WorldWideScience

Sample records for cross world class

  1. The validity of world class business criteria across developed and developing countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andre J. Parker

    2010-11-01

    Research purpose: To assess the validity of the general assumption in the literature that world class criteria are equally applicable worldwide. Motivation for research: The possibility exists that developing countries require an adjusted mix of world class criteria and practices to become globally competitive. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative field survey research approach was adopted. A web-enabled questionnaire was designed, covering 35 world class practices grouped under 7 world class criteria. A cross-section of the senior management from 14 developing and 20 developed country’s organisations partook in the study. Main findings: It was empirically confirmed that the majority of world class practices posited in the literature are used by participating organisations; that world class criteria do not apply equally across developed and developing countries; and that more important than country location, is the deliberate choice by an organisation’s leadership to become world class. An empirically based model of ascending to world class was proposed. Practical/managerial implications: Regardless of country location, the leadership of an organisation can make their organisation world class by applying the proposed world class model. Contribution/value add: A reliable web enabled instrument was designed that can be used to assess an organisation’s world class standing; the assumption that world class criteria are equally valid across developing and developed countries was proven partially incorrect; since becoming or being world class is also a leadership choice regardless of location.

  2. How Do World-Class Nordic Combined Athletes Differ From Specialized Cross-Country Skiers and Ski Jumpers in Sport-Specific Capacity and Training Characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandbakk, Øyvind; Rasdal, Vegard; Bråten, Steinar; Moen, Frode; Ettema, Gertjan

    2016-10-01

    To compare sport-specific laboratory capacities and the annual training of world-class Nordic combined (NC) athletes with specialized ski jumpers (SJ) and cross-country (XC) skiers. Five world-class athletes from each sports discipline were compared. Ski jump imitations were performed on a 3-dimensional force plate in NC athletes and SJ, whereas XC skiing characteristics were obtained from submaximal and maximal roller ski skating on a treadmill in NC athletes and XC skiers. In addition, anthropometrics and annual training characteristics were determined. NC athletes demonstrated 9% higher body mass and showed 17% lower vertical speed in the ski jump imitation than SJ (all P ski-jumping-specific sessions and outdoor ski jumps compared with SJ. NC athletes performed 31% less endurance training, mainly caused by lower amounts of low- and moderate-intensity training in the classical technique, whereas high-intensity strength and speed training and endurance training in the skating technique did not differ substantially from XC skiers. To simultaneously optimize endurance, explosive, and technical capacities in 2 different disciplines, world-class NC athletes train approximately two-thirds of the XC skier's endurance training volume and perform one-half of the ski-jump-specific training compared with SJ. Still, the various laboratory capacities differed only 10-17% compared with SJ and XC skiers.

  3. World Class Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Rosalita

    1998-01-01

    School communities are challenged to find ways to identify good teachers and give other teachers a chance to learn from them. The New Mexico World Class Teacher Project is encouraging teachers to pursue certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This process sharpens teachers' student assessment skills and encourages…

  4. World Class Facilities Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malmstrøm, Ole Emil; Jensen, Per Anker

    2013-01-01

    Alle der med entusiasme arbejder med Facilities Management drømmer om at levere World Class. DFM drømmer om at skabe rammer og baggrund for, at vi i Danmark kan bryste os at være blandt de førende på verdensplan. Her samles op på, hvor tæt vi er på at nå drømmemålet.......Alle der med entusiasme arbejder med Facilities Management drømmer om at levere World Class. DFM drømmer om at skabe rammer og baggrund for, at vi i Danmark kan bryste os at være blandt de førende på verdensplan. Her samles op på, hvor tæt vi er på at nå drømmemålet....

  5. Brazil's Exception to the World-Class University Movement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alperin, Juan Pablo

    2013-01-01

    The continued importance of university rankings has only served to fuel the growth of the "world-class" university movement. There is a growing impression that, in a globalised and interconnected world, no country can do without a world-class university. No country, that is, except Brazil. While Brazil has the resources necessary to…

  6. Strategic Planning towards a World-Class University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usoh, E. J.; Ratu, D.; Manongko, A.; Taroreh, J.; Preston, G.

    2018-02-01

    Strategic planning with a focus on world-class university status is an option that cannot be avoided by universities today to survive and succeed in competition as a provider of higher education. The objective of this research is to obtain exploratory research results on the strategic plans of universities that are prepared to generate world-class university status. This research utilised exploratory qualitative research method and data was collected by in-depth interviews method. Interview transcripts were analyzed by using thematic content analysis through NVivo software analysis and manual systems. The main finding of interview shows that most interviewees agreed that UNIMA has been engaged in strategic planning. Contribution from faculties and schools are acknowledged and inform the planning process. However, a new model of strategic planning should be adopted by UNIMA due to the shift towards a “corporate university”. The finding results from documents, literature review and interview were the addition of world-class university characteristics and features to current strategic planning of UNIMA and how to upgrade by considering to use the characteristics and features towards world-class university.

  7. QUALITY IN WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slavko Arsovski

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The World Class Manufacturing (WCM is a contemporary concept that is applied by the world leaders in the business. In this concept, one of the nine pillars is directly related to the quality and the other eight are related to it indirectly. That is why is very important to investigate relations between this concept and concept of model of quality. In the end of this paper are appointed the examples of best practice.

  8. Achieving world class maintenance status

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tomlingson, P.D. [Paul D. Tomingson Associates (United States)

    2007-08-15

    The article written by a management consultant, discusses the art of successful planning and operation of maintenance in mines considering factors such as benchmaking, key performance indices (KPIs) and frequency of procedures which can help achieve 'world class maintenance'. 1 fig.

  9. Levels of Management Commitment: a Moderator the Structural Relationships Among Critical Success Factors of TQM, World-Class Performance in Operations, and Company Financial Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Slamet Ciptono, Wakhid

    2008-01-01

    This study investigates the moderating impacts of the three levels of management commitment (top, middle, and low levels) on the structural relationships among the constructs— six critical success factors of TQM (quality improvement program, supervisory leadership, supplier involvement, management commitment, training to improve products/services, cross-functional relationships); world-class performance in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company no...

  10. Social affiliation in same-class and cross-class interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Côté, Stéphane; Kraus, Michael W; Carpenter, Nichelle C; Piff, Paul K; Beermann, Ursula; Keltner, Dacher

    2017-02-01

    Historically high levels of economic inequality likely have important consequences for relationships between people of the same and different social class backgrounds. Here, we test the prediction that social affiliation among same-class partners is stronger at the extremes of the class spectrum, given that these groups are highly distinctive and most separated from others by institutional and economic forces. An internal meta-analysis of 4 studies (N = 723) provided support for this hypothesis. Participant and partner social class were interactively, rather than additively, associated with social affiliation, indexed by affiliative behaviors and emotions during structured laboratory interactions and in daily life. Further, response surface analyses revealed that paired upper or lower class partners generally affiliated more than average-class pairs. Analyses with separate class indices suggested that these patterns are driven more by parental income and subjective social class than by parental education. The findings illuminate the dynamics of same- and cross-class interactions, revealing that not all same-class interactions feature the same degree of affiliation. They also reveal the importance of studying social class from an intergroup perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. World class manufacturing in metallurgical enterprise

    OpenAIRE

    B. Gajdzik

    2013-01-01

    World Class Manufacturing (WCM) assumes increase of efficiency of the company by elimination of all the losses, wastage and dangers of safety. In ArcelorMittal the concept of WCM is implemented in particular enterprises within the capital group. In this publication the activities conducted in some of those enterprises are described.

  12. Using EB-QFD to achieve competitive advantages for world class manufacturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahman Mostofi

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a tool named EB-QFD used for electronic business planning in strategic issues. Nowadays, the challenges of manufacturing sectors for achieving global competition will depend on their speed to change from domestic to world class manufacturing organizations, also the rapid global deployment of electronic business, information technology and their benefits have required managers to make decision, which look for a balance world class manufacturing factors with strategic business goals. To ensure that selected e-business strategies meet world class manufacturing requirements, organizations should simultaneously explore and communicate the relationship between world class manufacturing and electronic business. Electronic business planners can achieve competitive advantages through the implementation of an integration of quality function deployment (QFD with electronic business (EB called EB-QFD. This study is based on data collected from an Iranian auto parts manufacturing company and the implementation of EB-QFD. In this research, EB-QFD contains two parts named EB-WHATs as needs of Electronic Business and EB-HOWs as resources for EB-WHATs. Statistical analysis points that there are positive relationships between using EB-WHATs and EB-HOW and world class manufacturing factors as competitive advantages. We used electronic business systems for EB-WHATs and resource based view (RBV for EB-HOWs.

  13. World class manufacturing in metallurgical enterprise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Gajdzik

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available World Class Manufacturing (WCM assumes increase of efficiency of the company by elimination of all the losses, wastage and dangers of safety. In ArcelorMittal the concept of WCM is implemented in particular enterprises within the capital group. In this publication the activities conducted in some of those enterprises are described.

  14. JPRS Report, Soviet Union, The Working Class & The Contemporary World.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-10-15

    Beatles and Rolling Stones groups, the astronaut J. Glenn, Dzh. (sic) Eisenhower and J. Kennedy, M.L. King and the screen actor M. Brando. At the ...JPRS-UWC-87-002 15 October 1987 FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE JPRS Report— Soviet Union THE WORKING CLASS & THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD...MmmKmoN STATEMENT A 19980714 146 mcWAUTtmBPBVmi Soviet Union The Working Class & The Contemporary World No 3, May-June 1987 JPRS-UWC-87-002

  15. Navy Medicine - World Class Care... Anytime, Anywhere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Search Saturday, May 26th, 2018 Home About Disclaimer Search Navy Medicine Navy Medicine World Class Care... Anytime, Anywhere Home Disclaimer Navy Medicine WebSite About Leadership Readiness Health Partnerships Inside Navy Medicine Dental Corps Hospital Corps Medical Corps Medical Service Corps Nurse Corps

  16. Cross-correlations and influence in world gold markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Min; Wang, Gang-Jin; Xie, Chi; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2018-01-01

    Using the detrended cross-correlation analysis (DCCA) coefficient and the detrended partial cross-correlation analysis (DPCCA) coefficient, we investigate cross-correlations and net cross-correlations among five major world gold markets (London, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Mumbai) at different time scales. We propose multiscale influence measures for examining the influence of individual markets on other markets and on the entire system. We find (i) that the cross-correlations, net cross-correlations, and net influences among the five gold markets vary across time scales, (ii) that the cross-market correlation between London and New York at each time scale is intense and inherent, meaning that the influence of other gold markets on the London-New York market is negligible, (iii) that the remaining cross-market correlations (i.e., those other than London-New York) are greatly affected by other gold markets, and (iv) that the London gold market significantly affects the other four gold markets and dominates the world-wide gold market. Our multiscale findings give market participants and market regulators new information on cross-market linkages in the world-wide gold market.

  17. Levels of Management Commitment: A Moderator the Structural Relationships among Critical Success Factors of TQM, World-Class Performance in Operations, and Company Financial Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wakhid Slamet Ciptono

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the moderating impacts of the three levels of management commitment (top, middle, and low levels on the structural relationships among the constructs— six critical success factors of TQM (quality improvement program, supervisory leadership, supplier involvement, management commitment, training to improve products/services, cross-functional relationships; world-class performance in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance; and company financial performance. It uses a sample of 1,332 managers in 140 strategic business units (SBUs within 49 oil and gas companies in Indonesia. The empirical results indicate that the goodness-of-fit of the unconstrained model is much better than that of the constrained model, and this is an indicative that the three level of management moderates the structural relationships among the constructs. Those are, three levels of management act as a moderator variable between critical success factors of TQM, world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance, and company financial performance. Results further reveal that world-class performances in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, and company non-financial performance were positively mediated the impact of critical success factors of TQM on company financial performance. Results also point out that five of six critical success factors of TQM positively associated with world-class company practices and operational excellence practices under the three levels of management (top, middle, low. World-class company practices and operational excellence practices have direct and significant effects on company non-financial performance (productivity, operational reliability. Furthermore, empirical results suggest that there is a positive and significant relationship between company non

  18. STRATEGI MENUJU WORLD CLASS UNIVERSITY (WCU PADA UNIVERSITAS SEMARANG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S Susanto

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available University Semarang (USM is now 26 years old (founded in 1987. It stands to USM achievement, both national and international. Although at the regional level in Central Java USM has become the leading private universities, but at the national level has not been fully encouraging, let alone the world level. Academically, USM is not yet in a world university ranking methods, such as: Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES and Webometrics. Only in Webometric lah, world university ranking USM entered electronically although not entirely encouraging. Apparently, we need to work harder in order to reach World Class University category.

  19. A World-Class Teaching Profession. Consultation Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Foundation for Educational Research, 2015

    2015-01-01

    Between 9 December 2014 and 2 February 2015 the Government conducted a consultation into its vision for a world-class teaching profession and the establishment of a College of Teaching. The Government is committed to improving teacher quality as a key part of our plan for education. The teaching profession is fortunate to include many thousands of…

  20. Biography of Aureal T. Cross: World class coal geologist, palynologist, paleobotanist and educator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Phillips, Tom L. [Department of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

    2007-01-02

    An Ohioan by birth, June 4, 1916, in Findlay, Hancock County, Aureal T. Cross grew up an Iowan on a dairy farm near Waterloo at Castle Hill. He was the second of five children of Congregational Minister Raymond W. and Mrs. Myra Jane Coon Cross. Aureal's grade school education was mostly in a one-room school at Castle Hill, then to East Waterloo, junior high and high school, where music was as important as farm work before and after classes. On a history and music scholarship at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Aureal was drawn to L. R. Wilson's physical geology course and the summer reconnaissance trips. Graduating from Coe College in 1939 with an honors thesis on pollen analysis, Aureal completed his Masters in 1941 and a PhD thesis in 1943 at the University of Cincinnati with J. H. Hoskins on Pennsylvanian age plants from coal-balls. During 1942-1946 he taught premedical U.S. Navy students at the University of Notre Dame with a 1943-1944 leave as a National Research Council Fellow. Aureal and Christina Aleen Teyssier met during 1943 in Pittsburgh and married in 1945. Aureal replaced K. E. Caster, his paleontology mentor, for three and one half years (1946-1949) in the Geology Department at Cincinnati, and did field mapping for the Ohio Geological Survey during the summers. Cross established (1949-1957) productive graduate training and research programs in the West Virginia University Geology Department and the West Virginia Geologic and Economic Survey where he had dual appointments. His move (1957-1961) to Exploration Geology, at Amoco's Pan American Petroleum Corporation Research Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, permitted him to develop and supervise a major palynological research group. The return to academia (1961) at Michigan State University in East Lansing resulted in one of the most comprehensive graduate training programs in paleobotany, palynology, biostratigraphy and paleoecology in North America. Although Aureal Cross officially retired in 1986

  1. Six world-class research teams to investigate overcoming ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Six world-class research teams to investigate overcoming therapeutic resistance in high fatality cancers. 26 octobre 2017. Together with our partners the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Azrieli Foundation and the Israel Science Foundation we are pleased to announce the recipients of the Joint Canada-Israel ...

  2. Transferring World Class Production to Developing Countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bruun, Peter; Mefford, Robert Neil

    1998-01-01

    Strategic reasons for firms to transfer world-class production methods and technology to developing countries are discussed and the importance of the management aspects of technology transfer are emphasized. A five stage model of the technology transfer process which bases the choice of the produ....... The barriers and challenges of implementation are considered, and a socio-technical systems approach is proposed as a way to addapt to local conditions....

  3. Concurrent Development of Endurance Capacity and Explosiveness: Training Characteristics of World-Class Nordic-Combined Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tønnessen, Espen; Rasdal, Vegard; Svendsen, Ida S; Haugen, Thomas A; Hem, Erlend; Sandbakk, Øyvind

    2016-07-01

    Performing at an elite level in Nordic combined (NC) requires both the explosiveness required for ski jumping performance and the endurance capacity required for cross-country skiing. To describe the characteristics of world-class NC athletes' training and determine how endurance and non-endurance (ie, strength, power, and ski jumping) training is periodized. Annual training characteristics and the periodization of endurance and non-endurance training were determined by analyzing the training diaries of 6 world-class NC athletes. Of 846 ± 72 annual training hours, 540 ± 37 h were endurance training, with 88.6% being low-, 5.9% moderate-, and 5.5% high-intensity training. While training frequency remained relatively constant, the total training volume was reduced from the general preparatory to the competition phase, primarily due to less low- and moderate-intensity training (P ski-jump-specific training (908 ± 165 ski jumps and ski-jump imitations). The proportion of non-endurance training increased significantly toward the competition phase (P ski-jump training. These data provide novel insight on how successful athletes execute their training and may facilitate more-precise coaching of future athletes in this sport. In addition, this information is of high relevance for the training organization of other sports that require optimization of 2 fundamentally different physical capacities.

  4. WCOM (World Class Operations Management) why you need more than lean

    CERN Document Server

    Ballerio, Noela

    2016-01-01

    This book deals with World Class Operations Management (WCOM), detailing its principles, methods and organisation, and the results that this approach can bring about. Utilising real-world case studies illustrated by companies that have adopted this model (interviews with Saint-Gobain, L’Oréal, Tetra Pak, Bemis, and Bel Executives), it describes common patterns drawn from decades of hands-on experience, so as to present a theoretical approach together with the concrete application of its principles. WCOM, adopted by several multinational companies, is one of the more innovative management practises, as it integrates the best Continuous Improvement approaches (Lean, Total Productive Management, World Class Manufacturing) as well as the most innovative approaches in human dynamics like Change Leadership, Performance Behavior, Shingo Model, to name a few. Maximising reader insights into the successful implementation of such an approach, and explaining not only its potentialities, but also its implementation dy...

  5. Thoughts on the Role of Government in the Development of World-Class Universities in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guangcai, Yan

    2011-01-01

    Looking at the rise of world-class universities through history, creating an institutional environment in which universities are relatively autonomous, while also ensuring effective material support from the government is essential for the formation of world-class universities. It is worth examining the deteriorating academic environment in China…

  6. Cross-border entrepreneurship in a global world

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emontspool, Julie; Servais, Per

    2017-01-01

    This paper shows that international entrepreneurship and immigrant entrepreneurship increasingly intersect in a global world. Both research streams address cross-border entrepreneurial activity in parallel to each other. International entrepreneurship focuses on outgoing entrepreneurial activity......, while immigrant entrepreneurship mainly considers incoming entrepreneurial activity. This paper critically discusses such a dichotomy, highlighting how differentiating immigrant entrepreneurs and international entrepreneurs perpetuates orientalist assumptions about cross-border business activity....... Focusing on a entrepreneurship as behaviour, the paper proposes an alternative perspective to cross-border entrepreneurship, discussing cross-border opportunity identification and exploitation between an entrepreneur’s country of residence and a foreign country. This perspective provides a number...

  7. Teachers Class Size, Job Satisfaction and Morale in Cross River ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We studied staff class size, job satisfaction and morale in some secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. The relevant variables of teacher class size and workload were used as independent variables while the dependent variables were students' academic performance, teacher satisfaction and morale. Out of the ...

  8. Confirmatory factors analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand world-class standard schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thawinkarn, Dawruwan

    2018-01-01

    This research aims to analyze factors of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools. The research instrument was a five scale rating questionnaire with reliability 0.986. The sample group included 500 science teachers from World-Class Standard Schools who had been selected by using the stratified random sampling technique. Factor analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools was conducted by using M plus for Windows. The results are as follows: The results of confirmatory factor analysis on science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools revealed that the model significantly correlated with the empirical data. The consistency index value was x2 = 105.655, df = 88, P-Value = 0.086, TLI = 0.997, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.022, and SRMR = 0.019. The value of factor loading of science teacher leadership was positive, with statistical significance at the level of 0.01. The value of six factors was between 0.880-0.996. The highest factor loading was the professional learning community, followed by child-centered instruction, participation in development, the role model in teaching, transformational leaders, and self-development with factor loading at 0.996, 0.928, 0.911, 0.907, 0.901, and 0.871, respectively. The reliability of each factor was 99.1%, 86.0%, 83.0%, 82.2%, 81.0%, and 75.8%, respectively.

  9. Networking to build a world-class bioenergy industry in British Columbia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weedon, M. [BC Bioenergy Network, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    This presentation described the role of the BC Bioenergy Network and its goal of maximizing the value of biomass resources in British Columbia (BC) and developing a world-class bioenergy industry in the province. Established in March 2008 with $25 million in funding from the BC government, the BC Bioenergy Network is an industry-led association that promotes the development of near-term bioenergy technologies and demonstration of new bioenergy technologies that are environmentally appropriate for the province of BC. The following technology areas require funding support: solid wood residues, pulp and paper residues, harvesting and pelleting, agriculture residues, municipal wastewater, municipal landfill waste, municipal solid waste, and community heating-electricity greenhouse systems. This presentation demonstrated that BC is well positioned to become a major player in the global bioenergy sector, as it has one of the largest forested areas in the world, and is a leader in biomass to value-added wood products. The opportunities, challenges, and requirements to build a world class bioenergy industry in British Columbia were discussed along with successful Canadian, US, and European collaborations with industry, research, and government. tabs., figs.

  10. Integrating MRP (materiel requirements planning) II and JIT to achieve world-class status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Titone, R C

    1994-05-01

    The concepts and principles of using manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) for planning are not new. Their success has been proven in numerous manufacturing companies in America. The concepts and principles of using just-in-time (JIT) inventory for execution, while more recent, have also been available for some time, and their success in Japan well documented. However, it is the effective integration of these two powerful tools that open the way to achieving world-class manufacturing status. This article will utilize a newly developed world-class manufacturing model, which will review the aspects of planning, beginning with a business plan through the production planning process and culminating with a master schedule that drives a materiel/capacity plan. The importance and interrelationship of these functions are reviewed. The model then illustrates the important aspects of executing these plans beginning with people issues, through total quality control (TQC) and pull systems. We will then utilize this new functional model to demonstrate the relationship between these various functions and the importance of integrating them with a total comprehensive manufacturing strategy that will lead to world-class manufacturing and profits.

  11. Flexible Word Classes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    • First major publication on the phenomenon • Offers cross-linguistic, descriptive, and diverse theoretical approaches • Includes analysis of data from different language families and from lesser studied languages This book is the first major cross-linguistic study of 'flexible words', i.e. words...... that cannot be classified in terms of the traditional lexical categories Verb, Noun, Adjective or Adverb. Flexible words can - without special morphosyntactic marking - serve in functions for which other languages must employ members of two or more of the four traditional, 'specialised' word classes. Thus......, flexible words are underspecified for communicative functions like 'predicating' (verbal function), 'referring' (nominal function) or 'modifying' (a function typically associated with adjectives and e.g. manner adverbs). Even though linguists have been aware of flexible world classes for more than...

  12. Performance measures for world class maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Labib, A.W.

    1998-01-01

    A main problem in maintenance in general, and in power plants and related equipment in particular, is the lack of a practical, consistent, and adaptive performance measure that provides a focused feedback and integrates preventive and corrective modes of maintenance. The presentation defines concepts of world class and benchmarking. Desirable features in an appropriate performance measure are identified. It then, demonstrates current practices in maintenance and criticises their shortcomings. An alternative model is presented through a case study. The model monitors performance from a general view, and then offers a focused analysis. The main conclusion is that the proposed model offers an adaptive and a dynamic framework, and hence production and maintenance are integrated in a 'real time' environment. The system is also flexible in working with any other criteria whether they are of a quantitative or a qualitative nature. (orig.) 16 refs

  13. Performance measures for world class maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Labib, A W [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester (United Kingdom)

    1999-12-31

    A main problem in maintenance in general, and in power plants and related equipment in particular, is the lack of a practical, consistent, and adaptive performance measure that provides a focused feedback and integrates preventive and corrective modes of maintenance. The presentation defines concepts of world class and benchmarking. Desirable features in an appropriate performance measure are identified. It then, demonstrates current practices in maintenance and criticises their shortcomings. An alternative model is presented through a case study. The model monitors performance from a general view, and then offers a focused analysis. The main conclusion is that the proposed model offers an adaptive and a dynamic framework, and hence production and maintenance are integrated in a `real time` environment. The system is also flexible in working with any other criteria whether they are of a quantitative or a qualitative nature. (orig.) 16 refs.

  14. Performance measures for world class maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Labib, A.W. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester (United Kingdom)

    1998-12-31

    A main problem in maintenance in general, and in power plants and related equipment in particular, is the lack of a practical, consistent, and adaptive performance measure that provides a focused feedback and integrates preventive and corrective modes of maintenance. The presentation defines concepts of world class and benchmarking. Desirable features in an appropriate performance measure are identified. It then, demonstrates current practices in maintenance and criticises their shortcomings. An alternative model is presented through a case study. The model monitors performance from a general view, and then offers a focused analysis. The main conclusion is that the proposed model offers an adaptive and a dynamic framework, and hence production and maintenance are integrated in a `real time` environment. The system is also flexible in working with any other criteria whether they are of a quantitative or a qualitative nature. (orig.) 16 refs.

  15. World-Class Leaders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinstein, Margery

    2012-01-01

    Future leaders' creativity and problem-solving skills have been honed in leadership courses, but that doesn't mean they are ready to use those skills to further a company's place in the world. With emerging markets in Asia, South America, and other areas of the world, a workforce needs to have an understanding of and interest in cultures beyond…

  16. No Evidence of a Common DNA Variant Profile Specific to World Class Endurance Athletes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfarth, Bernd; Wang, Guan; Sarzynski, Mark A.; Alexeev, Dmitry G.; Ahmetov, Ildus I.; Boulay, Marcel R.; Cieszczyk, Pawel; Eynon, Nir; Filipenko, Maxim L.; Garton, Fleur C.; Generozov, Edward V.; Govorun, Vadim M.; Houweling, Peter J.; Kawahara, Takashi; Kostryukova, Elena S.; Kulemin, Nickolay A.; Larin, Andrey K.; Maciejewska-Karłowska, Agnieszka; Miyachi, Motohiko; Muniesa, Carlos A.; Murakami, Haruka; Ospanova, Elena A.; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Pavlenko, Alexander V.; Pyankova, Olga N.; Santiago, Catalina; Sawczuk, Marek; Scott, Robert A.; Uyba, Vladimir V.; Yvert, Thomas; Perusse, Louis; Ghosh, Sujoy; Rauramaa, Rainer; North, Kathryn N.; Lucia, Alejandro; Pitsiladis, Yannis; Bouchard, Claude

    2016-01-01

    There are strong genetic components to cardiorespiratory fitness and its response to exercise training. It would be useful to understand the differences in the genomic profile of highly trained endurance athletes of world class caliber and sedentary controls. An international consortium (GAMES) was established in order to compare elite endurance athletes and ethnicity-matched controls in a case-control study design. Genome-wide association studies were undertaken on two cohorts of elite endurance athletes and controls (GENATHLETE and Japanese endurance runners), from which a panel of 45 promising markers was identified. These markers were tested for replication in seven additional cohorts of endurance athletes and controls: from Australia, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Russia and Spain. The study is based on a total of 1520 endurance athletes (835 who took part in endurance events in World Championships and/or Olympic Games) and 2760 controls. We hypothesized that world-class athletes are likely to be characterized by an even higher concentration of endurance performance alleles and we performed separate analyses on this subsample. The meta-analysis of all available studies revealed one statistically significant marker (rs558129 at GALNTL6 locus, p = 0.0002), even after correcting for multiple testing. As shown by the low heterogeneity index (I2 = 0), all eight cohorts showed the same direction of association with rs558129, even though p-values varied across the individual studies. In summary, this study did not identify a panel of genomic variants common to these elite endurance athlete groups. Since GAMES was underpowered to identify alleles with small effect sizes, some of the suggestive leads identified should be explored in expanded comparisons of world-class endurance athletes and sedentary controls and in tightly controlled exercise training studies. Such studies have the potential to illuminate the biology not only of world class endurance performance but

  17. No Evidence of a Common DNA Variant Profile Specific to World Class Endurance Athletes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuomo Rankinen

    Full Text Available There are strong genetic components to cardiorespiratory fitness and its response to exercise training. It would be useful to understand the differences in the genomic profile of highly trained endurance athletes of world class caliber and sedentary controls. An international consortium (GAMES was established in order to compare elite endurance athletes and ethnicity-matched controls in a case-control study design. Genome-wide association studies were undertaken on two cohorts of elite endurance athletes and controls (GENATHLETE and Japanese endurance runners, from which a panel of 45 promising markers was identified. These markers were tested for replication in seven additional cohorts of endurance athletes and controls: from Australia, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Russia and Spain. The study is based on a total of 1520 endurance athletes (835 who took part in endurance events in World Championships and/or Olympic Games and 2760 controls. We hypothesized that world-class athletes are likely to be characterized by an even higher concentration of endurance performance alleles and we performed separate analyses on this subsample. The meta-analysis of all available studies revealed one statistically significant marker (rs558129 at GALNTL6 locus, p = 0.0002, even after correcting for multiple testing. As shown by the low heterogeneity index (I2 = 0, all eight cohorts showed the same direction of association with rs558129, even though p-values varied across the individual studies. In summary, this study did not identify a panel of genomic variants common to these elite endurance athlete groups. Since GAMES was underpowered to identify alleles with small effect sizes, some of the suggestive leads identified should be explored in expanded comparisons of world-class endurance athletes and sedentary controls and in tightly controlled exercise training studies. Such studies have the potential to illuminate the biology not only of world class endurance

  18. Competencies, Roles and Effective Academic Leadership in World Class University

    OpenAIRE

    Elham Shahmandi; Abu Daud Silong; Ismi Arif Ismail; Bahaman Bin Abu Samah; Jamilah Othman

    2011-01-01

    How an academic leader can become more effective? This research question is examined in the context of middle level leadership in research universities that includes the Deans and Head of Departments. It is based on a review of literature that focuses on the investigation of effective academic leadership. In the present situation of globalization, academic excellence is often related to being World Class University. Leadership effectiveness is more related to situational leadership style in r...

  19. The World of Cross-Cultural Research: Insights for Gifted Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanTassel-Baska, Joyce

    2013-01-01

    As the world becomes smaller in a small field like gifted education, cross-cultural research gives us a unique opportunity to understand top students and academic interventions in a deeper way. In this article, the author describes the importance of cross-cultural research as a way to serve gifted children globally. A description of a…

  20. Mediation Analysis Using the Hierarchical Multiple Regression Technique: A Study of the Mediating Roles of World-Class Performance in Operations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wakhid S. Ciptono

    2010-05-01

    mediating roles of the contextual factors of world-class performance in operations (i.e., world-class company practices or WCC, operational excellence practices or OE, company nonfinancial performance or CNFP, and the company financial performance would enable the company to facilitate the sustainability of TQM implementation model. This empirical study aims to assess how TQM—a holistic management philosophy initially developed by W. Edward Deming, which integrates improvement strategy, management practices, and organizational performance—is specifically implemented in the oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia. Relevant literature on the TQM, the world-class performance in operations (world-class company and operational performance, the company performance (financial and non-financial performances, and the amendments of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia concerning the oil and gas industry, and related research on how the oil and gas industry in Indonesia develops sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable development programs are reviewed in details in our study. The findings from data analysis provide evidence that there is a strong positive relationship between the critical factors of quality management practices and the company financial performance mediated by the three mediating variables, i.e., world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, and company non-financial performance.

  1. Effects of the Competitive Season on the Isokinetic Muscle Parameters Changes in World-Class Handball Players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maurelli, Olivier; Bernard, Pierre L; Dubois, Romain; Ahmaidi, Said; Prioux, Jacques

    2018-05-25

    Maurelli, O, Bernard, PL, Dubois, R, Ahmaidi, S, and Prioux, J. Effects of the competitive season on the isokinetic muscle parameters changes in world-class handball players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the competitive season on isokinetic muscular parameters of the lower limbs in world-class handball players. Nineteen, male, world-class, handball players (age, 26.6 ± 5.4 years) participated in the study. Two bilateral isokinetic tests of knee joint flexors (H; hamstring) and extensors (Q; quadriceps) were performed in the beginning and end of the competitive season to determine the peak torque (PT), the mean power, and agonist-antagonist ratio, dominant-nondominant ratio (DNDR), and combined ratio. The results showed a significant decrease in PT values at low angular velocity (60°·s) in concentric mode for Q on dominant leg (p handball players. Accordingly, this study should help trainers to modify their planning to maximize strength and power qualities of the lower limbs of their players in addition to avoiding injuries.

  2. Teacher Justice and Students’ Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher–Student Relationship as Mediators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronghuan Jiang

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class.

  3. Teacher Justice and Students’ Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher–Student Relationship as Mediators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Ronghuan; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Zhen, Rui; Sun, Yan; Fu, Xinchen

    2018-01-01

    For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW) and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class. PMID:29875726

  4. Nonlinear degenerate cross-diffusion systems with nonlocal interaction

    OpenAIRE

    Di Francesco, M.; Esposito, A.; Fagioli, S.

    2017-01-01

    We investigate a class of systems of partial differential equations with nonlinear cross-diffusion and nonlocal interactions, which are of interest in several contexts in social sciences, finance, biology, and real world applications. Assuming a uniform "coerciveness" assumption on the diffusion part, which allows to consider a large class of systems with degenerate cross-diffusion (i.e. of porous medium type) and relaxes sets of assumptions previously considered in the literature, we prove g...

  5. Developing world class leader-managers for the evolving nuclear industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Konettsni, A.L.

    2010-01-01

    The author discusses the problems of educating and training the world-class leaders for nuclear industry. He specifies the leader's characters, emphasizing that common high standards of performance have been the hallmark of the industry for years. Rapid growth in the nuclear industry could diminish the self-discipline that has been developed over decades. He lists the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program fundamental principles developed over six decades. The author also dwells on corporate self-motivation, self-control, self-expectancy of optimism and company's image [ru

  6. Cross-Cultural Socialization at Tibetan Classes (Schools) in the Interior: An Empirical Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Longyan

    2010-01-01

    Education by means of the Tibetan Classes (schools) in "neidi," or China's interior regions (or the Tibet Class), was a creative measure in the history of China's ethnic minority education, and the cross-cultural growth and experiences of the Tibetan students as they went to school in China's interior regions was of special significance…

  7. Metabolic rate and gross efficiency at high work rates in world class and national level sprint skiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandbakk, Øyvind; Holmberg, Hans-Christer; Leirdal, Stig; Ettema, Gertjan

    2010-06-01

    The present study investigated metabolic rate (MR) and gross efficiency (GE) at moderate and high work rates, and the relationships to gross kinematics and physical characteristics in elite cross-country skiers. Eight world class (WC) and eight national level (NL) male sprint cross-country skiers performed three 5-min stages using the skating G3 technique, whilst roller skiing on a treadmill. GE was calculated by dividing work rate by MR. Work rate was calculated as the sum of power against gravity and frictional rolling forces. MR was calculated using gas exchange and blood lactate values. Gross kinematics, i.e. cycle length (CL) and cycle rate (CR) were measured by video analysis. Furthermore, the skiers were tested for time to exhaustion (TTE), peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak)), and maximal speed (V(max)) on the treadmill, and maximal strength in the laboratory. Individual performance level in sprint skating was determined by FIS points. WC skiers did not differ in aerobic MR, but showed lower anaerobic MR and higher GE than NL skiers at a given speed (all P higher V(max) and TTE (all P better technique and to technique-specific power.

  8. What Is Middle Class about the Middle Classes around the World?

    OpenAIRE

    Abhijit V. Banerjee; Esther Duflo

    2008-01-01

    We expect a lot from the middle classes. At least three distinct arguments about the special economic role of the middle class are traditionally made. In one, new entrepreneurs armed with a capacity and a tolerance for delayed gratification emerge from the middle class and create employment and productivity growth for the rest of society. In a second, perhaps more conventional view, the middle class is primarily a source of vital inputs for the entrepreneurial class: it is their "middle class...

  9. The Global Quest to Build World-Class Universities: Toward a Social Justice Agenda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhoads, Robert A.; Li, Shuai; Ilano, Lauren

    2014-01-01

    This chapter provides a critical perspective on the global quest to build world-class universities (WCUs), including global "ranking mania," excessive emphasis on university branding, and the attending threats to the traditional public good mission of the university. Alternatively, we offer suggestions on how rankings may be used to…

  10. Designing and Using Projects with Real World Application in a MBA Managerial Accounting Class: The Case of The Balanced Scorecard

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houke, Charlotte

    2017-01-01

    This paper explores the purpose of designing and using projects with real world application in a M.B.A. managerial accounting class. Included is a discussion of how and why the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Project has been used in classes to link theory with practice by providing real world application of the BSC framework. M.B.A. students represent a…

  11. The physiological and biomechanical differences between double poling and G3 skating in world class cross-country skiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandbakk, Øyvind; Leirdal, Stig; Ettema, Gertjan

    2015-03-01

    The current study compared differences in cycle characteristics, energy expenditure and peak speed between double poling (DP) and G3 skating. Eight world class male sprint skiers performed a 5-min submaximal test at 16 km h(-1) and an incremental test to exhaustion at a 5% incline during treadmill roller skiing with two different techniques: DP where all propulsion comes from poling, and G3 skating where leg skating is added to each double poling movement. Video analyses determined cycle characteristics; respiratory parameters and blood lactate concentration determined the physiological responses. G3 skating resulted in 16% longer cycle lengths at 16% lower cycle rates, whereas oxygen uptake was independent of technique during submaximal roller skiing. The corresponding advantages for G3 skating during maximal roller skiing were reflected in 14% higher speed, 30% longer cycle length at 16% lower cycle rate and 11% higher peak oxygen uptake (all p skating. This was done by major increases in cycle lengths at slightly lower cycle rates and a higher aerobic energy delivery. However, the oxygen uptake for a given submaximal speed was not affected by technique although higher cycle rate was used in DP.

  12. Metrics help rural hospitals achieve world-class performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodspeed, Scott W

    2006-01-01

    This article describes the emerging trend of using metrics in rural hospitals to achieve world-class performance. This trend is a response to the fact that rural hospitals have small patient volumes yet must maintain a profit margin in order to fulfill their mission to the community. The conceptual idea for this article is based largely on Robert Kaplan and David Norton's Balanced Scorecard articles in the Harvard Business Review. The ideas also come from the experiences of the 60-plus rural hospitals that are using the Balanced Scorecard and their implementation of metrics to influence performance and behavior. It is indeed possible for rural hospitals to meet and exceed the unique needs of patients and physicians (customers), to achieve healthy profit margins, and to be the rural hospital of choice that employees are proud to work for.

  13. Initiatives for Change in Korean Higher Education: Quest for Excellence of World-Class Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Jean S.

    2015-01-01

    The establishment of World-Class Universities (WCUs) is noted as a paramount development in the realm of international higher education. The integration of higher education into a more international scheme has enabled for higher education institutions (HEIs) to have a broader impact on the states and their respective citizens. This study examines…

  14. The World-Class Multiversity: Global Commonalities and National Characteristics

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Simon MARGINSON

    2017-01-01

    World-Class Universities (WCUs) are nationally embedded comprehensive higher education institutions (HEIs) that are closely engaged in the global knowledge system.The article reviews the conditions of possibility and evolution of WCUs.Three interpretations are used to explain worldwide higher education:neoliberal theory,institutional theory,and critical political economy,which give greater recognition than the other theories to the role of the state and variations between states.World higher education is evolving under conditions of globalization,organizational modernization (the New Public Management),and in some countries,marketization.These larger conditions have become manifest in higher education in three widespread tendencies:massification,the WCU movement,and organizational expansion.The last includes the strengthening of the role of the large multi-disciplinary multi-purpose HEIs ("multiversities"),in the form of both research-intensive WCUs with significant global presence,and other HEIs.The role of binary sector and specialist HEIs has declined.Elite WCUs gain status and strategic advantage in both quantity and quality:through growth and the expansion of scope,and through selectivity and research concentration.The balance between quantity and quality is now resolved at larger average size and broader scope than before.The final section of the article reviews WCUs in China and considers whether they might constitute a distinctive university model.

  15. In the Shadow of Celebrity? World-Class University Policies and Public Value in Higher Education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cremonini, Leon; Westerheijden, Donald F.; Benneworth, Paul Stephen; Dauncey, Hugh

    2014-01-01

    The growing popularity of the concept of world-class universities raises the question of whether investing in such universities is a worthwhile use of public resources. Does concentrating public resources on the most excellent universities improve the overall quality of a higher education system,

  16. Can BRICS Build Ivory Towers of Excellence? Giving New Meaning to World-Class Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Solomon Arulraj; Motala, Shireen

    2017-01-01

    This paper aims to map the landscape of higher education transformation in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations while exploring the status of BRICS nations in some of the global university rankings and analysing their potential to give new meaning to notions such as excellent and world-class universities. The study…

  17. General class of brane-world black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bronnikov, K.A.; Melnikov, V.N.; Dehnen, Heinz

    2003-01-01

    We use the general solution to the trace of the 4-dimensional Einstein equations for static, spherically symmetric configurations as a basis for finding a general class of black hole (BH) metrics, containing one arbitrary function g tt =A(r) which vanishes at some r=r h >0, the horizon radius. Under certain reasonable restrictions, BH metrics are found with or without matter and, depending on the boundary conditions, can be asymptotically flat or have any other prescribed asymptotic. It is shown that our procedure generically leads to families of globally regular BHs with a Kerr-like global structure as well as symmetric wormholes. Horizons in space-times with zero scalar curvature are shown to be either simple or double. The same is generically true for horizons inside a matter distribution, but in special cases there can be horizons of any order. A few simple examples are discussed. A natural application of the above results is the brane world concept, in which the trace of the 4D gravity equations is the only unambiguous equation for the 4D metric, and its solutions can be continued into the 5D bulk according to the embedding theorems

  18. Quantifying and modeling long-range cross correlations in multiple time series with applications to world stock indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Duan; Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Stanley, H Eugene

    2011-04-01

    We propose a modified time lag random matrix theory in order to study time-lag cross correlations in multiple time series. We apply the method to 48 world indices, one for each of 48 different countries. We find long-range power-law cross correlations in the absolute values of returns that quantify risk, and find that they decay much more slowly than cross correlations between the returns. The magnitude of the cross correlations constitutes "bad news" for international investment managers who may believe that risk is reduced by diversifying across countries. We find that when a market shock is transmitted around the world, the risk decays very slowly. We explain these time-lag cross correlations by introducing a global factor model (GFM) in which all index returns fluctuate in response to a single global factor. For each pair of individual time series of returns, the cross correlations between returns (or magnitudes) can be modeled with the autocorrelations of the global factor returns (or magnitudes). We estimate the global factor using principal component analysis, which minimizes the variance of the residuals after removing the global trend. Using random matrix theory, a significant fraction of the world index cross correlations can be explained by the global factor, which supports the utility of the GFM. We demonstrate applications of the GFM in forecasting risks at the world level, and in finding uncorrelated individual indices. We find ten indices that are practically uncorrelated with the global factor and with the remainder of the world indices, which is relevant information for world managers in reducing their portfolio risk. Finally, we argue that this general method can be applied to a wide range of phenomena in which time series are measured, ranging from seismology and physiology to atmospheric geophysics.

  19. Quantifying and modeling long-range cross correlations in multiple time series with applications to world stock indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Duan; Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2011-04-01

    We propose a modified time lag random matrix theory in order to study time-lag cross correlations in multiple time series. We apply the method to 48 world indices, one for each of 48 different countries. We find long-range power-law cross correlations in the absolute values of returns that quantify risk, and find that they decay much more slowly than cross correlations between the returns. The magnitude of the cross correlations constitutes “bad news” for international investment managers who may believe that risk is reduced by diversifying across countries. We find that when a market shock is transmitted around the world, the risk decays very slowly. We explain these time-lag cross correlations by introducing a global factor model (GFM) in which all index returns fluctuate in response to a single global factor. For each pair of individual time series of returns, the cross correlations between returns (or magnitudes) can be modeled with the autocorrelations of the global factor returns (or magnitudes). We estimate the global factor using principal component analysis, which minimizes the variance of the residuals after removing the global trend. Using random matrix theory, a significant fraction of the world index cross correlations can be explained by the global factor, which supports the utility of the GFM. We demonstrate applications of the GFM in forecasting risks at the world level, and in finding uncorrelated individual indices. We find ten indices that are practically uncorrelated with the global factor and with the remainder of the world indices, which is relevant information for world managers in reducing their portfolio risk. Finally, we argue that this general method can be applied to a wide range of phenomena in which time series are measured, ranging from seismology and physiology to atmospheric geophysics.

  20. Some concepts of favorability for world-class-type uranium deposits in the northeastern United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adler, H.H.

    1981-03-01

    An account is given of concepts of favorability of geologic environments in the eastern United States for uranium deposits of several major types existing elsewhere in the world. The purpose is to convey some initial ideas about the interrelationships of the geology of the eastern United States and the geologic settings of certain of these world-class deposits. The study and report include consideration of uranium deposits other than those generally manifesting the geologic, geochemical and genetic characteristics associated with the conventional sandstone-type ores of the western United States

  1. Some concepts of favorability for world-class-type uranium deposits in the northeastern United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adler, H.H.

    1981-03-01

    An account is given of concepts of favorability of geologic environments in the eastern United States for uranium deposits of several major types existing elsewhere in the world. The purpose is to convey some initial ideas about the interrelationships of the geology of the eastern United States and the geologic settings of certain of these world-class deposits. The study and report include consideration of uranium deposits other than those generally manifesting the geologic, geochemical and genetic characteristics associated with the conventional sandstone-type ores of the western United States.

  2. Shoulder pain -- a common problem in world-class badminton players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fahlström, Martin; Yeap, Joo Seng; Alfredson, Håkan; Söderman, Kerstin

    2006-06-01

    Badminton is a sport that requires a lot of over-shoulder motion, with the shoulder in abduction/external rotation. This questionnaire study on 188 international top-level badminton players during the World Mixed Team Championships showed that previous or present shoulder pain on the dominant side was reported by 52% of the players. Previous shoulder pain was reported by 37% of the players and on-going shoulder pain by 20% of the players. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of shoulder pain between men and women. The majority of the shoulder pain had started gradually. The pain was usually associated with shoulder activity, and stiffness was a common, associated symptom. Furthermore, the shoulder pain was associated with consequences such as sleeping disturbances, changes in training and competition habits, and it also affected activities of daily living. The majority of the players had sought medical advice and had been given different kinds of treatment. The study showed that shoulder pain is a common and significant problem in world-class badminton players, and the consequences are most likely of importance for their training and playing capacity.

  3. A classe média no mundo do neoliberalismo Middle classes in the world of neoliberalism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Grün

    1998-05-01

    Full Text Available O texto procura dar conta das recentes transformações na maneira como as classes médias brasileiras apreendem e dão sentido à sua vida na esfera econômica. Para isso, utiliza dados e análises de pesquisas sobre transformações em ambientes de trabalho burocráticos, construção de espaços argumentativos dos gerentes, formas tradicionais e mais recentes do pequeno comércio e sobre o também recente fenômeno do desemprego gerencial. Procura entender o problema mediante um estudo de transformações das convenções cognitivas implícitas nas formas de se entender o mundo social e seus reflexos nas vivências da esfera econômica. Da análise emerge um interessante caso de cegueira institucional, onde todas as evidências que põem em xeque a nova ordem são descartadas e onde a antiga divisão das classes médias em estratos assalariados e autônomos tem de ser repensado.The text tries to analyse recent transformations in the manner how the Brazilian middle classes perceive and signify their lives in the economic sphere. For this I make use of dates and analyses produced in researches about the transformations of the bureaucratic-work milieu, about the construction of managers' argumentative spaces, about traditional and more recent forms of the small trade and about the also recent phenomenon of management unemployment. I try to understand the problem based on a study on the transformations of the cognitive conventions inherent to the way people comprehend the social world and experience the consequences of its changes in the economic sphere. The analysis shows that there exists an interesting case of institutional blindness in which all the evidences that threaten the new order are rejected and in which the old division of the middle classes between employed and autonomous strata has to be rethought.

  4. Brain anatomical networks in world class gymnasts: a DTI tractography study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Bin; Fan, Yuanyuan; Lu, Min; Li, Shumei; Song, Zheng; Peng, Xiaoling; Zhang, Ruibin; Lin, Qixiang; He, Yong; Wang, Jun; Huang, Ruiwang

    2013-01-15

    The excellent motor skills of world class gymnasts amaze everyone. People marvel at the way they precisely control their movements and wonder how the brain structure and function of these elite athletes differ from those of non-athletes. In this study, we acquired diffusion images from thirteen world class gymnasts and fourteen matched controls, constructed their anatomical networks, and calculated the topological properties of each network based on graph theory. From a connectivity-based analysis, we found that most of the edges with increased connection density in the champions were linked to brain regions that are located in the sensorimotor, attentional, and default-mode systems. From graph-based metrics, we detected significantly greater global and local efficiency but shorter characteristic path length in the anatomical networks of the champions compared with the controls. Moreover, in the champions we found a significantly higher nodal degree and greater regional efficiency in several brain regions that correspond to motor and attention functions. These included the left precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus and temporal lobes. In addition, we revealed an increase in the mean fractional anisotropy of the corticospinal tract in the champions, possibly in response to long-term gymnastic training. Our study indicates that neuroanatomical adaptations and plastic changes occur in gymnasts' brain anatomical networks either in response to long-term intensive gymnastic training or as an innate predisposition or both. Our findings may help to explain gymnastic skills at the highest levels of performance and aid in understanding the neural mechanisms that distinguish expert gymnasts from novices. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Area near Monkman, B.C., becoming world class exploration play, BP says

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports on two major oil companies in the western Canada sedimentary basin which have completed several significant gas discoveries, including a well with one of the highest flow rates ever in Canada. BP Canada Inc. completed discoveries at its Brazion and Burnt River wells in the Monkman area of northeastern British Columbia. The Monkman area is developing into a world class natural gas exploration play. Meanwhile, Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. Ltd. completed four Alberta gas discoveries in 1991 and participated with BP and PetroCanada Inc. in four British Columbia discoveries

  6. Monkman, B.C., area shaping up as world class gas play

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that Canadian operators are expanding a world class natural gas play in the Monkman area of eastern British Columbia. The area, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near Fort St. John, B.C., has yielded a string of significant gas discoveries. A number of companies-the most active BP Resources Canada Ltd. and Ocelot Energy Inc., Calgary-are playing a 30 mile wide by 50 mile long trend centering on two main producing horizons. The new successes are being scored in an area that first attracted the attention of explorationists in the 1950s. And the play's extent is still far form defined

  7. A world-class act

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richards, Sherrilynne; Thomas, Ron.

    1992-01-01

    In the autumn of 1991, a school on food irradiation held at AECL's Whiteshell Laboratories was attended by 14 food scientists from 12 countries. More than 30 countries have now approved food irradiation. In Canada, Nordion is a world leader with its cobalt-60 irradiators

  8. Analysis of speed, stroke rate, and stroke distance for world-class breaststroke swimming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garland Fritzdorf, Stephen; Hibbs, Angela; Kleshnev, Valery

    2009-02-15

    Speed in aquatic locomotion is determined by stroke distance and stroke rate, but it does not always follow that an increase in stroke rate will lead to an increase in speed. Kleshnev (2006) developed a method to evaluate the relationship between speed and stroke rate during rowing - the effective work per stroke. In this case study, the effective work per stroke was determined for a male world-class 100-m breaststroke swimmer for seven races in major championships and compared between: each of the seven races; each quarter within each race; and the best swims of this case study and seven other world-class swimmers. The effective work per stroke was related to race performance, with the fastest race having the highest effective work per stroke and lowest stroke rate, with slower races having low effectiveness and high stroke rate (R(2) = 0.85). The effective work per stroke was reduced in a race as the swimmer fatigued. The within-race standard deviation of effectiveness was lower in fast swims (R(2) = 0.84). This analysis has identified some characteristics of fast swimming: high effectiveness, optimal stroke rate, and a flat effectiveness profile. Training and racing strategies can now be devised to improve performance by increasing the sensitivity of assessment of strengths and weaknesses in individuals.

