Finding-equal regression method and its application in predication of U resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Huimo

1995-03-01

The commonly adopted deposit model method in mineral resources predication has two main part: one is model data that show up geological mineralization law for deposit, the other is statistics predication method that accords with characters of the data namely pretty regression method. This kind of regression method may be called finding-equal regression, which is made of the linear regression and distribution finding-equal method. Because distribution finding-equal method is a data pretreatment which accords with advanced mathematical precondition for the linear regression namely equal distribution theory, and this kind of data pretreatment is possible of realization. Therefore finding-equal regression not only can overcome nonlinear limitations, that are commonly occurred in traditional linear regression or other regression and always have no solution, but also can distinguish outliers and eliminate its weak influence, which would usually appeared when Robust regression possesses outlier in independent variables. Thus this newly finding-equal regression stands the best status in all kind of regression methods. Finally, two good examples of U resource quantitative predication are provided

Dithiothreitol-based protein equalization technology to unravel biomarkers for bladder cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Araújo, J E; López-Fernández, H; Diniz, M S; Baltazar, Pedro M; Pinheiro, Luís Campos; da Silva, Fernando Calais; Carrascal, Mylène; Videira, Paula; Santos, H M; Capelo, J L

2018-04-01

This study aimed to assess the benefits of dithiothreitol (DTT)-based sample treatment for protein equalization to assess potential biomarkers for bladder cancer. The proteome of plasma samples of patients with bladder carcinoma, patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and healthy volunteers, was equalized with dithiothreitol (DTT) and compared. The equalized proteomes were interrogated using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Six proteins, namely serum albumin, gelsolin, fibrinogen gamma chain, Ig alpha-1 chain C region, Ig alpha-2 chain C region and haptoglobin, were found dysregulated in at least 70% of bladder cancer patients when compared with a pool of healthy individuals. One protein, serum albumin, was found overexpressed in 70% of the patients when the equalized proteome of the healthy pool was compared with the equalized proteome of the LUTS patients. The pathways modified by the proteins differentially expressed were analyzed using Cytoscape. The method here presented is fast, cheap, of easy application and it matches the analytical minimalism rules as outlined by Halls. Orthogonal validation was done using western-blot. Overall, DTT-based protein equalization is a promising methodology in bladder cancer research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Loudspeaker Equalization with Post-Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ser Wee

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Loudspeaker equalization is an essential technique in audio system design. A well-known equalization scheme is based on the deconvolution of the desired equalized response with the measured impulse response of the loudspeaker. In this paper, a post-processing scheme is combined with the deconvolution-based algorithm to provide a better equalization effect. Computer simulation results are given to demonstrate the significant improvement that can be achieved using this method.

A NOISE ADAPTIVE FUZZY EQUALIZATION METHOD FOR PROCESSING SOLAR EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET IMAGES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Druckmueller, M., E-mail: druckmuller@fme.vutbr.cz [Institute of Mathematics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 2, 616 69 Brno (Czech Republic)

2013-08-15

A new image enhancement tool ideally suited for the visualization of fine structures in extreme ultraviolet images of the corona is presented in this paper. The Noise Adaptive Fuzzy Equalization method is particularly suited for the exceptionally high dynamic range images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. This method produces artifact-free images and gives significantly better results than methods based on convolution or Fourier transform which are often used for that purpose.

Regularization in global sound equalization based on effort variation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stefanakis, Nick; Sarris, John; Jacobsen, Finn

2009-01-01

. Effort variation equalization involves modifying the conventional cost function in sound equalization, which is based on minimizing least-squares reproduction errors, by adding a term that is proportional to the squared deviations between complex source strengths, calculated independently for the sources......Sound equalization in closed spaces can be significantly improved by generating propagating waves that are naturally associated with the geometry, as, for example, plane waves in rectangular enclosures. This paper presents a control approach termed effort variation regularization based on this idea...

An Equal-Order DG Method for the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

KAUST Repository

Cockburn, Bernardo

2008-12-20

We introduce and analyze a discontinuous Galerkin method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations that is based on finite element spaces of the same polynomial order for the approximation of the velocity and the pressure. Stability of this equal-order approach is ensured by a pressure stabilization term. A simple element-by-element post-processing procedure is used to provide globally divergence-free velocity approximations. For small data, we prove the existence and uniqueness of discrete solutions and carry out an error analysis of the method. A series of numerical results are presented that validate our theoretical findings. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Gender equality and equal opportunity mechanisms in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mršević Zorica

2007-01-01

Full Text Available As a country of Southern European mentality Italy may be taken as the nearest-to-the-Balkans model of the gender equality mechanisms and necessity of their existence. Italy also might be taken as a model of domain and methods of functioning of the gender equality mechanisms as well as their connections with the EU development funds. Besides the Italian Ministry for Rights and Equal opportunities and the National Committee, the attention was paid to the whole range of local mechanisms and legal regulations dealing with advancement of women’s employment and counteracting discrimination on the labor market. In the text are analyzed through the five chapters the Italian mechanisms/institutions for gender equality as located within the European institutional environment but also within the context of Italian recent history of struggle against gender based discrimination. It was stressed that the essence of the accumulated European institutional wisdom is in diversity of the gender equality bodies rather then in their uniformity. Although the Italian mechanisms for gender equality are part of the European institutional environment their aim is to meet the internal needs for advancement of gender equality. Besides, the mechanisms also meet the demands of the international standards comprised in the documents issued by the UN and the EU. In European countries these mechanisms are frequently established and function in the domains of the labor and employment regulations, but also are located within the human rights portfolios while somewhere are connected with the minority rights and equal opportunity implementation.

Online dynamic equalization adjustment of high-power lithium-ion battery packs based on the state of balance estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Shunli; Shang, Liping; Li, Zhanfeng; Deng, Hu; Li, Jianchao

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A novel concept (SOB, State of Balance) is proposed for the LIB pack equalization. • Core parameter detection and filtering is analyzed to identify the LIB pack behavior. • The electrical UKF model is adopted for the online dynamic estimation. • The equalization target model is built based on the optimum preference. • Comprehensive imbalance state calculation is implemented for the adjustment. - Abstract: A novel concept named as state of balance (SOB) is proposed and its online dynamic estimation method is presented for the high-power lithium-ion battery (LIB) packs, based on which the online dynamic equalization adjustment is realized aiming to protect the operation safety of its power supply application. The core parameter detection method based on the specific moving average algorithm is studied because of their identical varying characteristics on the individual cells due to the manufacturing variability and other factors, affecting the performance of the high-power LIB pack. The SOB estimation method is realized with the detailed deduction, in which a dual filter consisting of the Unscented Kalman filter (UKF), equivalent circuit model (ECM) and open circuit voltage (OCV) is used in order to predict the SOB state. It is beneficial for the energy operation and the energy performance state can be evaluated online prior to the adjustment method based on the terminal voltage consistency. The energy equalization is realized that is based on the credibility reasoning together with the equalization model building process. The experiments including the core parameter detection, SOB estimation and equalization adjustment are done and the experimental results are analyzed. The experiment results show that the numerical Coulomb efficiency is bigger than 95%. The cell voltage measurement error is less than 5 mV and the terminal voltage measurement error of the LIB pack is less than 1% FS. The measurement error of the battery discharge and charge

Particle swarm optimization-based local entropy weighted histogram equalization for infrared image enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Minjie; Gu, Guohua; Qian, Weixian; Ren, Kan; Chen, Qian; Maldague, Xavier

2018-06-01

Infrared image enhancement plays a significant role in intelligent urban surveillance systems for smart city applications. Unlike existing methods only exaggerating the global contrast, we propose a particle swam optimization-based local entropy weighted histogram equalization which involves the enhancement of both local details and fore-and background contrast. First of all, a novel local entropy weighted histogram depicting the distribution of detail information is calculated based on a modified hyperbolic tangent function. Then, the histogram is divided into two parts via a threshold maximizing the inter-class variance in order to improve the contrasts of foreground and background, respectively. To avoid over-enhancement and noise amplification, double plateau thresholds of the presented histogram are formulated by means of particle swarm optimization algorithm. Lastly, each sub-image is equalized independently according to the constrained sub-local entropy weighted histogram. Comparative experiments implemented on real infrared images prove that our algorithm outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of both visual and quantized evaluations.

Visual Contrast Enhancement Algorithm Based on Histogram Equalization

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Chih-Chung; Wu, Bing-Fei; Chung, Meng-Liang; Chiu, Chung-Cheng; Wu, Ya-Ching

2015-01-01

Image enhancement techniques primarily improve the contrast of an image to lend it a better appearance. One of the popular enhancement methods is histogram equalization (HE) because of its simplicity and effectiveness. However, it is rarely applied to consumer electronics products because it can cause excessive contrast enhancement and feature loss problems. These problems make the images processed by HE look unnatural and introduce unwanted artifacts in them. In this study, a visual contrast enhancement algorithm (VCEA) based on HE is proposed. VCEA considers the requirements of the human visual perception in order to address the drawbacks of HE. It effectively solves the excessive contrast enhancement problem by adjusting the spaces between two adjacent gray values of the HE histogram. In addition, VCEA reduces the effects of the feature loss problem by using the obtained spaces. Furthermore, VCEA enhances the detailed textures of an image to generate an enhanced image with better visual quality. Experimental results show that images obtained by applying VCEA have higher contrast and are more suited to human visual perception than those processed by HE and other HE-based methods. PMID:26184219

Visual Contrast Enhancement Algorithm Based on Histogram Equalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Chung Ting

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Image enhancement techniques primarily improve the contrast of an image to lend it a better appearance. One of the popular enhancement methods is histogram equalization (HE because of its simplicity and effectiveness. However, it is rarely applied to consumer electronics products because it can cause excessive contrast enhancement and feature loss problems. These problems make the images processed by HE look unnatural and introduce unwanted artifacts in them. In this study, a visual contrast enhancement algorithm (VCEA based on HE is proposed. VCEA considers the requirements of the human visual perception in order to address the drawbacks of HE. It effectively solves the excessive contrast enhancement problem by adjusting the spaces between two adjacent gray values of the HE histogram. In addition, VCEA reduces the effects of the feature loss problem by using the obtained spaces. Furthermore, VCEA enhances the detailed textures of an image to generate an enhanced image with better visual quality. Experimental results show that images obtained by applying VCEA have higher contrast and are more suited to human visual perception than those processed by HE and other HE-based methods.

Detroit's Fight for Equal Educational Opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwerdling, A. L.

To meet the challenge of equal educational opportunity, current methods of public school finance must be revised. The present financial system, based on State equalization of local property tax valuation, is inequitable since it results in many school districts, particularly those in large cities, having inadequate resources to meet extraordinary…

COLOUR IMAGE ENHANCEMENT BASED ON HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION

OpenAIRE

Kanika Kapoor and Shaveta Arora

2015-01-01

Histogram equalization is a nonlinear technique for adjusting the contrast of an image using its histogram. It increases the brightness of a gray scale image which is different from the mean brightness of the original image. There are various types of Histogram equalization techniques like Histogram Equalization, Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization, Brightness Preserving Bi Histogram Equalization, Dualistic Sub Image Histogram Equalization, Minimum Mean Brightness Error Bi Histog...

