessary for SMA representations to be maintained and that SMA motor output maps undergo delayed increases in representational area after damage to other motor areas. Finally, the role of SMA in recovery of function after such lesions remains unclear because behavioral recovery appears to precede neurophysiological map changes.

  4. Combined Risk Measures: Representation Results and Applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Göttsche, O.E.

    2014-01-01

    The analysis and interpretation of risk play a crucial role in different areas of modern finance. This includes pricing of financial products, capital allocation and derivation of economic capital. Key to this analysis is the quantification of the risk via risk measures. A promising approach is to

  5. NGS Absolute Gravity Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The NGS Absolute Gravity data (78 stations) was received in July 1993. Principal gravity parameters include Gravity Value, Uncertainty, and Vertical Gradient. The...

  6. Absolute isotopic abundances of Ti in meteorites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niederer, F.R.; Papanastassiou, D.A.; Wasserburg, G.J.

    1985-01-01

    The absolute isotope abundance of Ti has been determined in Ca-Al-rich inclusions from the Allende and Leoville meteorites and in samples of whole meteorites. The absolute Ti isotope abundances differ by a significant mass dependent isotope fractionation transformation from the previously reported abundances, which were normalized for fractionation using 46 Ti/ 48 Ti. Therefore, the absolute compositions define distinct nucleosynthetic components from those previously identified or reflect the existence of significant mass dependent isotope fractionation in nature. We provide a general formalism for determining the possible isotope compositions of the exotic Ti from the measured composition, for different values of isotope fractionation in nature and for different mixing ratios of the exotic and normal components. The absolute Ti and Ca isotopic compositions still support the correlation of 50 Ti and 48 Ca effects in the FUN inclusions and imply contributions from neutron-rich equilibrium or quasi-equilibrium nucleosynthesis. The present identification of endemic effects at 46 Ti, for the absolute composition, implies a shortfall of an explosive-oxygen component or reflects significant isotope fractionation. Additional nucleosynthetic components are required by 47 Ti and 49 Ti effects. Components are also defined in which 48 Ti is enhanced. Results are given and discussed. (author)

  7. Bounds on absolutely maximally entangled states from shadow inequalities, and the quantum MacWilliams identity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huber, Felix; Eltschka, Christopher; Siewert, Jens; Gühne, Otfried

    2018-04-01

    A pure multipartite quantum state is called absolutely maximally entangled (AME), if all reductions obtained by tracing out at least half of its parties are maximally mixed. Maximal entanglement is then present across every bipartition. The existence of such states is in many cases unclear. With the help of the weight enumerator machinery known from quantum error correction and the shadow inequalities, we obtain new bounds on the existence of AME states in dimensions larger than two. To complete the treatment on the weight enumerator machinery, the quantum MacWilliams identity is derived in the Bloch representation. Finally, we consider AME states whose subsystems have different local dimensions, and present an example for a 2×3×3×3 system that shows maximal entanglement across every bipartition.

  8. Factorizations and physical representations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Revzen, M; Khanna, F C; Mann, A; Zak, J

    2006-01-01

    A Hilbert space in M dimensions is shown explicitly to accommodate representations that reflect the decomposition of M into prime numbers. Representations that exhibit the factorization of M into two relatively prime numbers: the kq representation (Zak J 1970 Phys. Today 23 51), and related representations termed q 1 q 2 representations (together with their conjugates) are analysed, as well as a representation that exhibits the complete factorization of M. In this latter representation each quantum number varies in a subspace that is associated with one of the prime numbers that make up M

  9. Distinguishing Representations as Origin and Representations as Input: Roles for Individual Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan C.W. Edwards

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available It is widely perceived that there is a problem in giving a naturalistic account of mental representation that deals adequately with meaning, interpretation or significance (semantic content. It is suggested here that this problem may arise partly from the conflation of two vernacular senses of representation: representation-as-origin and representation-as-input. The flash of a neon sign may in one sense represent a popular drink, but to function as representation it must provide an input to a ‘consumer’ in the street. The arguments presented draw on two principles – the neuron doctrine and the need for a venue for ‘presentation’ or ‘reception’ of a representation at a specified site, consistent with the locality principle. It is also argued that domains of representation cannot be defined by signal traffic, since they can be expected to include ‘null’ elements based on non-firing cells. In this analysis, mental representations-as-origin are distributed patterns of cell firing. Each firing cell is given semantic value in its own right - some form of atomic propositional significance – since different axonal branches may contribute to integration with different populations of signals at different downstream sites. Representations-as-input are patterns of local co-arrival of signals in the form of synaptic potentials in dendrites. Meaning then draws on the relationships between active and null inputs, forming ‘scenarios’ comprising a molecular combination of ‘premises’ from which a new output with atomic propositional significance is generated. In both types of representation, meaning, interpretation or significance pivots on events in an individual cell. (This analysis only applies to ‘occurrent’ representations based on current neural activity. The concept of representations-as-input emphasises the need for a ‘consumer’ of a representation and the dependence of meaning on the co-relationships involved in an

  10. Approach To Absolute Zero

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    more and more difficult to remove heat as one approaches absolute zero. This is the ... A new and active branch of engineering ... This temperature is called the critical temperature, Te' For sulfur dioxide the critical ..... adsorbent charcoal.

  11. Absolute spectrophotometry of Nova Cygni 1975

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kontizas, E.; Kontizas, M.; Smyth, M.J.

    1976-01-01

    Radiometric photoelectric spectrophotometry of Nova Cygni 1975 was carried out on 1975 August 31, September 2, 3. α Lyr was used as reference star and its absolute spectral energy distribution was used to reduce the spectrophotometry of the nova to absolute units. Emission strengths of Hα, Hβ, Hγ (in W cm -2 ) were derived. The Balmer decrement Hα:Hβ:Hγ was compared with theory, and found to deviate less than had been reported for an earlier nova. (author)

  12. The Pragmatics of "Unruly" Dative Absolutes in Early Slavic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel E. Collins

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available This chapter examines some uses of the dative absolute in Old Church Slavonic and in early recensional Slavonic texts that depart from notions of how Indo-European absolute constructions should behave, either because they have subjects coreferential with the (putative main-clause subjects or because they function as if they were main clauses in their own right. Such "noncanonical" absolutes have generally been written off as mechanistic translations or as mistakes by scribes who did not understand the proper uses of the construction. In reality, the problem is not with literalistic translators or incompetent scribes but with the definition of the construction itself; it is quite possible to redefine the Early Slavic dative absolute in a way that accounts for the supposedly deviant cases. While the absolute is generally dependent semantically on an adjacent unit of discourse, it should not always be regarded as subordinated syntactically. There are good grounds for viewing some absolutes not as dependent clauses but as independent sentences whose collateral character is an issue not of syntax but of the pragmatics of discourse.

  13. Multi-representation based on scientific investigation for enhancing students’ representation skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siswanto, J.; Susantini, E.; Jatmiko, B.

    2018-03-01

    This research aims to implementation learning physics with multi-representation based on the scientific investigation for enhancing students’ representation skills, especially on the magnetic field subject. The research design is one group pretest-posttest. This research was conducted in the department of mathematics education, Universitas PGRI Semarang, with the sample is students of class 2F who take basic physics courses. The data were obtained by representation skills test and documentation of multi-representation worksheet. The Results show gain analysis value of .64 which means some medium improvements. The result of t-test (α = .05) is shows p-value = .001. This learning significantly improves students representation skills.

  14. Absolutyzm i pluralizm (ABSOLUTISM AND PLURALISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renata Ziemińska

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Alethic absolutism is a thesis that propositions can not be more or less true, that they are true or false for ever (if true at all and that their truth is independent on any circumstances of their assertion. In negative version, easier to defend, alethic absolutism claims the very same proposition can not be both true and false relative to circumstances of its assertion. Simple alethic pluralism is a thesis that we have many concepts of truth. It is a very good way to dissolve the controversy between alethic relativism and absolutism. Many philosophical concepts of truth are the best reason for such pluralism. If concept is meaning of a name, we have many concepts of truth because the name 'truth' was understood in many ways. The variety of meanings however can be superficial. Under it we can find one idea of truth expressed in correspondence truism or schema (T. The content of the truism is too poor to be content of anyone concept of truth, so it usually is connected with some picture of the world (ontology and we have so many concepts of truth as many pictures of the world. The authoress proposes the hierarchical pluralism with privileged classic (or correspondence in weak sense concept of truth as absolute property.Other author's publications:

  15. The Representation and Execution of Articulatory Timing in First and Second Language Acquisition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redford, Melissa A; Oh, Grace E

    2017-07-01

    The early acquisition of language-specific temporal patterns relative to the late development of speech motor control suggests a dissociation between the representation and execution of articulatory timing. The current study tested for such a dissociation in first and second language acquisition. American English-speaking children (5- and 8-year-olds) and Korean-speaking adult learners of English repeatedly produced real English words in a simple carrier sentence. The words were designed to elicit different language-specific vowel length contrasts. Measures of absolute duration and variability in single vowel productions were extracted to evaluate the realization of contrasts (representation) and to index speech motor abilities (execution). Results were mostly consistent with a dissociation. Native English-speaking children produced the same language-specific temporal patterns as native English-speaking adults, but their productions were more variable than the adults'. In contrast, Korean-speaking adult learners of English typically produced different temporal patterns than native English-speaking adults, but their productions were as stable as the native speakers'. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to different models of speech production.

  16. Introducing the Mean Absolute Deviation "Effect" Size

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorard, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviation. The mean absolute deviation is easier to use and understand, and more tolerant of extreme…

  17. Representation in Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumelhart, David E.; Norman, Donald A.

    This paper reviews work on the representation of knowledge from within psychology and artificial intelligence. The work covers the nature of representation, the distinction between the represented world and the representing world, and significant issues concerned with propositional, analogical, and superpositional representations. Specific topics…

  18. Attention and Representational Momentum

    OpenAIRE

    Hayes, Amy; Freyd, Jennifer J

    1995-01-01

    Representational momentum, the tendency for memory to be distorted in the direction of an implied transformation, suggests that dynamics are an intrinsic part of perceptual representations. We examined the effect of attention on dynamic representation by testing for representational momentum under conditions of distraction. Forward memory shifts increase when attention is divided. Attention may be involved in halting but not in maintaining dynamic representations.

  19. Arctic indigenous peoples as representations and representatives of climate change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martello, Marybeth Long

    2008-06-01

    Recent scientific findings, as presented in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), indicate that climate change in the Arctic is happening now, at a faster rate than elsewhere in the world, and with major implications for peoples of the Arctic (especially indigenous peoples) and the rest of the planet. This paper examines scientific and political representations of Arctic indigenous peoples that have been central to the production and articulation of these claims. ACIA employs novel forms and strategies of representation that reflect changing conceptual models and practices of global change science and depict indigenous peoples as expert, exotic, and at-risk. These portrayals emerge alongside the growing political activism of Arctic indigenous peoples who present themselves as representatives or embodiments of climate change itself as they advocate for climate change mitigation policies. These mutually constitutive forms of representation suggest that scientific ways of seeing the global environment shape and are shaped by the public image and voice of global citizens. Likewise, the authority, credibility, and visibility of Arctic indigenous activists derive, in part, from their status as at-risk experts, a status buttressed by new scientific frameworks and methods that recognize and rely on the local experiences and knowledges of indigenous peoples. Analyses of these relationships linking scientific and political representations of Arctic climate change build upon science and technology studies (STS) scholarship on visualization, challenge conventional notions of globalization, and raise questions about power and accountability in global climate change research.

  20. LGBT Representations on Facebook : Representations of the Self and the Content

    OpenAIRE

    Chu, Yawen

    2017-01-01

    The topic of LGBT rights has been increasingly discussed and debated over recent years. More and more scholars show their interests in the field of LGBT representations in media. However, not many studies involved LGBT representations in social media. This paper explores LGBT representations on Facebook by analysing posts on an open page and in a private group, including both representations of the self as the identity of sexual minorities, content that is displayed on Facebook and the simila...

  1. Competing risk theory and radiation risk assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Groer, P.G.

    1980-01-01

    New statistical procedures are applied to estimate cumulative distribution functions (c.d.f.), force of mortality, and latent period for radiation-induced malignancies. It is demonstrated that correction for competing risks influences the shape of dose response curves, estimates of the latent period, and of the risk from ionizing radiations. The equivalence of the following concepts is demonstrated: force of mortality, hazard rate, and age or time specific incidence. This equivalence makes it possible to use procedures from reliability analysis and demography for radiation risk assessment. Two methods used by reliability analysts - hazard plotting and total time on test plots - are discussed in some detail and applied to characterize the hazard rate in radiation carcinogenesis. C.d.f.'s with increasing, decreasing, or constant hazard rate have different shapes and are shown to yield different dose-response curves for continuous irradiation. Absolute risk is shown to be a sound estimator only if the force of mortality is constant for the exposed and the control group. Dose-response relationships that use the absolute risk as a measure for the effect turn out to be special cases of dose-response relationships that measure the effect with cumulative incidence. (H.K.)

  2. Relative Hazard and Risk Measure Calculation Methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stenner, Robert D.; Strenge, Dennis L.; Elder, Matthew S.; Andrews, William B.; Walton, Terry L.

    2003-01-01

    The RHRM equations, as represented in methodology and code presented in this report, are primarily a collection of key factors normally used in risk assessment that are relevant to understanding the hazards and risks associated with projected mitigation, cleanup, and risk management activities. The RHRM code has broad application potential. For example, it can be used to compare one mitigation, cleanup, or risk management activity with another, instead of just comparing it to just the fixed baseline. If the appropriate source term data are available, it can be used in its non-ratio form to estimate absolute values of the associated controlling hazards and risks. These estimated values of controlling hazards and risks can then be examined to help understand which mitigation, cleanup, or risk management activities are addressing the higher hazard conditions and risk reduction potential at a site. Graphics can be generated from these absolute controlling hazard and risk values to graphically compare these high hazard and risk reduction potential conditions. If the RHRM code is used in this manner, care must be taken to specifically define and qualify (e.g., identify which factors were considered and which ones tended to drive the hazard and risk estimates) the resultant absolute controlling hazard and risk values

  3. Incorrect Weighting of Absolute Performance in Self-Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeffrey, Scott A.; Cozzarin, Brian

    Students spend much of their life in an attempt to assess their aptitude for numerous tasks. For example, they expend a great deal of effort to determine their academic standing given a distribution of grades. This research finds that students use their absolute performance, or percentage correct as a yardstick for their self-assessment, even when relative standing is much more informative. An experiment shows that this reliance on absolute performance for self-evaluation causes a misallocation of time and financial resources. Reasons for this inappropriate responsiveness to absolute performance are explored.

  4. Mammographic Density Phenotypes and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graff, Rebecca E.; Ursin, Giske; dos Santos Silva, Isabel; McCormack, Valerie; Baglietto, Laura; Vachon, Celine; Bakker, Marije F.; Giles, Graham G.; Chia, Kee Seng; Czene, Kamila; Eriksson, Louise; Hall, Per; Hartman, Mikael; Warren, Ruth M. L.; Hislop, Greg; Chiarelli, Anna M.; Hopper, John L.; Krishnan, Kavitha; Li, Jingmei; Li, Qing; Pagano, Ian; Rosner, Bernard A.; Wong, Chia Siong; Scott, Christopher; Stone, Jennifer; Maskarinec, Gertraud; Boyd, Norman F.; van Gils, Carla H.

    2014-01-01

    Background Fibroglandular breast tissue appears dense on mammogram, whereas fat appears nondense. It is unclear whether absolute or percentage dense area more strongly predicts breast cancer risk and whether absolute nondense area is independently associated with risk. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of 13 case–control studies providing results from logistic regressions for associations between one standard deviation (SD) increments in mammographic density phenotypes and breast cancer risk. We used random-effects models to calculate pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All tests were two-sided with P less than .05 considered to be statistically significant. Results Among premenopausal women (n = 1776 case patients; n = 2834 control subjects), summary odds ratios were 1.37 (95% CI = 1.29 to 1.47) for absolute dense area, 0.78 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.86) for absolute nondense area, and 1.52 (95% CI = 1.39 to 1.66) for percentage dense area when pooling estimates adjusted for age, body mass index, and parity. Corresponding odds ratios among postmenopausal women (n = 6643 case patients; n = 11187 control subjects) were 1.38 (95% CI = 1.31 to 1.44), 0.79 (95% CI = 0.73 to 0.85), and 1.53 (95% CI = 1.44 to 1.64). After additional adjustment for absolute dense area, associations between absolute nondense area and breast cancer became attenuated or null in several studies and summary odds ratios became 0.82 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.94; P heterogeneity = .02) for premenopausal and 0.85 (95% CI = 0.75 to 0.96; P heterogeneity women. Conclusions The results suggest that percentage dense area is a stronger breast cancer risk factor than absolute dense area. Absolute nondense area was inversely associated with breast cancer risk, but it is unclear whether the association is independent of absolute dense area. PMID:24816206

  5. Presenting risk information to people with diabetes: evaluating effects and preferences for different formats by a web-based randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Adrian; Thomas, Richard; Williams, Rhys; Ellner, Andrew L; Brown, Polly; Elwyn, Glyn

    2006-11-01

    Web-based patient information is widespread and information on the benefits and risks of treatments is often difficult to understand. We therefore evaluated different risk presentation formats - numerical, graphical and others - addressing the pros and cons of tight control versus usual treatment approaches for diabetes. Randomised controlled trial. Online. Publicity disseminated via Diabetes UK. People with diabetes or their carers. Control group information based on British Medical Journal 'Best Treatments'. Four intervention groups received enhanced information resources: (1) detailed numerical information (absolute/relative risk, numbers-needed-to-treat); (2) 'anchoring' to familiar risks or descriptions; (3) graphical (bar charts, thermometer scales, crowd figure formats); (4) combination of 1-3. Decision conflict scale (DCS, a measure of uncertainty); satisfaction with information; further free text responses for qualitative content analysis. Seven hundred and ten people visited the website and were randomised. Five hundred and eight completed the questionnaire for quantitative data. Mean DCS scores ranged from 2.12 to 2.24 for the five randomisation groups, indicating neither clear delay or vacillation about decisions (usually DCS>2.5) nor tending to make decisions (usually DCSOnline evaluation of different risk representation formats was feasible. There was a lack of intervention effects on quantitative outcomes, perhaps reflecting already well-informed participants from the Diabetes UK patient organisation. The large qualitative dataset included many comments about what participants found helpful as formats for communicating risk information. These findings assist the design of online decision aids and the representation of risk information. The challenge is to provide more information, in appropriate and clear formats, but without risking information overload. Interactive web designs hold much promise to achieve this.

  6. Evidence for Absolute Moral Opposition to Genetically Modified Food in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Sydney E; Inbar, Yoel; Rozin, Paul

    2016-05-01

    Public opposition to genetic modification (GM) technology in the food domain is widespread (Frewer et al., 2013). In a survey of U.S. residents representative of the population on gender, age, and income, 64% opposed GM, and 71% of GM opponents (45% of the entire sample) were "absolutely" opposed-that is, they agreed that GM should be prohibited no matter the risks and benefits. "Absolutist" opponents were more disgust sensitive in general and more disgusted by the consumption of genetically modified food than were non-absolutist opponents or supporters. Furthermore, disgust predicted support for legal restrictions on genetically modified foods, even after controlling for explicit risk-benefit assessments. This research suggests that many opponents are evidence insensitive and will not be influenced by arguments about risks and benefits. © The Author(s) 2016.

  7. Social representations of human papillomavirus in Bogotá, Colombia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiesner, Carolina; Acosta, Jesús; Díaz Del Castillo, Adriana; Tovar, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    Identifying DNA of Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been proposed as a new screening method for cervical cancer control. Conventionally, health education for screening programs is based on scientific information without considering any community cognitive processes. We examine HPV social representations of 124 men and women from diverse educational status living in Bogotá, Colombia. The social representation of HPV involves a series of figurative nuclei derived from meanings linked to scientific information. While women focused on symbols associated to contagion, men focused on its venereal character. Figurative nuclei also included long-term uncertainty, need or urgent treatment, and feelings of imminent death associated with cancer and chronic sexually transmitted infections. The social representation of HPV impeded many participants from clearly understanding written information about HPV transmission, clearance, and cancer risk; they are built into a framework of values, which must be deconstructed to allow women full participation in HPV screening programs.

  8. Absolute instrumental neutron activation analysis at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heft, R.E.

    1977-01-01

    The Environmental Science Division at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has in use a system of absolute Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Basically, absolute INAA is dependent upon the absolute measurement of the disintegration rates of the nuclides produced by neutron capture. From such disintegration rate data, the amount of the target element present in the irradiated sample is calculated by dividing the observed disintegration rate for each nuclide by the expected value for the disintegration rate per microgram of the target element that produced the nuclide. In absolute INAA, the expected value for disintegration rate per microgram is calculated from nuclear parameters and from measured values of both thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes which were present during irradiation. Absolute INAA does not depend on the concurrent irradiation of elemental standards but does depend on the values for thermal and epithermal neutron capture cross-sections for the target nuclides. A description of the analytical method is presented

  9. Pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism and risk of occult cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarp Hansen, Anette; Veres, Katalin; Horváth-Puhó, Erzsébet

    2017-01-01

    The cancer risk during the first year after a pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism episode is higher than expected.An aggressive search for cancer in women with pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism is probably not warranted, due to low absolute risk.......The cancer risk during the first year after a pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism episode is higher than expected.An aggressive search for cancer in women with pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism is probably not warranted, due to low absolute risk....

  10. Pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism and risk of occult cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Anette Tarp; Veres, Katalin; Horváth-Puhó, Erzsébet

    2017-01-01

    The cancer risk during the first year after a pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism episode is higher than expected. An aggressive search for cancer in women with pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism is probably not warranted, due to low absolute risk.......The cancer risk during the first year after a pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism episode is higher than expected. An aggressive search for cancer in women with pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism is probably not warranted, due to low absolute risk....

  11. Geometrical Description in Binary Composites and Spectral Density Representation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enis Tuncer

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In this review, the dielectric permittivity of dielectric mixtures is discussed in view of the spectral density representation method. A distinct representation is derived for predicting the dielectric properties, permittivities ε, of mixtures. The presentation of the dielectric properties is based on a scaled permittivity approach, ξ = (εe − εm(εi − εm−1, where the subscripts e, m and i denote the dielectric permittivities of the effective, matrix and inclusion media, respectively [Tuncer, E. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 2005, 17, L125]. This novel representation transforms the spectral density formalism to a form similar to the distribution of relaxation times method of dielectric relaxation. Consequently, I propose that any dielectric relaxation formula, i.e., the Havriliak-Negami empirical dielectric relaxation expression, can be adopted as a scaled permittivity. The presented scaled permittivity representation has potential to be improved and implemented into the existing data analyzing routines for dielectric relaxation; however, the information to extract would be the topological/morphological description in mixtures. To arrive at the description, one needs to know the dielectric properties of the constituents and the composite prior to the spectral analysis. To illustrate the strength of the representation and confirm the proposed hypothesis, the Landau-Lifshitz/Looyenga (LLL [Looyenga, H. Physica 1965, 31, 401] expression is selected. The structural information of a mixture obeying LLL is extracted for different volume fractions of phases. Both an in-house computational tool based on the Monte Carlo method to solve inverse integral transforms and the proposed empirical scaled permittivity expression are employed to estimate the spectral density function of the LLL expression. The estimated spectral functions for mixtures with different inclusion concentration compositions show similarities; they are composed of a couple of bell

  12. Absolute Navigation Information Estimation for Micro Planetary Rovers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Ilyas

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides algorithms to estimate absolute navigation information, e.g., absolute attitude and position, by using low power, weight and volume Microelectromechanical Systems-type (MEMS sensors that are suitable for micro planetary rovers. Planetary rovers appear to be easily navigable robots due to their extreme slow speed and rotation but, unfortunately, the sensor suites available for terrestrial robots are not always available for planetary rover navigation. This makes them difficult to navigate in a completely unexplored, harsh and complex environment. Whereas the relative attitude and position can be tracked in a similar way as for ground robots, absolute navigation information, unlike in terrestrial applications, is difficult to obtain for a remote celestial body, such as Mars or the Moon. In this paper, an algorithm called the EASI algorithm (Estimation of Attitude using Sun sensor and Inclinometer is presented to estimate the absolute attitude using a MEMS-type sun sensor and inclinometer, only. Moreover, the output of the EASI algorithm is fused with MEMS gyros to produce more accurate and reliable attitude estimates. An absolute position estimation algorithm has also been presented based on these on-board sensors. Experimental results demonstrate the viability of the proposed algorithms and the sensor suite for low-cost and low-weight micro planetary rovers.

  13. Development of cancer risk estimates from epidemiologic studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webster, E.W.

    1983-01-01

    Radiation risk estimates may be made for an increase in mortality from, or for an increase in incidence of, particular types of disease. For both endpoints, two numerical systems of risk expression are used: the absolute risk system (usually the excess deaths or cases per million persons per year per rad), and the relative risk system (usually excess deaths or cases per year per rad expressed as a percentage of those normally expected). Risks may be calculated for specific age groups or for a general population. An alternative in both risk systems is the estimation of cumulative of lifetime risk rather than annual risk (e.g. in excess deaths per million per rad over a specified long period including the remainder of lifespan). The derivation of both absolute and relative risks is illustrated by examples. The effects on risk estimates of latent period, follow-up time, age at exposure and age standardization within dose groups are illustrated. The dependence of the projected cumulative (lifetime) risk on the adoption of a constant absolute risk or constant relative risk is noted. The use of life-table data in the adjustment of cumulative risk for normal mortality following single or annual doses is briefly discussed

  14. Representation Elements of Spatial Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiantika, F. R.

    2017-04-01

    This paper aims to add a reference in revealing spatial thinking. There several definitions of spatial thinking but it is not easy to defining it. We can start to discuss the concept, its basic a forming representation. Initially, the five sense catch the natural phenomenon and forward it to memory for processing. Abstraction plays a role in processing information into a concept. There are two types of representation, namely internal representation and external representation. The internal representation is also known as mental representation; this representation is in the human mind. The external representation may include images, auditory and kinesthetic which can be used to describe, explain and communicate the structure, operation, the function of the object as well as relationships. There are two main elements, representations properties and object relationships. These elements play a role in forming a representation.

  15. Absolute-magnitude distributions of supernovae

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richardson, Dean; Wright, John [Department of Physics, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA 70125 (United States); Jenkins III, Robert L. [Applied Physics Department, Richard Stockton College, Galloway, NJ 08205 (United States); Maddox, Larry, E-mail: drichar7@xula.edu [Department of Chemistry and Physics, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA 70402 (United States)

    2014-05-01

    The absolute-magnitude distributions of seven supernova (SN) types are presented. The data used here were primarily taken from the Asiago Supernova Catalogue, but were supplemented with additional data. We accounted for both foreground and host-galaxy extinction. A bootstrap method is used to correct the samples for Malmquist bias. Separately, we generate volume-limited samples, restricted to events within 100 Mpc. We find that the superluminous events (M{sub B} < –21) make up only about 0.1% of all SNe in the bias-corrected sample. The subluminous events (M{sub B} > –15) make up about 3%. The normal Ia distribution was the brightest with a mean absolute blue magnitude of –19.25. The IIP distribution was the dimmest at –16.75.

  16. Calibration with Absolute Shrinkage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Øjelund, Henrik; Madsen, Henrik; Thyregod, Poul

    2001-01-01

    In this paper, penalized regression using the L-1 norm on the estimated parameters is proposed for chemometric je calibration. The algorithm is of the lasso type, introduced by Tibshirani in 1996 as a linear regression method with bound on the absolute length of the parameters, but a modification...

  17. Comparison of Optimal Portfolios Selected by Multicriterial Model Using Absolute and Relative Criteria Values

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branka Marasović

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we select an optimal portfolio on the Croatian capital market by using the multicriterial programming. In accordance with the modern portfolio theory maximisation of returns at minimal risk should be the investment goal of any successful investor. However, contrary to the expectations of the modern portfolio theory, the tests carried out on a number of financial markets reveal the existence of other indicators important in portfolio selection. Considering the importance of variables other than return and risk, selection of the optimal portfolio becomes a multicriterial problem which should be solved by using the appropriate techniques.In order to select an optimal portfolio, absolute values of criteria, like return, risk, price to earning value ratio (P/E, price to book value ratio (P/B and price to sale value ratio (P/S are included in our multicriterial model. However the problem might occur as the mean values of some criteria are significantly different for different sectors and because financial managers emphasize that comparison of the same criteria for different sectors could lead us to wrong conclusions. In the second part of the paper, relative values of previously stated criteria (in relation to mean value of sector are included in model for selecting optimal portfolio. Furthermore, the paper shows that if relative values of criteria are included in multicriterial model for selecting optimal portfolio, return in subsequent period is considerably higher than if absolute values of the same criteria were used.

  18. Efficacy of intrahepatic absolute alcohol in unrespectable hepatocellular carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farooqi, J.I.; Hameed, K.; Khan, I.U.; Shah, S.

    2001-01-01

    To determine efficacy of intrahepatic absolute alcohol injection in researchable hepatocellular carcinoma. A randomized, controlled, experimental and interventional clinical trial. Gastroenterology Department, PGMI, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar during the period from June, 1998 to June, 2000. Thirty patients were treated by percutaneous, intrahepatic absolute alcohol injection sin repeated sessions, 33 patients were not given or treated with alcohol to serve as control. Both the groups were comparable for age, sex and other baseline characteristics. Absolute alcohol therapy significantly improved quality of life of patients, reduced the tumor size and mortality as well as showed significantly better results regarding survival (P< 0.05) than the patients of control group. We conclude that absolute alcohol is a beneficial and safe palliative treatment measure in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). (author)

  19. Planck absolute entropy of a rotating BTZ black hole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riaz, S. M. Jawwad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the Planck absolute entropy and the Bekenstein-Smarr formula of the rotating Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole are presented via a complex thermodynamical system contributed by its inner and outer horizons. The redefined entropy approaches zero as the temperature of the rotating BTZ black hole tends to absolute zero, satisfying the Nernst formulation of a black hole. Hence, it can be regarded as the Planck absolute entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole.

  20. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-06-05

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  1. Dependence of absolute magnitudes (energies) of flares on the cluster age containing flare stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parsamyan, Eh.S.

    1976-01-01

    Dependences between Δmsub(u) and msub(u) are given for the Orion, NGC 7000, Pleiades and Praesepe aggregations. Maximum absolute values of flares have been calculated for stars with different luminosities. It has been shown that the values of flares can be limited by a straight line which gives the representation on the distribution of maximum values of amplitudes for the stars with different luminosities in an aggregation. Presented are k and m 0 parameters characterizing the lines fot the Orion, NGC 7000, Pleiades and Praesepe aggregation and their age T dependence. From the dependence between k (angular coefficient of straight lines) and lgT for the aggregation with known T the age of those aggregation involving a great amount of flaring stars can be found. The age of flaring stars in the neighbourhood of the Sun has been determined. The age of UV Ceti has been shown by an order to exceed that of the rest stars

  2. Frame representations of quantum mechanics and the necessity of negativity in quasi-probability representations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrie, Christopher; Emerson, Joseph

    2008-01-01

    Several finite-dimensional quasi-probability representations of quantum states have been proposed to study various problems in quantum information theory and quantum foundations. These representations are often defined only on restricted dimensions and their physical significance in contexts such as drawing quantum-classical comparisons is limited by the non-uniqueness of the particular representation. Here we show how the mathematical theory of frames provides a unified formalism which accommodates all known quasi-probability representations of finite-dimensional quantum systems. Moreover, we show that any quasi-probability representation is equivalent to a frame representation and then prove that any such representation of quantum mechanics must exhibit either negativity or a deformed probability calculus. (fast track communication)

  3. Poetic representation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wulf-Andersen, Trine Østergaard

    2012-01-01

    , and dialogue, of situated participants. The article includes a lengthy example of a poetic representation of one participant’s story, and the author comments on the potentials of ‘doing’ poetic representations as an example of writing in ways that challenges what sometimes goes unasked in participative social...

  4. Representations of Attachment Relationships in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poehlmann, Julie

    2005-01-01

    Representations of attachment relationships were assessed in 54 children ages 2.5 to 7.5 years whose mothers were currently incarcerated. Consistent with their high-risk status, most (63%) children were classified as having insecure relationships with mothers and caregivers. Secure relationships were more likely when children lived in a stable…

  5. Attachment representations among substance-abusing women in transition to motherhood: implications for prenatal emotions and mother-infant interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isosävi, Sanna; Flykt, Marjo; Belt, Ritva; Posa, Tiina; Kuittinen, Saija; Puura, Kaija; Punamäki, Raija-Leena

    2016-08-01

    We studied how attachment representations contribute to central components of transition to motherhood, prenatal emotion processing (EP) and emotional availability (EA) of mother-infant interaction, and whether there are group specific differences. Participants were 51 treatment-enrolled substance-abusing (SA) mothers and their infants and 50 non-using comparison dyads with obstetric risk. Mother's attachment representations (AAI) and EP were assessed prenatally and EA when infants were four months. Results showed that autonomous attachment only had a buffering effect on prenatal EP among comparisons. All SA mothers showed more dysfunctional EP than comparisons and, contrary to comparisons, autonomous SA mothers reported more negative cognitive appraisals and less meta-evaluation of emotions than dismissing SA mothers. Preoccupied SA mothers showed high negative cognitive appraisals, suggesting under-regulation of emotions. Attachment representations were not associated with EA in either group; rather, SA status contributed to global risk in the relationship. Surprisingly, autonomous SA mothers showed a tendency towards intrusiveness. We propose that obstetric risk among comparisons and adverse relational experiences among almost all SA mothers might override the protective role of mother's autonomous representations for dyadic interaction. We conclude that prenatal emotional turbulence and high interaction risk of all SA mothers calls for holistic treatment for the dyad.

  6. Understanding representations in design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bødker, Susanne

    1998-01-01

    Representing computer applications and their use is an important aspect of design. In various ways, designers need to externalize design proposals and present them to other designers, users, or managers. This article deals with understanding design representations and the work they do in design....... The article is based on a series of theoretical concepts coming out of studies of scientific and other work practices and on practical experiences from design of computer applications. The article presents alternatives to the ideas that design representations are mappings of present or future work situations...... and computer applications. It suggests that representations are primarily containers of ideas and that representation is situated at the same time as representations are crossing boundaries between various design and use activities. As such, representations should be carriers of their own contexts regarding...

  7. Absolutism versus doceañista liberalism. The Visual Counterattack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Reyero

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to identify some dominants themes within absolutists discourses and to sketch out how they are translated to images, in order to persuade against and to denigrate liberalism. Descriptions of public ornaments in events honoring king Ferdinand VII in 1814 and 1823 are used as the main reference sources. Absolutism is recognized looking for associations between images and words, resemblances, metaphors, symbols and iconographic matches. Visual imagery to achieve absolutist goal emphasized the primacy of the king, the rhetoric of vassalage, a strong motherland, the uniqueness of religion, and the exclusion of the political enemy. In order to totally eliminate the constitutional risk, the tradition was presented as a paradise of peace and happiness.

  8. Covariant representations of nuclear *-algebras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, S.M.

    1978-01-01

    Extensions of the Csup(*)-algebra theory for covariant representations to nuclear *-algebra are considered. Irreducible covariant representations are essentially unique, an invariant state produces a covariant representation with stable vacuum, and the usual relation between ergodic states and covariant representations holds. There exist construction and decomposition theorems and a possible relation between derivations and covariant representations

  9. Absolute risk of suicide after first hospital contact in mental disorder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordentoft, Merete; Mortensen, Preben Bo; Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker

    2011-01-01

    Estimates of lifetime risk of suicide in mental disorders were based on selected samples with incomplete follow-up.......Estimates of lifetime risk of suicide in mental disorders were based on selected samples with incomplete follow-up....

  10. Approach to Absolute Zero

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 2; Issue 10. Approach to Absolute Zero Below 10 milli-Kelvin. R Srinivasan. Series Article Volume 2 Issue 10 October 1997 pp 8-16. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/002/10/0008-0016 ...

  11. Social representations of biosecurity in nursing: occupational health and preventive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sousa, Álvaro Francisco Lopes de; Queiroz, Artur Acelino Francisco Luz Nunes; Oliveira, Layze Braz de; Moura, Maria Eliete Batista; Batista, Odinéa Maria Amorim; Andrade, Denise de

    2016-01-01

    to understand the biosecurity social representations by primary care nursing professionals and analyze how they articulate with quality of care. exploratory and qualitative research based on social representation theory. The study participants were 36 nursing workers from primary health care in a state capital in the Northeast region of Brazil. The data were analyzed by descending hierarchical classification. five classes were obtained: occupational accidents suffered by professionals; occupational exposure to biological agents; biosecurity management in primary health care; the importance of personal protective equipment; and infection control and biosecurity. the different positions taken by the professionals seem to be based on a field of social representations related to the concept of biosecurity, namely exposure to accidents and risks to which they are exposed. However, occupational accidents are reported as inherent to the practice.

  12. Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidel, Y; Zahzam, N; Blanchard, C; Bonnin, A; Cadoret, M; Bresson, A; Rouxel, D; Lequentrec-Lalancette, M F

    2018-02-12

    Measuring gravity from an aircraft or a ship is essential in geodesy, geophysics, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, and navigation. Today, only relative sensors are available for onboard gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints. Atom interferometry is a promising technology to obtain onboard absolute gravimeter. But, despite high performances obtained in static condition, no precise measurements were reported in dynamic. Here, we present absolute gravity measurements from a ship with a sensor based on atom interferometry. Despite rough sea conditions, we obtained precision below 10 -5  m s -2 . The atom gravimeter was also compared with a commercial spring gravimeter and showed better performances. This demonstration opens the way to the next generation of inertial sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) based on atom interferometry which should provide high-precision absolute measurements from a moving platform.

  13. Standard model of knowledge representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Wensheng

    2016-09-01

    Knowledge representation is the core of artificial intelligence research. Knowledge representation methods include predicate logic, semantic network, computer programming language, database, mathematical model, graphics language, natural language, etc. To establish the intrinsic link between various knowledge representation methods, a unified knowledge representation model is necessary. According to ontology, system theory, and control theory, a standard model of knowledge representation that reflects the change of the objective world is proposed. The model is composed of input, processing, and output. This knowledge representation method is not a contradiction to the traditional knowledge representation method. It can express knowledge in terms of multivariate and multidimensional. It can also express process knowledge, and at the same time, it has a strong ability to solve problems. In addition, the standard model of knowledge representation provides a way to solve problems of non-precision and inconsistent knowledge.

  14. Redetermination and absolute configuration of atalaphylline

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoong-Kun Fun

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The title acridone alkaloid [systematic name: 1,3,5-trihydroxy-2,4-bis(3-methylbut-2-enylacridin-9(10H-one], C23H25NO4, has previously been reported as crystallizing in the chiral orthorhombic space group P212121 [Chantrapromma et al. (2010. Acta Cryst. E66, o81–o82] but the absolute configuration could not be determined from data collected with Mo radiation. The absolute configuration has now been determined by refinement of the Flack parameter with data collected using Cu radiation. All features of the molecule and its crystal packing are similar to those previously described.