  9. [Red Cross hospital in Krapina, during the First world war from 1914 to 1918].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fures, Rajko; Habek, Dubravko; Kozina, Drago

    2016-08-01

    Red Cross Hospital in Krapina, during the First World War, was active from 1914 to 1918. Hospital led by Dr. Mirko Crkvenac, oriented humanist. The hospital is operated thanks to the help of municipalities and citizens. The hospital staff concern is for civilian and military victims of the First World War. Dr. Crkvenac, with the support of the City of Krapina and Mayor Vilibald Sluga, he succeeds to the organization and operation of the hospital to an enviable level. Across the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Croatian, Hospitals Red Cross, had a significant role in caring for the wounded, injured and sick soldiers and civilians. Red Cross Hospital in Krapina, is an example of a well-organized hospital in the toughest conditions. Such an organization was not simple in its implementation, and left the valuable lessons and experience.

  10. Memory skills mediating superior memory in a world-class memorist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ericsson, K Anders; Cheng, Xiaojun; Pan, Yafeng; Ku, Yixuan; Ge, Yi; Hu, Yi

    2017-10-01

    Laboratory studies have investigated how individuals with normal memory spans attained digit spans over 80 digits after hundreds of hours of practice. Experimental analyses of their memory skills suggested that their attained memory spans were constrained by the encoding time, for the time needed will increase if the length of digit sequences to be memorised becomes longer. These constraints seemed to be violated by a world-class memorist, Feng Wang (FW), who won the World Memory Championship by recalling 300 digits presented at 1 digit/s. In several studies we examined FW's memory skills underlying his exceptional performance. First FW reproduced his superior memory span of 200 digits under laboratory condition, and we obtained his retrospective reports describing his encoding/retrieval processes (Experiment 1). Further experiments used self-paced memorisation to identify temporal characteristics of encoding of digits in 4-digit clusters (Experiment 2), and explored memory encoding at presentation speeds much faster than 1 digit/s (Experiment 3). FW's superiority over previous digit span experts is explained by his acquisition of well-known mnemonic techniques and his training that focused on rapid memorisation. His memory performance supports the feasibility of acquiring memory skills for improved working memory based on storage in long-term memory.

  11. The Status of Basic Technology in Cross River State Junior ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    info

    practical class. It was further ... saying technology refer to all tools and procedures used or required for manufacturing .... Self-reliance is very necessary for today's world especially in Cross River, when children .... safety in the workshops. 2.40.

  12. [The activities of the Russian Society of Red Cross during the First World War].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorelova, L Ye; Rudoiy, N A

    2013-01-01

    During the First World War, the Russian Society of Red Cross used experience of previous wars expanded its activities. The medical service functioned in the conditions of cruel war. For the first time in history, the weapon of mass destruction was applied The merit of the Russian society of Red Cross was development of specialized medical care.

  13. An implementation of infrared thermography in maintenance plans within a world class manufacturing strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Todorović Petar M.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the paper is to show the implementation of infrared thermography within World Class Manufacturing (WCM maintenance strategy. The results from infrared thermography inspections in a food processing and packaging solutions company were presented. Applicability of the infrared thermography, during a two-year period, caused a substantial reduction the potential breakdown in the pilot area. Upon feasibility confirmation, the proposed method was spread to other production equipment of the company.

  14. The advanced neutron source - A world-class research reactor facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, P.B.; Meek, W.E.

    1993-01-01

    The advanced neutron source (ANS) is a new facility being designed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory that is based on a heavy-water-moderated reactor and extensive experiment and user-support facilities. The primary purpose of the ANS is to provide world-class facilities for neutron scattering research, isotope production, and materials irradiation in the United States. The neutrons provided by the reactor will be thermalized to produce sources of hot, thermal, cold, very cold, and ultracold neutrons usable at the experiment stations. Beams of cold neutrons will be directed into a large guide hall using neutron guide technology, greatly enhancing the number of research stations possible in the project. Fundamental and nuclear physics, materials analysis, and other research pro- grams will share the neutron beam facilities. Sufficient laboratory and office space will be provided to create an effective user-oriented environment

  15. Proposition Factor Model of World Class Manufacturing in Brazilian Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Sergio Gonçalves de Oliveira

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The present paper aims to develop a model of World Class Manufacturing, to achieve this goal was elaborated a questionnaire with 35 assertive divided in 7 areas suggested by literature review. This questionnaire was send to manufacture specialists, product developers and technician through LinkedIn the participants was select by researchers in discussion groups taking in consideration their experience using the professional profile. About 1000 invite was send to professional from metal-mechanic sector which returned 180 valid questionnaires. The data was analyzed through factor analyses and was obtained 7 constructs, which explained 67% of data variance. The KMO was 0,84, which is considered good for, analyzes purpose. The seventh factor was eliminated because it Cranach’s Alpha was below 0,6 and the remained factor was nominated as: Lean Manufacturing, Human Resources Management to achieve flexibility, Marketing Integration, Costs Reduction and Flexibility.

  16. Developing World-Class Customer Service at Navy Field Contracting Activities: An Assessment of the FISC San Diego Regional Contracts Department

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Allen, Robert

    1997-01-01

    .... The thesis defines world-class customer service and then describes various aspects of service quality including the customer's perspective on service, how service is delivered, how to effectively...

  17. Is Real-World Evidence Used in P&T Monographs and Therapeutic Class Reviews?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurwitz, Jason T; Brown, Mary; Graff, Jennifer S; Peters, Loretta; Malone, Daniel C

    2017-06-01

    Payers are faced with making coverage and reimbursement decisions based on the best available evidence. Often these decisions apply to patient populations, provider networks, and care settings not typically studied in clinical trials. Treatment effectiveness evidence is increasingly available from electronic health records, registries, and administrative claims. However, little is known about when and what types of real-world evidence (RWE) studies inform pharmacy and therapeutic (P&T) committee decisions. To evaluate evidence sources cited in P&T committee monographs and therapeutic class reviews and assess the design features and quality of cited RWE studies. A convenience sample of representatives from pharmacy benefit management, health system, and health plan organizations provided recent P&T monographs and therapeutic class reviews (or references from such documents). Two investigators examined and grouped references into major categories (published studies, unpublished studies, and other/unknown) and multiple subcategories (e.g., product label, clinical trials, RWE, systematic reviews). Cited comparative RWE was reviewed to assess design features (e.g., population, data source, comparators) and quality using the Good ReseArch for Comparative Effectiveness (GRACE) Checklist. Investigators evaluated 565 references cited in 27 monographs/therapeutic class reviews from 6 managed care organizations. Therapeutic class reviews mostly cited published clinical trials (35.3%, 155/439), while single-product monographs relied most on manufacturer-supplied information (42.1%, 53/126). Published RWE comprised 4.8% (21/439) of therapeutic class review references, and none (0/126) of the monograph references. Of the 21 RWE studies, 12 were comparative and assessed patient care settings and outcomes typically not included in clinical trials (community ambulatory settings [10], long-term safety [8]). RWE studies most frequently were based on registry data (6), conducted in

  18. World currency exchange rate cross-correlations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Droå¼dż, S.; Górski, A. Z.; Kwapień, J.

    2007-08-01

    World currency network constitutes one of the most complex structures that is associated with the contemporary civilization. On a way towards quantifying its characteristics we study the cross correlations in changes of the daily foreign exchange rates within the basket of 60 currencies in the period December 1998 May 2005. Such a dynamics turns out to predominantly involve one outstanding eigenvalue of the correlation matrix. The magnitude of this eigenvalue depends however crucially on which currency is used as a base currency for the remaining ones. Most prominent it looks from the perspective of a peripheral currency. This largest eigenvalue is seen to systematically decrease and thus the structure of correlations becomes more heterogeneous, when more significant currencies are used as reference. An extreme case in this later respect is the USD in the period considered. Besides providing further insight into subtle nature of complexity, these observations point to a formal procedure that in general can be used for practical purposes of measuring the relative currencies significance on various time horizons.

  19. Race walking gait and its influence on race walking economy in world-class race walkers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez-Ezeiza, Josu; Torres-Unda, Jon; Tam, Nicholas; Irazusta, Jon; Granados, Cristina; Santos-Concejero, Jordan

    2018-03-06

    The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between biomechanical parameters of the gait cycle and race walking economy in world-class Olympic race walkers. Twenty-One world-class race walkers possessing the Olympic qualifying standard participated in this study. Participants completed an incremental race walking test starting at 10 km·h -1 , where race walking economy (ml·kg -1 ·km -1 ) and spatiotemporal gait variables were analysed at different speeds. 20-km race walking performance was related to race walking economy, being the fastest race walkers those displaying reduced oxygen cost at a given speed (R = 0.760, p < 0.001). Longer ground contact times, shorter flight times, longer midstance sub-phase and shorter propulsive sub-phase during stance were related to a better race walking economy (moderate effect, p < 0.05). According to the results of this study, the fastest race walkers were more economi cal than the lesser performers. Similarly, shorter flight times are associated with a more efficient race walking economy. Coaches and race walkers should avoid modifying their race walking style by increasing flight times, as it may not only impair economy, but also lead to disqualification.

  20. Francis Crick, cross-worlds influencer: A narrative model to historicize big bioscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aicardi, Christine

    2016-02-01

    The essay is an empirical case study of famed British scientist Francis Crick. Viewing him as a 'cross-worlds influencer' who was moreover dedicated to a cause, I have tried to understand how these two characteristics influenced the trajectory of his long career and how they shaped his contributions to the diverse research fields in which he was active, and concluded that these characteristics reconfigure Crick's career into a coherent whole. First, I identify a major thread running through Crick's career: helping organise 'un-disciplined' new research fields, and show that his successive choices were not serendipitous but motivated by what he construed as a crusade against 'vitalism': anti-vitalism was a defining driver of his career. I then examine how Crick put his skills as a crossworlds influencer to the service of his cause, by helping organise his chosen fields of intervention. I argue that his activities as a cross-worlds influencer were an integral part of his way of 'doing science' and that his contributions to science, neuroscience in particular, should be re-evaluated in this light. This leads me to advance a possible strategy for historians to investigate big bioscience fields. Following Abir-Am, I propose to trace their genealogies back to the fluctuating semi-institutional gatherings and the institutional structures that sustained them. My research on Crick supports the view that such studies can bring insights into the question of why the contours of contemporary big bioscience endeavours have come to be shaped the way they are. Further, the essay provides a heuristic device for approaching these enquiries: 'follow the cross-worlds influencers' who worked to build and organise these semi-institutional gatherings and institutional structures. Copyright © 2015 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  1. Francis Crick, cross-worlds influencer: A narrative model to historicize big bioscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aicardi, Christine

    2016-01-01

    The essay is an empirical case study of famed British scientist Francis Crick. Viewing him as a ‘cross-worlds influencer’ who was moreover dedicated to a cause, I have tried to understand how these two characteristics influenced the trajectory of his long career and how they shaped his contributions to the diverse research fields in which he was active, and concluded that these characteristics reconfigure Crick's career into a coherent whole. First, I identify a major thread running through Crick's career: helping organise ‘un-disciplined’ new research fields, and show that his successive choices were not serendipitous but motivated by what he construed as a crusade against ‘vitalism’: anti-vitalism was a defining driver of his career. I then examine how Crick put his skills as a crossworlds influencer to the service of his cause, by helping organise his chosen fields of intervention. I argue that his activities as a cross-worlds influencer were an integral part of his way of ‘doing science’ and that his contributions to science, neuroscience in particular, should be re-evaluated in this light. This leads me to advance a possible strategy for historians to investigate big bioscience fields. Following Abir-Am, I propose to trace their genealogies back to the fluctuating semi-institutional gatherings and the institutional structures that sustained them. My research on Crick supports the view that such studies can bring insights into the question of why the contours of contemporary big bioscience endeavours have come to be shaped the way they are. Further, the essay provides a heuristic device for approaching these enquiries: ‘follow the cross-worlds influencers’ who worked to build and organise these semi-institutional gatherings and institutional structures. PMID:26383132

  2. Some fundamental considerations on the dynamics of class B laser threshold crossing

    OpenAIRE

    Puccioni, G. P.; Wang, T.; Lippi, G. L.

    2016-01-01

    With the help of a simple rate equation model, we analyze the intrinsic dynamics of threshold crossing for Class B lasers. A thorough discussion of the characteristics and the limitations of this very commonly employed model, which provides excellent qualitative predictions on the laser behaviour, is offered. Approximate solutions for the population inversion and for the field intensity, up to the point where the latter reaches macroscopic levels, are found and discussed, together with the as...

  3. Food for Thought: Cross-Classification and Category Organization in a Complex Real-World Domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Brian H.; Murphy, Gregory L.

    1999-01-01

    Seven studies involving 256 undergraduates examined how people represent, access, and make inferences about the real-world category domain, foods. Results give a detailed picture of the use of cross-classification in a complex domain. (SLD)

  4. Commercial border crossing and wait time measurement at Laredo World Trade Bridge and the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-01

    This research is to establish a baseline and on-going measurement of border crossing times and : delay by measuring travel times for commercial trucks crossing the port of entry (POE) from : Mexico into Texas at the Laredo World Trade Bridge and the ...

  5. Qualitative Video Analysis of Track-Cycling Team Pursuit in World-Class Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sigrist, Samuel; Maier, Thomas; Faiss, Raphael

    2017-11-01

    Track-cycling team pursuit (TP) is a highly technical effort involving 4 athletes completing 4 km from a standing start, often in less than 240 s. Transitions between athletes leading the team are obviously of utmost importance. To perform qualitative video analyses of transitions of world-class athletes in TP competitions. Videos captured at 100 Hz were recorded for 77 races (including 96 different athletes) in 5 international track-cycling competitions (eg, UCI World Cups and World Championships) and analyzed for the 12 best teams in the UCI Track Cycling TP Olympic ranking. During TP, 1013 transitions were evaluated individually to extract quantitative (eg, average lead time, transition number, length, duration, height in the curve) and qualitative (quality of transition start, quality of return at the back of the team, distance between third and returning rider score) variables. Determination of correlation coefficients between extracted variables and end time allowed assessment of relationships between variables and relevance of the video analyses. Overall quality of transitions and end time were significantly correlated (r = .35, P = .002). Similarly, transition distance (r = .26, P = .02) and duration (r = .35, P = .002) were positively correlated with end time. Conversely, no relationship was observed between transition number, average lead time, or height reached in the curve and end time. Video analysis of TP races highlights the importance of quality transitions between riders, with preferably swift and short relays rather than longer lead times for faster race times.

  6. Archetyping race, gender and class: advertising in The Bantu World and The World from the 1930s to the 1990s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nhlanhla Maake

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available This article sets out to interrogate the ideological hegemony of the superstructuring narrative voice in advertisements by studying linguistic, structural devices and encoding that are employed, in order to expose its racial, class and gender undertones embedded in the authorial voice. The sample of advertisements discussed is derived from The Bantu World and its two sequels, The World and The Sowetan. The sample is thinly dispersed over a period of five decades. Most of the advertisements selected were duplicated in the sister newspapers, Mochochono (Sesotho and Imvo (isiXhosa, which were published under the auspices of the Associated Bantu Press. In the latter case the advertisements in the different languages were directly translated from English. The thrust of our argument is that the narrative voice, together with the images, are loaded with a stereotyping preconceived notion of the “other”, which is either conscious or subconscious. We also suggest that the change of the newspaper’s name is accompanied by a perceptible evolution of ideological bias in both the images and the narrative voice.

  7. Seeking a Roadmap to Becoming World Class: Strategic Planning at Peking University. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.11.13

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guangkuan, Xie

    2013-01-01

    Strategic planning plays an important but sometimes controversial role in higher education. This paper examines how strategic planning works in Chinese universities, using Peking University as a case study. This essay discusses the rationale for why Peking University (PKU) decided to pursue status as a world-class university along with objectives…

  8. Comparison of between-training-sessions recovery strategies for world-class BMX pilots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marquet, Laurie-Anne; Hausswirth, Christophe; Hays, Arnaud; Vettoretti, Fabrice; Brisswalter, Jeanick

    2015-03-01

    To assess the impact of between-training-sessions recovery strategies (passive [PAS], active [ACT], cold-water immersion [CWI], and ingestion of a recovery drink [NUTR]) on maximal cycling performance, perceptions of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and fatigue in world-class BMX riders. Eleven elite BMX athletes, members of the French national team (top country in the 2011 international ranking, 4 medals at the 2012 World Championships, top European country), participated in the study, which involved standardized training periods. Athletes performed 3 maximal-sprint power tests: the first day of the week before the training session and before and after training on the third day of the week (D3). The recovery strategy was randomly assigned to each participant on day 2 immediately after the last training period of the day. Perceptions of DOMS and general fatigue were recorded on D3. After training on D3, the decrease in maximal-sprint power (Pmax) was significantly greater for PAS than with CWI (P=.02) and NUTR (P=.018). Similar results were found with ACT (vs CWI P=.044, and vs NUTR P=.042). Self-reported DOMS and fatigue were significantly greater after PAS than after other strategies. For elite BMX riders, between training days, nutritional and/or CWI recovery strategies appear to be best for reducing muscle fatigue and increasing the capacity to withstand the training schedule.

  9. Class Counts: Education, Inequality, and the Shrinking Middle Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ornstein, Allan

    2007-01-01

    Class differences and class warfare have existed since the beginning of western civilization, but the gap in income and wealth between the rich (top 10 percent) and the rest has increased steadily in the last twenty-five years. The U.S. is heading for a financial oligarchy much worse than the aristocratic old world that our Founding Fathers feared…

  10. Small-Town Touch, Big-City Innovation, World-Class Aspirations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forgey, Warren L; Dye, Tammy

    2015-01-01

    The healthcare system in the United States is at a critical crossroads. Costs are rising, measures of healthcare quality are well below those of other industrialized nations, and public and regulatory scrutiny is increasing. Healthcare leaders are searching for more effective, efficient, and sustainable operational models to address the mounting challenges they face. We at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Indiana, chose the Baldrige Excellence Framework to guide our organization, to accelerate our performance improvement journey, and to create sustainable results in our core services. The Baldrige Framework uses a systematic approach to innovation and improvement in seven key management areas. These seven areas were leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis, and knowl- edge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results (Baldrige Performance Excellence Program 2015). In this article, we describe our Baldrige journey. We address why we chose to use the Framework, how we engaged our key stakeholders, and what challenges we faced and lessons we learned along the way. In addition, we detail how Schneck's focus on performance improvement has resulted in significant returns to the organization. Throughout the article, we refer to our pursuit of performance excellence as a "journey," and it is indeed just that. Quality improvement takes time, because it is a transformation with many steps. World-class performance is attainable only with years of work and constant refinement.

  11. How to develop a world class electrical utility for the free markets of electrical energy?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aaltonen, J.E.; Takala, J.A.

    1995-01-01

    The electricity distribution in Finland is going to the new stage where the electrical energy market will be gradually free from competition. The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept of the world class utility. A feasibility study was made to research the condition in logistics and suitable methods for the implementation. Some ideas have been piloted to verify and find acceptable approaches of the implementation to practice. Utilities improved the cost efficiency and strategical business logistics in a customer oriented and flexible way. The methods and findings can be used on other public and industrial areas, too

  12. Disentangling women's responses on complex dietary intake patterns from an Indian cross-sectional survey : a latent class analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Padmadas, SS; Dias, JG; Willekens, FJ

    Objective To investigate the degree of individual heterogeneity related to complex dietary behaviour and to further examine the associations of different dietary compositions with selected characteristics. Design Latent class analysis was applied to data from the recent cross-sectional National

  13. Disentangling women's responses on complex dietary intake patterns from an Indian cross-sectional survey: a latent class analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Padmadas, S.; Dias, J.; Willekens, F.J.C.

    2006-01-01

    Objective To investigate the degree of individual heterogeneity related to complex dietary behaviour and to further examine the associations of different dietary compositions with selected characteristics. Design Latent class analysis was applied to data from the recent cross-sectional National

  14. Context-sensitive intra-class clustering

    KAUST Repository

    Yu, Yingwei

    2014-02-01

    This paper describes a new semi-supervised learning algorithm for intra-class clustering (ICC). ICC partitions each class into sub-classes in order to minimize overlap across clusters from different classes. This is achieved by allowing partitioning of a certain class to be assisted by data points from other classes in a context-dependent fashion. The result is that overlap across sub-classes (both within- and across class) is greatly reduced. ICC is particularly useful when combined with algorithms that assume that each class has a unimodal Gaussian distribution (e.g., Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), quadratic classifiers), an assumption that is not always true in many real-world situations. ICC can help partition non-Gaussian, multimodal distributions to overcome such a problem. In this sense, ICC works as a preprocessor. Experiments with our ICC algorithm on synthetic data sets and real-world data sets indicated that it can significantly improve the performance of LDA and quadratic classifiers. We expect our approach to be applicable to a broader class of pattern recognition problems where class-conditional densities are significantly non-Gaussian or multi-modal. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Self-reported symptoms and risk factors for digital ischaemia among international world-class beach volleyball players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van De Pol, Daan; Alaeikhanehshir, Sena; Maas, Mario; Kuijer, P Paul F M

    2016-01-01

    The prevalence of ischaemia-related symptoms is remarkably high among elite indoor volleyball players. Since the exposure to sport-specific demands may be higher in beach volleyball compared to indoor volleyball, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ischaemia-related symptoms and associated risk factors among world-class beach volleyball players. Therefore, a questionnaire survey was performed among beach volleyball players active during the 2013 Grand Slam Beach Volleyball in the Netherlands. In total, 60 of the 128 beach volleyball players (47%) participated: 26 males and 34 females from 17 countries. The self-reported prevalence of cold or blue or pale digits in the dominant hand during or immediately after practice or competition was 38% (n = 23). Two risk factors were independently associated with symptoms of blue or pale digits: more than 14 years playing volleyball (odds ratio (OR) 4.42, 90% confidence interval (90% CI) 1.30-15.07) and sex (female) (OR 4.62, 90% CI 1.15-18.57). In conclusion, the prevalence of symptoms associated with digital ischaemia is high among international world-class beach volleyball players. Female sex and the length of the volleyball career were independently associated with an increased risk of ischaemia-related symptoms. The high prevalence of these seemingly innocuous symptoms and possible associated risk factors warrant regular monitoring since early detection can potentially prevent thromboembolic complications and irreversible tissue damage.

  16. A Model Proposal and Implementation Concerning Occupational Health and Safety within the Framework of World Class Manufacturing

    OpenAIRE

    GÜMÜŞOĞLU, Şevkinaz; TEPEKULE, Esin Tuba

    2017-01-01

    The approach, which aims atbecoming the best in every application and operation realizing every strategythat it has at a perfect level, has been referred to as World ClassManufacturing (WCM).  The synergic effectof WCM inherent in application and strategies will be helpful in takingbusinesses’ strength to the desired level in the current competitiveenvironment. For businesses in applications of Occupational Health and Safety(OHS) to perform at the top level will contribute to become the best,...

  17. Water for Two Worlds: Designing Terrestrial Applications for Exploration-class Sanitation Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Constance; Andersson, Ingvar; Feighery, John

    2004-01-01

    At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September of 2000, the world leaders agreed on an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a list of issues they consider highly pernicious, threatening to human welfare and, thereby, to global security and prosperity. Among the eight goals are included fundamental human needs such as the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the promotion of gender equality, the reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health, and ensuring the sustainability of our shared environment. In order to help focus the efforts to meet these goals, the United Nations (UN) has established a set of eighteen concrete targets, each with an associated schedule. Among these is Target 10: "By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water." A closely related target of equal dignity was agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002): "By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation." One of the greatest successes in the development of Exploration-class technologies for closed-loop, sustainable support of long-duration human space missions has been the work both ESA and NASA have done in bioregenerative water reclamation (WRS), and secondarily, in solid-waste management. Solid-waste and WRS systems tend to be combined in the commercial world into the field of sanitation, although as we will see, the most essential principles of sustainable terrestrial sanitation actually insist upon the separation of solid and liquid excreta. Seeing the potential synergy between the space program ALS technologies developed for Mars and the urgent needs of hundreds of millions of people for secure access to clean water here on Earth, we set out to organize the adaptation of these technologies to help the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) meet Target 10. In this paper, we will

  18. Interdependence between crude oil and world food prices: A detrended cross correlation analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Debdatta; Mitra, Subrata K.

    2018-02-01

    This article explores the changing interdependence between crude oil and world food prices at varying time scales using detrended cross correlation analysis that would answer whether the interdependence (if any) differed significantly between pre and post-crisis period. Unlike the previous studies that exogenously imposed break dates for dividing the time series into sub-samples, we tested whether the mean of the crude oil price changed over time to find evidence for structural changes in the crude oil price series and endogenously determine three break dates with minimum Bayesian information criterion scores. Accordingly, we divided the entire study period in four sample periods - January 1990 to October 1999, November 1999 to February 2005, March 2005 to September 2010, and October 2010 to July 2016, where the third sample period coincided with the period of food crisis and enabled us to compare the fuel-food interdependence across pre-crisis, during the crisis, and post-crisis periods. The results of the detrended cross correlation analysis extended corroborative evidence for increasing positive interdependence between the crude oil price and world food price index along with its sub-categories, namely dairy, cereals, vegetable oil, and sugar. The article ends with the implications of these results in the domain of food policy and the financial sector.

  19. A Valid Matérn Class of Cross-Covariance Functions for Multivariate Random Fields With Any Number of Components

    KAUST Repository

    Apanasovich, Tatiyana V.; Genton, Marc G.; Sun, Ying

    2012-01-01

    We introduce a valid parametric family of cross-covariance functions for multivariate spatial random fields where each component has a covariance function from a well-celebrated Matérn class. Unlike previous attempts, our model indeed allows

  20. World Hunger: Teaching about World Hunger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simpson, Jane

    1982-01-01

    Discusses the teaching of world hunger in the classroom. Controversial questions and map skills for students are discussed as well as activities for home economics and science classes. A list of resource materials is included. (AM)

  1. Cross-national Epidemiology of Panic Disorder and Panic Attacks in the World Mental Health Surveys

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jonge, Peter; Roest, Annelieke M.; Lim, Carmen C.W.; Florescu, Silvia E.; Bromet, Evelyn; Stein, Dan; Harris, Meredith; Nakov, Vladimir; Caldas-de-Almeida, Jose Miguel; Levinson, Daphna; Al-Hamzawi, Ali O.; Haro, Josep Maria; Viana, Maria Carmen; Borges, Gui; O’Neill, Siobhan; de Girolamo, Giovanni; Demyttenaere, Koen; Gureje, Oye; Iwata, Noboru; Lee, Sing; Hu, Chiyi; Karam, Aimee; Moskalewicz, Jacek; Kovess-Masfety, Viviane; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Browne, Mark Oakley; Piazza, Maria; Posada-Villa, José; Torres, Yolanda; ten Have, Margreet L.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Scott, Kate M.

    2016-01-01

    Context The scarcity of cross-national reports and the changes in DSM-5 regarding panic disorder (PD) and panic attacks (PAs) call for new epidemiological data on PD and PAs and its subtypes in the general population. Objective To present representative data about the cross-national epidemiology of PD and PAs in accordance with DSM-5 definitions. Design and Setting Nationally representative cross-sectional surveys using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0. Participants Respondents (n=142,949) from 25 high, middle and lower-middle income countries across the world aged 18 years or older. Main Outcome Measures PD and presence of single and recurrent PAs. Results Lifetime prevalence of PAs was 13.2% (s.e. 0.1%). Among persons that ever had a PA, the majority had recurrent PAs (66.5%; s.e. 0.5%), while only 12.8% fulfilled DSM-5 criteria for PD. Recurrent PAs were associated with a subsequent onset of a variety of mental disorders (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.8–2.2) and their course (OR 1.3; 95% CI 1.2–2.4) whereas single PAs were not (OR 1.1; 95% CI 0.9–1.3 and OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.6–0.8). Cross-national lifetime prevalence estimates were 1.7% (s.e. 0.0%) for PD with a median age of onset of 32 (IQR 20–47). Some 80.4% of persons with lifetime PD had a lifetime comorbid mental disorder. Conclusions We extended previous epidemiological data to a cross-national context. The presence of recurrent PAs in particular is associated with subsequent onset and course of mental disorders beyond agoraphobia and PD, and might serve as a generic risk marker for psychopathology. PMID:27775828

  2. Exploring the Linkages Between Deming’s Principle, World-Class Company, Operational Excellence, and Company Performance in an Oil and Gas Industry Setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wakhid Slamet Ciptono

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the linkages between Deming’s Principle, World-Class Company, Operational Excellence, and Company Performance in the Indonesia’s oil and gas industry. The aim of this study is to examine the causal relationships model between the Deming’s Principle (DP, World-Class Company (WCC, Operational Excellence (OE, and Company Performance (Monetary Gain Performance or MGP and Value Gain Performance or VGP. The author used 140 strategic business units (SBUs in 49 oil and gas companies in Indonesia. The survey was administered to every level of management at each SBU (Top, Middle, and Low Level Management. A multiple informant sampling unit is used to ensure a balanced view of the relationships between the research constructs, and to collect data from the most informed respondents on different levels of management. A total of 1,332 individual usable questionnaires were returned thus qualified for analysis, representing an effective response rate of 50.19 percent. Path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM are used to analyze the effect of Deming’s principle on company performance and to investigate the interrelationships between Deming’s principle, world-class company, operational excellence, and company performance. The results show that Deming’s Principle has significant positive and indirect effect on company performance (monetary gain performance and value gain performance. Although the Deming’s Principle has no significant direct effects on company performance, the Deming’s Principle has significant positive effects on the intervening variables (world-class company and operational excellence. The result also shows that a complete model fit and the acceptable parameter level that indicate the overall parameter are good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data. By concentrating on a single industry (oil and gas, SEM specification of the causal relationship model between five constructs can be

  3. World class performance: the outage/operating cycle continuum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Remphal, M. [Ontario Power Generation, Darlington, Ontario (Canada)

    2011-07-01

    It's all about Performance! Predictable and sustainable high performance is the key to public and stakeholder confidence in the nuclear industry. Why? Because nuclear is unique and safe, reliable operation each and every day is required to keep public trust. What better way to demonstrate this predictability than in breaker to breaker operating runs? Delivering on what was promised is the essence of our OPG accountability model: 'Say it, Do it'. This presentation is drawn from practical experience gained during the most recent planned maintenance outages at Darlington Nuclear. Key elements for outage success that will be discussed include; Human Performance: Ensuring each action is deliberate and executed right the first time; Continuous Learning: Recent examples demonstrating how drawing from lessons learned and operating experience worldwide can dramatically improve outage performance; Teamwork and Partnership: Recognizing our industry is too complex for a single; individual or organization to run on its own; Scope Selection: Darlington currently has an industry leading 0.5% Forced Loss Rate (FLR). If right work is selected and executed at the right time then ultimately the plant speaks and it shows up in low FLR and high Nuclear Performance Index; Planning: Ask and anticipate what can go wrong, what options exist and then pre-decide what path you would take. Some practical tools will be provided which have been recently used to plan out surprises; Oversight: An outage left to run its own course will have a surprise outcome. Strong management oversight is required to meet the goals of outage execution. Tips on how to improve communication and accountability will be discussed. Trust is built on confidence and confidence is built on sustainable performance. World class sustainable performance requires using all the tools available. This discussion will provide insight on these very tools. (author)

  4. World class performance: the outage/operating cycle continuum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Remphal, M.

    2011-01-01

    It's all about Performance! Predictable and sustainable high performance is the key to public and stakeholder confidence in the nuclear industry. Why? Because nuclear is unique and safe, reliable operation each and every day is required to keep public trust. What better way to demonstrate this predictability than in breaker to breaker operating runs? Delivering on what was promised is the essence of our OPG accountability model: 'Say it, Do it'. This presentation is drawn from practical experience gained during the most recent planned maintenance outages at Darlington Nuclear. Key elements for outage success that will be discussed include; Human Performance: Ensuring each action is deliberate and executed right the first time; Continuous Learning: Recent examples demonstrating how drawing from lessons learned and operating experience worldwide can dramatically improve outage performance; Teamwork and Partnership: Recognizing our industry is too complex for a single; individual or organization to run on its own; Scope Selection: Darlington currently has an industry leading 0.5% Forced Loss Rate (FLR). If right work is selected and executed at the right time then ultimately the plant speaks and it shows up in low FLR and high Nuclear Performance Index; Planning: Ask and anticipate what can go wrong, what options exist and then pre-decide what path you would take. Some practical tools will be provided which have been recently used to plan out surprises; Oversight: An outage left to run its own course will have a surprise outcome. Strong management oversight is required to meet the goals of outage execution. Tips on how to improve communication and accountability will be discussed. Trust is built on confidence and confidence is built on sustainable performance. World class sustainable performance requires using all the tools available. This discussion will provide insight on these very tools. (author)

  5. Building World Class Universities in China: Exploring Faculty's Perceptions, Interpretations of and Struggles with Global Forces in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dongbin; Song, Quirong; Liu, Ji; Liu, Qingqin; Grimm, Adam

    2018-01-01

    Employing a glonacal (global, national and local) heuristic as a theoretical lens, and a qualitative analysis with interview data, this study highlights how Chinese faculty members interpret the definitions and implications of pursuing world class universities (WCUs) and struggle with the multiple dimensions of their academic lives across global,…

  6. The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wardenaar, Klaas J.; Lim, Carmen C.W.; Al-Hamzawi, Ali O.; Alonso, Jordi; Andrade, Laura H.; Benjet, Corina; Bunting, Brendan; de Girolamo, Giovanni; Demyttenaere, Koen; Florescu, Silvia E.; Gureje, Oye; Hisateru, Tachi; Hu, Chiyi; Huang, Yueqin; Karam, Elie; Kiejna, Andrzej; Lepine, Jean Pierre; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Browne, Mark Oakley; Piazza, Maria; Posada-Villa, José; ten Have, Margreet L.; Torres, Yolanda; Xavier, Miguel; Zarkov, Zahari; Kessler, Ronald C.; Scott, Kate M.; de Jonge, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Background Although specific phobia is highly prevalent, associated with impairment, and an important risk factor for the development of other mental disorders, cross-national epidemiological data are scarce, especially from low and middle-income countries. This paper presents epidemiological data from 22 low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high-income countries. Method Data came from 25 representative population-based surveys conducted in 22 countries (2001–2011) as part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys initiative (N=124,902). The presence of specific phobia as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition was evaluated using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results The cross-national lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of specific phobia were, respectively, 7.4% and 5.5%, being higher in females (9.8% and 7.7%) than in males (4.9% and 3.3%) and higher in high and higher-middle income countries than in low/lower-middle income countries. The median age of onset was young (8 years). Of the 12-month patients, 18.7% reported severe role impairment (13.3%–21.9% across income groups) and 23.1% reported any treatment (9.6%–30.1% across income groups). Lifetime comorbidity was observed in 60.2% of those with lifetime specific phobia, with the onset of specific phobia preceding the other disorder in most cases (72.6%). Interestingly, rates of impairment, treatment-use and comorbidity increased with the number of fear subtypes. Conclusion Specific phobia is common and associated with impairment in a considerable percentage of cases. Importantly, specific phobia often precedes the onset of other mental disorders, making it a possible early-life indicator of psychopathology vulnerability. PMID:28222820

  7. Introduction. Faithful to the cross in a Moving World : Late Mediëval Carthusians as Devotional Reformers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Aelst, J.J.; van Dijk, Mathilde; Gaens, Tom

    2016-01-01

    This is the introduction to the thematic issue Faithful to the Cross in a Moving World: Late Medieval Carthusians as Devotional Reformers. The editors discuss how the Carthusian order expanded in the Late Middle Ages and how, in contrast to the first Carthusians, new charterhouses were created in or

  8. Creating Cross-disciplinary Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Elaine R

    2012-01-01

    Because of its focus on the biological underpinnings of action and behavior, neuroscience intersects with many fields of human endeavor. Some of these cross-disciplinary intersections have been long standing, while others, such as neurotheology or neuroeconomics, are more recently formed fields. Many undergraduate institutions have sought to include cross-disciplinary courses in their curriculum because this style of pedagogy is often seen as applicable to real world problems. However, it can be difficult for faculty with specialized training within their discipline to expand beyond their own fields to offer cross-disciplinary courses. I have been creating a series of multi- or cross-disciplinary courses and have found some strategies that have helped me successfully teach these classes. I will discuss general strategies and tools in developing these types of courses including: 1) creating mixed experience classrooms of students and contributing faculty 2) finding the right tools that will allow you to teach to a mixed population without prerequisites 3) examining the topic using multiple disciplinary perspectives 4) feeding off student experience and interest 5) assessing the impact of these courses on student outcomes and your neuroscience program. This last tool in particular is important in establishing the validity of this type of teaching for neuroscience students and the general student population.

  9. Cross-sectional and longitudinal examination of exercise capacity in elite youth badminton players

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Christian Møller; Badault, Benjamin; Nybo, Lars

    2018-01-01

    Badminton-specific speed and endurance performance was evaluated in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of elite youth players and compared to the physiological capacities of world top-50 singles players.The cross-sectional study involved ten males in the category U15 (..., nine U19 and four senior elite players. They performed 30-m sprint, counter-movement jump (CMJ) and badminton-specific speed (B-SPEED) and endurance (B-ENDURANCE) tests. The longitudinal data were collected for ten U15 players with 1- and 2-year follow-up measures.Compared to seniors, B...... with ageing from 29±5 % deficit for U15 to 13±6 % deficit for U19 (Pbadminton-specific speed improves markedly with ageing in youth elite players to achieve, by age 19, values matching world-class players. Endurance improved markedly, but with a significant deficit remaining...

  10. The cross-national structure of mental disorders: results from the World Mental Health Surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jonge, Peter; Wardenaar, Klaas J; Lim, Carmen C W; Aguilar-Gaxiola, Sergio; Alonso, Jordi; Andrade, Laura Helena; Bunting, Brendan; Chatterji, Somnath; Ciutan, Marius; Gureje, Oye; Karam, Elie G; Lee, Sing; Medina-Mora, Maria Elena; Moskalewicz, Jacek; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Pennell, Beth-Ellen; Piazza, Marina; Posada-Villa, José; Torres, Yolanda; Kessler, Ronald C; Scott, Kate

    2017-12-19

    The patterns of comorbidity among mental disorders have led researchers to model the underlying structure of psychopathology. While studies have suggested a structure including internalizing and externalizing disorders, less is known with regard to the cross-national stability of this model. Moreover, little data are available on the placement of eating disorders, bipolar disorder and psychotic experiences (PEs) in this structure. We evaluated the structure of mental disorders with data from the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview, including 15 lifetime mental disorders and six PEs. Respondents (n = 5478-15 499) were included from 10 high-, middle- and lower middle-income countries across the world aged 18 years or older. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were used to evaluate and compare the fit of different factor structures to the lifetime disorder data. Measurement invariance was evaluated with multigroup CFA (MG-CFA). A second-order model with internalizing and externalizing factors and fear and distress subfactors best described the structure of common mental disorders. MG-CFA showed that this model was stable across countries. Of the uncommon disorders, bipolar disorder and eating disorder were best grouped with the internalizing factor, and PEs with a separate factor. These results indicate that cross-national patterns of lifetime common mental-disorder comorbidity can be explained with a second-order underlying structure that is stable across countries and can be extended to also cover less common mental disorders.

  11. Salivary Hormones Response to Preparation and Pre-competitive Training of World-class Level Athletes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilhem, Gaël; Hanon, Christine; Gendreau, Nicolas; Bonneau, Dominique; Guével, Arnaud; Chennaoui, Mounir

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to compare the response of salivary hormones of track and field athletes induced by preparation and pre-competitive training periods in an attempt to comment on the physiological effects consistent with the responses of each of the proteins measured. Salivary testosterone, cortisol, alpha-amylase, immunoglobulin A (IgA), chromogranin A, blood creatine kinase activity, and profile of mood state were assessed at rest in 24 world-class level athletes during preparation (3 times in 3 months) and pre-competitive (5 times in 5 weeks) training periods. Total mood disturbance and fatigue perception were reduced, while IgA (+61%) and creatine kinase activity (+43%) increased, and chromogranin A decreased (−27%) during pre-competitive compared to preparation period. A significant increase in salivary testosterone (+9 to +15%) and a decrease in testosterone/cortisol ratio were associated with a progressive reduction in training load during pre-competitive period (P athletics training. PMID:26635619

  12. Injury risk is low among world-class volleyball players: 4-year data from the FIVB Injury Surveillance System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bere, Tone; Kruczynski, Jacek; Veintimilla, Nadège; Hamu, Yuichiro; Bahr, Roald

    2015-09-01

    Little is known about the rate and pattern of injuries in international volleyball competition. To describe the risk and pattern of injuries among world-class players based on data from the The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Injury Surveillance System (ISS) (junior and senior, male and female). The FIVB ISS is based on prospective registration of injuries by team medical staff during all major FIVB tournaments (World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix, World League, Olympic Games). This paper is based on 4-year data (September 2010 to November 2014) obtained through the FIVB ISS during 32 major FIVB events (23 senior and 9 junior). The incidence of time-loss injuries during match play was 3.8/1000 player hours (95% CI 3.0 to 4.5); this was greater for senior players than for junior players (relative risk: 2.04, 1.29 to 3.21), while there was no difference between males and females (1.04, 0.70 to 1.55). Across all age and sex groups, the ankle was the most commonly injured body part (25.9%), followed by the knee (15.2%), fingers/thumb (10.7%) and lower back (8.9%). Injury incidence was greater for centre players and lower for liberos than for other player functions; injury patterns also differed between player functions. Volleyball is a very safe sport, even at the highest levels of play. Preventive measures should focus on acute ankle and finger sprains, and overuse injuries in the knee, lower back and shoulder. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  13. The Training Characteristics of the World's Most Successful Female Cross-Country Skier.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solli, Guro S; Tønnessen, Espen; Sandbakk, Øyvind

    2017-01-01

    The main aim of this study was to investigate the training characteristics of the most successful female cross-country skier ever during the best period of her career. The participant won six gold medals at the Olympic Games, 18 gold medals at the World Championship, and 110 World Cup victories. Day-to-day training diary data, interviews, and physiological tests were analyzed. Training data was systemized by training form (endurance, strength, and speed), intensity [low- (LIT), moderate- (MIT), and high-intensity training (HIT)], and mode (running, cycling, and skiing/roller skiing), followed by a division into different periodization phases. Specific sessions utilized in the various periodization periods and the day-to-day periodization of training, in connection with altitude camps and tapering toward major championships, were also analyzed. Following a 12-year nonlinear increase in training load, the annual training volume during the five consecutive successful years stabilized at 937 ± 25 h, distributed across 543 ± 9 sessions. During these 5 years, total training time was distributed as 90.6% endurance-, 8.0% strength-, and 1.4% speed-training, with endurance-training time consisting of 92.3 ± 0.3% LIT, 2.9 ± 0.5% MIT, and 4.8 ± 0.5% HIT. Total LIT-time consisted of 21% warm-up, 14% sessions 90 min. While the total number of LIT sessions remained stable across phases (32 sessions), total LIT-time was reduced from GP (76 h/month) to SP (68 h/month) and CP (55 h/month). MIT-time decreased from GP (2.8 h/month) to SP (2.2 h/month) and CP (1 h/month). HIT-time increased from GP (2.8 h/month) to SP (3.2 h/month) and CP (4.7 h/month). Altitude training accounted for 18-25% of annual training volume and performed across relatively short training camps (≤16 days) with a clear reduction of HIT training, but increased total and LIT volume compared to sea-level training. Training before international championships included a 2-week increase in LIT and strength

  14. Everyday tactics in local moral worlds: E-cigarette practices in a working-class area of the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thirlway, Frances

    2016-12-01

    Research into e-cigarette use has largely focused on their health effects and efficacy for smoking cessation, with little attention given to their potential effect on health inequalities. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research between 2012 and 2015, I investigate the emerging e-cigarette practices of adult smokers and quitters in a working-class area of the UK. I first use de Certeau's notion of 'tactics' to describe the informal economy of local e-cigarette use. Low-priced products were purchased through personal networks and informal sources for financial reasons, but also as a solution to the moral problems of addiction and expenditure on the self, particularly for older smokers. E-cigarette practices were produced in local moral worlds where smoking and cessation had a complex status mediated through norms of age and gender. For younger men, smoking cessation conflicted with an ethic of working-class hedonism but e-cigarette use allowed cessation to be incorporated into male sociality. Continued addiction had moral implications which older men addressed by constructing e-cigarette use as functional rather than pleasurable, drawing on a narrative of family responsibility. The low priority which older women with a relational sense of identity gave to their own health led to a lower tolerance for e-cigarette unreliability. I draw on Kleinman's local moral worlds to make sense of these findings, arguing that smoking cessation can be a risk to moral identity in violating local norms of age and gender performance. I conclude that e-cigarettes did have some potential to overcome normative barriers to smoking cessation and therefore to reduce health inequalities, at least in relation to male smoking. Further research which attends to local meanings of cessation in relation to age and gender will establish whether e-cigarettes have similar potential elsewhere. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Kajian Budaya Organisasi Bina Nusantara University Menuju “A World Class University”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amia Luthfia

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available University is an important institution that would form the nation culture and responsible for the culture transmission. The assessment of a good organizational culture is an important part in the study of organizational culture. The research objective is to analyze organizational culture of Bina Nusantara University comprehensively, the strengths and weaknesses of its effort to become “The World Class University". The research methodology is qualitative with method combination of FGD, in-depth interviews and covert observation. The research outcome shows that Bina Nusantara University has had elements of modern organization characteristic such as innovative management (centralized non-academic function and decentralize academic function; transparent and results-oriented management system with clear and measurable target; detail operational procedure. It has been able to create healthy working environment that supports high integrity, working ethics, dedication, loyalty, opened communication and high sense of belonging. It utilizes information and communications technology through a comprehensive and integrated system called Binusmaya as its ikon and identity.As an educational institution, Bina Nusantara University should develop 3 other elements which are role model, spirit and character building. Former rector (the founder was an inspired role model that provided a profound influence to the attitudes and behaviors of its members. 

  16. The Effect of Mixed-Age Classes in Sweden

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindstrom, Elly-Ann; Lindahl, Erica

    2011-01-01

    Mixed-aged (MA) classes are a common phenomenon around the world. In Sweden, these types of classes increased rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s, despite the fact that existing empirical support for MA classes is weak. In this paper, the effect of attending an MA class during grades 4-6 on students' cognitive skills is estimated. Using a unique…

  17. Towards structural controllability of local-world networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Shiwen; Ma, Yilin; Wu, Yafang; Wang, Li; Xia, Chengyi

    2016-01-01

    Controlling complex networks is of vital importance in science and engineering. Meanwhile, local-world effect is an important ingredient which should be taken into consideration in the complete description of real-world complex systems. In this letter, structural controllability of a class of local-world networks is investigated. Through extensive numerical simulations, firstly, effects of local world size M and network size N on structural controllability are examined. For local-world networks with sparse topological configuration, compared to network size, local-world size can induce stronger influence on controllability, however, for dense networks, controllability is greatly affected by network size and local-world effect can be neglected. Secondly, relationships between controllability and topological properties are analyzed. Lastly, the robustness of local-world networks under targeted attacks regarding structural controllability is discussed. These results can help to deepen the understanding of structural complexity and connectivity patterns of complex systems. - Highlights: • Structural controllability of a class of local-world networks is investigated. • For sparse local-world networks, compared to network size, local-world size can bring stronger influence on controllability. • For dense networks, controllability is greatly affected by network size and the effect of local-world size can be neglected. • Structural controllability against targeted node attacks is discussed.

  18. Towards structural controllability of local-world networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Shiwen, E-mail: sunsw80@126.com [Tianjin Key Laboratory of Intelligence Computing and Novel Software Technology, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384 (China); Key Laboratory of Computer Vision and System (Tianjin University of Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300384 (China); Ma, Yilin; Wu, Yafang; Wang, Li; Xia, Chengyi [Tianjin Key Laboratory of Intelligence Computing and Novel Software Technology, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384 (China); Key Laboratory of Computer Vision and System (Tianjin University of Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300384 (China)

    2016-05-20

    Controlling complex networks is of vital importance in science and engineering. Meanwhile, local-world effect is an important ingredient which should be taken into consideration in the complete description of real-world complex systems. In this letter, structural controllability of a class of local-world networks is investigated. Through extensive numerical simulations, firstly, effects of local world size M and network size N on structural controllability are examined. For local-world networks with sparse topological configuration, compared to network size, local-world size can induce stronger influence on controllability, however, for dense networks, controllability is greatly affected by network size and local-world effect can be neglected. Secondly, relationships between controllability and topological properties are analyzed. Lastly, the robustness of local-world networks under targeted attacks regarding structural controllability is discussed. These results can help to deepen the understanding of structural complexity and connectivity patterns of complex systems. - Highlights: • Structural controllability of a class of local-world networks is investigated. • For sparse local-world networks, compared to network size, local-world size can bring stronger influence on controllability. • For dense networks, controllability is greatly affected by network size and the effect of local-world size can be neglected. • Structural controllability against targeted node attacks is discussed.

  19. The Training Characteristics of the World's Most Successful Female Cross-Country Skier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guro S. Solli

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The main aim of this study was to investigate the training characteristics of the most successful female cross-country skier ever during the best period of her career. The participant won six gold medals at the Olympic Games, 18 gold medals at the World Championship, and 110 World Cup victories. Day-to-day training diary data, interviews, and physiological tests were analyzed. Training data was systemized by training form (endurance, strength, and speed, intensity [low- (LIT, moderate- (MIT, and high-intensity training (HIT], and mode (running, cycling, and skiing/roller skiing, followed by a division into different periodization phases. Specific sessions utilized in the various periodization periods and the day-to-day periodization of training, in connection with altitude camps and tapering toward major championships, were also analyzed. Following a 12-year nonlinear increase in training load, the annual training volume during the five consecutive successful years stabilized at 937 ± 25 h, distributed across 543 ± 9 sessions. During these 5 years, total training time was distributed as 90.6% endurance-, 8.0% strength-, and 1.4% speed-training, with endurance-training time consisting of 92.3 ± 0.3% LIT, 2.9 ± 0.5% MIT, and 4.8 ± 0.5% HIT. Total LIT-time consisted of 21% warm-up, 14% sessions <90 min, and 65% long-duration sessions >90 min. While the total number of LIT sessions remained stable across phases (32 sessions, total LIT-time was reduced from GP (76 h/month to SP (68 h/month and CP (55 h/month. MIT-time decreased from GP (2.8 h/month to SP (2.2 h/month and CP (1 h/month. HIT-time increased from GP (2.8 h/month to SP (3.2 h/month and CP (4.7 h/month. Altitude training accounted for 18–25% of annual training volume and performed across relatively short training camps (≤16 days with a clear reduction of HIT training, but increased total and LIT volume compared to sea-level training. Training before international championships

  20. Developing framework to analyze world-class maintenance (wcm) indicators: gap analysis to highlight challenges and opportunities for the Norwegian petroleum industry

    OpenAIRE

    Imam, Syeda Fahmida

    2012-01-01

    Master's thesis in Offshore Technology World-class Maintenance (WCM) is a unique business process which actually does not cost, rather pays back. This study was an initial attempt to understand the extent of WCM concept being utilized in the Norwegian industry. The aim of the study was to develop a framework for analyzing the WCM indicators. For this purpose, the study was focused to: identify measurable WCM indicators, find the trends of WCM in the Norwegian sector, and find gap betwee...

  1. WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS, EXPRESSION OF THE GENERAL CRISIS CAPITALISM AND THE SITUATION WORKERS IN THE CLASS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE CAPITAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente E. Escandell-Sosa

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This work, based on the method dialectical materialist of Marx, argues with scientific approaches, that the world economic crisis, for very sharp and severe she is, is not a crisis without exit of the capitalism neither it will cause the collapse of the capitalism, although she constitutes part of the general crisis of the capitalism and increase the same one, since no crisis of the capitalism will take it to its end in absence of a fight of classes, because the social force that must generate the revolutionary changes is very limited. «Without the products of the fight of classes, the economic crises, «per se» won’t be a threat for the capital. The essential question is if the proletariat will live the crisis like object or like decisive fellow». The immaturity of the proletariat and its subordination to the laws of the capital indicate that the specific nature of the capital remains hidden.» 