Quantum Jarzynski equality of measurement-based work extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Morikuni, Yohei; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Hatano, Naomichi

2017-03-01

Many studies of quantum-size heat engines assume that the dynamics of an internal system is unitary and that the extracted work is equal to the energy loss of the internal system. Both assumptions, however, should be under scrutiny. In the present paper, we analyze quantum-scale heat engines, employing the measurement-based formulation of the work extraction recently introduced by Hayashi and Tajima [M. Hayashi and H. Tajima, arXiv:1504.06150]. We first demonstrate the inappropriateness of the unitary time evolution of the internal system (namely, the first assumption above) using a simple two-level system; we show that the variance of the energy transferred to an external system diverges when the dynamics of the internal system is approximated to a unitary time evolution. Second, we derive the quantum Jarzynski equality based on the formulation of Hayashi and Tajima as a relation for the work measured by an external macroscopic apparatus. The right-hand side of the equality reduces to unity for "natural" cyclic processes but fluctuates wildly for noncyclic ones, exceeding unity often. This fluctuation should be detectable in experiments and provide evidence for the present formulation.

High Speed PAM -8 Optical Interconnects with Digital Equalization based on Neural Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaiarin, Simone; Pang, Xiaodan; Ozolins, Oskars

2016-01-01

We experimentally evaluate a high-speed optical interconnection link with neural network equalization. Enhanced equalization performances are shown comparing to standard linear FFE for an EML-based 32 GBd PAM-8 signal after 4-km SMF transmission.......We experimentally evaluate a high-speed optical interconnection link with neural network equalization. Enhanced equalization performances are shown comparing to standard linear FFE for an EML-based 32 GBd PAM-8 signal after 4-km SMF transmission....

Device and Method for Continuously Equalizing the Charge State of Lithium Ion Battery Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Paul D. (Inventor); Martin, Mark N. (Inventor); Roufberg, Lewis M. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A method of equalizing charge states of individual cells in a battery includes measuring a previous cell voltage for each cell, measuring a previous shunt current for each cell, calculating, based on the previous cell voltage and the previous shunt current, an adjusted cell voltage for each cell, determining a lowest adjusted cell voltage from among the calculated adjusted cell voltages, and calculating a new shunt current for each cell.

The neural bases for valuing social equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki, Ryuta; Yomogida, Yukihito; Matsumoto, Kenji

2015-01-01

The neural basis of how humans value and pursue social equality has become a major topic in social neuroscience research. Although recent studies have identified a set of brain regions and possible mechanisms that are involved in the neural processing of equality of outcome between individuals, how the human brain processes equality of opportunity remains unknown. In this review article, first we describe the importance of the distinction between equality of outcome and equality of opportunity, which has been emphasized in philosophy and economics. Next, we discuss possible approaches for empirical characterization of human valuation of equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome. Understanding how these two concepts are distinct and interact with each other may provide a better explanation of complex human behaviors concerning fairness and social equality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Runge-Kutta Integration of the Equal Width Wave Equation Using the Method of Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Banaja

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The equal width (EW equation governs nonlinear wave phenomena like waves in shallow water. Numerical solution of the (EW equation is obtained by using the method of lines (MOL based on Runge-Kutta integration. Using von Neumann stability analysis, the scheme is found to be unconditionally stable. Solitary wave motion and interaction of two solitary waves are studied using the proposed method. The three invariants of the motion are evaluated to determine the conservation properties of the generated scheme. Accuracy of the proposed method is discussed by computing the L2 and L∞ error norms. The results are found in good agreement with exact solution.

Chip-Level Channel Equalization in WCDMA Downlink

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kari Hooli

2002-08-01

Full Text Available The most important third generation (3G cellular communications standard is based on wideband CDMA (WCDMA. Receivers based on TDMA style channel equalization at the chip level have been proposed for a WCDMA downlink employing long spreading sequences to ensure adequate performance even with a high number of active users. These receivers equalize the channel prior to despreading, thus restoring the orthogonality of users and resulting in multiple-access interference (MAI suppression. In this paper, an overview of chip-level channel equalizers is delivered with special attention to adaptation methods suitable for the WCDMA downlink. Numerical examples on the equalizers′ performance are given in Rayleigh fading frequency-selective channels.

Joint polarization tracking and channel equalization based on radius-directed linear Kalman filter

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qun; Yang, Yanfu; Zhong, Kangping; Liu, Jie; Wu, Xiong; Yao, Yong

2018-01-01

We propose a joint polarization tracking and channel equalization scheme based on radius-directed linear Kalman filter (RD-LKF) by introducing the butterfly finite-impulse-response (FIR) filter in our previously proposed RD-LKF method. Along with the fast polarization tracking, it can also simultaneously compensate the inter-symbol interference (ISI) effects including residual chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion. Compared with the conventional radius-directed equalizer (RDE) algorithm, it is demonstrated experimentally that three times faster convergence speed, one order of magnitude better tracking capability, and better BER performance is obtained in polarization division multiplexing 16 quadrature amplitude modulation system. Besides, the influences of the algorithm parameters on the convergence and the tracking performance are investigated by numerical simulation.

Iterative Refinement Methods for Time-Domain Equalizer Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evans Brian L

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Commonly used time domain equalizer (TEQ design methods have been recently unified as an optimization problem involving an objective function in the form of a Rayleigh quotient. The direct generalized eigenvalue solution relies on matrix decompositions. To reduce implementation complexity, we propose an iterative refinement approach in which the TEQ length starts at two taps and increases by one tap at each iteration. Each iteration involves matrix-vector multiplications and vector additions with matrices and two-element vectors. At each iteration, the optimization of the objective function either improves or the approach terminates. The iterative refinement approach provides a range of communication performance versus implementation complexity tradeoffs for any TEQ method that fits the Rayleigh quotient framework. We apply the proposed approach to three such TEQ design methods: maximum shortening signal-to-noise ratio, minimum intersymbol interference, and minimum delay spread.

Application of the Exp-function method to the equal-width wave equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biazar, J; Ayati, Z

2008-01-01

In this paper, the Exp-function method is used to find an exact solution of the equal-width wave (EW) equation. The method is straightforward and concise, and its applications are promising. It is shown that the Exp-function method, with the help of symbolic computation, provides a very effective and powerful mathematical tool for solving the EW equation.

Local Contrast Enhancement Utilizing Bidirectional Switching Equalization of Separated and Clipped Subhistograms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haidi Ibrahim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Digital image contrast enhancement methods that are based on histogram equalization technique are still useful for the use in consumer electronic products due to their simple implementation. However, almost all the suggested enhancement methods are using global processing technique, which does not emphasize local contents. Therefore, this paper proposes a new local image contrast enhancement method, based on histogram equalization technique, which not only enhances the contrast, but also increases the sharpness of the image. Besides, this method is also able to preserve the mean brightness of the image. In order to limit the noise amplification, this newly proposed method utilizes local mean-separation, and clipped histogram bins methodologies. Based on nine test color images and the benchmark with other three histogram equalization based methods, the proposed technique shows the best overall performance.

A Cell-to-Cell Equalizer Based on Three-Resonant-State Switched-Capacitor Converters for Series-Connected Battery Strings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunlong Shang

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Due to the low cost, small size, and ease of control, the switched-capacitor (SC battery equalizers are promising among active balancing methods. However, it is difficult to achieve the full cell equalization for the SC equalizers due to the inevitable voltage drops across Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET switches. Moreover, when the voltage gap among cells is larger, the balancing efficiency is lower, while the balancing speed becomes slower as the voltage gap gets smaller. In order to soften these downsides, this paper proposes a cell-to-cell battery equalization topology with zero-current switching (ZCS and zero-voltage gap (ZVG among cells based on three-resonant-state SC converters. Based on the conventional inductor-capacitor (LC converter, an additional resonant path is built to release the charge of the capacitor into the inductor in each switching cycle, which lays the foundations for obtaining ZVG among cells, improves the balancing efficiency at a large voltage gap, and increases the balancing speed at a small voltage gap. A four-lithium-ion-cell prototype is applied to validate the theoretical analysis. Experiment results demonstrate that the proposed topology has good equalization performances with fast equalization, ZCS, and ZVG among cells.

A negentropy minimization approach to adaptive equalization for digital communication systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sooyong; Lee, Te-Won

2004-07-01

In this paper, we introduce and investigate a new adaptive equalization method based on minimizing approximate negentropy of the estimation error for a finite-length equalizer. We consider an approximate negentropy using nonpolynomial expansions of the estimation error as a new performance criterion to improve performance of a linear equalizer based on minimizing minimum mean squared error (MMSE). Negentropy includes higher order statistical information and its minimization provides improved converge, performance and accuracy compared to traditional methods such as MMSE in terms of bit error rate (BER). The proposed negentropy minimization (NEGMIN) equalizer has two kinds of solutions, the MMSE solution and the other one, depending on the ratio of the normalization parameters. The NEGMIN equalizer has best BER performance when the ratio of the normalization parameters is properly adjusted to maximize the output power(variance) of the NEGMIN equalizer. Simulation experiments show that BER performance of the NEGMIN equalizer with the other solution than the MMSE one has similar characteristics to the adaptive minimum bit error rate (AMBER) equalizer. The main advantage of the proposed equalizer is that it needs significantly fewer training symbols than the AMBER equalizer. Furthermore, the proposed equalizer is more robust to nonlinear distortions than the MMSE equalizer.

Equality = Inequality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khaled, Rilla

2011-01-01

A number of design and development methods, including participatory design and agile software development, are premised on an underlying assumption of equality amongst relevant stakeholders such as designers, developers, product owners, and end users. Equality, however, is not a straightforwardly...... an ethnography conducted during the workshop, including location, cultural and classroom hierarchies, gender, “girl games”, stakeholders and boundaries, and risk mitigation....

TROUBLING GENDER EQUALITY: REVISITING GENDER EQUALITY WORK IN THE FAMOUS NORDIC MODEL COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlotta Edström

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article concerns gender equality work, that is, those educational and workplace activities that involve the promotion of gender equality. It is based on research conducted in Sweden and Finland, and focuses on the period during which the public sector has become more market-oriented and project-based all over the Nordic countries. The consequences of this development on gender equality work have not yet been thoroughly analysed. Our joint empirical analysis is based on discourse-analytic methodology and two previous empirical studies. By analysing interviews conducted with people involved in gender equality work, this article emphasises the effects of market-oriented and project-based gender equality work in education and working life in Sweden and in Finland. The findings highlight an alliance between projectisation and heteronormativity that acts to regulate how gender equality ought to be talked about in order for its issues to be heard. A persistently constructed ‘remedy’ to ‘the gender equality problem’ is that girls and women are positioned as ‘needing’ to change more than boys and men, by adopting more traditionally ‘masculine manners’ and choosing to work in more ‘masculine sectors’. The findings also show that the constitutive forces of these discourses provide little leeway for critical perspectives.