  15. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-01-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m 2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m 2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  16. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  17. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moseev, D., E-mail: dmitry.moseev@ipp.mpg.de; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V. [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Greifswald (Germany); Gellert, F. [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Greifswald (Germany); Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald (Germany); Oosterbeek, J. W. [Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

    2016-08-15

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m{sup 2} per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m{sup 2} per MW injected beam power is measured.

  18. Talking about sunbed tanning: Social representations and identity-work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Jennifer; Murray, Michael; Lamont, Alexandra

    2017-07-01

    Despite the publicised health risks associated with its usage, sunbed tanning remains popular in many Western countries. Previous research indicates that knowledge of the harmful effects does not necessarily lead to a reduction in sunbed use. The aim of this study was to develop a more extensive social psychological understanding of sunbed use, in the United Kingdom, by exploring the social representations of sunbed tanning held by both those who use and who have never used sunbeds. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 sunbed users and 10 who had never used a sunbed. A thematic analysis identified two dimensions in the social representations of both the users and non-users; these were concerned with a) health and b) beauty. However, whereas non-users emphasised the health risks, users downplayed and minimised them, instead emphasising the health benefits. Similarly, whereas non-users emphasised the negative aspects of excessive concern with beauty, sunbed users challenged and distanced themselves from this negativity. Sunbed users were engaged in a form of identity-work to protect themselves from the wider negativity and disapproval of which they were aware. Theoretically, social representations theory has provided a unique lens through which to explore this topic, highlighting the importance of taking into consideration the wider environment in which sunbed use takes place. Preliminary practical suggestions include that health workers should consider identity-work when designing interventions aimed at reducing sunbed use. Findings also suggest that, rather than continuing to educate sunbed users about the risks, campaigns and interventions should challenge the commonly drawn upon arguments about the health benefits. These benefits emerged as a particularly powerful discursive tool for the sunbed users in helping to justify their behaviour, but also to counteract negative stereotypes and assumptions they knew others held of them. Copyright © 2017

  19. Absolute magnitudes by statistical parallaxes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heck, A.

    1978-01-01

    The author describes an algorithm for stellar luminosity calibrations (based on the principle of maximum likelihood) which allows the calibration of relations of the type: Msub(i)=sup(N)sub(j=1)Σqsub(j)Csub(ij), i=1,...,n, where n is the size of the sample at hand, Msub(i) are the individual absolute magnitudes, Csub(ij) are observational quantities (j=1,...,N), and qsub(j) are the coefficients to be determined. If one puts N=1 and Csub(iN)=1, one has q 1 =M(mean), the mean absolute magnitude of the sample. As additional output, the algorithm provides one also with the dispersion in magnitude of the sample sigmasub(M), the mean solar motion (U,V,W) and the corresponding velocity ellipsoid (sigmasub(u), sigmasub(v), sigmasub(w). The use of this algorithm is illustrated. (Auth.)

  20. Converting boundary representation solid models to half-space representation models for Monte Carlo analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, J. E.; Eddy, M. J.; Sutton, T. M.; Altomari, T. J.

    2007-01-01

    Solid modeling computer software systems provide for the design of three-dimensional solid models used in the design and analysis of physical components. The current state-of-the-art in solid modeling representation uses a boundary representation format in which geometry and topology are used to form three-dimensional boundaries of the solid. The geometry representation used in these systems is cubic B-spline curves and surfaces - a network of cubic B-spline functions in three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate space. Many Monte Carlo codes, however, use a geometry representation in which geometry units are specified by intersections and unions of half-spaces. This paper describes an algorithm for converting from a boundary representation to a half-space representation. (authors)

  1. The Framingham Risk Function Underestimated Absolute Coronary Heart Disease Risk in Czech Men

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Reissigová, Jindra; Zvárová, Jana

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 46, č. 1 (2007), s. 43-49 ISSN 0026-1270 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : external validation * Framingham risk function * coronary heart disease Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 1.451, year: 2007

  2. [Tobacco and plastic surgery: An absolute contraindication?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matusiak, C; De Runz, A; Maschino, H; Brix, M; Simon, E; Claudot, F

    2017-08-01

    Smoking increases perioperative risk regarding wound healing, infection rate and failure of microsurgical procedures. There is no present consensus about plastic and aesthetic surgical indications concerning smoking patients. The aim of our study is to analyze French plastic surgeons practices concerning smokers. A questionnaire was send by e-mail to French plastic surgeons in order to evaluate their own operative indications: patient information about smoking dangers, pre- and postoperative delay of smoking cessation, type of intervention carried out, smoking cessation supports, use of screening test and smoking limit associated to surgery refusing were studied. Statistical tests were used to compare results according to practitioner activity (liberal or public), own smoking habits and time of installation. In 148 questionnaires, only one surgeon did not explain smoking risk. Of the surgeons, 49.3% proposed smoking-cessation supports, more frequently with public practice (P=0.019). In total, 85.4% of surgeons did not use screening tests. Years of installation affected operative indication with smoking patients (P=0.02). Pre- and postoperative smoking cessation delay were on average respectively 4 and 3 weeks in accordance with literature. Potential improvements could be proposed to smoking patients' care: smoking cessation assistance, screening tests, absolute contraindication of some procedures or level of consumption to determine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  3. The Past Is Present: Representations of Parents, Friends, and Romantic Partners Predict Subsequent Romantic Representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furman, Wyndol; Collibee, Charlene

    2018-01-01

    This study examined how representations of parent-child relationships, friendships, and past romantic relationships are related to subsequent romantic representations. Two-hundred 10th graders (100 female; M age  = 15.87 years) from diverse neighborhoods in a Western U.S. city were administered questionnaires and were interviewed to assess avoidant and anxious representations of their relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners. Participants then completed similar questionnaires and interviews about their romantic representations six more times over the next 7.5 years. Growth curve analyses revealed that representations of relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners each uniquely predicted subsequent romantic representations across development. Consistent with attachment and behavioral systems theory, representations of romantic relationships are revised by representations and experiences in other relationships. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  4. Comparison of additive (absolute) risk projection models and multiplicative (relative) risk projection models in estimating radiation-induced lifetime cancer risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kai, Michiaki; Kusama, Tomoko

    1990-01-01

    Lifetime cancer risk estimates depend on risk projection models. While the increasing lengths of follow-up observation periods of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki bring about changes in cancer risk estimates, the validity of the two risk projection models, the additive risk projection model (AR) and multiplicative risk projection model (MR), comes into question. This paper compares the lifetime risk or loss of life-expectancy between the two projection models on the basis of BEIR-III report or recently published RERF report. With Japanese cancer statistics the estimates of MR were greater than those of AR, but a reversal of these results was seen when the cancer hazard function for India was used. When we investigated the validity of the two projection models using epidemiological human data and animal data, the results suggested that MR was superior to AR with respect to temporal change, but there was little evidence to support its validity. (author)

  5. (Poetic) Representation, (Professional) Texts and “Young People at Risk”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wulf-Andersen, Trine Østergaard

    The paper considers the different ways young people were involved in the research process in a Danish research project with young people with social and psychological problems. Young people were involved in life story interviews and subsequently in the interpretation of material produced through...... and employed as a vehicle for certain kinds of participation, representation, and dialogue, of situated participants. The paper comments on the potentials of ‘doing’ poetic representations as an example of writing in ways which brings young people’s voices to the foreground, includes aspects which academic...... writing tends to marginalize, and challenges what sometimes goes unasked in (participative) social work research with young people at risk....

  6. Strongly nonlinear theory of rapid solidification near absolute stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kowal, Katarzyna N.; Altieri, Anthony L.; Davis, Stephen H.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the nonlinear evolution of the morphological deformation of a solid-liquid interface of a binary melt under rapid solidification conditions near two absolute stability limits. The first of these involves the complete stabilization of the system to cellular instabilities as a result of large enough surface energy. We derive nonlinear evolution equations in several limits in this scenario and investigate the effect of interfacial disequilibrium on the nonlinear deformations that arise. In contrast to the morphological stability problem in equilibrium, in which only cellular instabilities appear and only one absolute stability boundary exists, in disequilibrium the system is prone to oscillatory instabilities and a second absolute stability boundary involving attachment kinetics arises. Large enough attachment kinetics stabilize the oscillatory instabilities. We derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe the nonlinear development of the solid-liquid interface near this oscillatory absolute stability limit. We find that strong asymmetries develop with time. For uniform oscillations, the evolution equation for the interface reduces to the simple form f''+(βf')2+f =0 , where β is the disequilibrium parameter. Lastly, we investigate a distinguished limit near both absolute stability limits in which the system is prone to both cellular and oscillatory instabilities and derive a nonlinear evolution equation that captures the nonlinear deformations in this limit. Common to all these scenarios is the emergence of larger asymmetries in the resulting shapes of the solid-liquid interface with greater departures from equilibrium and larger morphological numbers. The disturbances additionally sharpen near the oscillatory absolute stability boundary, where the interface becomes deep-rooted. The oscillations are time-periodic only for small-enough initial amplitudes and their frequency depends on a single combination of physical parameters, including the

  7. [Teenagers' representations of food in the Pays de la Loire].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cailliez, Eric; Beauvineau, Gwenael; Baratin, Clément; Le Daheron, Betty; Poiron, Audrey; Coutan, Régis; Penchaud, Anne-Laurence; Huez, Jean-François

    2014-01-01

    The National Nutrition Health Study showed that the objectives of the National Nutrition Health Programme, launched in 2001 to promote the health of all French people, had not been achieved, especially in the adolescent population. The objective of this study was to identify teenagers' representations regarding food. It was carried out in order to more effectively tailor prevention messages to this particular population, which is particularly concerned by the "nutritional risk". Qualitative investigations by semi-directive interviews with 46 teenage volunteers,from 5 high schools in 2 departments in the west of France. A content analysis was conducted inductively after full transcript of the interviews. The study showed that nutrition was a means of autonomy and emancipation from the parental influence. Teenagers were suspicious and anxious about the health risks associated with processed food. Fast food restaurants were a "place for teenagers" synonymous with pleasure and freedom. They valued "organic" and "homemade" foods. The sexual representations of food consisted of a "slim" image for girls and a "virile" image for boys. A close relationship between food and living beings was responsible for refusal of certain types of food. Although prevention messages were integrated in various ways, they were effectively recalled by teenagers. The nutritional representations of teenagers are poorly known and sometimes contrary to commonly health beliefs and must be taken into account when preparing nutrition prevention programmes.

  8. Signifying Zika: heterogeneity in the representations of the virus by history of infection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilvan Ramalho Guedes

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Despite having been broadly advertised by the mass media, many negative consequences of the Zika virus have been less significant than originally predicted. It is likely that after a few months from the epidemic’s onset, personal experience with the virus has altered the person’s way to deal with the disease. This study explores the relation between exposure to Zika virus and the social representation of the epidemic. More specifically, one analyzes if increased exposure to the risk of Zika infection changes the characteristics of the web of meanings surrounding the epidemic. Between August and November of 2016, 150 interviews were conducted in the municipality of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Based on the Free Words Association Technique, data on evocations related to the Zika virus were modeled by social network analysis, allowing the characterization of the web of meanings by level of exposure to the risk of Zika infection. The analysis performed here suggests that those never infected by any disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito have a lesser representation, incorporating information from the media through lay thinking. In contrast to those with low levels of exposure, the social representation of people infected by Zika is associated with meanings related to the most common symptoms, such as pain, rash, and itching. Personal experience seems to shape the social representation of the disease, increasing the focus on its proximate consequences. Public campaigns designed to foster protective behavior should take into consideration the heterogeneity in the representations of this epidemic to improve adherence to preventive behavior.

  9. [Attachment Representation and Emotion Regulation in Patients with Burnout Syndrome].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söllner, Wolfgang; Behringer, Johanna; Böhme, Stephanie; Stein, Barbara; Reiner, Iris; Spangler, Gottfried

    2016-06-01

    Burnout describes a syndrome of exhaustion resulting from insufficient coping with work-related distress. We investigated if patients that are being clinically treated for burnout show insecure and unresolved attachment representation more often compared with healthy controls. 50 out of 60 consecutive burnout patients participated in the study. Mental representation of attachment was measured by using the Adult Attachment Interview. Additionally, we administered the Self Report Questionnaire to Assess Emotional Experience and Emotion Regulation and several burnout specific questionnaires. A population sample was used as control group. Burnout patients were classified as insecurely attached significantly more often than controls. Unresolved attachment status concerning loss or trauma was found significantly more often within the burnout sample. Patients with insecure attachment representation reported a lower subjective significance of work. Patients with avoidant insecure attachment showed more depersonalisation. Patients with unresolved loss/trauma reported less social support. They showed more passive-negative emotion experience and emotion regulation characterized by externalization. The results of the study suggest that an insecure or unresolved attachment representation might constitute an intrapersonal risk factor for the development of burnout syndrome. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  10. Quantification of margins and uncertainties: Alternative representations of epistemic uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helton, Jon C.; Johnson, Jay D.

    2011-01-01

    In 2001, the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with the national security laboratories (i.e., Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories) initiated development of a process designated Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU) for the use of risk assessment methodologies in the certification of the reliability and safety of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. A previous presentation, 'Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties: Conceptual and Computational Basis,' describes the basic ideas that underlie QMU and illustrates these ideas with two notional examples that employ probability for the representation of aleatory and epistemic uncertainty. The current presentation introduces and illustrates the use of interval analysis, possibility theory and evidence theory as alternatives to the use of probability theory for the representation of epistemic uncertainty in QMU-type analyses. The following topics are considered: the mathematical structure of alternative representations of uncertainty, alternative representations of epistemic uncertainty in QMU analyses involving only epistemic uncertainty, and alternative representations of epistemic uncertainty in QMU analyses involving a separation of aleatory and epistemic uncertainty. Analyses involving interval analysis, possibility theory and evidence theory are illustrated with the same two notional examples used in the presentation indicated above to illustrate the use of probability to represent aleatory and epistemic uncertainty in QMU analyses.

  11. The persistence of risk levels of general equity funds in an emerging market economy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rousseau Lötter

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The persistence of risk levels of local General Equity unit trusts is evaluated. Variations in absolute and market-adjusted returns are measured to determine whether investors can use historical risk as a proxy for future risk levels. The General Equity funds are fairly homogenous, and different funds should exhibit stable risk levels if the fund managers’ investment mandates and investment styles remain stable over time. The results indicate a degree of absolute and market-adjusted risk stability over time. The market-adjusted risk and return relationship remained stable through the 2008 global crises, indicating that, on average, the fund managers maintained their benchmark-related risk exposures. Both the absolute and market-adjusted results indicate no statistically significant relationship between risk and return for the 2000 to 2012 period.

  12. The persistence of risk levels of general equity funds in an emerging market economy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rousseau Lötter

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The persistence of risk levels of local General Equity unit trusts is evaluated. Variations in absolute and market-adjusted returns are measured to determine whether investors can use historical risk as a proxy for future risk levels. The General Equity funds are fairly homogenous, and different funds should exhibit stable risk levels if the fund managers’ investment mandates and investment styles remain stable over time. The results indicate a degree of absolute and market-adjusted risk stability over time. The market-adjusted risk and return relationship remained stable through the 2008 global crises, indicating that, on average, the fund managers maintained their benchmark-related risk exposures. Both the absolute and market-adjusted results indicate no statistically significant relationship between risk and return for the 2000 to 2012 period.

  13. Thyroid Cancer Risk Assessment Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    The R package thyroid implements a risk prediction model developed by NCI researchers to calculate the absolute risk of developing a second primary thyroid cancer (SPTC) in individuals who were diagnosed with a cancer during their childhood.

  14. Forcing absoluteness and regularity properties

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ikegami, D.

    2010-01-01

    For a large natural class of forcing notions, we prove general equivalence theorems between forcing absoluteness statements, regularity properties, and transcendence properties over L and the core model K. We use our results to answer open questions from set theory of the reals.

  15. Volta-Based Cells Materials Chemical Multiple Representation to Improve Ability of Student Representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helsy, I.; Maryamah; Farida, I.; Ramdhani, M. A.

    2017-09-01

    This study aimed to describe the application of teaching materials, analyze the increase in the ability of students to connect the three levels of representation and student responses after application of multiple representations based teaching materials chemistry. The method used quasi one-group pretest-posttest design to 71 students. The results showed the application of teaching materials carried 88% with very good category. A significant increase ability to connect the three levels of representation of students after the application of multiple representations based teaching materials chemistry with t-value > t-crit (11.402 > 1.991). Recapitulation N-gain pretest and posttest showed relatively similar for all groups is 0.6 criterion being achievement. Students gave a positive response to the application of multiple representations based teaching materials chemistry. Students agree teaching materials used in teaching chemistry (88%), and agrees teaching materials to provide convenience in connecting the three levels of representation (95%).

  16. Introduction to computer data representation

    CERN Document Server

    Fenwick, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Introduction to Computer Data Representation introduces readers to the representation of data within computers. Starting from basic principles of number representation in computers, the book covers the representation of both integer and floating point numbers, and characters or text. It comprehensively explains the main techniques of computer arithmetic and logical manipulation. The book also features chapters covering the less usual topics of basic checksums and 'universal' or variable length representations for integers, with additional coverage of Gray Codes, BCD codes and logarithmic repre

  17. Representation Discovery using Harmonic Analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Mahadevan, Sridhar

    2008-01-01

    Representations are at the heart of artificial intelligence (AI). This book is devoted to the problem of representation discovery: how can an intelligent system construct representations from its experience? Representation discovery re-parameterizes the state space - prior to the application of information retrieval, machine learning, or optimization techniques - facilitating later inference processes by constructing new task-specific bases adapted to the state space geometry. This book presents a general approach to representation discovery using the framework of harmonic analysis, in particu

  18. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H.P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.J.; Oosterbeek, J.W.

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of

  19. Absolute tense forms in Tswana | Pretorius | Journal for Language ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    These views were compared in an attempt to put forth an applicable framework for the classification of the tenses in Tswana and to identify the absolute tenses of Tswana. Keywords: tense; simple tenses; compound tenses; absolute tenses; relative tenses; aspect; auxiliary verbs; auxiliary verbal groups; Tswana Opsomming

  20. Probative value of absolute and relative judgments in eyewitness identification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Steven E; Erickson, Michael A; Breneman, Jesse

    2011-10-01

    It is well-accepted that eyewitness identification decisions based on relative judgments are less accurate than identification decisions based on absolute judgments. However, the theoretical foundation for this view has not been established. In this study relative and absolute judgments were compared through simulations of the WITNESS model (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) to address the question: Do suspect identifications based on absolute judgments have higher probative value than suspect identifications based on relative judgments? Simulations of the WITNESS model showed a consistent advantage for absolute judgments over relative judgments for suspect-matched lineups. However, simulations of same-foils lineups showed a complex interaction based on the accuracy of memory and the similarity relationships among lineup members.

  1. Positioning, alignment and absolute pointing of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fehr, F; Distefano, C

    2010-01-01

    A precise detector alignment and absolute pointing is crucial for point-source searches. The ANTARES neutrino telescope utilises an array of hydrophones, tiltmeters and compasses for the relative positioning of the optical sensors. The absolute calibration is accomplished by long-baseline low-frequency triangulation of the acoustic reference devices in the deep-sea with a differential GPS system at the sea surface. The absolute pointing can be independently verified by detecting the shadow of the Moon in cosmic rays.

  2. Does Absolute Synonymy exist in Owere-Igbo? | Omego | AFRREV ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Among Igbo linguistic researchers, determining whether absolute synonymy exists in Owere–Igbo, a dialect of the Igbo language predominantly spoken by the people of Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, has become a thorny issue. While some linguistic scholars strive to establish that absolute synonymy exists in the lexical ...

  3. Sovereign default risk assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rijken, H.A.; Altman, E.I.

    2013-01-01

    We propose a new approach toward assessing sovereign risk by examining rigorously the health and aggregate default risk of a nation's private corporate sector. Models can be utilised to measure the probability of default of the non-financial sector cumulatively for five years, both as an absolute

  4. Colon Cancer Risk Assessment - Gauss Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    An executable file (in GAUSS) that projects absolute colon cancer risk (with confidence intervals) according to NCI’s Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (CCRAT) algorithm. GAUSS is not needed to run the program.

  5. Embedded data representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Willett, Wesley; Jansen, Yvonne; Dragicevic, Pierre

    2017-01-01

    We introduce embedded data representations, the use of visual and physical representations of data that are deeply integrated with the physical spaces, objects, and entities to which the data refers. Technologies like lightweight wireless displays, mixed reality hardware, and autonomous vehicles...

  6. Categorification and higher representation theory

    CERN Document Server

    Beliakova, Anna

    2017-01-01

    The emergent mathematical philosophy of categorification is reshaping our view of modern mathematics by uncovering a hidden layer of structure in mathematics, revealing richer and more robust structures capable of describing more complex phenomena. Categorified representation theory, or higher representation theory, aims to understand a new level of structure present in representation theory. Rather than studying actions of algebras on vector spaces where algebra elements act by linear endomorphisms of the vector space, higher representation theory describes the structure present when algebras act on categories, with algebra elements acting by functors. The new level of structure in higher representation theory arises by studying the natural transformations between functors. This enhanced perspective brings into play a powerful new set of tools that deepens our understanding of traditional representation theory. This volume exhibits some of the current trends in higher representation theory and the diverse te...

  7. Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaczor, C

    2001-02-01

    If one accepts a version of absolutism that excludes the intentional killing of any innocent human person from conception to natural death, ectopic pregnancy poses vexing difficulties. Given that the embryonic life almost certainly will die anyway, how can one retain one's moral principle and yet adequately respond to a situation that gravely threatens the life of the mother and her future fertility? The four options of treatment most often discussed in the literature are non-intervention, salpingectomy (removal of tube with embryo), salpingostomy (removal of embryo alone), and use of methotrexate (MXT). In this essay, I review these four options and introduce a fifth (the milking technique). In order to assess these options in terms of the absolutism mentioned, it will also be necessary to discuss various accounts of the intention/foresight distinction. I conclude that salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and the milking technique are compatible with absolutist presuppositions, but not the use of methotrexate.

  8. Quiver representations

    CERN Document Server

    Schiffler, Ralf

    2014-01-01

    This book is intended to serve as a textbook for a course in Representation Theory of Algebras at the beginning graduate level. The text has two parts. In Part I, the theory is studied in an elementary way using quivers and their representations. This is a very hands-on approach and requires only basic knowledge of linear algebra. The main tool for describing the representation theory of a finite-dimensional algebra is its Auslander-Reiten quiver, and the text introduces these quivers as early as possible. Part II then uses the language of algebras and modules to build on the material developed before. The equivalence of the two approaches is proved in the text. The last chapter gives a proof of Gabriel’s Theorem. The language of category theory is developed along the way as needed.

  9. Representational Classroom Practices that Contribute to Students' Conceptual and Representational Understanding of Chemical Bonding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, Annette; Nichols, Kim

    2011-11-01

    Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their content-specific forms and functions, this might be avoided. The development of an understanding of and ability to use multiple representations is crucial to students' understanding of chemical bonding. This paper draws on data from a larger study involving two Year 11 chemistry classes (n = 27, n = 22). It explores the contribution of explicit instruction about multiple representations to students' understanding and representation of chemical bonding. The instructional strategies were documented using audio-recordings and the teacher-researcher's reflection journal. Pre-test-post-test comparisons showed an improvement in conceptual understanding and representational competence. Analysis of the students' texts provided further evidence of the students' ability to use multiple representations to explain macroscopic phenomena on the molecular level. The findings suggest that explicit instruction about representational form and function contributes to the enhancement of representational competence and conceptual understanding of bonding in chemistry. However, the scaffolding strategies employed by the teacher play an important role in the learning process. This research has implications for professional development enhancing teachers' approaches to these aspects of instruction around chemical bonding.

  10. Centrality of the Concept of Representation in Sociotherapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scarcella Prandstraller Stefano

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available “Representation” is a relevant concept in many scientific disciplines, from linguistics to social psychology, but in sociotherapy, a branch of sociology dedicated to the intervention on individuals in situations of addiction or hardship of social origin, it becomes absolutely central. There are different approaches to sociotherapy, from the original one of Rudolf Steiner (1924, to those of Marshal Edelson (1970 and John Stuart Whiteley (1986, but it is the more recent one of Leonardo Benvenuti (2002 to fully integrate the concepts of “culture,” “discourse” and “representation.” This author, underlining the limited range of psychoanalysis, focuses his idea of therapy both on “culture,” interpreted as identification of the peculiar form of psychological organization of the patient as precondition to any intervention, and on “discourse” as method of interaction based on a dialogue supported by the phenomenological tool of “empathy.” The whole dialogue between the therapist and the patient is aimed to reach a complete knowledge of the system of “representations” of the latter. Benvenuti defines a “representation” as the combination of a cognitive element, the “image,” and an affective element, the “affective investment.” He looks for the roots of hardship or addiction in one or more “representations” of the patient, and this is the reason why they always must be unveiled and investigated. Only the successful intervention of the therapist on these representations and their correction in a desirable way may ensure the patient the acquisition of the needed level of autonomy and therefore the success of therapy.

  11. Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Health Inequalities across Age Groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Zon, Sander K R; Bültmann, Ute; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

    2015-01-01

    The magnitude of socioeconomic health inequalities differs across age groups. It is less clear whether socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by other factors that are known to affect the relation between socioeconomic position and health, like the indicator of socioeconomic position, the health outcome, gender, and as to whether socioeconomic health inequalities are measured in absolute or in relative terms. The aim is to investigate whether absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. The study sample was derived from the baseline measurement of the LifeLines Cohort Study and consisted of 95,432 participants. Socioeconomic position was measured as educational level and household income. Physical and mental health were measured with the RAND-36. Age concerned eleven 5-years age groups. Absolute inequalities were examined by comparing means. Relative inequalities were examined by comparing Gini-coefficients. Analyses were performed for both health outcomes by both educational level and household income. Analyses were performed for all age groups, and stratified by gender. Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome, and gender. Absolute inequalities were most pronounced for mental health by household income. They were larger in younger than older age groups. Relative inequalities were most pronounced for physical health by educational level. Gini-coefficients were largest in young age groups and smallest in older age groups. Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed cross-sectionally across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Researchers should critically consider the implications of choosing a specific age group, in addition to the indicator of socioeconomic position and health outcome

  12. Evolved Representation and Computational Creativity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashraf Fouad Hafez Ismail

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Advances in science and technology have influenced designing activity in architecture throughout its history. Observing the fundamental changes to architectural designing due to the substantial influences of the advent of the computing era, we now witness our design environment gradually changing from conventional pencil and paper to digital multi-media. Although designing is considered to be a unique human activity, there has always been a great dependency on design aid tools. One of the greatest aids to architectural design, amongst the many conventional and widely accepted computational tools, is the computer-aided object modeling and rendering tool, commonly known as a CAD package. But even though conventional modeling tools have provided designers with fast and precise object handling capabilities that were not available in the pencil-and-paper age, they normally show weaknesses and limitations in covering the whole design process.In any kind of design activity, the design worked on has to be represented in some way. For a human designer, designs are for example represented using models, drawings, or verbal descriptions. If a computer is used for design work, designs are usually represented by groups of pixels (paintbrush programs, lines and shapes (general-purpose CAD programs or higher-level objects like ‘walls’ and ‘rooms’ (purpose-specific CAD programs.A human designer usually has a large number of representations available, and can use the representation most suitable for what he or she is working on. Humans can also introduce new representations and thereby represent objects that are not part of the world they experience with their sensory organs, for example vector representations of four and five dimensional objects. In design computing on the other hand, the representation or representations used have to be explicitly defined. Many different representations have been suggested, often optimized for specific design domains

  13. Some things ought never be done: moral absolutes in clinical ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrino, Edmund D

    2005-01-01

    Moral absolutes have little or no moral standing in our morally diverse modern society. Moral relativism is far more palatable for most ethicists and to the public at large. Yet, when pressed, every moral relativist will finally admit that there are some things which ought never be done. It is the rarest of moral relativists that will take rape, murder, theft, child sacrifice as morally neutral choices. In general ethics, the list of those things that must never be done will vary from person to person. In clinical ethics, however, the nature of the physician-patient relationship is such that certain moral absolutes are essential to the attainment of the good of the patient - the end of the relationship itself. These are all derivatives of the first moral absolute of all morality: Do good and avoid evil. In the clinical encounter, this absolute entails several subsidiary absolutes - act for the good of the patient, do not kill, keep promises, protect the dignity of the patient, do not lie, avoid complicity with evil. Each absolute is intrinsic to the healing and helping ends of the clinical encounter.

  14. Relativistic Absolutism in Moral Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogt, W. Paul

    1982-01-01

    Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

  15. Involved Node, Site, Field and Residual Volume Radiotherapy for Lymphoma: A Comparison of Organ at Risk Dosimetry and Second Malignancy Risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, L; Sethugavalar, B; Robertshaw, H; Bayman, E; Thomas, E; Gilson, D; Prestwich, R J D

    2015-07-01

    Recent radiotherapy guidelines for lymphoma have included involved site radiotherapy (ISRT), involved node radiotherapy (INRT) and irradiation of residual volume after full-course chemotherapy. In the absence of late toxicity data, we aim to compare organ at risk (OAR) dose-metrics and calculated second malignancy risks. Fifteen consecutive patients who had received mediastinal radiotherapy were included. Four radiotherapy plans were generated for each patient using a parallel pair photon technique: (i) involved field radiotherapy (IFRT), (ii) ISRT, (iii) INRT, (iv) residual post-chemotherapy volume. The radiotherapy dose was 30 Gy in 15 fractions. The OARs evaluated were: breasts, lungs, thyroid, heart, oesophagus. Relative and absolute second malignancy rates were estimated using the concept of organ equivalent dose. Significance was defined as P risks of second cancers were significantly higher with IFRT compared with ISRT for lung, breast and thyroid; INRT and residual volume resulted in significantly lower relative risks compared with ISRT for lung, breast and thyroid. The median excess absolute risks of second cancers were consistently lowest for the residual technique and highest for IFRT in terms of thyroid, lung and breast cancers. The risk of oesophageal cancer was similar for all four techniques. Overall, the absolute risk of second cancers was very similar for ISRT and INRT. Decreasing treatment volumes from IFRT to ISRT, INRT or residual volume reduces radiation exposure to OARs. Second malignancy modelling suggests that this reduction in treatment volumes will lead to a reduction in absolute excess second malignancy. Little difference was observed in second malignancy risks between ISRT and INRT, supporting the use of ISRT in the absence of a pre-chemotherapy positron emission tomography scan in the radiotherapy treatment position. Copyright © 2015 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Operator representations of frames

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Ole; Hasannasab, Marzieh

    2017-01-01

    of the properties of the operator T requires more work. For example it is a delicate issue to obtain a representation with a bounded operator, and the availability of such a representation not only depends on the frame considered as a set, but also on the chosen indexing. Using results from operator theory we show......The purpose of this paper is to consider representations of frames {fk}k∈I in a Hilbert space ℋ of the form {fk}k∈I = {Tkf0}k∈I for a linear operator T; here the index set I is either ℤ or ℒ0. While a representation of this form is available under weak conditions on the frame, the analysis...... that by embedding the Hilbert space ℋ into a larger Hilbert space, we can always represent a frame via iterations of a bounded operator, composed with the orthogonal projection onto ℋ. The paper closes with a discussion of an open problem concerning representations of Gabor frames via iterations of a bounded...

  17. Group and representation theory

    CERN Document Server

    Vergados, J D

    2017-01-01

    This volume goes beyond the understanding of symmetries and exploits them in the study of the behavior of both classical and quantum physical systems. Thus it is important to study the symmetries described by continuous (Lie) groups of transformations. We then discuss how we get operators that form a Lie algebra. Of particular interest to physics is the representation of the elements of the algebra and the group in terms of matrices and, in particular, the irreducible representations. These representations can be identified with physical observables. This leads to the study of the classical Lie algebras, associated with unitary, unimodular, orthogonal and symplectic transformations. We also discuss some special algebras in some detail. The discussion proceeds along the lines of the Cartan-Weyl theory via the root vectors and root diagrams and, in particular, the Dynkin representation of the roots. Thus the representations are expressed in terms of weights, which are generated by the application of the elemen...

  18. Introduction to representation theory

    CERN Document Server

    Etingof, Pavel; Hensel, Sebastian; Liu, Tiankai; Schwendner, Alex

    2011-01-01

    Very roughly speaking, representation theory studies symmetry in linear spaces. It is a beautiful mathematical subject which has many applications, ranging from number theory and combinatorics to geometry, probability theory, quantum mechanics, and quantum field theory. The goal of this book is to give a "holistic" introduction to representation theory, presenting it as a unified subject which studies representations of associative algebras and treating the representation theories of groups, Lie algebras, and quivers as special cases. Using this approach, the book covers a number of standard topics in the representation theories of these structures. Theoretical material in the book is supplemented by many problems and exercises which touch upon a lot of additional topics; the more difficult exercises are provided with hints. The book is designed as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. It should be accessible to students with a strong background in linear algebra and a basic k...

  19. Impact of obstetric history on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in singleton and multiple pregnancies: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazemier, B M; Buijs, P E; Mignini, L; Limpens, J; de Groot, C J M; Mol, B W J

    2014-09-01

    Information about the recurrence of spontaneous preterm birth in subsequent twin/singleton pregnancies is scattered. To quantify the risk of recurrence of spontaneous preterm birth in different subtypes of subsequent pregnancies. An electronic literature search in OVID MEDLINE and EMBASE, complemented by PubMed, to find recent studies. Studies comparing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth after a previous preterm and previous term pregnancy. The absolute risk of recurrence with a 95% confidence interval and the absolute risk of preterm birth after a term delivery were calculated. Data from studies were pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel method. We detected 13 relevant studies. The risk of recurrence of preterm birth was significantly increased in all preterm pregnancy subtypes, compared with their term counterparts. Women pregnant with twins after a previous preterm singleton had the highest absolute risk of recurrence (57.0%, 95% CI 51.9-61.9%), and after a previous term singleton their absolute risk was 25% (95% CI 24.3-26.5%). Women pregnant with a singleton after a previous preterm twin pregnancy have an absolute recurrence risk of 10% (95% CI 8.2-12.3%), whereas a singleton pregnancy after delivering a previous twin up to term yields a low absolute risk of only 1.3% (95% CI 0.8-2.2). Women pregnant with a singleton after a previous preterm singleton have an absolute recurrence risk of 20% (95% CI 19.9-20.6). The risk of recurrence of preterm birth is influenced by the singleton/twin order in both pregnancies, and varies between 10% for a singleton after previous preterm twins to 57% for twins after a previous preterm singleton. © 2014 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

  20. Effekten af absolut kumulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kyvsgaard, Britta; Klement, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Som led i finansloven for 2011 blev regeringen og forligspartierne enige om at undersøge reglerne om strafudmåling ved samtidig pådømmelse af flere kriminelle forhold og i forbindelse hermed vurdere konsekvenserne af at ændre de gældende regler i forhold til kapacitetsbehovet i Kriminalforsorgens...... samlet bødesum ved en absolut kumulation i forhold til en modereret kumulation, som nu er gældende....

  1. Competing or co-existing? Representations of HIV/AIDS by white ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study explores the social representations of HIV and AIDS that circulate among white women teachers in South Africa, a group whose personal risk of the disease is low but who have a major role to play in shaping attitudes to HIV/AIDS among children and young people. The study examines how white women talk ...

  2. Some absolutely effective product methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. P. Dikshit

    1992-01-01

    Full Text Available It is proved that the product method A(C,1, where (C,1 is the Cesàro arithmetic mean matrix, is totally effective under certain conditions concerning the matrix A. This general result is applied to study absolute Nörlund summability of Fourier series and other related series.

  3. Absolute measurement method of environment radon content

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji Changsong

    1989-11-01

    A portable environment radon content device with a 40 liter decay chamber based on the method of Thomas double filter radon content absolute measurement has been developed. The correctness of the method of Thomas double filter absolute measurement has been verified by the experiments to measure the sampling gas density of radon that the theoretical density has been known. In addition, the intrinsic uncertainty of this method is also determined in the experiments. The confidence of this device is about 95%, the sensitivity is better than 0.37 Bqm -3 and the intrinsic uncertainty is less than 10%. The results show that the selected measuring and structure parameters are reasonable and the experimental methods are acceptable. In this method, the influence on the measured values from the radioactive equilibrium of radon and its daughters, the ratio of combination daughters to the total daughters and the fraction of charged particles has been excluded in the theory and experimental methods. The formula of Thomas double filter absolute measuring radon is applicable to the cylinder decay chamber, and the applicability is also verified when the diameter of exit filter is much smaller than the diameter of inlet filter

  4. Study on absolute humidity influence of NRL-1 measuring apparatus for radon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shan Jian; Xiao Detao; Zhao Guizhi; Zhou Qingzhi; Liu Yan; Qiu Shoukang; Meng Yecheng; Xiong Xinming; Liu Xiaosong; Ma Wenrong

    2014-01-01

    The absolute humidity and temperature's effects on the NRL-1 measuring apparatus for radon were studied in this paper. By controlling the radon activity concentration of the radon laboratory in University of South China and improving the temperature and humidity adjust strategy, different correction factor values under different absolute humidities were obtained. Moreover, a correction curve between 1.90 and 14.91 g/m"3 was also attained. The results show that in the case of absolute humidity, when it is less than 2.4 g/m"3, collection efficiency of the NRL-1 measuring apparatus for radon tends to be constant, and the correction factor of the absolute humidity closes to 1. However, the correction factor increases nonlinearly along with the absolute humidity. (authors)

  5. On Behavioral Equivalence of Rational Representations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trentelman, Harry L.; Willems, JC; Hara, S; Ohta, Y; Fujioka, H

    2010-01-01

    This article deals with the equivalence of representations of behaviors of linear differential systems In general. the behavior of a given linear differential system has many different representations. In this paper we restrict ourselves to kernel representations and image representations Two kernel

  6. Risk and Derivative Price

    OpenAIRE

    Yusuke Osaki

    2007-01-01

    We consider an asset market traded three types of assets: the risk–free asset, the market portfolio and derivatives written on the market portfolio return. We determine a sufficient condition to guarantee that noise risk monotonically changes their derivatives. The condition is that Arrow–Pratt absolute risk aversion is decreasing and convex.

  7. Functional representations for quantized fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jackiw, R.

    1988-01-01

    This paper provides information on Representing transformations in quantum theory bosonic quantum field theories: Schrodinger Picture; Represnting Transformations in Bosonic Quantum Field Theory; Two-Dimensional Conformal Transformations, Schrodinger picture representation, Fock space representation, Inequivalent Schrodinger picture representations; Discussion, Self-Dual and Other Models; Field Theory in de Sitter Space. Fermionic Quantum Field Theories: Schroedinger Picture; Schrodinger Picture Representation for Two-Dimensional; Conformal Transformations; Fock Space Dynamics in the Schrodinger Picture; Fock Space Evaluation of Anomalous Current and Conformal Commutators

  8. Genomic DNA-based absolute quantification of gene expression in Vitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gambetta, Gregory A; McElrone, Andrew J; Matthews, Mark A

    2013-07-01

    Many studies in which gene expression is quantified by polymerase chain reaction represent the expression of a gene of interest (GOI) relative to that of a reference gene (RG). Relative expression is founded on the assumptions that RG expression is stable across samples, treatments, organs, etc., and that reaction efficiencies of the GOI and RG are equal; assumptions which are often faulty. The true variability in RG expression and actual reaction efficiencies are seldom determined experimentally. Here we present a rapid and robust method for absolute quantification of expression in Vitis where varying concentrations of genomic DNA were used to construct GOI standard curves. This methodology was utilized to absolutely quantify and determine the variability of the previously validated RG ubiquitin (VvUbi) across three test studies in three different tissues (roots, leaves and berries). In addition, in each study a GOI was absolutely quantified. Data sets resulting from relative and absolute methods of quantification were compared and the differences were striking. VvUbi expression was significantly different in magnitude between test studies and variable among individual samples. Absolute quantification consistently reduced the coefficients of variation of the GOIs by more than half, often resulting in differences in statistical significance and in some cases even changing the fundamental nature of the result. Utilizing genomic DNA-based absolute quantification is fast and efficient. Through eliminating error introduced by assuming RG stability and equal reaction efficiencies between the RG and GOI this methodology produces less variation, increased accuracy and greater statistical power. © 2012 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

  9. The protection of warranties and representations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spence, C.D.; Thusoo, N.