  2. Analysis of lower limb work-energy patterns in world-class race walkers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanley, Brian; Bissas, Athanassios

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to analyse lower limb work patterns in world-class race walkers. Seventeen male and female athletes race walked at competitive pace. Ground reaction forces (1000 Hz) and high-speed videos (100 Hz) were recorded and normalised joint moments, work and power, stride length, stride frequency and speed estimated. The hip flexors and extensors were the main generators of energy (24.5 J (±6.9) and 40.3 J (±8.3), respectively), with the ankle plantarflexors (16.3 J (±4.3)) contributing to the energy generated during late stance. The knee generated little energy but performed considerable negative work during swing (-49.1 J (±8.7)); the energy absorbed by the knee extensors was associated with smaller changes in velocity during stance (r = .783, P < .001), as was the energy generated by the hip flexors (r = -.689, P = .002). The knee flexors did most negative work (-38.6 J (±5.8)) and the frequent injuries to the hamstrings are probably due to this considerable negative work. Coaches should note the important contributions of the hip and ankle muscles to energy generation and the need to develop knee flexor strength in reducing the risk of injury.

  3. Class categories and the subjective dimension of class: the case of Denmark.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrits, Gitte Sommer; Pedersen, Helene Helboe

    2018-03-01

    Class relations have been proven to affect various aspects of social life, even in modern individualized societies. However, following claims on individualization and the so-called 'death of class' thesis, studying the subjective dimension of class - that is, the way individuals perceive of class relations and their own position within them - has gone out of style. We argue that even in equalized societies, subjective class perceptions may still influence attitudes and behaviour as they evolve to fit modern class relations. To explore the existence as well as structure and content of perceived social classes, this article investigates how people describe society and social groups in focus group discussions. We find that groups in different positions in terms of education and economy all tend to apply hierarchical class categories to describe Danish society, which is normally seen as one of the most equal societies and political systems in the world. In addition, we find that economic resources serve as a baseline for the hierarchical ordering, often supplemented with notions of education, lifestyle and/or occupational profile. Even though people are somewhat uncomfortable with the notion of class, their descriptions of Danish society and classes are surprisingly similar within and across groups. We conclude that not only do class relations matter; people are also highly aware of the existing classes and able to position themselves and others according to their notion of classes. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

  4. 76 FR 68058 - Classes of Poultry

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-03

    ... for some poultry classes, while extensive cross breeding has produced poultry with higher meat yields... Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) for consultation to ensure that there is no inconsistency... classifications, proposed changes to the game hen classes, and other proposed editorial changes. Response: FSIS...

  5. Evaluation depth of the curve of Spee in class I, class II, and class III malocclusion: A cross sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjna Nayar

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Occlusal plane is an essential consideration when multiple long-span posterior restorations are designed. When restorations are added to an existing tooth arrangement characterized by rotated, tipped, or extruded teeth, excursive interferences may be incorporated, resulting in detrimental squeal. The curve of Spee, which exists in the ideal natural dentition, allows harmony to exist between the anterior tooth and condylar guidance. This curve exists in the sagittal plane and is the best viewed from a lateral aspect. It permits total posterior disclusion on mandibular protrusion, given proper anterior tooth guidance. It is unclear that whether the curve of Spee is a description of the occlusal surface of each arch separately or in maximal intercuspation. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the depth of curve of Spee between the class I, class II, class III and to investigate the relationship of depth of curve of Spee with over jet, over-bite.

  6. Peak shifting and cross-class subsidization: The impacts of solar PV on changes in electricity costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, Erik; Beppler, Ross; Blackburn, Chris; Staver, Benjamin; Brown, Marilyn; Matisoff, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    The expansion of distributed solar necessitates additional research into the impacts on both utilities and their customers. In this paper we use New Jersey solar data, PJM market data, and demand profiles from a PJM utility to investigate rate and bill impacts of large-scale solar penetration. In addition to the subsidization of solar adopters by non-participants, we highlight the channels through which cross-subsidization of rate classes can arise in practice. The results of our study indicate that the fear of a utility “death spiral” may be exaggerated. Significant solar can be incorporated with only a 2% increase in non-participant bills. At high levels of penetration, distributed solar has the potential to alter the system peak hour which affects the allocation of costs across rate-classes. As the peak hour shifts to the evening when solar production diminishes, residential customers face higher distribution costs. Policy makers and utilities need to be aware of these challenges in designing the next generation of rates that are better aligned with cost causality. - Highlights: • We develop a model of electricity costs with large amounts of solar adoption. • Solar adoption leads to cost redistribution across customer classes. • Costs are redistributed partially because peak utility load shifts later in the day. • Residential distributed solar generation affects electricity bills the most. • We confirm the subsidy of participants by non-participants in net metering programs.

  7. World Views, a Story about How the World Works: Their Significance in the Australian Curriculum: Geography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, Nick

    2013-01-01

    The Australian Curriculum Cross-curriculum priorities and the Australian Curriculum: Geography both include the term "world views." The meaning of world views, the development of world views as part of the history of geographic thought, and the adoption world of views by teachers and students, affect the ways in which geography is taught…

  8. Mechanisms of injuries in World Cup Snowboard Cross: a systematic video analysis of 19 cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakken, Arnhild; Bere, Tone; Bahr, Roald; Kristianslund, Eirik; Nordsletten, Lars

    2011-12-01

    Snowboard cross (SBX) became an official Olympic sport in 2006. This discipline includes manoeuvring several obstacles while competing in heats. It is common for the riders to collide, making this sport both exciting and at risk of injuries. Although a recent study from the 2010 Olympic Games has shown that the injury risk was high, little is known about the injury mechanisms. To qualitatively describe the injury situation and mechanism of injuries in World Cup Snowboard Cross. Descriptive video analysis. Nineteen video recordings of SBX injuries reported through the International Ski Federation Injury Surveillance System for four World Cup seasons (2006 to 2010) were obtained. Five experts in the field of sports medicine, snowboard and biomechanics performed analyses of each case to describe the injury mechanism in detail (riding situation and rider behaviour). Injuries occurred at jumping (n=13), bank turning (n=5) or rollers (n=1). The primary cause of the injuries was a technical error at take-off resulting in a too high jump and subsequent flat-landing. The rider was then unable to recover leading to fall at the time of injury. Injuries at bank turn was characterised by a pattern where the rider in a balanced position lost control due to unintentional contact with another rider. Jumping appeared to be the most challenging obstacle in SBX, where a technical error at take-off was the primary cause of the injuries. The second most common inciting event was unintentional board contact between riders at bank turning.

  9. Structural (Performance) class Potential for North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eric Jones; David E. Kretschmann; Kevin Cheung

    2014-01-01

    Structural class systems are species-independent product classification systems for structural timber. They are used throughout the world to reduce the number of species and grade choices that face the designer of wood construction projects. Structural class systems offer an opportunity to simplify timber specification in North America and to encourage more effective...

  10. Up to code: does your company's conduct meet world-class standards?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paine, Lynn; Deshpandé, Rohit; Margolis, Joshua D; Bettcher, Kim Eric

    2005-12-01

    Codes of conduct have long been a feature of corporate life. Today, they are arguably a legal necessity--at least for public companies with a presence in the United States. But the issue goes beyond U.S. legal and regulatory requirements. Sparked by corruption and excess of various types, dozens of industry, government, investor, and multisector groups worldwide have proposed codes and guidelines to govern corporate behavior. These initiatives reflect an increasingly global debate on the nature of corporate legitimacy. Given the legal, organizational, reputational, and strategic considerations, few companies will want to be without a code. But what should it say? Apart from a handful of essentials spelled out in Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and NYSE rules, authoritative guidance is sorely lacking. In search of some reference points for managers, the authors undertook a systematic analysis of a select group of codes. In this article, they present their findings in the form of a "codex," a reference source on code content. The Global Business Standards Codex contains a set of overarching principles as well as a set of conduct standards for putting those principles into practice. The GBS Codex is not intended to be adopted as is, but is meant to be used as a benchmark by those wishing to create their own world-class code. The provisions of the codex must be customized to a company's specific business and situation; individual companies' codes will include their own distinctive elements as well. What the codex provides is a starting point grounded in ethical fundamentals and aligned with an emerging global consensus on basic standards of corporate behavior.

  11. Brazil World Cup Challenges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MANSUR, R.

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Overcoming the productivity challenge is the main benefit of the 2014 World Cup for Brazilian people. The sustainable development of our cultural tourism industry will catapult the new middle class growing up rate.

  12. Knowledge Management and World Class Manufacturing: an initial approach based on a literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael de Carvalho Mendes

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT This paper presents the partial results of an ongoing research on the proposal of a methodology for the integration between Knowledge Management (KM and World Class Manufacturing (WCM. The initial investigation of theoretical and conceptual nature aimed at developing a comprehensive and current vision on KM, WCM, and how (or "whether" these constructs relate to one another. The primary sources for the literature review were Web of Science, Scopus, Emerald, Ebsco, SciELO and Spell, and the time frame was 2000 to 2016. The analysis of the selected papers showed that, although the initial WCM model evolved into a "new WCM" in the 2000s, the literature is still focused on the broad conceptual aspects and basic methods and tools, such as Total Quality Process, Total Productive Maintenance and Just-in-Time, conceived in the Toyota Production System, which shows the need for more studies focused on the current scenario of companies associated with the "new WCM" and its Methods and Tools. Only one article explicitly addressing the interaction between KM theories with WCM was found in the databases surveyed, thus reinforcing the lack of theoretical approximation of these constructs.

  13. CrossLink: a novel method for cross-condition classification of cancer subtypes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Chifeng; Sastry, Konduru S; Flore, Mario; Gehani, Salah; Al-Bozom, Issam; Feng, Yusheng; Serpedin, Erchin; Chouchane, Lotfi; Chen, Yidong; Huang, Yufei

    2016-08-22

    We considered the prediction of cancer classes (e.g. subtypes) using patient gene expression profiles that contain both systematic and condition-specific biases when compared with the training reference dataset. The conventional normalization-based approaches cannot guarantee that the gene signatures in the reference and prediction datasets always have the same distribution for all different conditions as the class-specific gene signatures change with the condition. Therefore, the trained classifier would work well under one condition but not under another. To address the problem of current normalization approaches, we propose a novel algorithm called CrossLink (CL). CL recognizes that there is no universal, condition-independent normalization mapping of signatures. In contrast, it exploits the fact that the signature is unique to its associated class under any condition and thus employs an unsupervised clustering algorithm to discover this unique signature. We assessed the performance of CL for cross-condition predictions of PAM50 subtypes of breast cancer by using a simulated dataset modeled after TCGA BRCA tumor samples with a cross-validation scheme, and datasets with known and unknown PAM50 classification. CL achieved prediction accuracy >73 %, highest among other methods we evaluated. We also applied the algorithm to a set of breast cancer tumors derived from Arabic population to assign a PAM50 classification to each tumor based on their gene expression profiles. A novel algorithm CrossLink for cross-condition prediction of cancer classes was proposed. In all test datasets, CL showed robust and consistent improvement in prediction performance over other state-of-the-art normalization and classification algorithms.

  14. TECHNICAL FEATURES OF RIGGED YACHT BY CATEGORIES AND CLASSES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svitlana Yeroshkina

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The article is directed on the deeply meaningful scientific study and structural analysis of the technical features of the rigged world modern yachts to pass sailing regattas in different navigation areas. The complete classification of sailing boats in it’s world classes was done for olympic, international, national regattas. It was done the technical indicators of yachting racing classes. The economic analysis material selection sails for yachts are directed of different types of races. In it’s scientific article is made economic calculation of operating cost of the boat and it was done the analysis of cost saving yachts in european / ukrainian marinas.Key words: yachting, rigged yacht, racing, classes of yachts. JEL: L 92

  15. The World Soil Museum: education and advocacy on soils of the world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantel, Stephan; Land, Hiske

    2013-04-01

    The World Soil Museum (WSM) in Wageningen, is part of ISRIC World Soil Information and was founded in 1966 on request of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Soil Science Society. The World Soil Museum has a collection of over 1100 soil profiles from more than 70 countries. This soil profiles are vertical sections and show the composition, layering and structure of the soil. The collection is unique in the world and includes a significant number of soil profiles from the Netherlands. The Dutch soil collection is important for serving broader visitor groups, as some visitors, such as secondary school classes, are specifically interested in the Dutch landscape and soils. Broadly speaking, the World Soil Museum has five functions: (i) education and courses, (ii) research, (iii) information and edutainment, (iv) social function, and (v) a real museum function (Art). The World Soil Museum (World Soil Museum) is well known in national and international circles soil and the English name has almost 1,000 references on the Internet. The World Soil Museum is visited by about 1000 people a year, mainly university and college students from Western Europe. Other visitor groups that have found their way to the museum are students from disciplines broader then soil science, such as geography and rural development. Secondary school classes visit the museum for geography classes. The uniqueness and the value of the collection of soil profiles (soil monoliths) and associated collections, such as soil samples, hand pieces, thin sections, slides, is emphasized by the fact ISRIC is the only World Data Centre for Soils (WDC-Soils) within the World Data System of the International Council of Science (ICSU). The collection provides an insight in and overview of the diversity of soils in the world, their properties and their limitations and possibilities for use. A new building is under construction for the WSM, which is

  16. An Agenda for Research on Work and Class in the Post-socialist World

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morris, Jeremy

    2017-01-01

    ) greater confrontation of the one-sided discourse on class in these societies and the academy itself (a class blindness of research). 2) The value in studying postsocialist societies both comparatively to Global North and South, and as an intermediate positioning for worker exploitation and responses...... in global capitalism. 3) To achieve the first two agenda items a more grounded methodological approach proceeding from the lived experience of class and work is proposed. Current research on social networks, memory studies and personhood, the informal economy, deindustrialization, and the ‘domestication...

  17. Selection, trans-species polymorphism, and locus identification of major histocompatibility complex class IIβ alleles of New World ranid frogs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiemnec-Tyburczy, Karen M.; Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Savage, Anna E.; Zamudio, Kelly R.

    2010-01-01

    Genes encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) play key roles in the vertebrate immune system. However, our understanding of the evolutionary processes and underlying genetic mechanisms shaping these genes is limited in many taxa, including amphibians, a group currently impacted by emerging infectious diseases. To further elucidate the evolution of the MHC in frogs (anurans) and develop tools for population genetics, we surveyed allelic diversity of the MHC class II ??1 domain in both genomic and complementary DNA of seven New World species in the genus Rana (Lithobates). To assign locus affiliation to our alleles, we used a "gene walking" technique to obtain intron 2 sequences that flanked MHC class II?? exon 2. Two distinct intron sequences were recovered, suggesting the presence of at least two class II?? loci in Rana. We designed a primer pair that successfully amplified an orthologous locus from all seven Rana species. In total, we recovered 13 alleles and documented trans-species polymorphism for four of the alleles. We also found quantitative evidence of selection acting on amino acid residues that are putatively involved in peptide binding and structural stability of the ??1 domain of anurans. Our results indicated that primer mismatch can result in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bias, which influences the number of alleles that are recovered. Using a single locus may minimize PCR bias caused by primer mismatch, and the gene walking technique was an effective approach for generating single-copy orthologous markers necessary for future studies of MHC allelic variation in natural amphibian populations. ?? 2010 Springer-Verlag.

  18. Poverty crisis in the Third World: the contradictions of World Bank policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burkett, P

    1991-01-01

    Politicians, the mainstream media, and orthodox social science have all been telling us of a final victory of capitalism over socialism, suggesting that capitalism is the only viable option for solving the world's problems. Yet, the global capitalist system is itself entering the third decade of a profound structural crisis, the costs of which have been borne largely by the exploited and oppressed peoples of the underdeveloped periphery. While the World Bank's latest World Development Report recognizes the current poverty crisis in the third world, its "two-part strategy" for alleviating poverty is based on an inadequate analysis of how peripheral capitalist development marginalizes the basic needs of the third world poor. Hence, the World Bank's assertion that free-market policies are consistent with effective antipoverty programs does not confront the class structures and global capitalist interests bound up with the reproduction of mass poverty in the third world. The World Bank's subordination of the basic needs of the poor to free-market adjustments and reforms in fact suggests that the real purpose of its "two-part strategy" is to ensure continued extraction of surplus from third world countries by maintaining the basic structure of imperialist underdevelopment.

  19. Multiple meanings of the middle class in soweto, south Africa

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    symbolic container labeled middle class. (By social position here we mean class but also, for example, labour-market stratificiations within classes (see Ceruti 2010) and age.) We re-establish a link between 'where we stand in the world and how we see ourselves' (Bottero, 2005; 10). Olin-Wright (1989) concedes to Brenner ...

  20. Excellence Initiatives to Establish World-Class Universities: Evaluation of Recent Experiences

    OpenAIRE

    Jamil Salmi; Isak Froumin

    2013-01-01

    Jamil Salmi, Ph. D., coordinator of the World Banks tertiary education program (NW, Washington, D.C., United States), member of the International Advisory Panel, National Research University -Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: Address: The World Bank Institute, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, United States.Isak Froumin, Ped.D., Professor, Director of Research and Development at the Education Institute, National Research Unive...

  1. Investigating the Cellular and Metabolic Responses of World-Class Canoeists Training: A Sportomics Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wagner Santos Coelho

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available (1 Background: We have been using the Sportomics approach to evaluate biochemical and hematological changes in response to exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the metabolic and hematologic responses of world-class canoeists during a training session; (2 Methods: Blood samples were taken at different points and analyzed for their hematological properties, activities of selected enzymes, hormones, and metabolites; (3 Results: Muscle stress biomarkers were elevated in response to exercise which correlated with modifications in the profile of white blood cells, where a leukocyte rise was observed after the canoe session. These results were accompanied by an increase in other exercise intensity parameters such as lactatemia and ammonemia. Adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol increased during the exercise sessions. The acute rise in both erythrocytes and white blood profile were probably due to muscle cell damage, rather than hepatocyte integrity impairment; (4 Conclusion: The cellular and metabolic responses found here, together with effective nutrition support, are crucial to understanding the effects of exercise in order to assist in the creation of new training and recovery planning. Also we show that Sportomics is a primal tool for training management and performance improvement, as well as to the understanding of metabolic response to exercise.

  2. Social class, employment status and inequality in psychological well-being in the UK: Cross-sectional and fixed effects analyses over two decades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Lindsay; Paskov, Marii

    2016-10-01

    A body of academic research has shown a social class gradient in psychological well-being. Some recent work has also suggested that the gradient is worsening over time, though the evidence is mixed. We focus on two straightforward research questions: Is there a class gradient in mental health? Has this gradient changed over time? We answer these questions with attention to two specific causal pathways: employment status and unobserved heterogeneity. We use two data sources: repeated cross-sections from the Health Survey of England (HSE) and longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The combination of pooled OLS regression (with HSE) and fixed effects analysis (with BHPS) allows for a robust analysis of the relationship between class and psychological well-being. We argue that employment status is a confounder in the analysis of class inequalities and show that, along with unobserved heterogeneity, these two pathways go a long way to explain the class gradient. The effects of employment status are substantive and, unlike social class, cannot be explained away by unobserved heterogeneity. We conclude that employment status deserves greater prominence in the debate as both a pathway by which the class gradient transpires, and as another 'dimension' of inequality in its own right. Our overtime analysis suggests that skilled and unskilled manual workers had higher psychological well-being in the 1990s but by 2008 were closer to the average. Class inequalities do not appear to be widening. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. An Agenda for Research on Work and Class in the Post-socialist World

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morris, Jeremy

    2017-01-01

    ’ of neoliberalism, show that empirically-grounded work on postsocialist working-classes can make important contributions to wider social science debates. Studying the ‘losers’ of transition can tell us much about populist politics, the rise of the global working-class outside the Global North and the nature...

  4. World Class: USBBY's Outstanding International Books for Young People

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angus, Carolyn

    2009-01-01

    Some of the world's best children's book artists got together to help Amnesty International celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' 60th anniversary in "We Are All Born Free," one of the 42 titles recommended by the fourth annual United States Board on Books for Young People's (USBBY) Outstanding International Books…

  5. Making “World Machines”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Light, Ann; Bardzell, Jeffrey; Bardzell, Shaowen

    2015-01-01

    be combined and turned to crowd-sourcing public engagement with shared world issues - as an alternative to business-as-usual in the context of developing and deploying networked technology. We combine theoretical aspects of world machines, such as what a political entity of this kind might seek to do......The world machine is a new archetype for a socio-technical system drawing together a group of tools that combine computational powers with a social agenda of cross-world collaboration in resistance to dominant market rhetoric. Specifically, we look at how powers to connect, sense and infer can...

  6. Global Tactical Cross-Asset Allocation: Applying Value and Momentum Across Asset Classes

    OpenAIRE

    Blitz, D.C.; van Vliet, P.

    2008-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper we examine global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Contrary to market timing for single asset classes and tactical allocation across similar assets, this topic has received little attention in the existing literature. Our main finding is that momentum and value strategies applied to GTAA across twelve asset classes deliver statistically and economically significant abnormal returns. For a long top-quartile and short b...

  7. Personality maturation around the world: a cross-cultural examination of social-investment theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bleidorn, Wiebke; Klimstra, Theo A; Denissen, Jaap J A; Rentfrow, Peter J; Potter, Jeff; Gosling, Samuel D

    2013-12-01

    During early adulthood, individuals from different cultures across the world tend to become more agreeable, more conscientious, and less neurotic. Two leading theories offer different explanations for these pervasive age trends: Five-factor theory proposes that personality maturation is largely determined by genetic factors, whereas social-investment theory proposes that personality maturation in early adulthood is largely the result of normative life transitions to adult roles. In the research reported here, we conducted the first systematic cross-cultural test of these theories using data from a large Internet-based sample of young adults from 62 nations (N = 884,328). We found strong evidence for universal personality maturation from early to middle adulthood, yet there were significant cultural differences in age effects on personality traits. Consistent with social-investment theory, results showed that cultures with an earlier onset of adult-role responsibilities were marked by earlier personality maturation.

  8. Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the same?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coates, Anthony R M; Halls, Gerry; Hu, Yanmin

    2011-05-01

    The world is running out of antibiotics. Between 1940 and 1962, more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were marketed. Since then, only two new classes have reached the market. Analogue development kept pace with the emergence of resistant bacteria until 10-20 years ago. Now, not enough analogues are reaching the market to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance, particularly among gram-negative bacteria. This review examines the existing systemic antibiotic pipeline in the public domain, and reveals that 27 compounds are in clinical development, of which two are new classes, both of which are in Phase I clinical trials. In view of the high attrition rate of drugs in early clinical development, particularly new classes and the current regulatory hurdles, it does not seem likely that new classes will be marketed soon. This paper suggests that, if the world is to return to a situation in which there are enough antibiotics to cope with the inevitable ongoing emergence of bacterial resistance, we need to recreate the prolific antibiotic discovery period between 1940 and 1962, which produced 20 classes that served the world well for 60 years. If another 20 classes and their analogues, particularly targeting gram-negatives could be produced soon, they might last us for the next 60 years. How can this be achieved? Only a huge effort by governments in the form of finance, legislation and providing industry with real incentives will reverse this. Industry needs to re-enter the market on a much larger scale, and academia should rebuild its antibiotic discovery infrastructure to support this effort. The alternative is Medicine without effective antibiotics. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

  9. Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the same?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coates, Anthony RM; Halls, Gerry; Hu, Yanmin

    2011-01-01

    The world is running out of antibiotics. Between 1940 and 1962, more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were marketed. Since then, only two new classes have reached the market. Analogue development kept pace with the emergence of resistant bacteria until 10–20 years ago. Now, not enough analogues are reaching the market to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance, particularly among gram-negative bacteria. This review examines the existing systemic antibiotic pipeline in the public domain, and reveals that 27 compounds are in clinical development, of which two are new classes, both of which are in Phase I clinical trials. In view of the high attrition rate of drugs in early clinical development, particularly new classes and the current regulatory hurdles, it does not seem likely that new classes will be marketed soon. This paper suggests that, if the world is to return to a situation in which there are enough antibiotics to cope with the inevitable ongoing emergence of bacterial resistance, we need to recreate the prolific antibiotic discovery period between 1940 and 1962, which produced 20 classes that served the world well for 60 years. If another 20 classes and their analogues, particularly targeting gram-negatives could be produced soon, they might last us for the next 60 years. How can this be achieved? Only a huge effort by governments in the form of finance, legislation and providing industry with real incentives will reverse this. Industry needs to re-enter the market on a much larger scale, and academia should rebuild its antibiotic discovery infrastructure to support this effort. The alternative is Medicine without effective antibiotics. LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed issue on Respiratory Pharmacology. To view the other articles in this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2011.163.issue-1 PMID:21323894

  10. A cross-sectional investigation of parenting style and friendship as mediators of the relation between social class and mental health in a university community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubin, Mark; Kelly, Benjamin M

    2015-10-05

    This study tested a novel explanation for the positive relation between social class and mental health among university students. Students with a higher social class were expected to have experienced more authoritative and less authoritarian parenting styles; these parenting styles were expected to lead to greater friendship and social integration at university; and greater friendship and integration were expected to lead to better mental health. To test this model, the researchers asked 397 Australian undergraduate students to complete an online survey. The research used a cross-sectional correlational design, and the data was analysed using bootstrapped multiple serial mediation tests. Consistent with predictions, parenting style, general friendship and support, and social integration at university mediated the relation between social class and mental health. The present results suggest that working-class parenting styles may inhibit the development of socially-supportive friendships that protect against mental health problems. The potential effectiveness of interventions based on (a) social integration and (b) parenting style is discussed. Future research in this area should employ a longitudinal research design in order to arrive at clearer causal conclusions about the relations between social class, parenting styles, friendship, social integration, and mental health.

  11. Social class rank, essentialism, and punitive judgment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Michael W; Keltner, Dacher

    2013-08-01

    Recent evidence suggests that perceptions of social class rank influence a variety of social cognitive tendencies, from patterns of causal attribution to moral judgment. In the present studies we tested the hypotheses that upper-class rank individuals would be more likely to endorse essentialist lay theories of social class categories (i.e., that social class is founded in genetically based, biological differences) than would lower-class rank individuals and that these beliefs would decrease support for restorative justice--which seeks to rehabilitate offenders, rather than punish unlawful action. Across studies, higher social class rank was associated with increased essentialism of social class categories (Studies 1, 2, and 4) and decreased support for restorative justice (Study 4). Moreover, manipulated essentialist beliefs decreased preferences for restorative justice (Study 3), and the association between social class rank and class-based essentialist theories was explained by the tendency to endorse beliefs in a just world (Study 2). Implications for how class-based essentialist beliefs potentially constrain social opportunity and mobility are discussed.

  12. Thin-plate spline analysis of craniofacial growth in Class I and Class II subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franchi, Lorenzo; Baccetti, Tiziano; Stahl, Franka; McNamara, James A

    2007-07-01

    To compare the craniofacial growth characteristics of untreated subjects with Class II division 1 malocclusion with those of subjects with normal (Class I) occlusion from the prepubertal through the postpubertal stages of development. The Class II division 1 sample consisted of 17 subjects (11 boys and six girls). The Class I sample also consisted of 17 subjects (13 boys and four girls). Three craniofacial regions (cranial base, maxilla, and mandible) were analyzed on the lateral cephalograms of the subjects in both groups by means of thin-plate spline analysis at T1 (prepubertal) and T2 (postpubertal). Both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons were performed on both size and shape differences between the two groups. The results showed an increased cranial base angulation as a morphological feature of Class II malocclusion at the prepubertal developmental phase. Maxillary changes in either shape or size were not significant. Subjects with Class II malocclusion exhibited a significant deficiency in the size of the mandible at the completion of active craniofacial growth as compared with Class I subjects. A significant deficiency in the size of the mandible became apparent in Class II subjects during the circumpubertal period and it was still present at the completion of active craniofacial growth.

  13. Soybean exports and deforestation from a world-systems perspective: a cross-national investigation of comparative disadvantage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, Kelly F

    2010-01-01

    This article draws on world-system theorizing to explore the relationship between deforestation and the vertical flow of soybean exports from less-developed nations to more-developed nations as a specific form of ecologically unequal exchange. Despite overwhelming case-study research exploring soybean-deforestation dynamics in less-developed countries, the current literature lacks any cross-national investigation of this trend. Ordinary least squares regression is used to examine whether soybean exports are associated with deforestation and if the magnitude of this relationship varies by region. Overall, the findings confirm the proposed hypotheses and suggest that having a comparative advantage in soybean production is not a viable development strategy.

  14. Occupational Social Class and Personality Traits in Relation to Leisure-Time Physical Activity Level: Cross-Sectional Results From the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Gitte L; Mortensen, Erik L; Rod, Naja H; Lange, Theis; Flensborg-Madsen, Trine; Hansen, Åse M; Lund, Rikke

    2017-06-01

    To investigate separate and combined associations of occupational social class and personality traits with late midlife leisure-time physical activity duration and intensity. Cross-sectional data from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank ( N = 4,649) were analyzed using linear regression models with leisure-time physical activity (metric equivalence) as outcome. Low versus high occupational social class was associated with 4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [3%, 5%]) greater leisure-time physical activity duration, but 2% (CI = [1%, 3%]) lower intensity. Each 10-unit increase in extraversion was associated with 5% (CI = [2%, 8%]) greater duration. Intensity increased by each 10-unit increase in conscientiousness (6%, CI = [4%, 7%]), openness (3%, CI = [1%, 4%]), neuroticism (3%, CI = [1%, 4%]), and extraversion (5%, CI = [4%, 7%]). Conscientiousness was positively associated with duration in low, but not in high, occupational social class (interaction p value = .002). Higher occupational social class was associated with lower leisure-time physical activity duration, but higher intensity. Extraversion was positively associated with duration and intensity. Conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism were positively associated with intensity. Overall, interactions were not consistent.

  15. Statistical investigation of avalanches of three-dimensional small-world networks and their boundary and bulk cross-sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najafi, M. N.; Dashti-Naserabadi, H.

    2018-03-01

    In many situations we are interested in the propagation of energy in some portions of a three-dimensional system with dilute long-range links. In this paper, a sandpile model is defined on the three-dimensional small-world network with real dissipative boundaries and the energy propagation is studied in three dimensions as well as the two-dimensional cross-sections. Two types of cross-sections are defined in the system, one in the bulk and another in the system boundary. The motivation of this is to make clear how the statistics of the avalanches in the bulk cross-section tend to the statistics of the dissipative avalanches, defined in the boundaries as the concentration of long-range links (α ) increases. This trend is numerically shown to be a power law in a manner described in the paper. Two regimes of α are considered in this work. For sufficiently small α s the dominant behavior of the system is just like that of the regular BTW, whereas for the intermediate values the behavior is nontrivial with some exponents that are reported in the paper. It is shown that the spatial extent up to which the statistics is similar to the regular BTW model scales with α just like the dissipative BTW model with the dissipation factor (mass in the corresponding ghost model) m2˜α for the three-dimensional system as well as its two-dimensional cross-sections.

  16. Crossing the Virtual World Barrier with OpenAvatar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joy, Bruce; Kavle, Lori; Tan, Ian

    2012-01-01

    There are multiple standards and formats for 3D models in virtual environments. The problem is that there is no open source platform for generating models out of discrete parts; this results in the process of having to "reinvent the wheel" when new games, virtual worlds and simulations want to enable their users to create their own avatars or easily customize in-world objects. OpenAvatar is designed to provide a framework to allow artists and programmers to create reusable assets which can be used by end users to generate vast numbers of complete models that are unique and functional. OpenAvatar serves as a framework which facilitates the modularization of 3D models allowing parts to be interchanged within a set of logical constraints.

  17. Using the Web To Deliver and Enhance Classes: Two Case Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helford, Paul Q.; Lei, Richard M.

    This paper discusses two case studies conducted at Northern Arizona University. The studies are from classes that are using the World Wide Web to enhance teaching and learning. One class is the Art of Cinema, a film studies class that has been taught via Instructional Television (ITV) for five years. Various techniques have been used over the…

  18. Global Tactical Cross-Asset Allocation: Applying Value and Momentum Across Asset Classes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D.C. Blitz (David); P. van Vliet (Pim)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper we examine global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Contrary to market timing for single asset classes and tactical allocation across similar assets, this topic has received little attention in the existing literature. Our

  19. Increased Blood Lactate Level Deteriorates Running Economy in World Class Endurance Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoff, Jan; Støren, Øyvind; Finstad, Arnstein; Wang, Eivind; Helgerud, Jan

    2016-05-01

    Blood lactate accumulation is associated with development of muscle fatigue and negatively correlated to endurance performance. No research has quantified the effects of lactate presence at moderate levels of lactate accumulation. The purpose of this study was to test whether 2 moderate blood lactate concentration levels affect running economy (RE) when running at the individual lactate threshold (LT). Seven male world class endurance athletes with an average V[Combining Dot Above]O2max of 80.7 ± 2.7 ml·kg·min or 5.8 ± 0.5 L·min participated in this study. After the V[Combining Dot Above]O2max test, the subjects were resting or walking and in a random order tested for RE at their LT velocity when the blood lactate level reached either 3 mmol·L or 5 mmol·L. After a new 5-minute exercising period at maximal aerobic velocity, the crossover lactate value RE testing was performed. Running economy was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) deteriorated from 0.668 ± 0.044 to 0.705 ± 0.056 ml·kg·m or 5.5% (p ≤ 0.05) for blood lactate level of 3 mmol·L compared with 5 mmol·L, respectively. Increased lactate level from 3 to 5 mmol·L is thus accompanied by deteriorated RE at LT running velocity. The deteriorated RE at moderate levels of lactate concentration emphasizes the importance of avoiding intensities above LT in the early parts of a dominantly aerobic endurance competition. It also emphasizes the importance of a high V[Combining Dot Above]O2max for aerobic endurance athletes and may partly explain the V[Combining Dot Above]O2 slow component as impaired RE.

  20. How social-class stereotypes maintain inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durante, Federica; Fiske, Susan T

    2017-12-01

    Social class stereotypes support inequality through various routes: ambivalent content, early appearance in children, achievement consequences, institutionalization in education, appearance in cross-class social encounters, and prevalence in the most unequal societies. Class-stereotype content is ambivalent, describing lower-SES people both negatively (less competent, less human, more objectified), and sometimes positively, perhaps warmer than upper-SES people. Children acquire the wealth aspects of class stereotypes early, which become more nuanced with development. In school, class stereotypes advantage higher-SES students, and educational contexts institutionalize social-class distinctions. Beyond school, well-intentioned face-to-face encounters ironically draw on stereotypes to reinforce the alleged competence of higher-status people and sometimes the alleged warmth of lower-status people. Countries with more inequality show more of these ambivalent stereotypes of both lower-SES and higher-SES people. At a variety of levels and life stages, social-class stereotypes reinforce inequality, but constructive contact can undermine them; future efforts need to address high-status privilege and to query more heterogeneous samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. The spreading of the technical ability in aid of the nurses of the red cross (SP in the circumstances of the I World War (1917-1918

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Porto

    2006-08-01

    Full Text Available Social-Historical study which aim is to describe the circumstances of the Brazil’s entrance in the 1st World War and to describe and analyze the photographic content about the Brazilian nurses prepare to participate at the Brazilian Red Cross services in the 1st World War. Periodic delimitation was in the year of 1917, when it occurs the spreading of Brazil’s participation in 1st World War and 1918 the spreading of the departure of a Brazilian medical commission for attendance to the wounded in the War. Documental study grounded in Bordieu conceptual frame, based on written and photographic documents refereeing that time, and with a special detach to the analysis of four pictures published in The Week Magazine. The I World War agitated the written and illustrated press. The Brazilian Red Cross, through the School of Nurses of São Paulo, presented to the society the nurses technical competences for aid care assistance with the habitus formation and school status acquired, but because adverse reasons it did not get real visibility in the institutional report. But, in the illustrated press we find vestiges of the Brazilian nurses participation in a hospital in Paris.

  2. Prediction of solubility and permeability class membership: provisional BCS classification of the world's top oral drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahan, Arik; Miller, Jonathan M; Amidon, Gordon L

    2009-12-01

    The Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) categorizes drugs into one of four biopharmaceutical classes according to their water solubility and membrane permeability characteristics and broadly allows the prediction of the rate-limiting step in the intestinal absorption process following oral administration. Since its introduction in 1995, the BCS has generated remarkable impact on the global pharmaceutical sciences arena, in drug discovery, development, and regulation, and extensive validation/discussion/extension of the BCS is continuously published in the literature. The BCS has been effectively implanted by drug regulatory agencies around the world in setting bioavailability/bioequivalence standards for immediate-release (IR) oral drug product approval. In this review, we describe the BCS scientific framework and impact on regulatory practice of oral drug products and review the provisional BCS classification of the top drugs on the global market. The Biopharmaceutical Drug Disposition Classification System and its association with the BCS are discussed as well. One notable finding of the provisional BCS classification is that the clinical performance of the majority of approved IR oral drug products essential for human health can be assured with an in vitro dissolution test, rather than empirical in vivo human studies.

  3. One world schoolhouse education reimagined

    CERN Document Server

    Khan, Salman

    2013-01-01

    A free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere: this is the goal of the Khan Academy, a passion project that grew from an ex-engineer and hedge funder's online tutoring sessions with his niece, who was struggling with algebra, into a worldwide phenomenon. Today millions of students, parents, and teachers use the Khan Academy's free videos and software, which have expanded to encompass nearly every conceivable subject; and Academy techniques are being employed with exciting results in a growing number of classrooms around the globe. Like many innovators, Khan rethinks existing assumptions and imagines what education could be if freed from them. And his core idea - liberating teachers from lecturing and state-mandated calendars and opening up class time for truly human interaction - has become his life's passion. Schools seek his advice about connecting to students in a digital age, and people of all ages and backgrounds flock to the site to utilise this fresh approach to learning. In THE ONE WORLD SCHOOL...

  4. Links to Learning: Recommended Websites for Your World History Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wangerin, Laura

    2012-01-01

    Technology offers three major benefits to world history teachers: an online supply of supplemental resources; access to creative tools; and the opportunity for students to collaborate. These three positive contributions vary in the degree of involvement they require of students. Supplemental resources offer or display information, but often lack a…

  5. Country-specific determinants of world university rankings

    OpenAIRE

    Pietrucha, Jacek

    2017-01-01

    This paper examines country-specific factors that affect the three most influential world university rankings (the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the QS World University Ranking, and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking). We run a cross sectional regression that covers 42–71 countries (depending on the ranking and data availability). We show that the position of universities from a country in the ranking is determined by the following country-specific variables: econom...

  6. Pushing the Limit: A Class Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odafe, Victor U.

    2012-01-01

    Instructors are constantly struggling to help students understand mathematical concepts as well as the relevance of mathematics to the real world. In calculus, students possess misconceptions of the limit concept. "Pushing the Limit" refers to a semester-long calculus class project that required students to read about, interview calculus…

  7. Crossed Module Bundle Gerbes; Classification, String Group and Differential Geometry

    OpenAIRE

    Jurco, Branislav

    2005-01-01

    We discuss nonabelian bundle gerbes and their differential geometry using simplicial methods. Associated to any crossed module there is a simplicial group NC, the nerve of the 1-category defined by the crossed module and its geometric realization |NC|. Equivalence classes of principal bundles with structure group |NC| are shown to be one-to-one with stable equivalence classes of what we call crossed module gerbes bundle gerbes. We can also associate to a crossed module a 2-category C'. Then t...

  8. Identification and validation of a gene causing cross-resistance between insecticide classes in Anopheles gambiae from Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Sara N; Stevenson, Bradley J; Müller, Pie; Wilding, Craig S; Egyir-Yawson, Alexander; Field, Stuart G; Hemingway, Janet; Paine, Mark J I; Ranson, Hilary; Donnelly, Martin James

    2012-04-17

    In the last decade there have been marked reductions in malaria incidence in sub-Saharan Africa. Sustaining these reductions will rely upon insecticides to control the mosquito malaria vectors. We report that in the primary African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, a single enzyme, CYP6M2, confers resistance to two classes of insecticide. This is unique evidence in a disease vector of cross-resistance associated with a single metabolic gene that simultaneously reduces the efficacy of two of the four classes of insecticide routinely used for malaria control. The gene-expression profile of a highly DDT-resistant population of A. gambiae s.s. from Ghana was characterized using a unique whole-genome microarray. A number of genes were significantly overexpressed compared with two susceptible West African colonies, including genes from metabolic families previously linked to insecticide resistance. One of the most significantly overexpressed probe groups (false-discovery rate-adjusted P P450 gene CYP6M2. This gene is associated with pyrethroid resistance in wild A. gambiae s.s. populations) and can metabolize both type I and type II pyrethroids in recombinant protein assays. Using in vitro assays we show that recombinant CYP6M2 is also capable of metabolizing the organochlorine insecticide DDT in the presence of solubilizing factor sodium cholate.

  9. Landing-related ankle injuries do not occur in plantarflexion as once thought: a systematic video analysis of ankle injuries in world-class volleyball.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skazalski, Christopher; Kruczynski, Jacek; Bahr, Martin Aase; Bere, Tone; Whiteley, Rod; Bahr, Roald

    2018-01-01

    Ankle injuries are prevalent in elite volleyball and suggested to result from player contact at the net. Traditionally, ankle sprains are thought to happen in a plantarflexed position, but case studies suggest plantarflexion may not be involved. Describe the injury situations and mechanisms of ankle injuries in world-class volleyball based on systematic video analysis of injuries reported through the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Injury Surveillance System. Videos of 24 injuries from major FIVB tournaments were included for analysis (14 men, 10 women). Five analysts reviewed the videos to determine specific situations and mechanisms leading to injuries. The majority of injuries occurred during two volleyball situations, blocking (n=15) and attacking (n=6). Injuries to blockers were the result of landing on an opponent (n=11) or teammate (n=4). Attacking injuries most frequently occurred when a back-row player landed on a front-row teammate (n=4 of 6). When landing on an opponent under the net, the attacker landed into the opponent's court in 11 of 12 situations but without violating the centre line rule. Injuries mostly resulted from rapid inversion without any substantial plantarflexion. The majority of injuries occur while blocking, often landing on an opponent. The attacker is overwhelmingly to blame for injuries at the net secondary to crossing the centre line. Injuries while attacking often result from a back-row player landing on a front-row teammate. Landing-related injuries mostly result from rapid inversion with the absence of plantarflexion. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  10. NASA World Wind: A New Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, P.; Gaskins, T.; Bailey, J. E.

    2008-12-01

    Virtual Globes are well into their first generation, providing increasingly rich and beautiful visualization of more types and quantities of information. However, they are still mostly single and proprietary programs, akin to a web browser whose content and functionality are controlled and constrained largely by the browser's manufacturer. Today Google and Microsoft determine what we can and cannot see and do in these programs. NASA World Wind started out in nearly the same mode, a single program with limited functionality and information content. But as the possibilities of virtual globes became more apparent, we found that while enabling a new class of information visualization, we were also getting in the way. Many users want to provide World Wind functionality and information in their programs, not ours. They want it in their web pages. They want to include their own features. They told us that only with this kind of flexibility, could their objectives and the potential of the technology be truly realized. World Wind therefore changed its mission: from providing a single information browser to enabling a whole class of 3D geographic applications. Instead of creating one program, we create components to be used in any number of programs. World Wind is NASA open source software. With the source code being fully visible, anyone can readily use it and freely extend it to serve any use. Imagery and other information provided by the World Wind servers is also free and unencumbered, including the server technology to deliver geospatial data. World Wind developers can therefore provide exclusive and custom solutions based on user needs.

  11. Consistency in the World Wide Web

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Jakob Grauenkjær

    Tim Berners-Lee envisioned that computers will behave as agents of humans on the World Wide Web, where they will retrieve, extract, and interact with information from the World Wide Web. A step towards this vision is to make computers capable of extracting this information in a reliable...... and consistent way. In this dissertation we study steps towards this vision by showing techniques for the specication, the verication and the evaluation of the consistency of information in the World Wide Web. We show how to detect certain classes of errors in a specication of information, and we show how...... the World Wide Web, in order to help perform consistent evaluations of web extraction techniques. These contributions are steps towards having computers reliable and consistently extract information from the World Wide Web, which in turn are steps towards achieving Tim Berners-Lee's vision. ii...

  12. Understanding virtual world usage : A multipurpose model and empirical testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhagen, Tibert; Feldberg, Frans; Van Den Hooff, Bart; Meents, Selmar

    2009-01-01

    This study reports an attempt to enhance our understanding of the reasons behind virtual world usage. By providing a mixture of utilitarian and hedonic value, virtual worlds represent an emerging class of multipurpose information systems (MPIS). Previous research seems to fall short in explaining

  13. Rumo a uma nova conceituação histórica da classe trabalhadora mundial Towards a new historical conceptualization of the world working class

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcel van der Linden

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo apresenta uma discussão historiográfica sobre o conceito de classe trabalhadora levando em conta as diversas experiências históricas desde o século XIX. A questão a ser enfocada nas páginas seguintes é como podemos visualizar um novo conceito da classe trabalhadora levando em conta as contribuições oferecidas por Breman, Gooptu, Linebaugh e outros. A fim de encontrar uma resposta a essa questão, o artigo realiza uma crítica construtiva do conceito de classe trabalhadora em Marx.This article presents an historiographical discussion about the working class concept, dealing with the historical experiences since XIX century . The question addressed in the following pages is what a new concept of the working class might look like that would take into account the insights offered by Breman, Gooptu, Linebaugh and others. In order to find an answer to this question, it starts off with a constructive critique of Marx' concept of the working class.

  14. Launching a world-class joint venture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bamford, James; Ernst, David; Fubini, David G

    2004-02-01

    More than 5,000 joint ventures, and many more contractual alliances, have been launched worldwide in the past five years. Companies are realizing that JVs and alliances can be lucrative vehicles for developing new products, moving into new markets, and increasing revenues. The problem is, the success rate for JVs and alliances is on a par with that for mergers and acquisitions--which is to say not very good. The authors, all McKinsey consultants, argue that JV success remains elusive for most companies because they don't pay enough attention to launch planning and execution. Most companies are highly disciplined about integrating the companies they target through M&A, but they rarely commit sufficient resources to launching similarly sized joint ventures or alliances. As a result, the parent companies experience strategic conflicts, governance gridlock, and missed operational synergies. Often, they walk away from the deal. The launch phase begins with the parent companies' signing of a memorandum of understanding and continues through the first 100 days of the JV or alliance's operation. During this period, it's critical for the parents to convene a team dedicated to exposing inherent tensions early. Specifically, the launch team must tackle four basic challenges. First, build and maintain strategic alignment across the separate corporate entities, each of which has its own goals, market pressures, and shareholders. Second, create a shared governance system for the two parent companies. Third, manage the economic interdependencies between the corporate parents and the JV. And fourth, build a cohesive, high-performing organization (the JV or alliance)--not a simple task, since most managers come from, will want to return to, and may even hold simultaneous positions in the parent companies. Using real-world examples, the authors offer their suggestions for meeting these challenges.

  15. Real-world outcomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holmgreen, Lise-Lotte

    -down model of feeding back research findings to subjects” (Roberts and Sarangi 2003, 340) although, arguably, making results applicable to a real-world context ought to be an essential goal of researcher-practitioner studies. This issue forms the background of the presentation, in which it will be discussed...... how the dissemination of research findings may take place to ensure the creation of real-world outcomes for practitioners (cf. e.g. Nørreklit et al. 1987; Puchta & Potter 2004). The presentation will be centered around the interview study of the discursive constructions of culture in a Danish cross...

  16. The World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessler, Ronald C; Haro, Josep Maria; Heeringa, Steven G; Pennell, Beth-Ellen; Ustün, T Bedirhan

    2006-01-01

    To present an overview of the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. The discussion draws on knowledge gleaned from the authors' participation as principals in WMH. WMH has carried out community epidemiological surveys in more than two dozen countries with more than 200,000 completed interviews. Additional surveys are in progress. Clinical reappraisal studies embedded in WMH surveys have been used to develop imputation rules to adjust prevalence estimates for within- and between-country variation in accuracy. WMH interviews include detailed information about sub-threshold manifestations to address the problem of rigid categorical diagnoses not applying equally to all countries. Investigations are now underway of targeted substantive issues. Despite inevitable limitations imposed by existing diagnostic systems and variable expertise in participating countries, WMH has produced an unprecedented amount of high-quality data on the general population cross-national epidemiology of mental disorders. WMH collaborators are in thoughtful and subtle investigations of cross-national variation in validity of diagnostic assessments and a wide range of important substantive topics. Recognizing that WMH is not definitive, finally, insights from this round of surveys are being used to carry out methodological studies aimed at improving the quality of future investigations.

  17. Linear Subspace Ranking Hashing for Cross-Modal Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Kai; Qi, Guo-Jun; Ye, Jun; Hua, Kien A

    2017-09-01

    Hashing has attracted a great deal of research in recent years due to its effectiveness for the retrieval and indexing of large-scale high-dimensional multimedia data. In this paper, we propose a novel ranking-based hashing framework that maps data from different modalities into a common Hamming space where the cross-modal similarity can be measured using Hamming distance. Unlike existing cross-modal hashing algorithms where the learned hash functions are binary space partitioning functions, such as the sign and threshold function, the proposed hashing scheme takes advantage of a new class of hash functions closely related to rank correlation measures which are known to be scale-invariant, numerically stable, and highly nonlinear. Specifically, we jointly learn two groups of linear subspaces, one for each modality, so that features' ranking orders in different linear subspaces maximally preserve the cross-modal similarities. We show that the ranking-based hash function has a natural probabilistic approximation which transforms the original highly discontinuous optimization problem into one that can be efficiently solved using simple gradient descent algorithms. The proposed hashing framework is also flexible in the sense that the optimization procedures are not tied up to any specific form of loss function, which is typical for existing cross-modal hashing methods, but rather we can flexibly accommodate different loss functions with minimal changes to the learning steps. We demonstrate through extensive experiments on four widely-used real-world multimodal datasets that the proposed cross-modal hashing method can achieve competitive performance against several state-of-the-arts with only moderate training and testing time.

  18. Networking Journalism Studies: Towards a World Journalism Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Hanitzsch

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Most scholars argue that cross-national research is indispensable for establishing the generalizability of theories and the validity of interpretations derived from single-nation studies. Another important aspect of comparative studies is that they force us to test our interpretations against cross-cultural diferences and inconsistencies. In journalism studies, the advantages of cross-national research are obvious. While the empirical inquiry into news-making has generated a vast quantity of data, some of the more fundamental questions in journalism research remain largely unresolved: What shapes the news and the structures of journalism most? Is it politics, economy, or culture? How do the conventional Western values of objective journalism ft in with non-Western cultures? In this article, I would like to propose the creation of a “World Journalism Survey”, modeled after the World Values Survey, for a better map of the cultural diferences in journalism practices around the world.

  19. Virtual Class Support at the Virtual Machine Level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Anders Bach; Ernst, Erik

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes how virtual classes can be supported in a virtual machine.  Main-stream virtual machines such as the Java Virtual Machine and the .NET platform dominate the world today, and many languages are being executed on these virtual machines even though their embodied design choices...... conflict with the design choices of the virtual machine.  For instance, there is a non-trivial mismatch between the main-stream virtual machines mentioned above and dynamically typed languages.  One language concept that creates an even greater mismatch is virtual classes, in particular because fully...... general support for virtual classes requires generation of new classes at run-time by mixin composition.  Languages like CaesarJ and ObjectTeams can express virtual classes restricted to the subset that does not require run-time generation of classes, because of the restrictions imposed by the Java...

  20. Desempenho Logístico de Gerenciamento de Ativos na Ótica do Modelo World Class Logistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helton Cristian de Paula

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo do artigo consiste em acompanhar a evolução de indicadores de eficiência do desempenho logístico na competência Mensuração com enfoque no gerenciamento de ativos em companhias abertas brasileiras com ações negociadas na Bolsa de Nova Iorque no período de 2004 a 2008, na ótica do modelo World ClassLogistics. A Competência Mensuração do modelo possibilita a verificação empírica em dados públicos divulgados pelas companhias que negociam ações na NYSE em função de exigências maiores quanto ao disclosure em relação aos padrões brasileiros. Esta competência é composta por indicadores de Serviços aos Clientes, Custos, Produtividade e Gerenciamento de Ativos. Empresas do setor de produção e comércio compuseram a amostra e a análise dos dados foi realizada por meio de estatística descritiva segmentada em conglomerados. Os resultados indicaram desempenho melhor nos indicadores Nível de Estoque, ROE, ROI e ROA para as companhias do Conglomerado 1. As companhias do Conglomerado 2 apresentaram melhores resultados no indicador Giro de Estoque.