A Novel Efficient Cluster-Based MLSE Equalizer for Satellite Communication Channels with -QAM Signaling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalakas Vassilis

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In satellites, nonlinear amplifiers used near saturation severely distort the transmitted signal and cause difficulties in its reception. Nevertheless, the nonlinearities introduced by memoryless bandpass amplifiers preserve the symmetries of the -ary quadrature amplitude modulation ( -QAM constellation. In this paper, a cluster-based sequence equalizer (CBSE that takes advantage of these symmetries is presented. The proposed equalizer exhibits enhanced performance compared to other techniques, including the conventional linear transversal equalizer, Volterra equalizers, and RBF network equalizers. Moreover, this gain in performance is obtained at a substantially lower computational cost.

A PCA and ELM Based Adaptive Method for Channel Equalization in MFL Inspection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenning Wu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Magnetic flux leakage (MFL as an efficient method for pipeline flaw detection plays important role in pipeline safety. This nondestructive test technique assesses the health of the buried pipeline. The signal is gathered by an array of hall-effect sensors disposed at the magnetic neutral plane of a pair of permanent magnet in the pipeline inspection gauge (PIG clinging to the inner surface of the pipe wall. The magnetic flux measured by the sensors reflects the health condition of the pipe. The signal is influenced by not only the condition of the pipe, but also by the lift-off value of the sensors and various properties of electronic component. The consistency of the position of the sensors is almost never satisfied and each sensor measures differently. In this paper, a new scheme of channel equalization is proposed for MFL signal in order to correct sensor misalignments, which eventually improves accuracy of defect characterization. The algorithm proposed in this paper is adaptive to the effects of error on the disposition of the sensor due to manufacturing imperfections and movements of the sensors. The algorithm is tested by data acquired from an experimental pipeline. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Quadrant Dynamic with Automatic Plateau Limit Histogram Equalization for Image Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Jagatheeswari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The fundamental and important preprocessing stage in image processing is the image contrast enhancement technique. Histogram equalization is an effective contrast enhancement technique. In this paper, a histogram equalization based technique called quadrant dynamic with automatic plateau limit histogram equalization (QDAPLHE is introduced. In this method, a hybrid of dynamic and clipped histogram equalization methods are used to increase the brightness preservation and to reduce the overenhancement. Initially, the proposed QDAPLHE algorithm passes the input image through a median filter to remove the noises present in the image. Then the histogram of the filtered image is divided into four subhistograms while maintaining second separated point as the mean brightness. Then the clipping process is implemented by calculating automatically the plateau limit as the clipped level. The clipped portion of the histogram is modified to reduce the loss of image intensity value. Finally the clipped portion is redistributed uniformly to the entire dynamic range and the conventional histogram equalization is executed in each subhistogram independently. Based on the qualitative and the quantitative analysis, the QDAPLHE method outperforms some existing methods in literature.

Troubling gender equality: Revisiting gender equality work in the famous Nordic model countries

OpenAIRE

Edström, Charlotta; Brunila, Kristiina

2016-01-01

This article concerns gender equality work, that is, those educational and workplace activities that involve the promotion of gender equality. It is based on research conducted in Sweden and Finland, and focuses on the period during which the public sector has become more market-oriented and project-based all over the Nordic countries. The consequences of this development on gender equality work have not yet been thoroughly analysed. Our joint empirical analysis is based on discourse-analytic...

Analysis of the equalizing holes resistance in fuel assembly spike for lead-based reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Guangyu; Jin, Ming; Wang, Jianye; Song, Yong

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A RELAP5 model for a 10 MWth lead-based reactor was built to study the hydrodynamic characteristics between the equalizing holes in the fuel assembly spike. • Different fuel assembly total blockage scenarios and different resistances for different fuel assemblies were examined. • The inherent safety characteristics of the lead-based reactor was improved by optimizing the configuration of equalizing holes in the fuel assembly spike. - Abstract: To avoid the damage of the fuel rod cladding when a fuel assembly (FA) is totally blocked, a special configuration of the fuel assembly spike was designed with some equalizing holes in the center region which can let the coolant to flow during the totally blockage scenarios of FA. To study the hydrodynamic characteristics between the equalizing holes and an appropriate resistance, a RELAP5 model was developed for a 10 MWth lead-based reactor which used lead-bismuth as coolant. Several FA total blockage and partial core blockage scenarios were selected. The simulation results indicated that when all the FA spike equalizing holes had the same hydraulic resistance, only a narrow range of suitable equalizing holes resistances could be chosen when a FA was blocked. However, in the two or more FA blockage scenarios, there were no appropriate resistances to meet the requirement. In addition, with different FA spike equalizing holes with different resistances, a large range of suitable equalizing hole resistances could be chosen. Especially a series of suitable resistances were selected when the small power FA resistance was 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 of the large one. Under these circumstances, one, two or three FA blockages would not damage the core. These demonstrated that selecting a series of suitable hydraulic resistances for the equalizing holes could improve the safety characteristics of the reactor effectively.

A Crossed Pack-to-Cell Equalizer Based on Quasi-Resonant LC Converter with Adaptive Fuzzy Logic Equalization Control for Series-connected Lithium-Ion Battery Strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shang, Yunlong; Zhang, Chenghui; Cui, Naxin

2015-01-01

The equalization speed, efficiency, and control are the key issues of battery equalization. This paper proposes a crossed pack-to-cell equalizer based on quasi-resonant LC converter (QRLCC). The battery string is divided into M modules, and each module consists of N series-connected cells....... The energy can be transferred directly from a battery module to the lowest voltage cell (LVC) in the next adjacent module, which results in an enhancement of equalization efficiency and current. The QRLCC is employed to gain zero-current switching (ZCS), leading to a reduction of power losses......-equalization. A prototype with eight lithiumion battery cells is implemented. Experimental results show the proposed scheme exhibits outstanding balancing performance, and the equalization efficiency is higher than 98%. The proposed AFLC algorithm abridges the total equalization time about 47%, and reduces the switching...

COMPANY VALUATION METHODS BASED ON PATRIMONY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUCIU GHEORGHE

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The methods used for the company valuation can be divided into 3 main groups: methods based on patrimony,methods based on financial performance, methods based both on patrimony and on performance. The companyvaluation methods based on patrimony are implemented taking into account the balance sheet or the financialstatement. The financial statement refers to that type of balance in which the assets are arranged according to liquidity,and the liabilities according to their financial maturity date. The patrimonial methods are based on the principle thatthe value of the company equals that of the patrimony it owns. From a legal point of view, the patrimony refers to allthe rights and obligations of a company. The valuation of companies based on their financial performance can be donein 3 ways: the return value, the yield value, the present value of the cash flows. The mixed methods depend both onpatrimony and on financial performance or can make use of other methods.

A New Continuous-Time Equality-Constrained Optimization to Avoid Singularity.

Science.gov (United States)

Quan, Quan; Cai, Kai-Yuan

2016-02-01

In equality-constrained optimization, a standard regularity assumption is often associated with feasible point methods, namely, that the gradients of constraints are linearly independent. In practice, the regularity assumption may be violated. In order to avoid such a singularity, a new projection matrix is proposed based on which a feasible point method to continuous-time, equality-constrained optimization is developed. First, the equality constraint is transformed into a continuous-time dynamical system with solutions that always satisfy the equality constraint. Second, a new projection matrix without singularity is proposed to realize the transformation. An update (or say a controller) is subsequently designed to decrease the objective function along the solutions of the transformed continuous-time dynamical system. The invariance principle is then applied to analyze the behavior of the solution. Furthermore, the proposed method is modified to address cases in which solutions do not satisfy the equality constraint. Finally, the proposed optimization approach is applied to three examples to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Histogram equalization with Bayesian estimation for noise robust speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Youngjoo; Kim, Hoirin

2018-02-01

The histogram equalization approach is an efficient feature normalization technique for noise robust automatic speech recognition. However, it suffers from performance degradation when some fundamental conditions are not satisfied in the test environment. To remedy these limitations of the original histogram equalization methods, class-based histogram equalization approach has been proposed. Although this approach showed substantial performance improvement under noise environments, it still suffers from performance degradation due to the overfitting problem when test data are insufficient. To address this issue, the proposed histogram equalization technique employs the Bayesian estimation method in the test cumulative distribution function estimation. It was reported in a previous study conducted on the Aurora-4 task that the proposed approach provided substantial performance gains in speech recognition systems based on the acoustic modeling of the Gaussian mixture model-hidden Markov model. In this work, the proposed approach was examined in speech recognition systems with deep neural network-hidden Markov model (DNN-HMM), the current mainstream speech recognition approach where it also showed meaningful performance improvement over the conventional maximum likelihood estimation-based method. The fusion of the proposed features with the mel-frequency cepstral coefficients provided additional performance gains in DNN-HMM systems, which otherwise suffer from performance degradation in the clean test condition.

Some Equalities Are More Equal Than Others: Quality Equality Emerges Later Than Numerical Equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheskin, Mark; Nadal, Amber; Croom, Adam; Mayer, Tanya; Nissel, Jenny; Bloom, Paul

2016-09-01

By age 6, children typically share an equal number of resources between themselves and others. However, fairness involves not merely that each person receive an equal number of resources ("numerical equality") but also that each person receive equal quality resources ("quality equality"). In Study 1, children (N = 87, 3-10 years) typically split four resources "two each" by age 6, but typically monopolized the better two resources until age 10. In Study 2, a new group of 6- to 8-year-olds (N = 32) allocated resources to third parties according to quality equality, indicating that children in this age group understand that fairness requires both types of equality. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Blind equalization for dual-polarization two-subcarrier coherent QPSK-OFDM signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fan; Zhang, Junwen; Yu, Jianjun; Li, Xinying

2014-01-15

Dual-polarization two-subcarrier coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) transmission and reception is successfully demonstrated with blind equalization. A two-subcarrier quadrature phase shift keyed OFDM (QPSK-OFDM) signal can be equalized as a 9-ary quadrature amplitude modulation signal in the time domain with the cascaded multimodulus algorithm equalization method. The nonlinear effect resistance and transmission distance can be enhanced compared with the traditional CO-OFDM transmission system based on frequency equalization with training sequence.

Can the impact of gender equality on health be measured? a cross-sectional study comparing measures based on register data with individual survey-based data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sörlin Ann

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to investigate potential associations between gender equality at work and self-rated health. Methods 2861 employees in 21 companies were invited to participate in a survey. The mean response rate was 49.2%. The questionnaire contained 65 questions, mainly on gender equality and health. Two logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations between (i self-rated health and a register-based company gender equality index (OGGI, and (ii self-rated health and self-rated gender equality at work. Results Even though no association was found between the OGGI and health, women who rated their company as “completely equal” or “quite equal” had higher odds of reporting “good health” compared to women who perceived their company as “not equal” (OR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.4 – 5.5 and OR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.6-4.6. Although not statistically significant, we observed the same trends in men. The results were adjusted for age, highest education level, income, full or part-time employment, and type of company based on the OGGI. Conclusions No association was found between gender equality in companies, measured by register-based index (OGGI, and health. However, perceived gender equality at work positively affected women’s self-rated health but not men’s. Further investigations are necessary to determine whether the results are fully credible given the contemporary health patterns and positions in the labour market of women and men or whether the results are driven by selection patterns.