    1999-01-01

    Most acquisition contracts within the oil and gas industry consist of representations and warranties. The legal distinction between representations and warranties was explained as follows: a representation is a statement of fact made by the representor before making the contract, but a warranty is a statement of fact which forms part of the terms of the contract. The paper outlines the nature of a representation or warranty and explains why certain warranties are not given. The protection offered by representations and warranties in breach of contract cases is also explained. Suggestions are offered for increasing protection by representations and warranties. 22 refs

  10. Absolutely minimal extensions of functions on metric spaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milman, V A

    1999-01-01

    Extensions of a real-valued function from the boundary ∂X 0 of an open subset X 0 of a metric space (X,d) to X 0 are discussed. For the broad class of initial data coming under discussion (linearly bounded functions) locally Lipschitz extensions to X 0 that preserve localized moduli of continuity are constructed. In the set of these extensions an absolutely minimal extension is selected, which was considered before by Aronsson for Lipschitz initial functions in the case X 0 subset of R n . An absolutely minimal extension can be regarded as an ∞-harmonic function, that is, a limit of p-harmonic functions as p→+∞. The proof of the existence of absolutely minimal extensions in a metric space with intrinsic metric is carried out by the Perron method. To this end, ∞-subharmonic, ∞-superharmonic, and ∞-harmonic functions on a metric space are defined and their properties are established

  11. Risk aversion and compliance in markets for pollution control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stranlund, John K

    2008-07-01

    This paper examines the effects of risk aversion on compliance choices in markets for pollution control. A firm's decision to be compliant or not is independent of its manager's risk preference. However, non-compliant firms with risk-averse managers will have lower violations than otherwise identical firms with risk-neutral managers. The violations of non-compliant firms with risk-averse managers are independent of differences in their profit functions and their initial allocations of permits if and only if their managers' utility functions exhibit constant absolute risk aversion. However, firm-level characteristics do impact violation choices when managers have coefficients of absolute risk aversion that are increasing or decreasing in profit levels. Finally, in the equilibrium of a market for emissions rights with widespread non-compliance, risk aversion is associated with higher permit prices, better environmental quality, and lower aggregate violations.

  12. Absolute measurement of 152Eu

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baba, Hiroshi; Baba, Sumiko; Ichikawa, Shinichi; Sekine, Toshiaki; Ishikawa, Isamu

    1981-08-01

    A new method of the absolute measurement for 152 Eu was established based on the 4πβ-γ spectroscopic anti-coincidence method. It is a coincidence counting method consisting of a 4πβ-counter and a Ge(Li) γ-ray detector, in which the effective counting efficiencies of the 4πβ-counter for β-rays, conversion electrons, and Auger electrons were obtained by taking the intensity ratios for certain γ-rays between the single spectrum and the spectrum coincident with the pulses from the 4πβ-counter. First, in order to verify the method, three different methods of the absolute measurement were performed with a prepared 60 Co source to find excellent agreement among the results deduced by them. Next, the 4πβ-γ spectroscopic coincidence measurement was applied to 152 Eu sources prepared by irradiating an enriched 151 Eu target in a reactor. The result was compared with that obtained by the γ-ray spectrometry using a 152 Eu standard source supplied by LMRI. They agreed with each other within the error of 2%. (author)

  13. Absolute carrier phase effects in the two-color excitation of dipolar molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Alex; Meath, W.J.; Kondo, A.E.

    2002-01-01

    The pump-probe excitation of a two-level dipolar (d≠0) molecule, where the pump frequency is tuned to the energy level separation while the probe frequency is extremely small, is examined theoretically as an example of absolute phase control of excitation processes. The state populations depend on the probe field's absolute carrier phase but are independent of the pump field's absolute carrier phase. Interestingly, the absolute phase effects occur for pulse durations much longer and field intensities much weaker than those required to see such effects in single pulse excitation

  14. Harmonic Analysis and Group Representation

    CERN Document Server

    Figa-Talamanca, Alessandro

    2011-01-01

    This title includes: Lectures - A. Auslander, R. Tolimeri - Nilpotent groups and abelian varieties, M Cowling - Unitary and uniformly bounded representations of some simple Lie groups, M. Duflo - Construction de representations unitaires d'un groupe de Lie, R. Howe - On a notion of rank for unitary representations of the classical groups, V.S. Varadarajan - Eigenfunction expansions of semisimple Lie groups, and R. Zimmer - Ergodic theory, group representations and rigidity; and, Seminars - A. Koranyi - Some applications of Gelfand pairs in classical analysis.

  15. Determination of absolute detection efficiencies for detectors of interest in homeland security

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayaz-Maierhafer, Birsen; DeVol, Timothy A.

    2007-01-01

    The absolute total and absolute peak detection efficiencies of gamma ray detector materials NaI:Tl, CdZnTe, HPGe, HPXe, LaBr 3 :Ce and LaCl 3 :Ce were simulated and compared to that of polyvinyltoluene (PVT). The dimensions of the PVT detector were 188.82 cmx60.96 cmx5.08 cm, which is a typical size for a single-panel portal monitor. The absolute total and peak detection efficiencies for these detector materials for the point, line and spherical source geometries of 60 Co (1332 keV), 137 Cs (662 keV) and 241 Am (59.5 keV) were simulated at various source-to-detector distances using the Monte Carlo N-Particle software (MCNP5-V1.30). The comparison of the absolute total detection efficiencies for a point, line and spherical source geometry of 60 Co and 137 Cs at different source-to-detector distance showed that the absolute detection efficiency for PVT is higher relative to the other detectors of typical dimensions for that material. However, the absolute peak detection efficiency of some of these detectors are higher relative to PVT, for example the absolute peak detection efficiency of NaI:Tl (7.62 cm diameterx7.62 cm long), HPGe (7.62 cm diameterx7.62 cm long), HPXe (11.43 cm diameterx60.96 cm long), and LaCl 3 :Ce (5.08 cm diameterx5.08 cm long) are all greater than that of a 188.82 cmx60.96 cmx5.08 cm PVT detector for 60 Co and 137 Cs for all geometries studied. The absolute total and absolute peak detection efficiencies of a right circular cylinder of NaI:Tl with various diameters and thicknesses were determined for a point source. The effect of changing the solid angle on the NaI:Tl detectors showed that with increasing solid angle and detector thickness, the absolute efficiency increases. This work establishes a common basis for differentiating detector materials for passive portal monitoring of gamma ray radiation

  16. Regional and site-specific absolute humidity data for use in tritium dose calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Etnier, E.L.

    1980-01-01

    Due to the potential variability in average absolute humidity over the continental U.S., and the dependence of atmospheric 3 H specific activity on absolute humidity, availability of regional absolute humidity data is of value in estimating the radiological significance of 3 H releases. Most climatological data are in the form of relative humidity, which must be converted to absolute humidity for dose calculations. Absolute humidity was calculated for 218 points across the U.S., using the 1977 annual summary of U.S. Climatological Data, and is given in a table. Mean regional values are shown on a map. (author)

  17. Memetics of representation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto De Rubertis

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This article will discuss about the physiological genesis of representation and then it will illustrate the developments, especially in evolutionary perspective, and it will show how these are mainly a result of accidental circumstances, rather than of deliberate intention of improvement. In particular, it will be argue that the representation has behaved like a meme that has arrived to its own progressive evolution coming into symbiosis with the different cultures in which it has spread, and using in this activity human work “unconsciously”. Finally it will be shown how in this action the geometry is an element key, linked to representation both to construct images using graphics operations and to erect buildings using concrete operations.

  18. Absolute decay parametric instability of high-temperature plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zozulya, A.A.; Silin, V.P.; Tikhonchuk, V.T.

    1986-01-01

    A new absolute decay parametric instability having wide spatial localization region is shown to be possible near critical plasma density. Its excitation is conditioned by distributed feedback of counter-running Langmuir waves occurring during parametric decay of incident and reflected pumping wave components. In a hot plasma with the temperature of the order of kiloelectronvolt its threshold is lower than that of a known convective decay parametric instability. Minimum absolute instability threshold is shown to be realized under conditions of spatial parametric resonance of higher orders

  19. What do men understand about lifetime risk following genetic testing? The effect of context and numeracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rolison, Jonathan J; Hanoch, Yaniv; Miron-Shatz, Talya

    2012-07-01

    Genetic testing for gene mutations associated with specific cancers provides an opportunity for early detection, surveillance, and intervention (Smith, Cokkinides, & Brawley, 2008). Lifetime risk estimates provided by genetic testing refer to the risk of developing a specific disease within one's lifetime, and evidence suggests that this is important for the medical choices people make, as well as their future family and financial plans. The present studies tested whether adult men understand the lifetime risks of prostate cancer informed by genetic testing. In 2 experiments, adult men were asked to interpret the lifetime risk information provided in statements about risks of prostate cancer. Statement format was manipulated such that the most appropriate interpretation of risk statements referred to an absolute risk of cancer in experiment 1 and a relative risk in experiment 2. Experiment 1 revealed that few men correctly interpreted the lifetime risks of cancer when these refer to an absolute risk of cancer, and numeracy levels positively predicted correct responding. The proportion of correct responses was greatly improved in experiment 2 when the most appropriate interpretation of risk statements referred instead to a relative rather than an absolute risk, and numeracy levels were less involved. Understanding of lifetime risk information is often poor because individuals incorrectly believe that these refer to relative rather than absolute risks of cancer.

  20. Confidence-Accuracy Calibration in Absolute and Relative Face Recognition Judgments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Nathan; Brewer, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups). When the effect of difficulty was controlled, absolute and relative judgments produced…

  1. Absolute or relative? A comparative analysis of the relationship between poverty and mortality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fritzell, Johan; Rehnberg, Johan; Bacchus Hertzman, Jennie; Blomgren, Jenni

    2015-01-01

    We aimed to examine the cross-national and cross-temporal association between poverty and mortality, in particular differentiating the impact of absolute and relative poverty. We employed pooled cross-sectional time series analysis. Our measure of relative poverty was based upon the standard 60% of median income. The measure of absolute, or fixed, poverty was based upon the US poverty threshold. Our analyses were conducted on data for 30 countries between 1978 and 2010, a total of 149 data points. We separately studied infant, child, and adult mortality. Our findings highlight the importance of relative poverty for mortality. Especially for infant and child mortality, we found that our estimates of fixed poverty is close to zero either in the crude models, or when adjusting for gross domestic product. Conversely, the relative poverty estimates increased when adjusting for confounders. Our results seemed robust to a number of sensitivity tests. If we agree that risk of death is important, the public policy implication of our findings is that relative poverty, which has close associations to overall inequality, should be a major concern also among rich countries.

  2. riskRegression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ozenne, Brice; Sørensen, Anne Lyngholm; Scheike, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    In the presence of competing risks a prediction of the time-dynamic absolute risk of an event can be based on cause-specific Cox regression models for the event and the competing risks (Benichou and Gail, 1990). We present computationally fast and memory optimized C++ functions with an R interface......-product we obtain fast access to the baseline hazards (compared to survival::basehaz()) and predictions of survival probabilities, their confidence intervals and confidence bands. Confidence intervals and confidence bands are based on point-wise asymptotic expansions of the corresponding statistical...

  3. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  4. Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelles, A.; Hörandel, J. R.; Karskens, T.; Krause, M.; Corstanje, A.; Enriquez, J. E.; Falcke, H.; Rachen, J. P.; Rossetto, L.; Schellart, P.; Buitink, S.; Erdmann, M.; Krause, R.; Haungs, A.; Hiller, R.; Huege, T.; Link, K.; Schröder, F. G.; Norden, M. J.; Scholten, O.

    2015-01-01

    Air showers induced by cosmic rays create nanosecond pulses detectable at radio frequencies. These pulses have been measured successfully in the past few years at the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and are used to study the properties of cosmic rays. For a complete understanding of this phenomenon and the underlying physical processes, an absolute calibration of the detecting antenna system is needed. We present three approaches that were used to check and improve the antenna model of LOFAR and to provide an absolute calibration of the whole system for air shower measurements. Two methods are based on calibrated reference sources and one on a calibration approach using the diffuse radio emission of the Galaxy, optimized for short data-sets. An accuracy of 19% in amplitude is reached. The absolute calibration is also compared to predictions from air shower simulations. These results are used to set an absolute energy scale for air shower measurements and can be used as a basis for an absolute scale for the measurement of astronomical transients with LOFAR

  5. New design and facilities for the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements (AGrav): A support for the Establishment of a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wziontek, Hartmut; Falk, Reinhard; Bonvalot, Sylvain; Rülke, Axel

    2017-04-01

    After about 10 years of successful joint operation by BGI and BKG, the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements "AGrav" (see references hereafter) was under a major revision. The outdated web interface was replaced by a responsive, high level web application framework based on Python and built on top of Pyramid. Functionality was added, like interactive time series plots or a report generator and the interactive map-based station overview was updated completely, comprising now clustering and the classification of stations. Furthermore, the database backend was migrated to PostgreSQL for better support of the application framework and long-term availability. As comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) become essential to realize a precise and uniform gravity standard, the database was extended to document the results on international and regional level, including those performed at monitoring stations equipped with SGs. By this it will be possible to link different AGs and to trace their equivalence back to the key comparisons under the auspices of International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) as the best metrological realization of the absolute gravity standard. In this way the new AGrav database accommodates the demands of the new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System as recommended by the IAG Resolution No. 2 adopted in Prague 2015. The new database will be presented with focus on the new user interface and new functionality, calling all institutions involved in absolute gravimetry to participate and contribute with their information to built up a most complete picture of high precision absolute gravimetry and improve its visibility. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be provided by BGI to contributors to give a better traceability and facilitate the referencing of their gravity surveys. Links and references: BGI mirror site : http://bgi.obs-mip.fr/data-products/Gravity-Databases/Absolute-Gravity-data/ BKG mirror site: http

  6. Polynomial representations of GLn

    CERN Document Server

    Green, James A; Erdmann, Karin

    2007-01-01

    The first half of this book contains the text of the first edition of LNM volume 830, Polynomial Representations of GLn. This classic account of matrix representations, the Schur algebra, the modular representations of GLn, and connections with symmetric groups, has been the basis of much research in representation theory. The second half is an Appendix, and can be read independently of the first. It is an account of the Littelmann path model for the case gln. In this case, Littelmann's 'paths' become 'words', and so the Appendix works with the combinatorics on words. This leads to the repesentation theory of the 'Littelmann algebra', which is a close analogue of the Schur algebra. The treatment is self- contained; in particular complete proofs are given of classical theorems of Schensted and Knuth.

  7. Polynomial representations of GLN

    CERN Document Server

    Green, James A

    1980-01-01

    The first half of this book contains the text of the first edition of LNM volume 830, Polynomial Representations of GLn. This classic account of matrix representations, the Schur algebra, the modular representations of GLn, and connections with symmetric groups, has been the basis of much research in representation theory. The second half is an Appendix, and can be read independently of the first. It is an account of the Littelmann path model for the case gln. In this case, Littelmann's 'paths' become 'words', and so the Appendix works with the combinatorics on words. This leads to the repesentation theory of the 'Littelmann algebra', which is a close analogue of the Schur algebra. The treatment is self- contained; in particular complete proofs are given of classical theorems of Schensted and Knuth.

  8. Absolute cross sections from the ''boomerang model'' for resonant electron-molecule scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dube, L.; Herzenberg, A.

    1979-01-01

    The boomerang model is used to calculate absolute cross sections near the 2 Pi/sub g/ shape resonance in e-N 2 scattering. The calculated cross sections are shown to satisfy detailed balancing. The exchange of electrons is taken into account. A parametrized complex-potential curve for the intermediate N 2 /sup ts-/ ion is determined from a small part of the experimental data, and then used to calculate other properties. The calculations are in good agreement with the absolute cross sections for vibrational excitation from the ground state, the absolute cross section v = 1 → 2, and the absolute total cross section

  9. Group representations

    CERN Document Server

    Karpilovsky, G

    1994-01-01

    This third volume can be roughly divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the investigation of various properties of projective characters. Special attention is drawn to spin representations and their character tables and to various correspondences for projective characters. Among other topics, projective Schur index and projective representations of abelian groups are covered. The last topic is investigated by introducing a symplectic geometry on finite abelian groups. The second part is devoted to Clifford theory for graded algebras and its application to the corresponding theory

  10. Value Representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Majken Kirkegaard; Petersen, Marianne Graves

    2011-01-01

    Stereotypic presumptions about gender affect the design process, both in relation to how users are understood and how products are designed. As a way to decrease the influence of stereotypic presumptions in design process, we propose not to disregard the aspect of gender in the design process......, as the perspective brings valuable insights on different approaches to technology, but instead to view gender through a value lens. Contributing to this perspective, we have developed Value Representations as a design-oriented instrument for staging a reflective dialogue with users. Value Representations...

  11. Errors of absolute methods of reactor neutron activation analysis caused by non-1/E epithermal neutron spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Erdtmann, G.

    1993-08-01

    A sufficiently accurate characterization of the neutron flux and spectrum, i.e. the determination of the thermal flux, the flux ratio and the epithermal flux spectrum shape factor, α, is a prerequisite for all types of absolute and monostandard methods of reactor neutron activation analysis. A convenient method for these measurements is the bare triple monitor method. However, the results of this method, are very imprecise, because there are high error propagation factors form the counting errors of the monitor activities. Procedures are described to calculate the errors of the flux parameters, the α-dependent cross-section ratios, and of the analytical results from the errors of the activities of the monitor isotopes. They are included in FORTRAN programs which also allow a graphical representation of the results. A great number of examples were calculated for ten different irradiation facilities in four reactors and for 28 elements. Plots of the results are presented and discussed. (orig./HP) [de

  12. A highly accurate absolute gravimetric network for Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ullrich, Christian; Ruess, Diethard; Butta, Hubert; Qirko, Kristaq; Pavicevic, Bozidar; Murat, Meha

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this project is to establish a basic gravity network in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to enable further investigations in geodetic and geophysical issues. Therefore the first time in history absolute gravity measurements were performed in these countries. The Norwegian mapping authority Kartverket is assisting the national mapping authorities in Kosovo (KCA) (Kosovo Cadastral Agency - Agjencia Kadastrale e Kosovës), Albania (ASIG) (Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor) and in Montenegro (REA) (Real Estate Administration of Montenegro - Uprava za nekretnine Crne Gore) in improving the geodetic frameworks. The gravity measurements are funded by Kartverket. The absolute gravimetric measurements were performed from BEV (Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying) with the absolute gravimeter FG5-242. As a national metrology institute (NMI) the Metrology Service of the BEV maintains the national standards for the realisation of the legal units of measurement and ensures their international equivalence and recognition. Laser and clock of the absolute gravimeter were calibrated before and after the measurements. The absolute gravimetric survey was carried out from September to October 2015. Finally all 8 scheduled stations were successfully measured: there are three stations located in Montenegro, two stations in Kosovo and three stations in Albania. The stations are distributed over the countries to establish a gravity network for each country. The vertical gradients were measured at all 8 stations with the relative gravimeter Scintrex CG5. The high class quality of some absolute gravity stations can be used for gravity monitoring activities in future. The measurement uncertainties of the absolute gravity measurements range around 2.5 micro Gal at all stations (1 microgal = 10-8 m/s2). In Montenegro the large gravity difference of 200 MilliGal between station Zabljak and Podgorica can be even used for calibration of relative gravimeters

  13. THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIONS OF CIVIL SERVANTS’ NORMATIVE ORIENTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A Oboznov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The concept of the normative personal orientation seeks to specify how personnel motivation should be organized in the value-motivational sphere for professional activity execution in accordance with its social purpose. Based on the priority of the civil service social purpose, the hierarchical structure of the personal normative orientations was theoretically validated. Social motives related to serving for the benefit of the Fatherland as well as work motives associated with the achievement of some role positions are the major motives. The subordinate motives are the monetary rewards and self-development. Development of the future civil servants’ orientation is based on a conscious idea about the required motives’ subordination, that is, about the normative civil servant’s orientation. The study involved 63 students of the 2nd and 4th year studying at the Russian management institute in the specialty “Customs” and 51 students of the 1st and 2nd year studying at the Public Administration Academy of the Republic of Armenia, as well as 4 experts (two from Russia and Armenia having long-term experience in the civil service. The method is an author’s closed-questions’ inventory containing a list of 18 personal goals, that should guide the civil servant in professional work. The instruction required the selection of five most important goals. An absolute majority (from 66 to 90% of Russian and Armenian students has the motives’ subordination that is inconsistent with the normative orientation. According to the students’ view, self-development, self-creation and material benefit are the leading motives of a civil servant. The expert motives’ representations are identical to the required content of civil servant normative orientation. The authors defined the need to develop a special psychological and educational program for promoting required representations about the normative orientation of future civil servants.

  14. Absolute and relative dosimetry for ELIMED

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cirrone, G. A. P.; Schillaci, F.; Scuderi, V. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via Santa Sofia 62, Catania, Italy and Institute of Physics Czech Academy of Science, ELI-Beamlines project, Na Slovance 2, Prague (Czech Republic); Cuttone, G.; Candiano, G.; Musumarra, A.; Pisciotta, P.; Romano, F. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via Santa Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Carpinelli, M. [INFN Sezione di Cagliari, c/o Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari (Italy); Leonora, E.; Randazzo, N. [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, Catania (Italy); Presti, D. Lo [INFN-Sezione di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, Catania, Italy and Università di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Via S. Sofia 64, Catania (Italy); Raffaele, L. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via Santa Sofia 62, Catania, Italy and INFN-Sezione di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, Catania (Italy); Tramontana, A. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via Santa Sofia 62, Catania, Italy and Università di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Via S. Sofia 64, Catania (Italy); Cirio, R.; Sacchi, R.; Monaco, V. [INFN, Sezione di Torino, Via P.Giuria, 1 10125 Torino, Italy and Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via P.Giuria, 1 10125 Torino (Italy); Marchetto, F.; Giordanengo, S. [INFN, Sezione di Torino, Via P.Giuria, 1 10125 Torino (Italy)

    2013-07-26

    The definition of detectors, methods and procedures for the absolute and relative dosimetry of laser-driven proton beams is a crucial step toward the clinical use of this new kind of beams. Hence, one of the ELIMED task, will be the definition of procedures aiming to obtain an absolute dose measure at the end of the transport beamline with an accuracy as close as possible to the one required for clinical applications (i.e. of the order of 5% or less). Relative dosimetry procedures must be established, as well: they are necessary in order to determine and verify the beam dose distributions and to monitor the beam fluence and the energetic spectra during irradiations. Radiochromic films, CR39, Faraday Cup, Secondary Emission Monitor (SEM) and transmission ionization chamber will be considered, designed and studied in order to perform a fully dosimetric characterization of the ELIMED proton beam.

  15. Noise-aware dictionary-learning-based sparse representation framework for detection and removal of single and combined noises from ECG signal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Satija, Udit; Ramkumar, Barathram; Sabarimalai Manikandan, M

    2017-02-01

    Automatic electrocardiogram (ECG) signal enhancement has become a crucial pre-processing step in most ECG signal analysis applications. In this Letter, the authors propose an automated noise-aware dictionary learning-based generalised ECG signal enhancement framework which can automatically learn the dictionaries based on the ECG noise type for effective representation of ECG signal and noises, and can reduce the computational load of sparse representation-based ECG enhancement system. The proposed framework consists of noise detection and identification, noise-aware dictionary learning, sparse signal decomposition and reconstruction. The noise detection and identification is performed based on the moving average filter, first-order difference, and temporal features such as number of turning points, maximum absolute amplitude, zerocrossings, and autocorrelation features. The representation dictionary is learned based on the type of noise identified in the previous stage. The proposed framework is evaluated using noise-free and noisy ECG signals. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly reduce computational load as compared with conventional dictionary learning-based ECG denoising approaches. Further, comparative results show that the method outperforms existing methods in automatically removing noises such as baseline wanders, power-line interference, muscle artefacts and their combinations without distorting the morphological content of local waves of ECG signal.

  16. The visual communication of risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipkus, I M; Hollands, J G

    1999-01-01

    This paper 1) provides reasons why graphics should be effective aids to communicate risk; 2) reviews the use of visuals, especially graphical displays, to communicate risk; 3) discusses issues to consider when designing graphs to communicate risk; and 4) provides suggestions for future research. Key articles and materials were obtained from MEDLINE(R) and PsychInfo(R) databases, from reference article citations, and from discussion with experts in risk communication. Research has been devoted primarily to communicating risk magnitudes. Among the various graphical displays, the risk ladder appears to be a promising tool for communicating absolute and relative risks. Preliminary evidence suggests that people understand risk information presented in histograms and pie charts. Areas that need further attention include 1) applying theoretical models to the visual communication of risk, 2) testing which graphical displays can be applied best to different risk communication tasks (e.g., which graphs best convey absolute or relative risks), 3) communicating risk uncertainty, and 4) testing whether the lay public's perceptions and understanding of risk varies by graphical format and whether the addition of graphical displays improves comprehension substantially beyond numerical or narrative translations of risk and, if so, by how much. There is a need to ascertain the extent to which graphics and other visuals enhance the public's understanding of disease risk to facilitate decision-making and behavioral change processes. Nine suggestions are provided to help achieve these ends.

  17. (Self)-representations on youtube

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simonsen, Thomas Mosebo

    This paper examines forms of self-representation on YouTube with specific focus on Vlogs (Video blogs). The analytical scope of the paper is on how User-generated Content on YouTube initiates a certain kind of audiovisual representation and a particular interpretation of reality that can...... be distinguished within Vlogs. This will be analysed through selected case studies taken from a representative sample of empirically based observations of YouTube videos. The analysis includes a focus on how certain forms of representation can be identified as representations of the self (Turkle 1995, Scannell...... 1996, Walker 2005) and further how these forms must be comprehended within a context of technological constrains, institutional structures and social as well as economical practices on YouTube (Burgess and Green 2009, Van Dijck 2009). It is argued that these different contexts play a vital part...

  18. Philosophy as Inquiry Aimed at the Absolute Knowledge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekaterina Snarskaya

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Philosophy as the absolute knowledge has been studied from two different but closely related approaches: historical and logical. The first approach exposes four main stages in the history of European metaphysics that marked out types of “philosophical absolutism”: the evolution of philosophy brought to light metaphysics of being, method, morals and logic. All of them are associated with the names of Aristotle, Bacon/Descartes, Kant and Hegel. Then these forms are considered in the second approach that defined them as subject-matter of philosophy as such. Due to their overall, comprehensive character, the focus of philosophy on them justifies its claim on absoluteness as far as philosophy is aimed at comprehension of the world’s unity regardless of the philosopher’s background, values and other preferences. And that is its prerogative since no other form of consciousness lays down this kind of aim. Thus, philosophy is defined as an everlasting attempt to succeed in conceiving the world in all its multifold manifestations. This article is to try to clarify the claim of philosophy on the absolute knowledge.

  19. Sinusoidal Representation of Acoustic Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honda, Masaaki

    Sinusoidal representation of acoustic signals has been an important tool in speech and music processing like signal analysis, synthesis and time scale or pitch modifications. It can be applicable to arbitrary signals, which is an important advantage over other signal representations like physical modeling of acoustic signals. In sinusoidal representation, acoustic signals are composed as sums of sinusoid (sine wave) with different amplitudes, frequencies and phases, which is based on the timedependent short-time Fourier transform (STFT). This article describes the principles of acoustic signal analysis/synthesis based on a sinusoid representation with focus on sine waves with rapidly varying frequency.

  20. A case-control study to assess the impact of mammographic density on breast cancer risk in women aged 40-49 at intermediate familial risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assi, Valentina; Massat, Nathalie J; Thomas, Susan; MacKay, James; Warwick, Jane; Kataoka, Masako; Warsi, Iqbal; Brentnall, Adam; Warren, Ruth; Duffy, Stephen W

    2015-05-15

    Mammographic density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer, but its potential application in risk management is not clear, partly due to uncertainties about its interaction with other breast cancer risk factors. We aimed to quantify the impact of mammographic density on breast cancer risk in women aged 40-49 at intermediate familial risk of breast cancer (average lifetime risk of 23%), in particular in premenopausal women, and to investigate its relationship with other breast cancer risk factors in this population. We present the results from a case-control study nested with the FH01 cohort study of 6,710 women mostly aged 40-49 at intermediate familial risk of breast cancer. One hundred and three cases of breast cancer were age-matched to one or two controls. Density was measured by semiautomated interactive thresholding. Absolute density, but not percent density, was a significant risk factor for breast cancer in this population after adjusting for area of nondense tissue (OR per 10 cm(2) = 1.07, 95% CI 1.00-1.15, p = 0.04). The effect was stronger in premenopausal women, who made up the majority of the study population. Absolute density remained a significant predictor of breast cancer risk after adjusting for age at menarche, age at first live birth, parity, past or present hormone replacement therapy, and the Tyrer-Cuzick 10-year relative risk estimate of breast cancer. Absolute density can improve breast cancer risk stratification and delineation of high-risk groups alongside the Tyrer-Cuzick 10-year relative risk estimate. © 2014 UICC.

  1. Why media representations of corporations matter for public health policy: a scoping review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heide Weishaar

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Media representations play a crucial role in informing public and policy opinions about the causes of, and solutions to, ill-health. This paper reviews studies analysing media coverage of non-communicable disease (NCD debates, focusing on how the industries marketing commodities that increase NCD risk are represented. Methods A scoping review identified 61 studies providing information on media representations of NCD risks, NCD policies and tobacco, alcohol, processed food and soft drinks industries. The data were narratively synthesized to describe the sample, media depictions of industries, and corporate and public health attempts to frame the media debates. Results The findings indicate that: (i the limited research that has been undertaken is dominated by a focus on tobacco; (ii comparative research across industries/risk-factors is particularly lacking; and (iii coverage tends to be dominated by two contrasting frames and focuses either on individual responsibilities (‘market justice’ frames, often promoted by commercial stakeholders or on the need for population-level interventions (‘social justice’ frames, frequently advanced by public health advocates. Conclusions Establishing the underlying frameworks is crucial for the analysis of media representation of corporations, as they reflect the strategies that respective actors use to influence public health debates and decision making. The potential utility of media research lies in the insights that it can provide for public health policy advocates about successful framing of public health messages and strategies to counter frames that undermine public health goals. A better understanding of current media debates is of paramount importance to improving global health.

  2. Absolute pitch: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernon, P E

    1977-11-01

    The auditory skill known as 'absolute pitch' is discussed, and it is shown that this differs greatly in accuracy of identification or reproduction of musical tones from ordinary discrimination of 'tonal height' which is to some extent trainable. The present writer possessed absolute pitch for almost any tone or chord over the normal musical range, from about the age of 17 to 52. He then started to hear all music one semitone too high, and now at the age of 71 it is heard a full tone above the true pitch. Tests were carried out under controlled conditions, in which 68 to 95 per cent of notes were identified as one semitone or one tone higher than they should be. Changes with ageing seem more likely to occur in the elasticity of the basilar membrane mechanisms than in the long-term memory which is used for aural analysis of complex sounds. Thus this experience supports the view that some resolution of complex sounds takes place at the peripheral sense organ, and this provides information which can be incorrect, for interpretation by the cortical centres.

  3. Absolute calibration technique for spontaneous fission sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zucker, M.S.; Karpf, E.

    1984-01-01

    An absolute calibration technique for a spontaneously fissioning nuclide (which involves no arbitrary parameters) allows unique determination of the detector efficiency for that nuclide, hence of the fission source strength

  4. Absolute luminosity measurements with the LHCb detector at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Aaij, R; Adinolfi, M; Adrover, C; Affolder, A; Ajaltouni, Z; Albrecht, J; Alessio, F; Alexander, M; Alkhazov, G; Alvarez Cartelle, P; Alves, A A; Amato, S; Amhis, Y; Anderson, J; Appleby, R B; Aquines Gutierrez, O; Archilli, F; Arrabito, L; Artamonov, A; Artuso, M; Aslanides, E; Auriemma, G; Bachmann, S; Back, J J; Bailey, D S; Balagura, V; Baldini, W; Barlow, R J; Barschel, C; Barsuk, S; Barter, W; Bates, A; Bauer, C; Bauer, Th; Bay, A; Bediaga, I; Belous, K; Belyaev, I; Ben-Haim, E; Benayoun, M; Bencivenni, G; Benson, S; Benton, J; Bernet, R; Bettler, M-O; van Beuzekom, M; Bien, A; Bifani, S; Bizzeti, A; Bjørnstad, P M; Blake, T; Blanc, F; Blanks, C; Blouw, J; Blusk, S; Bobrov, A; Bocci, V; Bondar, A; Bondar, N; Bonivento, W; Borghi, S; Borgia, A; Bowcock, T J V; Bozzi, C; Brambach, T; van den Brand, J; Bressieux, J; Brett, D; Brisbane, S; Britsch, M; Britton, T; Brook, N H; Brown, H; Büchler-Germann, A; Burducea, I; Bursche, A; Buytaert, J; Cadeddu, S; Caicedo Carvajal, J M; Callot, O; Calvi, M; Calvo Gomez, M; Camboni, A; Campana, P; Carbone, A; Carboni, G; Cardinale, R; Cardini, A; Carson, L; Carvalho Akiba, K; Casse, G; Cattaneo, M; Charles, M; Charpentier, Ph; Chiapolini, N; Ciba, K; Cid Vidal, X; Ciezarek, G; Clarke, P E L; Clemencic, M; Cliff, H V; Closier, J; Coca, C; Coco, V; Cogan, J; Collins, P; Constantin, F; Conti, G; Contu, A; Cook, A; Coombes, M; Corti, G; Cowan, G A; Currie, R; D'Almagne, B; D'Ambrosio, C; David, P; De Bonis, I; De Capua, S; De Cian, M; De Lorenzi, F; De Miranda, J M; De Paula, L; De Simone, P; Decamp, D; Deckenhoff, M; Degaudenzi, H; Deissenroth, M; Del Buono, L; Deplano, C; Deschamps, O; Dettori, F; Dickens, J; Dijkstra, H; Diniz Batista, P; Donleavy, S; Dordei, F; Dosil Suárez, A; Dossett, D; Dovbnya, A; Dupertuis, F; Dzhelyadin, R; Eames, C; Easo, S; Egede, U; Egorychev, V; Eidelman, S; van Eijk, D; Eisele, F; Eisenhardt, S; Ekelhof, R; Eklund, L; Elsasser, Ch; d'Enterria, D G; Esperante Pereira, D; Estève, L; Falabella, A; Fanchini, E; Färber, C; Fardell, G; Farinelli, C; Farry, S; Fave, V; Fernandez Albor, V; Ferro-Luzzi, M; Filippov, S; Fitzpatrick, C; Fontana, M; Fontanelli, F; Forty, R; Frank, M; Frei, C; Frosini, M; Furcas, S; Gallas Torreira, A; Galli, D; Gandelman, M; Gandini, P; Gao, Y; Garnier, J-C; Garofoli, J; Garra Tico, J; Garrido, L; Gaspar, C; Gauvin, N; Gersabeck, M; Gershon, T; Ghez, Ph; Gibson, V; Gligorov, V V; Göbel, C; Golubkov, D; Golutvin, A; Gomes, A; Gordon, H; Grabalosa Gándara, M; Graciani Diaz, R; Granado Cardoso, L A; Graugés, E; Graziani, G; Grecu, A; Gregson, S; Gui, B; Gushchin, E; Guz, Yu; Gys, T; Haefeli, G; Haen, C; Haines, S C; Hampson, T; Hansmann-Menzemer, S; Harji, R; Harnew, N; Harrison, J; Harrison, P F; He, J; Heijne, V; Hennessy, K; Henrard, P; Hernando Morata, J A; van Herwijnen, E; Hicks, E; Hofmann, W; Holubyev, K; Hopchev, P; Hulsbergen, W; Hunt, P; Huse, T; Huston, R S; Hutchcroft, D; Hynds, D; Iakovenko, V; Ilten, P; Imong, J; Jacobsson, R; Jaeger, A; Jahjah Hussein, M; Jans, E; Jansen, F; Jaton, P; Jean-Marie, B; Jing, F; John, M; Johnson, D; Jones, C R; Jost, B; Kandybei, S; Karacson, M; Karbach, T M; Keaveney, J; Kerzel, U; Ketel, T; Keune, A; Khanji, B; Kim, Y M; Knecht, M; Koblitz, S; Koppenburg, P; Kozlinskiy, A; Kravchuk, L; Kreplin, K; Kreps, M; Krocker, G; Krokovny, P; Kruse, F; Kruzelecki, K; Kucharczyk, M; Kukulak, S; Kumar, R; Kvaratskheliya, T; La Thi, V N; Lacarrere, D; Lafferty, G; Lai, A; Lambert, D; Lambert, R W; Lanciotti, E; Lanfranchi, G; Langenbruch, C; Latham, T; Le Gac, R; van Leerdam, J; Lees, J-P; Lefèvre, R; Leflat, A; Lefrançois, J; Leroy, O; Lesiak, T; Li, L; Li Gioi, L; Lieng, M; Liles, M; Lindner, R; Linn, C; Liu, B; Liu, G; Lopes, J H; Lopez Asamar, E; Lopez-March, N; Luisier, J; Machefert, F; Machikhiliyan, I V; Maciuc, F; Maev, O; Magnin, J; Malde, S; Mamunur, R M D; Manca, G; Mancinelli, G; Mangiafave, N; Marconi, U; Märki, R; Marks, J; Martellotti, G; Martens, A; Martin, L; Martín Sánchez, A; Martinez Santos, D; Massafferri, A; Matev, R; Mathe, Z; Matteuzzi, C; Matveev, M; Maurice, E; Maynard, B; Mazurov, A; McGregor, G; McNulty, R; Mclean, C; Meissner, M; Merk, M; Merkel, J; Messi, R; Miglioranzi, S; Milanes, D A; Minard, M-N; Monteil, S; Moran, D; Morawski, P; Mountain, R; Mous, I; Muheim, F; Müller, K; Muresan, R; Muryn, B; Musy, M; Mylroie-Smith, J; Naik, P; Nakada, T; Nandakumar, R; Nardulli, J; Nasteva, I; Nedos, M; Needham, M; Neufeld, N; Nguyen-Mau, C; Nicol, M; Nies, S; Niess, V; Nikitin, N; Oblakowska-Mucha, A; Obraztsov, V; Oggero, S; Ogilvy, S; Okhrimenko, O; Oldeman, R; Orlandea, M; Otalora Goicochea, J M; Owen, P; Pal, B; Palacios, J; Palutan, M; Panman, J; Papanestis, A; Pappagallo, M; Parkes, C; Parkinson, C J; Passaleva, G; Patel, G D; Patel, M; Paterson, S K; Patrick, G N; Patrignani, C; Pavel-Nicorescu, C; Pazos Alvarez, A; Pellegrino, A; Penso, G; Pepe Altarelli, M; Perazzini, S; Perego, D L; Perez Trigo, E; Pérez-Calero Yzquierdo, A; Perret, P; Perrin-Terrin, M; Pessina, G; Petrella, A; Petrolini, A; Pie Valls, B; Pietrzyk, B; Pilar, T; Pinci, D; Plackett, R; Playfer, S; Plo Casasus, M; Polok, G; Poluektov, A; Polycarpo, E; Popov, D; Popovici, B; Potterat, C; Powell, A; du Pree, T; Prisciandaro, J; Pugatch, V; Puig Navarro, A; Qian, W; Rademacker, J H; Rakotomiaramanana, B; Rangel, M S; Raniuk, I; Raven, G; Redford, S; Reid, M M; dos Reis, A C; Ricciardi, S; Rinnert, K; Roa Romero, D A; Robbe, P; Rodrigues, E; Rodrigues, F; Rodriguez Perez, P; Rogers, G J; Roiser, S; Romanovsky, V; Rouvinet, J; Ruf, T; Ruiz, H; Sabatino, G; Saborido Silva, J J; Sagidova, N; Sail, P; Saitta, B; Salzmann, C; Sannino, M; Santacesaria, R; Santamarina Rios, C; Santinelli, R; Santovetti, E; Sapunov, M; Sarti, A; Satriano, C; Satta, A; Savrie, M; Savrina, D; Schaack, P; Schiller, M; Schleich, S; Schmelling, M; Schmidt, B; Schneider, O; Schopper, A; Schune, M -H; Schwemmer, R; Sciubba, A; Seco, M; Semennikov, A; Senderowska, K; Sepp, I; Serra, N; Serrano, J; Seyfert, P; Shao, B; Shapkin, M; Shapoval, I; Shatalov, P; Shcheglov, Y; Shears, T; Shekhtman, L; Shevchenko, O; Shevchenko, V; Shires, A; Silva Coutinho, R; Skottowe, H P; Skwarnicki, T; Smith, A C; Smith, N A; Sobczak, K; Soler, F J P; Solomin, A; Soomro, F; Souza De Paula, B; Spaan, B; Sparkes, A; Spradlin, P; Stagni, F; Stahl, S; Steinkamp, O; Stoica, S; Stone, S; Storaci, B; Straticiuc, M; Straumann, U; Styles, N; Subbiah, V K; Swientek, S; Szczekowski, M; Szczypka, P; Szumlak, T; T'Jampens, S; Teodorescu, E; Teubert, F; Thomas, C; Thomas, E; van Tilburg, J; Tisserand, V; Tobin, M; Topp-Joergensen, S; Tran, M T; Tsaregorodtsev, A; Tuning, N; Ubeda Garcia, M; Ukleja, A; Urquijo, P; Uwer, U; Vagnoni, V; Valenti, G; Vazquez Gomez, R; Vazquez Regueiro, P; Vecchi, S; Velthuis, J J; Veltri, M; Vervink, K; Viaud, B; Videau, I; Vilasis-Cardona, X; Visniakov, J; Vollhardt, A; Voong, D; Vorobyev, A; Voss, H; Wacker, K; Wandernoth, S; Wang, J; Ward, D R; Webber, A D; Websdale, D; Whitehead, M; Wiedner, D; Wiggers, L; Wilkinson, G; Williams, M P; Williams, M; Wilson, F F; Wishahi, J; Witek, M; Witzeling, W; Wotton, S A; Wyllie, K; Xie, Y; Xing, F; Yang, Z; Young, R; Yushchenko, O; Zavertyaev, M; Zhang, F; Zhang, L; Zhang, W C; Zhang, Y; Zhelezov, A; Zhong, L; Zverev, E; Zvyagin, A

    2012-01-01

    Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the performance of the accelerator. LHCb has applied two methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In addition to the classic ``van der Meer scan'' method a novel technique has been developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overall precision of 3.5\\% in the absolute lumi...