  1. Total Cross Sections and Event Properties from Real to Virtual Photons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Friberg, Christer; Sjoestrand, Torbjoern

    2000-01-01

    A model for total cross sections with virtual photons is presented. In particular gamma*-p and gamma*-gamma* cross sections are considered. Our approach extends on a model for photoproduction, where the total cross section is subdivided into three distinct event classes: direct, VMD and anomalous. With increasing photon virtuality, the latter two decrease in importance. Instead Deep Inelastic Scattering dominates, with the direct class being the O(alpha s ) correction thereof. Hence, the model provides a smooth transition between the two regions. By the breakdown into different event classes, one may aim for a complete picture of all event properties. (author)

  2. Self-rated health in different social classes of Slovenian adult population: nationwide cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farkas, Jerneja; Pahor, Majda; Zaletel-Kragelj, Lijana

    2011-02-01

    Self-rated health can be influenced by several characteristics of the social environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between self-rated health and self-assessed social class in Slovenian adult population. The study was based on the Countrywide Integrated Non-communicable Diseases Intervention Health Monitor database. During 2004, 8,741/15,297 (57.1%) participants aged 25-64 years returned posted self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted estimates of association between poor self-rated health and self-assessed social class. Poor self-rated health was reported by 9.6% of participants with a decrease from lower to upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class (35.9 vs. 3.7%). Logistic regression showed significant association between self-rated health and all self-assessed social classes. In an adjusted model, poor self-rated health remained associated with self-assessed social class (odds ratio for lower vs. upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class 4.23, 95% confidence interval 2.46-7.25; P social classes. Participants from lower self-assessed social class reported poor self-rated health most often and should comprise the focus of multisectoral interventions.

  3. New fuzzy support vector machine for the class imbalance problem in medical datasets classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Xiaoqing; Ni, Tongguang; Wang, Hongyuan

    2014-01-01

    In medical datasets classification, support vector machine (SVM) is considered to be one of the most successful methods. However, most of the real-world medical datasets usually contain some outliers/noise and data often have class imbalance problems. In this paper, a fuzzy support machine (FSVM) for the class imbalance problem (called FSVM-CIP) is presented, which can be seen as a modified class of FSVM by extending manifold regularization and assigning two misclassification costs for two classes. The proposed FSVM-CIP can be used to handle the class imbalance problem in the presence of outliers/noise, and enhance the locality maximum margin. Five real-world medical datasets, breast, heart, hepatitis, BUPA liver, and pima diabetes, from the UCI medical database are employed to illustrate the method presented in this paper. Experimental results on these datasets show the outperformed or comparable effectiveness of FSVM-CIP.

  4. New Fuzzy Support Vector Machine for the Class Imbalance Problem in Medical Datasets Classification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoqing Gu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In medical datasets classification, support vector machine (SVM is considered to be one of the most successful methods. However, most of the real-world medical datasets usually contain some outliers/noise and data often have class imbalance problems. In this paper, a fuzzy support machine (FSVM for the class imbalance problem (called FSVM-CIP is presented, which can be seen as a modified class of FSVM by extending manifold regularization and assigning two misclassification costs for two classes. The proposed FSVM-CIP can be used to handle the class imbalance problem in the presence of outliers/noise, and enhance the locality maximum margin. Five real-world medical datasets, breast, heart, hepatitis, BUPA liver, and pima diabetes, from the UCI medical database are employed to illustrate the method presented in this paper. Experimental results on these datasets show the outperformed or comparable effectiveness of FSVM-CIP.

  5. The battle for meaning: A cross-national film reception analysis of The Battle Cry of Peace in Switzerland and the Netherlands during World War I

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Zwaan, K.; gerber, adrian

    2016-01-01

    This article offers a cross-national analysis of the historical reception of the American war film The Battle Cry of Peace (J. Stuart Blackton and Wilfred North/Vitagraph, 1915) in the neutral countries of the Netherlands and Switzerland during World War I. Treating propaganda as a mode de lecture,

  6. 121 | Page WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION (WTO): TRADE ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Fr. Ikenga

    third world states belong to the class of developing countries. .... cuts in tariff on agriculture and manufacturing.18 In many instances, this proved ..... will be accepted for reasons of international standards such as safety and packaging which for.

  7. The Paradoxical World of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    OpenAIRE

    ŠANDEROVÁ, Milada

    2015-01-01

    In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald created a world of fundamental contradictions. Whether talking about the way the whole society works, the immense differences among social classes, the characters, or the tension between attributes of a particular character. Therefore, the goal of this bachelor thesis is to analyse the world of this novel as the world built on paradoxes.

  8. Binary Stochastic Representations for Large Multi-class Classification

    KAUST Repository

    Gerald, Thomas; Baskiotis, Nicolas; Denoyer, Ludovic

    2017-01-01

    Classification with a large number of classes is a key problem in machine learning and corresponds to many real-world applications like tagging of images or textual documents in social networks. If one-vs-all methods usually reach top performance

  9. [The Red Cross System for War Relief during the Second World War and Actual Conditions of Its Efforts in Burma].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawahara, Yukari

    2015-12-01

    This paper aims to show the system for relief provided by the Japanese Red Cross relief units during the Second World War, as well as the actual activities of sixteen of its relief units dispatched to Burma. The Red Cross wartime relief efforts involved using personnel and funding prepared beforehand to provide aid to those injured in war, regardless of their status as ally or enemy. Thus they were able to receive support from the army in order to ensure safety and provide supplies. Nurses dispatched to Burma took care of many patients who suffered from malnutrition and physical injuries amidst the outbreak of infectious diseases typical of tropical areas, without sufficient replacement members. Base hospitals not meant for the front lines also came under attack, and the nurses' lives were thus in mortal danger. Of the 374 original members, 29 died or went missing in action.

  10. Direct binding to antigen-coated beads refines the specificity and cross-reactivity of four monoclonal antibodies that recognize polymorphic epitopes of HLA class I molecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, H G; Parham, P

    2013-04-01

    Monoclonal antibodies with specificity for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I determinants of HLA were originally characterized using serological assays in which the targets were cells expressing three to six HLA class I variants. Because of this complexity, the specificities of the antibodies were defined indirectly by correlation. Here we use a direct binding assay, in which the targets are synthetic beads coated with 1 of 111 HLA class I variants, representing the full range of HLA-A, -B and -C variation. We studied one monoclonal antibody with monomorphic specificity (W6/32) and four with polymorphic specificity (MA2.1, PA2.1, BB7.2 and BB7.1) and compared the results with those obtained previously. W6/32 reacted with all HLA class I variants. MA2.1 not only exhibits high specificity for HLA-A*02, -B*57 and -B*58, but also exhibited cross-reactivity with HLA-A*11 and -B*15:16. At low concentration (1 µg/ml), PA2.1 and BB7.2 were both specific for HLA-A*02 and -A*69, and at high concentration (50 µg/ml) exhibited significant cross-reactions with HLA-A*68, -A*23 and -A*24. BB7.1 exhibits specificity for HLA-B*07 and -B*42, as previously described, but reacts equally well with HLA-B*81, a rare allotype defined some 16 years after the description of BB7.1. The results obtained with cell-based and bead-based assays are consistent and, in combination with amino acid sequence comparison, increase understanding of the polymorphic epitopes recognized by the MA2.1, PA2.1, BB7.2 and BB7.1 antibodies. Comparison of two overlapping but distinctive bead sets from two sources gave similar results, but the overall levels of binding were significantly different. Several weaker reactions were observed with only one of the bead sets. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  11. The capitalist world-system and international health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elling, R H

    1981-01-01

    A number of world health problems which have been discretely considered in the past are viewed in this paper as interwoven with each other and with the functioning of the capitalist political-economic world-system. Thus, climactic explanations ("tropical medicine"), and even poverty when conceived in cultural terms or as a structural problem resident entirely within a single nation, are seen as inadequate for understanding any or all of the problems discussed briefly here: poor general health levels in peripheral and semi-peripheral nations, especially rising infant mortality rates in countries such as Brazil; comerciogenic malnutrition; dumping and exploitative sale of drugs, pesticides and other products banned or restricted in core nations; genocidal and other threatening approaches to population control; export of hazardous and polluting industry to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations; similar export of human experimentation; the sale of irrelevant, high medical technology to countries lacking basic public health measures, the "brain drain", and medical imperialism. Also discounted are moralistic inveighing, complaints about inadequate information and its transfer, discussions of bureaucratic bumbling or inter-agency politics and professional rivalries, various forms of victim-blaming, and other explanations and corrective approaches which ignore class structure and the control, distribution, and expropriation of resources in nations and the world-system. The framework suggests the importance of a worldwide cultural hegemony, including a medical cultural hegemony, established by and in the service of the ruling classes. Socialist-oriented nations which are quasi-independent of the capitalist world-system are seen as suffering less from its effects. This suggests that we should conceive of world socialist health and world capitalist health, rather than any kind of unified phenomenon called "international health".

  12. A Working Class Girl Re-searching “Going Home” - Growing up Working Class Becoming a Research Scholar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lippke, Lena

    trajectory. A social trajectory crossing social classes. Traveling back and forth between the social field of the blacksmiths and the social field within academia confronts me with a feeling of being an insider and outsider in both social contexts simultaneously. During the process I become aware of how...... the concept of upward mobility (which my trajectory would be defined as) provokes and makes me ask: Was what I came from something bad? Something I had to move away/escape from? How does a possible social class inferiority inform my observations and analysis? And what does it mean for my future moves within...

  13. Application Exercises Improve Transfer of Statistical Knowledge in Real-World Situations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Frances; Braasch, Jason L. G.

    2013-01-01

    The present research investigated whether real-world application exercises promoted students' abilities to spontaneously transfer statistical knowledge and to recognize the use of statistics in real-world contexts. Over the course of a semester of psychological statistics, two classes completed multiple application exercises designed to mimic…

  14. Gender differences in Class III malocclusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baccetti, Tiziano; Reyes, Brian C; McNamara, James A

    2005-07-01

    This study evaluated gender differences in the cephalometric records of a large-scale cross-sectional sample of Caucasian subjects with Class III malocclusion at different developmental ages. The purpose also was to provide average age-related and sex-related data for craniofacial measures in untreated Class III subjects that are used as reference in the diagnostic appraisal of the patient with Class III disharmony. The sample examined consisted of 1094 pretreatment lateral cephalometric records (557 female subjects and 537 male subjects) of Caucasian Class III individuals. The age range for female subjects was between three years six months and 57 years seven months. The male subject group ranged from three years three months to 48 years five months. Twelve age groups were identified. Skeletal maturity at different age periods also was determined using the stage of cervical vertebral maturation. Gender differences for all cephalometric variables were analyzed using parametric statistics. The findings of the study indicated that Class III malocclusion is associated with a significant degree of sexual dimorphism in craniofacial parameters, especially from the age of 13 onward. Male subjects with Class III malocclusion present with significantly larger linear dimensions of the maxilla, mandible, and anterior facial heights when compared with female subjects during the circumpubertal and postpubertal periods.

  15. Effect of Class III bone anchor treatment on airway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Tung; De Clerck, Hugo; Wilson, Michael; Golden, Brent

    2015-07-01

    To compare airway volumes and minimum cross-section area changes of Class III patients treated with bone-anchored maxillary protraction (BAMP) versus untreated Class III controls. Twenty-eight consecutive skeletal Class III patients between the ages of 10 and 14 years (mean age, 11.9 years) were treated using Class III intermaxillary elastics and bilateral miniplates (two in the infra-zygomatic crests of the maxilla and two in the anterior mandible). The subjects had cone beam computed tomographs (CBCTs) taken before initial loading (T1) and 1 year out (T2). Twenty-eight untreated Class III patients (mean age, 12.4 years) had CBCTs taken and cephalograms generated. The airway volumes and minimum cross-sectional area measurements were performed using Dolphin Imaging 11.7 3D software. The superior border of the airway was defined by a plane that passes through the posterior nasal spine and basion, while the inferior border included the base of the epiglottis to the lower border of C3. From T1 to T2, airway volume from BAMP-treated subjects showed a statistically significant increase (1499.64 mm(3)). The area in the most constricted section of the airway (choke point) increased slightly (15.44 mm(2)). The airway volume of BAMP patients at T2 was 14136.61 mm(3), compared with 14432.98 mm(3) in untreated Class III subjects. Intraexaminer correlation coefficients values and 95% confidence interval values were all greater than .90, showing a high degree of reliability of the measurements. BAMP treatment did not hinder the development of the oropharynx.

  16. Cross-cultural leadership: leading around the world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanges, Paul J; Aiken, Juliet R; Park, Joo; Su, Junjie

    2016-04-01

    Situational models of leadership have been discussed since the mid-1960s. In this paper, we review the evidence concerning one such contextual variable, societal culture. The traditional cross-cultural literature shows how culture affects the kind of leadership characteristics, attributes, and behaviors desired and believed to be important in a society. The research also shows that culture moderates the outcomes resulting from different styles of leadership. The newly emerging global leadership literature focuses on leadership when followers are culturally diverse. We review the current state of these literatures and provide research suggestions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. poLCA: An R Package for Polytomous Variable Latent Class Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Drew A. Linzer

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available poLCA is a software package for the estimation of latent class and latent class regression models for polytomous outcome variables, implemented in the R statistical computing environment. Both models can be called using a single simple command line. The basic latent class model is a finite mixture model in which the component distributions are assumed to be multi-way cross-classification tables with all variables mutually independent. The latent class regression model further enables the researcher to estimate the effects of covariates on predicting latent class membership. poLCA uses expectation-maximization and Newton-Raphson algorithms to find maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters.

  18. Social class variation, the effect of the economic recession and childhood obesity at 3 years of age in Ireland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabakhanji, Samira Barbara; Pavlova, Milena; Groot, Wim; Boland, Fiona; Biesma, Regien

    2017-04-01

    Many studies have reported a social class gradient within overweight prevalence ( 1-4 ). Additionally, cross-country comparisons report high overweight trends and a change in food consumption patterns in countries affected by an economic crisis ( 5-11 ). The aim of this study was to assess the association between social class and recession on obesity levels in 3-year-old Irish children. The population-based infant cohort of the national Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study was used. Prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were calculated and logistic regression models, adjusting for confounders, were used to examine the relationship between social class, effects of the recession and childhood obesity. In 2008, 19.5% of 9-month-olds were obese and 19.4% overweight increasing to 22.7% and 20.4%, respectively by 2011 when the infants were 3 years old (World Health Organization (WHO) criteria). The prevalence of obesity increased by 2.3% to 10.1% for various social classes (unadjusted). However, adjusting for confounders, there was no evidence of a difference in obesity of 3-year-old children across social classes. There was evidence that obesity was 22-27% higher for families who perceived a very significant crisis effect on their family, compared with those significantly affected. Increases in obesity were found to be significantly associated with perceived recession effects on the family, but not with social class. Policy makers should be aware that in times of economic downturn, public health efforts to promote healthy weight are needed at a population level rather than for specific social classes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

  19. World Energy Issues: An Inquiry-Based Lesson Using ArcGIS Online

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jo, Injeong

    2018-01-01

    This 45 minute inquiry lesson can be used for a high school world geography or AP Human Geography course when the class discusses various issues regarding world energy resources. The lesson focuses on two particular issues: fossil fuel dependency and the growing energy demand. Students will examine the geographic distribution of current energy…

  20. Vertical Integration: Results from a Cross-Course Student Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sloan, Thomas; Lewis, David

    2011-01-01

    The authors report the results of a cross-class project involving sophomore-level students in an Operations Analysis (OA) class with junior-level students in an Operations Management (OM) class. The students formed virtual teams and developed a simulation model of a call center. The OM students provided the management expertise, while the OA…

  1. Maxillary Transverse Comparison of Skeletal Class I and Class III Patient Populations Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-13

    dental compensations 5. Have fully erupted canines (no...expansion. Compendium 1996;17:170-178. 2. Basaran G, Hamamci N, Hamamci O. Comparison of Dental Arch Widths in Different Types of Malocclusions . World... Dental and Alveolar Arch Widths in Normal Occlusion and Class III Malocclusion . Angle Orthod 2005; 75:809- 813.   36. Vanarsdall, Transverse dimension and long-term stability, Semin Orthod 1999;5:171–180.

  2. Race, ethnicity, language, social class, and health communication inequalities: a nationally-representative cross-sectional study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasisomayajula Viswanath

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available While mass media communications can be an important source of health information, there are substantial social disparities in health knowledge that may be related to media use. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of cancer-related health communications is patterned by race, ethnicity, language, and social class.In a nationally-representative cross-sectional telephone survey, 5,187 U.S. adults provided information about demographic characteristics, cancer information seeking, and attention to and trust in health information from television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and the Internet. Cancer information seeking was lowest among Spanish-speaking Hispanics (odds ratio: 0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.28-0.63 compared to non-Hispanic whites. Spanish-speaking Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to pay attention to (odds ratio: 3.10; 95% confidence interval: 2.07-4.66 and trust (odds ratio: 2.61; 95% confidence interval: 1.53-4.47 health messages from the radio. Non-Hispanic blacks were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to pay attention to (odds ratio: 2.39; 95% confidence interval: 1.88-3.04 and trust (odds ratio: 2.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.61-2.90 health messages on television. Those who were college graduates tended to pay more attention to health information from newspapers (odds ratio: 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.42-2.75, magazines (odds ratio: 1.86; 95% confidence interval: 1.32-2.60, and the Internet (odds ratio: 4.74; 95% confidence interval: 2.70-8.31 and had less trust in cancer-related health information from television (odds ratio: 0.44; 95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.62 and radio (odds ratio: 0.54; 95% confidence interval: 0.34-0.86 compared to those who were not high school graduates.Health media use is patterned by race, ethnicity, language and social class. Providing greater access to and enhancing the quality of health media by taking into account factors associated with social

  3. Country-specific determinants of world university rankings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietrucha, Jacek

    2018-01-01

    This paper examines country-specific factors that affect the three most influential world university rankings (the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the QS World University Ranking, and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking). We run a cross sectional regression that covers 42-71 countries (depending on the ranking and data availability). We show that the position of universities from a country in the ranking is determined by the following country-specific variables: economic potential of the country, research and development expenditure, long-term political stability (freedom from war, occupation, coups and major changes in the political system), and institutional variables, including government effectiveness.

  4. Education, class and vernacular awareness on Tyneside

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Marie Møller

    2017-01-01

    . This group consisted of mainly older female speakers and results are interpreted in light of first wave studies on the patterning of language use by class, age and gender. Finally, the issue of vernacular awareness is linked to social indexicality and it is suggested that an interpretation of participants...... identification. The results indicate that participants’ self-identification is at odds with the classification based on education and, furthermore, that the group of participants who identify as middle class but have low educational attainment behave significantly different from the other participants......This chapter reports on a questionnaire study investigating Tyneside residents’ vernacular awareness and attested language use. Participant performance is interpreted on the basis of a cross-tabulation of participants’ social class as determined by their level of education and participants’ own...

  5. Brasil: nova classe média ou novas formas de superexploração da classe trabalhadora? Brazil: new middle class or new ways of overexploiting the working class?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathias Seibel Luce

    2013-04-01

    relations in the 2000s. In the third, we showed how the access the working population has had to consume durable goods in recent times, before the ascent to the supposed 'new middle class,' is a renewed type of overexploitation. Finally, we highlight the links between the Brazilian working class' labor conditions, health, and rights and the trends in world capitalism, questioning the false neoliberalism and neodevelopmentalism dilemma in the current debate and putting the real dilemma in terms of the emancipation of the working class against the despotic power of capital.

  6. A three-dimensional soft tissue analysis of Class III malocclusion: a case-controlled cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johal, Ama; Chaggar, Amrit; Zou, Li Fong

    2018-03-01

    The present study used the optical surface laser scanning technique to compare the facial features of patients aged 8-18 years presenting with Class I and Class III incisor relationship in a case-control design. Subjects with a Class III incisor relationship, aged 8-18 years, were age and gender matched with Class I control and underwent a 3-dimensional (3-D) optical surface scan of the facial soft tissues. Landmark analysis revealed Class III subjects displayed greater mean dimensions compared to the control group most notably between the ages of 8-10 and 17-18 years in both males and females, in respect of antero-posterior (P = 0.01) and vertical (P = 0.006) facial dimensions. Surface-based analysis, revealed the greatest difference in the lower facial region, followed by the mid-face, whilst the upper face remained fairly consistent. Significant detectable differences were found in the surface facial features of developing Class III subjects.

  7. Antigen storage compartments in mature dendritic cells facilitate prolonged cytotoxic T lymphocyte cross-priming capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Montfoort, Nadine; Camps, Marcel G; Khan, Selina; Filippov, Dmitri V; Weterings, Jimmy J; Griffith, Janice M; Geuze, Hans J; van Hall, Thorbald; Verbeek, J Sjef; Melief, Cornelis J; Ossendorp, Ferry

    2009-04-21

    Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for priming of naive CD8(+) T lymphocytes to exogenous antigens, so-called "cross-priming." We report that exogenous protein antigen can be conserved for several days in mature DCs, coinciding with strong cytotoxic T lymphocyte cross-priming potency in vivo. After MHC class I peptide elution, protein antigen-derived peptide presentation is efficiently restored, indicating the presence of an intracellular antigen depot. We characterized this depot as a lysosome-like organelle, distinct from MHC class II compartments and recently described early endosomal compartments that allow acute antigen presentation in MHC class I. The storage compartments we report here facilitate continuous supply of MHC class I ligands. This mechanism ensures sustained cross-presentation by DCs, despite the short-lived expression of MHC class I-peptide complexes at the cell surface.

  8. The Transition to College and the World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Michael

    2009-01-01

    Before his freshmen year, the author thought he knew everything--about himself, about college and about the world. He anticipated brilliant and disheveled professors, who, heads in the clouds, wander to class between picturesque gothic towers fortifying quads of freshly cut grass. He pictured Frisbees and roommates, intramural sports and…

  9. Quantum logic as superbraids of entangled qubit world lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yepez, Jeffrey

    2010-01-01

    Presented is a topological representation of quantum logic that views entangled qubit spacetime histories (or qubit world lines) as a generalized braid, referred to as a superbraid. The crossing of world lines can be quantum-mechanical in nature, most conveniently expressed analytically with ladder-operator-based quantum gates. At a crossing, independent world lines can become entangled. Complicated superbraids are systematically reduced by recursively applying quantum skein relations. If the superbraid is closed (e.g., representing quantum circuits with closed-loop feedback, quantum lattice gas algorithms, loop or vacuum diagrams in quantum field theory), then one can decompose the resulting superlink into an entangled superposition of classical links. Thus, one can compute a superlink invariant, for example, the Jones polynomial for the square root of a classical knot.

  10. Social closure, micro-class immobility and the intergenerational reproduction of the upper class: a comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggera, Lucia; Barone, Carlo

    2017-06-01

    This article assesses how processes of social closure enhance intergenerational immobility in the regulated professions and thus promote persistence at the top of the occupational hierarchy. We compare four European countries (GB, Germany, Denmark and Sweden) that differ considerably in their degree of professional regulation and in their broader institutional arrangements. We run log-linear and logistic regression models on a cumulative dataset based on three large-scale surveys with detailed and highly comparable information at the level of unit occupations. Our analyses indicate that children of licensed professionals are far more likely to inherit the occupation of their parents and that this stronger micro-class immobility translates into higher chances of persistence in the upper class. These results support social closure theory and confirm the relevance of a micro-class approach for the explanation of social fluidity and of its cross-national variations. Moreover, we find that, when children of professionals do not reproduce the micro-class of their parents, they still display disproportionate chances of persistence in professional employment. Hence, on the one hand, processes of social closure erect barriers between professions and fuel micro-class immobility at the top. On the other hand, the cultural proximity of different professional groups drives intense intergenerational exchanges between them. Our analyses indicate that these micro- and meso-class rigidities work as complementary routes to immobility at the top. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

  11. ISLSCP II Global Population of the World

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Global Population of the World (GPW) translates census population data to a latitude-longitude grid so that population data may be used in cross-disciplinary...

  12. Poly-Cross-Linked PEI Through Aromatically Conjugated Imine Linkages as a New Class of pH-Responsive Nucleic Acids Packing Cationic Polymers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shun; Jin, Tuo

    2016-01-01

    Cationic polyimines polymerized through aromatically conjugated bis-imine linkages and intra-molecular cross-linking were found to be a new class of effective transfection materials for their flexibility in structural optimization, responsiveness to intracellular environment, the ability to facilitate endosome escape and cytosol release of the nucleic acids, as well as self-metabolism. When three phthalaldehydes of different substitution positions were used to polymerize highly branched low-molecular weight polyethylenimine (PEI 1.8K), the product through ortho-phthalimines (named PPOP) showed significantly higher transfection activity than its two tere- and iso-analogs (named PPTP and PPIP). Physicochemical characterization confirmed the similarity of three polyimines in pH-responded degradability, buffer capacity, as well as the size and Zeta potential of the polyplexes formed from the polymers. A mechanistic speculation may be that the ortho-positioned bis-imine linkage of PPOP may only lead to the straight trans-configuration due to steric hindrance, resulting in larger loops of intra-polymer cross-linking and more flexible backbone. PMID:26869931

  13. Effects of driver attention on rail crossing safety and : The effects of auditory warnings and driver distraction on rail crossing safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-05-05

    Train-vehicle/train collisions at highway-rail grade crossings (crossings) continue to be a major issue in the US and around the world. Although the United States has made great strides in improving safety at crossings since the 1970s, vehicle-train ...

  14. Teaching World History with "Things Fall Apart."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldmann, Martha J.

    1995-01-01

    Recommends using Chinua Achebe's novel of the 19th-century conflict between African tribal culture and English colonists in a world history class. Achebe's rich narrative, written in a graceful prose, is easily accessible to high school students. The novel replaces simplistic and abstract concepts with those more complex and concrete. (MJP)

  15. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Somogyi, G.; Bolzoni, P.; Trocsanyi, Z.

    2010-06-01

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of an earlier NNLO subtraction scheme over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state. (orig.)

  16. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somogyi, G.; Bolzoni, P. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany); Trocsanyi, Z. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland)

    2010-06-15

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of an earlier NNLO subtraction scheme over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state. (orig.)

  17. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    CERN Document Server

    Somogyi, Gabor; Trocsanyi, Zoltan

    2010-01-01

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of the NNLO subtraction scheme of [1-4], over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state.

  18. How far can we explain the social class differential in respiratory function? A cross-sectional population study of 21,991 men and women from EPIC-Norfolk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McFadden, Emily; Luben, Robert; Wareham, Nicholas; Bingham, Sheila; Khaw, Kay-Tee

    2009-01-01

    The objective of this study is to investigate the association between occupational social class and respiratory function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in one-second (FEV 1 ). We examined the cross sectional relationship between lung function and social class in a population study of 21,991 men and women aged 39-79 years living in the general community in Norfolk, United Kingdom, recruited using general practice age-sex registers in 1993-1997. There was a significant socioeconomic gradient in age adjusted lung function with a difference of 0.37 in mean FEV 1 in men and 0.20 in women, respectively between social class I and V. The age adjusted OR for having poor lung function was 4.13 (95% CI 2.66-6.42) in men and 2.64 (95% CI 1.74-3.99) in women for social class V compared to I. This difference was substantially attenuated after adjustment for height, weight, smoking status, respiratory illness, educational level, living in a deprived area, physical activity and plasma vitamin C levels. There was a strong socioeconomic gradient in respiratory function. In men the gradient appeared to be largely explained by smoking status and height; in women a large part of the gradient was explained by potentially modifiable factors. This suggests that socioeconomic inequalities in respiratory function may be preventable or modifiable and highlights factors for further exploration

  19. Factors Affecting Nontraditional African American Students' Participation in Online World Literature Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrills, J. Maria Sweeney

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how communication preferences, learning preferences, and perceptions about online learning affect nontraditional African American students' participation in online world literature courses at a historically Black university (HBCU) in the southeastern United States. An instrumental case study was…

  20. 76 FR 11925 - American Red Cross Month, 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-03

    ... Corporal Frank W. Buckles, the Last Surviving American Veteran of World War I #0; #0; #0; Presidential... struggling with starvation and disease, the American Red Cross and its international partners have served... confront the world's most pressing challenges. During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson called on our...

  1. Global Digital Revolution and Africa: Transforming Nigerian Universities to World Class Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isah, Emmanuel Aileonokhuoya; Ayeni, A. O.

    2010-01-01

    This study examined the global digital revolution and the transformation of Nigerian universities. The study overviewed university developments world wide in line with what obtains in Nigeria. The study highlighted the several challenges that face Nigerian universities inclusive of poor funding, poor personnel and the poor exposure to global…

  2. Kink-induced symmetry breaking patterns in brane-world SU(3)3 trinification models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demaria, Alison; Volkas, Raymond R.

    2005-01-01

    The trinification grand unified theory (GUT) has gauge group SU(3) 3 and a discrete symmetry permuting the SU(3) factors. In common with other GUTs, the attractive nature of the fermionic multiplet assignments is obviated by the complicated multiparameter Higgs potential apparently needed for phenomenological reasons, and also by vacuum expectation value (VEV) hierarchies within a given multiplet. This motivates the rigorous consideration of Higgs potentials, symmetry breaking patterns, and alternative symmetry breaking mechanisms in models with this gauge group. Specifically, we study the recently proposed 'clash of symmetries' brane-world mechanism to see if it can help with the symmetry breaking conundrum. This requires a detailed analysis of Higgs potential global minima and kink or domain wall solutions interpolating between the disconnected global minima created through spontaneous discrete symmetry breaking. Sufficiently long-lived metastable kinks can also be considered. We develop what we think is an interesting, albeit speculative, brane-world scheme whereby the hierarchical symmetry breaking cascade, trinification to left-right symmetry to the standard model to color cross electromagnetism, may be induced without an initial hierarchy in vacuum expectation values. Another motivation for this paper is simply to continue the exploration of the rich class of kinks arising in models that are invariant under both discrete and continuous symmetries

  3. The Testing Behind The Test Facility: The Acoustic Design of the NASA Glenn Research Center's World-Class Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hozman, Aron D.; Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Mark E.; McNelis, Anne M.

    2011-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is leading the design and build of the new world-class vibroacoustic test capabilities at the NASA GRC's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, USA. Benham Companies, LLC is currently constructing modal, base-shake sine and reverberant acoustic test facilities to support the future testing needs of NASA's space exploration program. The large Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) will be approximately 101,000 cu ft in volume and capable of achieving an empty chamber acoustic overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of 163 dB. This combination of size and acoustic power is unprecedented amongst the world's known active reverberant acoustic test facilities. The key to achieving the expected acoustic test spectra for a range of many NASA space flight environments in the RATF is the knowledge gained from a series of ground acoustic tests. Data was obtained from several NASA-sponsored test programs, including testing performed at the National Research Council of Canada's acoustic test facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and at the Redstone Technical Test Center acoustic test facility in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. The majority of these tests were performed to characterize the acoustic performance of the modulators (noise generators) and representative horns that would be required to meet the desired spectra, as well as to evaluate possible supplemental gas jet noise sources. The knowledge obtained in each of these test programs enabled the design of the RATF sound generation system to confidently advance to its final acoustic design and subsequent on-going construction.

  4. Human leukocyte antigen class II susceptibility conferring alleles among non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tipu, H.N.; Ahmed, T.A.; Bashir, M.M.

    2010-01-01

    To determine the frequency of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class II susceptibility conferring alleles among type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients, in comparison with healthy controls. Cross-sectional comparative study. Patients with non-insulin dependent Diabetes mellitus meeting World Health Organization criteria were studied. These were compared with age and gender matched healthy control subjects. For each subject (patients as well as controls), DNA was extracted from ethylene diamine tetra-acetate sample and HLA class II DRB1 typing was carried out at allele group level (DRB1*01-DRB1*16) by sequence specific primers. Human leukocyte antigen DRB1 type was determined by agarose gel electrophoresis and results were recorded. Frequencies were determined as number of an allele divided by total number of alleles per group; p-value was computed using Pearson's chi-square test. Among the 100 patients, there were 63 males and 37 females with 68 controls. A total of 13 different HLA DRB1 alleles were detected, with DRB1*15 being the commonest in both the groups. The allele DRB1*13 had statistically significant higher frequency in patient group as compared to controls (p 0.005). HLA DRB1*13 was found with a significantly increased frequency in non-insulin dependent Diabetes mellitus. (author)

  5. Recent R and D status for 70 MW class superconducting generators in the Super-GM project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ageta, T.

    2000-01-01

    Three types of 70 MW class superconducting generators called model machines have been developed to establish basic technologies for a pilot machine. The series of on-site verification tests was completed in June 1999. The world's highest generator output (79 MW), the world's longest continuous operation (1500 hours) and other excellent results were obtained. The model machine was connected to a commercial power grid and fundamental data were collected for future utilization. It is expected that fundamental technologies on design and manufacture required for a 200 MW class pilot machine are established. (author)

  6. A world class nuclear research reactor complex for South Africa's nuclear future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keshaw, Jeetesh

    2008-01-01

    South Africa recently made public its rather ambitious goals pertaining to nuclear energy developments in a Draft Policy and Strategy issued for public comment. Not much attention was given to an important tool for nuclear energy research and development, namely a well equipped and maintained research reactor, which on its own does not do justice to its potential, unless it is fitted with all the ancillaries and human resources as most first world countries have. In South Africa's case it is suggested to establish at least one Nuclear Energy Research and Development Centre at such a research reactor, where almost all nuclear energy related research can be carried out on par with some of the best in the world. The purpose of this work is to propose how this could be done, and motivate why it is important that it be done with great urgency, and with full involvement of young professionals, if South Africa wishes to face up to the challenges mentioned in the Draft Strategy and Policy. (authors)

  7. Water for Two Worlds: Designing Terrestrial Applications for Exploration-class Sanitation Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Constance; Andersson, Ingvar; Feighery, John

    2004-01-01

    At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September of 2000, the world leaders agreed on an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) , a list of issues they consider highly pernicious, threatening to human welfare and, thereby, to global security and prosperity. Among the eight goals are included fundamental human needs such as the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the promotion of gender equality, the reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health, and ensuring the sustainability of our shared environment. In order to help focus the efforts to meet these goals, the United Nations (UN) has established a set of eighteen concrete targets, each with an associated schedule. Among these is Target 10: "By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water." A closely related target of equal dignity was agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002): "By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation".

  8. Cross-cultural Lifelong Learning

    OpenAIRE

    2010-01-01

    Globalisation, internationalisation, multiculturalism, immigration, and growing number of cross-cultural encounters are colorising the everyday life both in Western and Eastern parts of the world. However, in most cases, lifelong learning is normally studied in and around a certain condensed culture or from the dominant Western perspective. Thus it is important to ask how we should rebuild our conceptions of 'culture' or 'learning' in the context of these global cross-cultural trends, or how ...

  9. Cross- and trans-language morphology The lexicography of Indonesian names

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dick van der Meij

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Different form many other name-giving possibilities in the world, in Indonesia parents are free to give their children any name they like. These names, many of which are auspicious in view of the child’s future, are often constructed by means of productive morphological procedures. Seven suffixes are followed through history and culture and their possibilities in making new names are explored. The suffixes concern the female –ingsih, –ingrum, –ingtyas, –ingdyah, –astuti, –wati, and the male –wan. Various ins and outs concerning these suffixes are explored and their attachments to various words from various word classes from Indonesian, Javanese and other language revealed. Cross-language name construction leads to trans-language creations that play a possible role in the constitution of Indonesian nation building. The procedures moreover seem to indicate trends away from the inclination to give children Muslim names.

  10. Dance Specialists around the World--A Living History

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musmon, Margaret; Welsh, Kariamu; Heath, Freddie-Lee; Minton, Sandra; Laverty, Mary Ann; Maeshiba, Naoko; Weeks, Sandy; Cardinal, Marita K.; Howton, Amy; Tavacioglu, Leyla

    2008-01-01

    Dance embraces the entire globe. Universities offer world dance classes to expose students to various styles and educators travel to different countries to experience how dance is viewed, performed, and taught in different cultures. In this article nine dance educators share their experiences of teaching and observing dance abroad. These accounts…

  11. Astronomy for Astronomical Numbers with Massive Open Online Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Impey, Chris David; Wenger, Matthew; Buxner, Sanlyn; Formanek, Martin

    2017-01-01

    Massive Open Online Classes (MOOCs) have shown their ability to reach missions of adults across the world with science content. We have been experimenting with pedagogy in two MOOCs, provided through Udemy and Coursera, that have reached over 80,000 people. Although the completion rate is low, just under 10%, the cumulative outreach impact of nearly half a million hours of astronomy video watched is substantial. A similar fraction of learners is heavily engaged and participate in online discussions, live question and answer sessions, and social media connected to the class. MOOCs are valuable for testing pedagogy that might later be employed in online for-credit classes, with the caveat that the motivations and modes of engagement of free-choice learners can differ from those of college students.

  12. Cross-Cultural Research and Qualitative Inquiry

    OpenAIRE

    Liamputtong, Pranee

    2010-01-01

    Cross-cultural research has become important in this postmodern world where many people have been made, and are still, marginalised and vulnerable by others in more powerful positions like colonial researchers. In this paper, I contend that qualitative research is particularly appropriate for cross-cultural research because it allows us to find answers which are more relevant to the research participants. Cross-cultural qualitative research must be situated within some theoretical frameworks....

  13. World Wide Webs: Crossing the Digital Divide through Promotion of Public Access

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coetzee, Liezl

    “As Bill Gates and Steve Case proclaim the global omnipresence of the Internet, the majority of non-Western nations and 97 per cent of the world's population remain unconnected to the net for lack of money, access, or knowledge. This exclusion of so vast a share of the global population from the Internet sharply contradicts the claims of those who posit the World Wide Web as a ‘universal' medium of egalitarian communication.” (Trend 2001:2)

  14. Neoliberalism as a class ideology; or, the political causes of the growth of inequalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarro, Vicente

    2007-01-01

    Neoliberalism is the dominant ideology permeating the public policies of many governments in developed and developing countries and of international agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and many technical agencies of the United Nations, including the World Health Organization. This ideology postulates that the reduction of state interventions in economic and social activities and the deregulation of labor and financial markets, as well as of commerce and investments, have liberated the enormous potential of capitalism to create an unprecedented era of social well-being in the world's population. This article questions each of the theses that support such ideology, presenting empirical information that challenges them. The author also describes how the application of these neoliberal policies has been responsible for a substantial growth of social inequalities within the countries where such policies have been applied, as well as among countries. The major beneficiaries of these policies are the dominant classes of both the developed and the developing countries, which have established worldwide class alliances that are primarily responsible for the promotion of neoliberalism.

  15. U.S. Geological Survey World Wide Web Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2003-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) invites you to explore an earth science virtual library of digital information, publications, and data. The USGS World Wide Web sites offer an array of information that reflects scientific research and monitoring programs conducted in the areas of natural hazards, environmental resources, and cartography. This list provides gateways to access a cross section of the digital information on the USGS World Wide Web sites.

  16. King george V class battleships

    CERN Document Server

    Chesneau, Roger

    2011-01-01

    The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.The five battleships of the class covered by this volume were the most modern British capital ships to serve in the Second World War. They were involved ...

  17. Real-world educational experience through project-oriented graduate classes in collaboration with industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zurbuchen, Thomas H.

    2007-04-01

    There is a need for a motivated and innovative work force for the U.S. aerospace industry. The education of such engineers and scientists typically revolves around a fundamental knowledge of basic important technologies, such as the mechanics relevant to orbit-design, structures, avionics, and many others. A few years ago, the University of Michigan developed a Masters of Engineering program that provides students with skills that are not taught as part of a typical engineering curriculum. This program is focused on open problem solving, space systems, and space policy, as well as other classes that further their understanding of the connections between technologies and the nontechnical aspects of managing a space mission. The value of such an education is substantially increased through a direct connection to industry. An innovative problem-oriented approach has been developed that enables direct connections between industry and classroom teaching. The class works as a system study group and addresses problems of interest to and defined by a company with a specific application. We discuss such an application, a near-space lidar wind measurement system to enhance weather predictions, as well as the approach taken to link educational rationales.

  18. Accounting for taxonomic distance in accuracy assessment of soil class predictions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rossiter, David G.; Zeng, Rong; Zhang, Gan Lin

    2017-01-01

    Evaluating the accuracy of allocation to classes in monothetic hierarchical soil classification systems, including the World Reference Base for Soil Classification, US Soil Taxonomy, and Chinese Soil Taxonomy, is poorly-served by binomial methods (correct/incorrect allocation per evaluation

  19. Spatial prisoner's dilemma optimally played in small-world networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masuda, Naoki; Aihara, Kazuyuki

    2003-01-01

    Cooperation is commonly found in ecological and social systems even when it apparently seems that individuals can benefit from selfish behavior. We investigate how cooperation emerges with the spatial prisoner's dilemma played in a class of networks ranging from regular lattices to random networks. We find that, among these networks, small-world topology is the optimal structure when we take into account the speed at which cooperative behavior propagates. Our results may explain why the small-world properties are self-organized in real networks

  20. A new class of organic nitrates: investigations on bioactivation, tolerance and cross-tolerance phenomena.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuhmacher, S; Schulz, E; Oelze, M; König, A; Roegler, C; Lange, K; Sydow, L; Kawamoto, T; Wenzel, P; Münzel, T; Lehmann, J; Daiber, A

    2009-09-01

    The chronic use of organic nitrates is limited by serious side effects including oxidative stress, nitrate tolerance and/or endothelial dysfunction. The side effects and potency of nitroglycerine depend on mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2). We sought to determine whether this concept can be extended to a new class of organic nitrates with amino moieties (aminoalkyl nitrates). Vasodilator potency of the organic nitrates, in vitro tolerance and in vivo tolerance (after continuous infusion for 3 days) were assessed in wild-type and ALDH-2 knockout mice by isometric tension studies. Mitochondrial oxidative stress was analysed by L-012-dependent chemiluminescence and protein tyrosine nitration. Aminoethyl nitrate (AEN) showed an almost similar potency to glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), even though it is only a mononitrate. AEN-dependent vasodilatation was mediated by cGMP and nitric oxide. In contrast to triethanolamine trinitrate (TEAN) and GTN, AEN bioactivation did not depend on ALDH-2 and caused no in vitro tolerance. In vivo treatment with TEAN and GTN, but not with AEN, induced cross-tolerance to acetylcholine (ACh)-dependent and GTN-dependent relaxation. Although all nitrates tested induced tolerance to themselves, only TEAN and GTN significantly increased mitochondrial oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo. The present results demonstrate that not all high potency nitrates are bioactivated by ALDH-2 and that high potency of a given nitrate is not necessarily associated with induction of oxidative stress or nitrate tolerance. Obviously, there are distinct pathways for bioactivation of organic nitrates, which for AEN may involve xanthine oxidoreductase rather than P450 enzymes.

  1. Building a World-Class Safety Culture: The National Ignition Facility and the Control of Human and Organizational Error

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, C T; Stalnaker, G

    2002-01-01

    Accidents in complex systems send us signals. They may be harbingers of a catastrophe. Some even argue that a ''normal'' consequence of operations in a complex organization may not only be the goods it produces, but also accidents and--inevitably--catastrophes. We would like to tell you the story of a large, complex organization, whose history questions the argument ''that accidents just happen.'' Starting from a less than enviable safety record, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has accumulated over 2.5 million safe hours. The story of NIF is still unfolding. The facility is still being constructed and commissioned. But the steps NIF has taken in achieving its safety record provide a principled blueprint that may be of value to others. Describing that principled blueprint is the purpose of this paper. The first part of this paper is a case study of NIF and its effort to achieve a world-class safety record. This case study will include a description of (1) NIF's complex systems, (2) NIF's early safety history, (3) factors that may have initiated its safety culture change, and (4) the evolution of its safety blueprint. In the last part of the paper, we will compare NIF's safety culture to what safety industry experts, psychologists, and sociologists say about how to shape a culture and control organizational error

  2. 84 The Third World Option in a Globalized Building Materials Market ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Choice-Academy

    Globalization has been described as a world phenomenon that provides a level ground for competitive ..... and the political class are held socially and .... enhance levels of occupants' comfort, safety ... well advanced in manufacturing industry.

  3. Social class and policy preferences: implications for economic inequality and interclass relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bullock, Heather E

    2017-12-01

    Record-setting levels of income and wealth inequality are deepening social class divisions. The adoption of strong progressive redistributive policies is crucial to reducing class inequities, yet many barriers to doing so exist. This review examines class-based policy preferences, focusing on the effects of economic self-interest, system justification, and classist, racist, and sexist stereotypes on policy support. The impact of broader economic conditions is also considered. Collectively, this body of research makes clear that building stronger cross-class support for redistributive policies and programs will prove difficult without addressing both class-based power differences and beliefs that justify inequality. Reducing stereotypes and developing a shared sense of societal responsibility that cuts across class lines can help advance these goals. Social psychological research is vital to informing these efforts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The Other World in B.R. Collins' Game Runner (2011

    OpenAIRE

    Fateha Aziz

    2016-01-01

    A brief lecture for an undergrad Sci-fi class at University of Worcester, on the alternative world in B.R. Collins' Game Runner; also a work in progress on the notion of the digitised, consumer childhood in the 21st century.

  5. 77 FR 7025 - Safety Zones; America's Cup World Series, East Passage, Narragansett Bay, RI

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-10

    ...-AA00 Safety Zones; America's Cup World Series, East Passage, Narragansett Bay, RI AGENCY: Coast Guard... the America's Cup World Series sailing vessel racing event. This safety zone is intended to safeguard...'s Cup-class races on the waters of the East Passage, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Vessels will be...

  6. Differential cross sections in a thick brane world scenario

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedraza, Omar; Arceo, R.; López, L. A.; Cerón, V. E.

    2018-04-01

    The elastic differential cross section is calculated at low energies for the elements He and Ne using an effective 4D electromagnetic potential coming from the contribution of the massive Kaluza-Klein modes of the 5D vector field in a thick brane scenario. The length scale is adjusted in the potential to compare with known experimental data and to set bounds for the parameter of the model.

  7. Translation Ambiguity but Not Word Class Predicts Translation Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prior, Anat; Kroll, Judith F.; Macwhinney, Brian

    2013-01-01

    We investigated the influence of word class and translation ambiguity on cross-linguistic representation and processing. Bilingual speakers of English and Spanish performed translation production and translation recognition tasks on nouns and verbs in both languages. Words either had a single translation or more than one translation. Translation…

  8. Computer classes and games in virtual reality environment to reduce loneliness among students of an elderly reference center: Study protocol for a randomised cross-over design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antunes, Thaiany Pedrozo Campos; Oliveira, Acary Souza Bulle de; Crocetta, Tania Brusque; Antão, Jennifer Yohanna Ferreira de Lima; Barbosa, Renata Thais de Almeida; Guarnieri, Regiani; Massetti, Thais; Monteiro, Carlos Bandeira de Mello; Abreu, Luiz Carlos de

    2017-03-01

    Physical and mental changes associated with aging commonly lead to a decrease in communication capacity, reducing social interactions and increasing loneliness. Computer classes for older adults make significant contributions to social and cognitive aspects of aging. Games in a virtual reality (VR) environment stimulate the practice of communicative and cognitive skills and might also bring benefits to older adults. Furthermore, it might help to initiate their contact to the modern technology. The purpose of this study protocol is to evaluate the effects of practicing VR games during computer classes on the level of loneliness of students of an elderly reference center. This study will be a prospective longitudinal study with a randomised cross-over design, with subjects aged 50 years and older, of both genders, spontaneously enrolled in computer classes for beginners. Data collection will be done in 3 moments: moment 0 (T0) - at baseline; moment 1 (T1) - after 8 typical computer classes; and moment 2 (T2) - after 8 computer classes which include 15 minutes for practicing games in VR environment. A characterization questionnaire, the short version of the Short Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S) and 3 games with VR (Random, MoviLetrando, and Reaction Time) will be used. For the intervention phase 4 other games will be used: Coincident Timing, Motor Skill Analyser, Labyrinth, and Fitts. The statistical analysis will compare the evolution in loneliness perception, performance, and reaction time during the practice of the games between the 3 moments of data collection. Performance and reaction time during the practice of the games will also be correlated to the loneliness perception. The protocol is approved by the host institution's ethics committee under the number 52305215.3.0000.0082. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journal articles and conferences. This clinical trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT

  9. Semantic Analysis of Virtual Classes and Nested Classes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Ole Lehrmann

    1999-01-01

    Virtual classes and nested classes are distinguishing features of BETA. Nested classes originated from Simula, but until recently they have not been part of main stream object- oriented languages. C++ has a restricted form of nested classes and they were included in Java 1.1. Virtual classes...... classes and parameterized classes have been made. Although virtual classes and nested classes have been used in BETA for more than a decade, their implementation has not been published. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of virtual classes and nested classes by presenting...

  10. High-energy properties of a class of unitary eikonal models for multiproduction

    CERN Document Server

    Redei, L B

    1974-01-01

    The high-energy properties of a simple class of unitary, crossing- symmetric eikonal models of multiproduction are discussed on the basis of the general closed expression given for the S-matrix elements in a previous publication. In particular, the high-energy behaviour of the multiplicity moments is discussed and it is shown that the KNO scaling relation emerges in a very natural fashion in this class of models. (8 refs).

  11. The Measurement of Relevance Amount of Documents That By Using of Google cross-language retrieval About Agriculture Subject Area are Retrieved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Jamshidi Ghahfarokhi

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the relevance amount of documents has been investigated by using google cross-language retrieval tools about a agriculture subject area in cross-language retrieval form, are retrieved. For this purpose, by using Persian journals articles that have had English abstracts, Persian phrases and subject terms with their English equivalent were extracted. In three class us, thirty number of phrases and subject terms of agriculture area were extracted: First class, subject phrases that only in agriculture are used; Secondary, agriculture subject terms that in other fields are used too; Third class, agriculture subject terms that out of this field are considered as public term. Then by these phrases and terms, documents were searched, and relevance amount of search results are investigated. Results of study showed that google cross-language retrieval tools for two classes of phrases and terms, in cross-language retrieval of relevance document about agriculture subject area, aren`t succeed: one class, agriculture subject terms that in other fields are used too. other class, agriculture subject terms that out of agriculture field are considered as public term. Google cross-language retrieval tools about subject phrase and terms that only in agriculture field are used, are performance rather desirable than other two class of phrase and terms

  12. The duration of pubertal growth peak among three skeletal classes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Waqar Jeelani

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Introduction: Pubertal growth peak is closely associated with a rapid increase in mandibular length and offers a wide range of therapeutic modifiability. Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine and compare the mean ages of onset and duration of pubertal growth peak among three skeletal classes. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using lateral cephalograms of 230 subjects with growth potential (110 males, 120 females. Subjects were categorized into three classes (Class I = 81, Class II = 82, Class III = 67, according to the sagittal relationship established between the maxilla and the mandible. The cervical vertebral maturation stage was recorded by means of Baccetti's method. The mean ages at CS3 and CS4 and the CS3-CS4 age interval were compared between boys and girls and among three skeletal classes. Results: Pubertal growth peak occurred on average four months earlier in girls than boys (p = 0.050. The average duration of pubertal growth peak was 11 months in Class I, seven months in Class II and 17 months in Class III subjects. Interclass differences were highly significant (Cohen's d > 0.08. However, no significant difference was found in the timing of pubertal growth peak onset among three skeletal classes (p = 0.126 in boys, p = 0.262 in girls. Conclusions: Girls enter pubertal growth peak on average four months earlier than boys. Moreover, the duration of pubertal growth peak is on average four months shorter in Class II and six months longer in Class III subjects as compared to Class I subjects.

  13. Measuring inequalities in health from survey data using self-assessed social class.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacak, Valerio

    2018-03-01

    Asking participants to assess their social class may be an efficient approach to examining inequalities in heath from survey data. The present study investigated this possibility empirically by testing whether subjective class identification is related to overall health. I used pooled cross-sectional data from the 2012 and the 2014 General Social Survey, a nationally representative survey carried out among adults in the United States. The association between health and class was estimated separately by gender, race and age. The association follows a gradient pattern where health deteriorates with lower class position even after controlling for indicators typically used in research that examines class differences in health-educational attainment, family income and occupational prestige. The results largely hold when the data are stratified by gender, race and age. These findings demonstrate the empirical value of subjective class identification for assessing social inequalities in health from survey data.