Enhancement of Edge-based Image Quality Measures Using Entropy for Histogram Equalization-based Contrast Enhancement Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. T. R. Kurmasha

2017-12-01

Full Text Available An Edge-based image quality measure (IQM technique for the assessment of histogram equalization (HE-based contrast enhancement techniques has been proposed that outperforms the Absolute Mean Brightness Error (AMBE and Entropy which are the most commonly used IQMs to evaluate Histogram Equalization based techniques, and also the two prominent fidelity-based IQMs which are Multi-Scale Structural Similarity (MSSIM and Information Fidelity Criterion-based (IFC measures. The statistical evaluation results show that the Edge-based IQM, which was designed for detecting noise artifacts distortion, has a Person Correlation Coefficient (PCC > 0.86 while the others have poor or fair correlation to human opinion, considering the Human Visual Perception (HVP. Based on HVP, this paper propose an enhancement to classic Edge-based IQM by taking into account the brightness saturation distortion which is the most prominent distortion in HE-based contrast enhancement techniques. It is tested and found to have significantly well correlation (PCC > 0.87, Spearman rank order correlation coefficient (SROCC > 0.92, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE < 0.1054, and Outlier Ratio (OR = 0%.

A prediction method based on grey system theory in equipment condition based maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Shengyuan; Yan, Shengyuan; Zhang, Hongguo; Zhang, Zhijian; Peng, Minjun; Yang, Ming

2007-01-01

Grey prediction is a modeling method based on historical or present, known or indefinite information, which can be used for forecasting the development of the eigenvalues of the targeted equipment system and setting up the model by using less information. In this paper, the postulate of grey system theory, which includes the grey generating, the sorts of grey generating and the grey forecasting model, is introduced first. The concrete application process, which includes the grey prediction modeling, grey prediction, error calculation, equal dimension and new information approach, is introduced secondly. Application of a so-called 'Equal Dimension and New Information' (EDNI) technology in grey system theory is adopted in an application case, aiming at improving the accuracy of prediction without increasing the amount of calculation by replacing old data with new ones. The proposed method can provide a new way for solving the problem of eigenvalue data exploding in equal distance effectively, short time interval and real time prediction. The proposed method, which was based on historical or present, known or indefinite information, was verified by the vibration prediction of induced draft fan of a boiler of the Yantai Power Station in China, and the results show that the proposed method based on grey system theory is simple and provides a high accuracy in prediction. So, it is very useful and significant to the controlling and controllable management in safety production. (authors)

Investigation of the equality constraint effect on the reduction of the rotational ambiguity in three-component system using a novel grid search method.

Science.gov (United States)

Beyramysoltan, Samira; Rajkó, Róbert; Abdollahi, Hamid

2013-08-12

The obtained results by soft modeling multivariate curve resolution methods often are not unique and are questionable because of rotational ambiguity. It means a range of feasible solutions equally fit experimental data and fulfill the constraints. Regarding to chemometric literature, a survey of useful constraints for the reduction of the rotational ambiguity is a big challenge for chemometrician. It is worth to study the effects of applying constraints on the reduction of rotational ambiguity, since it can help us to choose the useful constraints in order to impose in multivariate curve resolution methods for analyzing data sets. In this work, we have investigated the effect of equality constraint on decreasing of the rotational ambiguity. For calculation of all feasible solutions corresponding with known spectrum, a novel systematic grid search method based on Species-based Particle Swarm Optimization is proposed in a three-component system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dis-Equality: Exploring the Juxtaposition of Disability and Equality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bronagh Byrne

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The (inequality issues facing disabled people are extensive and long-enduring. The way(s in which equality is conceptualised has important consequences for understandings of disability. The ambiguity of what I call dis-equality theory is two-fold; the apparent failure of mainstream equality theorising in, firstly, embracing disability concepts at all, and secondly, in fully incorporating the logistics of disability, particularly in relation to the social construction of such. Practices of institutional and more complex forms of discrimination are part of those deeper structures of domination and oppression which maintain disabled people in positions of disadvantage. Everyday practices, in the ‘ordinary order of things’ (Bourdieu, 2000, continue to be misrecognised as natural and taken for granted. This article critically explores the complexity of dis-equality theorising utilising a Bourdieusian lens which explicitly incorporates complex and subtle forms of discrimination, and by examining the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ approach to equality. I argue that the way forward for dis-equality theorising in today’s rights based era must be one that considers the nuances of the ‘rules of the game’ (Young, 1990 if it is to be effective in challenging the inequalities to which disabled people have long been subject.

Americans misperceive racial economic equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraus, Michael W; Rucker, Julian M; Richeson, Jennifer A

2017-09-26

The present research documents the widespread misperception of race-based economic equality in the United States. Across four studies ( n = 1,377) sampling White and Black Americans from the top and bottom of the national income distribution, participants overestimated progress toward Black-White economic equality, largely driven by estimates of greater current equality than actually exists according to national statistics. Overestimates of current levels of racial economic equality, on average, outstripped reality by roughly 25% and were predicted by greater belief in a just world and social network racial diversity (among Black participants). Whereas high-income White respondents tended to overestimate racial economic equality in the past, Black respondents, on average, underestimated the degree of past racial economic equality. Two follow-up experiments further revealed that making societal racial discrimination salient increased the accuracy of Whites' estimates of Black-White economic equality, whereas encouraging Whites to anchor their estimates on their own circumstances increased their tendency to overestimate current racial economic equality. Overall, these findings suggest a profound misperception of and unfounded optimism regarding societal race-based economic equality-a misperception that is likely to have any number of important policy implications.

Indefinitely preconditioned inexact Newton method for large sparse equality constrained non-linear programming problems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lukšan, Ladislav; Vlček, Jan

1998-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 3 (1998), s. 219-247 ISSN 1070-5325 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/96/0918 Keywords : nonlinear programming * sparse problems * equality constraints * truncated Newton method * augmented Lagrangian function * indefinite systems * indefinite preconditioners * conjugate gradient method * residual smoothing Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.741, year: 1998

Troubling Gender Equality: Revisiting Gender Equality Work in the Famous Nordic Model Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Edström, Charlotta; Brunila, Kristiina

2016-01-01

This article concerns gender equality work, that is, those educational and workplace activities that involve the promotion of gender equality. It is based on research conducted in Sweden and Finland, and focuses on the period during which the public sector has become more market-oriented and project-based all over the Nordic countries. The…

A Social Recognition Approach to Autonomy: The Role of Equality-Based Respect.

Science.gov (United States)

Renger, Daniela; Renger, Sophus; Miché, Marcel; Simon, Bernd

2017-04-01

Inspired by philosophical reasoning about the connection between equality and freedom, we examined whether experiences of (equality-based) respect increase perceived autonomy. This link was tested with generalized experiences of respect and autonomy people make in their daily lives (Study 1) and with more specific experiences of employees at the workplace (Study 2). In both studies, respect strongly and independently contributed to perceived autonomy over and above other forms of social recognition (need-based care and achievement-based social esteem) and further affected (life/work) satisfaction. Study 3 experimentally confirmed the hypothesized causal influence of respect on perceived autonomy and demonstrated that this effect further translates into social cooperation. The respect-cooperation link was simultaneously mediated by perceived autonomy and superordinate collective identification. We discuss how the recognition approach, which differentiates between respect, care, and social esteem, can enrich research on autonomy.

Pathways of equality through education: impact of gender (in)equality and maternal education on exclusive breastfeeding among natives and migrants in Belgium.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderlinden, Karen; Van de Putte, Bart

2017-04-01

Even though breastfeeding is typically considered the preferred feeding method for infants worldwide, in Belgium, breastfeeding rates remain low across native and migrant groups while the underlying determinants are unclear. Furthermore, research examining contextual effects, especially regarding gender (in)equality and ideology, has not been conducted. We hypothesized that greater gender equality scores in the country of origin will result in higher breastfeeding chances. Because gender equality does not operate only at the contextual level but can be mediated through individual level resources, we hypothesized the following for maternal education: higher maternal education will be an important positive predictor for exclusive breastfeeding chances in Belgium, but its effects will differ over subsequent origin countries. Based on IKAROS data (GeÏntegreerd Kind Activiteiten en Regio Ondersteunings Systeem), we perform multilevel analyses on 27 936 newborns. Feeding method is indicated by exclusive breastfeeding 3 months after childbirth. We measure gender (in)equality using Global Gender Gap scores from the mother's origin country. Maternal education is a metric variable based on International Standard Classification of Education indicators. Results show that 3.6% of the variation in breastfeeding can be explained by differences between the migrant mother's country of origin. However, the effect of gender (in)equality appears to be non-significant. After adding maternal education, the effect for origin countries scoring low on gender equality turns significant. Maternal education on its own shows strong positive association with exclusive breastfeeding and, furthermore, has different effects for different origin countries. Possible explanations are discussed in-depth setting direction for further research regarding the different pathways gender (in)equality and maternal education affect breastfeeding. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons

Early Understanding of Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, Mairéad; McMahon, Áine

2013-01-01

Quite a bit of the arithmetic in elementary school contains elements of algebraic reasoning. After researching and testing a number of instructional strategies with Irish third graders, these authors found effective methods for cultivating a relational concept of equality in third-grade students. Understanding equality is fundamental to algebraic…

Ellipsoidal terrain correction based on multi-cylindrical equal-area map projection of the reference ellipsoid

Science.gov (United States)

Ardalan, A. A.; Safari, A.

2004-09-01

direction, it can be concluded that a method for terrain correction (or local gravity field modeling) based on closed-form solution of the Newton integral in terms of Cartesian coordinates of a multi-cylindrical equal-area map projection of the reference ellipsoid has been developed which has the accuracy of terrain correction (or local gravity field modeling) based on the Newton integral in terms of ellipsoidal coordinates.

Underwater image quality enhancement of sea cucumbers based on improved histogram equalization and wavelet transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xi Qiao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Sea cucumbers usually live in an environment where lighting and visibility are generally not controllable, which cause the underwater image of sea cucumbers to be distorted, blurred, and severely attenuated. Therefore, the valuable information from such an image cannot be fully extracted for further processing. To solve the problems mentioned above and improve the quality of the underwater images of sea cucumbers, pre-processing of a sea cucumber image is attracting increasing interest. This paper presents a new method based on contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization and wavelet transform (CLAHE-WT to enhance the sea cucumber image quality. CLAHE was used to process the underwater image for increasing contrast based on the Rayleigh distribution, and WT was used for de-noising based on a soft threshold. Qualitative analysis indicated that the proposed method exhibited better performance in enhancing the quality and retaining the image details. For quantitative analysis, the test with 120 underwater images showed that for the proposed method, the mean square error (MSE, peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR, and entropy were 49.2098, 13.3909, and 6.6815, respectively. The proposed method outperformed three established methods in enhancing the visual quality of sea cucumber underwater gray image.

Web-based versus traditional lecture: are they equally effective as a flexible bronchoscopy teaching method?