  5. Absolute calibration of TFTR helium proportional counters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strachan, J.D.; Diesso, M.; Jassby, D.; Johnson, L.; McCauley, S.; Munsat, T.; Roquemore, A.L.; Loughlin, M.

    1995-06-01

    The TFTR helium proportional counters are located in the central five (5) channels of the TFTR multichannel neutron collimator. These detectors were absolutely calibrated using a 14 MeV neutron generator positioned at the horizontal midplane of the TFTR vacuum vessel. The neutron generator position was scanned in centimeter steps to determine the collimator aperture width to 14 MeV neutrons and the absolute sensitivity of each channel. Neutron profiles were measured for TFTR plasmas with time resolution between 5 msec and 50 msec depending upon count rates. The He detectors were used to measure the burnup of 1 MeV tritons in deuterium plasmas, the transport of tritium in trace tritium experiments, and the residual tritium levels in plasmas following 50:50 DT experiments

  6. Stimulus Probability Effects in Absolute Identification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of…

  7. Remarks on the history of the terms "object representation" and "self representation".

    Science.gov (United States)

    May, Ulrike

    2005-01-01

    This paper reconstructs the history of the term "object representation" and "self representation". It seeks to show that "Objektrepräsentanz" was introduced by Fenichel in 1926, following on from Radó, in order to be able to integrate identification (and the superego) into metapsychology. Freud himself never used "Objektrepräsentanz". Fenichel's pioneering role is not discernible in the English literature mainly because of the diverging approaches used in the translation of this term (object representative versus object representation). It is generally acknowledged that "self representation" was first used by Hartmann but this paper suggests that it actually played a more crucial role in Jacobson's work than it did in Hartmann's. In addition, this paper sees the terms of self and object representation as a reflection of the paradigm change in the 1920s that ensued after the publication of Freud's "The Ego and the Id". In tracing the history of the terms, the significance of the Berlin Psychoanalytical Institute in the 1920s emerges as do the Berlin roots of the works written in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s by Edith Jacobson. She received her analytical training in Berlin. Fenichel was her analyst, Radó was one of her teachers, and she was closely involved with the work of her fellow analysts there.

  8. Absolute gravity measurements in California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zumberge, M. A.; Sasagawa, G.; Kappus, M.

    1986-08-01

    An absolute gravity meter that determines the local gravitational acceleration by timing a freely falling mass with a laser interferometer has been constructed. The instrument has made measurements at 11 sites in California, four in Nevada, and one in France. The uncertainty in the results is typically 10 microgal. Repeated measurements have been made at several of the sites; only one shows a substantial change in gravity.

  9. Foundations of Risk Analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Aven, Terje

    2012-01-01

    Foundations of Risk Analysis presents the issues core to risk analysis - understanding what risk means, expressing risk, building risk models, addressing uncertainty, and applying probability models to real problems. The author provides the readers with the knowledge and basic thinking they require to successfully manage risk and uncertainty to support decision making. This updated edition reflects recent developments on risk and uncertainty concepts, representations and treatment. New material in Foundations of Risk Analysis includes:An up to date presentation of how to understand, define and

  10. Multiple representations in physics education

    CERN Document Server

    Duit, Reinders; Fischer, Hans E

    2017-01-01

    This volume is important because despite various external representations, such as analogies, metaphors, and visualizations being commonly used by physics teachers, educators and researchers, the notion of using the pedagogical functions of multiple representations to support teaching and learning is still a gap in physics education. The research presented in the three sections of the book is introduced by descriptions of various psychological theories that are applied in different ways for designing physics teaching and learning in classroom settings. The following chapters of the book illustrate teaching and learning with respect to applying specific physics multiple representations in different levels of the education system and in different physics topics using analogies and models, different modes, and in reasoning and representational competence. When multiple representations are used in physics for teaching, the expectation is that they should be successful. To ensure this is the case, the implementati...

  11. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koopman, Carla; van Oeffelen, Aloysia A M; Bots, Michiel L; Engelfriet, Peter M; Verschuren, W M Monique; van Rossem, Lenie; van Dis, Ineke; Capewell, Simon; Vaartjes, Ilonca

    2012-08-07

    Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age-gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR) of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.32-1.36) in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42-1.47) in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45-74 years and in women aged 65-84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden of AMI was low. Absolute socioeconomic inequalities in AMI were highest in

  12. Treatment decision-making and the form of risk communication: results of a factorial survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holmes-Rovner Margaret

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Prospective users of preventive therapies often must evaluate complex information about therapeutic risks and benefits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of relative and absolute risk information on patient decision-making in scenarios typical of health information for patients. Methods Factorial experiments within a telephone survey of the Michigan adult, non-institutionalized, English-speaking population. Average interview lasted 23 minutes. Subjects and sample design: 952 randomly selected adults within a random-digit dial sample of Michigan households. Completion rate was 54.3%. Results When presented hypothetical information regarding additional risks of breast cancer from a medication to prevent a bone disease, respondents reduced their willingness to recommend a female friend take the medication compared to the baseline rate (66.8% = yes. The decrease was significantly greater with relative risk information. Additional benefit information regarding preventing heart disease from the medication increased willingness to recommend the medication to a female friend relative to the baseline scenario, but did not differ between absolute and relative risk formats. When information about both increased risk of breast cancer and reduced risk of heart disease were provided, typical respondents appeared to make rational decisions consistent with Expected Utility Theory, but the information presentation format affected choices. Those 11% – 33% making decisions contrary to the medical indications were more likely to be Hispanic, older, more educated, smokers, and to have children in the home. Conclusions In scenarios typical of health risk information, relative risk information led respondents to make non-normative decisions that were "corrected" when the frame used absolute risk information. This population sample made generally rational decisions when presented with absolute risk information, even in the

  13. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Background: Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. Objective: To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. Materials and Methods: We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Results: Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. Conclusion: These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. SUMMARY Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation.Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus

  14. Risks from nuclear waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liljenzin, J.O.; Rydberg, J.

    1996-11-01

    The first part of this review discusses the importance of risk. If there is any relation between the emotional and rational risk perceptions (for example, it is believed that increased knowledge will decrease emotions), it will be a desirable goal for society, and the nuclear industry in particular, to improve the understanding by the laymen of the rational risks from nuclear energy. This review surveys various paths to a more common comprehension - perhaps a consensus - of the nuclear waste risks. The second part discusses radioactivity as a risk factor and concludes that it has no relation in itself to risk, but must be connected to exposure leading to a dose risk, i.e. a health detriment, which is commonly expressed in terms of cancer induction rate. Dose-effect relations are discussed in light of recent scientific debate. The third part of the report describes a number of hazard indexes for nuclear waste found in the literature and distinguishes between absolute and relative risk scales. The absolute risks as well as the relative risks have changed over time due to changes in radiological and metabolic data and by changes in the mode of calculation. To judge from the literature, the risk discussion is huge, even when it is limited to nuclear waste. It would be very difficult to make a comprehensive review and extract the essentials from that. Therefore, we have chosen to select some publications, out of the over 100, which we summarize rather comprehensively; in some cases we also include our remarks. 110 refs, 22 figs

  15. Risks from nuclear waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liljenzin, J.O.; Rydberg, J. [Radiochemistry Consultant Group, Vaestra Froelunda (Sweden)

    1996-11-01

    The first part of this review discusses the importance of risk. If there is any relation between the emotional and rational risk perceptions (for example, it is believed that increased knowledge will decrease emotions), it will be a desirable goal for society, and the nuclear industry in particular, to improve the understanding by the laymen of the rational risks from nuclear energy. This review surveys various paths to a more common comprehension - perhaps a consensus - of the nuclear waste risks. The second part discusses radioactivity as a risk factor and concludes that it has no relation in itself to risk, but must be connected to exposure leading to a dose risk, i.e. a health detriment, which is commonly expressed in terms of cancer induction rate. Dose-effect relations are discussed in light of recent scientific debate. The third part of the report describes a number of hazard indexes for nuclear waste found in the literature and distinguishes between absolute and relative risk scales. The absolute risks as well as the relative risks have changed over time due to changes in radiological and metabolic data and by changes in the mode of calculation. To judge from the literature, the risk discussion is huge, even when it is limited to nuclear waste. It would be very difficult to make a comprehensive review and extract the essentials from that. Therefore, we have chosen to select some publications, out of the over 100, which we summarize rather comprehensively; in some cases we also include our remarks. 110 refs, 22 figs.

  16. Absolute and convective instability of a liquid sheet with transverse temperature gradient

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, Qing-Fei; Yang, Li-Jun; Tong, Ming-Xi; Wang, Chen

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • The spatial–temporal instability of a liquid sheet with thermal effects was studied. • The flow can transit to absolutely unstable with certain flow parameters. • The effects of non-dimensional parameters on the transition were studied. -- Abstract: The spatial–temporal instability behavior of a viscous liquid sheet with temperature difference between the two surfaces was investigated theoretically. The practical situation motivating this investigation is liquid sheet heated by ambient gas, usually encountered in industrial heat transfer and liquid propellant rocket engines. The existing dispersion relation was used, to explore the spatial–temporal instability of viscous liquid sheets with a nonuniform temperature profile, by setting both the wave number and frequency complex. A parametric study was performed in both sinuous and varicose modes to test the influence of dimensionless numbers on the transition between absolute and convective instability of the flow. For a small value of liquid Weber number, or a great value of gas-to-liquid density ratio, the flow was found to be absolutely unstable. The absolute instability was enhanced by increasing the liquid viscosity. It was found that variation of the Marangoni number hardly influenced the absolute instability of the sinuous mode of oscillations; however it slightly affected the absolute instability in the varicose mode

  17. Calibration plots for risk prediction models in the presence of competing risks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gerds, Thomas A; Andersen, Per K; Kattan, Michael W

    2014-01-01

    A predicted risk of 17% can be called reliable if it can be expected that the event will occur to about 17 of 100 patients who all received a predicted risk of 17%. Statistical models can predict the absolute risk of an event such as cardiovascular death in the presence of competing risks...... prediction model is well calibrated. The first is lack of independent validation data, the second is right censoring, and the third is that when the risk scale is continuous, the estimation problem is as difficult as density estimation. To deal with these problems, we propose to estimate calibration curves...

  18. On the integration of computer aided design and analysis using the finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanborn, Graham G.; Shabana, Ahmed A.

    2009-01-01

    For almost a decade, the finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) has been used for both geometry and finite element representations. Because of the ANCF isoparametric property in the cases of beams, plates and shells, ANCF finite elements lend themselves easily to the geometric description of curves and surfaces, as demonstrated in the literature. The ANCF finite elements, therefore, are ideal for what is called isogeometric analysis that aims at the integration ofcomputer aided designandanalysis (ICADA), which involves the integration of what is now split into the separate fields of computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided analysis (CAA). The purpose of this investigation is to establish the relationship between the B-spline and NURBS, which are widely used in the geometric modeling, and the ANCF finite elements. It is shown in this study that by using the ANCF finite elements, one can in a straightforward manner obtain the control point representation required for the Bezier, B-spline and NURBS geometry. To this end, a coordinate transformation is used to write the ANCF gradient vectors in terms of control points. Unifying the CAD and CAA will require the use of such coordinate transformations and their inverses in order to transform control points to position vector gradients which are required for the formulation of the element transformations in the case of discontinuities as well as the formulation of the strain measures and the stress forces based on general continuum mechanics theory. In particular, fully parameterized ANCF finite elements can be very powerful in describing curve, surface, and volume geometry, and they can be effectively used to describe discontinuities while maintaining the many ANCF desirable features that include a constant mass matrix, zero Coriolis and centrifugal forces, no restriction on the amount of rotation or deformation within the finite element, ability for straightforward implementation of general

  19. The fading American dream: Trends in absolute income mobility since 1940.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chetty, Raj; Grusky, David; Hell, Maximilian; Hendren, Nathaniel; Manduca, Robert; Narang, Jimmy

    2017-04-28

    We estimated rates of "absolute income mobility"-the fraction of children who earn more than their parents-by combining data from U.S. Census and Current Population Survey cross sections with panel data from de-identified tax records. We found that rates of absolute mobility have fallen from approximately 90% for children born in 1940 to 50% for children born in the 1980s. Increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates alone cannot restore absolute mobility to the rates experienced by children born in the 1940s. However, distributing current GDP growth more equally across income groups as in the 1940 birth cohort would reverse more than 70% of the decline in mobility. These results imply that reviving the "American dream" of high rates of absolute mobility would require economic growth that is shared more broadly across the income distribution. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  20. Alternative approach to nuclear data representation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pruet, J.; Brown, D.; Beck, B.; McNabb, D.P.

    2006-01-01

    This paper considers an approach for representing nuclear data that is qualitatively different from the approach currently adopted by the nuclear science community. Specifically, we examine a representation in which complicated data is described through collections of distinct and self-contained simple data structures. This structure-based representation is compared with the ENDF and ENDL formats, which can be roughly characterized as dictionary-based representations. A pilot data representation for replacing the format currently used at LLNL is presented. Examples are given as is a discussion of promises and shortcomings associated with moving from traditional dictionary-based formats to a structure-rich or class-like representation

  1. On the phase space representations. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polubarinov, I.V.

    1978-01-01

    The Dirac representation theory deals usually with the amplitude formalism of the quantum theory. An introduction is given into a theory of some other representations, which are applicable in the density matrix formalism and can naturally be called phase space representations (PSR). They use terms of phase space variables (x and p simultaneously) and give a description, close to the classical phase space description. Definitions and algebraic properties are given in quantum mechanics for such PSRs as the Wigner representation, coherent state representation and others. Completeness relations of a matrix type are used as a starting point. The case of quantum field theory is also outlined

  2. Mobilities and Representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thelle, Mikkel

    2017-01-01

    to consider how they and their peers are currently confronting representations of mobility. This is particularly timely given the growing academic focus on practices, material mediation, and nonrepresentational theories, as well as on bodily reactions, emotions, and feelings that, according to those theories......As the centerpiece of the eighth T2M yearbook, the following interview about representations of mobility signals a new and exciting focus area for Mobility in History. In future issues we hope to include reviews that grapple more with how mobilities have been imagined and represented in the arts......, literature, and film. Moreover, we hope the authors of future reviews will reflect on the ways they approached those representations. Such commentaries would provide valuable methodological insights, and we hope to begin that effort with this interview. We have asked four prominent mobility scholars...

  3. Post-representational cartography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rob Kitchin

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Over the past decade there has been a move amongst critical cartographers to rethink maps from a post-representational perspective – that is, a vantage point that does not privilege representational modes of thinking (wherein maps are assumed to be mirrors of the world and automatically presumes the ontological security of a map as a map, but rather rethinks and destabilises such notions. This new theorisation extends beyond the earlier critiques of Brian Harley (1989 that argued maps were social constructions. For Harley a map still conveyed the truth of a landscape, albeit its message was bound within the ideological frame of its creator. He thus advocated a strategy of identifying the politics of representation within maps in order to circumnavigate them (to reveal the truth lurking underneath, with the ontology of cartographic practice remaining unquestioned.

  4. Generalized oscillator representations for Calogero Hamiltonians

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tyutin, I V; Voronov, B L

    2013-01-01

    This paper is a natural continuation of the previous paper (Gitman et al 2011 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44 425204), where oscillator representations for nonnegative Calogero Hamiltonians with coupling constant α ⩾ − 1/4 were constructed. In this paper, we present generalized oscillator representations for all Calogero Hamiltonians with α ⩾ − 1/4. These representations are generally highly nonunique, but there exists an optimum representation for each Hamiltonian. (comment)

  5. Development and Validation of a Model to Predict Absolute Vascular Risk Reduction by Moderate-Intensity Statin Therapy in Individual Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Anglo Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial, Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, and Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaasenbrood, Lotte; Poulter, Neil R.; Sever, Peter S.; Colhoun, Helen M.; Livingstone, Shona J.; Boekholdt, S. Matthijs; Pressel, Sara L.; Davis, Barry R.; van der Graaf, Yolanda; Visseren, Frank L. J.

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we aimed to translate the average relative effect of statin therapy from trial data to the individual patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus by developing and validating a model to predict individualized absolute risk reductions (ARR) of cardiovascular events. Data of 2725 patients

  6. Equivalence of rational representations of behaviors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gottimukkala, Sasanka; Fiaz, Shaik; Trentelman, H.L.

    This article deals with the equivalence of representations of behaviors of linear differential systems. In general, the behavior of a given linear differential system has many different representations. In this paper we restrict ourselves to kernel and image representations. Two kernel

  7. Specialized mechanisms for theory of mind: are mental representations special because they are mental or because they are representations?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Adam S; Sasaki, Joni Y; German, Tamsin C

    2015-03-01

    Does theory of mind depend on a capacity to reason about representations generally or on mechanisms selective for the processing of mental state representations? In four experiments, participants reasoned about beliefs (mental representations) and notes (non-mental, linguistic representations), which according to two prominent theories are closely matched representations because both are represented propositionally. Reaction times were faster and accuracies higher when participants endorsed or rejected statements about false beliefs than about false notes (Experiment 1), even when statements emphasized representational format (Experiment 2), which should have favored the activation of representation concepts. Experiments 3 and 4 ruled out a counterhypothesis that differences in task demands were responsible for the advantage in belief processing. These results demonstrate for the first time that understanding of mental and linguistic representations can be dissociated even though both may carry propositional content, supporting the theory that mechanisms governing theory of mind reasoning are narrowly specialized to process mental states, not representations more broadly. Extending this theory, we discuss whether less efficient processing of non-mental representations may be a by-product of mechanisms specialized for processing mental states. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. A generalized wavelet extrema representation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Jian; Lades, M.

    1995-10-01

    The wavelet extrema representation originated by Stephane Mallat is a unique framework for low-level and intermediate-level (feature) processing. In this paper, we present a new form of wavelet extrema representation generalizing Mallat`s original work. The generalized wavelet extrema representation is a feature-based multiscale representation. For a particular choice of wavelet, our scheme can be interpreted as representing a signal or image by its edges, and peaks and valleys at multiple scales. Such a representation is shown to be stable -- the original signal or image can be reconstructed with very good quality. It is further shown that a signal or image can be modeled as piecewise monotonic, with all turning points between monotonic segments given by the wavelet extrema. A new projection operator is introduced to enforce piecewise inonotonicity of a signal in its reconstruction. This leads to an enhancement to previously developed algorithms in preventing artifacts in reconstructed signal.

  9. Risk aversion affects economic values of blue fox breeding scheme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peura, J; Kempe, R; Strandén, I; Rydhmer, L

    2016-12-01

    The profit and production of an average Finnish blue fox farm was simulated using a deterministic bio-economic farm model. Risk was included using Arrow-Prat absolute risk aversion coefficient and profit variance. Risk-rated economic values were calculated for pregnancy rate, litter loss, litter size, pelt size, pelt quality, pelt colour clarity, feed efficiency and eye infection. With high absolute risk aversion, economic values were lower than with low absolute risk aversion. Economic values were highest for litter loss (18.16 and 26.42 EUR), litter size (13.27 and 19.40 EUR), pregnancy (11.99 and 18.39 EUR) and eye infection (12.39 and 13.81 EUR). Sensitivity analysis showed that selection pressure for improved eye health depended strongly on proportion of culled animals among infected animals and much less on the proportion of infected animals. The economic value of feed efficiency was lower than expected (6.06 and 8.03 EUR). However, it was almost the same magnitude as pelt quality (7.30 and 7.30 EUR) and higher than the economic value of pelt size (3.37 and 5.26 EUR). Risk factors should be considered in blue fox breeding scheme because they change the relative importance of traits. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  10. The Ontological Representation of Death: A Scale to Measure the Idea of Annihilation Versus Passage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Testoni, Ines; Ancona, Dorella; Ronconi, Lucia

    2015-01-01

    Since the borders between natural life and death have been blurred by technique, in Western societies discussions and practices regarding death have became infinite. The studies in this area include all the most important topics of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. From a psychological point of view, the research has created many instruments for measuring death anxiety, fear, threat, depression, meaning of life, and among them, the profiles on death attitude are innumerable. This research presents the validation of a new attitude scale, which conjoins psychological dimensions and philosophical ones. This scale may be useful because the ontological idea of death has not yet been considered in research. The hypothesis is that it is different to believe that death is absolute annihilation than to be sure that it is a passage or a transformation of one's personal identity. The hypothetical difference results in a greater inner suffering caused by the former idea. In order to measure this possibility, we analyzed the correlation between Testoni Death Representation Scale and Beck Hopelessness Scale, Suicide Resilience Inventory-25, and Reasons for Living Inventory. The results confirm the hypothesis, showing that the representation of death as total annihilation is positively correlated to hopelessness and negatively correlated to resilience.

  11. [Blood representations associated to chronic transfused patients: Symbolic interpretations and ethical perspectives].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petermann, R; Pêchard, M; Gesbert, C; Assez, N

    2016-09-01

    Since the beginning of the 20th century, major technological developments have been made in blood transfusion. Although numerous sociological studies have been conducted on donors, few have highlighted transfused patients, and in this case, the attention has almost exclusively been focused on transfusion risks in patients. Conversely, blood representations associated with the chronically transfused patients have not really been explored in the literature. Based on interviews conducted among chronically transfused patients (patients with hemoglobinopathy, malignant hemopathy or cancer), this present study enables to understand their needs and their expectations through their symbolic representations and their interpretations of blood transfusion, raising tensions as well ethical perspectives. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  12. Qualitative aspects of representational competence among college chemistry students: Multiple representations and their role in the understanding of ideal gases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Sean Patrick

    This study examined the role of multiple representations of chemical phenomena, specifically, the temperature-pressure relationship of ideal gases, in the problem solving strategies of college chemistry students. Volunteers included students enrolled in a first semester general chemistry course at a western university. Two additional volunteers from the same university were asked to participate and serve as models of greater sophistication. One was a senior chemistry major; another was a junior science writing major. Volunteers completed an initial screening task involving multiple representations of concentration and dilution concepts. Based on the results of this screening instrument a smaller set of subjects were asked to complete a think aloud session involving multiple representations of the temperature-pressure relationship. Data consisted of the written work of the volunteers and transcripts from videotaped think aloud sessions. The data were evaluated by the researcher and two other graduate students in chemical education using a coding scheme (Kozma, Schank, Coppola, Michalchik, and Allen. 2000). This coding scheme was designed to identify essential features of representational competence and differences in uses of multiple representations. The results indicate that students tend to have a strong preference for one type of representation. Students scoring low on representational competence, as measured by the rubric, ignored important features of some representations or acknowledged them only superficially. Students scoring higher on representational competence made meaningful connections among representations. The more advanced students, those who rated highly on representational competence, tended to use their preferred representation in a heuristic manner to establish meaning for other representations. The more advanced students also reflected upon the problem at greater length before beginning work. Molecular level sketches seemed to be the most

  13. Activation of the basolateral amygdala induces long-term enhancement of specific memory representations in the cerebral cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chavez, Candice M; McGaugh, James L; Weinberger, Norman M

    2013-03-01

    The basolateral amygdala (BLA) modulates memory, particularly for arousing or emotional events, during post-training periods of consolidation. It strengthens memories whose substrates in part or whole are stored remotely, in structures such as the hippocampus, striatum and cerebral cortex. However, the mechanisms by which the BLA influences distant memory traces are unknown, largely because of the need for identifiable target mnemonic representations. Associative tuning plasticity in the primary auditory cortex (A1) constitutes a well-characterized candidate specific memory substrate that is ubiquitous across species, tasks and motivational states. When tone predicts reinforcement, the tuning of cells in A1 shifts toward or to the signal frequency within its tonotopic map, producing an over-representation of behaviorally important sounds. Tuning shifts have the cardinal attributes of forms of memory, including associativity, specificity, rapid induction, consolidation and long-term retention and are therefore likely memory representations. We hypothesized that the BLA strengthens memories by increasing their cortical representations. We recorded multiple unit activity from A1 of rats that received a single discrimination training session in which two tones (2.0 s) separated by 1.25 octaves were either paired with brief electrical stimulation (400 ms) of the BLA (CS+) or not (CS-). Frequency response areas generated by presenting a matrix of test tones (0.5-53.82 kHz, 0-70 dB) were obtained before training and daily for 3 weeks post-training. Tuning both at threshold and above threshold shifted predominantly toward the CS+ beginning on day 1. Tuning shifts were maintained for the entire 3 weeks. Absolute threshold and bandwidth decreased, producing less enduring increases in sensitivity and selectivity. BLA-induced tuning shifts were associative, highly specific and long-lasting. We propose that the BLA strengthens memory for important experiences by increasing the

  14. Representational Machines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Photography not only represents space. Space is produced photographically. Since its inception in the 19th century, photography has brought to light a vast array of represented subjects. Always situated in some spatial order, photographic representations have been operatively underpinned by social...... to the enterprises of the medium. This is the subject of Representational Machines: How photography enlists the workings of institutional technologies in search of establishing new iconic and social spaces. Together, the contributions to this edited volume span historical epochs, social environments, technological...... possibilities, and genre distinctions. Presenting several distinct ways of producing space photographically, this book opens a new and important field of inquiry for photography research....

  15. Geohazards storytelling between reality and representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musacchio, Gemma; Candela, Andrea; Canel, Samanta; Roi, Cinzia

    2015-04-01

    Ethics towards geohazards might start at early age and it might radicate on narratives occuring in the media, as disfuctional ideas and perception are passed from school or society to children. In this paper we study the representations and imaginaries of natural hazards as they are in the media and how they are passed on chidren and laypeople. The investigation is led on an experimental basis on primary schools in Northern Italy (Varese province), where data concerning school education are collected. The approach is that of the storytelling that allow evaluation of children perception of hazard and risk. Narratives (news, rhetorics, images and pictures, symbols, metaphores and interpretations) that mass media and education generally used in order to explain and represent geohazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, hydrogeological instability, climate change and so on) are also analysed. They are responsible for certain individual and collective perceptions, indeed. The research has attempted to analyze how imaginaries and common "wrong" ideas can influence environmental education and public communication of natural hazards. A better understanding of feelings (fears and hopes), and all cultural behaviours included in the social construction of collective narratives and representations of environmental emergencies could be useful in order to re-orient education and communication strategies on the basis of more targeted and participatory approaches.

  16. The Representational Impasse of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction: The Pesthouse by Jim Crace

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diletta De Cristofaro

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Jim Crace’s The Pesthouse (2007 provides the ideal springboard for a discussion about the apocalypse and representation because the event remains unspecified, a gap in the story, suggesting the presence of epistemological limits. The present article contends that this narrative choice depends on a representational impasse which makes the depiction of the apocalypse and its aftermath impossible and which post-apocalyptic fiction has to address, in order to grant its own existence. The apocalypse is to be considered the ultimate iconoclastic concept, utterly beyond our abilities as image-makers and story-tellers, because it has either to do with the notion of an absolute end or with that of the radical alterity of a new beginning. A theoretical discussion of the impasse, divided, for the purposes of a more detailed analysis, into two dilemmas, is followed by an outline of how The Pesthouse engages with this unrepresentability. On the one hand, the British author deploys what might be defined as the logic of the absent referent, in order to allude to the unrepresentable apocalypse. This remains, in fact, inaccessible to language, and thus absent in the narrative, while several elements point to its absence. On the other hand, Crace uses a typical topos of post-apocalyptic fiction, temporal inversion, namely representing the future as a return to the past, to allude to the radical alterity of the aftermath.

  17. Facilitating Mathematical Practices through Visual Representations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murata, Aki; Stewart, Chana

    2017-01-01

    Effective use of mathematical representation is key to supporting student learning. In "Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All" (NCTM 2014), "use and connect mathematical representations" is one of the effective Mathematics Teaching Practices. By using different representations, students examine concepts…

  18. Absolute total cross sections for noble gas systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kam, P. van der.

    1981-01-01

    This thesis deals with experiments on the elastic scattering of Ar, Kr and Xe, using the molecular beam technique. The aim of this work was the measurement of the absolute value of the total cross section and the behaviour of the total cross section, Q, as function of the relative velocity g of the scattering partners. The author gives an extensive analysis of the glory structure in the total cross section and parametrizes the experimental results using a semiclassical model function. This allows a detailed comparison of the phase and amplitude of the predicted and measured glory undulations. He indicates how the depth and position of the potential well should be changed in order to come to an optimum description of the glory structure. With this model function he has also been able to separate the glory and attractive contribution to Q, and using the results from the extrapolation measurements he has obtained absolute values for Qsub(a). From these absolute values he has calculated the parameter C 6 that determines the strength of the attractive region of the potential. In two of the four investigated gas combinations the obtained values lie outside the theoretical bounds. (Auth.)

  19. Can Designing Self-Representations through Creative Computing Promote an Incremental View of Intelligence and Enhance Creativity among At-Risk Youth?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ina Blau

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Creative computing is one of the rapidly growing educational trends around the world. Previous studies have shown that creative computing can empower disadvantaged children and youth. At-risk youth tend to hold a negative view of self and perceive their abilities as inferior compared to “normative” pupils. The Implicit Theories of Intelligence approach (ITI; Dweck, 1999, 2008 suggests a way of changing beliefs regarding one’s abilities. This paper reports findings from an experiment that explores the impact of a short intervention among at-risk youth and “normative” high-school students on (1 changing ITI from being perceived as fixed (entity view of intelligence to more flexible (incremental view of intelligence and (2 the quality of digital self-representations programmed though a creative computing app. The participants were 117 Israeli youth aged 14-17, half of whom were at-risk youth. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control conditions. The experimental group watched a video of a lecture regarding brain plasticity that emphasized flexibility and the potential of human intelligence to be cultivated. The control group watched a neutral lecture about brain-functioning and creativity. Following the intervention, all of the participants watched screencasts of basic training for the Scratch programming app, designed artifacts that digitally represented themselves five years later and reported their ITI. The results showed more incremental ITI in the experimental group compared to the control group and among normative students compared to at-risk youth. In contrast to the research hypothesis, the Scratch projects of the at-risk youth, especially in the experimental condition, were rated by neutral judges as being more creative, more aesthetically designed, and more clearly conveying their message. The results suggest that creative computing combined with the ITI intervention is a way of developing

  20. Intake of ruminant trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Marianne Uhre; Overvad, Kim; Dyerberg, Jørn

    2008-01-01

    that R-TFA intake is innocuous or even protective against CHD. The aim of this study was to describe the association between R-TFA intake and risk of CHD evaluating both the absolute and the energy-adjusted intake. METHODS: The study was an 18-year follow-up study of 3686 Danes, aged 30-71 years......, at baseline without previous CHD. RESULTS: There were no overall associations between absolute or energy-adjusted R-TFA intakes and risk of CHD. However, among women, indications of inverse associations between R-TFA intake and risk of CHD were found: hazard ratio (HR) per 0.5 g increase in absolute R......-TFA intake = 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.70, 1.01] and HR per 0.5 g increase in energy-adjusted R-TFA intake = 0.77 (95% CI: 0.55, 1.09). No associations between absolute or energy-adjusted R-TFA intakes and CHD were found among men. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that R-TFA intake...

  1. The role of risk perception for risk management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Renn, Ortwin

    1998-01-01

    Are risks social constructions of different societal actors that can be checked at best against standards of consistency, cohesion and internal conventions of deduction, but cannot claim any validity outside of the actor's logical framework? Or are technical estimates of risk representations of real hazards that can and will affect people as predicted by the statistical values, regardless of the beliefs or convictions of those who conduct the assessments? Which of the two sides one takes determines the legitimate function of risk perception for management purposes. The paper argues that both extremes, the constructivist and the realist perspective, miss the point, as risks are always mental representations of threats that are capable of claiming real losses. Over the last two decades, risk analysts have dealt with both sides of risk in an additive fashion. In times in which risk management has been under serious pressure to demonstrate effectiveness and cost-efficiency, the parallel approach of pleasing the technical elite and the public alike has lost legitimacy. In order to integrate risk assessment and perception, the paper analyses the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to risk analysis and highlights the potential contributions that the technical sciences and the social sciences can offer to risk management. Technical assessments provide the best estimate for judging the average probability of an adverse effect linked to an object or activity. First, public perception should govern the selection of criteria on which acceptability or tolerability are to be judged. Second, public input is needed to determine the trade-offs between criteria. Third, public preferences are needed to design resilient strategies for coping with remaining uncertainties. A public participation model is introduced that promises an integration of analytic knowledge and deliberative process involving those who will be affected by the respective risk

  2. Absolute instabilities of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, P. N.; van Heijster, P.; Marangell, R.

    2017-11-01

    We investigate the spectral stability of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model of bacterial chemotaxis with a logarithmic chemosensitivity function and a constant, sublinear, and linear consumption rate. Linearising around the travelling wave solutions, we locate the essential and absolute spectrum of the associated linear operators and find that all travelling wave solutions have parts of the essential spectrum in the right half plane. However, we show that in the case of constant or sublinear consumption there exists a range of parameters such that the absolute spectrum is contained in the open left half plane and the essential spectrum can thus be weighted into the open left half plane. For the constant and sublinear consumption rate models we also determine critical parameter values for which the absolute spectrum crosses into the right half plane, indicating the onset of an absolute instability of the travelling wave solution. We observe that this crossing always occurs off of the real axis.

  3. Absolute photonic band gap in 2D honeycomb annular photonic crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Dan; Gao, Yihua; Tong, Aihong; Hu, Sen

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A two-dimensional honeycomb annular photonic crystal (PC) is proposed. • The absolute photonic band gap (PBG) is studied. • Annular PCs show larger PBGs than usual air-hole PCs for high refractive index. • Annular PCs with anisotropic rods show large PBGs for low refractive index. • There exist optimal parameters to open largest band gaps. - Abstract: Using the plane wave expansion method, we investigate the effects of structural parameters on absolute photonic band gap (PBG) in two-dimensional honeycomb annular photonic crystals (PCs). The results reveal that the annular PCs possess absolute PBGs that are larger than those of the conventional air-hole PCs only when the refractive index of the material from which the PC is made is equal to 4.5 or larger. If the refractive index is smaller than 4.5, utilization of anisotropic inner rods in honeycomb annular PCs can lead to the formation of larger PBGs. The optimal structural parameters that yield the largest absolute PBGs are obtained

  4. Absolute Distance Measurements with Tunable Semiconductor Laser

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Mikel, Břetislav; Číp, Ondřej; Lazar, Josef

    T118, - (2005), s. 41-44 ISSN 0031-8949 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAB2065001 Keywords : tunable laser * absolute interferometer Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 0.661, year: 2004

  5. MEAN OF MEDIAN ABSOLUTE DERIVATION TECHNIQUE MEAN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    eobe

    development of mean of median absolute derivation technique based on the based on the based on .... of noise mean to estimate the speckle noise variance. Noise mean property ..... Foraging Optimization,” International Journal of. Advanced ...