  14. Gender differences in the association of individual social class and neighbourhood unemployment rate with prevalent type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study from the DIAB-CORE consortium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Grit; Hartwig, Saskia; Greiser, Karin Halina; Moebus, Susanne; Pundt, Noreen; Schipf, Sabine; Völzke, Henry; Maier, Werner; Meisinger, Christa; Tamayo, Teresa; Rathmann, Wolfgang; Berger, Klaus

    2013-06-21

    To analyse gender differences in the relationship of individual social class, employment status and neighbourhood unemployment rate with present type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Five cross-sectional studies. Studies were conducted in five regions of Germany from 1997 to 2006. The sample consisted of 8871 individuals residing in 226 neighbourhoods from five urban regions. Prevalent T2DM. We found significant multiplicative interactions between gender and the individual variables--social class and employment status. Social class was statistically significantly associated with T2DM in men and women, whereby this association was stronger in women (lower vs higher social class: OR 2.68 (95% CIs 1.66 to 4.34)) than men (lower vs higher social class: OR 1.78 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.58)). Significant associations of employment status and T2DM were only found in women (unemployed vs employed: OR 1.73 (95% CI 1.02 to 2.92); retired vs employed: OR 1.77 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.84); others vs employed: OR 1.64 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.67)). Neighbourhood unemployment rate was associated with T2DM in men (high vs low tertile: OR 1.52 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.96)). Between-study and between-neighbourhood variations in T2DM prevalence were more pronounced in women. The considered covariates helped to explain statistically the variation in T2DM prevalence among men, but not among women. Social class was inversely associated with T2DM in both men and women, whereby the association was more pronounced in women. Employment status only affected T2DM in women. Neighbourhood unemployment rate is an important predictor of T2DM in men, but not in women.

  15. Oversampling the Minority Class in the Feature Space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez-Ortiz, Maria; Gutierrez, Pedro Antonio; Tino, Peter; Hervas-Martinez, Cesar

    2016-09-01

    The imbalanced nature of some real-world data is one of the current challenges for machine learning researchers. One common approach oversamples the minority class through convex combination of its patterns. We explore the general idea of synthetic oversampling in the feature space induced by a kernel function (as opposed to input space). If the kernel function matches the underlying problem, the classes will be linearly separable and synthetically generated patterns will lie on the minority class region. Since the feature space is not directly accessible, we use the empirical feature space (EFS) (a Euclidean space isomorphic to the feature space) for oversampling purposes. The proposed method is framed in the context of support vector machines, where the imbalanced data sets can pose a serious hindrance. The idea is investigated in three scenarios: 1) oversampling in the full and reduced-rank EFSs; 2) a kernel learning technique maximizing the data class separation to study the influence of the feature space structure (implicitly defined by the kernel function); and 3) a unified framework for preferential oversampling that spans some of the previous approaches in the literature. We support our investigation with extensive experiments over 50 imbalanced data sets.

  16. Nature and Education: Learning from the World around Us.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donckers, Cathy

    Our elementary secondary schools have hidden curricula which teach passivity, resistance to change, inflexibility, and submissive behavior in a world which is moving toward faster changes and heightened personal individuality. Class control with the teacher feeding information to the students like data to a computer can no longer be accepted as…

  17. Social class variation in medicine use among adolescents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holstein, Bjørn E; Hansen, Ebba Holme; Due, Pernille

    2004-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Little is known about social determinants of adolescents' medicine use. The objective was to analyse the association between the family's social class and adolescents' use of medicine for headache, stomachache, difficulties in getting to sleep, and nervousness. METHODS: Cross......, participation rate 88%, n=5,205. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses showed that medicine use for all four symptoms increased by decreasing social class, controlled for age and prevalence of the specific symptom for which the medicine was taken. Adjusted OR (95% CI) for medicine use among students from lower...... social classes were: medicine for headache 1.35 (1.11-1.65), medicine for stomachache 1.41 (1.08-1.84), medicine for difficulties in getting to sleep 2.00 (1.30-3.08), and medicine for nervousness 3.22 (1.87-5.56). CONCLUSION: Symptom-adjusted medicine use in a representative sample of Danish adolescents...

  18. General renormalized statistical approach with finite cross-field correlations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vakulenko, M.O.

    1992-01-01

    The renormalized statistical approach is proposed, accounting for finite correlations of potential and magnetic fluctuations. It may be used for analysis of a wide class of nonlinear model equations describing the cross-correlated plasma states. The influence of a cross spectrum on stationary potential and magnetic ones is investigated. 10 refs. (author)

  19. Antibiotic Resistance and Carriage Integron Classes in Clinical Isolates of Acinetobacter Baumannii from Isfahan Hospitals, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fahimeh Nourbakhsh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background Acinetobacter baumannii is a significant nosocomial pathogen around the world, especially in the intensive care unit that most A. baumannii infections are caused by the outbreak strains. Objectives This study has been performed in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates, aimed to detect integron classes I, II, III and molecular typing of A. baumannii genes. Methods In this Cross-sectional study, Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from 150 patients in Isfahan hospitals then antibiotic resistance pattern was determined by disk diffusion method (Kirby Bauer. The presence of genes coding in antibiotic resistance and integrons class I, II, III were analyzed by using of M-PCR method. The data were analyzed by Chi-square, Fischer’s test and SPSS statistical software version 16. Results Antibiotic resistance pattern for Acinetobacter baumannii show that the high resistance was for ciprofloxacin with frequency of 98.3%, ceftazidime with 89.4%, and tetracycline with frequency of 87.3%. The most sensitive antibiotics were chloramphenicol, and nitrofurantoin with frequency of 3.5% and 3.2% resistance. The detection of dfrA1 (63.7%, sul1 (68.6%, aac (3-IV (54.4%, tet (B (22.4%, tet (A (78.3%, aadA1 (15.4%, CITM (17. %, vim (12.2%, Qnr (17.1%, blaSHV (19.8%, sim (7.8%, Oxa-24-like (13.2%, Oxa-51-like (11.9%, Oxa-58-like (39.4%, Oxa-23-like (12.6%, imp (9.2%, cmlA (19% and cat1 (8.6% were respectively reported too. Also in this study Frequency of integrons class 1, 2, 3 were (100%, (28%, (6.6% respectively. Conclusions High prevalence of integrons among Acinetobater baumannii isolated from Isfahan hospitals indicate the importance role of integron classes in multidrug resistance. Considering the increasing pattern of MDR infections is one of the important issues of treatment which can be effective strategy for curing.

  20. HISTORICAL-CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, CLASS STRUGGLE AND SCHOOL EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dermeval Saviani

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available After introducing the approach of the relationship between education and class struggle in today's society, this article deals with the meaning of the concept of violence pointing out the current condition of a world ruled by violence that finds justification in the fascism, defined as the metaphysics of the violence. Next it approaches the problem of the eradication of the violence in the social praxis in the perspectives of the Christian Personalism (metaphysics of the non-violence, Existentialism (subjective conception of the violence and of the Marxism (objective conception of the violence and of the nonviolence. Based on those analyses it makes evident, in the conclusion, the relationship between class struggle and school education in the historical—critical perspective.

  1. Civil Procedure in Cross-cultural Dialogue: Eurasia Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefaan Voet

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Reviewed book: Civil Procedure in Cross-cultural Dialogue: Eurasia Context: IAPL World Conference on Civil Procedure, September 18–21, 2012, Moscow, Russia (Dmitry Maleshin, ed. (Statut 2012, available at (accessed March 9, 2014 [hereinafter Civil Procedure in Cross-cultural Dialogue: Eurasia Context].

  2. Exploring Medieval European Society with Chess: An Engaging Activity for the World History Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagnotti, John; Russell, William B., III

    2012-01-01

    In a typical high school World History course, the teacher must teach thousands of years of human history in one year, thus making it the most comprehensive history course offered in school. Given the extended content requirements in a World History course, individual topics are given little time before the class must "move on" to the…

  3. Family burden related to mental and physical disorders in the world : results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Viana, Maria Carmen; Gruber, Michael J.; Shahly, Victoria; Alhamzawi, Ali; Alonso, Jordi; Andrade, Laura H.; Angermeyer, Matthias C.; Benjet, Corina; Bruffaerts, Ronny; Caldas-de-Almeida, Jose Miguel; de Girolamo, Giovanni; de Jonge, Peter; Ferry, Finola; Florescu, Silvia; Gureje, Oye; Haro, Josep Maria; Hinkov, Hristo; Hu, Chiyi; Karam, Elie G.; Lepine, Jean-Pierre; Levinson, Daphna; Posada-Villa, Jose; Sampson, Nancy A.; Kessler, Ronald C.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To assess prevalence and correlates of family caregiver burdens associated with mental and physical conditions worldwide. Methods: Cross-sectional community surveys asked 43,732 adults residing in 19 countries of the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys about chronic physical and mental

  4. Archform comparisons between skeletal class II and III malocclusions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Zou

    Full Text Available The purpose of this cross-sectional research was to explore the relationship of the mandibular dental and basal bone archforms between severe Skeletal Class II (SC2 and Skeletal Class III (SC3 malocclusions. We also compared intercanine and intermolar widths in these two malocclusion types. Thirty-three virtual pretreatment mandibular models (Skeletal Class III group and Thirty-five Skeletal Class II group pretreatment models were created with a laser scanning system. FA (the midpoint of the facial axis of the clinical crownand WALA points (the most prominent point on the soft-tissue ridgewere employed to produce dental and basal bone archforms, respectively. Gained scatter diagrams of the samples were processed by nonlinear regression analysis via SPSS 17.0. The mandibular dental and basal bone intercanine and intermolar widths were significantly greater in the Skeletal Class III group compared to the Skeletal Class II group. In both groups, a moderate correlation existed between dental and basal bone arch widths in the canine region, and a high correlation existed between dental and basal bone arch widths in the molar region. The coefficient of correlation of the Skeletal Class III group was greater than the Skeletal Class II group. Fourth degree, even order power functions were used as best-fit functions to fit the scatter plots. The radius of curvature was larger in Skeletal Class III malocclusions compared to Skeletal Class II malocclusions (rWALA3>rWALA2>rFA3>rFA2. In conclusion, mandibular dental and basal intercanine and intermolar widths were significantly different between the two groups. Compared with Skeletal Class II subjects, the mandibular archform was more flat for Skeletal Class III subjects.

  5. Visual illusions and ethnocentrism: exemplars for teaching cross-cultural concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith, Kenneth D

    2012-05-01

    This article discusses the origins of cross-cultural interest in two concepts fundamental to psychology students' views of the world: simple visual illusions and ethnocentrism. Although students encounter these ideas in introductory psychology, textbooks rarely describe the nature or origin of cross-cultural knowledge about them. The article presents a brief account of the history of these concepts and relates them to contemporary notions of psychology and culture. Using visual perception and ethnocentrism as examples, the article suggests the importance of teaching that different people see the world in different ways and the role of that lesson in a future demanding increased cross-cultural understanding.

  6. A Valid Matérn Class of Cross-Covariance Functions for Multivariate Random Fields With Any Number of Components

    KAUST Repository

    Apanasovich, Tatiyana V.

    2012-03-01

    We introduce a valid parametric family of cross-covariance functions for multivariate spatial random fields where each component has a covariance function from a well-celebrated Matérn class. Unlike previous attempts, our model indeed allows for various smoothnesses and rates of correlation decay for any number of vector components.We present the conditions on the parameter space that result in valid models with varying degrees of complexity. We discuss practical implementations, including reparameterizations to reflect the conditions on the parameter space and an iterative algorithm to increase the computational efficiency. We perform various Monte Carlo simulation experiments to explore the performances of our approach in terms of estimation and cokriging. The application of the proposed multivariate Matérnmodel is illustrated on two meteorological datasets: temperature/pressure over the Pacific Northwest (bivariate) and wind/temperature/pressure in Oklahoma (trivariate). In the latter case, our flexible trivariate Matérn model is valid and yields better predictive scores compared with a parsimonious model with common scale parameters. © 2012 American Statistical Association.

  7. Cybergogy as a framework for teaching design students in virtual worlds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chase, Scott Curland; Scopes, Lesley

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, 3D virtual worlds have been explored for design teaching, yet it is unclear whether a specific pedagogy is used or adapted for such activities. Here we describe the pedagogical model of Cybergogy of Learning Archetypes and Learning Domains, developed specifically for teaching in ...... immersive virtual worlds, and its application to introductory building classes in the virtual world Second Life for architectural design students and teachers as part of the ARCHI21 project.......In recent years, 3D virtual worlds have been explored for design teaching, yet it is unclear whether a specific pedagogy is used or adapted for such activities. Here we describe the pedagogical model of Cybergogy of Learning Archetypes and Learning Domains, developed specifically for teaching in 3D...

  8. Intermediate structure studies of 234U cross sections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    James, G.D.; Schindler, R.H.

    1976-01-01

    Neutron induced fission and total cross sections of 234 U have been measured over the neutron energy range from a few eV to several MeV. Neutron and fission widths for 118 cross section resonances below 1500 eV have been determined and give a class I level spacing of 10.64 + -0.46 eV and a neutron strength function of (0.857 +- 0.108)x10 -4 . These fine structure resonances comprise a narrow intermediate structure resonance in the sub-threshold fission cross section of 234 U. Parameters for the Lorentzian energy dependence of the mean fission width are deduced on the assumption that, relative to this mean, the observed fission widths have a Porter-Thomas distribution. Two large fission widths measured for resonances at 1092.5 eV and 1134 eV may indicate the presence of a second narrow intermediate structure resonance at about this energy. The class II level spacing derived from the observation of 7 resonances below 13 keV is 2.1 +-0.3 keV. Pronounced breaks in the fission cross section at 310 keV, 550 keV and 720 keV are assumed to be due to β-vibrational levels in the second minimum of the Strutinsky potential. Fluctuations due to the presence of class II resonances are strongly evident for each of these vibrational levels. It is shown that the fluctuations near 310 keV are consistent with parameters deduced from the low energy data and this enables parameters for the double humped fission barrier potential to be obtained

  9. Worlds Largest Wave Energy Project 2007 in Wales

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Lars; Friis-Madsen, Erik; Kofoed, Jens Peter

    2006-01-01

    This paper introduces world largest wave energy project being developed in Wales and based on one of the leading wave energy technologies. The background for the development of wave energy, the total resource ands its distribution around the world is described. In contrast to wind energy turbines...... Dragon has to be scaled in accordance with the wave climate at the deployment site, which makes the Welch demonstrator device the worlds largest WEC so far with a total width of 300 meters. The project budget, the construction methods and the deployment site are also given....... a large number of fundamentally different technologies are utilised to harvest wave energy. The Wave Dragon belongs to the wave overtopping class of converters and the paper describes the fundamentals and the technical solutions used in this wave energy converter. An offshore floating WEC like the Wave...

  10. Heart-Rate Variability During Deep Sleep in World-Class Alpine Skiers: A Time-Efficient Alternative to Morning Supine Measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herzig, David; Testorelli, Moreno; Olstad, Daniela Schäfer; Erlacher, Daniel; Achermann, Peter; Eser, Prisca; Wilhelm, Matthias

    2017-05-01

    It is increasingly popular to use heart-rate variability (HRV) to tailor training for athletes. A time-efficient method is HRV assessment during deep sleep. To validate the selection of deep-sleep segments identified by RR intervals with simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recordings and to compare HRV parameters of these segments with those of standard morning supine measurements. In 11 world-class alpine skiers, RR intervals were monitored during 10 nights, and simultaneous EEGs were recorded during 2-4 nights. Deep sleep was determined from the HRV signal and verified by delta power from the EEG recordings. Four further segments were chosen for HRV determination, namely, a 4-h segment from midnight to 4 AM and three 5-min segments: 1 just before awakening, 1 after waking in supine position, and 1 in standing after orthostatic challenge. Training load was recorded every day. A total of 80 night and 68 morning measurements of 9 athletes were analyzed. Good correspondence between the phases selected by RR intervals vs those selected by EEG was found. Concerning root-mean-squared difference of successive RR intervals (RMSSD), a marker for parasympathetic activity, the best relationship with the morning supine measurement was found in deep sleep. HRV is a simple tool for approximating deep-sleep phases, and HRV measurement during deep sleep could provide a time-efficient alternative to HRV in supine position.

  11. WATER-TRAPPED WORLDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menou, Kristen

    2013-01-01

    Although tidally locked habitable planets orbiting nearby M-dwarf stars are among the best astronomical targets to search for extrasolar life, they may also be deficient in volatiles and water. Climate models for this class of planets show atmospheric transport of water from the dayside to the nightside, where it is precipitated as snow and trapped as ice. Since ice only slowly flows back to the dayside upon accumulation, the resulting hydrological cycle can trap a large amount of water in the form of nightside ice. Using ice sheet dynamical and thermodynamical constraints, I illustrate how planets with less than about a quarter the Earth's oceans could trap most of their surface water on the nightside. This would leave their dayside, where habitable conditions are met, potentially dry. The amount and distribution of residual liquid water on the dayside depend on a variety of geophysical factors, including the efficiency of rock weathering at regulating atmospheric CO 2 as dayside ocean basins dry up. Water-trapped worlds with dry daysides may offer similar advantages as land planets for habitability, by contrast with worlds where more abundant water freely flows around the globe

  12. WATER-TRAPPED WORLDS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menou, Kristen [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)

    2013-09-01

    Although tidally locked habitable planets orbiting nearby M-dwarf stars are among the best astronomical targets to search for extrasolar life, they may also be deficient in volatiles and water. Climate models for this class of planets show atmospheric transport of water from the dayside to the nightside, where it is precipitated as snow and trapped as ice. Since ice only slowly flows back to the dayside upon accumulation, the resulting hydrological cycle can trap a large amount of water in the form of nightside ice. Using ice sheet dynamical and thermodynamical constraints, I illustrate how planets with less than about a quarter the Earth's oceans could trap most of their surface water on the nightside. This would leave their dayside, where habitable conditions are met, potentially dry. The amount and distribution of residual liquid water on the dayside depend on a variety of geophysical factors, including the efficiency of rock weathering at regulating atmospheric CO{sub 2} as dayside ocean basins dry up. Water-trapped worlds with dry daysides may offer similar advantages as land planets for habitability, by contrast with worlds where more abundant water freely flows around the globe.

  13. CLASS: Core Library for Advanced Scenario Simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mouginot, B.; Thiolliere, N.

    2015-01-01

    The nuclear reactor simulation community has to perform complex electronuclear scenario simulations. To avoid constraints coming from the existing powerful scenario software such as COSI, VISION or FAMILY, the open source Core Library for Advanced Scenario Simulation (CLASS) has been developed. The main asset of CLASS is its ability to include any type of reactor, whether the system is innovative or standard. A reactor is fully described by its evolution database which should contain a set of different validated fuel compositions in order to simulate transitional scenarios. CLASS aims to be a useful tool to study scenarios involving Generation-IV reactors as well as innovative fuel cycles, like the thorium cycle. In addition to all standard key objects required by an electronuclear scenario simulation (the isotopic vector, the reactor, the fuel storage and the fabrication units), CLASS also integrates two new specific modules: fresh fuel evolution and recycled fuel fabrication. The first module, dealing with fresh fuel evolution, is implemented in CLASS by solving Bateman equations built from a database induced cross-sections. The second module, which incorporates the fabrication of recycled fuel to CLASS, can be defined by user priorities and/or algorithms. By default, it uses a linear Pu equivalent-method, which allows predicting, from the isotopic composition, the maximum burn-up accessible for a set type of fuel. This paper presents the basis of the CLASS scenario, the fuel method applied to a MOX fuel and an evolution module benchmark based on the French electronuclear fleet from 1977 to 2012. Results of the CLASS calculation were compared with the inventory made and published by the ANDRA organisation in 2012. For UOX used fuels, the ANDRA reported 12006 tonnes of heavy metal in stock, including cooling, versus 18500 tonnes of heavy metal predicted by CLASS. The large difference is easily explained by the presence of 56 tonnes of plutonium already separated

  14. Pedestrian temporal and spatial gap acceptance at mid-block street crossing in developing world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawar, Digvijay S; Patil, Gopal R

    2015-02-01

    Most of the midblock pedestrian crossings on urban roads in India are uncontrolled; wherein the high degree of discretion in pedestrians' behavior while crossing the traffic stream, has made the situation complex to analyze. Vehicles do not yield to pedestrians, even though the traffic laws give priority to pedestrians over motorized vehicles at unsignalized pedestrian crossings. Therefore, a pedestrian has to decide if an available gap is safe or not for crossing. This paper aims to investigate pedestrian temporal and spatial gap acceptance for midblock street crossings. Field data were collected using video camera at two midblock pedestrian crossings. The data extraction in laboratory resulted in 1107 pedestrian gaps. Available gaps, pedestrians' decision, traffic volume, etc. were extracted from the videos. While crossing a road with multiple lanes, rolling gap acceptance behavior was observed. Using binary logit analysis, six utility models were developed, three each for temporal and spatial gaps. The 50th percentile temporal and spatial gaps ranged from 4.1 to 4.8s and 67 to 79 m respectively, whereas the 85th percentile temporal and spatial gaps ranged from 5 to 5.8s and 82 to 95 m respectively. These gap values were smaller than that reported in the studies in developed countries. The speed of conflicting vehicle was found to be significant in spatial gap but not in temporal gap acceptance. The gap acceptance decision was also found to be affected by the type of conflicting vehicles. The insights from this study can be used for the safety and performance evaluation of uncontrolled midblock street crossings in developing countries. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

  15. Social support, volunteering and health around the world: cross-national evidence from 139 countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Santosh; Calvo, Rocio; Avendano, Mauricio; Sivaramakrishnan, Kavita; Berkman, Lisa F

    2012-03-01

    High levels of social capital and social integration are associated with self-rated health in many developed countries. However, it is not known whether this association extends to non-western and less economically advanced countries. We examine associations between social support, volunteering, and self-rated health in 139 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Data come from the Gallup World Poll, an internationally comparable survey conducted yearly from 2005 to 2009 for those 15 and over. Volunteering was measured by self-reports of volunteering to an organization in the past month. Social support was based on self-reports of access to support from relatives and friends. We started by estimating random coefficient (multi-level) models and then used multivariate logistic regression to model health as a function of social support and volunteering, controlling for age, gender, education, marital status, and religiosity. We found statistically significant evidence of cross-national variation in the association between social capital variables and self-rated health. In the multivariate logistic model, self-rated health were significantly associated with having social support from friends and relatives and volunteering. Results from stratified analyses indicate that these associations are strikingly consistent across countries. Our results indicate that the link between social capital and health is not restricted to high-income countries but extends across many geographical regions regardless of their national-income level. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. World Ships: The Solar-Photon Sail Option

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matloff, G. L.

    The World Ship, a spacecraft large enough to simulate a small-scale terrestrial internal environment, may be the best feasible option to transfer members of a technological civilization between neighboring stars. Because of the projected size of these spacecraft, journey durations of ~1,000 years seem likely. One of the propulsion options for World Ships is the hyper-thin, likely space-manufactured solar-photon sail, unfurled as close to the migrating civilization's home star as possible. Because the sail and associated structure can be wound around the habitat while not in use, it represents the only known ultimately feasible interstellar propulsion system that can be applied for en route galactic-cosmic ray shielding as well as acceleration/ deceleration. This paper reviews the three suggested sail configurations that can be applied to world ship propulsion: parachute, hollow-body and hoop sails. Possible existing and advanced sail and structure materials and the predicted effects on the sail of the near-Sun space environment are reviewed. Consideration of solar-photon-sail World Ships also affects SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Can we detect such craft in flight? When in a star's lifetime is migration using such craft likely? What classes of stars are good candidates for solar-sail World-Ship searches?

  17. Critiques of World-Systems Analysis and Alternatives: Unequal Exchange and Three Forms of Class and Struggle in the Japan–US Silk Network, 1880–1890

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elson E. Boles

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Sympathetic critics of world-system analysis contend that its systemic level of abstraction results in one-sided generalizations of systemic change. Unequal exchange theory and commodity chain analysis similarly reduce distinct and historical forms of labor and their interrelationships to common functional and ahistorical essences. This paper applies an incorporated comparisons method to give historical content to an understanding of unequal exchange and global inequality through a study of the Japan–US silk network’s formation and change during the mid 1880–1890s. Analysis of unequal exchange processes requires, in this case, an examination of the mutual integration and transformation of distinct labor and value forms —peasant sericulture, ?lature wage-labor, and industrial silk factory wage-labor—and the infundibular market forces they structured. These relations were decisively conditioned by new landlordism and debt-peonage, class-patriarchy, state mediations, migration, and by peasant and worker struggles against deteriorating conditions. Indeed, the transitional nature of the silk network’s formation, which concluded the Tokugawa system and decisively contributed to Japan’s emergence as a nation-state of the capitalist world-economy, was signi?ed by the very last millenarian and quasi-modern peasant uprising in 1884 among indebted sericulturists, the very ?rst recorded factory strikes in 1885–86, by women raw silk reelers in K?fu, and by strikes among unionizing workers in patriarchal and mechanized silk factories in Paterson, New Jersey, 1885–86 (Boles 1996, 1998. The “local” conditions of each con?ict were molded by the interdependence of those conditions that constituted a formative part of the world-system and its development. In the face of struggles and intensifying world-market competition, Japanese and US manufacturers took opposite spatial strategies of regional expansion to overcome the structural constraints of

  18. Class prediction for high-dimensional class-imbalanced data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lusa Lara

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The goal of class prediction studies is to develop rules to accurately predict the class membership of new samples. The rules are derived using the values of the variables available for each subject: the main characteristic of high-dimensional data is that the number of variables greatly exceeds the number of samples. Frequently the classifiers are developed using class-imbalanced data, i.e., data sets where the number of samples in each class is not equal. Standard classification methods used on class-imbalanced data often produce classifiers that do not accurately predict the minority class; the prediction is biased towards the majority class. In this paper we investigate if the high-dimensionality poses additional challenges when dealing with class-imbalanced prediction. We evaluate the performance of six types of classifiers on class-imbalanced data, using simulated data and a publicly available data set from a breast cancer gene-expression microarray study. We also investigate the effectiveness of some strategies that are available to overcome the effect of class imbalance. Results Our results show that the evaluated classifiers are highly sensitive to class imbalance and that variable selection introduces an additional bias towards classification into the majority class. Most new samples are assigned to the majority class from the training set, unless the difference between the classes is very large. As a consequence, the class-specific predictive accuracies differ considerably. When the class imbalance is not too severe, down-sizing and asymmetric bagging embedding variable selection work well, while over-sampling does not. Variable normalization can further worsen the performance of the classifiers. Conclusions Our results show that matching the prevalence of the classes in training and test set does not guarantee good performance of classifiers and that the problems related to classification with class

  19. Perspectives in Theory: Anthology of Theorists affecting the Educational World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bicking, Misty M., Ed.; Collins, Brian, Ed.; Fernett, Laura, Ed.; Taylor, Barbara, Ed.; Sutton, Kathleen, Ed.

    2008-01-01

    A compilation of research papers on theorists that affect the educational world are collected in this anthology. Twenty-one students, through the course of their education class, Social and Psychological Conditions of Learning--EDUC 320, researched and applied their knowledge in the elementary and secondary school environments. The contributing…

  20. Applications of Palladium-Catalyzed C-N Cross-Coupling Reactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Castillo, Paula; Buchwald, Stephen L

    2016-10-12

    Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that form C-N bonds have become useful methods to synthesize anilines and aniline derivatives, an important class of compounds throughout chemical research. A key factor in the widespread adoption of these methods has been the continued development of reliable and versatile catalysts that function under operationally simple, user-friendly conditions. This review provides an overview of Pd-catalyzed N-arylation reactions found in both basic and applied chemical research from 2008 to the present. Selected examples of C-N cross-coupling reactions between nine classes of nitrogen-based coupling partners and (pseudo)aryl halides are described for the synthesis of heterocycles, medicinally relevant compounds, natural products, organic materials, and catalysts.

  1. The cross-national epidemiology of social anxiety disorder: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Dan J; Lim, Carmen C W; Roest, Annelieke M; de Jonge, Peter; Aguilar-Gaxiola, Sergio; Al-Hamzawi, Ali; Alonso, Jordi; Benjet, Corina; Bromet, Evelyn J; Bruffaerts, Ronny; de Girolamo, Giovanni; Florescu, Silvia; Gureje, Oye; Haro, Josep Maria; Harris, Meredith G; He, Yanling; Hinkov, Hristo; Horiguchi, Itsuko; Hu, Chiyi; Karam, Aimee; Karam, Elie G; Lee, Sing; Lepine, Jean-Pierre; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Pennell, Beth-Ellen; Piazza, Marina; Posada-Villa, Jose; Ten Have, Margreet; Torres, Yolanda; Viana, Maria Carmen; Wojtyniak, Bogdan; Xavier, Miguel; Kessler, Ronald C; Scott, Kate M

    2017-07-31

    There is evidence that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent and disabling disorder. However, most of the available data on the epidemiology of this condition originate from high income countries in the West. The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative provides an opportunity to investigate the prevalence, course, impairment, socio-demographic correlates, comorbidity, and treatment of this condition across a range of high, middle, and low income countries in different geographic regions of the world, and to address the question of whether differences in SAD merely reflect differences in threshold for diagnosis. Data from 28 community surveys in the WMH Survey Initiative, with 142,405 respondents, were analyzed. We assessed the 30-day, 12-month, and lifetime prevalence of SAD, age of onset, and severity of role impairment associated with SAD, across countries. In addition, we investigated socio-demographic correlates of SAD, comorbidity of SAD with other mental disorders, and treatment of SAD in the combined sample. Cross-tabulations were used to calculate prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and treatment. Survival analysis was used to estimate age of onset, and logistic regression and survival analyses were used to examine socio-demographic correlates. SAD 30-day, 12-month, and lifetime prevalence estimates are 1.3, 2.4, and 4.0% across all countries. SAD prevalence rates are lowest in low/lower-middle income countries and in the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions, and highest in high income countries and in the Americas and the Western Pacific regions. Age of onset is early across the globe, and persistence is highest in upper-middle income countries, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. There are some differences in domains of severe role impairment by country income level and geographic region, but there are no significant differences across different income level and geographic region in the proportion of respondents with any severe role

  2. On the different "worlds" of intra-organizational knowledge management: Understanding idiosyncratic variation in MNC cross-site knowledge-sharing practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasper, Helmut; Lehrer, Mark; Mühlbacher, Jürgen; Müller, Barbara

    2013-02-01

    This qualitative field study investigated cross-site knowledge sharing in a small sample of multinational corporations in three different MNC business contexts (global, multidomestic, transnational). The results disclose heterogeneous "worlds" of MNC knowledge sharing, ultimately raising the question as to whether the whole concept of MNC knowledge sharing covers a sufficiently unitary phenomenon to be meaningful. We derive a non-exhaustive typology of MNC knowledge-sharing practices: self-organizing knowledge sharing, technocratic knowledge sharing, and best practice knowledge sharing. Despite its limitations, this typology helps to elucidate a number of issues, including the latent conflict between two disparate theories of MNC knowledge sharing, namely "sender-receiver" and "social learning" theories (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2009). More generally, we develop the term "knowledge contextualization" to highlight the way that firm-specific organizational features pre-define which knowledge is considered to be of special relevance for intra-organizational sharing.

  3. 3 CFR 8346 - Proclamation 8346 of February 27, 2009. American Red Cross Month, 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... height of World War II, President Roosevelt called on the American people to support the troops by... A Proclamation Sixty-two years after its founding, the Red Cross was instrumental in what President... across the world. President Roosevelt asked Americans to donate funds to the Red Cross, setting a goal of...

  4. Arts-Based Methods in Education Around the World

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arts-Based Methods in Education Around the World aims to investigate arts-based encounters in educational settings in response to a global need for studies that connect the cultural, inter-cultural, cross-cultural, and global elements of arts-based methods in education. In this extraordinary...... collection, contributions are collected from experts all over the world and involve a multiplicity of arts genres and traditions. These contributions bring together diverse cultural and educational perspectives and include a large variety of artistic genres and research methodologies. The topics covered...

  5. Cross-Informant Agreement on Child and Adolescent Withdrawn Behavior: A Latent Class Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubin, David H.; Althoff, Robert R.; Walkup, John T.; Hudziak, James J.

    2013-01-01

    Withdrawn behavior (WB) relates to many developmental outcomes, including pervasive developmental disorders, anxiety, depression, psychosis, personality disorders and suicide. No study has compared the latent profiles of different informants' reports on WB. This study uses multi-informant latent class analyses (LCA) of the child behavior checklist…

  6. Applying of modern development trends in the firm of the world class

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teplická Katarína

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available The main goal all the world is situated to the nature of the excellent firm. The global business is orientated to increase the quality of product, to decrease the costs in the firm, to rise productivity, to reduce times between order and delivery et cetera. Every firm can obtain those conditions by a new trends on business. The implementation of the modern trends brings a lots advantages for the firm, that the firm becomes competitveable on the global business. This paper decribes the new modern trends which are used on business today.

  7. Residues and world-sheet instantons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beasley, Chris; Witten, Edward

    2003-01-01

    We reconsider the question of which Calabi-Yau compactifications of the heterotic string are stable under world-sheet instanton corrections to the effective space-time superpotential. For instance, compactifications described by (0; 2) linear sigma models are believed to be stable, suggesting a remarkable cancellation among the instanton effects in these theories. Here, we show that this cancellation follows directly from a residue theorem, whose proof relies only upon the right-moving world-sheet supersymmetries and suitable compactness properties of the (0; 2) linear sigma model. Our residue theorem also extends to a new class of 'half-linear' sigma models. Using these half-linear models, we show that heterotic compactifications on the quintic hypersurface in CP 4 for which the gauge bundle pulls back from a bundle on CP 4 are stable. Finally, we apply similar ideas to compute the superpotential contributions from families of membrane instantons in M-theory compactifications on manifolds of G 2 holonomy. (author)

  8. A different challenge: the directional drilled crossing for the Yacuiba - Rio Grande Gas Line Project - GASYRG

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Green, Wayne; Garcia, Francisco [Bolinter Ltda., Santa Cruz (Bolivia); Montano, Ruben [Transierra, Santa Cruz (Bolivia)

    2003-07-01

    The Rio Grande River's directional drilling, 2002 m. long and 25 m. deep was a great challenge for Transierra - Owner - as well as Laney - Bolinter - Contractor - to accomplish a feat yet to be done in the entire world. The dedication of the people involved showed their degree of professionalism that these companies have obtained and the determination in doing the job overcoming unforeseen obstacles and still being able to finish on time, mitigating environmental impacts and leaving a first class crossing. This document presents a description of the technical, logistic and construction factors that were involved in the project and which allowed to perform 7 directional drillings, including Rio Grande River, which during the pull got the last 60 m. of pipe stuck, being freed only after using a pneumatic hammer. (author)

  9. Decoding ClassDojo: Psycho-Policy, Social-Emotional Learning and Persuasive Educational Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Ben

    2017-01-01

    ClassDojo is one of the world's most successful educational technologies, currently used by over 3 million teachers and 35 million children globally. It reinforces and enacts emerging governmental "psycho-policies" around the measurement and modification of children's social and emotional learning in schools. This article focuses…

  10. Dependent Classes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gasiunas, Vaidas; Mezini, Mira; Ostermann, Klaus

    2007-01-01

    of dependent classes and a machine-checked type soundness proof in Isabelle/HOL [29], the first of this kind for a language with virtual classes and path-dependent types. [29] T.Nipkow, L.C. Poulson, and M. Wenzel. Isabelle/HOL -- A Proof Assistant for Higher-Order Logic, volume 2283 of LNCS, Springer, 2002......Virtual classes allow nested classes to be refined in subclasses. In this way nested classes can be seen as dependent abstractions of the objects of the enclosing classes. Expressing dependency via nesting, however, has two limitations: Abstractions that depend on more than one object cannot...... be modeled and a class must know all classes that depend on its objects. This paper presents dependent classes, a generalization of virtual classes that expresses similar semantics by parameterization rather than by nesting. This increases expressivity of class variations as well as the flexibility...

  11. Injuries among World Cup ski and snowboard athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flørenes, T W; Nordsletten, L; Heir, S; Bahr, R

    2012-02-01

    There is little information available on injuries to World Cup skiers and snowboarders. The aim of this study was to describe and compare the injury risk to World Cup athletes in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross country skiing. We performed retrospective interviews with the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup athletes from selected nations during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 winter seasons and recorded all acute injuries occurring during the seasons. We interviewed 2121 athletes and recorded 705 injuries. There were 520 (72%) time-loss injuries and 196 (28%) severe injuries (absence >28 days). In freestyle skiing, alpine skiing and snowboarding, there were 27.6, 29.8 and 37.8 time-loss and 14.4, 11.3 and 13.8 severe injuries per 100 athletes per season, respectively. In Nordic combined, ski jumping and cross country skiing, there were 15.8, 13.6 and 6.3 time-loss and 3.3, 5.6 and 0.7 severe injuries per 100 athletes per season, respectively. In conclusion about 1/3 of the World Cup alpine, freestyle and snowboard athletes sustain a time-loss injury each season, while the risk is low in the Nordic disciplines. A particular concern was the high proportion of severe injuries observed among alpine, freestyle and snowboard athletes, which is in contrast to most other sports. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  12. Empirical Evidence on Student-t Log-Returns of Diversified World Stock Indices

    OpenAIRE

    Eckhard Platen; Renata Rendek

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to document some empirical facts related to log-returns of diversified world stock indices when these are denominated in different currencies. Motivated by earlier results, we have obtained the estimated distribution of log-returns for a range of world stock indices over long observation periods. We expand previous studies by applying the maximum likelihood ratio test to the large class of generalized hyperbolic distributions, and investigate the log-returns of a vari...

  13. Testing viability of cross subsidy using time-variant price elasticities of industrial demand for electricity: Indian experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chattopadhyay, Pradip

    2007-01-01

    Indian electric tariffs are characterized by very high rates for industrial and commercial classes to permit subsidized electric consumption by residential and agricultural customers. We investigate the viability of this policy using monthly data for 1997-2003 on electric consumption by a few large industrial customers under the aegis of a small distribution company in the state of Uttar Pradesh. For a given price/cost ratio, it can be shown that if the cross-subsidizing class' electricity demand is sufficiently elastic, increasing the class' rates fail to recover incremental cross-subsidy necessary to support additional revenues for subsidized classes. This suboptimality is tested by individually estimating time-variant price-elasticities of demand for these industrial customers using Box-Cox and linear regressions. We find that at least for some of these customers, cross-subsidy was suboptimal prior to as late as October 2001, when rates were changed following reforms

  14. Testing viability of cross subsidy using time-variant price elasticities of industrial demand for electricity: Indian experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chattopadhyay, Pradip [New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, 21 South Fruit Street, Suite 10, Concord NH 03301 (United States)]. E-mail: pradip.chattopadhyay@puc.nh.gov

    2007-01-15

    Indian electric tariffs are characterized by very high rates for industrial and commercial classes to permit subsidized electric consumption by residential and agricultural customers. We investigate the viability of this policy using monthly data for 1997-2003 on electric consumption by a few large industrial customers under the aegis of a small distribution company in the state of Uttar Pradesh. For a given price/cost ratio, it can be shown that if the cross-subsidizing class' electricity demand is sufficiently elastic, increasing the class' rates fail to recover incremental cross-subsidy necessary to support additional revenues for subsidized classes. This suboptimality is tested by individually estimating time-variant price-elasticities of demand for these industrial customers using Box-Cox and linear regressions. We find that at least for some of these customers, cross-subsidy was suboptimal prior to as late as October 2001, when rates were changed following reforms.

  15. Nearshore Benthic Habitats of Timor-Leste Derived from WorldView-2 Satellite Imagery

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Benthic habitat classes were derived for nearshore waters (< 20 m depths) around Timor-Leste from DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 satellite imagery, acquired from Jan 26...

  16. A Multievidence Approach for Crop Discrimination Using Multitemporal WorldView-2 Imagery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chellasamy, Menaka; Zielinski, Rafal Tomasz; Greve, Mogens Humlekrog

    2014-01-01

    summer) WorldView-2 multispectral imagery. A multilayer perceptron classifier is trained with the multitemporal datasets separately using a backpropagation learning algorithm, and prediction probabilities are produced for each pixel as evidence against each crop class. An integration rule based...

  17. The Laguna Verde Central by it results in maintenance and operation consolidates it position of world class enterprise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivera C, A.

    2008-01-01

    This work has the objective of showing the results of the Laguna VerdeCentral in the maintenance and the operation that in the short term the generation of electricity in Mexico by nuclear means is a viable option, in virtue of their positioning like Company of World Class, when winning March 25, 2008 the National Prize of Quality with the more high qualification in the history of this prize, same that allows us to be very optimistic in increasing the possibility to that the Nuclear Industry in Mexico grows. The focus of the comparative graphs, with official data of the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), it is so that it is observed that the Laguna Verde Central is above those the other types of generation like they are the Coal power stations, Thermoelectric, Hydroelectric, likewise they can see that we are for up of the Independent Producers of Energy. The information of the electric power generation is presented by reactors nuclear at world level that is growing, in having 31 Generating Units in the construction process that favors the decisions making in the Government federal, likewise contributed data of the increment projected for 2016 in the country of 380,102 GWh that equivalent to 63% of growth, where it exists without place to doubts a good opportunity for the nucleoelectricity. The Investment Works Program of Public Sector (POISE), it shows the information that 6,178 Mwe will be installed settled of a Non-defined Technology in Mexico, information that specifies the opportunity to be a viable option, because the one Plant Factor, the Production of Electric power, and the Variable Cost of Production, the energy generation by nuclear means is the more competitiveness. Finally this work stood out the effort that communitary works are developed to benefit to the society and the environment to be one Viable option not only for their high performance, or competitive for those more low costs, but also to improve the public opinion with the sustainable

  18. Cross-culture Communications in Tourism under Conditions of Globalisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldoshyna Mariia V.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the study of cross-cultural specific features of interaction within social and business communication in the international tourism. The goal of the article is analysis of the cross-cultural environment of Ukraine in the context of the world globalisation for efficient interaction in the sphere of international management and marketing. The article shows a necessity of a study of influence of national cultural features upon business activity of tourist enterprises with consideration of their international and cross-cultural nature of activity. The article identifies functions of culture and presents basic classifications of the world cultures by Geert Hofstede, Fons Trompenaars and Edward Twitchell Hall Jr. It considers specific features of activity of tourist enterprises in the spheres of cross-cultural management and marketing, formulates problems of manifestation of cultural differences in these spheres. It offers main advertising strategies in the international communication policy, which help enterprises to promote their tourist products to international markets more efficiently.

  19. World Refugee Crisis: Winning the Game. Facts for Action #6.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oxfam America, Boston, MA.

    Definitions, statistics, and problems of world refugees are presented in this document for high school global education classes. Although various agencies have determined different definitions of the term, the authors consider as refugees all those forced to flee their native land in order to survive. For most refugees the attraction of a higher…

  20. IDEOLOGY REPRESENTATION ON MEDIA: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS IN CCU CLASS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indrawati Indrawati

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Cross Culture Understanding (CCU course is described as the process by which students acquire knowledge and skills of aspects of culture of subjective nature such as norms, values and perceptions; of objective nature such as cultural artifacts and ways of life of people of certain cultural backgrounds. This is revealed through analyzing various discourses of oral, written, visual and other media. Learners of this course are exposed to activities of conceptualizing ideas, discussing forms of social phenomena realization and building cultural relativity through which learners grow attitude of appreciation and toleration and eventually build cross cultural communication with people of different backgrounds. A film perpetuating ideology of certain social class in America is discussed by learners in class to reveal prevailing value of being white Anglo-Saxon protestant. Then this is examined in relation to the existing American Dream as people‘s philosophy. The class reports the findings after studying their own national ideology and makes comparison and contradiction between the two ideologies. Learners report the findings in their weekly log book to document the data for further use and to be uploaded in an on-line academic-scientific journal. A qualitative textual analysis method is done to formulate a meaning interpretively. Textual analysis is an appropriate method for analyzing film as it emphasizes on genre of organizational style.

  1. Cross-spectrum symbol synchronization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mccallister, R. D.; Simon, M. K.

    1981-01-01

    A popular method of symbol synchronization exploits one aspect of generalized harmonic analysis, normally referred to as the cross-spectrum. Utilizing nonlinear techniques, the input symbol energy is effectively concentrated onto multiples of the symbol clock frequency, facilitating application of conventional phase lock synchronization techniques. A general treatment of the cross-spectrum technique is developed and shown to be applicable across a broad class of symbol modulation formats. An important specific symbol synchronization application is then treated, focusing the general development to provide both insight and quantitative measure of the performance impact associated with variation in these key synchronization parameters: symbol modulation format, symbol transition probability, symbol energy to noise density ratio, and symbol rate to filter bandwidth ratio.

  2. Cross-sensor iris recognition through kernel learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pillai, Jaishanker K; Puertas, Maria; Chellappa, Rama

    2014-01-01

    Due to the increasing popularity of iris biometrics, new sensors are being developed for acquiring iris images and existing ones are being continuously upgraded. Re-enrolling users every time a new sensor is deployed is expensive and time-consuming, especially in applications with a large number of enrolled users. However, recent studies show that cross-sensor matching, where the test samples are verified using data enrolled with a different sensor, often lead to reduced performance. In this paper, we propose a machine learning technique to mitigate the cross-sensor performance degradation by adapting the iris samples from one sensor to another. We first present a novel optimization framework for learning transformations on iris biometrics. We then utilize this framework for sensor adaptation, by reducing the distance between samples of the same class, and increasing it between samples of different classes, irrespective of the sensors acquiring them. Extensive evaluations on iris data from multiple sensors demonstrate that the proposed method leads to improvement in cross-sensor recognition accuracy. Furthermore, since the proposed technique requires minimal changes to the iris recognition pipeline, it can easily be incorporated into existing iris recognition systems.

  3. "Heroes" and "villains" of world history across cultures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Hanke

    Full Text Available Emergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.

  4. "Heroes" and "villains" of world history across cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanke, Katja; Liu, James H; Sibley, Chris G; Paez, Dario; Gaines, Stanley O; Moloney, Gail; Leong, Chan-Hoong; Wagner, Wolfgang; Licata, Laurent; Klein, Olivier; Garber, Ilya; Böhm, Gisela; Hilton, Denis J; Valchev, Velichko; Khan, Sammyh S; Cabecinhas, Rosa

    2015-01-01

    Emergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.

  5. Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brienza, Justin P; Grossmann, Igor

    2017-12-20

    We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies-an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence ( n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds ( n = 299)-tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. © 2017 The Authors.

  6. WHO Class of Obesity Influences Functional Recovery Post-TKA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maniar, Rajesh N; Maniar, Parul R; Singhi, Tushar; Gangaraju, Bharat Kumar

    2018-03-01

    No study in the literature has compared early functional recovery following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in the obese with the nonobese using World Health Organization (WHO) classes of obesity. Our aim was to compare functional scores and flexion post-TKA in each class of obesity as per WHO classification against a matched control group of nonobese patients. Records of 885 consecutive primary TKA patients (919 knees) operated by a single surgeon were reviewed. The first 35 knees in each class I, class II and class III obesity group during the study period were then matched with a similar number of knees in nonobese TKA patients during the same period. Functional scores recorded pre- and postoperatively at 3 months and 1 year were Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) score, and Knee Society Score (KSS). There was no difference in any parameter between the class I obese and matched nonobese at any assessment point. In the class II obese, as compared to the nonobese, there was no difference in any parameter preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. However, 1 year postoperatively, the SF-12 physical subscore was lower in the class II obese than the nonobese (44.7 vs. 48.6, p = 0.047) and the WOMAC score was significantly higher (15.8 vs. 9.7, p = 0.04). In the class III obese, the WOMAC score was significantly higher than the nonobese (58.1 vs. 44.3, p lower (83.5 vs. 96.5, p = 0.049 preoperatively; 172 vs. 185; p = 0.003 at 1 year). Knee flexion was significantly lower in the class III obese than the nonobese (95 vs. 113; p class I obese can expect good early and late functional recovery as the nonobese. The class II obese can expect comparable early functional recovery as the nonobese but their late function may be lesser. The class III obese would have poorer functional scores and lesser knee flexion postoperatively compared to the nonobese. However, compared to their own preoperative status, there is

  7. School and class-level variations and patterns of physical activity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steenholt, Carina Bjørnskov; Pisinger, Veronica Sofie Clara; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt

    2018-01-01

    is to describe patterns of PA and assess variations between schools and classes in PA, in a large cohort of Danish high school students. METHODS: Self-reported cross-sectional data came from The Danish National Youth Study, comprising a total of 70,674 students attending 119 different schools and 3213 classes....... Multilevel logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the association between socio-demographic variables and patterns of PA, and to assess the impact of schools and classes on PA measures. RESULTS: Students whose parents have achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived......BACKGROUND: There is limited knowledge of physical activity (PA) patterns among high school students. High schools plays an important role as context for the students, but it is uncertain to what extent schools influence student participation in PA during leisure time. The purpose of this study...

  8. Boys and girls smoking within the Danish elementary school classes: a group-level analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Mette; Damsgaard, Mogens T; Due, Pernille

    2002-01-01

    smokers within school classes does not correlate. There is high variation in male and female smoking behaviour between school classes. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of social classroom environment on the processes causing smoking behaviour may be different for boys and girls. This paper illustrates......AIMS: To quantify the correlation between male and female smoking prevalence in elementary school classes by group-level analysis. METHODS: This study was the Danish contribution to the cross-national study Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) 1998. Ninety school classes at grade nine (1......,515 students) from a random sample of schools in Denmark took part. The proportion of male and female "at all" smokers and daily smokers in the school class was calculated. RESULTS: The mean "at all" smoking proportion in the school classes is 39% for girls and 32% for boys. The proportion of male and female...

  9. Undergraduate Student Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of Virtual World Learning Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanton, Lorraine May

    2017-01-01

    Virtual worlds are innovative teaching and learning methods that can provide immersive and engaging learning experiences (Lu, 2010). Though they have potential benefits, students sometimes experience a steep learning curve and discomfort with the technology (Warburton, 2009). This study explored how students in two American Studies classes using…

  10. The Cradleboard Teaching Project: Using Curriculum and Cross-Cultural Partnering To Change Perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sainte-Marie, Buffy

    1999-01-01

    Native Americans developed core curriculum units at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary levels in geography, history, music, social studies, and science presented from a Native American cultural perspective. Mainstream classes are paired with Native American classes and learn authentic information through cross-cultural exchange via…

  11. Development of emission factors for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws using real-world driving cycle for a typical Indian city.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adak, Prasenjit; Sahu, Ravi; Elumalai, Suresh Pandian

    2016-02-15

    Vehicular emission is one of the most important contributors of urban air pollution. To quantify the impact of traffic on urban air quality, it is necessary to quantify vehicular emission. In many cities of India, such as Dhanbad, shared auto-rickshaw is the pre-dominant mode of transportation. Indian Driving Cycle (IDC) and Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC) are used for emission testing of motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in India for regulatory purposes. IDC used for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws does not recognize the difference in two vehicle classes in terms of driving pattern. In real world, shared auto-rickshaws, behave differently than motorcycles. To quantify the impact of shared auto-rickshaws on urban air quality accurately, emission factors (EFs) are required to derive from real-world driving cycles (DCs). In heterogeneous traffic, vehicles of one class affect the behavior of vehicles of other classes. To estimate the emissions from different vehicle classes accurately, EFs for motorcycles and passenger cars are also required to be revised. In this study, real-world DCs were developed for motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in Dhanbad. Developed DCs were used to calculate EFs for respective classes. Shared auto-rickshaws were found to have the highest deviation from EFs derived using IDC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. A new modified tandem appliance for management of developing Class III malocclusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ram Sukh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Most developing Class III patients display a retruded maxilla. Early intervention in mixed dentition is associated with better patient compliance and possibly a better orthopedic response, which can produce favorable results. The aim of this article is to present the fabrication of the new modified tandem appliance and its use in management of developing Class III malocclusion. The therapeutic results of a new modified tandem appliance are presented in an 8 year-old male patient with anterior cross bite and retrognathic maxilla at the mixed dentition stage. Anterior cross bite was corrected in 3 months and the positive overjet of 4 mm after continued use of the appliance for 1 year. There was a significant improvement in profile of the patient. The use of this appliance in this type of malocclusion enabled the correction of malocclusion in a few months and encouraging favorable skeletal growth in the future.