OpenAIRE

Sterse Mata, Caio Augusto [UNIFESP; Ota, Luiz Hirotoshi [UNIFESP; Suzuki, Iunis [UNIFESP; Telles, Adriana [UNIFESP; Miotto, Andre [UNIFESP; Leao, Luiz Eduardo Villaca [UNIFESP

2012-01-01

This study compares the traditional live lecture to a web-based approach in the teaching of bronchoscopy and evaluates the positive and negative aspects of both methods. We developed a web-based bronchoscopy curriculum, which integrates texts, images and animations. It was applied to first-year interns, who were later administered a multiple-choice test. Another group of eight first-year interns received the traditional teaching method and the same test. the two groups were compared using the...

A Loudness Function for Analog and Digital Sound Systems based on Equal Loudness Level Contours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal

2016-01-01

frequency balance will been changed both for LL lower or higher than ML. The differences in ELLC ask for a level based equalization using fractional-order filters. A designing technique for both analog and digital fractional-order filters was developed. The analog solution is based on OPAMs and the digital......A new and better loudness compensation has been designed based on the differences between the Equal Loudness Level Contours (ELLC) in ISO 226:2003. Sound productions are normally being mixed at a high mixing level (ML) but often played at lower listening level (LL) which mean that the perceived...

Histogram Equalization to Model Adaptation for Robust Speech Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suh Youngjoo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a new model adaptation method based on the histogram equalization technique for providing robustness in noisy environments. The trained acoustic mean models of a speech recognizer are adapted into environmentally matched conditions by using the histogram equalization algorithm on a single utterance basis. For more robust speech recognition in the heavily noisy conditions, trained acoustic covariance models are efficiently adapted by the signal-to-noise ratio-dependent linear interpolation between trained covariance models and utterance-level sample covariance models. Speech recognition experiments on both the digit-based Aurora2 task and the large vocabulary-based task showed that the proposed model adaptation approach provides significant performance improvements compared to the baseline speech recognizer trained on the clean speech data.

A method for computing the stationary points of a function subject to linear equality constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uko, U.L.

1989-09-01

We give a new method for the numerical calculation of stationary points of a function when it is subject to equality constraints. An application to the solution of linear equations is given, together with a numerical example. (author). 5 refs

THE EQUALITY PRINCIPLE REQUIREMENTS

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CLAUDIA ANDRIŢOI

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The problem premises and the objectives followed: the idea of inserting the equality principle between the freedom and the justice principles is manifested in positive law in two stages, as a general idea of all judicial norms and as requirement of the owner of a subjective right of the applicants of an objective law. Equality in face of the law and of public authorities can not involve the idea of standardization, of uniformity, of enlisting of all citizens under the mark of the same judicial regime, regardless of their natural or socio-professional situation. Through the Beijing Platform and the position documents of the European Commission we have defined the integrative approach of equality as representing an active and visible integration of the gender perspective in all sectors and at all levels. The research methods used are: the conceptualist method, the logical method and the intuitive method necessary as means of reasoning in order to argue our demonstration. We have to underline the fact that the system analysis of the research methods of the judicial phenomenon doesn’t agree with “value ranking”, because one value cannot be generalized in rapport to another. At the same time, we must fight against a methodological extremism. The final purpose of this study is represented by the reaching of the perfecting/excellence stage by all individuals through the promotion of equality and freedom. This supposes the fact that the existence of a non-discrimination favourable frame (fairness represents a means and a condition of self-determination, and the state of perfection/excellency is a result of this self-determination, the condition necessary for the obtaining of this nondiscrimination frame for all of us and in conditions of freedom for all individuals, represents the same condition that promotes the state of perfection/excellency. In conclusion we may state the fact that the equality principle represents a true catalyst of the

Can the impact of gender equality on health be measured? A cross-sectional study comparing measures based on register data with individual survey-based data.

Science.gov (United States)

Sörlin, Ann; Öhman, Ann; Ng, Nawi; Lindholm, Lars

2012-09-17

The aim of this study was to investigate potential associations between gender equality at work and self-rated health. 2861 employees in 21 companies were invited to participate in a survey. The mean response rate was 49.2%. The questionnaire contained 65 questions, mainly on gender equality and health. Two logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations between (i) self-rated health and a register-based company gender equality index (OGGI), and (ii) self-rated health and self-rated gender equality at work. Even though no association was found between the OGGI and health, women who rated their company as "completely equal" or "quite equal" had higher odds of reporting "good health" compared to women who perceived their company as "not equal" (OR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.4 - 5.5 and OR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.6-4.6). Although not statistically significant, we observed the same trends in men. The results were adjusted for age, highest education level, income, full or part-time employment, and type of company based on the OGGI. No association was found between gender equality in companies, measured by register-based index (OGGI), and health. However, perceived gender equality at work positively affected women's self-rated health but not men's. Further investigations are necessary to determine whether the results are fully credible given the contemporary health patterns and positions in the labour market of women and men or whether the results are driven by selection patterns.

Studies on Equalization Strategy of Battery Management System for Electric Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan Jinrui

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Battery management system is one of the key technologies strengthening practical utilization and industrialization of electric vehicles. As an integral part of the battery management system, equalization system played an important role in development of electric vehicles. Based on the analysis of the key technologies of electric vehicle and the development trend of battery management system, a systematic method for bi-directional equalization of lithium ion battery pack is presented in this paper. The basic principle utilizes a Flyback Converter with a multiwinding transformer. Equalization with voltage is employed to balance the cell voltage of battery pack. In order to ensure the accuracy requirements of the cell voltage, a voltage measurement scheme based on analog multiplexers using photoelectric relay was adopted in this unit to detect the voltage of battery one by one. Experimental results show that the proposed battery equalization scheme can not only enhance the uniformity of power battery pack, but also improve the life of the battery as a whole.

29 CFR 1620.25 - Equalization of rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equalization of rates. 1620.25 Section 1620.25 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.25 Equalization of rates. Under the express terms of the EPA, when a prohibited sex-based wage differential has...

Automatic latency equalization in VHDL-implemented complex pipelined systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zabołotny, Wojciech M.

2016-09-01

In the pipelined data processing systems it is very important to ensure that parallel paths delay data by the same number of clock cycles. If that condition is not met, the processing blocks receive data not properly aligned in time and produce incorrect results. Manual equalization of latencies is a tedious and error-prone work. This paper presents an automatic method of latency equalization in systems described in VHDL. The proposed method uses simulation to measure latencies and verify introduced correction. The solution is portable between different simulation and synthesis tools. The method does not increase the complexity of the synthesized design comparing to the solution based on manual latency adjustment. The example implementation of the proposed methodology together with a simple design demonstrating its use is available as an open source project under BSD license.

[National health fund and morbidity-based risk structure equalization with focus on haemophilia].

Science.gov (United States)

König, T

2010-11-01

The Gesundheitsfonds (national health fund) was established in Germany on January 1st, 2009, in combination with the morbidity-based risk structure equalization (RSA) in order to manage the cash flow between the statutory health insurances. The RSA equalizes income differences due to the varying levels of contributory income of the members of a health insurance (basic wage totals) and expenditure differences due to varying distribution of morbidity risks across different health insurances, as well as the varying numbers of non-contributing insured family members. Additionally, insured persons are allocated to morbidity groups according to a classification model based upon diagnoses and prescriptions anticipating medical expenses in the subsequent year. Haemophilia falls, among 80 disease entities, in the morbidity group which generates the highest risk supplement. Matching of prescribed drugs with disease entities facilitates disease grading and improves the accuracy of risk supplements.

Utility of Combining a Simulation-Based Method With a Lecture-Based Method for Fundoscopy Training in Neurology Residency.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Deepak K; Khandker, Namir; Stacy, Kristin; Tatsuoka, Curtis M; Preston, David C

2017-10-01

Fundoscopic examination is an essential component of the neurologic examination. Competence in its performance is mandated as a required clinical skill for neurology residents by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education. Government and private insurance agencies require its performance and documentation for moderate- and high-level neurologic evaluations. Traditionally, assessment and teaching of this key clinical examination technique have been difficult in neurology residency training. To evaluate the utility of a simulation-based method and the traditional lecture-based method for assessment and teaching of fundoscopy to neurology residents. This study was a prospective, single-blinded, education research study of 48 neurology residents recruited from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016, at a large neurology residency training program. Participants were equally divided into control and intervention groups after stratification by training year. Baseline and postintervention assessments were performed using questionnaire, survey, and fundoscopy simulators. After baseline assessment, both groups initially received lecture-based training, which covered fundamental knowledge on the components of fundoscopy and key neurologic findings observed on fundoscopic examination. The intervention group additionally received simulation-based training, which consisted of an instructor-led, hands-on workshop that covered practical skills of performing fundoscopic examination and identifying neurologically relevant findings on another fundoscopy simulator. The primary outcome measures were the postintervention changes in fundoscopy knowledge, skills, and total scores. A total of 30 men and 18 women were equally distributed between the 2 groups. The intervention group had significantly higher mean (SD) increases in skills (2.5 [2.3] vs 0.8 [1.8], P = .01) and total (9.3 [4.3] vs 5.3 [5.8], P = .02) scores compared with the control group. Knowledge scores (6.8 [3

Two-stage energy storage equalization system for lithium-ion battery pack

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, W.; Yang, Z. X.; Dong, G. Q.; Li, Y. B.; He, Q. Y.

2017-11-01

How to raise the efficiency of energy storage and maximize storage capacity is a core problem in current energy storage management. For that, two-stage energy storage equalization system which contains two-stage equalization topology and control strategy based on a symmetric multi-winding transformer and DC-DC (direct current-direct current) converter is proposed with bidirectional active equalization theory, in order to realize the objectives of consistent lithium-ion battery packs voltages and cells voltages inside packs by using a method of the Range. Modeling analysis demonstrates that the voltage dispersion of lithium-ion battery packs and cells inside packs can be kept within 2 percent during charging and discharging. Equalization time was 0.5 ms, which shortened equalization time of 33.3 percent compared with DC-DC converter. Therefore, the proposed two-stage lithium-ion battery equalization system can achieve maximum storage capacity between lithium-ion battery packs and cells inside packs, meanwhile efficiency of energy storage is significantly improved.

The Uneasy Marriage between Law and Equality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauline C. Westerman

2015-02-01

Full Text Available There are two ways in which the social ideal of equality has found expression in the law: in the principle of equal treatment and in the principle of non-discrimination. In this article the meaning of these two legal principles is analysed, in order to answer the question to what extent they can be said to contribute to equality in the sense of an equal distribution of collective resources. It is argued that whereas the first just requires decision-making to be rule-based, the second principle demands that rules should be based on sound categorical distinctions. Neither of the two can, however, sensibly be linked to equality as equal distribution. The article concludes that the only way to establish such a link is by adding to the principle of non-discrimination “financial resources” as a suspect ground.