  6. The relative and absolute speed of radiographic screen - film systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, In Ja; Huh, Joon

    1993-01-01

    Recently, a large number of new screen-film systems have become available for use in diagnostic radiology. These new screens are made of materials generally known as rare - earth phosphors which have high x-ray absorption and high x-ray to light conversion efficiency compared to calcium tungstate phosphors. The major advantage of these new systems is reduction of patient exposure due to their high speed or high sensitivity. However, a system with excessively high speed can result in a significant degradation of radiographic image quality. Therefore, the speed is important parameters for users of these system. Our aim of in this was to determine accurately and precisely the absolute speed and relative speeds of both new and conventional screen - film system. We determined the absolute speed in condition of BRH phantom beam quality and the relative speed were measured by a split - screen technique in condition of BRH and ANSI phantom beam quality. The absolute and the relative speed were determined for 8 kinds of screen - 4 kinds of film in regular system and 7 kinds pf screen - 7 kinds of film in ortho system. In this study we could know the New Rx, T - MAT G has the highest film speed, also know Green system's standard deviation of relative speed larger than blue system. It was realized that there were no relationship between the absolute speed and the blue system. It was realized that there were no relationship between the absolute speed and the relative speed in ortho or regular system

  7. Procedural Media Representation

    OpenAIRE

    Henrysson, Anders

    2002-01-01

    We present a concept for using procedural techniques to represent media. Procedural methods allow us to represent digital media (2D images, 3D environments etc.) with very little information and to render it photo realistically. Since not all kind of content can be created procedurally, traditional media representations (bitmaps, polygons etc.) must be used as well. We have adopted an object-based media representation where an object can be represented either with a procedure or with its trad...

  8. The abstract representations in speech processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutler, Anne

    2008-11-01

    Speech processing by human listeners derives meaning from acoustic input via intermediate steps involving abstract representations of what has been heard. Recent results from several lines of research are here brought together to shed light on the nature and role of these representations. In spoken-word recognition, representations of phonological form and of conceptual content are dissociable. This follows from the independence of patterns of priming for a word's form and its meaning. The nature of the phonological-form representations is determined not only by acoustic-phonetic input but also by other sources of information, including metalinguistic knowledge. This follows from evidence that listeners can store two forms as different without showing any evidence of being able to detect the difference in question when they listen to speech. The lexical representations are in turn separate from prelexical representations, which are also abstract in nature. This follows from evidence that perceptual learning about speaker-specific phoneme realization, induced on the basis of a few words, generalizes across the whole lexicon to inform the recognition of all words containing the same phoneme. The efficiency of human speech processing has its basis in the rapid execution of operations over abstract representations.

  9. Interactions between visual working memory representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Gi-Yeul; Luck, Steven J

    2017-11-01

    We investigated whether the representations of different objects are maintained independently in working memory or interact with each other. Observers were shown two sequentially presented orientations and required to reproduce each orientation after a delay. The sequential presentation minimized perceptual interactions so that we could isolate interactions between memory representations per se. We found that similar orientations were repelled from each other whereas dissimilar orientations were attracted to each other. In addition, when one of the items was given greater attentional priority by means of a cue, the representation of the high-priority item was not influenced very much by the orientation of the low-priority item, but the representation of the low-priority item was strongly influenced by the orientation of the high-priority item. This indicates that attention modulates the interactions between working memory representations. In addition, errors in the reported orientations of the two objects were positively correlated under some conditions, suggesting that representations of distinct objects may become grouped together in memory. Together, these results demonstrate that working-memory representations are not independent but instead interact with each other in a manner that depends on attentional priority.

  10. Absolute continuity of autophage measures on finite-dimensional vector spaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raja, C R.E. [Stat-Math Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore (India); [Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy)]. E-mail: creraja@isibang.ac.in

    2002-06-01

    We consider a class of measures called autophage which was introduced and studied by Szekely for measures on the real line. We show that the autophage measures on finite-dimensional vector spaces over real or Q{sub p} are infinitely divisible without idempotent factors and are absolutely continuous with bounded continuous density. We also show that certain semistable measures on such vector spaces are absolutely continuous. (author)

  11. Det demokratiske argument for absolut ytringsfrihed

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2014-01-01

    Artiklen diskuterer den påstand, at absolut ytringsfrihed er en nødvendig forudsætning for demokratisk legitimitet med udgangspunkt i en rekonstruktion af et argument fremsat af Ronald Dworkin. Spørgsmålet er, hvorfor ytringsfrihed skulle være en forudsætning for demokratisk legitimitet, og hvorfor...

  12. Thin-film magnetoresistive absolute position detector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groenland, J.P.J.

    1990-01-01

    The subject of this thesis is the investigation of a digital absolute posi- tion-detection system, which is based on a position-information carrier (i.e. a magnetic tape) with one single code track on the one hand, and an array of magnetoresistive sensors for the detection of the information on the

  13. Representation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Little, Daniel

    2006-01-01

    ...). The reason this is so is due to hierarchies that we take for granted. By hierarchies I mean that there is a layer of representation of us as individuals, as military professional, as members of a military unit and as citizens of an entire nation...

  14. L-functions and the oscillator representation

    CERN Document Server

    Rallis, Stephen

    1987-01-01

    These notes are concerned with showing the relation between L-functions of classical groups (*F1 in particular) and *F2 functions arising from the oscillator representation of the dual reductive pair *F1 *F3 O(Q). The problem of measuring the nonvanishing of a *F2 correspondence by computing the Petersson inner product of a *F2 lift from *F1 to O(Q) is considered. This product can be expressed as the special value of an L-function (associated to the standard representation of the L-group of *F1) times a finite number of local Euler factors (measuring whether a given local representation occurs in a given oscillator representation). The key ideas used in proving this are (i) new Rankin integral representations of standard L-functions, (ii) see-saw dual reductive pairs and (iii) Siegel-Weil formula. The book addresses readers who specialize in the theory of automorphic forms and L-functions and the representation theory of Lie groups. N

  15. DOES ABSOLUTE SYNONYMY EXIST IN OWERE-IGBO?

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    USER

    The researcher also interviewed native speakers of the dialect. The study ... The word 'synonymy' means sameness of meaning, i.e., a relationship in which more ... whether absolute synonymy exists in Owere–Igbo or not. ..... 'close this book'.

  16. Risk, responsibility and political action

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halskov Jensen, Elisabeth

    2004-01-01

    action was transformed into a moral respon-sibility on the part of the national and European politicians, constrained by economic and technical-scientific reality and represented as taking place only in the public sphere. KEY WORDS: CDA, World Risk Society, argumentation, media discourse, argumentation......ABSTRACT. This paper presents an argumentative case study of the discursive representation of risk, responsibility and political action in the Spanish media. The study uses a critical discourse analytical approach combined with theories on risk, agency and political communication in the media....... It is argued that an application of the Toulmin model is useful for eliciting systematic overall repre-sentations of responsibility and agency in environmental crises such as the mad cow crisis as well as for revealing relationships between social domains such as moral, politics, economics and science...

  17. Visual perception and verbal descriptions as sources for generating mental representations: Evidence from representational neglect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denis, Michel; Beschin, Nicoletta; Logie, Robert H; Della Sala, Sergio

    2002-03-01

    In the majority of investigations of representational neglect, patients are asked to report information derived from long-term visual knowledge. In contrast, studies of perceptual neglect involve reporting the contents of relatively novel scenes in the immediate environment. The present study aimed to establish how representational neglect might affect (a) immediate recall of recently perceived, novel visual layouts, and (b) immediate recall of novel layouts presented only as auditory verbal descriptions. These conditions were contrasted with reports from visual perception and a test of immediate recall of verbal material. Data were obtained from 11 neglect patients (9 with representational neglect), 6 right hemisphere lesion control patients with no evidence of neglect, and 15 healthy controls. In the perception, memory following perception, and memory following layout description conditions, the neglect patients showed poorer report of items depicted or described on the left than on the right of each layout. The lateralised error pattern was not evident in the non-neglect patients or healthy controls, and there was no difference among the three groups on immediate verbal memory. One patient showed pure representational neglect, with ceiling performance in the perception condition, but with lateralised errors for memory following perception or following verbal description. Overall, the results indicate that representational neglect does not depend on the presence of perceptual neglect, that visual perception and visual mental representations are less closely linked than has been thought hitherto, and that visuospatial mental representations have similar functional characteristics whether they are derived from visual perception or from auditory linguistic descriptive inputs.

  18. Young Children's Representations of Groups of Objects: The Relationship between Abstraction and Representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Yasuhiko; Kamii, Constance; Ozaki, Kyoko; Nagahiro, Mariko

    2002-01-01

    Interviews 60 Japanese children between the ages of 3 and 7 years to investigate the relationship between levels of abstraction and representation. Indicates that abstraction and representation are closely related. Implies that educators need to focus more on the mental relationships children make because the meaning children can give to…

  19. Extreme lipoprotein(a) levels and risk of myocardial infarction in the general population

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kamstrup, Pia R; Benn, Marianne; Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne

    2008-01-01

    Elevated lipoprotein(a) levels are associated with myocardial infarction (MI) in some but not all studies. Limitations of previous studies include lack of risk estimates for extreme lipoprotein(a) levels, measurements in long-term frozen samples, no correction for regression dilution bias, and lack...... of absolute risk estimates in the general population. We tested the hypothesis that extreme lipoprotein(a) levels predict MI in the general population, measuring levels shortly after sampling, correcting for regression dilution bias, and calculating hazard ratios and absolute risk estimates....

  20. Approaches and methods of risk assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rowe, W.D.

    1983-01-01

    The classification system of risk assessment includes the categories: 1) risk comparisons, 2) cost-effectiveness of risk reduction, 3) balancing of costs, risks and benefits against one another, 4. Metasystems. An overview of methods and systems reveals that no single method can be applied to all cases and situations. The visibility of the process and the absolute consideration of all aspects of judging are, however, of first and fore most importance. (DG) [de

  1. Towards absolute neutrino masses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vogel, Petr [Kellogg Radiation Laboratory 106-38, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

    2007-06-15

    Various ways of determining the absolute neutrino masses are briefly reviewed and their sensitivities compared. The apparent tension between the announced but unconfirmed observation of the 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay and the neutrino mass upper limit based on observational cosmology is used as an example of what could happen eventually. The possibility of a 'nonstandard' mechanism of the 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay is stressed and the ways of deciding which of the possible mechanisms is actually operational are described. The importance of the 0{nu}{beta}{beta} nuclear matrix elements is discussed and their uncertainty estimated.

  2. Absolute migration of Pacific basin mid-ocean ridges since 85 Ma ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mid-ocean ridges are major physiographic features that dominate the world seafloor. Their absolute motion and tectonics are recorded in magnetic lineations they created. The absolute migration of mid-ocean ridges in the Pacific basin since 85 Ma and their tectonic implications was investigated in this work and the results ...

  3. Hohenberg-Kohn theorem and non-V-representable densities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Englisch, H.; Englisch, R.

    1983-01-01

    In the density-functional formalism of Hohenberg and Kohn, the variation is only allowed over the one-particle densities which are pure-state-V-representable (PS-V-representable). Levy and Lieb proved that not every ensemble-V-representable (E-V-representable) density is PS-V-representable. Since we show that the Hohenberg-Kohn formalism can be extended to a variation over E-V-representable densities for degenerated ground states, Levy's and Lieb's result is not a counterexample to the universality of the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem. The question whether every N-representable density is E-V-representable has remained open so far. Presenting examples of non-E-V-representable densities we answer this question in the negative. Thus the value of Levy's functional for the calculation of ground-state energies is obvious, since this functional only requires the N-representability of the densities. Therefore we transfer two approaches for the calculation of excited-state energies into the framework of Levy's formalism. (orig.)

  4. Risk assessment under deep uncertainty: A methodological comparison

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shortridge, Julie; Aven, Terje; Guikema, Seth

    2017-01-01

    Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) has proven to be an invaluable tool for evaluating risks in complex engineered systems. However, there is increasing concern that PRA may not be adequate in situations with little underlying knowledge to support probabilistic representation of uncertainties. As analysts and policy makers turn their attention to deeply uncertain hazards such as climate change, a number of alternatives to traditional PRA have been proposed. This paper systematically compares three diverse approaches for risk analysis under deep uncertainty (qualitative uncertainty factors, probability bounds, and robust decision making) in terms of their representation of uncertain quantities, analytical output, and implications for risk management. A simple example problem is used to highlight differences in the way that each method relates to the traditional risk assessment process and fundamental issues associated with risk assessment and description. We find that the implications for decision making are not necessarily consistent between approaches, and that differences in the representation of uncertain quantities and analytical output suggest contexts in which each method may be most appropriate. Finally, each methodology demonstrates how risk assessment can inform decision making in deeply uncertain contexts, informing more effective responses to risk problems characterized by deep uncertainty. - Highlights: • We compare three diverse approaches to risk assessment under deep uncertainty. • A simple example problem highlights differences in analytical process and results. • Results demonstrate how methodological choices can impact risk assessment results.

  5. Absolute humidity and the seasonal onset of influenza in the continental United States.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey Shaman

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Much of the observed wintertime increase of mortality in temperate regions is attributed to seasonal influenza. A recent reanalysis of laboratory experiments indicates that absolute humidity strongly modulates the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus. Here, we extend these findings to the human population level, showing that the onset of increased wintertime influenza-related mortality in the United States is associated with anomalously low absolute humidity levels during the prior weeks. We then use an epidemiological model, in which observed absolute humidity conditions temper influenza transmission rates, to successfully simulate the seasonal cycle of observed influenza-related mortality. The model results indicate that direct modulation of influenza transmissibility by absolute humidity alone is sufficient to produce this observed seasonality. These findings provide epidemiological support for the hypothesis that absolute humidity drives seasonal variations of influenza transmission in temperate regions.

  6. Overspecification of colour, pattern, and size: Salience, absoluteness, and consistency

    OpenAIRE

    Sammie eTarenskeen; Mirjam eBroersma; Mirjam eBroersma; Bart eGeurts

    2015-01-01

    The rates of overspecification of colour, pattern, and size are compared, to investigate how salience and absoluteness contribute to the production of overspecification. Colour and pattern are absolute attributes, whereas size is relative and less salient. Additionally, a tendency towards consistent responses is assessed. Using a within-participants design, we find similar rates of colour and pattern overspecification, which are both higher than the rate of size overspecification. Using a bet...

  7. Overspecification of color, pattern, and size: salience, absoluteness, and consistency

    OpenAIRE

    Tarenskeen, S.L.; Broersma, M.; Geurts, B.

    2015-01-01

    The rates of overspecification of color, pattern, and size are compared, to investigate how salience and absoluteness contribute to the production of overspecification. Color and pattern are absolute and salient attributes, whereas size is relative and less salient. Additionally, a tendency toward consistent responses is assessed. Using a within-participants design, we find similar rates of color and pattern overspecification, which are both higher than the rate of size overspecification. Usi...

  8. Improvements in absolute seismometer sensitivity calibration using local earth gravity measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Robert E.; Ringler, Adam; Wilson, David

    2018-01-01

    The ability to determine both absolute and relative seismic amplitudes is fundamentally limited by the accuracy and precision with which scientists are able to calibrate seismometer sensitivities and characterize their response. Currently, across the Global Seismic Network (GSN), errors in midband sensitivity exceed 3% at the 95% confidence interval and are the least‐constrained response parameter in seismic recording systems. We explore a new methodology utilizing precise absolute Earth gravity measurements to determine the midband sensitivity of seismic instruments. We first determine the absolute sensitivity of Kinemetrics EpiSensor accelerometers to 0.06% at the 99% confidence interval by inverting them in a known gravity field at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL). After the accelerometer is calibrated, we install it in its normal configuration next to broadband seismometers and subject the sensors to identical ground motions to perform relative calibrations of the broadband sensors. Using this technique, we are able to determine the absolute midband sensitivity of the vertical components of Nanometrics Trillium Compact seismometers to within 0.11% and Streckeisen STS‐2 seismometers to within 0.14% at the 99% confidence interval. The technique enables absolute calibrations from first principles that are traceable to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measurements while providing nearly an order of magnitude more precision than step‐table calibrations.

  9. Absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taatjes, Craig A; Osborn, David L; Selby, Talitha M; Meloni, Giovanni; Fan, Haiyan; Pratt, Stephen T

    2008-10-02

    The absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical has been measured using two completely independent methods. The CH3 photoionization cross-section was determined relative to that of acetone and methyl vinyl ketone at photon energies of 10.2 and 11.0 eV by using a pulsed laser-photolysis/time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry method. The time-resolved depletion of the acetone or methyl vinyl ketone precursor and the production of methyl radicals following 193 nm photolysis are monitored simultaneously by using time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry. Comparison of the initial methyl signal with the decrease in precursor signal, in combination with previously measured absolute photoionization cross-sections of the precursors, yields the absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical; sigma(CH3)(10.2 eV) = (5.7 +/- 0.9) x 10(-18) cm(2) and sigma(CH3)(11.0 eV) = (6.0 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2). The photoionization cross-section for vinyl radical determined by photolysis of methyl vinyl ketone is in good agreement with previous measurements. The methyl radical photoionization cross-section was also independently measured relative to that of the iodine atom by comparison of ionization signals from CH3 and I fragments following 266 nm photolysis of methyl iodide in a molecular-beam ion-imaging apparatus. These measurements gave a cross-section of (5.4 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.460 eV, (5.5 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.466 eV, and (4.9 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.471 eV. The measurements allow relative photoionization efficiency spectra of methyl radical to be placed on an absolute scale and will facilitate quantitative measurements of methyl concentrations by photoionization mass spectrometry.

  10. Higher relative, but lower absolute risks of myocardial infarction in women than in men

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reuterwall, C; Hallqvist, J; Ahlbom, A

    1999-01-01

    Middle-aged men have often been the subjects of multifactorial studies of myocardial infarction (MI) risk factors. One major objective of the SHEEP study was to compare the effects of different MI risk factors in women and men.......Middle-aged men have often been the subjects of multifactorial studies of myocardial infarction (MI) risk factors. One major objective of the SHEEP study was to compare the effects of different MI risk factors in women and men....

  11. Representation theory of lattice current algebras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alekseev, A.Yu.; Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule, Zurich; Faddeev, L.D.; Froehlich, L.D.; Schomerus, V.; Kyoto Univ.

    1996-04-01

    Lattice current algebras were introduced as a regularization of the left-and right moving degrees of freedom in the WZNW model. They provide examples of lattice theories with a local quantum symmetry U q (G). Their representation theory is studied in detail. In particular, we construct all irreducible representations along with a lattice analogue of the fusion product for representations of the lattice current algebra. It is shown that for an arbitrary number of lattice sites, the representation categories of the lattice current algebras agree with their continuum counterparts. (orig.)

  12. Cohen-Macaulay representations

    CERN Document Server

    Leuschke, Graham J

    2012-01-01

    This book is a comprehensive treatment of the representation theory of maximal Cohen-Macaulay (MCM) modules over local rings. This topic is at the intersection of commutative algebra, singularity theory, and representations of groups and algebras. Two introductory chapters treat the Krull-Remak-Schmidt Theorem on uniqueness of direct-sum decompositions and its failure for modules over local rings. Chapters 3-10 study the central problem of classifying the rings with only finitely many indecomposable MCM modules up to isomorphism, i.e., rings of finite CM type. The fundamental material--ADE/simple singularities, the double branched cover, Auslander-Reiten theory, and the Brauer-Thrall conjectures--is covered clearly and completely. Much of the content has never before appeared in book form. Examples include the representation theory of Artinian pairs and Burban-Drozd's related construction in dimension two, an introduction to the McKay correspondence from the point of view of maximal Cohen-Macaulay modules, Au...

  13. Concordance for prognostic models with competing risks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wolbers, Marcel; Blanche, Paul; Koller, Michael T

    2014-01-01

    The concordance probability is a widely used measure to assess discrimination of prognostic models with binary and survival endpoints. We formally define the concordance probability for a prognostic model of the absolute risk of an event of interest in the presence of competing risks and relate i...

  14. Cancer incidence and mortality risks in a large US Barrett's oesophagus cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Michael B; Coburn, Sally B; Lam, Jameson R; Taylor, Philip R; Schneider, Jennifer L; Corley, Douglas A

    2018-03-01

    Barrett's oesophagus (BE) increases the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma by 10-55 times that of the general population, but no community-based cancer-specific incidence and cause-specific mortality risk estimates exist for large cohorts in the USA. Within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), we identified patients with BE diagnosed during 1995-2012. KPNC cancer registry and mortality files were used to estimate standardised incidence ratios (SIR), standardised mortality ratios (SMR) and excess absolute risks. There were 8929 patients with BE providing 50 147 person-years of follow-up. Compared with the greater KPNC population, patients with BE had increased risks of any cancer (SIR=1.40, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.49), which slightly decreased after excluding oesophageal cancer. Oesophageal adenocarcinoma risk was increased 24 times, which translated into an excess absolute risk of 24 cases per 10 000 person-years. Although oesophageal adenocarcinoma risk decreased with time since BE diagnosis, oesophageal cancer mortality did not, indicating that the true risk is stable and persistent with time. Relative risks of cardia and stomach cancers were increased, but excess absolute risks were modest. Risks of colorectal, lung and prostate cancers were unaltered. All-cause mortality was slightly increased after excluding oesophageal cancer (SMR=1.24, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.31), but time-stratified analyses indicated that this was likely attributable to diagnostic bias. Cause-specific SMRs were elevated for ischaemic heart disease (SMR=1.39, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.63), respiratory system diseases (SMR=1.51, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.75) and digestive system diseases (SMR=2.20 95% CI 1.75 to 2.75). Patients with BE had a persistent excess risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma over time, although their absolute excess risks for this cancer, any cancer and overall mortality were modest. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a

  15. Absolute dissipative drift-wave instabilities in tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, L.; Chance, M.S.; Cheng, C.Z.

    1979-07-01

    Contrary to previous theoretical predictions, it is shown that the dissipative drift-wave instabilities are absolute in tokamak plasmas. The existence of unstable eigenmodes is shown to be associated with a new eigenmode branch induced by the finite toroidal couplings

  16. Internal descriptions of absolute Borel classes

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Holický, P.; Pelant, Jan

    2004-01-01

    Roč. 141, č. 1 (2004), s. 87-104 ISSN 0166-8641 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/00/1466; GA ČR GA201/03/0933 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1019905 Keywords : absolute Borel class * complete sequence of covers * open map Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.364, year: 2004

  17. Integrated Clinical Decision Support Systems Promote Absolute Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: An Important Primary Prevention Measure in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronica Matthews

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience a greater burden of disease compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Around one-fifth of the health disparity is caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD. Despite the importance of absolute cardiovascular risk assessment (CVRA as a screening and early intervention tool, few studies have reported its use within the Australian Indigenous primary health care (PHC sector. This study utilizes data from a large-scale quality improvement program to examine variation in documented CVRA as a primary prevention strategy for individuals without prior CVD across four Australian jurisdictions. We also examine the proportion with elevated risk and follow-up actions recorded.MethodsWe undertook cross-sectional analysis of 2,052 client records from 97 PHC centers to assess CVRA in Indigenous adults aged ≥20 years with no recorded chronic disease diagnosis (2012–2014. Multilevel regression was used to quantify the variation in CVRA attributable to health center and client level factors. The main outcome measure was the proportion of eligible adults who had CVRA recorded. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of clients with elevated risk that had follow-up actions recorded.ResultsApproximately 23% (n = 478 of eligible clients had documented CVRA. Almost all assessments (99% were conducted in the Northern Territory. Within this jurisdiction, there was wide variation between centers in the proportion of clients with documented CVRA (median 38%; range 0–86%. Regression analysis showed health center factors accounted for 48% of the variation. Centers with integrated clinical decision support systems were more likely to document CVRA (OR 21.1; 95% CI 5.4–82.4; p < 0.001. Eleven percent (n = 53 of clients were found with moderate/high CVD risk, of whom almost one-third were under 35 years (n = 16. Documentation of follow-up varied with respect to the targeted risk factor

  18. Operator representation for effective realistic interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weber, Dennis; Feldmeier, Hans; Neff, Thomas [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt (Germany)

    2013-07-01

    We present a method to derive an operator representation from the partial wave matrix elements of effective realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials. This method allows to employ modern effective interactions, which are mostly given in matrix element representation, also in nuclear many-body methods requiring explicitly the operator representation, for example ''Fermionic Molecular Dynamics'' (FMD). We present results for the operator representation of effective interactions obtained from the Argonne V18 potential with the Uenitary Correlation Operator Method'' (UCOM) and the ''Similarity Renormalization Group'' (SRG). Moreover, the operator representation allows a better insight in the nonlocal structure of the potential: While the UCOM transformed potential only shows a quadratic momentum dependence, the momentum dependence of SRG transformed potentials is beyond such a simple polynomial form.

  19. ABJM Wilson loops in arbitrary representations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hatsuda, Yasuyuki [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Theory Group; Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan). Dept. of Physics; Honda, Masazumi [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Moriyama, Sanefumi [Nagoya Univ. (Japan). Kobayashi Maskawa Inst. and Graduate School of Mathematics; Okuyama, Kazumi [Shinshu Univ., Matsumoto, Nagano (Japan). Dept. of Physics

    2013-06-15

    We study vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of circular half BPS Wilson loops in arbitrary representations in ABJM theory. We find that those in hook representations are reduced to elementary integrations thanks to the Fermi gas formalism, which are accessible from the numerical studies similar to the partition function in the previous studies. For non-hook representations, we show that the VEVs in the grand canonical formalism can be exactly expressed as determinants of those in the hook representations. Using these facts, we can study the instanton effects of the VEVs in various representations. Our results are consistent with the worldsheet instanton effects studied from the topological string and a prescription to include the membrane instanton effects by shifting the chemical potential, which has been successful for the partition function.

  20. ABJM Wilson loops in arbitrary representations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hatsuda, Yasuyuki; Moriyama, Sanefumi; Okuyama, Kazumi

    2013-06-01

    We study vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of circular half BPS Wilson loops in arbitrary representations in ABJM theory. We find that those in hook representations are reduced to elementary integrations thanks to the Fermi gas formalism, which are accessible from the numerical studies similar to the partition function in the previous studies. For non-hook representations, we show that the VEVs in the grand canonical formalism can be exactly expressed as determinants of those in the hook representations. Using these facts, we can study the instanton effects of the VEVs in various representations. Our results are consistent with the worldsheet instanton effects studied from the topological string and a prescription to include the membrane instanton effects by shifting the chemical potential, which has been successful for the partition function.

  1. Absolute photoionization cross-section of the propargyl radical

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Savee, John D.; Welz, Oliver; Taatjes, Craig A.; Osborn, David L. [Sandia National Laboratories, Combustion Research Facility, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Soorkia, Satchin [Institut des Sciences Moleculaires d' Orsay, Universite Paris-Sud 11, Orsay (France); Selby, Talitha M. [Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Washington County Campus, West Bend, Wisconsin 53095 (United States)

    2012-04-07

    Using synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation and multiplexed time-resolved photoionization mass spectrometry we have measured the absolute photoionization cross-section for the propargyl (C{sub 3}H{sub 3}) radical, {sigma}{sub propargyl}{sup ion}(E), relative to the known absolute cross-section of the methyl (CH{sub 3}) radical. We generated a stoichiometric 1:1 ratio of C{sub 3}H{sub 3} : CH{sub 3} from 193 nm photolysis of two different C{sub 4}H{sub 6} isomers (1-butyne and 1,3-butadiene). Photolysis of 1-butyne yielded values of {sigma}{sub propargyl}{sup ion}(10.213 eV)=(26.1{+-}4.2) Mb and {sigma}{sub propargyl}{sup ion}(10.413 eV)=(23.4{+-}3.2) Mb, whereas photolysis of 1,3-butadiene yielded values of {sigma}{sub propargyl}{sup ion}(10.213 eV)=(23.6{+-}3.6) Mb and {sigma}{sub propargyl}{sup ion}(10.413 eV)=(25.1{+-}3.5) Mb. These measurements place our relative photoionization cross-section spectrum for propargyl on an absolute scale between 8.6 and 10.5 eV. The cross-section derived from our results is approximately a factor of three larger than previous determinations.

  2. Mental Representation and Motor Imagery Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas eSchack

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Research in sports, dance and rehabilitation has shown that Basic Action Concepts (BACs are fundamental building blocks of mental action representations. BACs are based on chunked body postures related to common functions for realizing action goals. In this paper, we outline issues in research methodology and an experimental method, SDA-M (structural dimensional analysis of mental representation, to assess action-relevant representational structures that reflect the organization of BACs. The SDA-M reveals a strong relationship between cognitive representation and performance if complex actions are performed. We show how the SDA-M can improve motor imagery training and how it contributes to our understanding of coaching processes. The SDA-M capitalizes on the objective measurement of individual mental movement representations before training and the integration of these results into the motor imagery training. Such motor imagery training based on mental representations has been applied successfully in professional sports such as golf, volleyball, gymnastics, windsurfing, and recently in the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered a stroke.

  3. Off-shell representations of maximally-extended supersymmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cox, P.H.

    1985-01-01

    A general theorem on the necessity of off-shell central charges in representations of maximally-extended supersymmetry (number of spinor charges - 4 x largest spin) is presented. A procedure for building larger and higher-N representations is also explored; a (noninteracting) N=8, maximum spin 2, off-shell representation is achieved. Difficulties in adding interactions for this representation are discussed

  4. Predicting behavior change from persuasive messages using neural representational similarity and social network analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pegors, Teresa K; Tompson, Steven; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Falk, Emily B

    2017-08-15

    Neural activity in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), identified as engaging in self-related processing, predicts later health behavior change. However, it is unknown to what extent individual differences in neural representation of content and lived experience influence this brain-behavior relationship. We examined whether the strength of content-specific representations during persuasive messaging relates to later behavior change, and whether these relationships change as a function of individuals' social network composition. In our study, smokers viewed anti-smoking messages while undergoing fMRI and we measured changes in their smoking behavior one month later. Using representational similarity analyses, we found that the degree to which message content (i.e. health, social, or valence information) was represented in a self-related processing MPFC region was associated with later smoking behavior, with increased representations of negatively valenced (risk) information corresponding to greater message-consistent behavior change. Furthermore, the relationship between representations and behavior change depended on social network composition: smokers who had proportionally fewer smokers in their network showed increases in smoking behavior when social or health content was strongly represented in MPFC, whereas message-consistent behavior (i.e., less smoking) was more likely for those with proportionally more smokers in their social network who represented social or health consequences more strongly. These results highlight the dynamic relationship between representations in MPFC and key outcomes such as health behavior change; a complete understanding of the role of MPFC in motivation and action should take into account individual differences in neural representation of stimulus attributes and social context variables such as social network composition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Characterizing absolute piezoelectric microelectromechanical system displacement using an atomic force microscope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, J.; Chapman, S.

    2014-01-01

    Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) is a popular tool for the study of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials at the nanometer level. Progress in the development of piezoelectric MEMS fabrication is highlighting the need to characterize absolute displacement at the nanometer and Ångstrom scales, something Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) might do but PFM cannot. Absolute displacement is measured by executing a polarization measurement of the ferroelectric or piezoelectric capacitor in question while monitoring the absolute vertical position of the sample surface with a stationary AFM cantilever. Two issues dominate the execution and precision of such a measurement: (1) the small amplitude of the electrical signal from the AFM at the Ångstrom level and (2) calibration of the AFM. The authors have developed a calibration routine and test technique for mitigating the two issues, making it possible to use an atomic force microscope to measure both the movement of a capacitor surface as well as the motion of a micro-machine structure actuated by that capacitor. The theory, procedures, pitfalls, and results of using an AFM for absolute piezoelectric measurement are provided

  6. Characterizing absolute piezoelectric microelectromechanical system displacement using an atomic force microscope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Evans, J., E-mail: radiant@ferrodevices.com; Chapman, S., E-mail: radiant@ferrodevices.com [Radiant Technologies, Inc., 2835C Pan American Fwy NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107 (United States)

    2014-08-14

    Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) is a popular tool for the study of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials at the nanometer level. Progress in the development of piezoelectric MEMS fabrication is highlighting the need to characterize absolute displacement at the nanometer and Ångstrom scales, something Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) might do but PFM cannot. Absolute displacement is measured by executing a polarization measurement of the ferroelectric or piezoelectric capacitor in question while monitoring the absolute vertical position of the sample surface with a stationary AFM cantilever. Two issues dominate the execution and precision of such a measurement: (1) the small amplitude of the electrical signal from the AFM at the Ångstrom level and (2) calibration of the AFM. The authors have developed a calibration routine and test technique for mitigating the two issues, making it possible to use an atomic force microscope to measure both the movement of a capacitor surface as well as the motion of a micro-machine structure actuated by that capacitor. The theory, procedures, pitfalls, and results of using an AFM for absolute piezoelectric measurement are provided.

  7. Self-representation of children suffering from congenital heart disease and maternal competence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanna Perricone

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Child development may be subject to forms of motor, physical, cognitive and self-representation impairments when complex congenital heart disease (CHD occurs. In some cases, inadequacy of both self-representation as well as the family system are displayed. It seems to be important to search the likely internal and external resources of the CHD child, and the possible connections among such resources, which may help him/her to manage his/her own risk condition. The research project inquires the possible resources related to the self-representation and self-esteem levels of the CHD child, and those related to maternal self-perception as competent mothers. A group of 25 children (mean age = 10.2; SD=1.8 suffering from specific forms of CHD, and a group made up of their relative mothers (mean age = 38.2; SD=5 were studied. The tools used were the Human Figure Drawing, to investigate child body-related self-representation; the TMA scale (Self-esteem Multidimensional Test, to investigate the child’s self-esteem; and the Q-sort questionnaire, to assess how mothers perceived their maternal competence. Data concerning the likely correlations between the child’s self-representation and the maternal role competence show [that] positive correlations between some indicators of maternal competence, specific aspects of CHD children’s self-representation (mothers’ emotional coping and children’s self-image adequacy and self-esteem (mothers’ emotional scaffolding and children’s self-esteem at an emotional level. By detecting the occurrence of specific correlations among resources of both child and mother, the study provides cardiologists with information that is useful for building a relationship with the families concerned, which would seem to enhance the quality of the process of the cure itself.

  8. Atypical language representation in children with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maulisova, Alice; Korman, Brandon; Rey, Gustavo; Bernal, Byron; Duchowny, Michael; Niederlova, Marketa; Krsek, Pavel; Novak, Vilem

    2016-05-01

    This study evaluated language organization in children with intractable epilepsy caused by temporal lobe focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) alone or dual pathology (temporal lobe FCD and hippocampal sclerosis, HS). We analyzed clinical, neurological, fMRI, neuropsychological, and histopathologic data in 46 pediatric patients with temporal lobe lesions who underwent excisional epilepsy surgery. The frequency of atypical language representation was similar in both groups, but children with dual pathology were more likely to be left-handed. Atypical receptive language cortex correlated with lower intellectual capacity, verbal abstract conceptualization, receptive language abilities, verbal working memory, and a history of status epilepticus but did not correlate with higher seizure frequency or early seizure onset. Histopathologic substrate had only a minor influence on neuropsychological status. Greater verbal comprehension deficits were noted in children with atypical receptive language representation, a risk factor for cognitive morbidity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. A vibration correction method for free-fall absolute gravimeters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, J.; Wang, G.; Wu, K.; Wang, L. J.

    2018-02-01

    An accurate determination of gravitational acceleration, usually approximated as 9.8 m s-2, has been playing an important role in the areas of metrology, geophysics, and geodetics. Absolute gravimetry has been experiencing rapid developments in recent years. Most absolute gravimeters today employ a free-fall method to measure gravitational acceleration. Noise from ground vibration has become one of the most serious factors limiting measurement precision. Compared to vibration isolators, the vibration correction method is a simple and feasible way to reduce the influence of ground vibrations. A modified vibration correction method is proposed and demonstrated. A two-dimensional golden section search algorithm is used to search for the best parameters of the hypothetical transfer function. Experiments using a T-1 absolute gravimeter are performed. It is verified that for an identical group of drop data, the modified method proposed in this paper can achieve better correction effects with much less computation than previous methods. Compared to vibration isolators, the correction method applies to more hostile environments and even dynamic platforms, and is expected to be used in a wider range of applications.

  10. Spatially variant morphological restoration and skeleton representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouaynaya, Nidhal; Charif-Chefchaouni, Mohammed; Schonfeld, Dan

    2006-11-01

    The theory of spatially variant (SV) mathematical morphology is used to extend and analyze two important image processing applications: morphological image restoration and skeleton representation of binary images. For morphological image restoration, we propose the SV alternating sequential filters and SV median filters. We establish the relation of SV median filters to the basic SV morphological operators (i.e., SV erosions and SV dilations). For skeleton representation, we present a general framework for the SV morphological skeleton representation of binary images. We study the properties of the SV morphological skeleton representation and derive conditions for its invertibility. We also develop an algorithm for the implementation of the SV morphological skeleton representation of binary images. The latter algorithm is based on the optimal construction of the SV structuring element mapping designed to minimize the cardinality of the SV morphological skeleton representation. Experimental results show the dramatic improvement in the performance of the SV morphological restoration and SV morphological skeleton representation algorithms in comparison to their translation-invariant counterparts.

  11. Wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity mapping in vessel centerline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Nanshou; Wang, Lei; Zhu, Bifeng; Guan, Caizhong; Wang, Mingyi; Han, Dingan; Tan, Haishu; Zeng, Yaguang

    2018-02-01

    We propose a wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity measurement method in vessel centerline based on absorption intensity fluctuation modulation effect. The difference between the light absorption capacities of red blood cells and background tissue under low-coherence illumination is utilized to realize the instantaneous and average wide-field optical angiography images. The absolute fuzzy connection algorithm is used for vessel centerline extraction from the average wide-field optical angiography. The absolute transverse velocity in the vessel centerline is then measured by a cross-correlation analysis according to instantaneous modulation depth signal. The proposed method promises to contribute to the treatment of diseases, such as those related to anemia or thrombosis.

  12. [Cardiovascular risk profile of uncontrolled hypertensive patients. The Control-Project study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Márquez-Contreras, Emilio; Coca, Antonio; de la Figuera von Wichmann, Mariano; Divisón, Juan Antonio; Llisterri, José Luis; Sobrino, Javier; Filozof, Claudia; Sánchez-Zamorano, Miguel Angel; Grigorian Shamagian, Lilian

    2007-01-27

    To assess absolute cardiovascular risk and co-morbidities in uncontrolled hypertensive patients (blood pressure [BP]>or=140/90 mmHg or>or=130/80 mmHg in diabetics) attending Primary Care Physicians in Spain, and to determine the attitudes of these physicians towards this problem. Cross-sectional, multicenter study involving 356 general practitioners around Spain. Absolute cardiovascular risk was assessed according to ESH-ESC 2003 Guidelines in a sample of 1,710 patients. Two hundred ninety seven patients were excluded by several reasons and a total of 1,413 hypertensive patients were valuable (mean age: 65.3+/-11.4 years; 56.7% women). Normal BP values (or=180/110 mmHg) by 7.9%. Associated cardiovascular risk factors were observed in 96.0% of patients (95% CI=94.7-97.2%), target organ damage in 34.5% (95% CI=31.6-36.5%), and cardiovascular clinical disease in 36.0% (95% CI=33.5-38.5%). According to ESH-ESC 2003 Guidelines 34.0% (CI=31.5-38.2%) were at very-high risk; 29.4% (95% CI=26.4-32.8%) at high risk; 30.4% (95% CI=27.2-33.7%) at moderate risk and 5.4% (95% CI=3.9-7.2%) at low risk of cardiovascular disease. Despite the high absolute risk, physicians did not do any therapeutic change in 30.4% (95% CI=28.2-33.5%) of uncontrolled hypertensive patients. Most of them (64.26%) considered that bad compliance to life style changes was the reason for inadequate BP control. The most frequent measure introduced was the association of additional drugs. Absolute cardiovascular risk in uncontrolled hypertensive patients attending Primary Care Physicians in Spain is very relevant. Sixty-five percent of these patients are at high or very high risk with a high prevalence of target organ damage or associated cardiovascular clinical disease. Therapeutic attitudes towards these patients are still very conservative although they are improving compared with previous studies.