  13. A new modified tandem appliance for management of developing Class III malocclusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukh, Ram; Singh, Gyan P; Tandon, Pradeep

    2013-10-01

    Most developing Class III patients display a retruded maxilla. Early intervention in mixed dentition is associated with better patient compliance and possibly a better orthopedic response, which can produce favorable results. The aim of this article is to present the fabrication of the new modified tandem appliance and its use in management of developing Class III malocclusion. The therapeutic results of a new modified tandem appliance are presented in an 8 year-old male patient with anterior cross bite and retrognathic maxilla at the mixed dentition stage. Anterior cross bite was corrected in 3 months and the positive overjet of 4 mm after continued use of the appliance for 1 year. There was a significant improvement in profile of the patient. The use of this appliance in this type of malocclusion enabled the correction of malocclusion in a few months and encouraging favorable skeletal growth in the future.

  14. Intracellular events regulating cross-presentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter eCresswell

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Cross-presentation plays a fundamental role in the induction of CD8-T cell immunity. However, although more than three decades have passed since its discovery, surprisingly little is known about the exact mechanisms involved. Here we give an overview of the components involved at different stages of this process. First, antigens must be internalized into the cross-presenting cell. The involvement of different receptors, method of antigen uptake, and nature of the antigen can influence intracellular trafficking and access to the cross-presentation pathway. Once antigens access the endocytic system, different requirements for endosomal/phagosomal processing arise, such as proteolysis and reduction of disulfide bonds. The majority of cross-presented peptides are generated by proteasomal degradation. Therefore, antigens must cross a membrane barrier in a manner analogous to the fate of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER that are retrotranslocated into the cytosol for degradation. Indeed, some components of the ER-associated degradation (ERAD machinery have been implicated in cross-presentation. Further complicating the matter, endosomal and phagosomal compartments have been suggested as alternative sites to the ER for loading of peptides on MHC class I molecules. Finally, the antigen presenting cells involved, particularly dendritic cell subsets and their state of maturation, influence the efficiency of cross-presentation.

  15. Anthropometric characteristics of top-class Olympic race walkers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez-Ezeiza, Josu; Tam, Nicholas; Torres-Unda, Jon; Granados, Cristina; Santos-Concejero, Jordan

    2018-04-20

    Typical training programmes in elite race walkers involve high training volumes at low and moderate intensities, which have been reported to induce functional and structural adaptations at an anthropometric level. Since anthropometrical variables are closely related to movement efficiency and performance in endurance events, the aim of this study was to describe the anthropometric profile of world-class race walkers. Twenty-nine world-class race walkers (21 men & 8 women) participated in this study. Anthropometric characteristics, including height, body mass, eight skinfolds, five girths and four bone breadths were measured. Body composition, somatotype, somatotype dispersion mean, somatotype attitudinal mean and height to weight ratio, as well as skinfolds extremity to trunk ratio were also calculated. Mean height, body mass and body mass index were 177.1 ± 7.1 cm, 66.4 ± 5.8 kg, and21.2±1.3kg·m2 formenand165.6±4.5cm,53.6±3.7kg,and19.6±1.6kg·m2for women, respectively. Women presented greater body fat content (6.7 ± 0.6 vs. 12.2 ± 0.8%; very large effect), less muscle mass (65.6 ± 4.6 vs. 61.6 ± 2.6 kg; large effect), and were more endomorphic (large effect) than men. Men specialists in 20-km showed greater muscle mass (66.7 ± 4.9 vs. 64.4 ± 4.3 kg; moderate effect), and slightly higher skinfolds, girths, body fat content and were more mesomorphic than 50-km specialists (moderate effect). The present study expands the limited knowledge on the anthropometric characteristics and somatotype elements of elite top-class race walkers. The characterisation of the morphology of elite race walkers provides coaches a reference values to control the training development of the race walker, as well as providing reference values to improve talent identification.

  16. Writing as Envision: Autobiographical and Academic Writing in the Composition Class.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokarczyk, Michelle M.

    Three students in an autobiography class--an African-American, a woman, and a gay man struggling to come out--used their writing to both affirm their places in the world and envision another place. Having reviewed her early educational experiences as an African-American, Holly focused her essay back to her present college days and her attempts to…

  17. 17th Online World Conference on Soft Computing in Industrial Applications

    CERN Document Server

    Krömer, Pavel; Köppen, Mario; Schaefer, Gerald

    2014-01-01

    This volume of Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing contains accepted papers presented at WSC17, the 17th Online World Conference on Soft Computing in Industrial Applications, held from December 2012 to January 2013 on the Internet. WSC17 continues a successful series of scientific events started over a decade ago by the World Federation of Soft Computing. It brought together researchers from over the world interested in the ever advancing state of the art in the field. Continuous technological improvements make this online forum a viable gathering format for a world class conference. The aim of WSC17 was to disseminate excellent research results and contribute to building a global network of scientists interested in both theoretical foundations and practical applications of soft computing.   The 2012 edition of the Online World Conference on Soft Computing in Industrial Applications consisted of general track and special session on Continuous Features Discretization for Anomaly Intrusion Detectors...

  18. A note on a model for quay crane scheduling with non-crossing constraints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santini, Alberto; Friberg, Henrik Alsing; Røpke, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    This article studies the quay crane scheduling problem with non-crossing constraints, which is an operational problem that arises in container terminals. An enhancement to a mixed integer programming model for the problem is proposed and a new class of valid inequalities is introduced. Computatio......This article studies the quay crane scheduling problem with non-crossing constraints, which is an operational problem that arises in container terminals. An enhancement to a mixed integer programming model for the problem is proposed and a new class of valid inequalities is introduced...

  19. Class size versus class composition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jones, Sam

    Raising schooling quality in low-income countries is a pressing challenge. Substantial research has considered the impact of cutting class sizes on skills acquisition. Considerably less attention has been given to the extent to which peer effects, which refer to class composition, also may affect...... bias from omitted variables, the preferred IV results indicate considerable negative effects due to larger class sizes and larger numbers of overage-for-grade peers. The latter, driven by the highly prevalent practices of grade repetition and academic redshirting, should be considered an important...

  20. Democracy and Power in Greenland - the Appearance of a New Class?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winther, Gorm

    the end of the Second World War. As pointed out by Jens Dahl such comparisons raise another question. Could it be that the radicalised Greenland elite constitutes a new class despite the fact that it was the elite that originally was the backbone of the Home Rule movement (Dahl, 1986)? Fifteen years after......Still, twenty-three years after the inception of Home Rule the Greenland society has remnants from Danish colonialism, at the same time however, a new society is on its way. In a power perspective this lead to the presence of a new ruling class as seen in other post-colonial social formations since...

  1. Preference for Democracy in the Arab World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamad Al-Ississ

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available We take a new look at the question of the Arab democratic exception by looking at the preference for democracy among individuals in the Arab world in a comparative context. We use the new sixth wave of the World Value Survey, which was collected between 2012 and 2013, and which included for the first time 12 Arab countries (up from only four in wave 5 and 68 non-Arab countries. We innovate empirically by measuring the preference for democracy over strong rule in a way that, we argue, is more adapted to an understanding of the Arab world than other measures used in past studies. Our statistical analysis reveals a democratic gap in the Arab region compared to global experience, which is especially marked among the more educated individuals, and to a lesser extent among the youth and the middle class. We conclude by discussing the reasons that may explain the Arab exceptionalism, and argue that it is unlikely to be related to culture alone.

  2. Social Class Dialogues and the Fostering of Class Consciousness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Meredith

    2015-01-01

    How do critical pedagogies promote undergraduate students' awareness of social class, social class identity, and social class inequalities in education? How do undergraduate students experience class consciousness-raising in the intergroup dialogue classroom? This qualitative study explores undergraduate students' class consciousness-raising in an…

  3. PRED-CLASS: cascading neural networks for generalized protein classification and genome-wide applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasquier, C; Promponas, V J; Hamodrakas, S J

    2001-08-15

    A cascading system of hierarchical, artificial neural networks (named PRED-CLASS) is presented for the generalized classification of proteins into four distinct classes-transmembrane, fibrous, globular, and mixed-from information solely encoded in their amino acid sequences. The architecture of the individual component networks is kept very simple, reducing the number of free parameters (network synaptic weights) for faster training, improved generalization, and the avoidance of data overfitting. Capturing information from as few as 50 protein sequences spread among the four target classes (6 transmembrane, 10 fibrous, 13 globular, and 17 mixed), PRED-CLASS was able to obtain 371 correct predictions out of a set of 387 proteins (success rate approximately 96%) unambiguously assigned into one of the target classes. The application of PRED-CLASS to several test sets and complete proteomes of several organisms demonstrates that such a method could serve as a valuable tool in the annotation of genomic open reading frames with no functional assignment or as a preliminary step in fold recognition and ab initio structure prediction methods. Detailed results obtained for various data sets and completed genomes, along with a web sever running the PRED-CLASS algorithm, can be accessed over the World Wide Web at http://o2.biol.uoa.gr/PRED-CLASS.

  4. Introducing the World Population Crises to Secondary Social Studies Classes: An Inquiry-Oriented Instructional Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Randall C.

    1970-01-01

    The author contends that students must be alerted to the dangers of overpopulation of the world and to the methods that exist to control population growth. He suggests topics for student inquiry. (CK)

  5. Describing three-class task performance: three-class linear discriminant analysis and three-class ROC analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Xin; Frey, Eric C.

    2007-03-01

    Binary ROC analysis has solid decision-theoretic foundations and a close relationship to linear discriminant analysis (LDA). In particular, for the case of Gaussian equal covariance input data, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) value has a direct relationship to the Hotelling trace. Many attempts have been made to extend binary classification methods to multi-class. For example, Fukunaga extended binary LDA to obtain multi-class LDA, which uses the multi-class Hotelling trace as a figure-of-merit, and we have previously developed a three-class ROC analysis method. This work explores the relationship between conventional multi-class LDA and three-class ROC analysis. First, we developed a linear observer, the three-class Hotelling observer (3-HO). For Gaussian equal covariance data, the 3- HO provides equivalent performance to the three-class ideal observer and, under less strict conditions, maximizes the signal to noise ratio for classification of all pairs of the three classes simultaneously. The 3-HO templates are not the eigenvectors obtained from multi-class LDA. Second, we show that the three-class Hotelling trace, which is the figureof- merit in the conventional three-class extension of LDA, has significant limitations. Third, we demonstrate that, under certain conditions, there is a linear relationship between the eigenvectors obtained from multi-class LDA and 3-HO templates. We conclude that the 3-HO based on decision theory has advantages both in its decision theoretic background and in the usefulness of its figure-of-merit. Additionally, there exists the possibility of interpreting the two linear features extracted by the conventional extension of LDA from a decision theoretic point of view.

  6. A Cross-Cultural Examination of Semantic Relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raybeck, Douglas; Herrmann, Douglas

    1990-01-01

    Reports on a cross-cultural investigation of semantic relations, including antonyms, synonyms, and class inclusion, among bilingual adult subjects in the United States, England, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. Found significant agreement across cultures, especially for antinomy. Results in general support theories of linguistic…

  7. Posttraumatic stress disorder in the World Mental Health Surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenen, K C; Ratanatharathorn, A; Ng, L; McLaughlin, K A; Bromet, E J; Stein, D J; Karam, E G; Meron Ruscio, A; Benjet, C; Scott, K; Atwoli, L; Petukhova, M; Lim, C C W; Aguilar-Gaxiola, S; Al-Hamzawi, A; Alonso, J; Bunting, B; Ciutan, M; de Girolamo, G; Degenhardt, L; Gureje, O; Haro, J M; Huang, Y; Kawakami, N; Lee, S; Navarro-Mateu, F; Pennell, B-E; Piazza, M; Sampson, N; Ten Have, M; Torres, Y; Viana, M C; Williams, D; Xavier, M; Kessler, R C

    2017-10-01

    Traumatic events are common globally; however, comprehensive population-based cross-national data on the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the paradigmatic trauma-related mental disorder, are lacking. Data were analyzed from 26 population surveys in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. A total of 71 083 respondents ages 18+ participated. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessed exposure to traumatic events as well as 30-day, 12-month, and lifetime PTSD. Respondents were also assessed for treatment in the 12 months preceding the survey. Age of onset distributions were examined by country income level. Associations of PTSD were examined with country income, world region, and respondent demographics. The cross-national lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 3.9% in the total sample and 5.6% among the trauma exposed. Half of respondents with PTSD reported persistent symptoms. Treatment seeking in high-income countries (53.5%) was roughly double that in low-lower middle income (22.8%) and upper-middle income (28.7%) countries. Social disadvantage, including younger age, female sex, being unmarried, being less educated, having lower household income, and being unemployed, was associated with increased risk of lifetime PTSD among the trauma exposed. PTSD is prevalent cross-nationally, with half of all global cases being persistent. Only half of those with severe PTSD report receiving any treatment and only a minority receive specialty mental health care. Striking disparities in PTSD treatment exist by country income level. Increasing access to effective treatment, especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains critical for reducing the population burden of PTSD.

  8. A world class nuclear research reactor complex for South Africa's nuclear future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keshaw, Jeetesh [South African Young Nuclear Professional Society, PO Box 9396, Centurion, 0157 (South Africa)

    2008-07-01

    South Africa recently made public its rather ambitious goals pertaining to nuclear energy developments in a Draft Policy and Strategy issued for public comment. Not much attention was given to an important tool for nuclear energy research and development, namely a well equipped and maintained research reactor, which on its own does not do justice to its potential, unless it is fitted with all the ancillaries and human resources as most first world countries have. In South Africa's case it is suggested to establish at least one Nuclear Energy Research and Development Centre at such a research reactor, where almost all nuclear energy related research can be carried out on par with some of the best in the world. The purpose of this work is to propose how this could be done, and motivate why it is important that it be done with great urgency, and with full involvement of young professionals, if South Africa wishes to face up to the challenges mentioned in the Draft Strategy and Policy. (authors)

  9. Universality class of the two-dimensional polymer collapse transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nahum, Adam

    2016-05-01

    The nature of the θ point for a polymer in two dimensions has long been debated, with a variety of candidates put forward for the critical exponents. This includes those derived by Duplantier and Saleur for an exactly solvable model. We use a representation of the problem via the CPN -1σ model in the limit N →1 to determine the stability of this critical point. First we prove that the Duplantier-Saleur (DS) critical exponents are robust, so long as the polymer does not cross itself: They can arise in a generic lattice model and do not require fine-tuning. This resolves a longstanding theoretical question. We also address an apparent paradox: Two different lattice models, apparently both in the DS universality class, show different numbers of relevant perturbations, apparently leading to contradictory conclusions about the stability of the DS exponents. We explain this in terms of subtle differences between the two models, one of which is fine-tuned (and not strictly in the DS universality class). Next we allow the polymer to cross itself, as appropriate, e.g., to the quasi-two-dimensional case. This introduces an additional independent relevant perturbation, so we do not expect the DS exponents to apply. The exponents in the case with crossings will be those of the generic tricritical O (n ) model at n =0 and different from the case without crossings. We also discuss interesting features of the operator content of the CPN -1 model. Simple geometrical arguments show that two operators in this field theory, with very different symmetry properties, have the same scaling dimension for any value of N (or, equivalently, any value of the loop fugacity). Also we argue that for any value of N the CPN -1 model has a marginal odd-parity operator that is related to the winding angle.

  10. The making of a transnational capitalist class: corporate power in the twenty-first century

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carroll, W.K.; Carson, C.; Fennema, M.; Heemskerk, E.; Sapinski, J.P.

    2010-01-01

    Throughout the world, there has been a growing wave of interest in global corporate power and the rise of a transnational capitalist class, triggered by economic and political transformations that have blurred national borders and disembedded corporate business from national domiciles. Using social

  11. Crossing-symmetric solutions to low equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McLeod, R.J.; Ernst, D.J.

    1985-01-01

    Crossing symmetric models of the pion-nucleon interaction in which crossing symmetry is kept to lowest order in msub(π)/msub(N) are investigated. Two iterative techniques are developed to solve the crossing-symmetric Low equation. The techniques are used to solve the original Chew-Low equations and their generalizations to include the coupling to the pion-production channels. Small changes are found in comparison with earlier results which used an iterative technique proposed by Chew and Low and which did not produce crossing-symmetric results. The iterative technique of Chew and Low is shown to fail because of its inability to produce zeroes in the amplitude at complex energies while physical solutions to the model require such zeroes. We also prove that, within the class of solutions such that phase shifts approach zero for infinite energy, the solution to the Low equation is unique. (orig.)

  12. The Second UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buck, Ralph

    2010-01-01

    This article reports on the second UNESCO World Conference on Arts and Education held on May 25-28, 2010 in Seoul, Korea, which brought together approximately 650 arts educators from 95 UNESCO member states (countries) for a four-day summit of international diplomacy, cross-arts networking, global and regional strategic planning and professional…

  13. Irreversibility of world-sheet renormalization group flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliynyk, T.; Suneeta, V.; Woolgar, E.

    2005-01-01

    We demonstrate the irreversibility of a wide class of world-sheet renormalization group (RG) flows to first order in α ' in string theory. Our techniques draw on the mathematics of Ricci flows, adapted to asymptotically flat target manifolds. In the case of somewhere-negative scalar curvature (of the target space), we give a proof by constructing an entropy that increases monotonically along the flow, based on Perelman's Ricci flow entropy. One consequence is the absence of periodic solutions, and we are able to give a second, direct proof of this. If the scalar curvature is everywhere positive, we instead construct a regularized volume to provide an entropy for the flow. Our results are, in a sense, the analogue of Zamolodchikov's c-theorem for world-sheet RG flows on noncompact spacetimes (though our entropy is not the Zamolodchikov C-function)

  14. MHC class I+ and class I(-)HPV16-associated tumours expressing the E7 oncoprotein do not cross-react in immunization/challenge experiments

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šímová, Jana; Mikyšková, Romana; Vonka, V.; Bieblová, Jana; Bubeník, Jan; Jandlová, Táňa

    2003-01-01

    Roč. 2003, č. 49 (2003), s. 230-234 ISSN 0015-5500 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5052915 Keywords : HPV 16 * MHC class I expression * tumour vaccines Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 0.527, year: 2003

  15. Are white evangelical Protestants lower class? A partial test of church-sect theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwadel, Philip

    2014-07-01

    Testing hypotheses derived from church-sect theory and contemporary research about changes in evangelical Protestants' social status, I use repeated cross-sectional survey data spanning almost four decades to examine changes in the social-class hierarchy of American religious traditions. While there is little change in the social-class position of white evangelical Protestants from the early 1970s to 2010, there is considerable change across birth cohorts. Results from hierarchical age-period-cohort models show: (1) robust, across-cohort declines in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and liberal Protestants, affiliates of "other" religions, and the unaffiliated, (2) stability in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and moderate, Pentecostal, and nondenominational Protestants, (3) moderate across-cohort growth in social-class differences between white evangelical Protestants and Catholics, and (4) these patterns vary across indicators of social class. The findings in this article provide partial support for church-sect theory as well as other theories of social change that emphasize the pivotal role of generations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Barriers to oral health care amongst different social classes in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcha, V; Shetiya, S H; Kakodkar, P

    2010-09-01

    To investigate and compare the influence of social and cultural factors as access barriers to oral health care amongst people from various social classes. A cross sectional survey in Pimpri, was conducted using a pilot tested 15 item-structured, close-ended and self-administered questionnaire. Two hundred and fifty people aged 35-45 years (50 participants each in five social classes as per British Registrar's General classification of occupation) were selected. The chi-square test was applied to check statistical differences between social classes at 5% level of significance. Overall, it was observed that irrespective of the social class difference 88% participants wished to seek only expert/professional advice for the dental treatment. Unavailability of services on Sunday (63%), going to dentist only when in pain (57%), trying self care or home remedy (54%), inadequate government policies (50%), budgetary constraints (40%) were among the major access barriers. Statistically significant difference in the access barriers among the social classes were found related to: Inadequate government policies, budgetary constraints, appointment schedules, far-off located clinics, myths and fear about dental treatment. Social and cultural factors act as access barriers to oral health care and social class differences have a significant influence on the access barriers.

  17. Anthropometry of World-Class Elite Handball Players According to the Playing Position: Reports From Men's Handball World Championship 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghobadi, Hamid; Rajabi, Hamid; Farzad, Babak; Bayati, Mahdi; Jeffreys, Ian

    2013-12-18

    Identifying the anthropometric measures of successful and less successful handball players may be helpful in developing a talent identification and development model, allowing for the determination of key physical capacities required for elite performance. The purpose of the study was to describe the anthropometric characteristics, including age, standing stature, body mass and body mass index (BMI) in handball players who participated in the 2013 Men's Handball World Championships. Secondly, the objective was to identify the possible differences in these parameters in terms of individual playing positions (goalkeeper, back, center back, wing, line player). Rosters with handball player's age, standing stature, and body mass were obtained from the International Handball Federation website. The research material included 409 handball players (24 teams). National teams were organized by their ranks and sub-grouped using their continents and playing positions. The results of the analyses of variance demonstrated significant differences in age (F=2.30; p=0.044; Partial ŋ2=0.028), standing stature (F=14.02; p=0.0001; Partial ŋ2=0.148), and body mass (F=5.88; p=0.0001; Partial ŋ2=0.068) among the groups (G1-G6). Players in G1 had the highest standing stature and body mass, while players in G6 had the lowest age and body mass values. The backs and line players were the tallest. In addition, the measurement of body mass showed that the line players had the highest body mass and BMI values. In conclusion, this study presented anthropometric data that differentiated levels of success in male handball teams playing in the 2013 world championships. This information should serve as a reference for the average standing stature, body mass, and BMI of handball players for particular positions at the professional level.

  18. The World Science Festival

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pazmino, J.

    2012-06-01

    (Abstract only) New York City in the late 20th century rose to be a planetary capital for the sciences, not just astronomy. This growth was mainly in the academic sector but a parallel growth occurred in the public and home field. With the millennium crossing, scientists in New York agitated for a celebration of the City as a place for a thriving science culture. In 2008 they began World Science Festival. 2011 is the fourth running, on June 1-5, following the AAVSO/AAS meetings. World Science Festival was founded by Dr. Brian Greene, Columbia University, and is operated through the World Science Foundation. The Festival is "saturation science" all over Manhattan in a series of lectures, shows, exhibits, performances. It is staged in "science" venues like colleges and musea, but also in off-science spaces like theaters and galleries. It is a blend from hard science, with lectures like those by us astronomers, to science-themed works of art, dance, music. Events are fitted for the public, either for free or a modest fee. While almost all events are on Manhattan, effort has been made to geographically disperse them, even to the outer boroughs. The grand finale of World Science Festival is a street fair in Washington Square. Science centers in booths, tents, and pavilions highlight their work. In past years this fair drew 100,000 to 150,000 visitors. The entire Festival attracts about a quarter-million attendees. NYSkies is a proud participant at the Washington Square fair. It interprets the "Earth to the Universe" display, debuting during IYA-2009. Attendance at "Earth..." on just the day of the fair plausibly is half of all visitors in America. The presentation shows the scale and scope of World Science Festival, its relation to the City, and how our astronomers work with it.

  19. The Tutanic disaster: the social and class structure and the chances of survival

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. B. Rakhmanov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The author undertakes the first in the Russian and, maybe, world scientific literature sociological research into the disaster of the Titanic. It is researched the social and class structure of the community of passengers of the Titanic on the ground of statistical data on prices of tickets and on occupations of passengers. This data discovers that passengers of the Titanic belonged to different social classes. The author researched the connection between social and class structure and chances of survival. The destiny of passengers and the crew were determined by regulated and unregulated chances of survival. The regulated chances of survival were connected with the politics of the command of the Titanic, that was foremost pointed to, firstly, the rescue of passengers (but not the crew, secondly, passengers of 1st and 2nd classes (but not passengers of 3rd class and thirdly, women and children (but not men. The unregulated chances of survival were connected with ethnic, linguistic and age-related characteristics of passengers. The author considers the disaster of the Titanic within the framework of globalization.

  20. Non-surgical Management of Skeletal Class III Malocclusion with Bilateral Posterior Crossbite: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumari, Lalima; Nayan, Kamal

    2016-12-01

    A 16-year-old female patient with skeletal Class III malocclusion and bilateral posterior cross bite complaining of difficulty in chewing was treated orthodontically without surgery (camouflage treatment). The treatment comprised of fixed orthodontic treatment with MBT prescription (0.022˝×0.028˝ slot) using quad helix appliance for bilateral expansion of maxillary arch and Class III elastics for occlusal correction. Post-treatment records showed normal overbite and overjet with acceptable occlusion. So with this treatment strategy of expanding the maxillary arch using a quad helix appliance and use of Class III elastics, we achieved a good result with optimal occlusion.

  1. Exploring social class: voices of inter-class couples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, Teresa; Melendez-Rhodes, Tatiana; Althusius, Erin; Hergic, Sara; Sleeman, Gillian; Ton, Nicky Kieu My; Zimpfer-Bak, A J

    2013-01-01

    Social class is not often discussed or examined in-depth in couple and family therapy research and literature even though social class shapes familial relationships and is considered an important variable in marital satisfaction. In this qualitative study, we explored the perceptions of eight couples who made lasting commitments across class lines by asking them about the impact of their social class backgrounds on their relationships. Three categories of themes emerged including: (a) differences and similarities in values and attitudes toward education, work, money, and class awareness/classism, (b) relationship issues involving families of origin, friends, and class-based couple conflict, and (c) differences in economic resources, social capital and privileges/opportunities. Implications for assessment and treatment of couples are included. © 2012 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

  2. Application of Ion Chromatography to the Investigation of Real-World Samples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whelan, Rebecca J.; Hannon, Theresa E.; Zare, Richard N.

    2004-01-01

    The use of ion chromatography (IC) as a means to teach important analytical concepts while giving the students a valuable opportunity to identify and investigate a real-world system of interest to them is described. A single IC apparatus can be tailored for different classes of analyses by the selection of different column-eluent combinations.

  3. K-Chains: A New Class of Blockchains and Related Turing Machines Based on Quantum Mechanics

    OpenAIRE

    Hegadekatti, Kartik

    2017-01-01

    Quantum Mechanical principles have brought about a revolution in the way we perceive our world and use technology. One of the possible impacts and usage of Quantum mechanics is in the field of economics. Quantum mechanics can be applied to build a new class of Blockchain systems. This paper explores that possibility. It deals with how Quantum Mechanics can be best implemented to bring into existence a new class of Blockchain systems. These Quantum Blockchains (called K-Chains) will have sever...

  4. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) for Use in Biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semsar, Katharine; Knight, Jennifer K.; Birol, Gülnur; Smith, Michelle K.

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a newly adapted instrument for measuring novice-to-expert-like perceptions about biology: the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Biology (CLASS-Bio). Consisting of 31 Likert-scale statements, CLASS-Bio probes a range of perceptions that vary between experts and novices, including enjoyment of the discipline, propensity to make connections to the real world, recognition of conceptual connections underlying knowledge, and problem-solving strategies. CLASS-Bio has been tested for response validity with both undergraduate students and experts (biology PhDs), allowing student responses to be directly compared with a consensus expert response. Use of CLASS-Bio to date suggests that introductory biology courses have the same challenges as introductory physics and chemistry courses: namely, students shift toward more novice-like perceptions following instruction. However, students in upper-division biology courses do not show the same novice-like shifts. CLASS-Bio can also be paired with other assessments to: 1) examine how student perceptions impact learning and conceptual understanding of biology, and 2) assess and evaluate how pedagogical techniques help students develop both expertise in problem solving and an expert-like appreciation of the nature of biology. PMID:21885823

  5. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) for use in Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semsar, Katharine; Knight, Jennifer K; Birol, Gülnur; Smith, Michelle K

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a newly adapted instrument for measuring novice-to-expert-like perceptions about biology: the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Biology (CLASS-Bio). Consisting of 31 Likert-scale statements, CLASS-Bio probes a range of perceptions that vary between experts and novices, including enjoyment of the discipline, propensity to make connections to the real world, recognition of conceptual connections underlying knowledge, and problem-solving strategies. CLASS-Bio has been tested for response validity with both undergraduate students and experts (biology PhDs), allowing student responses to be directly compared with a consensus expert response. Use of CLASS-Bio to date suggests that introductory biology courses have the same challenges as introductory physics and chemistry courses: namely, students shift toward more novice-like perceptions following instruction. However, students in upper-division biology courses do not show the same novice-like shifts. CLASS-Bio can also be paired with other assessments to: 1) examine how student perceptions impact learning and conceptual understanding of biology, and 2) assess and evaluate how pedagogical techniques help students develop both expertise in problem solving and an expert-like appreciation of the nature of biology.

  6. Observing golden-mean universality class in the scaling of thermal transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Daxing

    2018-02-01

    We address the issue of whether the golden-mean [ψ =(√{5 }+1 ) /2 ≃1.618 ] universality class, as predicted by several theoretical models, can be observed in the dynamical scaling of thermal transport. Remarkably, we show strong evidence that ψ appears to be the scaling exponent of heat mode correlation in a purely quartic anharmonic chain. This observation seems to somewhat deviate from the previous expectation and we explain it by the unusual slow decay of the cross correlation between heat and sound modes. Whenever the cubic anharmonicity is included, this cross correlation gradually dies out and another universality class with scaling exponent γ =5 /3 , as commonly predicted by theories, seems recovered. However, this recovery is accompanied by two interesting phase transition processes characterized by a change of symmetry of the potential and a clear variation of the dynamic structure factor, respectively. Due to these transitions, an additional exponent close to γ ≃1.580 emerges. All this evidence suggests that, to gain a full prediction of the scaling of thermal transport, more ingredients should be taken into account.

  7. Detection of Pesticides and Pesticide Metabolites Using the Cross Reactivity of Enzyme Immunoassays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurman, E.M.; Aga, D.S.

    2001-01-01

    Enzyme immunoassay is an important environmental analysis method that may be used to identify many pesticide analytes in water samples. Because of similarities in chemical structure between various members of a pesticide class, there often may be an unwanted response that is characterized by a percentage of cross reactivity. Also, there may be cross reactivity caused by degradation products of the target analyte that may be present in the sample. In this paper, the concept of cross reactivity caused by degradation products or by nontarget analytes is explored as a tool for identification of metabolites or structurally similar compounds not previously known to be present in water samples. Two examples are examined in this paper from various water quality studies. They are alachlor and its metabolite, alachlor ethane sulfonic acid, and atrazine and its class members, prometryn and propazine. A method for using cross reactivity for the detection of these compounds is explained in this paper.

  8. Sports Nutrition Knowledge, Perceptions, Resources, and Advice Given by Certified CrossFit Trainers

    OpenAIRE

    Cassie Maxwell; Kyle Ruth; Carol Friesen

    2017-01-01

    Background: CrossFit is a large, growing force in the fitness community. Currently, Level 1 and 2 CrossFit certification classes do not include nutrition education. The purpose of this study was to identify sports nutrition knowledge, perceptions, resources, and advice given by Certified CrossFit Trainers. Methods: An online questionnaire that measured these four constructs was placed on a private Facebook community, open only to certified CrossFit trainers, for 10 days. Results: Complete sur...

  9. Navigating Polycentric Governance from a Citizen’s Perspective: The Rising New Middle Classes Respond

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.F. Fowler (Alan); K. Biekart (Kees)

    2015-01-01

    markdownabstractA global growth in the middle class is anticipated to influence development choices and the evolution of domestic polities associated with a ‘rising‘ South. Responding to the local effects of a multipolar world order will add to a citizen’s existing need to navigate national

  10. Class impressions : Higher social class elicits lower prosociality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Doesum, Niels J.; Tybur, Joshua M.; Van Lange, Paul A.M.

    2017-01-01

    Social class predicts numerous important life outcomes and social orientations. To date, literature has mainly examined how an individual's own class shapes interactions with others. But how prosocially do people treat others they perceive as coming from lower, middle, or higher social classes?

  11. PROMOTING LITERATURE TO BUILD COLLEGE STUDENTS’ SOCIO-POLITICAL AWARENESS IN THE EFL READING CLASS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dian Nurrachman

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The relationship of classroom to the outside world is a reciprocal one, meaning that classrooms are part of the world in which socio-politics is included. The students become successful literary readers as well as critical thinkers who have socio-political awareness if the classroom conducts an ‘extensive reading’ by ‘letting the students in’. The implication of these understandings for the work of EFL teachers is to give a vindication that literature can fully become the best authentic material in the teaching and learning of English, especially for reading class of the college students. In certain ways, this is also aimed to promote literature as a device to build students’ socio-political awareness, because literature, we are told, is vitally engaged with the living situations of men and women: it’s concrete rather than abstract, displays life in all its rich variousness. Keywords: socio-political awareness, literature, reading class

  12. Fields of Tension in a Boundary-Crossing World: Towards a Democratic Organization of the Self.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermans, Hubert J M; Konopka, Agnieszka; Oosterwegel, Annerieke; Zomer, Peter

    2017-12-01

    In their study of the relationship between self and society, scientists have proposed taking society as a metaphor for understanding the dynamics of the self, such as the analogy between the self and the functioning of a totalitarian state or the analogy between the self and the functioning of a bureaucratic organization. In addition to these models, the present article proposes a democratic society as a metaphor for understanding the workings of a dialogical self in a globalizing, boundary-crossing world. The article follows four steps. In the first step the self is depicted as extended to the social and societal environment and made up of fields of tension in which a multiplicity of self-positions are involved in processes of positioning and counter-positioning and in relationships of social power. In the second step, the fertility of the democratic metaphor is demonstrated by referring to theory and research from three identity perspectives: multicultural, multiracial, and transgender. In the fields of tension emerging between the multiplicity of self-positions, new, hybrid, and mixed identities have a chance to emerge as adaptive responses to the limitations of existing societal structures. In the third step, we place the democratic self in a broader societal context by linking three levels of inclusiveness, proposed by Self-Categorization Theory (personal, social, and human) to recent conceptions of a cosmopolitan democracy. In the fourth and final step, a model is presented which allows the formulation of a series of specific research questions for future studies of a democratically organized self.

  13. Growing families in a shrinking world: legal and ethical challenges in cross-border surrogacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crockin, Susan L

    2013-12-01

    Crossing national borders to have children is a rapidly growing phenomenon, fuelled by restrictions on access and technologies in some countries and for some patients, by high costs in others, and all generating a burgeoning multibillion dollar international industry. Cross-border gestational surrogacy is one form of family building that challenges legal, policy and ethical norms between countries and puts both intended parents and gestational surrogates at risk, and can leave the offspring of these arrangements vulnerable in a variety of ways, including parent-child, immigration and citizenship status. The widely varying political, religious and legal views amongst countries make line drawing and rule making challenging. This article reviews recent court decisions about and explores the legal dimensions of cross-border surrogacy. Copyright © 2013 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Replacement cross-site transfer system project W-058 safety class upgrade summary report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlosser, R.L.

    1998-01-01

    This report evaluates the design of the replacement cross-site transfer system structures, systems, and components for safety related applications as defined in the Tank Waste Remediation Systems Basis for Interim Operations

  15. Plot and irony in childbirth narratives of middle-class Brazilian women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Dougherty, Maureen

    2013-03-01

    Brazil's rate of cesarean deliveries is among the highest in the world and constitutes the majority of childbirths in private hospitals. This study examines ways middle-class Brazilian women are exercising agency in this context. It draws from sociolinguistics to examine narrative structure and dramatic properties of 120 childbirth narratives of 68 low- to high-income women. Surgical delivery constituted 62% of the total. I focus on 20 young middle-class women, of whom 17 had C-sections. Doctors determined mode of childbirth pre-emptively or appeared to accommodate women's wishes, while framing the scenario as necessitating surgical delivery. The women strove to imbue C-section deliveries with value and meaning through staging, filming, familial presence, attempting induced labor, or humanized childbirth. Their stories indicate that class privilege does not lead to choice over childbirth mode. The women nonetheless struggle over the significance of their agency in childbirth. © 2013 by the American Anthropological Association.

  16. T-cell activation. VI. Inhibitory and stimulatory effects of anti-major histocompatibility complex class I antibodies in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Röpke, M; Röpke, C; Claesson, Mogens Helweg

    1993-01-01

    Murine T splenocytes stimulated in primary allogeneic mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) were incubated with soluble anti-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I monoclonal antibodies. These antibodies induced inhibition in the cytotoxicity of the responding population and this inhibition...... was not dependent on the domain on class I molecules recognized by the antibodies. Cross-reactivity of the antibodies between the responder and stimulating cell population caused a marked reduction in the inhibitory effect compared to systems where no such cross-reactivity was present. Saturating levels...... of the antibodies caused a reduction in generation of T-cell cytotoxicity, whereas low concentrations stimulated the same response. These results demonstrate that the MHC class I molecules of T cells are of significant importance in antigen-induced signal transduction....

  17. Social class and metabolic syndrome in populations from Tunisia and Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gannar, Fadoua; Cabrera de León, Antonio; Brito Díaz, Buenaventura; Del Cristo Rodríguez Pérez, María; Marcelino Rodríguez, Itahisa; Ben Dahmen, Fatma; Sakly, Mohsen; Attia, Nabil

    2015-01-01

    There is an increasing prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) in developing countries. It has been shown the relationship between social class and MS in developed countries. The objective of our study was to compare the association of social class with the prevalence of MS in a developing country (Tunisia, region of Cap-Bon) and a developed one (Spain, Canary Islands). Cross-sectional study of 6729 Canarian and 393 Tunisian individuals. Social class was measured with the income, crowding and education (ICE) model, which includes family income, household crowding and education level. Logistic regression models adjusted by age estimated the risk by odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI 95 %) of MS according to social class. MS prevalence was higher in Tunisian (50 %) than in Canarian women (29 %; p = 0.002), with no significant differences between men. For Canarian women, being in the highest social class was a protective factor against MS (OR = 0.39; CI 95 % 0.29-0.53) and all its components. The Canarian population and the Tunisian women, showed a significant linear trend (p social class increased. High social class is a protective factor from MS and its components within the Canarian population and the Tunisian women. Our results suggest that the socioeconomic transition in a developing country like Tunisia can improve the population health in a sex-specific manner.

  18. [Third World cities: points of accumulation, centers of distribution].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, W R; Mcgee, T G

    1985-01-01

    Attention was called over 3 decades ago to the very rapid growth of Third World cities and the significance of the differences between their patterns of urbanization and those of industrialized countries. Their demographic growth occurred much faster and depended much more heavily on high fertility, their economies were geared more to export of raw materials than to manufacturing and were unable to create massive numbers of jobs to absorb the growing labor force except in the unproductive tertiary sector, and it appeared unlikely that they would be able to produce entrepreneurial classes of their own. Several economic developments during the 1970s affected the world economy and the patterns of urbanization of the Third World: the decline of the principal capitalist economies and the multiple increases in the price of oil, the floating exchange rate, the considerable increase in consumer goods, and the increasing costs of labor in industrialized countries, among others, created new conditions. World economic interdependence, international control of investment and exchange, and volume and mobility of capital increased at a time of rapid economic growth in some Third World countries, especially those whose governments took an aggressive role in promoting growth and investment. Some Third World cities now seem to be developing according to a more western model, but the same cannot be said of all Third World countries, and international economic evolution appears to have led to increasing polarization between countries as well as within them. The 1 domain where a certain convergence has occurred is consumption, beginning with the privileged classes and filtering to the lower income groups. Consumption of collective and individual consumer goods, which is concentrated in the largest cities, increases dependence on imports, technology, knowledge, and usually debt. The modern productive sector and its distribution activities become implanted in the cities to such a degree

  19. Discourses of Volunteer/Service Work and Their Discontents: Border Crossing, Construction of Hierarchy, and Paying Dues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doerr, Neriko Musha

    2017-01-01

    This article examines four discourses of volunteer/service work--charity, leisure, citizenship, and border crossing--in terms of how they construct relationships between those who serve and those who are served. Specifically, it analyzes the discourse of border crossing, which assumes White middle-class students crossing a border to work in…

  20. 'A very valuable fusion of classes': British professional and volunteer nurses of the First World War.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallett, Christine E

    2014-06-01

    Public perceptions of the work of nurses and VAD-volunteers in the First World War have been heavily influenced by a small number of VAD-writings. The work of trained, professional nurses in supporting and supervised the work of VADs has been largely overlooked. This paper examines several of the writings of both volunteers and professionals, and emphasises the overlooked supervisory, managerial and clinical work of trained nurses. In this centenary year of the First World War's opening months, the paper also explores the ways in which the British mass-media--notably the BBC--have chosen to cling to a romantic image of the untrained nurse, whilst at the same time acknowledging the significance of trained, professional nursing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. A Cross-National Study of Secondary Science Classroom Environments in Australia and Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraser, Barry J.; Aldridge, Jill M.; Adolphe, F. S. Gerard

    2010-01-01

    This article reports a cross-national study of classroom environments in Australia and Indonesia. A modified version of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire was used simultaneously in these two countries to: 1) cross validate the modified WIHIC; 2) investigate differences between countries and sexes in perceptions of…

  2. Basic support for cooperative work on the World Wide Web

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentley, R.; Appelt, W.; Busbach, U.; Hinrichs, E.; Kerr, D.; Sikkel, Nicolaas; Trevor, J.; Woetzel, G.

    The emergence and widespread adoption of the World Wide Web offers a great deal of potential in supporting cross-platform cooperative work within widely dispersed working groups. The Basic Support for Cooperative Work (BSCW) project at GMD is attempting to realize this potential through development

  3. Revealing the structure of the world airline network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, T.; Araújo, N. A. M.; Herrmann, H. J.

    2014-07-01

    Resilience of most critical infrastructures against failure of elements that appear insignificant is usually taken for granted. The World Airline Network (WAN) is an infrastructure that reduces the geographical gap between societies, both small and large, and brings forth economic gains. With the extensive use of a publicly maintained data set that contains information about airports and alternative connections between these airports, we empirically reveal that the WAN is a redundant and resilient network for long distance air travel, but otherwise breaks down completely due to removal of short and apparently insignificant connections. These short range connections with moderate number of passengers and alternate flights are the connections that keep remote parts of the world accessible. It is surprising, insofar as there exists a highly resilient and strongly connected core consisting of a small fraction of airports (around 2.3%) together with an extremely fragile star-like periphery. Yet, in spite of their relevance, more than 90% of the world airports are still interconnected upon removal of this core. With standard and unconventional removal measures we compare both empirical and topological perceptions for the fragmentation of the world. We identify how the WAN is organized into different classes of clusters based on the physical proximity of airports and analyze the consequence of this fragmentation.

  4. Nonlinear physics approach to RNA cross-replication: Marginal stability, generalized logistic growth, and impacts of degradation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frank, T.D., E-mail: till.frank@ucd.ie [UCD School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 (Ireland); Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 (Ireland); Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Storrs, CT 06269 (United States)

    2011-10-24

    Highlights: → RNA cross-replication is a marginally stable but not asymptotically stable process. → RNA enzymes exhibits a generalized logistic growth pattern with exponent equal to 2. → Degradation results in non-symmetric saturation levels of cross-replicating RNAs. -- Abstract: It is nowadays believed that the evolution of life involved as an intermediate step an RNA world. In such an RNA world RNA molecules replicate themselves in catalytic reactions. Recent experiments on cross-replicating RNA support the RNA world hypothesis. We derive a nonlinear mass-action kinetics model to explain logistic growth patterns and non-symmetric saturation levels observed in those experiments. We also demonstrate that fixed points of the RNA growth process are only marginally stable rather than asymptotically stable.

  5. World Nuclear University School of Uranium Production: Eight years' experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trojacek, J.

    2014-01-01

    The World Nuclear University School of Uranium Production was established by DIAMO, state enterprise in 2006 year under the auspices of the World Nuclear University in London in partnership with international nuclear organizations – OECD/NEA and IAEA. Using the expertise and infrastructure of DIAMO State Enterprise, in conjuction with national and international universities, scientific institutions, regulatory authorities and other individual experts, the “school” covers its mission with the aim to provide world-class training on all aspects of uranium production cycle to equip operators, regulators and executives with the knowledge and expertise needed to provide expanded, environmentally-sound uranium mining throughout the world: • to educate students on all aspects of uranium production cycle including exploration, planning, development, operation, remediation and closure of uranium production facilities; • to improve the state of the art of uranium exploration, mining and mine remediation through research and development; • to provide a forum for the exchange of information on the latest uranium mining technologies and experiences – best practices.

  6. DEPRIVATION, CLASS AND IDENTITY ISSUE IN CONTEMPORARY TURKISH CINEMA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neşe Kaplan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available New economy–politics and globalization have not only been changing the structure of class but the representation of identities as well. New social roles are reproduced and also criticized by the means of cultural production in which media and cinema instruments included. In past, the class structure and attachment to identities were effected by modernization process; in a similar way; in the current state of modernization, the new cultural sphere shaped by global communication networks and global consumption attitudes have been alternating the class structure and attachment to identity. With this context, this study analyzed some contemporary social realistic films (Zerre, Araf, Köksüz, Yozgat Blues to understand how the position of individual changes within its role with herself and its relation to social institutions through a critical approach towards the dimensions of culture and economy-politics of the change. The aim is to start a discussion over cinema, about the effect of cultural change on class and representation of identity. The theoretic frame enlightening the change of the relation of the individual with her work, family, and society was built with the help of critical works. The economy-politics result of the globalization phenomenon has isolated the individual and detached her from its position, subject of politics. The structure of class has changed, the attachment to identity has weakened. The desperation of individual belonging to nothing, is a subject of cinema as well. The isolation and the deprivation of the new individual emerges as the very “violence” itself in the fantastic world of cinema.

  7. Common Mental Disorders among Occupational Groups: Contributions of the Latent Class Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kionna Oliveira Bernardes Santos

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20 is widely used for evaluating common mental disorders. However, few studies have evaluated the SRQ-20 measurements performance in occupational groups. This study aimed to describe manifestation patterns of common mental disorders symptoms among workers populations, by using latent class analysis. Methods. Data derived from 9,959 Brazilian workers, obtained from four cross-sectional studies that used similar methodology, among groups of informal workers, teachers, healthcare workers, and urban workers. Common mental disorders were measured by using SRQ-20. Latent class analysis was performed on each database separately. Results. Three classes of symptoms were confirmed in the occupational categories investigated. In all studies, class I met better criteria for suspicion of common mental disorders. Class II discriminated workers with intermediate probability of answers to the items belonging to anxiety, sadness, and energy decrease that configure common mental disorders. Class III was composed of subgroups of workers with low probability to respond positively to questions for screening common mental disorders. Conclusions. Three patterns of symptoms of common mental disorders were identified in the occupational groups investigated, ranging from distinctive features to low probabilities of occurrence. The SRQ-20 measurements showed stability in capturing nonpsychotic symptoms.

  8. RxClass

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The RxClass Browser is a web application for exploring and navigating through the class hierarchies to find the RxNorm drug members associated with each class....

  9. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somogyi, G.; Bolzoni, P. [DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Trocsanyi, Z. [CERN PH-TH, on leave from University of Debrecen and Institute of Nuclear Research of HAS, H-4001 P.O.Box 51 (Hungary)

    2010-08-15

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of the NNLO subtraction scheme of Refs. [G. Somogyi, Z. Trocsanyi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 06, 024 (2005), (arXiv:hep-ph/0502226); G. Somogyi and Z. Trocsanyi, (2006), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609041); G. Somogyi, Z. Trocsanyi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 01, 070 (2007), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609042); G. Somogyi and Z. Trocsanyi, JHEP 01, 052 (2007), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609043)] over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state.

  10. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Somogyi, G.; Bolzoni, P.; Trocsanyi, Z.

    2010-01-01

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of the NNLO subtraction scheme of Refs. [G. Somogyi, Z. Trocsanyi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 06, 024 (2005), (arXiv:hep-ph/0502226); G. Somogyi and Z. Trocsanyi, (2006), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609041); G. Somogyi, Z. Trocsanyi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 01, 070 (2007), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609042); G. Somogyi and Z. Trocsanyi, JHEP 01, 052 (2007), (arXiv:hep-ph/0609043)] over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state.

  11. Not all experiences of (inauthenticity are created equal: A latent class analysis approach(retitled Identifying Differences in the Experience of (InAuthenticity: A Latent Class Analysis Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alison P. Lenton

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Generally, psychologists consider state authenticity– that is, the subjective sense of being one’s true self – to be a unitary and unidimensional construct, such that (a the phenomenological experience of authenticity is thought to be similar no matter its trigger, and (b inauthenticity is thought to be simply the opposing pole (on the same underlying construct of authenticity. Using latent class analysis, we put this conceptualization to a test. In order to avoid over-reliance on a Western conceptualization of authenticity, we used a cross-cultural sample (N = 543, comprising participants from Western, South-Asian, East-Asian, and South-East Asian cultures. Participants provided either a narrative in which the described when they felt most like being themselves or one in which they described when they felt least like being themselves. The analysis identified six distinct classes of experiences: two authenticity classes ('everyday' and 'extraordinary', three inauthenticity classes ('self-conscious,' 'deflated,' and 'extraordinary', and a class representing convergence between authenticity and inauthenticity. The classes were phenomenologically distinct, especially with respect to negative affect, private and public self-consciousness, and self-esteem. Furthermore, relatively more interdependent cultures were less likely to report experiences of extraordinary (inauthenticity than relatively more independent cultures. Understanding the many facets of (inauthenticity may enable researchers to connect different findings and explain why the attainment of authenticity can be difficult.

  12. Craniofacial changes in Class III malocclusion as related to skeletal and dental maturation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baccetti, Tiziano; Reyes, Brian C; McNamara, James A

    2007-08-01

    In this large cross-sectional study, we aimed to analyze growth trends in white subjects with Class III malocclusion using both skeletal and dental maturation staging. The sample consisted of 1091 pretreatment lateral cephalometric records of Class III patients (560 female, 531 male). Cephalometric dentoskeletal measurements were compared at subsequent stages in cervical vertebral maturation and Hellman's categorization of dental development by means of ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests in both sexes separately. The findings indicated that, in Class III malocclusion, the pubertal peak in mandibular growth occurs between stages 3 and 4 of cervical vertebral maturation, with average increases in total mandibular length of about 8 and 5.5 mm in Class III boys and girls, respectively. Significant changes in total mandibular length occur until young adulthood (18 years on average), with increases between late maturation stages (4 through 6) that were twice as large as in subjects with normal occlusion for the Class III females, and 3 times as large as in subjects with normal occlusion for the Class III males. Growth trends toward accentuated Class III profile and increased vertical dimension of the face also become apparent at late developmental stages (corresponding with complete eruption of the second and third molars).

  13. Linezolid and Tiamulin Cross-Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus Mediated by Point Mutations in the Peptidyl Transferase Center ▿

    OpenAIRE

    Miller, Keith; Dunsmore, Colin J.; Fishwick, Colin W. G.; Chopra, Ian

    2008-01-01

    Oxazolidinone and pleuromutilin antibiotics are currently used in the treatment of staphylococcal infections. Although both antibiotics inhibit protein synthesis and have overlapping binding regions on 23S rRNA, the potential for cross-resistance between the two classes through target site mutations has not been thoroughly examined. Mutants of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to linezolid were selected and found to exhibit cross-resistance to tiamulin, a member of the pleuromutilin class of an...

  14. Counternarrative and antenarrative inquiry in two cross-cultural contexts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boje, David M.; Svane, Marita Susanna; Gergerich, Erika

    2016-01-01

    stereotypical representations of race, class, and gender, and offer theory and methodology resources for a more meaningful understanding of homeless life and cultures. The second case explores narrative-counternarrative and antenarrative inquiry into a cross-cultural merger between two companies. Both cases...