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND EQUALITY IN REDUCING POVERTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaenal Muttaqin

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In some developing countries, the instrument to alleviate the poverty is by using the economic growth. So, the increasing in investment, infrastructure development, and macroeconomics stability always be priority from developing countries. In this article explain that economic growth is not the important factor to alleviate the poverty, because equality sometimes is more important rather than the economic growth. In this context, its measure by inequality growth trade off index (IGTI. This method is to measure the influence of economic growth to reducing the inequality, with this method every country can measure which one is better to reducing the poverty whether the economic growth or equality. With this method, Laos in 2000 show that economic growth is more important than equality, but in the same year in Thailand show that equality is more important than economic growth.DOI: 10.15408/sjie.v1i1.2592

Contrast Enhancement Method Based on Gray and Its Distance Double-Weighting Histogram Equalization for 3D CT Images of PCBs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Zeng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT is a new detection method for 3D nondestructive testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs. However, the obtained 3D image of PCBs exhibits low contrast because of several factors, such as the occurrence of metal artifacts and beam hardening, during the process of CBCT imaging. Histogram equalization (HE algorithms cannot effectively extend the gray difference between a substrate and a metal in 3D CT images of PCBs, and the reinforcing effects are insignificant. To address this shortcoming, this study proposes an image enhancement algorithm based on gray and its distance double-weighting HE. Considering the characteristics of 3D CT images of PCBs, the proposed algorithm uses gray and its distance double-weighting strategy to change the form of the original image histogram distribution, suppresses the grayscale of a nonmetallic substrate, and expands the grayscale of wires and other metals. The proposed algorithm also enhances the gray difference between a substrate and a metal and highlights metallic materials. The proposed algorithm can enhance the gray value of wires and other metals in 3D CT images of PCBs. It applies enhancement strategies of changing gray and its distance double-weighting mechanism to adapt to this particular purpose. The flexibility and advantages of the proposed algorithm are confirmed by analyses and experimental results.

Investigating Diversity and Equality: Methods, Challenges and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Maria

2007-01-01

This paper sets out the background and key findings from a number of research projects about diversity and equality at a UK university. The works were commissioned as a result of changes in legislation as well as a genuine concern to investigate the issues of inequity and institutional racism within the university. The paper explores the…

Arbitrary magnetic field gradient waveform correction using an impulse response based pre-equalization technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Goora, Frédéric G; Colpitts, Bruce G; Balcom, Bruce J

2014-01-01

The time-varying magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance applications result in the induction of eddy currents on conductive structures in the vicinity of both the sample under investigation and the gradient coils. These eddy currents typically result in undesired degradations of image quality for MRI applications. Their ubiquitous nature has resulted in the development of various approaches to characterize and minimize their impact on image quality. This paper outlines a method that utilizes the magnetic field gradient waveform monitor method to directly measure the temporal evolution of the magnetic field gradient from a step-like input function and extracts the system impulse response. With the basic assumption that the gradient system is sufficiently linear and time invariant to permit system theory analysis, the impulse response is used to determine a pre-equalized (optimized) input waveform that provides a desired gradient response at the output of the system. An algorithm has been developed that calculates a pre-equalized waveform that may be accurately reproduced by the amplifier (is physically realizable) and accounts for system limitations including system bandwidth, amplifier slew rate capabilities, and noise inherent in the initial measurement. Significant improvements in magnetic field gradient waveform fidelity after pre-equalization have been realized and are summarized. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

All About Audio Equalization: Solutions and Frontiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesa Välimäki

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Audio equalization is a vast and active research area. The extent of research means that one often cannot identify the preferred technique for a particular problem. This review paper bridges those gaps, systemically providing a deep understanding of the problems and approaches in audio equalization, their relative merits and applications. Digital signal processing techniques for modifying the spectral balance in audio signals and applications of these techniques are reviewed, ranging from classic equalizers to emerging designs based on new advances in signal processing and machine learning. Emphasis is placed on putting the range of approaches within a common mathematical and conceptual framework. The application areas discussed herein are diverse, and include well-defined, solvable problems of filter design subject to constraints, as well as newly emerging challenges that touch on problems in semantics, perception and human computer interaction. Case studies are given in order to illustrate key concepts and how they are applied in practice. We also recommend preferred signal processing approaches for important audio equalization problems. Finally, we discuss current challenges and the uncharted frontiers in this field. The source code for methods discussed in this paper is made available at https://code.soundsoftware.ac.uk/projects/allaboutaudioeq.

Variational Histogram Equalization for Single Color Image Defogging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Zhou

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Foggy images taken in the bad weather inevitably suffer from contrast loss and color distortion. Existing defogging methods merely resort to digging out an accurate scene transmission in ignorance of their unpleasing distortion and high complexity. Different from previous works, we propose a simple but powerful method based on histogram equalization and the physical degradation model. By revising two constraints in a variational histogram equalization framework, the intensity component of a fog-free image can be estimated in HSI color space, since the airlight is inferred through a color attenuation prior in advance. To cut down the time consumption, a general variation filter is proposed to obtain a numerical solution from the revised framework. After getting the estimated intensity component, it is easy to infer the saturation component from the physical degradation model in saturation channel. Accordingly, the fog-free image can be restored with the estimated intensity and saturation components. In the end, the proposed method is tested on several foggy images and assessed by two no-reference indexes. Experimental results reveal that our method is relatively superior to three groups of relevant and state-of-the-art defogging methods.

77 FR 43498 - Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-25

... on the basis of age; the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination; and... EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION 29 CFR Part 1614 RIN Number 3046-AA73 Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The...

Disability, access to food, and the UN CRPD : Navigating a rights-based equality discourse in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waltz, M.M.; Mol, Tanja; Gittins, Elinor

2017-01-01

Aims In 2016, the Netherlands ratified the UN CRPD, becoming one of the last developed nations to sign on. In this presentation, we will explore how equal access to food provides a lens through which barriers to implementing a rights-based approach to disability equality can be examined in countries

Iterative Estimation in Turbo Equalization Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MORGOS Lucian

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the iterative estimation in turbo equalization process. Turbo equalization is the process of reception in which equalization and decoding are done together, not as separate processes. For the equalizer to work properly, it must receive before equalization accurate information about the value of the channel impulse response. This estimation of channel impulse response is done by transmission of a training sequence known at reception. Knowing both the transmitted and received sequence, it can be calculated estimated value of the estimated the channel impulse response using one of the well-known estimation algorithms. The estimated value can be also iterative recalculated based on the sequence data available at the output of the channel and estimated sequence data coming from turbo equalizer output, thereby refining the obtained results.

Web-based versus traditional lecture: are they equally effective as a flexible bronchoscopy teaching method?

Science.gov (United States)

Mata, Caio Augusto Sterse; Ota, Luiz Hirotoshi; Suzuki, Iunis; Telles, Adriana; Miotto, Andre; Leão, Luiz Eduardo Vilaça

2012-01-01

This study compares the traditional live lecture to a web-based approach in the teaching of bronchoscopy and evaluates the positive and negative aspects of both methods. We developed a web-based bronchoscopy curriculum, which integrates texts, images and animations. It was applied to first-year interns, who were later administered a multiple-choice test. Another group of eight first-year interns received the traditional teaching method and the same test. The two groups were compared using the Student's t-test. The mean scores (± SD) of students who used the website were 14.63 ± 1.41 (range 13-17). The test scores of the other group had the same range, with a mean score of 14.75 ± 1. The Student's t-test showed no difference between the test results. The common positive point noted was the presence of multimedia content. The web group cited as positive the ability to review the pages, and the other one the role of the teacher. Web-based bronchoscopy education showed results similar to the traditional live lecture in effectiveness.

The policy on gender equality in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

The briefing paper describes current Danish policies, practices and legislation within the area of gender equality. It addresses economic independence, reconciliation policies, participation in decision-making, gender-based violence and trafficking, gender stereotypes, and gender equality...... in development policies. The former liberal-conservative government (2001-2011) has focused on equal opportunities, gender equality as a means to economic growth, voluntary measures and freedom of choice. Increased attention has been paid in recent years to ethnic minorities and to men’s role in gender equality....

The Paradox of Equal Opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitja Sardoč

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The basic assumption of the idea of equal opportunities is based on the assertion that all individuals competing for an advantaged social position should have equal opportunities, i.e., that each and every one of them should have fair opportunities to achieve a particular goal. Despite the fact that equal opportunities is one of the basic mechanisms for a just distribution of advantageous social positions, the idea of fair equality of opportunity remains divided between different competing political projects, e.g., egalitarian liberalism, libertarian political theory, multiculturalism, etc. This paper examines two basic dimensions of equal opportunities to which existing conceptions fail to offer a unanimous answer, i.e., a the issue of fairness and b the issue of the currency of fairness. The concluding part of this paper presents two basic paradoxes that determine both the direction of the discussion as well as the possible solutions to the achievement of fair equal opportunities as part of any process for competing for advantageous social positions.

A time and frequency synchronization method for CO-OFDM based on CMA equalizers

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Kaixuan; Li, Xiang; Huang, Tianye; Cheng, Zhuo; Chen, Bingwei; Wu, Xu; Fu, Songnian; Ping, Perry Shum

2018-06-01

In this paper, an efficient time and frequency synchronization method based on a new training symbol structure is proposed for polarization division multiplexing (PDM) coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems. The coarse timing synchronization is achieved by exploiting the correlation property of the first training symbol, and the fine timing synchronization is accomplished by using the time-domain symmetric conjugate of the second training symbol. Furthermore, based on these training symbols, a constant modulus algorithm (CMA) is proposed for carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation. Theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that the algorithm has the advantages of robustness to poor optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and chromatic dispersion (CD). The frequency offset estimation range can achieve [ -Nsc/2 ΔfN , + Nsc/2 ΔfN ] GHz with the mean normalized estimation error below 12 × 10-3 even under the condition of OSNR as low as 10 dB.

Split SR-RLS for the Joint Initialization of the Per-Tone Equalizers and Per-Tone Echo Cancelers in DMT-Based Receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ysebaert Geert

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL, the available bandwidth is divided in subcarriers or tones which are assigned to the upstream and/or downstream transmission direction. To allow efficient bidirectional communication over one twisted pair, echo cancellation is required to separate upstream and downstream channels. In addition, intersymbol interference and intercarrier interference have to be reduced by means of equalization. In this paper, a computationally efficient algorithm for adaptively initializing the per-tone equalizers (PTEQ and per-tone echo cancelers (PTEC is presented. For a given number of equalizer and echo canceler taps per-tone, it was shown that the joint PTEQ/PTEC receiver structure is able to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR on each subcarrier and hence also the achievable bit rate. The proposed initialization scheme is based on a modification of the square root recursive least squares (SR-RLS algorithm to reduce computational complexity and memory requirement compared to full SR-RLS, while keeping the convergence rate acceptably fast. Our performance analysis will show that the proposed method converges in the mean and an upper bound for the step size is given. Moreover, we will indicate how the presented initialization method can be reused in several other ADSL applications.

Justifications of Gender Equality in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2014-01-01

and Swedish universities juxtapose arguments of utility, innovation, justice, and anti-discrimination, the Danish universities primarily refer to aspects of competitiveness, utility, and innovation when justifying activities on gender equality. The article suggests that the lack of justice......Gender equality in academia is often perceived as receiving more emphasis in Norway and Sweden than in Denmark. But how do the public research institutions in the three countries approach issues of gender equality differently? This study investigates how activities related to gender equality...... are articulated and justified in the policy statements of six Scandinavian universities. The analysis reveals some interesting disparities between the countries. In short, the Danish universities seem to be reluctant to deal with gender equality on the basis of rights-based assumptions. While the Norwegian...