  13. Changes and stagnation in a social representation of an HIV seropositive women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Celia Chapa Romero

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available At 30 years of the onset of the first case of Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Mexico, the disease has changed during these decades, including its current status as a chronic illness and the spread of it in non-risk groups such as women. From the theory of social representations this disease has been a privileged object of study, but the experience of living with the disease and the condition of gender in the construction of such representations have been addressed to a lesser extent. The aim of this research was to determine the social representation women living with HIV has developed on their health conditions, placing change and permanence, from a diagnosis. There were carried out 12 in-depth interviews with participants from two primary care centers, and it was conduced a categorical content analysis using N Vivo software. The results were classified in 12categories which were grouped into three meta categories 2 types of representational content in the sample: hegemonic (death, illicit sexuality and emancipated (chronicity.The findings revealed the prevalence of traditional norms and values about gender and sexuality rooted in social thinking despite the scientific advances in the field of health. Furthermore, it was found a negotiation of meaning based on experience. Further research is recommended to carry out comparisons between groups of women with HIV in order to be able to establish more precise differences in social position and representational content, in order to develop effective and relevant in both primary prevention and positive strategies

  14. On determining absolute entropy without quantum theory or the third law of thermodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steane, Andrew M.

    2016-04-01

    We employ classical thermodynamics to gain information about absolute entropy, without recourse to statistical methods, quantum mechanics or the third law of thermodynamics. The Gibbs-Duhem equation yields various simple methods to determine the absolute entropy of a fluid. We also study the entropy of an ideal gas and the ionization of a plasma in thermal equilibrium. A single measurement of the degree of ionization can be used to determine an unknown constant in the entropy equation, and thus determine the absolute entropy of a gas. It follows from all these examples that the value of entropy at absolute zero temperature does not need to be assigned by postulate, but can be deduced empirically.

  15. Distorted representation in visual tourism research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Martin Trandberg

    2016-01-01

    how photographic materialities, performativities and sensations contribute to new tourism knowledges. While highlighting the potential of distorted representation, the paper posits a cautionary note in regards to the influential role of academic journals in determining the qualities of visual data....... The paper exemplifies distorted representation through three impressionistic tales derived from ethnographic research on the European rail travel phenomenon: interrail.......Tourism research has recently been informed by non-representational theories to highlight the socio-material, embodied and heterogeneous composition of tourist experiences. These advances have contributed to further reflexivity and called for novel ways to animate representations...

  16. Fingerprints of flower absolutes using supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santerre, Cyrille; Vallet, Nadine; Touboul, David

    2018-06-02

    Supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-HRMS) was developed for fingerprint analysis of different flower absolutes commonly used in cosmetics field, especially in perfumes. Supercritical fluid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-APPI-HRMS) technique was employed to identify the components of the fingerprint. The samples were separated with a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) Hypercarb™ column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 3 μm) by gradient elution using supercritical CO 2 and ethanol (0.0-20.0 min (2-30% B), 20.0-25.0 min (30% B), 25.0-26.0 min (30-2% B) and 26.0-30.0 min (2% B)) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. In order to compare the SFC fingerprints between five different flower absolutes: Jasminum grandiflorum absolutes, Jasminum sambac absolutes, Narcissus jonquilla absolutes, Narcissus poeticus absolutes, Lavandula angustifolia absolutes from different suppliers and batches, the chemometric procedure including principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to classify the samples according to their genus and their species. Consistent results were obtained to show that samples could be successfully discriminated. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. A novel collaborative representation and SCAD based classification method for fibrosis and inflammatory activity analysis of chronic hepatitis C

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Jiaxin; Chen, Tingting; Li, Yan; Zhu, Nenghui; Qiu, Xuan

    2018-03-01

    In order to analysis the fibrosis stage and inflammatory activity grade of chronic hepatitis C, a novel classification method based on collaborative representation (CR) with smoothly clipped absolute deviation penalty (SCAD) penalty term, called CR-SCAD classifier, is proposed for pattern recognition. After that, an auto-grading system based on CR-SCAD classifier is introduced for the prediction of fibrosis stage and inflammatory activity grade of chronic hepatitis C. The proposed method has been tested on 123 clinical cases of chronic hepatitis C based on serological indexes. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines for the classification of fibrosis stage and inflammatory activity grade of chronic hepatitis C.

  18. The representations of Lie groups and geometric quantizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Qiang

    1998-01-01

    In this paper we discuss the relation between representations of Lie groups and geometric quantizations. A series of representations of Lie groups are constructed by geometric quantization of coadjoint orbits. Particularly, all representations of compact Lie groups, holomorphic discrete series of representations and spherical representations of reductive Lie groups are constructed by geometric quantizations of elliptic and hyperbolic coadjoint orbits. (orig.)

  19. Increment of absolute neutrophil count in the third trimester and increased risk of small-for-gestational-age birth: Hirakata Risk Associated with Pregnancy Assessment Research (HIRAPAR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harita, Nobuko; Kariya, Masatoshi; Hayashi, Tomoshige; Sato, Kyoko Kogawa; Nakamura, Kimihiko; Endo, Ginji; Narimoto, Katsuhiko

    2012-09-01

    Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, who have growth restriction, have higher perinatal morbidity and mortality. Excessive inflammatory reaction such as neutrophil activation has been observed in pregnant women whose offspring had restricted fetal growth, but the association between white blood cell (WBC) counts and SGA birth has not yet been assessed. We therefore examined the association of WBC count and its change with the risk of SGA birth. We enrolled 2356 pregnant women who had full-term singleton delivery at a private maternity hospital in Hirakata, Japan. SGA was defined as under the 10th percentile of birthweight for gestational age, baby sex, and mother's parity according to the Japanese neonatal anthropometric charts renewed in 2010. Blood samples were measured in the first and third trimesters. We performed multiple logistic regression analysis to assess associations between total and differential WBC counts and SGA birth. Women with SGA birth tended to have higher total WBC count in the third trimester compared with women who did not have SGA birth. This tendency was not observed for total WBC count in the first trimester. After adjustment for age, height, body mass index at entry, smoking habit, weekly gestational weight gain, and pregnancy-induced hypertension, higher total WBC count in the third trimester was associated with an increased risk of SGA birth. Total WBC count in the first trimester did not show any significant association with SGA birth. The ratio of total WBC count in the third trimester to that in the first trimester was associated with SGA birth; the odds ratio for 1 unit increase was 3.02 (95% CI: 1.54-5.92). Regarding differential WBC counts in the third trimester, neutrophil count but not lymphocyte count was associated positively with SGA birth. Higher total WBC and absolute neutrophil counts in the third trimester were associated with SGA birth. In addition, greater ratio of increase in total WBC counts during pregnancy

  20. Social representations about cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreja Cirila Škufca

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article we are presenting the results of the comparison study on social representations and causal attributions about cancer. We compared a breast cancer survivors group and control group without own experience of cancer of their own. Although social representations about cancer differ in each group, they are closely related to the concept of suffering, dying and death. We found differences in causal attribution of cancer. In both groups we found a category of risky behavior, which attributes a responsibility for a disease to an individual. Besides these factors we found predominate stress and psychological influences in cancer survivors group. On the other hand control group indicated factors outside the ones control e.g. heredity and environmental factors. Representations about a disease inside person's social space are important in co-shaping the individual process of coping with own disease. Since these representations are not always coherent with the knowledge of modern medicine their knowledge and appreciation in the course of treatment is of great value. We find the findingss of applied social psychology important as starting points in the therapeutic work with patients.

  1. The Absolute Immanence in Deleuze

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Daeseung

    2013-01-01

    The absolute immanence in Deleuze Daeseung Park Abstract The plane of immanence is not unique. Deleuze and Guattari suppose a multiplicity of planes. Each great philosopher draws new planes on his own way, and these planes constitute the "time of philosophy". We can, therefore, "present the entire history of philosophy from the viewpoint of the institution of a plane of immanence" or present the time of philosophy from the viewpoint of the superposition and of the coexistence of planes. Howev...

  2. On the absolute measure of Beta activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanchez del Rio, C.; Jimenez Reynaldo, O.; Rodriguez Mayquez, E.

    1956-01-01

    A new method for absolute beta counting of solid samples is given. The mea surements is made with an inside Geiger-Muller tube of new construction. The backscattering correction when using an infinite thick mounting is discussed and results for different materials given. (Author)

  3. RELEVANCE OF PROCESS RISK ASSESSMENT IN AIRLINES

    OpenAIRE

    Oksana G. Feoktistova; Igor K. Turkin; Sergey V. Barinov

    2017-01-01

    The notion of “the concept on assumed risk” that took over from the outdated concept of absolute security is analyzed, the increasing significance of operating risk assessment at the present stage is noted. Some basic risk assessment techniques are considered. Matrix technique of risk assessment is considered more thoroughly, and it may be used in risk assessment of airlines in the context of labour protection management system.The ability to correctly assess risks and develop appropriate pre...

  4. A geometrically exact beam element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerstmayr, Johannes; Matikainen, Marko K.; Mikkola, Aki M.

    2008-01-01

    In this study, Reissner's classical nonlinear rod formulation, as implemented by Simo and Vu-Quoc by means of the large rotation vector approach, is implemented into the framework of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The implementation is accomplished in the planar case accounting for coupled axial, bending, and shear deformation. By employing the virtual work of elastic forces similarly to Simo and Vu-Quoc in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, the numerical results of the formulation are identical to those of the large rotation vector formulation. It is noteworthy, however, that the material definition in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation can differ from the material definition used in Reissner's beam formulation. Based on an analytical eigenvalue analysis, it turns out that the high frequencies of cross section deformation modes in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation are only slightly higher than frequencies of common shear modes, which are present in the classical large rotation vector formulation of Simo and Vu-Quoc, as well. Thus, previous claims that the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is inefficient or would lead to ill-conditioned finite element matrices, as compared to classical approaches, could be refuted. In the introduced beam element, locking is prevented by means of reduced integration of certain parts of the elastic forces. Several classical large deformation static and dynamic examples as well as an eigenvalue analysis document the equivalence of classical nonlinear rod theories and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for the case of appropriate material definitions. The results also agree highly with those computed in commercial finite element codes

  5. Realization and elimination in rational representations of behaviors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gottimukkala, Sasanka V.; Trentelman, Hendrikus; Fiaz, Shaik

    This article deals with the relationship between rational representations of linear differential systems and their state representations. In particular we study the relationship between rational representations on the one hand, and output nulling and driving variable representations on the other. In

  6. Design and construction of a cryogenic facility providing absolute measurements of radon 222 activity for developing a primary standard

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picolo, Jean-Louis

    1995-06-01

    Radon 222 metrology is required to obtain higher accuracy in assessing human health risks from exposure to natural radiation. This paper describes the development of a cryogenic facility that allows absolute measurements of radon 222 in order to obtain a primary standard. The method selected is the condensation of a radon 222 sample on a geometrically defined cold surface with a constant, well known and adjustable temperature and facing an alpha particles detector. Counting of the alpha particles reaching the detector and the precisely known detection geometry provide an absolute measurement of the source activity. After describing the cryogenic facility, the measurement accuracy and precision are discussed and a comparison made with other measurement systems. The relative uncertainty is below 1 pc (1 σ). The facility can also be used to improve our knowledge of the nuclear properties of radon 222 and to produce secondary standards. (author) [fr

  7. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koopman Carla

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI. Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age- gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. Methods We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Results Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI: 1.32 – 1.36 in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42 – 1.47 in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45–74 years and in women aged 65–84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Conclusions Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden

  8. Exploring the Structure of Spatial Representations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madl, Tamas; Franklin, Stan; Chen, Ke; Trappl, Robert; Montaldi, Daniela

    2016-01-01

    It has been suggested that the map-like representations that support human spatial memory are fragmented into sub-maps with local reference frames, rather than being unitary and global. However, the principles underlying the structure of these ‘cognitive maps’ are not well understood. We propose that the structure of the representations of navigation space arises from clustering within individual psychological spaces, i.e. from a process that groups together objects that are close in these spaces. Building on the ideas of representational geometry and similarity-based representations in cognitive science, we formulate methods for learning dissimilarity functions (metrics) characterizing participants’ psychological spaces. We show that these learned metrics, together with a probabilistic model of clustering based on the Bayesian cognition paradigm, allow prediction of participants’ cognitive map structures in advance. Apart from insights into spatial representation learning in human cognition, these methods could facilitate novel computational tools capable of using human-like spatial concepts. We also compare several features influencing spatial memory structure, including spatial distance, visual similarity and functional similarity, and report strong correlations between these dimensions and the grouping probability in participants’ spatial representations, providing further support for clustering in spatial memory. PMID:27347681

  9. Two-Dimensional Theory of Scientific Representation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Yaghmaie

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Scientific representation is an interesting topic for philosophers of science, many of whom have recently explored it from different points of view. There are currently two competing approaches to the issue: cognitive and non-cognitive, and each of them claims its own merits over the other. This article tries to provide a hybrid theory of scientific representation, called Two-Dimensional Theory of Scientific Representation, which has the merits of the two accounts and is free of their shortcomings. To do this, we will argue that although scientific representation needs to use the notion of intentionality, such a notion is defined and realized in a simply structural form contrary to what cognitive approach says about intentionality. After a short introduction, the second part of the paper is devoted to introducing theories of scientific representation briefly. In the third part, the structural accounts of representation will be criticized. The next step is to introduce the two-dimensional theory which involves two key components: fixing and structural fitness. It will be argued that fitness is an objective and non-intentional relation, while fixing is intentional.

  10. Utilization of 1H NMR in the determination of absolute configuration of alcohols

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barreiros, Marizeth L.; David, Jorge M.; David, Juceni P. . E-juceni@ufba.br

    2005-01-01

    This review reports the determination of absolute configuration of primary and secondary alcohols by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, using the Mosher method. This method consists in the derivatization of an alcohol possessing unknown absolute configuration with one or both enantiomers of an auxiliary reagent. The resulting diastereoisomer spectra are registered and compared, and the chemical shift differences (Δδ R,S = δ R - δ S ) are measured. The determination of the absolute configuration of the alcohol molecule is based on the correlation between its chiral center and the auxiliary reagent's chiral center. Therefore, the determination of the absolute configuration depends on aromatic ring shielding effects on the substituents of the alcohol as evidenced by the 1 H NMR spectrum. (author)

  11. Moral absolutism and abortion: Alan Donagan on the hysterectomy and craniotomy cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Terrence

    1985-07-01

    Reynolds argues that the nonconsequentialist moral theory proposed by Alan Donagan in his book The Theory of Morality (University of Chicago Press; 1977) does not resolve the cases in which craniotomy or removal of a cancerous uterus appears necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman. Donagan's absolute prohibition against the murder of the innocent and his rejection of the principle of double effect have led him to view the fetus as a pursuer or assailant or to assert the theory of proleptic agreement--that in risk taking ventures the parties may agree that killing one person to save the lives of the others will be accepted. Reynolds holds these arguments to be inapplicable in therapeutic abortions involving craniotomy or hysterectomy and concludes that Donagan's absolutist theory must be reexamined.

  12. Using Integer Manipulatives: Representational Determinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bossé, Michael J.; Lynch-Davis, Kathleen; Adu-Gyamfi, Kwaku; Chandler, Kayla

    2016-01-01

    Teachers and students commonly use various concrete representations during mathematical instruction. These representations can be utilized to help students understand mathematical concepts and processes, increase flexibility of thinking, facilitate problem solving, and reduce anxiety while doing mathematics. Unfortunately, the manner in which some…

  13. International agreements on commercial representation

    OpenAIRE

    Slanař, Jan

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the thesis is to describe the possibilities for fixing the position of a company in the market through contracts for commercial representation with a focus to finding legal and economic impact on the company that contracted for exclusive representation.

  14. Braid group representation on quantum computation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aziz, Ryan Kasyfil, E-mail: kasyfilryan@gmail.com [Department of Computational Sciences, Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia); Muchtadi-Alamsyah, Intan, E-mail: ntan@math.itb.ac.id [Algebra Research Group, Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia)

    2015-09-30

    There are many studies about topological representation of quantum computation recently. One of diagram representation of quantum computation is by using ZX-Calculus. In this paper we will make a diagrammatical scheme of Dense Coding. We also proved that ZX-Calculus diagram of maximally entangle state satisfies Yang-Baxter Equation and therefore, we can construct a Braid Group representation of set of maximally entangle state.

  15. Impossibility Theorem in Proportional Representation Problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karpov, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    The study examines general axiomatics of Balinski and Young and analyzes existed proportional representation methods using this approach. The second part of the paper provides new axiomatics based on rational choice models. New system of axioms is applied to study known proportional representation systems. It is shown that there is no proportional representation method satisfying a minimal set of the axioms (monotonicity and neutrality).

  16. Almanac 2012: Cardiovascular risk scores. The national society journals present selected research that has driven recent advances in clinical cardiology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jill P. Pell

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Global risk scores use individual level information on non-modifiable risk factors (such as age, sex, ethnicity and family history and modifiable risk factors (such as smoking status and blood pressure to predict an individual’s absolute risk of an adverse event over a specified period of time in the future. Cardiovascular risk scores have two major uses in practice. First, they can be used to dichotomise people into a group whose baseline risk, and therefore potential absolute benefit, is sufficiently high to justify the costs and risks associated with an intervention (whether treatment or prevention and a group with a lower absolute risk to whom the intervention is usually denied. Second, they can be used to assess the effectiveness of an intervention (such as smoking cessation or antihypertensive treatment at reducing an individual’s risk of future adverse events. In this context, they can be helpful in informing patients, motivating them to change their lifestyle, and reinforcing the importance of continued compliance.

  17. Risk acceptance by the population

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diekershoff, K.

    1980-01-01

    Information which is given by systematical learning processes creates a necessary prerequisite for a partly realistic evaluation of risks. If the objective shall be achieved to reduce continuously the acceptance of risks it is absolutely necessary to include the persons concerned in the process of communication and formation. In this field social science could make a specific contribution by its approach in action research. (orig./RW) [de

  18. On the absolute meaning of motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Edwards

    Full Text Available The present manuscript aims to clarify why motion causes matter to age slower in a comparable sense, and how this relates to relativistic effects caused by motion. A fresh analysis of motion, build on first axiom, delivers proof with its result, from which significant new understanding and computational power is gained.A review of experimental results demonstrates, that unaccelerated motion causes matter to age slower in a comparable, observer independent sense. Whilst focusing on this absolute effect, the present manuscript clarifies its context to relativistic effects, detailing their relationship and incorporating both into one consistent picture. The presented theoretical results make new predictions and are testable through suggested experiment of a novel nature. The manuscript finally arrives at an experimental tool and methodology, which as far as motion in ungravitated space is concerned or gravity appreciated, enables us to find the absolute observer independent picture of reality, which is reflected in the comparable display of atomic clocks.The discussion of the theoretical results, derives a physical causal understanding of gravity, a mathematical formulation of which, will be presented. Keywords: Kinematics, Gravity, Atomic clocks, Cosmic microwave background

  19. Linear ultrasonic motor for absolute gravimeter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jian, Yue; Yao, Zhiyuan; Silberschmidt, Vadim V

    2017-05-01

    Thanks to their compactness and suitability for vacuum applications, linear ultrasonic motors are considered as substitutes for classical electromagnetic motors as driving elements in absolute gravimeters. Still, their application is prevented by relatively low power output. To overcome this limitation and provide better stability, a V-type linear ultrasonic motor with a new clamping method is proposed for a gravimeter. In this paper, a mechanical model of stators with flexible clamping components is suggested, according to a design criterion for clamps of linear ultrasonic motors. After that, an effect of tangential and normal rigidity of the clamping components on mechanical output is studied. It is followed by discussion of a new clamping method with sufficient tangential rigidity and a capability to facilitate pre-load. Additionally, a prototype of the motor with the proposed clamping method was fabricated and the performance tests in vertical direction were implemented. Experimental results show that the suggested motor has structural stability and high dynamic performance, such as no-load speed of 1.4m/s and maximal thrust of 43N, meeting the requirements for absolute gravimeters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Standardization of the cumulative absolute velocity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Hara, T.F.; Jacobson, J.P.

    1991-12-01

    EPRI NP-5930, ''A Criterion for Determining Exceedance of the Operating Basis Earthquake,'' was published in July 1988. As defined in that report, the Operating Basis Earthquake (OBE) is exceeded when both a response spectrum parameter and a second damage parameter, referred to as the Cumulative Absolute Velocity (CAV), are exceeded. In the review process of the above report, it was noted that the calculation of CAV could be confounded by time history records of long duration containing low (nondamaging) acceleration. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the method of calculating CAV to account for record length. This standardized methodology allows consistent comparisons between future CAV calculations and the adjusted CAV threshold value based upon applying the standardized methodology to the data set presented in EPRI NP-5930. The recommended method to standardize the CAV calculation is to window its calculation on a second-by-second basis for a given time history. If the absolute acceleration exceeds 0.025g at any time during each one second interval, the earthquake records used in EPRI NP-5930 have been reanalyzed and the adjusted threshold of damage for CAV was found to be 0.16g-set

  1. Confirmation of the absolute configuration of (−)-aurantioclavine

    KAUST Repository

    Behenna, Douglas C.; Krishnan, Shyam; Stoltz, Brian M.

    2011-01-01

    We confirm our previous assignment of the absolute configuration of (-)-aurantioclavine as 7R by crystallographically characterizing an advanced 3-bromoindole intermediate reported in our previous synthesis. This analysis also provides additional

  2. Musical Activity Tunes Up Absolute Pitch Ability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dohn, Anders; Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A.; Ribe, Lars Riisgaard

    2014-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce pitches of musical tones without an external reference. Active AP (i.e., pitch production or pitch adjustment) and passive AP (i.e., pitch identification) are considered to not necessarily coincide, although no study has properly compared...

  3. Society-ethics-risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruh, H.; Seiler, H.

    1993-01-01

    The aim of the workshops which was reported in this volume, was the interpretation and evaluation of catastrophic risks for society in an interdisciplinary dialogue between representation of society, ethics, as well as natural science and technology. (author) figs., tabs., refs

  4. Constructed vs. received graphical representations for learning about scientific controversy: Implications for learning and coaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavalli-Sforza, Violetta Laura Maria

    Students in science classes hardly ever study scientific controversy, especially in terms of the different types of arguments used to support and criticize theories and hypotheses. Yet, learning the reasons for scientific debate and scientific change is an important part of appreciating the nature of the scientific enterprise and communicating it to the non-scientific world. This dissertation explores the usefulness of graphical representations in teaching students about scientific arguments. Subjects participating in an extended experiment studied instructional materials and used the Belvedere graphical interface to analyze texts drawn from an actual scientific debate. In one experimental condition, subjects used a box-and-arrow representation whose primitive graphical elements had preassigned meanings tailored to the domain of instruction. In the other experimental condition, subjects could use the graphical elements as they wished, thereby creating their own representation. The development of a representation, by forcing a deeper analysis, can potentially yield a greater understanding of the domain under study. The results of the research suggest two conclusions. From the perspective of learning target concepts, asking subjects to develop their own representation may not hurt those subjects who gain a sufficient understanding of the possibilities of abstract representation. The risks are much greater for less able subjects because, if they develop a representation that is inadequate for expressing the target concepts, they will use those concepts less or not at all. From the perspective of coaching subjects as they diagram their analysis of texts, a predefined representation has significant advantages. If it is appropriately expressive for the task, it provides a common language and clearer shared meaning between the subject and the coach. It also enables the coach to understand subjects' analysis more easily, and to evaluate it more effectively against the

  5. Absolute surface reconstruction by slope metrology and photogrammetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Yue

    Developing the manufacture of aspheric and freeform optical elements requires an advanced metrology method which is capable of inspecting these elements with arbitrary freeform surfaces. In this dissertation, a new surface measurement scheme is investigated for such a purpose, which is to measure the absolute surface shape of an object under test through its surface slope information obtained by photogrammetric measurement. A laser beam propagating toward the object reflects on its surface while the vectors of the incident and reflected beams are evaluated from the four spots they leave on the two parallel transparent windows in front of the object. The spots' spatial coordinates are determined by photogrammetry. With the knowledge of the incident and reflected beam vectors, the local slope information of the object surface is obtained through vector calculus and finally yields the absolute object surface profile by a reconstruction algorithm. An experimental setup is designed and the proposed measuring principle is experimentally demonstrated by measuring the absolute surface shape of a spherical mirror. The measurement uncertainty is analyzed, and efforts for improvement are made accordingly. In particular, structured windows are designed and fabricated to generate uniform scattering spots left by the transmitted laser beams. Calibration of the fringe reflection instrument, another typical surface slope measurement method, is also reported in the dissertation. Finally, a method for uncertainty analysis of a photogrammetry measurement system by optical simulation is investigated.

  6. A proposal to measure absolute environmental sustainability in lifecycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørn, Anders; Margni, Manuele; Roy, Pierre-Olivier

    2016-01-01

    sustainable are therefore increasingly important. Such absolute indicators exist, but suffer from shortcomings such as incomplete coverage of environmental issues, varying data quality and varying or insufficient spatial resolution. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that life cycle assessment (LCA...... in supporting decisions aimed at simultaneously reducing environmental impacts efficiently and maintaining or achieving environmental sustainability. We have demonstrated that LCA indicators can be modified from being relative to being absolute indicators of environmental sustainability. Further research should...

  7. A note on unique solvability of the absolute value equation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taher Lotfi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available It is proved that applying sufficient regularity conditions to the interval matrix $[A-|B|,A+|B|]$‎, ‎we can create a new unique solvability condition for the absolute value equation $Ax+B|x|=b$‎, ‎since regularity of interval matrices implies unique solvability of their corresponding absolute value equation‎. ‎This condition is formulated in terms of positive definiteness of a certain point matrix‎. ‎Special case $B=-I$ is verified too as an application.

  8. Comparison of absolute speed of screen-film systems measured in seven institutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Ken-ichi; Murakami, Yasunori; Asahara, Masaki; Nakamura, Satoru; Honda, Mitsugi; Morishita, Junji; Higashida, Yoshiharu; Otsuka, Akiyoshi; Yoshida, Akira.

    1998-01-01

    We compared the differences in absolute speed of four screen-film systems in seven institutions. Four different screens (HR-4, Fuji; Lanex Medium, Kodak; Lanex 250, Kodak; and HR-12, Fuji) combined with super HRS-30 (Fuji) film and a beam quality of 80 kV tube voltage with a 20 mm aluminum filter were employed. Absolute speeds of the HR-4, Lanex Medium, Lanex 250, and HR-12 in combination with super HRS-30 were 1.83 mR -1 , 2.72 mR -1 , 2.79 mR -1 , and 5.35 mR -1 (average of seven institutions), respectively. The variation in speed was about ±10% for the seven institutions. Two factors (film processor and densitometer) affecting absolute speed were analyzed. The absolute speed measured in seven institutions varied ±14% depending on the film processor (development conditions) and ±3% depending on the densitometer employed in each institution. (author)

  9. A novel capacitive absolute positioning sensor based on time grating with nanometer resolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pu, Hongji; Liu, Hongzhong; Liu, Xiaokang; Peng, Kai; Yu, Zhicheng

    2018-05-01

    The present work proposes a novel capacitive absolute positioning sensor based on time grating. The sensor includes a fine incremental-displacement measurement component combined with a coarse absolute-position measurement component to obtain high-resolution absolute positioning measurements. A single row type sensor was proposed to achieve fine displacement measurement, which combines the two electrode rows of a previously proposed double-row type capacitive displacement sensor based on time grating into a single row. To achieve absolute positioning measurement, the coarse measurement component is designed as a single-row type displacement sensor employing a single spatial period over the entire measurement range. In addition, this component employs a rectangular induction electrode and four groups of orthogonal discrete excitation electrodes with half-sinusoidal envelope shapes, which were formed by alternately extending the rectangular electrodes of the fine measurement component. The fine and coarse measurement components are tightly integrated to form a compact absolute positioning sensor. A prototype sensor was manufactured using printed circuit board technology for testing and optimization of the design in conjunction with simulations. Experimental results show that the prototype sensor achieves a ±300 nm measurement accuracy with a 1 nm resolution over a displacement range of 200 mm when employing error compensation. The proposed sensor is an excellent alternative to presently available long-range absolute nanometrology sensors owing to its low cost, simple structure, and ease of manufacturing.

  10. Representational Thickness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mullins, Michael

    Contemporary communicational and informational processes contribute to the shaping of our physical environment by having a powerful influence on the process of design. Applications of virtual reality (VR) are transforming the way architecture is conceived and produced by introducing dynamic...... elements into the process of design. Through its immersive properties, virtual reality allows access to a spatial experience of a computer model very different to both screen based simulations as well as traditional forms of architectural representation. The dissertation focuses on processes of the current...... representation? How is virtual reality used in public participation and how do virtual environments affect participatory decision making? How does VR thus affect the physical world of built environment? Given the practical collaborative possibilities of immersive technology, how can they best be implemented...

  11. Congruence properties of induced representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mayer, Dieter; Momeni, Arash; Venkov, Alexei

    In this paper we study representations of the projective modular group induced from the Hecke congruence group of level 4 with Selberg's character. We show that the well known congruence properties of Selberg's character are equivalent to the congruence properties of the induced representations...

  12. Schematic representation of case study research designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenberg, John P; Yates, Patsy M

    2007-11-01

    The paper is a report of a study to demonstrate how the use of schematics can provide procedural clarity and promote rigour in the conduct of case study research. Case study research is a methodologically flexible approach to research design that focuses on a particular case - whether an individual, a collective or a phenomenon of interest. It is known as the 'study of the particular' for its thorough investigation of particular, real-life situations and is gaining increased attention in nursing and social research. However, the methodological flexibility it offers can leave the novice researcher uncertain of suitable procedural steps required to ensure methodological rigour. This article provides a real example of a case study research design that utilizes schematic representation drawn from a doctoral study of the integration of health promotion principles and practices into a palliative care organization. The issues discussed are: (1) the definition and application of case study research design; (2) the application of schematics in research; (3) the procedural steps and their contribution to the maintenance of rigour; and (4) the benefits and risks of schematics in case study research. The inclusion of visual representations of design with accompanying explanatory text is recommended in reporting case study research methods.

  13. Neutron activation analysis of certified samples by the absolute method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kadem, F.; Belouadah, N.; Idiri, Z.

    2015-07-01

    The nuclear reactions analysis technique is mainly based on the relative method or the use of activation cross sections. In order to validate nuclear data for the calculated cross section evaluated from systematic studies, we used the neutron activation analysis technique (NAA) to determine the various constituent concentrations of certified samples for animal blood, milk and hay. In this analysis, the absolute method is used. The neutron activation technique involves irradiating the sample and subsequently performing a measurement of the activity of the sample. The fundamental equation of the activation connects several physical parameters including the cross section that is essential for the quantitative determination of the different elements composing the sample without resorting to the use of standard sample. Called the absolute method, it allows a measurement as accurate as the relative method. The results obtained by the absolute method showed that the values are as precise as the relative method requiring the use of standard sample for each element to be quantified.

  14. An absolute distance interferometer with two external cavity diode lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartmann, L; Meiners-Hagen, K; Abou-Zeid, A

    2008-01-01

    An absolute interferometer for length measurements in the range of several metres has been developed. The use of two external cavity diode lasers allows the implementation of a two-step procedure which combines the length measurement with a variable synthetic wavelength and its interpolation with a fixed synthetic wavelength. This synthetic wavelength is obtained at ≈42 µm by a modulation-free stabilization of both lasers to Doppler-reduced rubidium absorption lines. A stable reference interferometer is used as length standard. Different contributions to the total measurement uncertainty are discussed. It is shown that the measurement uncertainty can considerably be reduced by correcting the influence of vibrations on the measurement result and by applying linear regression to the quadrature signals of the absolute interferometer and the reference interferometer. The comparison of the absolute interferometer with a counting interferometer for distances up to 2 m results in a linearity error of 0.4 µm in good agreement with an estimation of the measurement uncertainty

  15. Computer-aided-design-model-assisted absolute three-dimensional shape measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Beiwen; Bell, Tyler; Zhang, Song

    2017-08-20

    Conventional three-dimensional (3D) shape measurement methods are typically generic to all types of objects. Yet, for many measurement conditions, such a level of generality is inessential when having the preknowledge of the object geometry. This paper introduces a novel adaptive algorithm for absolute 3D shape measurement with the assistance of the object computer-aided-design (CAD) model. The proposed algorithm includes the following major steps: (1) export the 3D point cloud data from the CAD model; (2) transform the CAD model into the camera perspective; (3) obtain a wrapped phase map from three phase-shifted fringe images; and (4) retrieve absolute phase and 3D geometry assisted by the CAD model. We demonstrate that if object CAD models are available, such an algorithm is efficient in recovering absolute 3D geometries of both simple and complex objects with only three phase-shifted fringe images.

  16. Quantifying prognosis with risk predictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pace, Nathan L; Eberhart, Leopold H J; Kranke, Peter R

    2012-01-01

    Prognosis is a forecast, based on present observations in a patient, of their probable outcome from disease, surgery and so on. Research methods for the development of risk probabilities may not be familiar to some anaesthesiologists. We briefly describe methods for identifying risk factors and risk scores. A probability prediction rule assigns a risk probability to a patient for the occurrence of a specific event. Probability reflects the continuum between absolute certainty (Pi = 1) and certified impossibility (Pi = 0). Biomarkers and clinical covariates that modify risk are known as risk factors. The Pi as modified by risk factors can be estimated by identifying the risk factors and their weighting; these are usually obtained by stepwise logistic regression. The accuracy of probabilistic predictors can be separated into the concepts of 'overall performance', 'discrimination' and 'calibration'. Overall performance is the mathematical distance between predictions and outcomes. Discrimination is the ability of the predictor to rank order observations with different outcomes. Calibration is the correctness of prediction probabilities on an absolute scale. Statistical methods include the Brier score, coefficient of determination (Nagelkerke R2), C-statistic and regression calibration. External validation is the comparison of the actual outcomes to the predicted outcomes in a new and independent patient sample. External validation uses the statistical methods of overall performance, discrimination and calibration and is uniformly recommended before acceptance of the prediction model. Evidence from randomised controlled clinical trials should be obtained to show the effectiveness of risk scores for altering patient management and patient outcomes.

  17. Assessing Epistemic Sophistication by Considering Domain-Specific Absolute and Multiplicistic Beliefs Separately

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-01-01

    Background: Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as…

  18. Solving Absolute Value Equations Algebraically and Geometrically

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiyuan, Wei

    2005-01-01

    The way in which students can improve their comprehension by understanding the geometrical meaning of algebraic equations or solving algebraic equation geometrically is described. Students can experiment with the conditions of the absolute value equation presented, for an interesting way to form an overall understanding of the concept.

  19. Obsolete tobacco control themes can be hazardous to public health: the need for updating views on absolute product risks and harm reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lynn T. Kozlowski

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Leading themes have guided tobacco control efforts, and these themes have changed over the decades. When questions arose about health risks of tobacco, they focused on two key themes: 1 how bad is the problem (i.e., absolute risk and 2 what can be done to reduce the risk without cessation (i.e., prospects for harm reduction. Using the United States since 1964 as an example, we outline the leading themes that have arisen in response to these two questions. Initially, there was the recognition that “cigarettes are hazardous to health” and an acceptance of safer alternative tobacco products (cigars, pipes, light/lower-tar cigarettes. In the 1980s there was the creation of the seminal theme that “Cigarettes are lethal when used as intended and kill more people than heroin, cocaine, alcohol, AIDS, fires, homicide, suicide, and automobile crashes combined.” By around 2000, support for a less-dangerous light/lower tar cigarette was gone, and harm reduction claims were avoided for products like cigars and even for smokeless tobacco which were summarized as “unsafe” or “not a safe alternative to cigarettes.” Discussion The Surgeon General in 2014 concluded that by far the greatest danger to public health was from cigarettes and other combusted products. At the same time the evidence base for smokeless tobacco and alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS had grown. Product innovation and tobacco/nicotine bio-behavioral, epidemiological and public health sciences demonstrate that low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco (e.g., Swedish snus, and ANDS have substantially lower harms than cigarettes. Going forward, it is important to sharpen themes and key messages of tobacco control, while continuing to emphasize the extreme lethality of the inhaled smoke from cigarettes or from use of any combusting tobacco product. Summary Implications of updating the leading themes for regulation, policymaking and advocacy in tobacco control

  20. Knowledge Representation: A Brief Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickery, B. C.

    1986-01-01

    Reviews different structures and techniques of knowledge representation: structure of database records and files, data structures in computer programming, syntatic and semantic structure of natural language, knowledge representation in artificial intelligence, and models of human memory. A prototype expert system that makes use of some of these…

  1. Vietnamese Document Representation and Classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Giang-Son; Gao, Xiaoying; Andreae, Peter

    Vietnamese is very different from English and little research has been done on Vietnamese document classification, or indeed, on any kind of Vietnamese language processing, and only a few small corpora are available for research. We created a large Vietnamese text corpus with about 18000 documents, and manually classified them based on different criteria such as topics and styles, giving several classification tasks of different difficulty levels. This paper introduces a new syllable-based document representation at the morphological level of the language for efficient classification. We tested the representation on our corpus with different classification tasks using six classification algorithms and two feature selection techniques. Our experiments show that the new representation is effective for Vietnamese categorization, and suggest that best performance can be achieved using syllable-pair document representation, an SVM with a polynomial kernel as the learning algorithm, and using Information gain and an external dictionary for feature selection.

  2. Achieving Climate Change Absolute Accuracy in Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wielicki, Bruce A.; Young, D. F.; Mlynczak, M. G.; Thome, K. J; Leroy, S.; Corliss, J.; Anderson, J. G.; Ao, C. O.; Bantges, R.; Best, F.; hide

    2013-01-01

    The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission will provide a calibration laboratory in orbit for the purpose of accurately measuring and attributing climate change. CLARREO measurements establish new climate change benchmarks with high absolute radiometric accuracy and high statistical confidence across a wide range of essential climate variables. CLARREO's inherently high absolute accuracy will be verified and traceable on orbit to Système Internationale (SI) units. The benchmarks established by CLARREO will be critical for assessing changes in the Earth system and climate model predictive capabilities for decades into the future as society works to meet the challenge of optimizing strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The CLARREO benchmarks are derived from measurements of the Earth's thermal infrared spectrum (5-50 micron), the spectrum of solar radiation reflected by the Earth and its atmosphere (320-2300 nm), and radio occultation refractivity from which accurate temperature profiles are derived. The mission has the ability to provide new spectral fingerprints of climate change, as well as to provide the first orbiting radiometer with accuracy sufficient to serve as the reference transfer standard for other space sensors, in essence serving as a "NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] in orbit." CLARREO will greatly improve the accuracy and relevance of a wide range of space-borne instruments for decadal climate change. Finally, CLARREO has developed new metrics and methods for determining the accuracy requirements of climate observations for a wide range of climate variables and uncertainty sources. These methods should be useful for improving our understanding of observing requirements for most climate change observations.