  15. Type Families with Class, Type Classes with Family

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Serrano, Alejandro; Hage, Jurriaan; Bahr, Patrick

    2015-01-01

    Type classes and type families are key ingredients in Haskell programming. Type classes were introduced to deal with ad-hoc polymorphism, although with the introduction of functional dependencies, their use expanded to type-level programming. Type families also allow encoding type-level functions......, now as rewrite rules. This paper looks at the interplay of type classes and type families, and how to deal with shortcomings in both of them. Furthermore, we show how to use families to simulate classes at the type level. However, type families alone are not enough for simulating a central feature...... of type classes: elaboration, that is, generating code from the derivation of a rewriting. We look at ways to solve this problem in current Haskell, and propose an extension to allow elaboration during the rewriting phase....

  16. The biowaiver extension for BCS class III drugs: the effect of dissolution rate on the bioequivalence of BCS class III immediate-release drugs predicted by computer simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsume, Yasuhiro; Amidon, Gordon L

    2010-08-02

    The Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) guidance issued by the FDA allows waivers for in vivo bioavailability and bioequivalence studies for immediate-release (IR) solid oral dosage forms only for BCS class I drugs. However, a number of drugs within BCS class III have been proposed to be eligible for biowaivers. The World Health Organization (WHO) has shortened the requisite dissolution time of BCS class III drugs on their Essential Medicine List (EML) from 30 to 15 min for extended biowaivers; however, the impact of the shorter dissolution time on AUC(0-inf) and C(max) is unknown. The objectives of this investigation were to assess the ability of gastrointestinal simulation software to predict the oral absorption of the BCS class I drugs propranolol and metoprolol and the BCS class III drugs cimetidine, atenolol, and amoxicillin, and to perform in silico bioequivalence studies to assess the feasibility of extending biowaivers to BCS class III drugs. The drug absorption from the gastrointestinal tract was predicted using physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of test drugs provided by GastroPlus (version 6.0). Virtual trials with a 200 mL dose volume at different drug release rates (T(85%) = 15 to 180 min) were performed to predict the oral absorption (C(max) and AUC(0-inf)) of the above drugs. Both BCS class I drugs satisfied bioequivalence with regard to the release rates up to 120 min. The results with BCS class III drugs demonstrated bioequivalence using the prolonged release rate, T(85%) = 45 or 60 min, indicating that the dissolution standard for bioequivalence is dependent on the intestinal membrane permeability and permeability profile throughout the gastrointestinal tract. The results of GastroPlus simulations indicate that the dissolution rate of BCS class III drugs could be prolonged to the point where dissolution, rather than permeability, would control the overall absorption. For BCS class III drugs with intestinal absorption patterns

  17. Cross-cultural assessment of automatically generated multimodal referring expressions in a virtual world

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Sluis, Ielka; Luz, Saturnino; Breitfuss, Werner; Ishizuka, Mitsuru; Prendinger, Helmut

    This paper presents an assessment of automatically generated multimodal referring expressions as produced by embodied conversational agents in a virtual world. The algorithm used for this purpose employs general principles of human motor control and cooperativity in dialogues that can be

  18. Preparing TESOL Students for the ESOL Classroom: A Cross-Cultural Project in Intercultural Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina-López-Portillo, Adriana

    2014-01-01

    Intercultural communication classes for TESOL students give them a solid foundation for their work with their own ESOL students. This article presents the cross-cultural project that TESOL students have to complete in a required intercultural communication class at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the case study that was used to…

  19. A Global Integration: Internationalizing a Public Speaking Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyons, Florence A.

    2017-01-01

    Institutions of higher education around the world have responded to the challenge of globalization by internationalizing their curricula. Incorporating elements of cross-cultural examination to a freshman Fundamentals of Public Speaking class proved to be an important first step toward globalization for this speech professor. In the class,…

  20. “Heroes” and “Villains” of World History across Cultures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanke, Katja; Liu, James H.; Sibley, Chris G.; Paez, Dario; Gaines, Stanley O.; Moloney, Gail; Leong, Chan-Hoong; Wagner, Wolfgang; Licata, Laurent; Klein, Olivier; Garber, Ilya; Böhm, Gisela; Hilton, Denis J.; Valchev, Velichko; Khan, Sammyh S.; Cabecinhas, Rosa

    2015-01-01

    Emergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles. PMID:25651504

  1. Content Analysis of the Papers in 2015 High-Impact A-Class SSCI Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ay, Sule; Sahin, Seyma; Okmen, Burcu; Incirci, Ayhan

    2016-01-01

    It was aimed in this study to reveal the general tendency of studies in the field of education by examining the papers in the high-impact A-class SSCI journals, to which qualified papers are accepted from all around the world, in terms of their dependent-independent variables, sample or study groups, research designs, data collection instruments,…

  2. Islamic World Unity Through Developing Cross-Culture Communication and Religion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Arfah Shiddiq

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Every one in every religion needs unity, peace and security in their daily life, especially in performing worship peacefully on this earth. It is not only for special worshipping, but also forinteraction among human beings. The objective of this paper is to explore the development of cross-culture communication and religion.It is of human innate nature to possess skills in comunication with others. The experts on communication are really appreciative of thecommunication skills of human being because it very important to develop self-existence for continuous life, to acquire happiness, to avoid threat, especially in developing communication between culture and religion.

  3. Applications of the BEam Cross section Analysis Software (BECAS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blasques, José Pedro Albergaria Amaral; Bitsche, Robert; Fedorov, Vladimir

    2013-01-01

    A newly developed framework is presented for structural design and analysis of long slender beam-like structures, e.g., wind turbine blades. The framework is based on the BEam Cross section Analysis Software – BECAS – a finite element based cross section analysis tool. BECAS is used for the gener......A newly developed framework is presented for structural design and analysis of long slender beam-like structures, e.g., wind turbine blades. The framework is based on the BEam Cross section Analysis Software – BECAS – a finite element based cross section analysis tool. BECAS is used...... for the generation of beam finite element models which correctly account for effects stemming from material anisotropy and inhomogeneity in cross sections of arbitrary geometry. These type of modelling approach allows for an accurate yet computationally inexpensive representation of a general class of three...

  4. Anthropometry of World-Class Elite Handball Players According to the Playing Position: Reports From Men’s Handball World Championship 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghobadi, Hamid; Rajabi, Hamid; Farzad, Babak; Bayati, Mahdi; Jeffreys, Ian

    2013-01-01

    Identifying the anthropometric measures of successful and less successful handball players may be helpful in developing a talent identification and development model, allowing for the determination of key physical capacities required for elite performance. The purpose of the study was to describe the anthropometric characteristics, including age, standing stature, body mass and body mass index (BMI) in handball players who participated in the 2013 Men’s Handball World Championships. Secondly, the objective was to identify the possible differences in these parameters in terms of individual playing positions (goalkeeper, back, center back, wing, line player). Rosters with handball player’s age, standing stature, and body mass were obtained from the International Handball Federation website. The research material included 409 handball players (24 teams). National teams were organized by their ranks and sub-grouped using their continents and playing positions. The results of the analyses of variance demonstrated significant differences in age (F=2.30; p=0.044; Partial ŋ2=0.028), standing stature (F=14.02; p=0.0001; Partial ŋ2=0.148), and body mass (F=5.88; p=0.0001; Partial ŋ2=0.068) among the groups (G1–G6). Players in G1 had the highest standing stature and body mass, while players in G6 had the lowest age and body mass values. The backs and line players were the tallest. In addition, the measurement of body mass showed that the line players had the highest body mass and BMI values. In conclusion, this study presented anthropometric data that differentiated levels of success in male handball teams playing in the 2013 world championships. This information should serve as a reference for the average standing stature, body mass, and BMI of handball players for particular positions at the professional level. PMID:24511357

  5. Methods for converting continuous shrubland ecosystem component values to thematic National Land Cover Database classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigge, Matthew B.; Gass, Leila; Homer, Collin G.; Xian, George Z.

    2017-10-26

    The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) provides thematic land cover and land cover change data at 30-meter spatial resolution for the United States. Although the NLCD is considered to be the leading thematic land cover/land use product and overall classification accuracy across the NLCD is high, performance and consistency in the vast shrub and grasslands of the Western United States is lower than desired. To address these issues and fulfill the needs of stakeholders requiring more accurate rangeland data, the USGS has developed a method to quantify these areas in terms of the continuous cover of several cover components. These components include the cover of shrub, sagebrush (Artemisia spp), big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp.), herbaceous, annual herbaceous, litter, and bare ground, and shrub and sagebrush height. To produce maps of component cover, we collected field data that were then associated with spectral values in WorldView-2 and Landsat imagery using regression tree models. The current report outlines the procedures and results of converting these continuous cover components to three thematic NLCD classes: barren, shrubland, and grassland. To accomplish this, we developed a series of indices and conditional models using continuous cover of shrub, bare ground, herbaceous, and litter as inputs. The continuous cover data are currently available for two large regions in the Western United States. Accuracy of the “cross-walked” product was assessed relative to that of NLCD 2011 at independent validation points (n=787) across these two regions. Overall thematic accuracy of the “cross-walked” product was 0.70, compared to 0.63 for NLCD 2011. The kappa value was considerably higher for the “cross-walked” product at 0.41 compared to 0.28 for NLCD 2011. Accuracy was also evaluated relative to the values of training points (n=75,000) used in the development of the continuous cover components. Again, the “cross-walked” product outperformed NLCD

  6. The Value of Writing "How-to" Books in High School World History and Geography Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Kathryn; Daisey, Peggy

    2011-01-01

    This article presents a story about eighty-six ninth-grade World History and Geography students who authored a "how-to" book, while pretending that they were experts who lived in the past and had to explain how to do something relating to that time period. These students attended a large high school in the Midwest; the school's…

  7. JPRS Report, Soviet Union: The Working Class & The Contemporary World, No. 5, September-October 1987.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-03-24

    connected with the committee’s activity constituted in 3 years 5.5 percent; idling diminished from 10 to 3 percent of work time; absenteeism , from 15 to 7...34The Changing Situation of Workers and Their Unions...," p 10. 13. U.S. News and World Report, 16 May 1983, p 61; Labour Research, vol 73, No 2

  8. Workplace Characteristics and Working Class Vote for the Old and New Right

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arndt, Christoph; Rennwald, Line

    2017-01-01

    This article focuses on the role of plant size for working class vote. We argue that workplace size does matter for political behaviour. Workers in smaller plants are less unionized and therefore base their voting decisions more strongly on their cultural attitudes, which undermine the support...... for social democratic parties. Using data from the European Social Survey (2002–2010), we find that workers in small plants have more right-wing attitudes and, consequently, vote for new and old right parties, contrarily to workers in larger plants. Our research points towards important structural...... explanations of working class support for the right and its cross-national differences....

  9. Imported emissions. The world trade stowaway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fink, Meike; Gautier, Celia

    2013-05-01

    This study first gives an overview of existing tools and methodological challenges to account emissions included in consumed products fabricated elsewhere. It notably discusses the passage from a methodology based on a production principle to a methodology based on a consumption principle, outlines the different methodologies associated with the different analysis levels, and the importance of uncertainty sources. The second part proposes a view on emission flows included in exports and imports. It addresses the following issues: the international level, increasing importance of emissions transferred via world trade, emissions related to consumption per capita and per social class, carbon and energy intensity of products at the origin of emissions, composition of imported and exported products and intensity of their emissions, impact of a methodological change on greenhouse gas emissions by France, extent of emissions imported in France, and Germany as the first trade partner and emission importer of France. The third part discusses the political implications of an accounting of emissions related to consumption and to world trade

  10. Serving the world's poor, profitably.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prahalad, C K; Hammond, Allen

    2002-09-01

    By stimulating commerce and development at the bottom of the economic pyramid, multi-nationals could radically improve the lives of billions of people and help create a more stable, less dangerous world. Achieving this goal does not require MNCs to spearhead global social-development initiatives for charitable purposes. They need only act in their own self-interest. How? The authors lay out the business case for entering the world's poorest markets. Fully 65% of the world's population earns less than $2,000 per year--that's 4 billion people. But despite the vastness of this market, it remains largely untapped. The reluctance to invest is easy to understand, but it is, by and large, based on outdated assumptions of the developing world. While individual incomes may be low, the aggregate buying power of poor communities is actually quite large, representing a substantial market in many countries for what some might consider luxury goods like satellite television and phone services. Prices, and margins, are often much higher in poor neighborhoods than in their middle-class counterparts. And new technologies are already steadily reducing the effects of corruption, illiteracy, inadequate infrastructure, and other such barriers. Because these markets are in the earliest stages of economic development, revenue growth for multi-nationals entering them can be extremely rapid. MNCs can also lower costs, not only through low-cost labor but by transferring operating efficiencies and innovations developed to serve their existing operations. Certainly, succeeding in such markets requires MNCs to think creatively. The biggest change, though, has to come from executives: Unless business leaders confront their own preconceptions--particularly about the value of high-volume, low-margin businesses--companies are unlikely to master the challenges or reap the rewards of these developing markets.

  11. CNN-BLPred: a Convolutional neural network based predictor for β-Lactamases (BL) and their classes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Clarence; Ismail, Hamid D; Saigo, Hiroto; Kc, Dukka B

    2017-12-28

    The β-Lactamase (BL) enzyme family is an important class of enzymes that plays a key role in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. As the newly identified number of BL enzymes is increasing daily, it is imperative to develop a computational tool to classify the newly identified BL enzymes into one of its classes. There are two types of classification of BL enzymes: Molecular Classification and Functional Classification. Existing computational methods only address Molecular Classification and the performance of these existing methods is unsatisfactory. We addressed the unsatisfactory performance of the existing methods by implementing a Deep Learning approach called Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). We developed CNN-BLPred, an approach for the classification of BL proteins. The CNN-BLPred uses Gradient Boosted Feature Selection (GBFS) in order to select the ideal feature set for each BL classification. Based on the rigorous benchmarking of CCN-BLPred using both leave-one-out cross-validation and independent test sets, CCN-BLPred performed better than the other existing algorithms. Compared with other architectures of CNN, Recurrent Neural Network, and Random Forest, the simple CNN architecture with only one convolutional layer performs the best. After feature extraction, we were able to remove ~95% of the 10,912 features using Gradient Boosted Trees. During 10-fold cross validation, we increased the accuracy of the classic BL predictions by 7%. We also increased the accuracy of Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D performance by an average of 25.64%. The independent test results followed a similar trend. We implemented a deep learning algorithm known as Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to develop a classifier for BL classification. Combined with feature selection on an exhaustive feature set and using balancing method such as Random Oversampling (ROS), Random Undersampling (RUS) and Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE), CNN-BLPred performs

  12. Sex work during the 2010 FIFA World Cup: results from a three-wave cross-sectional survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wim Delva

    Full Text Available In the months leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, international media postulated that at least 40,000 foreign sex workers would enter South Africa, and that an increased HIV incidence would follow. To strengthen the evidence base of future HIV prevention and sexual health programmes during international sporting events, we monitored the supply and demand of female sex work in the weeks before, during and after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.We conducted three telephonic surveys of female sex workers advertising online and in local newspapers, in the last week of May, June and July 2010. The overall response rate was 73.4% (718/978. The number of sex workers advertising online was 5.9% higher during the World Cup than before. The client turnover rate did not change significantly during (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.05; 95%CI: 0.90-1.23 or after (aRR = 1.06; 95%CI: 0.91-1.24 the World Cup. The fraction of non-South African sex workers declined during (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.50; 95%CI: 0.32-0.79 and after (aOR = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.37-0.86 the World Cup. Relatively more clients were foreign during the World Cup among sex workers advertising in the newspapers (aOR = 2.74; 95%CI: 1.37-5.48 but not among those advertising online (aOR = 1.06; 95%CI: 0.60-1.90. Self-reported condom use was high (99.0% at baseline, and did not change during (aOR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.16-7.30 or after (aOR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.16-8.10 the Word Cup.Our findings do not provide evidence for mass-immigration of foreign sex workers advertising online and in local newspapers, nor a spike in sex work or risk of HIV transmission in this subpopulation of sex workers during the World Cup. Public health programmes focusing on sex work and HIV prevention during international sporting events should be based on evidence, not media-driven sensationalism that further heightens discrimination against sex workers and increases their vulnerability.

  13. The Decent Care Movement: Subsidiarity, Pragmatic Solidarity, and Cross-Cultural Resonance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niforatos, Joshua D

    2016-02-01

    Decent Care is the World Health Organization and The Ford Foundation's joint effort to articulate a healthcare paradigm that makes a patient's voice equal to the voice of the healthcare provider. In this article, the six tenants of Decent Care are outlined with particular emphasis on subsidiarity. Liberation theology's preferential option for the poor maxim is presented and compared with other major world religions to demonstrate the cross-cultural focus of "decency." The power of this paradigm is in its emphasis and proclamation of human flourishing in a healthcare setting, generally speaking, and more specifically, human flourishing in the presence of affliction from chronic disease or dying cross-culturally.

  14. Cross-cultural Communication as a Way of Achievement of Cross-cultural Communicative Competence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga A. Andreyeva

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In this article authors made an attempt to consider a question of cross-cultural communication as a way of achievement of cross-cultural communicative competence. In the process of Kazakhstan entry into the world community in several plans at once – economic, social and cultural – the need for the highly qualified specialists who know foreign language at the productive level, i.e. capable to conduct communication in foreign language and who have linguocultural knowledge increases. For achievement of this purpose it is necessary to consider features of students’ training which are determined by the needs of society for the improvement of their education quality, and dynamism of social phenomena demands from the future specialists constant increment of knowledge.

  15. CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE – PROBLEMS IN IDENTIFICATION AND MEASUREMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Sylwia Talar

    2017-01-01

    Cross-border e-commerce is a relatively new phenomenon in the contemporary world economy and very little examined. The aim of this paper is to specify and charac-terize basic problems for the cross-border e-commerce research. It was carried out a wide literature review, including methodological manuals, studies, reports and statistics. The problems with definition of the cross-border e-commerce notion were studied, as well as the scope of official statistics and private sources of data in thi...

  16. Research on cross - Project software defect prediction based on transfer learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ya; Ding, Xiaoming

    2018-04-01

    According to the two challenges in the prediction of cross-project software defects, the distribution differences between the source project and the target project dataset and the class imbalance in the dataset, proposing a cross-project software defect prediction method based on transfer learning, named NTrA. Firstly, solving the source project data's class imbalance based on the Augmented Neighborhood Cleaning Algorithm. Secondly, the data gravity method is used to give different weights on the basis of the attribute similarity of source project and target project data. Finally, a defect prediction model is constructed by using Trad boost algorithm. Experiments were conducted using data, come from NASA and SOFTLAB respectively, from a published PROMISE dataset. The results show that the method has achieved good values of recall and F-measure, and achieved good prediction results.

  17. 47 CFR 73.6017 - Digital Class A TV station protection of Class A TV and digital Class A TV stations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Digital Class A TV station protection of Class A TV and digital Class A TV stations. 73.6017 Section 73.6017 Telecommunication FEDERAL... Broadcast Stations § 73.6017 Digital Class A TV station protection of Class A TV and digital Class A TV...

  18. Early orthopedic correction of skeletal Class III malocclusion using combined reverse twin block and face mask therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinay Kumar Chugh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A 6-year 8-month-old girl presented with a moderate Class III malocclusion characterized by mid-face deficiency and an anterior cross bite. In the first phase, the patient was treated with combination of reverse twin block and facemask therapy. In phase two, fixed appliances were placed in the permanent dentition. The post treatment results were good and a favorable growth tendency could be observed. The correction of the Class III malocclusion occurred by a combination of skeletal and dental improvements. This report shows successful correction of skeletal Class III malocclusion in the early transitional dentition using combination therapy.

  19. A latent class distance association model for cross-classified data with a categorical response variable.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vera, José Fernando; de Rooij, Mark; Heiser, Willem J

    2014-11-01

    In this paper we propose a latent class distance association model for clustering in the predictor space of large contingency tables with a categorical response variable. The rows of such a table are characterized as profiles of a set of explanatory variables, while the columns represent a single outcome variable. In many cases such tables are sparse, with many zero entries, which makes traditional models problematic. By clustering the row profiles into a few specific classes and representing these together with the categories of the response variable in a low-dimensional Euclidean space using a distance association model, a parsimonious prediction model can be obtained. A generalized EM algorithm is proposed to estimate the model parameters and the adjusted Bayesian information criterion statistic is employed to test the number of mixture components and the dimensionality of the representation. An empirical example highlighting the advantages of the new approach and comparing it with traditional approaches is presented. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

  20. Sofía Casanova and the First World War. Changing the Public Sphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ochoa Crespo, Pedro

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Sofía Casanova was a Spanish journalist and a Red Cross voluntary during World War One. Her chronicles were published by right wing diary ABC. Sofía Casanova was married with polish philosopher Wicenty Lutoslawski since 1887, lived at Polonia, and it is able to think about her as a “regular” middle-up class woman. However, if it is developed a biographic approach and it is focused in Casanova’s representations about both public and private spheres during Great War, some differences show up. Between 1914 and 1918, there was an irregular modification in gender system. The war impact in every-day life was an asymmetric modification of public-private boundaries. That historical phenomenon also depended on gender cross-wise categories as class, religion and nationalism. Sofía Casanova was in rear of the eastern front: she was both a witness and and a principal actor in all those events that modified public sphere.Sofía Casanova fue una periodista española y voluntaria de la Cruz Roja durante la Primera Guerra Mundial. Sus crónicas fueron publicadas por el diario conservador ABC. Sofía Casanova estaba casada con el filósofo polaco Wicenty Lutoslawski desde 1887, vivía en Polonia, y es factible pensar en ella como una mujer de clase media “al uso”. Sin embargo, si se lleva a cabo una aproximación biográfica y ésta se centra en las representaciones de Casanova sobre las esferas de lo público y lo privado durante la Gran Guerra, algunas diferencias se presentan. Entre 1914 y 1918, hubo una modificación irregular en el sistema de género. El impacto de la guerra en la vida cotidiana consistió en una modificación asimétrica de las fronteras público-privado. Ese fenómeno histórico también dependía de unas categorías transversales al género como la clase, la religión y el nacionalismo. Sofía Casanova estuvo en la retaguardia del frente oriental: fue tanto testigo como protagonista de todos esos acontecimientos que

  1. Use of multi-frequency, multi-polarization, multi-angle airborne radars for class discrimination in a southern temperature forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, N. C.

    1984-01-01

    The utility of radar scatterometers for discrimination and characterization of natural vegetation was investigated. Backscatter measurements were acquired with airborne multi-frequency, multi-polarization, multi-angle radar scatterometers over a test site in a southern temperate forest. Separability between ground cover classes was studied using a two-class separability measure. Very good separability is achieved between most classes. Longer wavelength is useful in separating trees from non-tree classes, while shorter wavelength and cross polarization are helpful for discrimination among tree classes. Using the maximum likelihood classifier, 50% overall classification accuracy is achieved using a single, short-wavelength scatterometer channel. Addition of multiple incidence angles and another radar band improves classification accuracy by 20% and 50%, respectively, over the single channel accuracy. Incorporation of a third radar band seems redundant for vegetation classification. Vertical transmit polarization is critically important for all classes.

  2. Multi-label classifier based on histogram of gradients for predicting the anatomical therapeutic chemical class/classes of a given compound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nanni, Loris; Brahnam, Sheryl

    2017-09-15

    Given an unknown compound, is it possible to predict its Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical class/classes? This is a challenging yet important problem since such a prediction could be used to deduce not only a compound's possible active ingredients but also its therapeutic, pharmacological and chemical properties, thereby substantially expediting the pace of drug development. The problem is challenging because some drugs and compounds belong to two or more ATC classes, making machine learning extremely difficult. In this article a multi-label classifier system is proposed that incorporates information about a compound's chemical-chemical interaction and its structural and fingerprint similarities to other compounds belonging to the different ATC classes. The proposed system reshapes a 1D feature vector to obtain a 2D matrix representation of the compound. This matrix is then described by a histogram of gradients that is fed into a Multi-Label Learning with Label-Specific Features classifier. Rigorous cross-validations demonstrate the superior prediction quality of this method compared with other state-of-the-art approaches developed for this problem, a superiority that is reflected particularly in the absolute true rate, the most important and harshest metric for assessing multi-label systems. The MATLAB code for replicating the experiments presented in this article is available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/7v1mey48tl9bfgz/ToolPaperATC.rar?dl=0 . loris.nanni@unipd.it. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  3. Class and ideological orientations revisited: an exploration of class-based mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bengtsson, Mattias; Berglund, Tomas; Oskarson, Maria

    2013-12-01

    Studies of the relationship between class position and political outlooks still only have a limited understanding of the class-related mechanisms that matter for ideological orientations. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms that link class position and left/right and authoritarian/libertarian orientations. Besides main factors such as income, career prospects, job security, education, class origin and class identification, the significance of work-related factors such as work autonomy, working in a team, a physically demanding job and a mentally demanding job is studied. The findings are based on a survey specifically designed for this purpose and collected in Sweden in 2008/2009. A great deal of the association between class position and left/right orientations is explained by socio-economic conditions; different classes sympathize with policies that will benefit them economically. Another important factor is class identification. Work-related factors also have relevance, but the effect of class position on left/right orientations works mainly through the remuneration system. Class position is also related to authoritarian/libertarian orientations. However, this relationship is less explained by socio-economic position per se, but is rather an effect of the educational system and its allocation of the workforce into different class positions. It also turns out that work-related factors do not explain the class effects; however, a physically demanding job shows a unique effect. Overall, our findings suggest that besides factors such as class position, income, education and class identification, we need to consider work-related aspects to derive a more complete understanding of the distribution of ideological orientations in Western societies. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

  4. A 'German world' shared among doctors: a history of the relationship between Japanese and German psychiatry before World War II.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Akira

    2013-06-01

    This article deals with the critical history of German and Japanese psychiatrists who dreamed of a 'German world' that would cross borders. It analyses their discourse, not only by looking at their biographical backgrounds, but also by examining them in a wider context linked to German academic predominance and cultural propaganda before World War II. By focusing on Wilhelm Stieda, Wilhelm Weygandt and Kure Shuzo, the article shows that the positive evaluation of Japanese psychiatry by the two Germans encouraged Kure, who was eager to modernize the treatment of and institutions for the mentally ill in Japan. Their statements on Japanese psychiatry reflect their ideological and historical framework, with reference to national/ethnic identity, academic position, and the relationship between Germany and Japan.

  5. Locus of control and cross-cultural adjustment of expatriate managers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Flytzani, S.; Nijkamp, P.

    2008-01-01

    International labour mobility is becoming a key feature of the globalising world. There is an increasing amount of literature on the success and failure conditions of migrant workers. A particular class of foreign workers is formed by so-called expatriates who are sent on a temporary basis (several

  6. ZAP-70 and p72syk are signaling response elements through MHC class II molecules

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kanner, S B; Grosmaire, L S; Blake, J

    1995-01-01

    Ligation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens expressed on antigen-activated human CD4+ T-lymphocytes induces early signal transduction events including the activation of tyrosine kinases, the tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase-C gamma 1 and the mobilization...... of intracellular calcium. Similar responses have been observed in B-cells following stimulation of MHC class II molecules, including the increased production of intracellular cAMP. In this report, we demonstrate that the ZAP-70 tyrosine kinase is a responsive signaling element following cross-linking of HLA...... by herbimycin A. MHC class II ligation on B-lymphocytes resulted in cell death, which was both qualitatively distinct from Fas-induced apoptosis and partially protected by herbimycin A pretreatment. Thus, ligation of MHC class II molecules expressed on human lymphocytes stimulates the ZAP-70/p72syk family...

  7. A trial map and GIS class on junior high school with university collaboration in Yokohama, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabe, Toshimitsu; Ohnishi, Koji

    2018-05-01

    On the new curriculum of high school in Japan, geography will be compulsory subject in Japan from 2022. The indexes of new high school geography as compulsory subject will be 1. Using of maps and GIS, 2. Understanding of the world and International collaboration: Life and culture, issues of world, 3. Disaster prevention and ESD: natural environment and disaster, and construction of ideal society. The instruction of the GIS will be one of the issues for social studies teachers in the new curriculum. The aim of this study is to make the utilize map and GIS education content through trial class in junior high school. Trial class was done on Tsurugamine junior high school in Yokohama city with university and Yokohama city school board collaboration. In the trial class, the teacher indicated the old and new topographical maps to students and asked them to consider the characteristics of the area and the land use change. Transparent sheets overlaying is useful this activity. Transparent usage indicated the GIS function of overlay. It is good activity for students to understand the function of GIS. After the considering land use changes, they considered the future of their town. The several unused lands are spread in this area. Students present their opinions how to develop them. The important thing to carry out map and GIS class through neighborhood area is preparation of adequate maps. For this preparation, collaboration with university geography stuffs or undergraduate students are effective.

  8. A Virtual Class Calculus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ernst, Erik; Ostermann, Klaus; Cook, William Randall

    2006-01-01

    Virtual classes are class-valued attributes of objects. Like virtual methods, virtual classes are defined in an object's class and may be redefined within subclasses. They resemble inner classes, which are also defined within a class, but virtual classes are accessed through object instances...... model for virtual classes has been a long-standing open question. This paper presents a virtual class calculus, vc, that captures the essence of virtual classes in these full-fledged programming languages. The key contributions of the paper are a formalization of the dynamic and static semantics of vc...

  9. Amenable crossed product Banach algebras associated with a class of C*-dynamical systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jeu, de M.F.E.; Elharti, R.; Pinto, P.R.

    2017-01-01

    We prove that the crossed product Banach algebra ℓ1(G,A;α) that is associated with a C∗-dynamical system (A,G,α) is amenable if G is a discrete amenable group and A is a commutative or finite dimensional C∗-algebra. Perspectives for further developments are indicated.

  10. Cross-Dressing: A curse or an inspiration?

    OpenAIRE

    Hasan, Syed Akif; Subhani, Muhammad Imtiaz; Osman, Ms. Amber

    2012-01-01

    God has created men and women as the companions of each other with the segregated attributes, which makes them different from each other. Cross dresser an unusual being of the society that has been born by the man’s interests towards being like a woman. Prominence of Cross dressers has been perpetual since day one of the adam’s world and can be seen so apparent through media, news and in today’s existing society even more than before. This paper is an appreciation on the question of the accep...

  11. Class Action and Class Settlement in a European Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Werlauff, Erik

    2013-01-01

    The article analyses the options for introducing common European rules on class action lawsuits with an opt-out-model in individual cases. An analysis is made of how the risks of misuse of class actions can be prevented. The article considers the Dutch rules on class settlements (the WCAM procedure...

  12. Patterns and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder in refugees: A latent class analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minihan, Savannah; Liddell, Belinda J; Byrow, Yulisha; Bryant, Richard A; Nickerson, Angela

    2018-05-01

    Although elevated rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been well-documented in refugees, no study has investigated the heterogeneity of DSM-5 PTSD symptomatology in such populations. This study aimed to determine whether there are unique patterns of DSM-5 defined PTSD symptomatology in refugees, and investigate whether factors characteristic of the refugee experience, including trauma exposure and post-migration stress, predict symptom profiles. Participants were 246 refugees and asylum-seekers from an Arabic-, English-, Farsi-, or Tamil-speaking background who had been resettled in Australia. Participants completed measures of post-migration living difficulties, trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms and functional disability. Latent class analysis was used to identify PTSD symptom profiles, and predictors of class membership were elucidated via multinomial logistic regression. Four classes were identified: a high-PTSD class (21.3%), a high-re-experiencing/avoidance class (15.3%), a moderate-PTSD class (23%), and a no PTSD class (40.3%). Trauma exposure and post-migration stress significantly predicted class membership and classes differed in degree of functional disability. The current study employed a cross-sectional design, which precluded inferences regarding the stability of classes of PTSD symptomatology. This study provides evidence for distinct patterns of PTSD symptomatology in refugees. We identified a novel class, characterized by high-re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms, as well as classes characterized by pervasive, moderate, and no symptomatology. Trauma exposure and post-migration stress differentially contributed to the emergence of these profiles. Individuals with high and moderate probability of PTSD symptoms evidenced substantial disability. These results support conceptualizations of PTSD as a heterogeneous construct, and highlight the importance of considering sub-clinical symptom presentations, as well as the post

  13. Particularized trust, generalized trust, and immigrant self-rated health: cross-national analysis of World Values Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, H H-S

    2018-05-01

    This research examined the associations between two types of trust, generalized and particularized, and self-rated health among immigrants. Data were drawn from the World Values Survey (WVS6), the latest wave of cross-sectional surveys based on face-to-face interviews. The immigrant subsample analyzed herein contains 3108 foreign-born individuals clustered from 51 countries. Given the hierarchically nested data, two-level logistic regressions models were estimated using HLM (Hierarchical Linear Modeling) 7.1. At the individual level, net of socio-economic and demographic factors (age, gender, marital status, education, income, neighborhood security, and subjective well-being), particularized trust was positively related to physical health (odds ratio [OR] = 1.11, P < .001). Generalized trust, however, was not a significant predictor. At the country level, based on alternative models, the aggregate measure of particularized trust was negatively associated with subjective health. The odds of being healthy were on average about 30% lower. The interdisciplinary literature on social determinants of health has largely focused on the salubrious impact of trust and other forms of social capital on physical well-being. Many previous studies based on general, not immigrant, populations also did not differentiate between generalized and particularized types of trust. Results from this study suggest that this conceptual distinction is critical in understanding how and to what extent the two are differentially related to immigrant well-being across multiple levels of analysis. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A cross-national examination of differences in classification of lifetime alcohol use disorder between DSM-IV and DSM-5: Findings from the World Mental Health Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slade, Tim; Chiu, Wai-Tat; Glantz, Meyer; Kessler, Ronald C.; Lago, Luise; Sampson, Nancy; Al-Hamzawi, Ali; Florescu, Silvia; Moskalewicz, Jacek; Murphy, Sam; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; de Galvis, Yolanda Torres; Viana, Maria Carmen; Xavier, Miguel; Degenhardt, Louisa

    2016-01-01

    Aims To examine the diagnostic overlap in DSM-IV and DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUD) and determine the clinical correlates of changing diagnostic status across the two classification systems. Design DSM-IV and DSM-5 definitions of AUD were compared using cross-national community survey data. Setting Nine low-, middle- and high-income countries. Participants/Cases 31,367 respondents to surveys in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Measures Composite International Diagnostic Interview, version 3.0 was used to derive DSM-IV and DSM-5 lifetime diagnoses of AUD. Clinical characteristics, also assessed in the surveys, included lifetime DSM-IV anxiety, mood and drug use disorders, lifetime suicidal ideation, plan and attempt, general functional impairment and psychological distress. Findings Compared to DSM-IV AUD (12.3%, SE=0.3%), the DSM-5 definition yielded slightly lower prevalence estimates (10.8%, SE=0.2%). Almost one third (n=802) of all DSM-IV Abuse cases switched to sub-threshold according to DSM-5 and one quarter (n=467) of all DSM-IV diagnostic orphans switched to mild AUD according to DSM-5. New cases of DSM-5 AUD were largely similar to those who maintained their AUD across both classifications. Similarly, new DSM-5 non-cases were similar to those who were sub-threshold across both classifications. The exception to this was with regards to the prevalence of any lifetime drug use disorder. Conclusions In this large cross-national community sample, the prevalence of DSM-5 lifetime AUD was only slightly lower than the prevalence of DSM-IV lifetime AUD. Nonetheless there was considerable diagnostic switching, with a large number of people inconsistently identified across the two DSM classifications. PMID:27426631

  15. Teaching Cross-Cultural Conflict Management Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Victor, David A.

    One of the most important areas for business educators to address in preparing their students to compete effectively in world markets is cross-cultural negotiating and conflict management. To do so, teachers must prepare students to understand the markets into which they enter as managers. The objective is not to learn a great deal about one…

  16. Semantic web for robots : applying semantic web technologies for interoperability between virtual worlds and real robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Juarez Cordova, A.G.

    2012-01-01

    The topic of this PhD project is in the context of cross-reality, a term that de??nes mixed reality environments that tunnel dense real-world data acquired through the use of sensor/actuator device networks into virtual worlds. It is part of the ongoing academia and industry e??orts to achieve

  17. Video Gaming in a Hyperconnected World: A Cross-sectional Study of Heavy Gaming, Problematic Gaming Symptoms, and Online Socializing in Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colder Carras, Michelle; Van Rooij, Antonius J; Van de Mheen, Dike; Musci, Rashelle; Xue, Qian-Li; Mendelson, Tamar

    2017-03-01

    Examining online social interactions along with patterns of video gaming behaviors and game addiction symptoms has the potential to enrich our understanding of disorders related to excessive video game play. We performed latent class analysis in a sample of 9733 adolescents based on heavy use of games, social networking and instant messaging, and game addiction symptoms. We used latent class regression to determine associations between classes, psychosocial well-being and friendship quality. We identified two types of heavy gaming classes that differed in probability of online social interaction. Classes with more online social interaction reported fewer problematic gaming symptoms than those with less online social interaction. Most adolescents estimated to be in heavy gaming classes had more depressive symptoms than normative classes. Male non-social gamers had more social anxiety. Female social gamers had less social anxiety and loneliness, but lower self-esteem. Friendship quality attenuated depression in some male social gamers, but strengthened associations with loneliness in some male non-social gamers. In adolescents, symptoms of video game addiction depend not only on video game play but also on concurrent levels of online communication, and those who are very socially active online report fewer symptoms of game addiction.

  18. Changes in the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality in England and Wales across the 20th century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crombie, Iain K; Precious, Elaine

    2011-01-01

    To explore the nature of the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality in England and Wales across the 20th century. Data on male cirrhosis mortality by social class were obtained from the Registrar General's Decennial Supplements for the years 1921-1991. Data for 1941 were not collected because of the second World War. In 1921, cirrhosis mortality was substantially higher among the professional and managerial classes (I and II) than among the other social classes (III-V). This marked social class difference persisted until 1961 when the differences between the social classes were inconsistent. By 1991, the gradient had reversed and the lower social classes (IV and V) had the higher mortality. The excess mortality was greatest for social class V. The change in the mortality gradient is stark: in 1921social classes I and II had a cirrhosis mortality at least twice that of social classes IV and V, but by 1991 this ratio had reversed. The reversal in the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality indicates a major change in risk factor distribution across social classes. Differential changes in alcohol consumption are a possible explanation for this change, although the 1991 social class gradient in cirrhosis is inconsistent with alcohol consumption data from national surveys. Further research is required to clarify the explanation for the observed gradient, so that appropriate preventive measures can be put into place.

  19. Who wants to get to the top? Class and lay theories about power.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belmi, Peter; Laurin, Kristin

    2016-10-01

    We investigated class-based differences in the propensity to seek positions of power. We first proposed that people's lay theories suggest that acquiring power requires playing politics-manipulating one's way through the social world, relying on a pragmatic and Machiavellian approach to impression management and social relationships to get ahead. Then, drawing on empirical work portraying individuals with relatively low social class as more strongly focused on others and less focused on themselves, we hypothesized that these individuals would show less interest in seeking positions of power than their high-class counterparts, because they feel less comfortable engaging in political behavior. We tested these ideas in 7 studies. Our findings indicated that, even though individuals with relatively low social class see political behavior as necessary and effective for acquiring positions of power, they are reluctant to do it; as a result, they have a weaker tendency to seek positions of power compared to individuals with relatively high social class. Consistent with our theorizing, we also found that individuals with relatively low social class intend to seek positions of power as much as their high-class counterparts when they can acquire it through prosocial means (Study 2), and when they reconstrue power as serving a superordinate goal of helping others (Study 4). Moreover, we checked the robustness of our findings by measuring social class in a number of ways within each study, and examined whether our results held across each measure. Together, our findings suggest that the common belief that political behavior is required for advancement may help explain why class inequalities persist and why creating class-based diversity in upper-level positions poses a serious challenge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Reconstructing Class Sport Practices in Post-Communist Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lenartowicz Michał

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the changes in attitude of Poles towards sport and recreational activities as well as their participation in these disciplines between the period before system transformations and the present day. Based on examples from literature and own studies, we have observed that Poles have shown a growing interest in sport and recreational activities. Moreover, social diversity of participants in this field has been noted. Sport disciplines and diverse recreational activities perceived as "bourgeois" during the socialist period are becoming more popular among members of the middle and upper classes as potential attractive and clear markers of social status. Interest in sport, skills, knowledge, and sports equipment and outfit in such disciplines as sailing, horse riding, golf, and hunting are thus becoming distinctive social markers. These factors are adopted in the reconstruction of sports practiced by members of different social classes. The continuity of sport practice was abruptly interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and the following half-century of socialism

  1. Deciphering complex patterns of class-I HLA-peptide cross-reactivity via hierarchical grouping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, Sumanta; Warwicker, Jim; Chandra, Nagasuma

    2015-07-01

    T-cell responses in humans are initiated by the binding of a peptide antigen to a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecule. The peptide-HLA complex then recruits an appropriate T cell, leading to cell-mediated immunity. More than 2000 HLA class-I alleles are known in humans, and they vary only in their peptide-binding grooves. The polymorphism they exhibit enables them to bind a wide range of peptide antigens from diverse sources. HLA molecules and peptides present a complex molecular recognition pattern, as many peptides bind to a given allele and a given peptide can be recognized by many alleles. A powerful grouping scheme that not only provides an insightful classification, but is also capable of dissecting the physicochemical basis of recognition specificity is necessary to address this complexity. We present a hierarchical classification of 2010 class-I alleles by using a systematic divisive clustering method. All-pair distances of alleles were obtained by comparing binding pockets in the structural models. By varying the similarity thresholds, a multilevel classification was obtained, with 7 supergroups, each further subclassifying to yield 72 groups. An independent clustering performed based only on similarities in their epitope pools correlated highly with pocket-based clustering. Physicochemical feature combinations that best explain the basis of clustering are identified. Mutual information calculated for the set of peptide ligands enables identification of binding site residues contributing to peptide specificity. The grouping of HLA molecules achieved here will be useful for rational vaccine design, understanding disease susceptibilities and predicting risk of organ transplants.

  2. Factors Related to In-Class Spiritual Experience: Relationship between Pre-Class Scripture Reading, In-Class Note-Taking, and Perceived In-Class Spiritual Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, John, III; Sweat, Anthony R.; Plummer, Kenneth

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student in-class note-taking and pre-class reading with perceived in-class spiritual and religious outcomes. This study surveyed 620 students enrolled in six different sections of an introductory religion course at a private religious university. Full-time religious faculty members…

  3. Providing Medical Care in Yekaterynoslav during World War I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.V. Haponov

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Providing medical care to the ill and wounded persons during World War I in Yekaterynoslav is described. The history of the creation of field hospitals, military hospitals, Red Cross hospitals and church-monument to the fallen heroes is presented. The selfless work of military medical personnel is shown. Biographical information about a doctor, public figure Yefim Pavlovskyi is provided.

  4. Crossed products by endomorphisms, vector bundles and group duality, II

    OpenAIRE

    Vasselli, Ezio

    2004-01-01

    We study C*-algebra endomorphims which are special in a weaker sense w.r.t. the notion introduced by Doplicher and Roberts. We assign to such endomorphisms a geometrical invariant, representing a cohomological obstruction for them to be special in the usual sense. Moreover, we construct the crossed product of a C*-algebra by the action of the dual of a (nonabelian, noncompact) group of vector bundle automorphisms. These crossed products supply a class of examples for such generalized special ...

  5. Cross-covariance functions for multivariate random fields based on latent dimensions

    KAUST Repository

    Apanasovich, T. V.

    2010-02-16

    The problem of constructing valid parametric cross-covariance functions is challenging. We propose a simple methodology, based on latent dimensions and existing covariance models for univariate random fields, to develop flexible, interpretable and computationally feasible classes of cross-covariance functions in closed form. We focus on spatio-temporal cross-covariance functions that can be nonseparable, asymmetric and can have different covariance structures, for instance different smoothness parameters, in each component. We discuss estimation of these models and perform a small simulation study to demonstrate our approach. We illustrate our methodology on a trivariate spatio-temporal pollution dataset from California and demonstrate that our cross-covariance performs better than other competing models. © 2010 Biometrika Trust.

  6. NNLO jet cross sections by subtraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somogyi, G.; Bolzoni, P.; Trócsányi, Z.

    2010-08-01

    We report on the computation of a class of integrals that appear when integrating the so-called iterated singly-unresolved approximate cross section of the NNLO subtraction scheme of Refs. [G. Somogyi, Z. Trócsányi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 06, 024 (2005), arXiv:hep-ph/0502226; G. Somogyi and Z. Trócsányi, (2006), arXiv:hep-ph/0609041; G. Somogyi, Z. Trócsányi, and V. Del Duca, JHEP 01, 070 (2007), arXiv:hep-ph/0609042; G. Somogyi and Z. Trócsányi, JHEP 01, 052 (2007), arXiv:hep-ph/0609043] over the factorised phase space of unresolved partons. The integrated approximate cross section itself can be written as the product of an insertion operator (in colour space) times the Born cross section. We give selected results for the insertion operator for processes with two and three hard partons in the final state.

  7. Home Is My Area Code: Thinking about, Teaching, and Learning Globalization in Introductory World Religions Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeTemple, Jill

    2012-01-01

    There has been significant and growing interest in teaching religious studies, and specifically world religions, in a "global' context. Bringing globalization into the classroom as a specific theoretical and pedagogical tool, however, requires not just an awareness that religions exist in an ever-globalizing environment, but a willingness to…

  8. What Leads Children to Adopt New Strategies?: A Microgenetic/Cross-Sectional Study of Class Inclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siegler, Robert S.; Svetina, Matija

    2006-01-01

    Learning of class inclusion by 5-year-olds in response to empirical and logical explanations of an adult's answers was examined. Contrary to the view that young children possess an empirical bias, 5-year-olds learned more, and continued learning for longer, when given logical explanations of correct answers than when given empirical explanations.…

  9. The mechanism of Turing pattern formation in a positive feedback system with cross diffusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Xiyan; Liu, Tuoqi; Zhang, Jiajun; Zhou, Tianshou

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we analyze a reaction–diffusion (R–D) system with a double negative feedback loop and find cases where self diffusion alone cannot lead to Turing pattern formation but cross diffusion can. Specifically, we first derive a set of sufficient conditions for Turing instability by performing linear stability analysis, then plot two bifurcation diagrams that specifically identify Turing regions in the parameter phase plane, and finally numerically demonstrate representative Turing patterns according to the theoretical predictions. Our analysis combined with previous studies actually implies an interesting fact that Turing patterns can be generated not only in a class of monostable R–D systems where cross diffusion is not necessary but also in a class of bistable R–D systems where cross diffusion is necessary. In addition, our model would be a good candidate for experimentally testing Turing pattern formation from the viewpoint of synthetic biology. (paper)

  10. Examining Students' Perceptions of Plagiarism: A Cross-Cultural Study at Tertiary Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kayaoglu, M. Naci; Erbay, Sakire; Flitner, Cristina; Saltas, Dogan

    2016-01-01

    Plagiarism continues to dominate the academic world as one of its greatest challenges, and the existing literature suggests cross-cultural investigation of this critical issue may help all shareholders who detect, are confronted by and struggle with this issue to address it. Therefore, the present study, drawing upon a cross-cultural investigation…

  11. Social-Class Differences in Consumer Choices: Working-Class Individuals Are More Sensitive to Choices of Others Than Middle-Class Individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Na, Jinkyung; McDonough, Ian M; Chan, Micaela Y; Park, Denise C

    2016-04-01

    The present research shows that, when making choices, working-class Americans are more affected by others' opinions than middle-class Americans due to differences in independent versus interdependent self-construal. Experiment 1 revealed that when working-class Americans made decisions to buy products, they were more influenced by the choices of others than middle-class Americans. In contrast, middle-class Americans were more likely to misremember others' choices to be consistent with their own choices. In other words, working-class Americans adjusted their choices to the preference of others, whereas middle-class Americans distorted others' preferences to fit their choices. Supporting our prediction that this social-class effect is closely linked to the independent versus interdependent self-construal, we showed that the differences in self-construal across cultures qualified the social-class effects on choices (Experiment 2). Moreover, when we experimentally manipulated self-construal in Experiment 3, we found that it mediated the corresponding changes in choices regardless of social class. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  12. Vaccination and Infection as Causative Factors in Japanese Patients With Rasmussen Syndrome: Molecular Mimicry and HLA Class I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yukitoshi Takahashi

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Rasmussen syndrome is an intractable epilepsy with a putative causal relation with cellular and humoral autoimmunity. Almost half of the patients have some preceding causative factors, with infections found in 38.2%, vaccinations in 5.9% and head trauma in 8.9% of Japanese patients. In a patient with seizure onset after influenza A infections, cross-reaction of the patient's lymphocytes with GluRε2 and influenza vaccine components was demonstrated by lymphocyte stimulation test. Database analyses revealed that influenza A virus hemagglutinin and GluRε2 molecules contain peptides with the patient's HLA class I binding motif (HLA ࢤ A*0201. The relative risks of HLA class I genotypes for Rasmussen syndrome are 6.1 (A*2402, 6.4 (A*0201, 6.3 (A*2601 and 11.4 (B*4601. The relative risks of HLA class I-A and B haplotypes are infinity (A*2601+B*5401, 21.1 (A*2402+B*1501, 13.3 (A*2402+B*4801 and 5.1 (A*2402+B*5201. Some alleles and haplotypes of HLA class I may be the risk factors in Japanese patients. Cross-reactivity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes may contribute to the processes leading from infection to the involvement of CNS.

  13. Multi-step compound contribution to the pre-equilibrium cross section

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mcvoy, K.W.; Hussein, M.S.

    1980-03-01

    We show that the fluctuation cross section for the generalized-exciton or nested-doorway model can be obtained explicitly and exactly in the limit that doorways of successive classes have very different widths, γ sub(n)>> γ sub(n+1), and that doorways of a given class are overlapping, γ sub(n) > D sub(n). The result is given in terms of experimentally observable quantities, and explicitly separates the compound and pre-compound contributions. It contains the results of previous, more specialized, models a limiting cases. (Author) [pt

  14. Edith Wharton's threshold phobia and two worlds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtzman, Deanna; Kulish, Nancy

    2014-08-01

    The American novelist Edith Wharton suffered an unusual childhood neurotic symptom, a fear of crossing thresholds, a condition that might be called a "threshold phobia." This symptom is identified and examined in autobiographical material, letters, diaries, and selected literary fiction and nonfiction left by Wharton to arrive at a formulation not previously drawn together. A fascinating theme-living or being trapped between "two worlds"-runs through much of the writer's life and work. The phobia is related to this theme, and both can be linked more broadly to certain sexual conflicts in women. This understanding of Wharton's phobia, it is argued, throws new light on the developmental issues and conflicts related to the female "oedipal" or triadic phase, characterized by the need to negotiate the two worlds of mother and of father. © 2014 by the American Psychoanalytic Association.

  15. The Latent Class Structure of Chinese Patients with Eating Disorders in Shanghai.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yuchen; Kang, Qing; Huang, Jiabin; Jiang, Wenhui; Liu, Qiang; Chen, Han; Fan, Qing; Wang, Zhen; Chen, Jue; Xiao, Zeping

    2017-08-25

    Eating disorder is culture related, and the clinical symptoms are different between eastern and western patients. So the validity of feeding and eating disorders in the upcoming ICD-11 guide for Chinese patients is unclear. To explore the latent class structure of Chinese patients with eating disorder and the cross-cultural validity of the eating disorder section of the new ICD-11 guide in China. A total of 379 patients with eating disorders at Shanghai Mental Health Center were evaluated using the EDI questionnaire and a questionnaire developed by researchers from 2010 to 2016. SPSS 20.0 was used to enter data and analyze demographic data, and Latent GOLD was employed to conduct latent profile analysis. According to the results of latent profile analysis, patients with eating disorder were divided into five classes: low-weight fasting class (23.1%), non-fat-phobic binge/purge class (21.54%), low-fat-phobic binge class (19.27%), fat-phobic binge class (19.27%), and non-fat-phobic low-weight class (16.76%). Among the clinical symptoms extracted, there were significant differences in Body Mass Index (BMI), binge eating behavior, self-induced vomiting, laxative use and fat-phobic opinion; while there was no significant difference in restrictive food intake. Based on the clinical symptoms, there are five latent classes in Chinese patients with eating disorder, which is in accordance with the diagnostic categories of feeding and eating disorder in ICD-11. However, further work is needed in improving the fat-phobic opinion of patients with eating disorder and clarifying the BMI standard of thinness in the Chinese population.