Methods for risk-based planning of O&M of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jannie Sønderkær; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2014-01-01

take more information into account, and especially, the method based on the Markov decision process is very flexible and accurate. A case study shows that the Markov decision process and decision rules based on the probability of failure are equally good and give lower costs compared to decision rules......In order to make wind energy more competitive, the big expenses for operation and maintenance must be reduced. Consistent decisions that minimize the expected costs can be made based on risk-based methods. Such methods have been implemented for maintenance planning for oil and gas structures......, a method based on limited memory influence diagrams and a method based on the partially observable Markov decision process. The methods with decision rules based on observed variables are easy to use, but can only take the most recent observation into account, when a decision is made. The other methods can...

Bi-Histogram Equalization with Brightnes Preservation Using Contras Enhancement

OpenAIRE

A. Anitha Rani; Gowthami Rajagopal; A. Jagadeswaran

2014-01-01

Contrast enhancement is an important factor in the image preprocesing step. One of the widely acepted contrast enhancement method is the histogram equalization. Although histogram equalization achieves comparatively beter performance on almost al types of image, global histogram equalization sometimes produces excesive visual deterioration. A new extension of bi- histogram equalization caled Bi-Histogram Equalization with Neighborhod Metric (BHENM). First, large histogram bins that cause w...

Critical machine cluster identification using the equal area criterion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weckesser, Johannes Tilman Gabriel; Jóhannsson, Hjörtur; Østergaard, Jacob

2015-01-01

The paper introduces a new method to early identify the critical machine cluster (CMC) after a transient disturbance. For transient stability assessment with methods based on the equal area criterion it is necessary to split the generators into a group of critical and non-critical machines....... The generators in the CMC are those likely to lose synchronism. The early and reliable identification of the CMC is crucial and one of the major challenges. The proposed new approach is based on the assessment of the rotor dynamics between two machines and the evaluation of their coupling strength. A novel...

Equal rights as the center of democratization

OpenAIRE

Alan Gilbert

2010-01-01

Well-stated modern political or democratic theory is rights-based. Meaningful democracy rests as a precondition on the equal rights of citizens. This idea stems from Rousseau’s distinction between a general will*one which is impersonal and tends toward equality, that is, the equal basic rights of citizens*and a transitory will of all. For instance, absent equal basic rights, one might imagine a possible world in which what I have called a self-undermining series of wills of all, or the ...

Coaxial transmission line - Equalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnerue, J.L.; Fremont, Jacques; Haubtmann, Jack; Pillon, Gerard.

1981-09-01

The transmission of electrical signal through a coaxial line is not perfect and signal distortions are increased as much as the frequency spectrum is extended. We have designed and achieved passive filters (named equalizers) with transfer functions which are inverse of coaxial transfer functions. Doing so our attempt is to avoid definitive loss of information in the recorded data. The main feature of our equalization method lies in the fact it could be either an electrical or a numerical correction or both of them. Some examples in the use of this technique are also proposed [fr

The restructuring of the fiscal equalization system in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Primorac

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to propose a model of fiscal equalization in Croatia. This paper tests the hypothesis of a lack of effectiveness of the existing fiscal equalization model compared to a model that would be based on alleviating the difference in the potential to collect revenue from the personal income tax and surtax. Fiscal inequalities of local government units are determined first under the current equalization system by calculating the Gini coefficients and graphically presented with Lorenz curves. Thereafter, a distribution of equalization grants is simulated based on the new (proposed model. The effectiveness of the proposed model in alleviating the fiscal inequalities is determined in relation to the effectiveness of the current equalization system. It was found that the model based on equalizing the difference in the capacity to collect revenue from the personal income tax and surtax alleviates inequalities in fiscal capacities of local government units much better than the existing system at the same cost. The main conclusion is that the fiscal equalization in Croatia should urgently be redesigned in order to improve efficiency and fairness, but also the transparency and credibility of the equalization system.

Equal pay by gender and by nationality: a comparative analysis of Switzerland's unequal equal pay policy regimes across time

OpenAIRE

Erne, Roland; Imboden, Natalie

2017-01-01

What explains the adoption of two different policies on equal pay by gender (EPG) and by nationality (EPN) in Switzerland? And why is the liberal, litigation-based, equal pay policy regime set up by the Gender Equality Act of 1996 much less effective than the neocorporatist ‘accompanying measures’ to the Bilateral European Union–Switzerland Agreement on Free Movement of Persons adopted in 1999 to ensure equal pay for workers of different national origins? The formation of two different policy...

Resampling-based methods in single and multiple testing for equality of covariance/correlation matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yang; DeGruttola, Victor

2012-06-22

Traditional resampling-based tests for homogeneity in covariance matrices across multiple groups resample residuals, that is, data centered by group means. These residuals do not share the same second moments when the null hypothesis is false, which makes them difficult to use in the setting of multiple testing. An alternative approach is to resample standardized residuals, data centered by group sample means and standardized by group sample covariance matrices. This approach, however, has been observed to inflate type I error when sample size is small or data are generated from heavy-tailed distributions. We propose to improve this approach by using robust estimation for the first and second moments. We discuss two statistics: the Bartlett statistic and a statistic based on eigen-decomposition of sample covariance matrices. Both statistics can be expressed in terms of standardized errors under the null hypothesis. These methods are extended to test homogeneity in correlation matrices. Using simulation studies, we demonstrate that the robust resampling approach provides comparable or superior performance, relative to traditional approaches, for single testing and reasonable performance for multiple testing. The proposed methods are applied to data collected in an HIV vaccine trial to investigate possible determinants, including vaccine status, vaccine-induced immune response level and viral genotype, of unusual correlation pattern between HIV viral load and CD4 count in newly infected patients.

Frequency Domain Training-Aided Channel Estimation and Equalization in Time-Varying Optical Transmission Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pittalà, Fabio; Msallem, Majdi; Hauske, Fabian N.

2012-01-01

We propose a non-weighted feed-forward equalization method with filter update by averaging channel estimations based on short CAZAC sequences. Three averaging methods are presented and tested by simulations in a time-varying 2×2 MIMO optical system....

Training-based Channel Estimation for Signal Equalization and OPM in 16-QAM Optical Transmission Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pittalà, Fabio; Hauske, Fabian N.; Ye, Yabin

2012-01-01

Efficient channel estimation for signal equalization and OPM based on short CAZAC sequences with QPSK and 8PSK constellation formats is demonstrated in a 224-Gb/s PDM 16-QAM optical linear transmission system....

Human rights literacy: Moving towards rights-based education and transformative action through understandings of dignity, equality and freedom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Becker

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The twentieth century has been characterised by the proliferation of human rights in the discursive practices of the United Nations (Baxi, 1997. In this article, we explore the continual process of rights-based education towards transformative action, and an open and democratic society, as dependent upon the facilitation of human rights literacy in teacher training. Our theoretical framework examines the continual process of moving towards an open and democratic society through the facilitation of human rights literacy, rights-based education and transformative action. We focus specifically on understandings of dignity, equality and freedom, as both rights (legal claims and values (moral action across horizontal and vertical applications, considering the internalisation and implementation of dignity, equality and freedom towards transformative action. Our analysis of data stemming from a project funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF entitled 'Human Rights Literacy: A quest for meaning', brought student-teachers' understandings into conversation with the proposed theoretical framework. In terms of understandings related to dignity, equality and freedom, participants seemingly understand human rights either as legal interests, or alternatively, as they pertain to values such as caring, ubuntu, respect, human dignity and equality. Legal understandings primarily focus on the vertical application of the Bill of Rights (RSA, 1996a and the role of government in this regard, whereas understandings related to the realisation of values tended to focus on the horizontal applications of particularly dignity and equality as the product of the relation between self and other. We conclude the article by linking the analysis and the theoretical framework to education as a humanising practice within human rights as a common language of humanity. In so doing, we argue that human rights literacy and rights-based education transcend knowledge about human

Investigating equality: The poverty and riches indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eliazar, Iddo

2016-01-01

As noise is omnipresent, real-world quantities measured by scientists and engineers are commonly obtained in the form of statistical distributions. In turn, perhaps the most compact representation of a given statistical distribution is via the mean-variance approach: the mean manifesting the distribution’s ‘typical’ value, and the variance manifesting the magnitude of the distribution’s fluctuations about its mean. The mean-variance approach is based on an underlying Euclidean-geometry perspective. So very often real-world quantities of interest are non-negative sizes, and their measurements yield statistical size distributions. In this paper, and in the context of size distributions, we present an alternative to the Euclidean-based mean-variance approach: a mean-equality approach that is based on an underlying socioeconomic perspective. We establish two equality indices that score, on a unit-interval scale, the intrinsic ‘egalitarianism’ of size distributions: (i) the poverty equality index which is particularly sensitive to the existence of very small “poor” sizes; (ii) the riches equality index which is particularly sensitive to the existence of very large “rich” sizes. These equality indices, their properties, their computation, their application, and their connections to the mean-variance approach – are explored and described comprehensively.

FINANCIAL EQUALIZATION TRANSFERS BETWEEN PUBLIC AUTHORITIES BUDGETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilia Cornelia STOICA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents financial balancing mechanisms that it is applied by the most of the states with competitive market economy, in order to ensure equity between local authorities, as well as the stability of the entire national tax and budgetary system. In this regard, it is described the concept of financial equalization and its structure according to two fundamental criteria: - equalization in accordance with the financial transfers orientation, distinguishing thus (1 horizontal equalization, which is carried out between local authorities and consists in assigning a part of the richest territorial collectivities resources to the disadvantaged ones; (2 vertical financial equalization, achieved through consolidated transfers the state / federal budget to the budgets by territorial administrative units, both for the operating budget section and for the development one; - financial equalization according to the regional or local disparities observed as a result of territorial-level analyzes: (1 financial equalization based on balancing public revenues of the administrative-territorial units, which tries to correct the differences between the financial resources of each local authority and (2 the financial balancing based on the costs, which aims to reduce differences between standard costs of public services per capita. Financial equalization mechanisms have as main objective the reduction as far as the total elimination of the regional or local disparities, which are also described in this article.

Differential phase-shift keying and channel equalization in free space optical communication system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dai; Hao, Shiqi; Zhao, Qingsong; Wan, Xiongfeng; Xu, Chenlu

2018-01-01

We present the performance benefits of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) modulation in eliminating influence from atmospheric turbulence, especially for coherent free space optical (FSO) communication with a high communication rate. Analytic expression of detected signal is derived, based on which, homodyne detection efficiency is calculated to indicate the performance of wavefront compensation. Considered laser pulses always suffer from atmospheric scattering effect by clouds, intersymbol interference (ISI) in high-speed FSO communication link is analyzed. Correspondingly, the channel equalization method of a binormalized modified constant modulus algorithm based on set-membership filtering (SM-BNMCMA) is proposed to solve the ISI problem. Finally, through the comparison with existing channel equalization methods, its performance benefits of both ISI elimination and convergence speed are verified. The research findings have theoretical significance in a high-speed FSO communication system.