  3. Exploring Middle School Students' Representational Competence in Science: Development and Verification of a Framework for Learning with Visual Representations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tippett, Christine Diane

    Scientific knowledge is constructed and communicated through a range of forms in addition to verbal language. Maps, graphs, charts, diagrams, formulae, models, and drawings are just some of the ways in which science concepts can be represented. Representational competence---an aspect of visual literacy that focuses on the ability to interpret, transform, and produce visual representations---is a key component of science literacy and an essential part of science reading and writing. To date, however, most research has examined learning from representations rather than learning with representations. This dissertation consisted of three distinct projects that were related by a common focus on learning from visual representations as an important aspect of scientific literacy. The first project was the development of an exploratory framework that is proposed for use in investigations of students constructing and interpreting multimedia texts. The exploratory framework, which integrates cognition, metacognition, semiotics, and systemic functional linguistics, could eventually result in a model that might be used to guide classroom practice, leading to improved visual literacy, better comprehension of science concepts, and enhanced science literacy because it emphasizes distinct aspects of learning with representations that can be addressed though explicit instruction. The second project was a metasynthesis of the research that was previously conducted as part of the Explicit Literacy Instruction Embedded in Middle School Science project (Pacific CRYSTAL, http://www.educ.uvic.ca/pacificcrystal). Five overarching themes emerged from this case-to-case synthesis: the engaging and effective nature of multimedia genres, opportunities for differentiated instruction using multimodal strategies, opportunities for assessment, an emphasis on visual representations, and the robustness of some multimodal literacy strategies across content areas. The third project was a mixed

  4. Women and political representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rathod, P B

    1999-01-01

    A remarkable progress in women's participation in politics throughout the world was witnessed in the final decade of the 20th century. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union report, there were only eight countries with no women in their legislatures in 1998. The number of women ministers at the cabinet level worldwide doubled in a decade, and the number of countries without any women ministers dropped from 93 to 48 during 1987-96. However, this progress is far from satisfactory. Political representation of women, minorities, and other social groups is still inadequate. This may be due to a complex combination of socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional factors. The view that women's political participation increases with social and economic development is supported by data from the Nordic countries, where there are higher proportions of women legislators than in less developed countries. While better levels of socioeconomic development, having a women-friendly political culture, and higher literacy are considered favorable factors for women's increased political representation, adopting one of the proportional representation systems (such as a party-list system, a single transferable vote system, or a mixed proportional system with multi-member constituencies) is the single factor most responsible for the higher representation of women.

  5. General regression and representation model for classification.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianjun Qian

    Full Text Available Recently, the regularized coding-based classification methods (e.g. SRC and CRC show a great potential for pattern classification. However, most existing coding methods assume that the representation residuals are uncorrelated. In real-world applications, this assumption does not hold. In this paper, we take account of the correlations of the representation residuals and develop a general regression and representation model (GRR for classification. GRR not only has advantages of CRC, but also takes full use of the prior information (e.g. the correlations between representation residuals and representation coefficients and the specific information (weight matrix of image pixels to enhance the classification performance. GRR uses the generalized Tikhonov regularization and K Nearest Neighbors to learn the prior information from the training data. Meanwhile, the specific information is obtained by using an iterative algorithm to update the feature (or image pixel weights of the test sample. With the proposed model as a platform, we design two classifiers: basic general regression and representation classifier (B-GRR and robust general regression and representation classifier (R-GRR. The experimental results demonstrate the performance advantages of proposed methods over state-of-the-art algorithms.

  6. Directly relating gas-phase cluster measurements to solution-phase hydrolysis, the absolute standard hydrogen electrode potential, and the absolute proton solvation energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donald, William A; Leib, Ryan D; O'Brien, Jeremy T; Williams, Evan R

    2009-06-08

    Solution-phase, half-cell potentials are measured relative to other half-cell potentials, resulting in a thermochemical ladder that is anchored to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which is assigned an arbitrary value of 0 V. A new method for measuring the absolute SHE potential is demonstrated in which gaseous nanodrops containing divalent alkaline-earth or transition-metal ions are reduced by thermally generated electrons. Energies for the reactions 1) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->M(H(2)O)(24)(+)(g) and 2) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) + H(g) and the hydrogen atom affinities of MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) are obtained from the number of water molecules lost through each pathway. From these measurements on clusters containing nine different metal ions and known thermochemical values that include solution hydrolysis energies, an average absolute SHE potential of +4.29 V vs. e(-)(g) (standard deviation of 0.02 V) and a real proton solvation free energy of -265 kcal mol(-1) are obtained. With this method, the absolute SHE potential can be obtained from a one-electron reduction of nanodrops containing divalent ions that are not observed to undergo one-electron reduction in aqueous solution.

  7. Articulated Multimedia Physics, Lesson 14, Gases, The Gas Laws, and Absolute Temperature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    New York Inst. of Tech., Old Westbury.

    As the fourteenth lesson of the Articulated Multimedia Physics Course, instructional materials are presented in this study guide with relation to gases, gas laws, and absolute temperature. The topics are concerned with the kinetic theory of gases, thermometric scales, Charles' law, ideal gases, Boyle's law, absolute zero, and gas pressures. The…

  8. Finite-dimensional representations of the quantum superalgebra Uq[gl(2/2)] II: Nontypical representations at generic q

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen Anh Ky; Stoilova, N.I.

    1994-11-01

    The construction approach proposed in the previous paper Ref.1 allows us there and in the present paper to construct at generic deformation parameter q all finite-dimensional representations of the quantum Lie superalgebra U q [gl(2/2)]. The finite-dimensional U q [gl(2/2)]-modules W q constructed in Ref.1 are either irreducible or indecomposable. If a module W q is indecomposable, i.e. when the condition (4.41) in Ref.1 does not hold, there exists an invariant maximal submodule of W q , to say I q k , such that the factor-representation in the factor-module W q /I q k is irreducible and called nontypical. Here, in this paper, indecomposable representations and nontypical finite-dimensional representations of the quantum Lie superalgebra U q [gl(2/2)] are considered and classified as their module structures are analyzed and the matrix elements of all nontypical representations are written down explicitly. (author). 23 refs

  9. Lifts of matroid representations over partial fields

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pendavingh, R.A.; Zwam, van S.H.M.

    2010-01-01

    There exist several theorems which state that when a matroid is representable over distinct fields F1,...,Fk , it is also representable over other fields. We prove a theorem, the Lift Theorem, that implies many of these results. First, parts of Whittle's characterization of representations of

  10. The semantic representation of prejudice and stereotypes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatia, Sudeep

    2017-07-01

    We use a theory of semantic representation to study prejudice and stereotyping. Particularly, we consider large datasets of newspaper articles published in the United States, and apply latent semantic analysis (LSA), a prominent model of human semantic memory, to these datasets to learn representations for common male and female, White, African American, and Latino names. LSA performs a singular value decomposition on word distribution statistics in order to recover word vector representations, and we find that our recovered representations display the types of biases observed in human participants using tasks such as the implicit association test. Importantly, these biases are strongest for vector representations with moderate dimensionality, and weaken or disappear for representations with very high or very low dimensionality. Moderate dimensional LSA models are also the best at learning race, ethnicity, and gender-based categories, suggesting that social category knowledge, acquired through dimensionality reduction on word distribution statistics, can facilitate prejudiced and stereotyped associations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Application of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) absolute analysis method for silica refractories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asakura, Hideo; Yamada, Yasujiro; Kansai, Kouhei; Tomatsu, Ichirou; Murata, Mamoru

    2015-01-01

    X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis is a rapid and precise quantitative analytical method for the determination of major and trace elements in many industries and academics. XRF analytical values are relative due to the use of the calibration curves calculated from measuring the reference standard materials such as Japanese Refractory Reference Materials (JRRM) series with certified values determined by wet chemical analysis. The development of the XRF analytical method from relative to absolute analysis will help much to determine the absolute values of samples from the fields where reference standard samples have not been prepared, and thus can be applied widely in many industries. The implement of the absolute XRF analysis for silica refractories requires high purity reagents and/or reference standard solution for the binary basic calibration curve, and theoretical matrix correction coefficients for the multi-components silica refractories analysis. The reproducibility and repeatability of this method for Al 2 O 3 5 mass% sample were 0.009 and 0.006 mass% in Al 2 O 3 and showed better values that those of ICP-AES recognized as an absolute method in JIS R 2212-2, which yielded 0.028 and 0.031 mass%, respectively. The XRF absolute analysis for JRRM 200 series, 201a and 205a does not show a bias but coincides with their certified values. (author)

  12. Image analysis from surface scanning with an absolute eddy current coil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attaoui, P.

    1994-01-01

    The aim of this work is to implement processing and analysis tools applied to eddy current imaging. These cartographies are issued from steam generator tubes testing using an absolute coil. The first is to eliminate the perturbations due to probe lift-off changes which generate low frequency oscillations on the image. The principle of the processing is to rebuild a complete surface of the noise using only the points around the defect area. The geometric origin of these perturbations led to a model based on sinusoidal functions. The method consists of gradually decomposing the image into a sum of basic sinusoidal surfaces. In order to take into account all kind of cartographies (especially rolling zone) some preprocessing must be applied. The results obtained with this 'cartography flattening'are satisfactory and the phase of analysis could begin with good condition of signal ratio. The second part of this work dealt with the choice and the perfection of image processing tools which would fit the most with the defect characterization. The aim of this characterization is to give the orientation and main size of the detected defect. A morphological skeleton representation has been chosen to illustrate the defect architecture and to allow sizing. A set of tools has been elaborated to obtain an (automatic) processing according to threshold. The results for single defect are satisfactory since the sizing error is around ± 25% and orientation is nearly always correctly given. The processing for area with several defects is more complex and new complementary research directions are proposed. (author)

  13. Android Apps for Absolute Beginners

    CERN Document Server

    Jackson, Wallace

    2011-01-01

    Anybody can start building simple apps for the Android platform, and this book will show you how! Android Apps for Absolute Beginners takes you through the process of getting your first Android applications up and running using plain English and practical examples. It cuts through the fog of jargon and mystery that surrounds Android application development, and gives you simple, step-by-step instructions to get you started.* Teaches Android application development in language anyone can understand, giving you the best possible start in Android development * Provides simple, step-by-step exampl

  14. Computability and Representations of the Zero Set

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    P.J. Collins (Pieter)

    2008-01-01

    htmlabstractIn this note we give a new representation for closed sets under which the robust zero set of a function is computable. We call this representation the component cover representation. The computation of the zero set is based on topological index theory, the most powerful tool for finding

  15. Study of errors in absolute flux density measurements of Cassiopeia A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanda, M.

    1975-10-01

    An error analysis for absolute flux density measurements of Cassiopeia A is discussed. The lower-bound quadrature-accumulation error for state-of-the-art measurements of the absolute flux density of Cas A around 7 GHz is estimated to be 1.71% for 3 sigma limits. The corresponding practicable error for the careful but not state-of-the-art measurement is estimated to be 4.46% for 3 sigma limits

  16. Factorial representations of path groups

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albeverio, S.; Hoegh-Krohn, R.; Testard, D.; Vershik, A.

    1983-11-01

    We give the reduction of the energy representation of the group of mappings from I = [ 0,1 ], S 1 , IRsub(+) or IR into a compact semi simple Lie group G. For G = SU(2) we prove the factoriality of the representation, which is of type III in the case I = IR

  17. Scientific Representation and Science Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matta, Corrado

    2014-01-01

    In this article I examine three examples of philosophical theories of scientific representation with the aim of assessing which of these is a good candidate for a philosophical theory of scientific representation in science learning. The three candidate theories are Giere's intentional approach, Suárez's inferential approach and Lynch and…

  18. Anharmonic potential in the oscillator representation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dineykhan, M.; Efimov, G.V.

    1994-01-01

    In the non relativistic and relativized Schroedinger equation the Wick ordering method called the oscillator representation is proposed to calculate the energy spectrum for a wide class of potentials allowing the existence of a bound state. The oscillator representation method gives a unique regular way to describe and calculate the energy levels of ground as well as orbital and radial excitation states for a wide class of potentials. The results of the zeroth approximation oscillator representation are in good agreement with the exact values for the anharmonic potentials. The oscillator representation method was applied to the relativized Schroedinger equation too. The perturbation series converges fairly fast, i.e., the highest perturbation corrections over the interaction Hamiltonian are small enough. 29 refs.; 4 tabs. (author)

  19. Knot invariants and higher representation theory

    CERN Document Server

    Webster, Ben

    2018-01-01

    The author constructs knot invariants categorifying the quantum knot variants for all representations of quantum groups. He shows that these invariants coincide with previous invariants defined by Khovanov for \\mathfrak{sl}_2 and \\mathfrak{sl}_3 and by Mazorchuk-Stroppel and Sussan for \\mathfrak{sl}_n. The author's technique is to study 2-representations of 2-quantum groups (in the sense of Rouquier and Khovanov-Lauda) categorifying tensor products of irreducible representations. These are the representation categories of certain finite dimensional algebras with an explicit diagrammatic presentation, generalizing the cyclotomic quotient of the KLR algebra. When the Lie algebra under consideration is \\mathfrak{sl}_n, the author shows that these categories agree with certain subcategories of parabolic category \\mathcal{O} for \\mathfrak{gl}_k.

  20. Total Synthesis and Absolute Configuration of the Marine Norditerpenoid Xestenone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroaki Miyaoka

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Xestenone is a marine norditerpenoid found in the northeastern Pacific sponge Xestospongia vanilla. The relative configuration of C-3 and C-7 in xestenone was determined by NOESY spectral analysis. However the relative configuration of C-12 and the absolute configuration of this compound were not determined. The authors have now achieved the total synthesis of xestenone using their developed one-pot synthesis of cyclopentane derivatives employing allyl phenyl sulfone and an epoxy iodide as a key step. The relative and absolute configurations of xestenone were thus successfully determined by this synthesis.

  1. Improved Strategies and Optimization of Calibration Models for Real-time PCR Absolute Quantification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Real-time PCR absolute quantification applications rely on the use of standard curves to make estimates of DNA target concentrations in unknown samples. Traditional absolute quantification approaches dictate that a standard curve must accompany each experimental run. However, t...

  2. Improvement of Gaofen-3 Absolute Positioning Accuracy Based on Cross-Calibration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingjun Deng

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Chinese Gaofen-3 (GF-3 mission was launched in August 2016, equipped with a full polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR sensor in the C-band, with a resolution of up to 1 m. The absolute positioning accuracy of GF-3 is of great importance, and in-orbit geometric calibration is a key technology for improving absolute positioning accuracy. Conventional geometric calibration is used to accurately calibrate the geometric calibration parameters of the image (internal delay and azimuth shifts using high-precision ground control data, which are highly dependent on the control data of the calibration field, but it remains costly and labor-intensive to monitor changes in GF-3’s geometric calibration parameters. Based on the positioning consistency constraint of the conjugate points, this study presents a geometric cross-calibration method for the rapid and accurate calibration of GF-3. The proposed method can accurately calibrate geometric calibration parameters without using corner reflectors and high-precision digital elevation models, thus improving absolute positioning accuracy of the GF-3 image. GF-3 images from multiple regions were collected to verify the absolute positioning accuracy after cross-calibration. The results show that this method can achieve a calibration accuracy as high as that achieved by the conventional field calibration method.

  3. Local normality properties of some infrared representations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doplicher, S.; Spera, M.

    1983-01-01

    We consider the positive energy representations of the algebra of quasilocal observables for the free massless Majorana field described in preceding papers. We show that by an appropriate choice of the (partially) occupied one particle modes we can find irreducible, type IIsub(infinite) or IIIsub(lambda) representations in this class which are unitarily equivalent to the vacuum representation when restricted to any forward light cone and disjoint from it when restricted to any backward light cone, or conversely. We give an elementary explicit proof of local normality of each representation in the above class. (orig.)

  4. (Self)-representations on youtube

    OpenAIRE

    Simonsen, Thomas Mosebo

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines forms of self-representation on YouTube with specific focus on Vlogs (Video blogs). The analytical scope of the paper is on how User-generated Content on YouTube initiates a certain kind of audiovisual representation and a particular interpretation of reality that can be distinguished within Vlogs. This will be analysed through selected case studies taken from a representative sample of empirically based observations of YouTube videos. The analysis includes a focus on how ...

  5. Absolute Gravity Datum in the Age of Cold Atom Gravimeters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Childers, V. A.; Eckl, M. C.

    2014-12-01

    The international gravity datum is defined today by the International Gravity Standardization Net of 1971 (IGSN-71). The data supporting this network was measured in the 1950s and 60s using pendulum and spring-based gravimeter ties (plus some new ballistic absolute meters) to replace the prior protocol of referencing all gravity values to the earlier Potsdam value. Since this time, gravimeter technology has advanced significantly with the development and refinement of the FG-5 (the current standard of the industry) and again with the soon-to-be-available cold atom interferometric absolute gravimeters. This latest development is anticipated to provide improvement in the range of two orders of magnitude as compared to the measurement accuracy of technology utilized to develop ISGN-71. In this presentation, we will explore how the IGSN-71 might best be "modernized" given today's requirements and available instruments and resources. The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), along with other relevant US Government agencies, is concerned about establishing gravity control to establish and maintain high order geodetic networks as part of the nation's essential infrastructure. The need to modernize the nation's geodetic infrastructure was highlighted in "Precise Geodetic Infrastructure, National Requirements for a Shared Resource" National Academy of Science, 2010. The NGS mission, as dictated by Congress, is to establish and maintain the National Spatial Reference System, which includes gravity measurements. Absolute gravimeters measure the total gravity field directly and do not involve ties to other measurements. Periodic "intercomparisons" of multiple absolute gravimeters at reference gravity sites are used to constrain the behavior of the instruments to ensure that each would yield reasonably similar measurements of the same location (i.e. yield a sufficiently consistent datum when measured in disparate locales). New atomic interferometric gravimeters promise a significant

  6. CAPITAL STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF THE MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC-CONSULTATIVE CENTERS IN VARNA (absolute indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyubomira Koeva-Dimitrova

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The capital structure analysis of medical institutions is related to the assessment of their financial sustainability. The degree of their financial sustainability indicates the extent to which the medical institution is exposed to financial risk. This financial risk is related to the use of foreign capital (debts, loans, etc. and it is defined as the probability of insolvency and possible bankruptcy due to the existence of debts which could not be repaid at some point in the foreseeable future. Objective: To analyze the capital structure of the medical diagnostic-consultative centers in Varna city and on this basis to assess their long-term solvency and existence of financial risk. Materials and Methods: The materials for the study are the published annual financial statements (up to 05. 01. 2016 in the Commercial Register for the period from year 2008 to 2014 of all MDCCs (Medical Diagnostic Consultative centers, registered in Varna - 9 in total. In the study are applied logical-mathematical methods (comparison, grouping, detail, graphical method; financial and accounting analysis (balance sheet analysis; analysis of absolute ratios for financial sustainability. Results: Upon analysis of the capital structure of MDCC's are studied the main absolute indicators characterizing the conditions for financial sustainability and the existence of financial risk regarding the solvency. A table represents the overall assessment of the degree of financial sustainability of the companies according to the type and structure of the fulfilled criteria. It was ascertained that for year 2014, DCC 3, 4, 5 and 8 have met all the conditions and according to them these hospitals have very high financial sustainability. DCC 7 has an average financial sustainability, DCC 1 and 2 are in a financial crisis and DCC 6 and 9 are facing bankruptcy. It must be emphasized that nearly half of the studied health care organizations (DCC 1, 2, 6 and 9 need urgent intervention by

  7. Proposal for an absolute, atomic definition of mass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wignall, J.W.G.

    1991-11-01

    It is proposed that the mass of a particle be defined absolutely as its de Broglie frequency, measured as the mean de Broglie wavelength of the particle when it has a mean speed (v) and Lorentz factor γ; the masses of systems too large to have a measurable de Broglie wavelength mean are then to be derived by specifying the usual inertial and additive properties of mass. This definition avoids the use of an arbitrary macroscopic standard such as the prototype kilogram, and, if present theory is correct, does not even require the choice of a specific particle as a mass standard. Suggestions are made as to how this absolute mass can be realized and measured at the macroscopic level and, finally, some comments are made on the effect of the new definition on the form of the equations of physics. 19 refs

  8. Absolute limit on rotation of gravitationally bound stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glendenning, N. K.

    1994-03-01

    The authors seek an absolute limit on the rotational period for a neutron star as a function of its mass, based on the minimal constraints imposed by Einstein's theory of relativity, Le Chatelier's principle, causality, and a low-density equation of state, uncertainties which can be evaluated as to their effect on the result. This establishes a limiting curve in the mass-period plane below which no pulsar that is a neutron star can lie. For example, the minimum possible Kepler period, which is an absolute limit on rotation below which mass-shedding would occur, is 0.33 ms for a M = 1.442 solar mass neutron star (the mass of PSR1913+16). If the limit were found to be broken by any pulsar, it would signal that the confined hadronic phase of ordinary nucleons and nuclei is only metastable.

  9. Absolute beam-charge measurement for single-bunch electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suwada, Tsuyoshi; Ohsawa, Satoshi; Furukawa, Kazuro; Akasaka, Nobumasa

    2000-01-01

    The absolute beam charge of a single-bunch electron beam with a pulse width of 10 ps and that of a short-pulsed electron beam with a pulse width of 1 ns were measured with a Faraday cup in a beam test for the KEK B-Factory (KEKB) injector linac. It is strongly desired to obtain a precise beam-injection rate to the KEKB rings, and to estimate the amount of beam loss. A wall-current monitor was also recalibrated within an error of ±2%. This report describes the new results for an absolute beam-charge measurement for single-bunch and short-pulsed electron beams, and recalibration of the wall-current monitors in detail. (author)

  10. Relationship between Income and Subjective Economic Well-Being: Absolute or Relative?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V A Khashchenko

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the role of the absolute and relative income in determining the subjective economic well-being. It is shown that the relationship of the income to SEB is curvilinear with the increase of marginal utility for a higher income. At low income levels its effect on SEB is determined not by its absolute, but by its relative value based on the comparisons with the subjective standards of well-being.

  11. Shared Representations and the Translation Process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schaeffer, Moritz; Carl, Michael

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of the present chapter is to investigate automated processing during translation. We provide evidence from a translation priming study which suggests that translation involves activation of shared lexico-semantic and syntactical representations, i.e., the activation of features of both...... source and target language items which share one single cognitive representation. We argue that activation of shared representations facilitates automated processing. The chapter revises the literal translation hypothesis and the monitor model (Ivir 1981; Toury 1995; Tirkkonen-Condit 2005), and re...

  12. Shared Representations and the Translation Process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schaeffer, Moritz; Carl, Michael

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the present paper is to investigate automated processing during translation. We provide evidence from a translation priming study which suggests that translation involves activation of shared lexico-semantic and syntactical representations, i.e., the activation of features of both...... source and target language items which share one single cognitive representation. We argue that activation of shared representations facilitates automated processing. The paper revises the literal translation hypothesis and the monitor model (Ivir 1981; Toury 1995; Tirkkonen-Condit 2005), and re...

  13. Representation and redistribution in federations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dragu, Tiberiu; Rodden, Jonathan

    2011-05-24

    Many of the world's most populous democracies are political unions composed of states or provinces that are unequally represented in the national legislature. Scattered empirical studies, most of them focusing on the United States, have discovered that overrepresented states appear to receive larger shares of the national budget. Although this relationship is typically attributed to bargaining advantages associated with greater legislative representation, an important threat to empirical identification stems from the fact that the representation scheme was chosen by the provinces. Thus, it is possible that representation and fiscal transfers are both determined by other characteristics of the provinces in a specific country. To obtain an improved estimate of the relationship between representation and redistribution, we collect and analyze provincial-level data from nine federations over several decades, taking advantage of the historical process through which federations formed and expanded. Controlling for a variety of country- and province-level factors and using a variety of estimation techniques, we show that overrepresented provinces in political unions around the world are rather dramatically favored in the distribution of resources.

  14. Image Fusion of CT and MR with Sparse Representation in NSST Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chenhui Qiu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Multimodal image fusion techniques can integrate the information from different medical images to get an informative image that is more suitable for joint diagnosis, preoperative planning, intraoperative guidance, and interventional treatment. Fusing images of CT and different MR modalities are studied in this paper. Firstly, the CT and MR images are both transformed to nonsubsampled shearlet transform (NSST domain. So the low-frequency components and high-frequency components are obtained. Then the high-frequency components are merged using the absolute-maximum rule, while the low-frequency components are merged by a sparse representation- (SR- based approach. And the dynamic group sparsity recovery (DGSR algorithm is proposed to improve the performance of the SR-based approach. Finally, the fused image is obtained by performing the inverse NSST on the merged components. The proposed fusion method is tested on a number of clinical CT and MR images and compared with several popular image fusion methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed fusion method can provide better fusion results in terms of subjective quality and objective evaluation.

  15. Representations for Supporting Students' Context Awareness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Demetriadis, Stavros N.; Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.

    2005-01-01

    The context of the specific situation where knowledge is applied affects significantly the problem solving process by forcing people to negotiate and reconsider the priorities of their mental representations and problem solving operators, in relation to this process. In this work we argue...... that students’ context awareness can significantly be enhanced by the use of appropriate external representations which guide them to activate context inducing cognitive processes. By embedding such representations in a case based learning environment we expect to guide students’ processing of the rich...... in contextual information material, in a way that improves both their context awareness and metacontextual competence. After presenting a context model, we discuss the design of such representations based on this model and explain why we expect that their use in a learning situation would enhance context...

  16. On the Benefits of Divergent Search for Evolved Representations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lehman, Joel; Risi, Sebastian; Stanley, Kenneth O

    2012-01-01

    Evolved representations in evolutionary computation are often fragile, which can impede representation-dependent mechanisms such as self-adaptation. In contrast, evolved representations in nature are robust, evolvable, and creatively exploit available representational features. This paper provide...

  17. Absolute spectrophotometry of the β Lyr

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burnashev, V.I.; Skul'skij, M.Yu.

    1978-01-01

    In 1974 an absolute spectrophotometry of β Lyr was performed with the scanning spectrophotometer in the 3300-7400 A range. The energy distribution in the β Lyr spectrum is obtained. The β Lyr model is proposed. It is shown, that the continuous spectrum of the β Lyr radiation can be presented by the total radiation of the B8 3 and A5 3 two stars and of the gaseous envelope with Te =20000 K

  18. Local absolute alcohol ablation for the treatment of recurrent pheochromocytoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang Mingyi; Wang Peijun; Lu Ying; Ma Jun; Tang Junjun; Xi Qian; Huang Zongliang; Gao Xiaolong

    2010-01-01

    Objective: to assess the clinical value of local injection of absolute alcohol under CT guidance in treating recurrent pheochromocytoma. Methods: Five patients with benign recurrent pheochromocytoma were enrolled in this study. Of the five cases, the lesions were located on the right side in three, on the left in one and on both sides in one. All the lesions were pathologically proved to be benign ones. Under CT guidance the ablation therapy with local injection of absolute alcohol was performed. The therapeutic results were observed and evaluated. Results: Thirty days after the treatment, different degrees of decrease in tumor size was observed on follow-up CT scans. All the patients were followed up for 9-42 months. During the follow-up period, both the blood pressure and the vanillyl mandelic acid (VMA) level in urine remained normal and no paroxysmal dizziness, headache or syncope occurred in all patients. Conclusion: For the treatment of recurrent pheochromocytoma the ablation therapy by using local injection of absolute alcohol under CT guidance is a safe and practical therapeutic means with definite and reliable effectiveness. (authors)

  19. Fluctuation theorems in feedback-controlled open quantum systems: Quantum coherence and absolute irreversibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murashita, Yûto; Gong, Zongping; Ashida, Yuto; Ueda, Masahito

    2017-10-01

    The thermodynamics of quantum coherence has attracted growing attention recently, where the thermodynamic advantage of quantum superposition is characterized in terms of quantum thermodynamics. We investigate the thermodynamic effects of quantum coherent driving in the context of the fluctuation theorem. We adopt a quantum-trajectory approach to investigate open quantum systems under feedback control. In these systems, the measurement backaction in the forward process plays a key role, and therefore the corresponding time-reversed quantum measurement and postselection must be considered in the backward process, in sharp contrast to the classical case. The state reduction associated with quantum measurement, in general, creates a zero-probability region in the space of quantum trajectories of the forward process, which causes singularly strong irreversibility with divergent entropy production (i.e., absolute irreversibility) and hence makes the ordinary fluctuation theorem break down. In the classical case, the error-free measurement ordinarily leads to absolute irreversibility, because the measurement restricts classical paths to the region compatible with the measurement outcome. In contrast, in open quantum systems, absolute irreversibility is suppressed even in the presence of the projective measurement due to those quantum rare events that go through the classically forbidden region with the aid of quantum coherent driving. This suppression of absolute irreversibility exemplifies the thermodynamic advantage of quantum coherent driving. Absolute irreversibility is shown to emerge in the absence of coherent driving after the measurement, especially in systems under time-delayed feedback control. We show that absolute irreversibility is mitigated by increasing the duration of quantum coherent driving or decreasing the delay time of feedback control.

  20. Spectral representations of neutron-star equations of state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindblom, Lee

    2010-01-01

    Methods are developed for constructing spectral representations of cold (barotropic) neutron-star equations of state. These representations are faithful in the sense that every physical equation of state has a representation of this type and conversely every such representation satisfies the minimal thermodynamic stability criteria required of any physical equation of state. These spectral representations are also efficient, in the sense that only a few spectral coefficients are generally required to represent neutron-star equations of state quiet accurately. This accuracy and efficiency is illustrated by constructing spectral fits to a large collection of 'realistic' neutron-star equations of state.

  1. Jazz talks: representations & self-representations of African American music and its musicians from bebop to free jazz

    OpenAIRE

    Mazman, Alper

    2010-01-01

    The main focus of this thesis is the representation of jazz music and its musicians, and the ways in which American (black and white) critics, novelists, and musicians interpret this music from the development of bebop to free jazz. My aim is to reveal the complexities of the dialogue between white and black representations of jazz, as well as among the self-representations of African American musicians. To this end, I discuss the discourses of jazz that are embedded within the broader cultur...

  2. Absolute measurement of the viscosity of classical and quantum fluids by rotating-cylinder viscometers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donnelly, R.J.; LaMar, M.M.

    1987-01-01

    We discuss the use of rotating-cylinder viscometers to determine absolute shear viscosities of classical fluids and of helium II in the context of past and current knowledge of the stability and flow of these fluids between concentric cylinders. We identify a problem in measuring the absolute viscosity when the inner cylinder is rotating and the outer cylinder is at rest. We conclude by discussing the design of viscometers for absolute viscosity measurements in helium I and helium II

  3. A polygon soup representation for free viewpoint video

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colleu, T.; Pateux, S.; Morin, L.; Labit, C.

    2010-02-01

    This paper presents a polygon soup representation for multiview data. Starting from a sequence of multi-view video plus depth (MVD) data, the proposed representation takes into account, in a unified manner, different issues such as compactness, compression, and intermediate view synthesis. The representation is built in two steps. First, a set of 3D quads is extracted using a quadtree decomposition of the depth maps. Second, a selective elimination of the quads is performed in order to reduce inter-view redundancies and thus provide a compact representation. Moreover, the proposed methodology for extracting the representation allows to reduce ghosting artifacts. Finally, an adapted compression technique is proposed that limits coding artifacts. The results presented on two real sequences show that the proposed representation provides a good trade-off between rendering quality and data compactness.

  4. METHODS FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF THE HELICOIDAL SURFACE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SCURTU Liviu-Iacob

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper there are presented the graphical methods to determine the parameters of an helicoidal stairs. The first part of this paper shows the used methods to generate the helicoidal curves using descriptive geometry methods. It has represented the state of the art of the generation of a helical surface studies. The second part of this study shows the helical stairs surface representation using descriptive geometry methods. For the representation of the helicoidal stairs are used two projections, the front and top view. A method of the stairs representation is solved using CAD modelling dedicated software. Following the helical surface representation in both methods, has been achieved a comparative study by using two representation methods. Conclusions about these two representation methods are presented in the end of this paper.

  5. Second-Order Risk Constraints in Decision Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Love Ekenberg

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, representations and methods aimed at analysing decision problems where probabilities and values (utilities are associated with distributions over them (second-order representations have been suggested. In this paper we present an approach to how imprecise information can be modelled by means of second-order distributions and how a risk evaluation process can be elaborated by integrating procedures for numerically imprecise probabilities and utilities. We discuss some shortcomings of the use of the principle of maximising the expected utility and of utility theory in general, and offer remedies by the introduction of supplementary decision rules based on a concept of risk constraints taking advantage of second-order distributions.

  6. Absolute tightness: the chemists hesitate to invest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1996-01-01

    The safety requirements of industries as nuclear plants and the strengthening of regulations in the field of environment (more particularly those related to volatile organic compounds) have lead the manufacturers to build absolute tightness pumps. But these equipments do not answer all the problems and represent a high investment cost. In consequence, the chemists hesitate to invest. (O.L.)

  7. Locally analytic vectors in representations of locally

    CERN Document Server

    Emerton, Matthew J

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this memoir is to provide the foundations for the locally analytic representation theory that is required in three of the author's other papers on this topic. In the course of writing those papers the author found it useful to adopt a particular point of view on locally analytic representation theory: namely, regarding a locally analytic representation as being the inductive limit of its subspaces of analytic vectors (of various "radii of analyticity"). The author uses the analysis of these subspaces as one of the basic tools in his study of such representations. Thus in this memoir he presents a development of locally analytic representation theory built around this point of view. The author has made a deliberate effort to keep the exposition reasonably self-contained and hopes that this will be of some benefit to the reader.

  8. Antiausterity activity of arctigenin enantiomers: importance of (2R,3R)-absolute configuration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awale, Suresh; Kato, Mamoru; Dibwe, Dya Fita; Li, Feng; Miyoshi, Chika; Esumi, Hiroyasu; Kadota, Shigetoshi; Tezuka, Yasuhiro

    2014-01-01

    From a MeOH extract of powdered roots of Wikstroemia indica, six dibenzyl-gamma-butyrolactone-type lignans with (2S,3S)-absolute configuration [(+)-arctigenin (1), (+)-matairesinol (2), (+)-trachelogenin (3), (+)-nortrachelogenin (4), (+)-hinokinin (5), and (+)-kusunokinin (6)] were isolated, whereas three dibenzyl-gamma-butyrolactone-type lignans with (2R,3R)-absolute configuration [(-)-arctigenin (1*), (-)-matairesinol (2*), (-)-trachelogenin (3*)] were isolated from Trachelospermum asiaticum. The in vitro preferential cytotoxic activity of the nine compounds was evaluated against human pancreatic PANC-1 cancer cells in nutrient-deprived medium (NDM), but none of the six lignans (1-6) with (2S,3S)-absolute configuration showed preferential cytotoxicity. On the other hand, three lignans (1*-3*) with (2R,3R)-absolute configuration exhibited preferential cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner with PC50 values of 0.54, 6.82, and 5.85 microM, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of (-)- and (+)-arctigenin was evaluated against the activation of Akt, which is a key process in the tolerance to nutrition starvation. Interestingly, only (-)-arctigenin (1*) strongly suppressed the activation of Akt. These results indicate that the (2R,3R)-absolute configuration of (-)-enantiomers should be required for the preferential cytotoxicity through the inhibition of Akt activation.

  9. “On the brink of the absolutely forbidden”: In Conversation with Mary Morrissy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loredana Salis

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Mary Morrissy (Dublin, 1957 belongs to the generation of womenwriters excluded from the Field Day Anthology in the 1990s, only tobe included in a dedicated volume in 2003. By then she had becomea distinguished literary voice in Ireland (having published a collectionof short stories, and two novels. After The Rising of Bella Casey (2013,Morrissy returned to the short story in the form of an adaptation ofJoyce’s “An Encounter” (2014, and a collection of short stories entitledProsperity Drive (2016. Situated where history, biography andfiction intersect, her works deal with Ireland’s recent cultural developmentsand situations of marginality risking social exclusion, genderinequality, an indelible past and the dominance of religion. Standing“on the brink of the absolutely forbidden”, her protagonists, like herwriting, yearn to break taboos and

  10. Pioneers of representation theory

    CERN Document Server

    Curtis, Charles W

    1999-01-01

    The year 1897 was marked by two important mathematical events: the publication of the first paper on representations of finite groups by Ferdinand Georg Frobenius (1849-1917) and the appearance of the first treatise in English on the theory of finite groups by William Burnside (1852-1927). Burnside soon developed his own approach to representations of finite groups. In the next few years, working independently, Frobenius and Burnside explored the new subject and its applications to finite group theory. They were soon joined in this enterprise by Issai Schur (1875-1941) and some years later, by Richard Brauer (1901-1977). These mathematicians' pioneering research is the subject of this book. It presents an account of the early history of representation theory through an analysis of the published work of the principals and others with whom the principals' work was interwoven. Also included are biographical sketches and enough mathematics to enable readers to follow the development of the subject. An introductor...

  11. On Representation in Information Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph E. Brenner

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Semiotics is widely applied in theories of information. Following the original triadic characterization of reality by Peirce, the linguistic processes involved in information—production, transmission, reception, and understanding—would all appear to be interpretable in terms of signs and their relations to their objects. Perhaps the most important of these relations is that of the representation-one, entity, standing for or representing some other. For example, an index—one of the three major kinds of signs—is said to represent something by being directly related to its object. My position, however, is that the concept of symbolic representations having such roles in information, as intermediaries, is fraught with the same difficulties as in representational theories of mind. I have proposed an extension of logic to complex real phenomena, including mind and information (Logic in Reality; LIR, most recently at the 4th International Conference on the Foundations of Information Science (Beijing, August, 2010. LIR provides explanations for the evolution of complex processes, including information, that do not require any entities other than the processes themselves. In this paper, I discuss the limitations of the standard relation of representation. I argue that more realistic pictures of informational systems can be provided by reference to information as an energetic process, following the categorial ontology of LIR. This approach enables naïve, anti-realist conceptions of anti-representationalism to be avoided, and enables an approach to both information and meaning in the same novel logical framework.

  12. Relative and absolute poverty : the case of México, 1992-2004

    OpenAIRE

    Ruiz-Castillo, Javier

    2005-01-01

    This paper advocates that although an absolute notion of poverty should remain an essential ingredient in the evaluation of the standard of living in developing and transition economies, it is time that relative poverty begins to be systematically estimated for those same economies. This prescription is applied to México for the 1992-2004 period, where the Fox Administration has fixed for the first time an absolute poverty line for 2000. To facilitate comparisons with developed countries, the...

  13. Memory for musical tempo: Additional evidence that auditory memory is absolute

    OpenAIRE

    Levitin, Daniel J.; Cook, Perry R.

    1996-01-01

    We report evidence that long term memory retains absolute (accurate) features of perceptual events. Specifically, we show that memory for music seems to preserve the absolute tempo of the musical performance. In Experiment 1, 46 subjects sang popular songs from memory, and their tempos were compared to recorded versions of the songs. Seventy-two of the subjects came within 8% of the actual tempo on two consecutive trials (using different songs), demonstrating accuracy near the perceptual thre...