  16. The immunoglobulin class of anti-hapten antibody secreted during secondary responses in vitro and in vivo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    North, J R; Dresser, D W

    1977-05-01

    A comparison has been made of the in vitro and in vivo response of primed mouse spleen cells to the hapten DNP. The responses were analysed in terms of six classes (sub-classes) of humoral antibody directed against the cross-reacting hapten TNP. By comparison with the response in intact mice the adoptive secondary response is delayed by 3 days in addition to being somewhat lesser in magnitude. The timing of the response in vitro is similar to that observed in intact mice. The preponderant class in all three responses was gammaG1 with gammaA and gammaG3 secreting cells consistently comprising the smallest proportion of the total of antibody-secreting cells.

  17. Axon diameter mapping in crossing fibers with diffusion MRI

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Hui; Dyrby, Tim B; Alexander, Daniel C

    2011-01-01

    This paper proposes a technique for a previously unaddressed problem, namely, mapping axon diameter in crossing fiber regions, using diffusion MRI. Direct measurement of tissue microstructure of this kind using diffusion MRI offers a new class of biomarkers that give more specific information about...... tissue than measures derived from diffusion tensor imaging. Most existing techniques for axon diameter mapping assume a single axon orientation in the tissue model, which limits their application to only the most coherently oriented brain white matter, such as the corpus callosum, where the single...... model to enable axon diameter mapping in voxels with crossing fibers. We show in simulation that the technique can provide robust axon diameter estimates in a two-fiber crossing with the crossing angle as small as 45 degrees. Using ex vivo imaging data, we further demonstrate the feasibility...

  18. A large class of solvable multistate Landau–Zener models and quantum integrability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernyak, Vladimir Y.; Sinitsyn, Nikolai A.; Sun, Chen

    2018-06-01

    The concept of quantum integrability has been introduced recently for quantum systems with explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonians (Sinitsyn et al 2018 Phys. Rev. Lett. 120 190402). Within the multistate Landau–Zener (MLZ) theory, however, there has been a successful alternative approach to identify and solve complex time-dependent models (Sinitsyn and Chernyak 2017 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 50 255203). Here we compare both methods by applying them to a new class of exactly solvable MLZ models. This class contains systems with an arbitrary number of interacting states and shows quick growth with N number of exact adiabatic energy crossing points, which appear at different moments of time. At each N, transition probabilities in these systems can be found analytically and exactly but complexity and variety of solutions in this class also grow with N quickly. We illustrate how common features of solvable MLZ systems appear from quantum integrability and develop an approach to further classification of solvable MLZ problems.

  19. Cross-media within the Facebook newsfeed

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathieu, David; Pavlíčková, Tereza

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates the role of interpretation in cross-media uses. Highlighting the specificity of cross-media uses within meta-media environments such as Facebook, we argue that interpretative processes play a crucial role in the formation of cross-media repertoires. The methodology relies...... on a reception analysis for which we conducted interviews with eleven expatriates using Facebook on a daily basis, in conjunction with a commented consultation of their newsfeed. In the analysis, we show that reading Facebook’s newsfeed is an activity that contributes to the construction of the user’s mediated...... lifeworld. Schutz’s phenomenological approach allows us to explore how users develop reading strategies to typify their experience of the social world within Facebook, to maintain the relevance of their newsfeed and to negotiate the technological features of Facebook, shedding light on how users assemble...

  20. Subaltern Classes, Class Struggles and Hegemony : a Gramscian Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivete Simionatto

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This article sought to revive the concept of subaltern classes and their relation with other categories, particularly the State, civil society and hegemony in the thinking of Antonio Gramsci, as a support for contemporary class struggles. It also analyzes the relations between subaltern classes, common sense and ideology, as well as the forms of “overcoming” conceptualized by Gramsci, through the culture and philosophy of praxis. The paper revives the discussion of the subaltern classes, based on the original Gramscian formulation in the realm of Marxism, through the dialectic interaction between structure and superstructure, economy and politics. In addition to the conceptual revival, it indicates some elements that can support the discussion of the forms of subalternity found in contemporary reality and the possibilities for strengthening the struggles of these class layers, above all in moments of strong demobilization of popular participation.

  1. Adaptive random walks on the class of Web graphs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadić, B.

    2001-09-01

    We study random walk with adaptive move strategies on a class of directed graphs with variable wiring diagram. The graphs are grown from the evolution rules compatible with the dynamics of the world-wide Web [B. Tadić, Physica A 293, 273 (2001)], and are characterized by a pair of power-law distributions of out- and in-degree for each value of the parameter β, which measures the degree of rewiring in the graph. The walker adapts its move strategy according to locally available information both on out-degree of the visited node and in-degree of target node. A standard random walk, on the other hand, uses the out-degree only. We compute the distribution of connected subgraphs visited by an ensemble of walkers, the average access time and survival probability of the walks. We discuss these properties of the walk dynamics relative to the changes in the global graph structure when the control parameter β is varied. For β≥ 3, corresponding to the world-wide Web, the access time of the walk to a given level of hierarchy on the graph is much shorter compared to the standard random walk on the same graph. By reducing the amount of rewiring towards rigidity limit β↦βc≲ 0.1, corresponding to the range of naturally occurring biochemical networks, the survival probability of adaptive and standard random walk become increasingly similar. The adaptive random walk can be used as an efficient message-passing algorithm on this class of graphs for large degree of rewiring.

  2. [Prevalence and determinants of medication during pregnancy by risk class among mothers of liveborn infants].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geib, Lorena Teresinha Consalter; Vargas Filho, Edson Fauth; Geib, Débora; Mesquita, Débora Iasmin; Nunes, Magda Lahorgue

    2007-10-01

    In order to identify the maternal determinants of the consumption of medication during pregnancy according to risk class, we conducted a population cohort baseline cross-sectional study with 2,262 mothers of liveborn infants in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected from the Information System on Live Births and through home interviews (an instrument adapted from the Maternity Advice Survey). The drugs were classified according to criteria. We conducted bivariate analyses and logistic regression according to the hierarchical model of determination. 80% of the mothers consumed at least one medicine during the pregnancy, distributed in risk classes as follows: A (53.4%), B (18.1%), C (24.46%), D (1.47%), X (0.06%), and V (various) (2.1%). Incomplete prenatal care and maternal age consumption of medication in class A and pregnancy complications in classes B, C, and D. In class C, cesarean section and previous abortion also determined consumption, which in class V was independent of the variables analyzed. Maternal factors, especially health complications, determine the consumption of medicines during pregnancy, suggesting that the prescribing physician should orient the safe and proper use of such medication.

  3. On CSM classes via Chern-Fulton classes of f-schemes

    OpenAIRE

    Fullwood, James; Wang, Dongxu

    2015-01-01

    The Chern-Fulton class is a generalization of Chern class to the realm of arbitrary embeddable schemes. While Chern-Fulton classes are sensitive to non-reduced scheme structure, they are not sensitive to possible singularities of the underlying support, thus at first glance are not interesting from a singularity theory viewpoint. However, we introduce a class of formal objects which we think of as `fractional schemes', or f-schemes for short, and then show that when one broadens the domain of...

  4. Cross-Scale and Cross-Level Dynamics: Governance and Capacity for Resilience in a Social-Ecological System in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsing-Sheng Tai

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Resilience thinking has strongly influenced how people understand and pursue sustainability of linked social-ecological systems. Resilience thinking highlights the need to build capacity and manage general system properties in a complex, constantly changing world. I modified an analytical framework to address associations among cross-scale and cross-level dynamics, attributes of governance, and capacity to enhance resilience. The Danungdafu Forestation Area represents one of Taiwan’s most controvisal cases concerning land use, indigenous rights, and environmental issues. Analysis of this Taiwanese experience from a social-ecological perspective can show how current capacities for managing resilience are related to critical governance attributes. Analysis helped identify fundamental flaws in current governance and key issues needing to be addressed. The Danungdafu Forestation Area should transition towards a governance regime that is more participatory, deliberative, multi-layered, accountable, just, and networked. This can be done by developing an intermediate level institution that coordinates the cross-scale and cross-level interactions that better fit this social-ecological system.

  5. Eagles of the RAF. The World War II Eagle Squadrons

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    S Eagles. a majo0r concern. [here was probably no tmo7re halarod(us b1 )(1v Of water in the world during 1940 and 194 1 than the North Atlantic...cross between rugby , so~ccer and American football. 11 George Sperry continues the narrative: ’S~urveying the wreckage he I Bain] slightly lost his

  6. Toward Educational Virtual Worlds: Should Identity Federation Be a Concern?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz, Gonçalo; Costa, António; Martins, Paulo; Gonçalves, Ramiro; Barroso, João

    2015-01-01

    3D Virtual Worlds are being used for education and training purposes in a cross-disciplinary way. However, its widespread adoption, particularly in formal learning contexts, is far from being a reality due a broad range of technological challenges. In this reflection paper, our main goal is to argue why and how identity federation should be…

  7. Blueprint of a Cross-Lingual Web Retrieval Collection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sigurbjörnsson, B.; Kamps, J.; de Rijke, M.; van Zwol, R.

    2005-01-01

    The world wide web is a natural setting for cross-lingual information retrieval; web content is essentially multilingual, and web searchers are often polyglots. Even though English has emerged as the lingua franca of the web, planning for a business trip or holiday usually involves digesting pages

  8. Social Networking Tools to Facilitate Cross-Program Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Paul; Howard, Barbara

    2010-01-01

    Students working on a highly collaborative project used social networking technology for community building activities as well as basic project-related communication. Requiring students to work on cross-program projects gives them real-world experience working in diverse, geographically dispersed groups. An application used at Appalachian State…

  9. Personality maturation around the world – A cross-cultural examination of Social- Investment Theory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bleidorn, W.; Klimstra, T.A.; Denissen, J.J.A.; Rentfrow, P.J.; Potter, J.; Gosling, S.D.

    2013-01-01

    During early adulthood, individuals from different cultures across the world tend to become more agreeable, more conscientious, and less neurotic. Two leading theories offer different explanations for these pervasive age trends: Five-factor theory proposes that personality maturation is largely

  10. Vascular provisions for a local utero-ovarian cross-over pathway in new world camelids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Campo, M R; Del Campo, C H; Ginther, O J

    1996-10-15

    The right uterine horn of alpacas causes luteolysis in the right ovary, whereas the left horn causes luteolysis in both ovaries. Female reproductive tracts were studied in 32 adult llamas, 12 adult alpacas, and 21 mid-gestation female fetuses to determine if there is a dichotomy in the vascular anatomy between the 2 sides. Adult tracts were studied by either injection of colored latex into the veins and arteries followed by tissue clearing or by injection of colored fluids during transillumination. Fetal uteri were studied by transillumination. The angioarchitecture of the ovarian vascular pedicle was similar to that reported for ewes. There was no vessel comparable to the middle uterine artery, which is the largest uterine artery in the other farm species. A striking difference from the uterine vascular of other farm species was the presence of a major branch of the right uterine artery that crossed the cranial intercornual area to supply much of the left uterine horn. A corresponding major vein originated from the left horn, crossed the mid-line, and terminated as a branch of the right uterine vein. Thus, the vascular anatomy indicated that much venous blood from the left horn drained to the right side. This was confirmed by injection of colored fluid into a small venous branch at the tip of the left horn. The prominent cross-over vessels were observed in the fetal uteri, and the diameter of the left uterine fetal horn (6.7 +/- 0.6 mm) was greater (P blood from the left horn into an artery supplying the right ovary was not defined in this study. However, the results provide an anatomical basis for functional testing of the cross-over hypothesis and defining the area of venoarterial transfer in camelids.

  11. Bare and effective fluid description in brane world cosmology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cruz, Norman [Universidad de Santiago, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencia, Casilla 307, Santiago (Chile); Lepe, Samuel; Saavedra, Joel [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Instituto de Fisica, Casilla 4950, Valparaiso (Chile); Pena, Francisco [Universidad de La Frontera, Departamento de Ciencias Fisicas, Facultad de Ingenieria, Ciencias y Administracion, Avda. Francisco Salazar 01145, Casilla 54-D, Temuco (Chile)

    2010-03-15

    An effective fluid description, for a brane world model in five dimensions, is discussed for both signs of the brane tension. We found several cosmological scenarios where the effective equation differs widely from the bare equation of state. For universes with negative brane tension, with a bare fluid satisfying the strong energy condition, the effective fluid can cross the barrier {omega} {sub eff}=-1. (orig.)

  12. USSR Report, International Affairs, The Working Class and the Contemporary World, Number 2, March-April 1986.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-07-31

    3. Ibid., p 36. 4. "Yearbook of Labor Statistics. 1984," Geneva, 1984, p 827; G. Farrel, "Mercado de trabajo urbano y el movimiento sindiecal...Frente de liberacion nacional y social," Buenos .Aires, 1984, p 51. 10. EL PERIODISTA DE BUENOS AIRES, Buenos Aires, 1985, No 61, p 6. 11. OPINION...documents of the 27th CPSU Congress correctly point out, has set difficult tasks "for the young and rapidly growing working class in Asia , Africa and

  13. An Active, Reflective Learning Cycle for E-Commerce Classes: Learning about E-Commerce by Doing and Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrahams, Alan S.; Singh, Tirna

    2010-01-01

    Active, experiential learning is an important component in information systems education, ensuring that students gain an appreciation for both practical and theoretical information systems concepts. Typically, students in active, experiential classes engage in real world projects for commercial companies or not-for-profit organizations. In the…

  14. The Activities of Community Organizations in Providing Assistance to Prisoners of World War I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gulzhaukhar K. Kokebayeva

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this article is to examine the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other community organizations in providing assistance to prisoners of the World War I. According to Article 15 of the Hague Convention of 1907, organizations that assist the prisoners of war, as well as their representatives can use all the benefits from the authorities of the warring countries. Representatives of these organizations are allowed to distribute benefits to places of detention of POWs, provided that a nominal permit is issued by the military authorities. During the World War I, the community organizations played a significant role in providing material and moral support to prisoners of war of belligerent countries. The role of the Red Cross in the protection of war victims and providing assistance to the POWs during the World War I is undeniable, international and national organizations interacted as natural mediators and influenced their own governments, in order to further alleviate the plight of the prisoners of war.

  15. Patterns and predictors of violence against children in Uganda: a latent class analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Kelly; Patalay, Praveetha; Allen, Elizabeth; Knight, Louise; Naker, Dipak; Devries, Karen

    2016-05-24

    To explore patterns of physical, emotional and sexual violence against Ugandan children. Latent class and multinomial logistic regression analysis of cross-sectional data. Luwero District, Uganda. In all, 3706 primary 5, 6 and 7 students attending 42 primary schools. To measure violence, we used the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool-Child Institutional. We used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess mental health and administered reading, spelling and maths tests. We identified three violence classes. Class 1 (N=696 18.8%) was characterised by emotional and physical violence by parents and relatives, and sexual and emotional abuse by boyfriends, girlfriends and unrelated adults outside school. Class 2 (N=975 26.3%) was characterised by physical, emotional and sexual violence by peers (male and female students). Children in Classes 1 and 2 also had a high probability of exposure to emotional and physical violence by school staff. Class 3 (N=2035 54.9%) was characterised by physical violence by school staff and a lower probability of all other forms of violence compared to Classes 1 and 2. Children in Classes 1 and 2 were more likely to have worked for money (Class 1 Relative Risk Ratio 1.97, 95% CI 1.54 to 2.51; Class 2 1.55, 1.29 to 1.86), been absent from school in the previous week (Class 1 1.31, 1.02 to 1.67; Class 2 1.34, 1.10 to 1.63) and to have more mental health difficulties (Class 1 1.09, 1.07 to 1.11; Class 2 1.11, 1.09 to 1.13) compared to children in Class 3. Female sex (3.44, 2.48 to 4.78) and number of children sharing a sleeping area predicted being in Class 1. Childhood violence in Uganda forms distinct patterns, clustered by perpetrator and setting. Research is needed to understand experiences of victimised children, and to develop mental health interventions for those with severe violence exposures. NCT01678846; Results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For

  16. Misguided Intentions: U.S. Policy in World War II and Chinese Intervention in Korea

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Schlesinger, Sande

    1996-01-01

    In 1950, merely a year after the Communist Chinese victory over the Nationalist government in China, 600,000 Chinese soldiers began crossing the Yalu River into Korea to oppose the world's most powerful nation...

  17. The Method of Manufacturing Nonmetallic Test-Blocks on Different Sensitivity Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalinichenko, N. P.; Kalinichenko, A. N.; Lobanova, I. S.; Zaitseva, A. A.; Loboda, E. L.

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays in our modern world there is a vital question of quality control of details made from nonmetallic materials due to their wide spreading. Nondestructive penetrant testing is effective, and in some cases it is the only possible method of accidents prevention at high- risk sites. A brief review of check sample necessary for quality evaluation of penetrant materials is considered. There was offered a way of making agents for quality of penetrant materials testing according to different liquid penetrant testing sensibility classes.

  18. Social Class, Economic Inequality, and the Convergence of Policy Preferences: Evidence from 24 Modern Democracies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Robert; Curtis, Josh

    2015-08-01

    Using data from the World Values Survey and national-level indicators for 24 modern democracies, we assess the influence of social class and economic inequality on preferences for government responsibility. We improve on previous research by using multilevel models that account for differences in attitudes both within (i.e., over time) and across countries. Our findings are consistent with the economic self-interest hypothesis. Specifically, working class individuals, who tend to gain the most from government intervention because of their low and often more precarious economic position, are more likely than others to support government intervention. We also find a positive relationship between national-level income inequality and support for government intervention. As income inequality rises, its social ills tend to be more pervasive, resulting in public opinion becoming more supportive of governments taking responsibility for their citizens. We further demonstrate that inequality moderates the relationship between social class and attitudes. Although the effect of income inequality is positive for all social classes, attitudes across social classes become more similar as inequality rises. © 2015 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.

  19. Improving the Status of Women in the Third World: A Challenge to Adult Educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Elmer J.

    Adult educators face a challenge if they are to aid in the improvement of the status of women in the Third World. Women in developing countries, especially those in rural and poverty areas, are often restricted to second class educational and work opportunities. Adult educators could contribute to the reduction of such discrimination in the…

  20. MHC class II molecules deliver costimulatory signals in human T cells through a functional linkage with IL-2-receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Odum, Niels; Kanner, S B; Ledbetter, J A

    1993-01-01

    MHC class II-positive T cells are found in tissues involved in autoimmune and infectious disorders. Because stimulation of class II molecules by mAb or bacterial superantigens induces protein tyrosine phosphorylation through activation of PTK3 in T cells, we hypothesized that class II signals play...... tyrosine phosphorylation of specific substrates including PLC-gamma 1. Combined stimulation of IL-2R and class II molecules had an additive effect on tyrosine phosphorylation. Pretreatment of T cells with a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, herbimycin A, inhibited IL-2 and class II-induced proliferation...... a regulatory function in T cell activation. Here, we show that cross-linking HLA-DR and -DP but not -DQ molecules by immobilized mAb enhanced proliferative T cell responses to IL-2. In contrast, class II stimulation had no effect on IL-4-induced proliferation. The costimulatory effect was most pronounced...

  1. Cross-linkable liposomes stabilize a magnetic resonance contrast-enhancing polymeric fastener.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Cartney E; Kong, Hyunjoon

    2014-04-08

    Liposomes are commonly used to deliver drugs and contrast agents to their target site in a controlled manner. One of the greatest obstacles in the performance of such delivery vehicles is their stability in the presence of serum. Here, we demonstrate a method to stabilize a class of liposomes that load gadolinium, a magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent, as a model cargo on their surfaces. We hypothesized that the sequential adsorption of a gadolinium-binding chitosan fastener on the liposome surface followed by covalent cross-linking of the lipid bilayer would provide enhanced stability and improved MR signal in the presence of human serum. To investigate this hypothesis, liposomes composed of diyne-containing lipids were assembled and functionalized via chitosan conjugated with a hydrophobic anchor and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA). This postadsorption cross-linking strategy served to stabilize the thermodynamically favorable association between liposome and polymeric fastener. Furthermore, the chitosan-coated, cross-linked liposomes proved more effective as delivery vehicles of gadolinium than uncross-linked liposomes due to the reduced liposome degradation and chitosan desorption. Overall, this study demonstrates a useful method to stabilize a broad class of particles used for systemic delivery of various molecular payloads.

  2. Modelling of Signal - Level Crossing System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Novak

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The author presents an object-oriented model of a railway level-crossing system created for the purpose of functional requirements specification. Unified Modelling Language (UML, version 1.4, which enables specification, visualisation, construction and documentation of software system artefacts, was used. The main attention was paid to analysis and design phases. The former phase resulted in creation of use case diagrams and sequential diagrams, the latter in creation of class/object diagrams and statechart diagrams.

  3. Malaysia and the Knowledge Economy: Building a World-Class Higher Education System. Human Development Sector Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regel, Omporn; Salmi, Jamil; Watkins, Alfred; Tan, Hong; Dawkins, John; Saroyan, Alenoush; Vestergaard, Jakob

    2007-01-01

    This report was prepared at the request of the Government of Malaysia (GOM) as a contribution to the long term development objectives for the university sector under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The GOM is considering new policy directions to make the country a more competitive player in the world economy. Such a strategy will require bold innovations…

  4. Computerized three-class classification of MRI-based prognostic markers for breast cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhooshan, Neha; Giger, Maryellen; Edwards, Darrin; Yuan Yading; Jansen, Sanaz; Li Hui; Lan Li; Newstead, Gillian [Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Sattar, Husain, E-mail: bhooshan@uchicago.edu [Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

    2011-09-21

    The purpose of this study is to investigate whether computerized analysis using three-class Bayesian artificial neural network (BANN) feature selection and classification can characterize tumor grades (grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3) of breast lesions for prognostic classification on DCE-MRI. A database of 26 IDC grade 1 lesions, 86 IDC grade 2 lesions and 58 IDC grade 3 lesions was collected. The computer automatically segmented the lesions, and kinetic and morphological lesion features were automatically extracted. The discrimination tasks-grade 1 versus grade 3, grade 2 versus grade 3, and grade 1 versus grade 2 lesions-were investigated. Step-wise feature selection was conducted by three-class BANNs. Classification was performed with three-class BANNs using leave-one-lesion-out cross-validation to yield computer-estimated probabilities of being grade 3 lesion, grade 2 lesion and grade 1 lesion. Two-class ROC analysis was used to evaluate the performances. We achieved AUC values of 0.80 {+-} 0.05, 0.78 {+-} 0.05 and 0.62 {+-} 0.05 for grade 1 versus grade 3, grade 1 versus grade 2, and grade 2 versus grade 3, respectively. This study shows the potential for (1) applying three-class BANN feature selection and classification to CADx and (2) expanding the role of DCE-MRI CADx from diagnostic to prognostic classification in distinguishing tumor grades.

  5. CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE – PROBLEMS IN IDENTIFICATION AND MEASUREMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sylwia Talar

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Cross-border e-commerce is a relatively new phenomenon in the contemporary world economy and very little examined. The aim of this paper is to specify and charac-terize basic problems for the cross-border e-commerce research. It was carried out a wide literature review, including methodological manuals, studies, reports and statistics. The problems with definition of the cross-border e-commerce notion were studied, as well as the scope of official statistics and private sources of data in this area. The finding is that the studies of cross-border e-commerce are currently faced with serious problems of fundamental nature, which are identification of meaning and quantitative dimension of this phenomenon.

  6. Pattern theory the stochastic analysis of real-world signals

    CERN Document Server

    Mumford, David

    2010-01-01

    Pattern theory is a distinctive approach to the analysis of all forms of real-world signals. At its core is the design of a large variety of probabilistic models whose samples reproduce the look and feel of the real signals, their patterns, and their variability. Bayesian statistical inference then allows you to apply these models in the analysis of new signals. This book treats the mathematical tools, the models themselves, and the computational algorithms for applying statistics to analyze six representative classes of signals of increasing complexity. The book covers patterns in text, sound

  7. Studying Student Motivations in an Astronomy Massive Open Online Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenger, Matthew; Impey, Chris David; Buxner, Sanlyn; Formanek, Martin

    2017-01-01

    Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are large-scale, free classes open to anyone around the world and are are part of an educational industry that includes a growing number of universities. Although they resemble formal classes, MOOCs are of interest to instructors and educational researchers because they are unique learning environments where various people--particularly adult learners--learn science. This research project examined learners in an astronomy MOOC in order to better understand the motivations of MOOC learners. Using a well-tested instrument that examines student motivations for learning, we wanted to compare the motivations of MOOC learners to previous results in undergraduate classrooms. Our results show that our MOOC learners scored high in intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination. They differed from learners in traditional formal educational environments by having lower grade and career-related motivations. These results suggest that MOOC learners have characteristics of learners in so called “free-choice” learning environments, similar to other life-long learners.

  8. Support Vector Data Descriptions and k-Means Clustering: One Class?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gornitz, Nico; Lima, Luiz Alberto; Muller, Klaus-Robert; Kloft, Marius; Nakajima, Shinichi

    2017-09-27

    We present ClusterSVDD, a methodology that unifies support vector data descriptions (SVDDs) and k-means clustering into a single formulation. This allows both methods to benefit from one another, i.e., by adding flexibility using multiple spheres for SVDDs and increasing anomaly resistance and flexibility through kernels to k-means. In particular, our approach leads to a new interpretation of k-means as a regularized mode seeking algorithm. The unifying formulation further allows for deriving new algorithms by transferring knowledge from one-class learning settings to clustering settings and vice versa. As a showcase, we derive a clustering method for structured data based on a one-class learning scenario. Additionally, our formulation can be solved via a particularly simple optimization scheme. We evaluate our approach empirically to highlight some of the proposed benefits on artificially generated data, as well as on real-world problems, and provide a Python software package comprising various implementations of primal and dual SVDD as well as our proposed ClusterSVDD.

  9. a Model Study of Small-Scale World Map Generalization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Y.; Yin, Y.; Li, C. M.; Wu, W.; Guo, P. P.; Ma, X. L.; Hu, F. M.

    2018-04-01

    With the globalization and rapid development every filed is taking an increasing interest in physical geography and human economics. There is a surging demand for small scale world map in large formats all over the world. Further study of automated mapping technology, especially the realization of small scale production on a large scale global map, is the key of the cartographic field need to solve. In light of this, this paper adopts the improved model (with the map and data separated) in the field of the mapmaking generalization, which can separate geographic data from mapping data from maps, mainly including cross-platform symbols and automatic map-making knowledge engine. With respect to the cross-platform symbol library, the symbol and the physical symbol in the geographic information are configured at all scale levels. With respect to automatic map-making knowledge engine consists 97 types, 1086 subtypes, 21845 basic algorithm and over 2500 relevant functional modules.In order to evaluate the accuracy and visual effect of our model towards topographic maps and thematic maps, we take the world map generalization in small scale as an example. After mapping generalization process, combining and simplifying the scattered islands make the map more explicit at 1 : 2.1 billion scale, and the map features more complete and accurate. Not only it enhance the map generalization of various scales significantly, but achieve the integration among map-makings of various scales, suggesting that this model provide a reference in cartographic generalization for various scales.

  10. Coal utilization in a carbon policy uncertain world. The North America situation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Ligang [CanmentENERGY, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

    2013-07-01

    Both the United State of America and Canada has very high CO{sub 2}/capita emission: 16.53 tonnes for Canada and 18.38 for the U.S. while the world average is at 4.39 and China at 4.91. Canadian economy is heavily intertwined with that of the U.S.: the cross board trading between the U.S. and Canada is valued at more than $2 billion/day. The United State of America is one of the most important coal users in the world and one the key player in climate change issue.

  11. Cutting Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacker, Andrew

    1976-01-01

    Provides critical reviews of three books, "The Political Economy of Social Class", "Ethnicity: Theory and Experience," and "Ethnicity in the United States," focusing on the political economy of social class and ethnicity. (Author/AM)

  12. Operationalizing Max Weber's probability concept of class situation: the concept of social class.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Ken

    2007-03-01

    In this essay I take seriously Max Weber's astonishingly neglected claim that class situation may be defined, not in categorial terms, but probabilistically. I then apply this idea to another equally neglected claim made by Weber that the boundaries of social classes may be determined by the degree of social mobility within such classes. Taking these two ideas together I develop the idea of a non-categorial boundary 'surface' between classes and of a social class 'corridor' made up of all those people who are still to be found within the boundaries of the social class into which they were born. I call social mobility within a social class 'intra-class social mobility' and social mobility between classes 'inter-class social mobility'. I also claim that this distinction resolves the dispute between those sociologists who claim that late industrial societies are still highly class bound and those who think that this is no longer the case. Both schools are right I think, but one is referring to a high degree of intra-class social mobility and the other to an equally high degree of inter-class mobility. Finally I claim that this essay provides sociology with only one example among many other possible applications of how probability theory might usefully be used to overcome boundary problems generally in sociology.

  13. Women and Slavery: A Cross-Cultural Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wertz, Dorothy C.

    A cross-cultural and historical survey of the relationship between slavery and the status of women focuses on Marxian theory, the position of free women, sexual division of labor, the threat of rape, and equivalents of slavery in the modern world. Throughout history, the majority of slaves have been women, many of whom held favored positions,…

  14. Measurements of Electron Proton Elastic Cross Sections for 0.4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christy, M.E.; Abdellah Ahmidouch; Christopher Armstrong; John Arrington; Arshak Asaturyan; Steven Avery; Baker, O.; Douglas Beck; Henk Blok; Bochna, C.W.; Werner Boeglin; Peter Bosted; Maurice Bouwhuis; Herbert Breuer; Brown, D.S.; Antje Bruell; Roger Carlini; Nicholas Chant; Anthony Cochran; Leon Cole; Samuel Danagoulian; Donal Day; James Dunne; Dipangkar Dutta; Rolf Ent; Howard Fenker; Fox, B.; Liping Gan; Haiyan Gao; Kenneth Garrow; David Gaskell; Ashot Gasparian; Don Geesaman; Paul Gueye; Mark Harvey; Roy Holt; Xiaodong Jiang; Cynthia Keppel; Edward Kinney; Yongguang Liang; Wolfgang Lorenzon; Allison Lung; Pete Markowitz; Martin, J.W.; Kevin Mcilhany; David Mckee; David Meekins; Miller, M.A.; Richard Milner; Joseph Mitchell; Hamlet Mkrtchyan; Robert Mueller; Alan Nathan; Gabriel Niculescu; Maria-ioana Niculescu; Thomas O'neill; Vassilios Papavassiliou; Stephen Pate; Rodney Piercey; David Potterveld; Ronald Ransome; Joerg Reinhold; Rollinde, E.; Philip Roos; Adam Sarty; Reyad Sawafta; Elaine Schulte; Edwin Segbefia; Smith, C.; Samuel Stepanyan; Steffen Strauch; Vardan Tadevosyan; Liguang Tang; Raphael Tieulent; Alicia Uzzle; William Vulcan; Stephen Wood; Feng Xiong; Lulin Yuan; Markus Zeier; Benedikt Zihlmann; Vitaliy Ziskin

    2004-01-01

    We report on precision measurements of the elastic cross section for electron-proton scattering performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The measurements were made at 28 distinct kinematic settings covering a range in momentum transfer of 0.4 < Q2 < 5.5 (GeV/c)2. These measurements represent a significant contribution to the world's cross section data set in the Q2 range, where a large discrepancy currently exists between the ratio of electric to magnetic proton form factors extracted from previous cross section measurements and that recently measured via polarization transfer in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. This data set shows good agreement with previous cross section measurements, indicating that if a heretofore unknown systematic error does exist in the cross section measurements, then it is intrinsic to all such measurements

  15. Mapping Koch curves into scale-free small-world networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Zhongzhi; Gao Shuyang; Zhou Shuigeng; Chen Lichao; Zhang Hongjuan; Guan Jihong

    2010-01-01

    The class of Koch fractals is one of the most interesting families of fractals, and the study of complex networks is a central issue in the scientific community. In this paper, inspired by the famous Koch fractals, we propose a mapping technique converting Koch fractals into a family of deterministic networks called Koch networks. This novel class of networks incorporates some key properties characterizing a majority of real-life networked systems-a power-law distribution with exponent in the range between 2 and 3, a high clustering coefficient, a small diameter and average path length and degree correlations. Besides, we enumerate the exact numbers of spanning trees, spanning forests and connected spanning subgraphs in the networks. All these features are obtained exactly according to the proposed generation algorithm of the networks considered. The network representation approach could be used to investigate the complexity of some real-world systems from the perspective of complex networks.

  16. Our World Their World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brisco, Nicole

    2011-01-01

    Build, create, make, blog, develop, organize, structure, perform. These are just a few verbs that illustrate the visual world. These words create images that allow students to respond to their environment. Visual culture studies recognize the predominance of visual forms of media, communication, and information in the postmodern world. This…

  17. 75 FR 54939 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Subcommittee on Labor and World-Class Workforce...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-09

    ... manage effectively the evolving transportation needs, challenges, and opportunities of the global economy... of the world's technologically advanced economies. Among other matters, the subcommittee will examine... science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills in the industry; (2) the creation of a culture of...

  18. Self-esteem in adolescents with Angle Class I, II and III malocclusion in a Peruvian sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Florián-Vargas, Karla; Honores, Marcos J Carruitero; Bernabé, Eduardo; Flores-Mir, Carlos

    2016-01-01

    To compare self-esteem scores in 12 to 16-year-old adolescents with different Angle malocclusion types in a Peruvian sample. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 276 adolescents (159, 52 and 65 with Angle Class I, II and III malocclusions, respectively) from Trujillo, Peru. Participants were asked to complete the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and were also clinically examined, so as to have Angle malocclusion classification determined. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare RSES scores among adolescents with Class I, II and III malocclusions, with participants' demographic factors being controlled. Mean RSES scores for adolescents with Class I, II and III malocclusions were 20.47 ± 3.96, 21.96 ± 3.27 and 21.26 ± 4.81, respectively. The ANCOVA test showed that adolescents with Class II malocclusion had a significantly higher RSES score than those with Class I malocclusion, but there were no differences between other malocclusion groups. Supplemental analysis suggested that only those with Class II, Division 2 malocclusion might have greater self-esteem when compared to adolescents with Class I malocclusion. This study shows that, in general, self-esteem did not vary according to adolescents' malocclusion in the sample studied. Surprisingly, only adolescents with Class II malocclusion, particularly Class II, Division 2, reported better self-esteem than those with Class I malocclusion. A more detailed analysis assessing the impact of anterior occlusal features should be conducted.

  19. Small Worlds Week: Raising Curiosity and Contributing to STEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, C.; Mayo, L.; Stephenson, B. E.; Keck, A.; Cline, T. D.; Lewis, E. M.

    2015-12-01

    Dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, and icy moons took center stage in the years 2014-2015 as multiple spacecraft (New Horizons, Dawn, Rosetta, Cassini) and ground-based observing campaigns observed these small and yet amazing celestial bodies. Just prior to the historic New Horizons encounter with the Pluto system, NASA celebrated Small Worlds Week (July 6-10) as a fully online program to highlight small worlds mission discoveries. Small Worlds Week leveraged the infrastructure of Sun-Earth Days that included a robust web design, exemplary education materials, hands-on fun activities, multimedia resources, science and career highlights, and a culminating event. Each day from July 6-9, a new class of solar system small worlds was featured on the website: Monday-comets, Tuesday-asteroids, Wednesday-icy moons, and Thursday-dwarf planets. Then on Friday, July 10, nine scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory, and Lunar and Planetary Institute gathered online for four hours to answer questions from the public via Facebook and Twitter. Throughout the afternoon the scientists worked closely with a social media expert and several summer interns to reply to inquirers and to archive their chats. By all accounts, Small Worlds Week was a huge success. The group plans to improve and replicate the program during the school year with a more classroom focus, and then to build and extend the program to be held every year. For more information, visit http:// sunearthday.nasa.gov or catch us on Twitter, #nasasww.

  20. Identifiability Results for Several Classes of Linear Compartment Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meshkat, Nicolette; Sullivant, Seth; Eisenberg, Marisa

    2015-08-01

    Identifiability concerns finding which unknown parameters of a model can be estimated, uniquely or otherwise, from given input-output data. If some subset of the parameters of a model cannot be determined given input-output data, then we say the model is unidentifiable. In this work, we study linear compartment models, which are a class of biological models commonly used in pharmacokinetics, physiology, and ecology. In past work, we used commutative algebra and graph theory to identify a class of linear compartment models that we call identifiable cycle models, which are unidentifiable but have the simplest possible identifiable functions (so-called monomial cycles). Here we show how to modify identifiable cycle models by adding inputs, adding outputs, or removing leaks, in such a way that we obtain an identifiable model. We also prove a constructive result on how to combine identifiable models, each corresponding to strongly connected graphs, into a larger identifiable model. We apply these theoretical results to several real-world biological models from physiology, cell biology, and ecology.

  1. Video gaming in a hyperconnected world : a cross-sectional study of heavy gaming, problematic gaming symptoms, and online socializing in adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Carras, Michelle Colder; van Rooij, Tony; Van de Mheen, Dike; Musci, Rashelle; Xue, Qian-Li; Mendelson, Tamar

    2017-01-01

    Aims: Examining online social interactions along with patterns of video gaming behaviors and game addiction symptoms has the potential to enrich our understanding of disorders related to excessive video game play. Methods: We performed latent class analysis in a sample of 9733 adolescents based on heavy use of games, social networking and instant messaging, and game addiction symptoms. We used latent class regression to determine associations between classes, psychosocial well-being and frien...

  2. Neutron induced 238U subthreshold fission cross section for neutron energies between 5 eV and 3.5 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez, R.B.; Difilippo, F.C.; Saussure, G. de; Ingle, R.W.

    1978-01-01

    A measurement of the 238 U fission cross section between 5 eV and 3.5 MeV was performed. Included is the identification of 85 resonances or clusters of resonances below 200 keV. Also the fission widths for the 27 resolved class I levels were computed from their fission areas, and a neutron width of 0.005 MeV was estimated for the quasi-class II level in the 721 eV fission cluster. The fission level spacing and cross sections are discussed. 9 references

  3. Introduction--World-Class Basic Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Don

    2012-01-01

    Borrowing educational institutions and ideas from the past and from other contemporary education systems is a significant part of the educational history of many nations. Many of the current nations continue to probe the past for pleasure or insights, while some nations seek to erase much of their educational past. Further, an increasing number of…

  4. A Cross-Entropy-Based Admission Control Optimization Approach for Heterogeneous Virtual Machine Placement in Public Clouds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Pan

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Virtualization technologies make it possible for cloud providers to consolidate multiple IaaS provisions into a single server in the form of virtual machines (VMs. Additionally, in order to fulfill the divergent service requirements from multiple users, a cloud provider needs to offer several types of VM instances, which are associated with varying configurations and performance, as well as different prices. In such a heterogeneous virtual machine placement process, one significant problem faced by a cloud provider is how to optimally accept and place multiple VM service requests into its cloud data centers to achieve revenue maximization. To address this issue, in this paper, we first formulate such a revenue maximization problem during VM admission control as a multiple-dimensional knapsack problem, which is known to be NP-hard to solve. Then, we propose to use a cross-entropy-based optimization approach to address this revenue maximization problem, by obtaining a near-optimal eligible set for the provider to accept into its data centers, from the waiting VM service requests in the system. Finally, through extensive experiments and measurements in a simulated environment with the settings of VM instance classes derived from real-world cloud systems, we show that our proposed cross-entropy-based admission control optimization algorithm is efficient and effective in maximizing cloud providers’ revenue in a public cloud computing environment.

  5. Duration of the pubertal peak in skeletal Class I and Class III subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuc-Michalska, Małgorzata; Baccetti, Tiziano

    2010-01-01

    To estimate and compare the duration of the pubertal growth peak in Class I and Class III subjects. The data examined consisted of pretreatment lateral cephalometric records of 218 skeletal Class I or Class III subjects (93 female and 125 male subjects) of white ancestry. The duration of the pubertal peak was calculated from the average chronological age intervals between stages CS3 and CS4 of the cervical vertebral maturation in Class I vs Class III groups (t-test). In skeletal Class I subjects, the pubertal peak had a mean duration of 11 months, whereas in Class III subjects it lasted 16 months. The average difference (5 months) was statistically significant (P < .001). The growth interval corresponding to the pubertal growth spurt (CS3-CS4) was longer in Class III subjects than in subjects with normal skeletal relationships; the larger increases in mandibular length during the pubertal peak reported in the literature for Class III subjects may be related to the longer duration of the pubertal peak.

  6. Class network routing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhanot, Gyan [Princeton, NJ; Blumrich, Matthias A [Ridgefield, CT; Chen, Dong [Croton On Hudson, NY; Coteus, Paul W [Yorktown Heights, NY; Gara, Alan G [Mount Kisco, NY; Giampapa, Mark E [Irvington, NY; Heidelberger, Philip [Cortlandt Manor, NY; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard D [Mount Kisco, NY; Takken, Todd E [Mount Kisco, NY; Vranas, Pavlos M [Bedford Hills, NY

    2009-09-08

    Class network routing is implemented in a network such as a computer network comprising a plurality of parallel compute processors at nodes thereof. Class network routing allows a compute processor to broadcast a message to a range (one or more) of other compute processors in the computer network, such as processors in a column or a row. Normally this type of operation requires a separate message to be sent to each processor. With class network routing pursuant to the invention, a single message is sufficient, which generally reduces the total number of messages in the network as well as the latency to do a broadcast. Class network routing is also applied to dense matrix inversion algorithms on distributed memory parallel supercomputers with hardware class function (multicast) capability. This is achieved by exploiting the fact that the communication patterns of dense matrix inversion can be served by hardware class functions, which results in faster execution times.

  7. 75 FR 60856 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Subcommittee on Labor and World-Class Workforce...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... of the global economy. The subcommittee is charged with ensuring the availability and quality of a... socio-economic dynamics of the world's technologically advanced economies. Among other matters, the...: (1) The need for science, technology, engineering, and math skills in the industry; (2) the creation...

  8. Word classes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rijkhoff, Jan

    2007-01-01

    in grammatical descriptions of some 50 languages, which together constitute a representative sample of the world’s languages (Hengeveld et al. 2004: 529). It appears that there are both quantitative and qualitative differences between word class systems of individual languages. Whereas some languages employ...... a parts-of-speech system that includes the categories Verb, Noun, Adjective and Adverb, other languages may use only a subset of these four lexical categories. Furthermore, quite a few languages have a major word class whose members cannot be classified in terms of the categories Verb – Noun – Adjective...... – Adverb, because they have properties that are strongly associated with at least two of these four traditional word classes (e.g. Adjective and Adverb). Finally, this article discusses some of the ways in which word class distinctions interact with other grammatical domains, such as syntax and morphology....

  9. World law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harold J. Berman

    1999-03-01

    Full Text Available In the third millennium of the Christian era, which is characterised by the emergence of a world economy and eventually a world society, the concept of world law is needed to embrace not only the traditional disciplines of public international law, and comparative law, but also the common underlying legal principles applicable in world trade, world finance, transnational transfer of technology and other fields of world economic law, as well as in such emerging fields as the protection of the world's environment and the protection of universal human rights. World law combines inter-state law with the common law of humanity and the customary law of various world communities.

  10. 75 FR 51171 - Amendment of Class D and Class E Airspace; Kaneohe, HI

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-19

    ...; Airspace Docket No. 10-AWP-10] Amendment of Class D and Class E Airspace; Kaneohe, HI AGENCY: Federal... Class D and Class E airspace at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Kaneohe, HI. The FAA is... airspace and Class E airspace upward from 700 feet above the surface at Kaneohe Bay MCAS, Kaneohe Bay, HI...

  11. A Cross Cultural Model for FlexibleMotivation in Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gratiela Dana BOCA

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The importance of world business has created a demand for managers sophisticated in global management skills and working with people from other countries. Organizational behavior from different countries and cultures compares organizational behavior across countries and cultures and seeks to understand how to improve the interaction of co workers, manager’s executives, client’s suppliers and alliance partners from around the world. The economic world shows us that all the elements that we consider static have a pulsation around an equilibrium position. The present study concerning the organization’s culture the motivational factors of the employees an outlet in this field. The flexibility in a global economy is an important element on which people can communicate and the manager can exercise his leading task thus is an imperfect world that imposed the necessity of adaptation to a cross cultural model.

  12. Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study. World Bank Discussion Papers 194.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subbarao, K.; Raney, Laura

    This paper on the social gains from female education is part of a series, prepared by the World Bank, on the benefits of improving opportunities for women. The paper suggests that expanding women's opportunities enhances their productivity and earning potential and thus contributes to better economic performance and poverty alleviation. Education…

  13. Global black p-brane world: a new approach to stable mass hierarchy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moon, Sei-Hoon; Rey, Soo-Jong; Kim, Yoonbai

    2001-01-01

    We find a class of extremal black hole-like global p-brane in higher-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The region inside the p-brane horizon possesses all essential features required for the Randall-Sundrum type brane world scenario. The set-up allows to interpret the horizon size as the compactification size in that the Planck scale M Pl is determined by the fundamental scale M * and the horizon size r H via the familiar relation M Pl 2 ∼M * 2+n r H n , and the gravity behaves as expected in a world with n-extra dimensions compactified with size r H . Most importantly, a stable mass hierarchy between M Pl and M * can be generated from topological charge of the p-brane and the horizon size r H therein. We also offer a new perspective on various issues associated to the brane world scenarios including the cosmological constant problem

  14. [Prevalence of cross-bite in Mexican children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojeda León, S; De la Teja Angeles, E

    1990-10-01

    As observed, the problem of lining and accommodation of teeth in the child population is increasingly larger. This fact prompted the authors to attempt determining the prevalence of cross-bite in a sample of Mexican children. A total of 306 patients, aged between two and 17 and attending the Stomatology service of the National Institute of Pediatrics, were evaluated, from which all pertinent data regarding age, sex, molar-temporal relationship (terminal, rectus, distal, messial and exaggerated messial planes), permanent molar status (Angle I, II, III), cross-bite, type of dentition affected (primary, mixed or permanent), cross-bite classification (anterior, posterior or mixed), whether unilateral, bilateral, dental or skeletal, right or left, and number of teeth affected, were duly recorded. Out of 306 evaluated patients (160 males, 146 female), 112 evidenced cross-bite (36.6%), 56 of each sex; in 69.6% the teeth were anterior, in 17.8% they were posterior, and in 15.5% their position was mixed. Their average age was 8 years, and malocclusion was Angle class I. From this experience, it is to be concluded that early detection and correction of any dental occlusion abnormality will permit correcting defects in dentofacial development; it is thus necessary to ascertain the frequency of cross-bite.

  15. Novel Mahalanobis-based feature selection improves one-class classification of early hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomaz, Ricardo de Lima; Carneiro, Pedro Cunha; Bonin, João Eliton; Macedo, Túlio Augusto Alves; Patrocinio, Ana Claudia; Soares, Alcimar Barbosa

    2018-05-01

    Detection of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is responsible for increasing survival rates in up to 40%. One-class classifiers can be used for modeling early HCC in multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), but demand the specific knowledge pertaining to the set of features that best describes the target class. Although the literature outlines several features for characterizing liver lesions, it is unclear which is most relevant for describing early HCC. In this paper, we introduce an unconstrained GA feature selection algorithm based on a multi-objective Mahalanobis fitness function to improve the classification performance for early HCC. We compared our approach to a constrained Mahalanobis function and two other unconstrained functions using Welch's t-test and Gaussian Data Descriptors. The performance of each fitness function was evaluated by cross-validating a one-class SVM. The results show that the proposed multi-objective Mahalanobis fitness function is capable of significantly reducing data dimensionality (96.4%) and improving one-class classification of early HCC (0.84 AUC). Furthermore, the results provide strong evidence that intensity features extracted at the arterial to portal and arterial to equilibrium phases are important for classifying early HCC.

  16. Behavioral and Mental Health Correlates of Youth Stalking Victimization: A Latent Class Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reidy, Dennis E; Smith-Darden, Joanne P; Kernsmith, Poco D

    2016-12-01

    Although recognized as a public health problem, little attention has been paid to the problem of stalking among youth. Latent profile analysis was used to identify latent groups of adolescent stalking victims and their behavioral and mental health correlates. A cross-sectional sample of 1,236 youths were randomly selected from 13 schools stratified by community risk level (i.e., low, moderate, and high risk) and gender. Students completed surveys assessing behavioral indicators of stalking victimization, as well as substance use, sexual behavior, dating violence, and psychiatric symptoms. Data were collected in 2013 and data analyses were performed in 2015. Analysis indicated the presence of a non-victim class, a minimal exposure class, and a victim class for boys and girls alike. Approximately 14% of girls and 13% of boys were in the stalking victim class. Adolescents in the victim class reported more symptoms of post-traumatic stress, mood disorder, and hopelessness, as well as more instances of alcohol use, binge drinking, and physical dating violence victimization. Girls in the victim class also reported engaging in sexting behaviors and oral sex with significantly more partners than their non-victim peers. These findings provide valuable knowledge of the prevalence and pertinent health correlates of stalking victimization in adolescence. The data suggest a substantial proportion of adolescents are victims of stalking and are likewise at risk for a number of deleterious health outcomes. As such, this population merits further attention by prevention researchers and practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. 47 CFR 74.708 - Class A TV and digital Class A TV station protection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Class A TV and digital Class A TV station... SERVICES Low Power TV, TV Translator, and TV Booster Stations § 74.708 Class A TV and digital Class A TV station protection. (a) The Class A TV and digital Class A TV station protected contours are specified in...

  18. Problem of summing up ladder diagrams in quantum electrodynamics. [Cross sections

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gadzhiev, S A; Livashvili, A I [Azerbajdzhanskij Gosudarstvennyj Univ., Baku (USSR)

    1975-03-01

    A class of ladder diagrams in an asymptotic mode is considered, and a series of the perturbation theory for the given class of diagrams reduces to an integral equation obtained without approximations whatsoever. As applications of the method proposed, two electrodynamic processes are considered: the two-photon annihilation of an e/sup +/e/sup -/-pair and scattering of electons in Coulomb field. Matrix elements are provided. To derive the equations, Dirac equations and commutation relations are used. A conclusion is drawn that for the process, the log-log asymptotics and polar approximation lead to the fact that as the energy grows the cross-section of the process drops and the solution obtained indicates that such a drop occurs up to an energy of 10/sup 5/ GeV. For the second process, the region of large pulses transmitted by an electron to the external field does not lead to an increase in amplitude and cross-section.

  19. Comparative health system performance in six middle-income countries: cross-sectional analysis using World Health Organization study of global ageing and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alshamsan, Riyadh; Lee, John Tayu; Rana, Sangeeta; Areabi, Hasan; Millett, Christopher

    2017-09-01

    Objective To assess and compare health system performance across six middle-income countries that are strengthening their health systems in pursuit of universal health coverage. Design Cross-sectional analysis from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health, collected between 2007 and 2010. Setting Six middle-income countries: China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Participants Nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 years and older. Main outcome measures We present achievement against key indicators of health system performance across effectiveness, cost, access, patient-centredness and equity domains. Results We found areas of poor performance in prevention and management of chronic conditions, such as hypertension control and cancer screening coverage. We also found that cost remains a barrier to healthcare access in spite of insurance schemes. Finally, we found evidence of disparities across many indicators, particularly in the effectiveness and patient centredness domains. Conclusions These findings identify important focus areas for action and shared learning as these countries move towards achieving universal health coverage.

  20. Visual Grading and Structural Properties Assessment of Large Cross-Section Pinus radiata D. Don Timber

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva Hermoso Prieto

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The use of large cross-section timber for structural purposes has increased in Spain, and knowledge of its properties is strategically necessary. The Spanish visual strength-grading standard UNE 56544 (2011 efficiency applied to large cross-section structural timber was analyzed using a sample of 363 specimens of radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don. from the Basque Country and Catalonia, Spain. Different sizes were tested (80 × 120 × 2400 mm3, 150 × 250 × 5600 mm3, 150 × 250 × 4300 mm3, and 200 × 250 × 5000 mm3. Bending strength, modulus of elasticity, and density were obtained, and characteristic values were determined in order to assign strength class according to European standard EN 338 (2010. Knots and twists were the most relevant singularities for visual strength grading. It was concluded that large cross-section Spanish radiata pine timber was suitable for structures, and it was assigned to the C20 strength class.