  14. Conceptual Understanding and Representation Quality through Multi-representation Learning on Newton Law Content

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suci Furwati

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Students who have good conceptual acquisition will be able to represent the concept by using multi representation. This study aims to determine the improvement of students' understanding of the concept of Newton's Law material, and the quality of representation used in solving problems on Newton's Law material. The results showed that the concept acquisition of students increased from the average of 35.32 to 78.97 with an effect size of 2.66 (strong and N-gain of 0.68 (medium. The quality of each type of student representation also increased from level 1 and level 2 up to level 3. Key Words: concept aquisition, represetation quality, multi representation learning, Newton’s Law Abstrak: Siswa yang memiliki penguasaan konsep yang baik akan mampu merepresentasikan konsep dengan menggunakan multi representasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peningkatan pemahaman konsep siswa SMP pada materi Hukum Newton, dan kualitas representasi yang digunakan dalam menyelesaikan masalah pada materi Hukum Newton. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penguasaan konsep siswa meningkat dari rata-rata 35,32 menjadi 78,97 dengan effect size sebesar 2,66 (kuat dan N-gain sebesar 0,68 (sedang. Kualitas tiap jenis representasi siswa juga mengalami peningkatan dari level 1 dan level 2 naik menjadi level 3. Kata kunci: hukum Newton, kualitas representasi, pemahaman konsep, pembelajaran multi representasi

  15. Longitudinal associations between maternal disrupted representations, maternal interactive behavior and infant attachment: a comparison between full-term and preterm dyads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, R A S; Hoffenkamp, H N; Tooten, A; Braeken, J; Vingerhoets, A J J M; van Bakel, H J A

    2015-04-01

    This prospective study examined whether or not a mother's representations of her infant were more often disrupted after premature childbirth. Furthermore, the study examined if different components of maternal interactive behavior mediated the relation between maternal disrupted representations and infant attachment. The participants were mothers of full-term (n = 75), moderately preterm (n = 68) and very preterm infants (n = 67). Maternal representations were assessed by the Working Model of the Child Interview at 6 months post-partum. Maternal interactive behavior was evaluated at 6 and 24 months post-partum, using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Care Research Network mother-infant observation scales. Infant attachment was observed at 24 months post-partum and was coded by the Attachment Q-Set. The results reveal that a premature childbirth does not necessarily generate disrupted maternal representations of the infant. Furthermore, maternal interactive behavior appears to be an important mechanism through which maternal representations influence the development of infant attachment in full-term and preterm infants. Early assessment of maternal representations can identify mother-infant dyads at risk, in full-term and preterm samples.

  16. Absolute Hydration Free Energy of Proton from First Principles Electronic Structure Calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhan, Chang-Guo; Dixon, David A.

    2001-01-01

    The absolute hydration free energy of the proton, DGhyd298(H+), is one of the fundamental quantities for the thermodynamics of aqueous systems. Its exact value remains unknown despite extensive experimental and computational efforts. We report a first-principles determination of DGhyd298(H+) by using the latest developments in electronic structure theory and massively parallel computers. DGhyd298(H+) is accurately predicted to be -262.4 kcal/mol based on high-level, first-principles solvation-included electronic structure calculations. The absolute hydration free energies of other cations can be obtained by using appropriate available thermodynamic data in combination with this value. The high accuracy of the predicted absolute hydration free energy of proton is confirmed by applying the same protocol to predict DGhyd298(Li+)

  17. Absolute transition probabilities for 559 strong lines of neutral cerium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Curry, J J, E-mail: jjcurry@nist.go [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8422 (United States)

    2009-07-07

    Absolute radiative transition probabilities are reported for 559 strong lines of neutral cerium covering the wavelength range 340-880 nm. These transition probabilities are obtained by scaling published relative line intensities (Meggers et al 1975 Tables of Spectral Line Intensities (National Bureau of Standards Monograph 145)) with a smaller set of published absolute transition probabilities (Bisson et al 1991 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 8 1545). All 559 new values are for lines for which transition probabilities have not previously been available. The estimated relative random uncertainty of the new data is +-35% for nearly all lines.

  18. Absolute analytical prediction of photonic crystal guided mode resonance wavelengths

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hermannsson, Pétur Gordon; Vannahme, Christoph; Smith, Cameron

    2014-01-01

    numerically with methods such as rigorous coupled wave analysis. Here it is demonstrated how the absolute resonance wavelengths of such structures can be predicted by analytically modeling them as slab waveguides in which the propagation constant is determined by a phase matching condition. The model...... is experimentally verified to be capable of predicting the absolute resonance wavelengths to an accuracy of within 0.75 nm, as well as resonance wavelength shifts due to changes in cladding index within an accuracy of 0.45 nm across the visible wavelength regime in the case where material dispersion is taken...

  19. The bolometric, infrared and visual absolute magnitudes of Mira variables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robertson, B.S.C.; Feast, M.W.

    1981-01-01

    Statistical parallaxes, as well as stars with individually known distances are used to derive bolometric and infrared absolute magnitudes of Mira (Me) variables. The derived bolometric magnitudes are in the mean about 0.75 mag fainter than recent estimates. The problem of determining the pulsation constant is discussed. Miras with periods greater than 150 days probably pulsate in the first overtone. Those of shorter periods are anomalous and may be fundamental pulsators. It is shown that the absolute visual magnitudes at mean light of Miras with individually determined distances are consistent with values derived by Clayton and Feast from statistical parallaxes. (author)

  20. Rational functions with maximal radius of absolute monotonicity

    KAUST Repository

    Loczi, Lajos; Ketcheson, David I.

    2014-01-01

    -Kutta methods for initial value problems and the radius of absolute monotonicity governs the numerical preservation of properties like positivity and maximum-norm contractivity. We construct a function with p=2 and R>2s, disproving a conjecture of van de Griend

  1. Absolute configuration and antiprotozoal activity of minquartynoic acid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, H B; Christensen, Søren Brøgger; Kvist, L P

    2000-01-01

    Minquartynoic acid (1) was isolated as an antimalarial and antileishmanial constituent of the Peruvian tree Minquartia guianensis and its absolute configuration at C-17 established to be (+)-S through conversion to the known (+)-(S)-17-hydroxystearic acid (2) and confirmed using Mosher's method....

  2. On quantum harmonic oscillator being subjected to absolute ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    On quantum harmonic oscillator being subjected to absolute potential state. SWAMI NITYAYOGANANDA. Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, R.K. Beach, Visakhapatnam 530 003, India. E-mail: nityayogananda@gmail.com. MS received 1 May 2015; accepted 6 May 2016; published online 3 December 2016. Abstract.

  3. Partial sums of arithmetical functions with absolutely convergent ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    For an arithmetical function f with absolutely convergent Ramanujan expansion, we derive an asymptotic formula for the ∑ n ≤ N f(n)$ with explicit error term. As a corollary we obtain new results about sum-of-divisors functions and Jordan's totient functions.

  4. A Risk Assessment Comparison of Breast Cancer and Factors Affected to Risk Perception of Women in Turkey: A Cross-sectional Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    YÜKSEL, Serpil; ALTUN UĞRAŞ, Gülay; ÇAVDAR, İkbal; BOZDOĞAN, Atilla; ÖZKAN GÜRDAL, Sibel; AKYOLCU, Neriman; ESENCAN, Ecem; VAROL SARAÇOĞLU, Gamze; ÖZMEN, Vahit

    2017-01-01

    Background: The increase in breast cancer incidence has enhanced attention towards breast cancer risk. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of breast cancer and risk perception of women, factors that affect risk perception, and to determine differences between absolute risk and the perception of risk. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 346 women whose score in the Gail Risk Model (GRM) was ≥ 1.67% and/or had a 1st degree relative with breast cancer in Bahçeşehir town in Istanbul, Turkey between Jul 2012 and Dec 2012. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The level of risk for breast cancer has been calculated using GRM and the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Form (BCRAF). Breast cancer risk perception (BCRP), has been evaluated by visual analogue 100-cm-long scale. Results: Even though 39.6% of the women considered themselves as high-risk carriers, according to the GRM and the BCRAF, only 11.6% and 9.8% of women were in the “high risk” category, respectively. There was a positive significant correlation between the GRM and the BCRAF scores (Prisk perception were age (40–59 yr), post-menopausal phase, high-very high economic income level, existence of breast cancer in the family, having regular breast self-examination and clinical breast examination (Prisk of breast, cancer there is a significant difference between the women’s risk perception and their absolute risk level. PMID:28435816

  5. Prenatal Valproate Exposure and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Childhood Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Jakob; Grønborg, Therese Koops; Sørensen, Merete Juul; Schendel, Diana; Parner, Erik Thorlund; Pedersen, Lars Henning; Vestergaard, Mogens

    2015-01-01

    Importance Valproate is used for the treatment of epilepsy and other neuropsychological disorders and may be the only treatment option for women of childbearing potential. However, prenatal exposure to valproate may increase the risk of autism. Objective To determine whether prenatal exposure to valproate is associated with an increased risk of autism in offspring. Design, Setting, and Participants Population-based study of all children born alive in Denmark from 1996 to 2006. National registers were used to identify children exposed to valproate during pregnancy and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (childhood autism [autistic disorder], Asperger syndrome, atypical autism, and other or unspecified pervasive developmental disorders). We analyzed the risks associated with all autism spectrum disorders as well as childhood autism. Data were analyzed by Cox regression adjusting for potential confounders (maternal age at conception, paternal age at conception, parental psychiatric history, gestational age, birth weight, sex, congenital malformations, and parity). Children were followed up from birth until the day of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, death, emigration, or December 31, 2010, whichever came first. Main Outcomes and Measures Absolute risk (cumulative incidence) and the hazard ratio (HR) of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in children after exposure to valproate in pregnancy. Results Of 655 615 children born from 1996 through 2006, 5437 were identified with autism spectrum disorder, including 2067 with childhood autism. The mean age of the children at end of follow-up was 8.84 years (range, 4-14; median, 8.85). The estimated absolute risk after 14 years of follow-up was 1.53% (95% CI, 1.47%- 1.58%) for autism spectrum disorder and 0.48% (95% CI, 0.46%-0.51%) for childhood autism. Overall, the 508 children exposed to valproate had an absolute risk of 4.42% (95% CI, 2.59%-7.46%) for autism spectrum disorder (adjusted HR, 2.9 [95% CI, 1

  6. Representations of G+++ and the role of space-time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kleinschmidt, A.; West, P.

    2004-01-01

    We consider the decomposition of the adjoint and fundamental representations of very extended Kac-Moody algebras G+++ with respect to their regular A type subalgebra which, in the corresponding non-linear realisation, is associated with gravity. We find that for many very extended algebras almost all the A type representations that occur in the decomposition of the fundamental representations also occur in the adjoint representation of G+++ . In particular, for E 8 +++ , this applies to all its fundamental representations. However, there are some important examples, such as A N-3 +++ , where this is not true and indeed the adjoint representation contains no generator that can be identified with a space-time translation. We comment on the significance of these results for how space-time can occur in the non-linear realisation based on G+++ . Finally we show that there is a correspondence between the A representations that occur in the fundamental representation associated with the very extended node and the adjoint representation of G+++ which is consistent with the interpretation of the former as charges associated with brane solutions. (author)

  7. 48 CFR 2009.570-4 - Representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... type required by the organizational conflicts of interest representation provisions has previously been... ACQUISITION PLANNING CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS Organizational Conflicts of Interest 2009.570-4 Representation... whether situations or relationships exist which may constitute organizational conflicts of interest with...

  8. Public Library Representations and Internet Appropriations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Sequeiros

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available May the changes in the representations of the public library be propitiated by readers' appropriations of the Internet? To answer this question, a theoretically-driven and empirically-based research was developed in a public library in Portugal, combining the analysis of documents uses, the ethnography of space and Internet use, of social relations developed while reading, with the analysis of representations of the public library. No clear-cut association emerged between social-demographics or user profiles, and representations, in general. No disruptive Internet "impact" was found: Internet use may contribute to reinforce traditional representations of the library, while it may also update and democratise other representations. If the library and the Internet are represented as synonymous, the former does not make sense without the latter; but an Internet widespread and intensive use conflicts with the image of an institution dedicated to high-brow culture. Changes in uses of the public library are, instead, clearly associated with new types of readers, which in their turn reflect changes in urban social composition. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401141

  9. Coherent State Projection Operator Representation of Symplectic Transformations as a Loyal Representation of Symplectic Group

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Hong-Yi; Chen, Jun-Hua

    2002-08-01

    We find that the coherent state projection operator representation of symplectic transformation constitutes a loyal group representation of symplectic group. The result of successively applying squeezing operators on number state can be easily derived. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10575057 and the President Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

  10. Absolute dating of the Aegean Late Bronze Age

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Warren, P.M.

    1987-01-01

    A recent argument for raising the absolute date of the beginning of the Aegean Late Bronze (LB) Age to about 1700 B.C. is critically examined. It is argued here that: (1) the alabaster lid from Knossos did have the stratigraphical context assigned to it by Evans, in all probability Middle Minoan IIIA, c. 1650 B.C.; (2) the attempt to date the alabastron found in an early Eighteenth Dynasty context at Aniba to Late Minoan IIIA:1 is open to objections; (3) radiocarbon dates from Aegean LB I contexts are too wide in their calibrated ranges and too inconsistent both within and between site sets to offer any reliable grounds at present for raising Aegean LB I absolute chronology to 1700 B.C. Other evidence, however, suggests this period began about 1600 B.C., i.e. some fifty years earlier than the conventional date of 1550 B.C. (author)

  11. The ARES High-level Intermediate Representation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moss, Nicholas David [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-03-03

    The LLVM intermediate representation (IR) lacks semantic constructs for depicting common high-performance operations such as parallel and concurrent execution, communication and synchronization. Currently, representing such semantics in LLVM requires either extending the intermediate form (a signi cant undertaking) or the use of ad hoc indirect means such as encoding them as intrinsics and/or the use of metadata constructs. In this paper we discuss a work in progress to explore the design and implementation of a new compilation stage and associated high-level intermediate form that is placed between the abstract syntax tree and when it is lowered to LLVM's IR. This highlevel representation is a superset of LLVM IR and supports the direct representation of these common parallel computing constructs along with the infrastructure for supporting analysis and transformation passes on this representation.

  12. Early diagnosis of myocardial infarction using absolute and relative changes in cardiac troponin concentrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irfan, Affan; Reichlin, Tobias; Twerenbold, Raphael; Meister, Marc; Moehring, Berit; Wildi, Karin; Bassetti, Stefano; Zellweger, Christa; Gimenez, Maria Rubini; Hoeller, Rebeca; Murray, Karsten; Sou, Seoung Mann; Mueller, Mira; Mosimann, Tamina; Reiter, Miriam; Haaf, Philip; Ziller, Ronny; Freidank, Heike; Osswald, Stefan; Mueller, Christian

    2013-09-01

    Absolute changes in high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) seem to have higher diagnostic accuracy in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction compared with relative changes. It is unknown whether the same applies to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assays and whether the combination of absolute and relative change might further increase accuracy. In a prospective, international multicenter study, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) was measured with 3 novel assays (hs-cTnT, Roche Diagnostics Corp, Indianapolis, Ind; hs-cTnI, Beckman Coulter Inc, Brea, Calif; hs-cTnI, Siemens, Munich, Germany) in a blinded fashion at presentation and after 1 and 2 hours in a blinded fashion in 830 unselected patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction. The final diagnosis was adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction was significantly higher for 1- and 2-hour absolute versus relative hs-cTn changes for all 3 assays (P Siemens, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.93-0.99]) were high and provided some benefit compared with the use of absolute change alone for hs-cTnT, but not for the hs-cTnI assays. Reclassification analysis confirmed the superiority of absolute changes versus relative changes. Absolute changes seem to be the preferred metrics for both hs-cTnT and hs-cTnI in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. The combination of absolute and relative changes provides a small added value for hs-cTnT, but not for hs-cTnI. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Diabatic and adiabatic representations for atomic collision processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delos, J.B.; Thorson, W.R.

    1979-01-01

    A consistent general definition of diabatic representations has not previously been given, even though many practical examples of such representations have been constructed for specific problems. Such a definition is provided in this paper. Beginning with a classical trajectory formulation, we describe the form and behavior of velocity-dependent couplings in slow collisions, including the effects of electron-translation factors (ETF's). We compare the couplings arising from atomic representations and atomic ETF's with those arising from molecular representations and ''switching function'' ETF's. We show that a unique set of switching functions makes the two descriptions identical in their effects. We then show that an acceptable general definition of a diabatic representation is provided by the condition P+A=0, where P is the usual nonadiabatic coupling matrix and A represents corrections to it arising from electron translation factors (ETF's). Two distinct types of diabatic representation result, depending on the definition taken for A. States that undergo no deformation are called F diabatic; those that have no velocity-dependent couplings are called M diabatic. Finally, we discuss the properties of representations that are partially diabatic and partially adiabatic, and we give some rules for the construction of representations that should be nearly optimal for describing many types of collision processes

  14. Representations of Multiple-Valued Logic Functions

    CERN Document Server

    Stankovic, Radomir S

    2012-01-01

    Compared to binary switching functions, multiple-valued functions offer more compact representations of the information content of signals modeled by logic functions and, therefore, their use fits very well in the general settings of data compression attempts and approaches. The first task in dealing with such signals is to provide mathematical methods for their representation in a way that will make their application in practice feasible.Representation of Multiple-Valued Logic Functions is aimed at providing an accessible introduction to these mathematical techniques that are necessary for ap

  15. THE ASH’ARITE DOGMA: THE ROOT OF THE ARAB/MUSLIM ABSOLUTISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Mabrook

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available There are three major categories upon which all of the world’s civilizations are established, namely, God, Man and World. The differentiation of worldly civilizations and the diversity of systems of knowledge are due to the way of drawing up the relation thereby the three categories are arranged. Some scholars assumed that these categories are communicated and totally correlated each other, in a way that each cannot be realized except in its connectivity to the others. While some others thought that the three categories should be separated and disconnected, in a way that each of the three is realized as an absolute and dominant one while the two others are marginal and dependent ones. Needless to say, while the first perception provokes the values of tolerance and the acceptance of the other, the second one motivates absolutism and the negation of the other. Unfortunately the Ash’arism, not only a dogma but —and more importantly— a stable and dominant way of thinking, is stimulated by the second perception based on an absolutism and the negation of the other. It departs from that historical fact that this paper argues that absolutism, manifested in political, religious and cultural aspects of nowadays Muslims life, can be related to the dominance ofAsh’arism all over the Muslim world.

  16. Representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-09-01

    two weeks to arrive. Source: http://beergame.mit.edu/ Permission Granted – MIT Supply Chain Forum 2005 Professor Sterman –Sloan School of...Management - MITSource: http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/ SDG /beergame.html Rules of Engagement The MIT Beer Game Simulation 04-04 Slide Number 10 Professor...Sterman –Sloan School of Management - MITSource: http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/ SDG /beergame.html What is the Significance of Representation

  17. Benzofuranoid and bicyclooctanoid neolignans:absolute configuration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarenga, M.A. de; Giesbrecht, A.M.; Gottlieb, O.R.; Yoshida, M.

    1977-01-01

    The naturally occuring benzofuranoid and bicyclo (3,2,1) octanoid neolignans have their relative configurations established by 1 H and 13 C NMR, inclusively with aid of the solvent shift technique. Interconversion of the benzofuranoid type compounds, as well as for a benzofuranoid to a bicyclooctanoid derivate, make ORD correlations, ultimately with (2S, 3S) - and (2R,3R)-2,3- dihydrobenzofurans, possible, and led to the absolute configurations of both series of neolignans [pt

  18. Social representations of female orgasm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavie-Ajayi, Maya; Joffe, Hélène

    2009-01-01

    This study examines women's social representations of female orgasm. Fifty semi-structured interviews were conducted with British women. The data were thematically analysed and compared with the content of female orgasm-related writing in two women's magazines over a 30-year period. The results indicate that orgasm is deemed the goal of sex with emphasis on its physiological dimension. However, the women and the magazines graft onto this scientifically driven representation the importance of relational and emotive aspects of orgasm. For the women, particularly those who experience themselves as having problems with orgasm, the scientifically driven representations induce feelings of failure, but are also resisted. The findings highlight the role played by the social context in women's subjective experience of their sexual health.

  19. Limitations of absolute activity determination of I-125 sources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pelled, O; German, U; Kol, R; Levinson, S; Weinstein, M; Laichter, Y [Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Beersheba (Israel). Nuclear Research Center-Negev; Alphasy, Z [Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Beersheba (Israel)

    1996-12-01

    A method for absolute determination of the activity of a I-125 source, based on the counting rate values of the 27 keV photons and the coincidence photon peak is given in the literature. It is based on the principle that if a radionuclide emits two photons in coincidence , a measurement of its disintegration rate in the photopeak and in the sum- peak can determinate it`s absolute activity. When using this method , the system calibration is simplified and parameters such as source geometry or source position relative to the detector have no significant influence. However, when the coincidence rate is very low, the application of this method is limited because of the statistics of the coincidence peak (authors).

  20. Remote ultrasound palpation for robotic interventions using absolute elastography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Caitlin; Baghani, Ali; Rohling, Robert; Salcudean, Septimiu

    2012-01-01

    Although robotic surgery has addressed many of the challenges presented by minimally invasive surgery, haptic feedback and the lack of knowledge of tissue stiffness is an unsolved problem. This paper presents a system for finding the absolute elastic properties of tissue using a freehand ultrasound scanning technique, which utilizes the da Vinci Surgical robot and a custom 2D ultrasound transducer for intraoperative use. An external exciter creates shear waves in the tissue, and a local frequency estimation method computes the shear modulus. Results are reported for both phantom and in vivo models. This system can be extended to any 6 degree-of-freedom tracking method and any 2D transducer to provide real-time absolute elastic properties of tissue.

  1. Mapping absolute tissue endogenous fluorophore concentrations with chemometric wide-field fluorescence microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhang; Reilley, Michael; Li, Run; Xu, Min

    2017-06-01

    We report chemometric wide-field fluorescence microscopy for imaging the spatial distribution and concentration of endogenous fluorophores in thin tissue sections. Nonnegative factorization aided by spatial diversity is used to learn both the spectral signature and the spatial distribution of endogenous fluorophores from microscopic fluorescence color images obtained under broadband excitation and detection. The absolute concentration map of individual fluorophores is derived by comparing the fluorescence from "pure" fluorophores under the identical imaging condition following the identification of the fluorescence species by its spectral signature. This method is then demonstrated by characterizing the concentration map of endogenous fluorophores (including tryptophan, elastin, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and flavin adenine dinucleotide) for lung tissue specimens. The absolute concentrations of these fluorophores are all found to decrease significantly from normal, perilesional, to cancerous (squamous cell carcinoma) tissue. Discriminating tissue types using the absolute fluorophore concentration is found to be significantly more accurate than that achievable with the relative fluorescence strength. Quantification of fluorophores in terms of the absolute concentration map is also advantageous in eliminating the uncertainties due to system responses or measurement details, yielding more biologically relevant data, and simplifying the assessment of competing imaging approaches.

  2. Exploration of solids based on representation systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Publio Suárez Sotomonte

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This article refers to some of the findings of a research project implemented as a teaching strategy to generate environments for the learning of platonic and archimedean solids, with a group of eighth grade students. This strategy was based on the meaningful learning approach and on the use of representation systems using the ontosemiotic approach in mathematical education, as a framework for the construction of mathematical concepts. This geometry teaching strategy adopts the stages of exploration, representation-modeling, formal construction and study of applications. It uses concrete, physical and tangible materials for origami, die making, and structures for the construction of threedimensional solids considered external tangible solid representation systems, as well as computer based educational tools to design dynamic geometry environments as intangible external representation systems.These strategies support both the imagination and internal systems of representation, fundamental to the comprehension of geometry concepts.

  3. Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moatsos, M.

    2017-01-01

    The widely applied “dollar-a-day” methodology identifies global absolute poverty as declining precipitously since the early 80’s throughout the developing world. The methodological underpinnings of the “dollar-a-day” approach have been questioned in terms of adequately representing equivalent

  4. Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moatsos, M.

    2015-01-01

    The global absolute poverty rates of the World Bank demonstrate a continued decline of poverty in developing countries between 1983 and 2012. However, the methodology applied to derive these results has received extensive criticism by scholars for requiring the application of PPP exchange rates and

  5. Representation and propagation of imprecise and uncertain knowledge: applied to risk assessments related by polluted sites and soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baudrit, C.

    2005-10-01

    , and it is more natural to use intervals. However, the available information is often richer than an interval but less rich than a probability distribution. In practice, while information regarding variability is best conveyed using probability distributions, information regarding impreciseness is more faithful conveyed using probability families encoded either by p-boxes (lower and upper cumulative distribution functions) or by possibility distributions (also called fuzzy intervals) or yet by random intervals using the belief functions of Dempster-Shafer. The first objective of this work is to propose practical representation methods according to available information regarding model parameters by using possibility, probability and random sets. The second one is to propose different methods for propagating variability and impreciseness information through risk model by trying to take into account dependency between model parameters. Lastly, these alternative methods are tested on simplified real cases, with a view to provide useful inputs for the decision-making process: - Dose calculation: Transfer of a radioactive pollutant (strontium) from the deposit to man, through the consumption of food (cow's milk). - Toxic risk related to the accidental spill of trichloroethylene (TCE) into an aquifer (semi-analytical model). - Risk for health related to grounds polluted by lead due to the presence of factories. (author)

  6. Court representation in Russia before 1917 (historical aspect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin V. Ilyashenko

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective basing on the research and analysis of the legislation historical legal sources and other materials to study the process of formation and development of the institution of legal representation in Russia before 1917. Methods the theoretical basis of research is the works of Russian scientists on various aspects of formation development and functioning of the institution of legal representation in Russia from ancient times till 1917. The methodological basis of the research is general scientific methods historical formallogical system and general logical methods analysis synthesis induction and deduction synthesis analogy abstraction. Historicallegal formallegal logicallegal comparative legal methods were applied in the study. The author used the retrospective approach to the study of the issues of legal representation in Russia. Results basing on analysis of normative legal acts regulating relations in the sphere of judicial representation and various doctrinal sources the author has examined the process of the formation and development of the legal representation institution in Russia before 1917 raised the question of providing legal assistance in prerevolutionary Russia. An analogy is drawn between the prerevolutionary legal regulation of the legal representation institution and the modern legislation regulating this legal institution. The conclusion is made about the inadequacy of prerevolutionary legislation regulating relations in the sphere of judicial representation as well as the modern legal regulation of relations in this sphere. It is established that the judicial reform of 1864 improved regulation in this sphere but still did not solve all the problems in this area. The relevance of the study is due to the topicality and the constitutional importance of legal representation for the entire Russian society the need to examine the origins of this legal phenomenon as well as the fact that the institution of legal representation

  7. On the Regulation of Life Safety Risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Faber, Michael Havbro; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M.

    2015-01-01

    . Starting point is taken in a short outline of what is considered to comprise the present best practice rationale for life safety and health risk regulation. Thereafter, based on selected principal examples from different application areas, inconsistencies in present best practice risk quantification...... absolute level of individual life safety risk subject to assessment of acceptability. It is highlighted that a major cause of inconsistency in risk quantifications and comparisons originates from the fact that present regulations partly address societal activities and partly address applied technologies...

  8. Market-implied risk-neutral probabilities, actual probabilities, credit risk and news

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shashidhar Murthy

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Motivated by the credit crisis, this paper investigates links between risk-neutral probabilities of default implied by markets (e.g. from yield spreads and their actual counterparts (e.g. from ratings. It discusses differences between the two and clarifies underlying economic intuition using simple representations of credit risk pricing. Observed large differences across bonds in the ratio of the two probabilities are shown to imply that apparently safer securities can be more sensitive to news.

  9. Octonionic matrix representation and electromagnetism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chanyal, B. C. [Kumaun University, S. S. J. Campus, Almora (India)

    2014-12-15

    Keeping in mind the important role of octonion algebra, we have obtained the electromagnetic field equations of dyons with an octonionic 8 x 8 matrix representation. In this paper, we consider the eight - dimensional octonionic space as a combination of two (external and internal) four-dimensional spaces for the existence of magnetic monopoles (dyons) in a higher-dimensional formalism. As such, we describe the octonion wave equations in terms of eight components from the 8 x 8 matrix representation. The octonion forms of the generalized potential, fields and current source of dyons in terms of 8 x 8 matrix are discussed in a consistent manner. Thus, we have obtained the generalized Dirac-Maxwell equations of dyons from an 8x8 matrix representation of the octonion wave equations in a compact and consistent manner. The generalized Dirac-Maxwell equations are fully symmetric Maxwell equations and allow for the possibility of magnetic charges and currents, analogous to electric charges and currents. Accordingly, we have obtained the octonionic Dirac wave equations in an external field from the matrix representation of the octonion-valued potentials of dyons.

  10. Behavior of Multiclass Pesticide Residue Concentrations during the Transformation from Rose Petals to Rose Absolute.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tascone, Oriane; Fillâtre, Yoann; Roy, Céline; Meierhenrich, Uwe J

    2015-05-27

    This study investigates the concentrations of 54 multiclass pesticides during the transformation processes from rose petal to concrete and absolute using roses spiked with pesticides as a model. The concentrations of the pesticides were followed during the process of transforming the spiked rose flowers from an organic field into concrete and then into absolute. The rose flowers, the concrete, and the absolute, as well as their transformation intermediates, were analyzed for pesticide content using gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. We observed that all the pesticides were extracted and concentrated in the absolute, with the exception of three molecules: fenthion, fenamiphos, and phorate. Typical pesticides were found to be concentrated by a factor of 100-300 from the rose flowers to the rose absolute. The observed effect of pesticide enrichment was also studied in roses and their extracts from four classically phytosanitary treated fields. Seventeen pesticides were detected in at least one of the extracts. Like the case for the spiked samples in our model, the pesticides present in the rose flowers from Turkey were concentrated in the absolute. Two pesticides, methidathion and chlorpyrifos, were quantified in the rose flowers at approximately 0.01 and 0.01-0.05 mg kg(-1), respectively, depending on the treated field. The concentrations determined for the corresponding rose absolutes were 4.7 mg kg(-1) for methidathion and 0.65-27.25 mg kg(-1) for chlorpyrifos.

  11. Commissioning of the Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS detector at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Jakobsen, Sune; Hansen, Peter; Hansen, Jørgen Beck

    The startup of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has initialized a new era in particle physics. The standard model of particle physics has for the last 40 years with tremendous success described all measurements with phenomenal precision. The experiments at the LHC are testing the standard model in a new energy regime. To normalize the measurements and understand the potential discoveries of the LHC experiments it is often crucial to know the interaction rate - the absolute luminosity. The ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) detector will measure luminosity by numerous methods. But for most of the methods only the relative luminosity is measured with good precision. The absolute scale has to be provided from elsewhere. ATLAS is like the other LHC experiments mainly relying of absolute luminosity calibration from van der Meer scans (beam separation scans). To cross check and maybe even improve the precision; ATLAS has built a sub-detector to measure the flux of protons scattered under very small angles as this flux...

  12. The Absolute Deviation Rank Diagnostic Approach to Gear Tooth Composite Fault

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangbin Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Aiming at nonlinear and nonstationary characteristics of the different degree with single fault gear tooth broken, pitting, and composite fault gear tooth broken-pitting, a method for the diagnosis of absolute deviation of gear faults is presented. The method uses ADAMS, respectively, set-up dynamics model of single fault gear tooth broken, pitting, and composite fault gear tooth broken-pitting, to obtain the result of different degree of broken teeth, pitting the single fault and compound faults in the meshing frequency, and the amplitude frequency doubling through simulating analysis. Through the comparison with the normal state to obtain the sensitive characteristic of the fault, the absolute value deviation diagnostic approach is used to identify the fault and validate it through experiments. The results show that absolute deviation rank diagnostic approach can realize the recognition of gear single faults and compound faults with different degrees and provide quick reference to determine the degree of gear fault.

  13. Changes in Absolute Sea Level Along U.S. Coasts

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This map shows changes in absolute sea level from 1960 to 2016 based on satellite measurements. Data were adjusted by applying an inverted barometer (air pressure)...

  14. Additive and polynomial representations

    CERN Document Server

    Krantz, David H; Suppes, Patrick

    1971-01-01

    Additive and Polynomial Representations deals with major representation theorems in which the qualitative structure is reflected as some polynomial function of one or more numerical functions defined on the basic entities. Examples are additive expressions of a single measure (such as the probability of disjoint events being the sum of their probabilities), and additive expressions of two measures (such as the logarithm of momentum being the sum of log mass and log velocity terms). The book describes the three basic procedures of fundamental measurement as the mathematical pivot, as the utiliz

  15. On the spinor representation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoff da Silva, J.M.; Rogerio, R.J.B. [Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Fisica e Quimica, Guaratingueta, SP (Brazil); Villalobos, C.H.C. [Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Fisica e Quimica, Guaratingueta, SP (Brazil); Universidade Federal Fluminense, Instituto de Fisica, Niteroi, RJ (Brazil); Rocha, Roldao da [Universidade Federal do ABC-UFABC, Centro de Matematica, Computacao e Cognicao, Santo Andre (Brazil)

    2017-07-15

    A systematic study of the spinor representation by means of the fermionic physical space is accomplished and implemented. The spinor representation space is shown to be constrained by the Fierz-Pauli-Kofink identities among the spinor bilinear covariants. A robust geometric and topological structure can be manifested from the spinor space, wherein the first and second homotopy groups play prominent roles on the underlying physical properties, associated to fermionic fields. The mapping that changes spinor fields classes is then exemplified, in an Einstein-Dirac system that provides the spacetime generated by a fermion. (orig.)

  16. The new Absolute Quantum Gravimeter (AQG): first results and perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonvalot, Sylvain; Le Moigne, Nicolas; Merlet, Sebastien; Desruelle, Bruno; Lautier-Gaud, Jean; Menoret, Vincent; Vermeulen, Pierre

    2016-04-01

    Cold atom gravimetry represents one of the most innovative evolution in gravity instrumentation since the last 20 years. The concept of measuring the gravitational acceleration by dropping atoms and the development of the first instrumental devices during this last decade quickly revealed the promising perspectives of this new generation of gravity meters enabling accurate and absolute measurements of the Earth's gravity field for a wide range of applications (geophysics, geodesy, metrology, etc.). The Absolute Quantum Gravimeter (AQG) gravity meter, developed by MUQUANS (Talence, France - http://www.muquans.com/) with the support of RESIF, the French Seismologic and Geodetic Network (http://www.resif.fr/) belongs to this new generation of instruments. It also represents the first commercial device based on the utilization of advanced matter-wave interferometry techniques, which allow to characterize precisely the vertical acceleration experienced by a cloud of cold atoms. Recently, the first operational unit (AQG01) has been achieved as a compact transportable gravimeter with the aim of satisfying absolute gravity measurements in laboratory conditions under the following specifications: measurements the μGal level at a few Hz cycling frequency, sensitivity of 50μGal/√Hz, immunity to ground vibrations, easy and quickness of operation, automated continuous data acquisition for several months, etc. In order to evaluate the current performances of the AQG01, several experiments are carried out in collaboration between RESIF user's teams and the MUQUANS manufacturer on different reference gravity sites and laboratories in France. These measurements performed in indoor conditions including simultaneous observations with classical reference gravity instruments (corner-cube absolute gravity meters, relative superconducting meters) as well with the Cold Atom Gravity meter (CAG) developed by LNE-SYRTE, lead to a first objective characterization of the performances of

  17. Special functions and the theory of group representations

    CERN Document Server

    Vilenkin, N Ja

    1968-01-01

    A standard scheme for a relation between special functions and group representation theory is the following: certain classes of special functions are interpreted as matrix elements of irreducible representations of a certain Lie group, and then properties of special functions are related to (and derived from) simple well-known facts of representation theory. The book combines the majority of known results in this direction. In particular, the author describes connections between the exponential functions and the additive group of real numbers (Fourier analysis), Legendre and Jacobi polynomials and representations of the group SU(2), and the hypergeometric function and representations of the group SL(2,R), as well as many other classes of special functions.

  18. THE ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE IN THE ULTRAVIOLET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Peter J.; Roming, Peter W. A.; Ciardullo, Robin; Gronwall, Caryl; Hoversten, Erik A.; Pritchard, Tyler; Milne, Peter; Bufano, Filomena; Mazzali, Paolo; Elias-Rosa, Nancy; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Li Weidong; Foley, Ryan J.; Hicken, Malcolm; Kirshner, Robert P.; Gehrels, Neil; Holland, Stephen T.; Immler, Stefan; Phillips, Mark M.; Still, Martin

    2010-01-01

    We examine the absolute magnitudes and light-curve shapes of 14 nearby (redshift z = 0.004-0.027) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed in the ultraviolet (UV) with the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. Colors and absolute magnitudes are calculated using both a standard Milky Way extinction law and one for the Large Magellanic Cloud that has been modified by circumstellar scattering. We find very different behavior in the near-UV filters (uvw1 rc covering ∼2600-3300 A after removing optical light, and u ∼ 3000-4000 A) compared to a mid-UV filter (uvm2 ∼2000-2400 A). The uvw1 rc - b colors show a scatter of ∼0.3 mag while uvm2-b scatters by nearly 0.9 mag. Similarly, while the scatter in colors between neighboring filters is small in the optical and somewhat larger in the near-UV, the large scatter in the uvm2 - uvw1 colors implies significantly larger spectral variability below 2600 A. We find that in the near-UV the absolute magnitudes at peak brightness of normal SNe Ia in our sample are correlated with the optical decay rate with a scatter of 0.4 mag, comparable to that found for the optical in our sample. However, in the mid-UV the scatter is larger, ∼1 mag, possibly indicating differences in metallicity. We find no strong correlation between either the UV light-curve shapes or the UV colors and the UV absolute magnitudes. With larger samples, the UV luminosity might be useful as an additional constraint to help determine distance, extinction, and metallicity in order to improve the utility of SNe Ia as standardized candles.

  19. That's what friends are for: how intergroup friendships promote historically disadvantaged groups' substantive political representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokkonen, Andrej; Karlsson, David

    2017-12-01

    The interests of historically disadvantaged groups risk being overlooked if they are not present in the decision-making process. However, a mere presence in politics does not guarantee political success. Often groups need allies to promote their interests successfully. We argue that one way to identify such allies is to judge politicians by whether they have friends in historically disadvantaged groups, as intergroup friendships have been shown to make people understand and feel empathy for outgroups. In other words, intergroup friendships may function as an important complement to descriptive representation. We test our argument with a unique survey that asks all elected political representatives in Sweden's 290 municipalities (response rate 79 per cent) about their friendship ties to, and their representation of, five historically disadvantaged groups: women, immigrants, youths, pensioners and blue-collar workers. We find a strong correlation between representatives' friendship ties to these groups and their commitment to represent them. The correlation is especially strong for youths and blue-collar workers, which likely can be explained by the fact that these groups usually lack crucial political resources (such as experience and education). We conclude that friendship ties function as an important complement to descriptive representation for achieving substantive representation. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

  20. Measured and modelled absolute gravity changes in Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jens Emil; Forsberg, René; Strykowski, Gabriel

    2014-01-01

    in Greenland. Theresult is compared with the initial measurements of absolute gravity (AG) change at selected GreenlandNetwork (GNET) sites.We find that observations are highly influenced by the direct attraction from the ice and ocean. Thisis especially evident in the measurements conducted at the GNET...