Power-output regularization in global sound equalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stefanakis, Nick; Sarris, J.; Cambourakis, G.

2008-01-01

The purpose of equalization in room acoustics is to compensate for the undesired modification that an enclosure introduces to signals such as audio or speech. In this work, equalization in a large part of the volume of a room is addressed. The multiple point method is employed with an acoustic...

36 CFR 254.12 - Value equalization; cash equalization waiver.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Value equalization; cash... AGRICULTURE LANDOWNERSHIP ADJUSTMENTS Land Exchanges § 254.12 Value equalization; cash equalization waiver. (a..., either with or without adjustments of relative values as compensation for various costs, the parties to...

Extension of Modified Polak-Ribière-Polyak Conjugate Gradient Method to Linear Equality Constraints Minimization Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhifeng Dai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Combining the Rosen gradient projection method with the two-term Polak-Ribière-Polyak (PRP conjugate gradient method, we propose a two-term Polak-Ribière-Polyak (PRP conjugate gradient projection method for solving linear equality constraints optimization problems. The proposed method possesses some attractive properties: (1 search direction generated by the proposed method is a feasible descent direction; consequently the generated iterates are feasible points; (2 the sequences of function are decreasing. Under some mild conditions, we show that it is globally convergent with Armijio-type line search. Preliminary numerical results show that the proposed method is promising.

Quantum secret information equal exchange protocol based on dense coding

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ying-Hua; Zhang, Shi-Bin; Dai, Jin-Qiao; Shi, Zhi-Ping

2018-04-01

In this paper, we design a novel quantum secret information equal exchange protocol, which implements the equal exchange of secret information between the two parties with the help of semi-trusted third party (TP). In the protocol, EPR pairs prepared by the TP are, respectively, distributed to both the communication parties. Then, the two parties perform Pauli operation on each particle and return the new particles to TP, respectively. TP measures each new pair with Bell basis and announces the measurement results. Both parties deduce the secret information of each other according to the result of announcement by TP. Finally, the security analysis shows that this protocol solves the problem about equal exchange of secret information between two parties and verifies the security of semi-trusted TPs. It proves that the protocol can effectively resist glitch attacks, intercept retransmission attacks and entanglement attack.

Prior-knowledge-independent equalization to improve battery uniformity with energy efficiency and time efficiency for lithium-ion battery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Shumei; Qiang, Jiaxi; Yang, Lin; Zhao, Xiaowei

2016-01-01

To improve battery uniformity as well as energy efficiency and time efficiency, a SOC (state of charge)-based equalization by AGA (adaptive genetic algorithm) is proposed on basis of two-stage DC/DC converters. The simulation results indicate that compared with FLC (fuzzy logic controller) equalization, the standard deviation of final SOC is improved by 78.7% while energy efficiency is improved by 6.01% and equalization time is decreased by 20% for AGA equalization of extreme dispersion. Additionally, AGA improves the battery uniformity by 30.77% with shortening equalization time by 16.29% and saving energy loss by 1.51% compared with FLC for equalization of regular dispersion. For further validation, the equalization optimization is verified by experiment based on the data-driven parameter identification method which is used to enhance the real-time capability of AGA. For AGA equalization of extreme dispersion, the standard deviation of final SOC is just 0.41% while equalization time prolongs only 14 min and energy efficiency is decreased by 0.81% compared with simulation results. Moreover, not only the standard deviation of final SOC is just 0.28% but also the energy efficiency is decreased by 0.69% and equalization time prolongs by 10.4 min compared with the simulation results for equalization of regular dispersion. - Highlights: • Issues of over equalization, time consumption and energy loss are addressed. • A SOC-based equalization is proposed based on adaptive genetic algorithm. • The equalization aims to improve battery uniformity, efficiency of energy and time. • Data-driven parameter identification is used to enhance the real-time capability.

Transparent dispersion compensator with built-in gain equalizer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rottwitt, Karsten; Doerr, C.

2002-01-01

In this work we describe a method to obtain a transparent or even an amplifying dispersion compensating module with built-in gain equalization functionality. The principle of operation and experimental results are illustrated.......In this work we describe a method to obtain a transparent or even an amplifying dispersion compensating module with built-in gain equalization functionality. The principle of operation and experimental results are illustrated....

Implementation of the Midway Image Equalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thierry Guillemot

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present the detailed algorithm of the Midway Image Equalization giving to a pair of images the same histogram while maintaining as much as possible their previous gray dynamics. The midway equalization is primarily designed for gray level images, but can be applied channel-wise to color images. This method is easy to implement, fast to compute, fully automatic and requires no parameter.

Non-uniformity Correction of Infrared Images by Midway Equalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yohann Tendero

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The non-uniformity is a time-dependent noise caused by the lack of sensor equalization. We present here the detailed algorithm and on line demo of the non-uniformity correction method by midway infrared equalization. This method was designed to suit infrared images. Nevertheless, it can be applied to images produced for example by scanners, or by push-broom satellites. The obtained single image method works on static images, is fully automatic, having no user parameter, and requires no registration. It needs no camera motion compensation, no closed aperture sensor equalization and is able to correct for a fully non-linear non-uniformity.

From equality to 'equality'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panov Slobodan

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Pursuant to lucid statement of a Serbian academician that the ideals of mankind have always been justice, freedom, virtues and that life was less noble, the work analyses whether there is both 'equality', as morosofo exist (stupid wise men, profitable altruists and evil humanists and admirers of freedom of monistic thinking. Is there a dialectics: from equality to 'equality'? At the time of profitable altruists, evil humanists and excellent actors of virtues, it is worthwhile to remember Nietzsche's attitude about the pose of morality: subordination to morality may be slavish, proud, sordid, and resigned. In theological literature it is said that both patriarchate and matriarchate are the same denial of thankful supplemental gifts to a man and a woman. There is no love and sacrifice in government. There is no fortune in slavery, but there is no happiness in mastery either. Can a 'hymn' of individualism, with empty concepts and legal formulations that encourage and sharpen the conflict of family members be an introductory tact of the dictatorship ballade? Is the projection of conflicts into a family and micro-environment a project against emotional solidarity, strength, independence, courage and will for freedom? If we cannot rely upon family are we strong enough to confront totalitarian in democratic?.

Suppression of work fluctuations by optimal control: An approach based on Jarzynski's equality

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Gaoyang; Gong, Jiangbin

2014-11-01

Understanding and manipulating work fluctuations in microscale and nanoscale systems are of both fundamental and practical interest. For example, aspects of work fluctuations will be an important factor in designing nanoscale heat engines. In this work, an optimal control approach directly exploiting Jarzynski's equality is proposed to effectively suppress the fluctuations in the work statistics, for systems (initially at thermal equilibrium) subject to a work protocol but isolated from a bath during the protocol. The control strategy is to minimize the deviations of individual values of e-β W from their ensemble average given by e-β Δ F, where W is the work, β is the inverse temperature, and Δ F is the free energy difference between two equilibrium states. It is further shown that even when the system Hamiltonian is not fully known, it is still possible to suppress work fluctuations through a feedback loop, by refining the control target function on the fly through Jarzynski's equality itself. Numerical experiments are based on linear and nonlinear parametric oscillators. Optimal control results for linear parametric oscillators are also benchmarked with early results based on shortcuts to adiabaticity.

Gender Summit 2011: Equality Research and Innovation Through Equality

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tenglerová, Hana

2011-01-01

Roč. 19, č. 2 (2011), s. 72-74 ISSN 1210-6658. [European Gender Summit 2011: Equality Research and Innovation Through Equality . Brusel, 07.11.2011-08.11.2011] R&D Projects: GA MŠk OK08007 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70280505 Keywords : gender equality * science * policy Subject RIV: AO - Sociology, Demography

Land Governance, Gender Equality and Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ravnborg, Helle Munk; Spichiger, Rachel; Broegaard, Rikke Brandt

2016-01-01

pursued in these reforms and examines the role played by donor cooperation. Despite significant progress in developing land legislation that upholds gender equality, implementation often does not follow suit, and women still face discrimination. Based on country case studies, the article identifies six......Most land governance reforms seek to enhance tenure security, encourage investments and thereby promote economic growth. Increasingly, land reforms attempt to secure women's and other vulnerable groups' access to land. This article reviews the extent to which gender equality in land tenure has been...... challenges, which should be addressed to achieve gender equality in land tenure....

Statistical tests for equal predictive ability across multiple forecasting methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Daniel; Thyrsgaard, Martin

We develop a multivariate generalization of the Giacomini-White tests for equal conditional predictive ability. The tests are applicable to a mixture of nested and non-nested models, incorporate estimation uncertainty explicitly, and allow for misspecification of the forecasting model as well as ...

Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996 followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equal Opportuni...

Getting to Equal : Promoting Gender Equality through Human Development

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2011-01-01

To achieve gender equality and empower women, it is essential to invest in human development. The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development (hereafter WDR 2012) brings the best global evidence to bear on the relationship between gender equality and development. A central theme running through the report is how investments and outcomes in human development namely health...

Daring to Marry: Marriage Equality Activism After Proposition 8 as Challenge to the Assimilationist/Radical Binary in Queer Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Shannon

2015-01-01

I analyze three case studies of marriage equality activism and marriage equality-based groups after the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Evaluating the JoinTheImpact protests of 2008, the LGBTQ rights group GetEQUAL, and the group One Struggle One Fight, I argue that these groups revise queer theoretical arguments about marriage equality activism as by definition assimilationist, homonormative, and single-issue. In contrast to such claims, the cases studied here provide a snapshot of heterogeneous, intersectional, and coalition-based social justice work in which creative methods of protest, including direct action and flash mobs, are deployed in militant ways for marriage rights and beyond.

Scandinavian Approaches to Gender Equality in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2017-01-01

This study investigates how Denmark, Norway, and Sweden approach issues of gender equality in research differently. Based on a comparative document analysis of gender equality activities in six Scandinavian universities, together with an examination of the legislative and political frameworks...... surrounding these activities, the article provides new insights into the respective strategies for governing and promoting the advancement of women researchers. In doing so, it exposes some interesting disparities among the cases and shows how Norwegian and Swedish gender equality activities revolve around...

Volume Equalization Method for Land Grading Design: Uniform ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

muğla üniversitesi

2011-05-23

May 23, 2011 ... *Corresponding author. E-mail: ... Land grading has been in practice for a long time, but land-grading ... method was based on least-squares theory and he showed its ... Srinisava (1996) developed a nonlinear optimization.

Dynamic response of the U-tube liquid manometer with equal diameter columns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zahariea, D

2010-01-01

The paper presents numerical solving methods using MATLAB programming language of the governing equation of the liquid oscillations in a U-tube liquid manometer with equal diameter columns. Assuming some numerical values for geometrical and functional parameters of this pressure measurement system, the dynamic behavior of the oscillating system will be analyzed using four MATLAB based computational methods: the method of the default MATLAB procedures, the Simulink method, the Simscape method and the method of the Control System Toolbox procedures. According to all these methods, in almost all the cases analyzed, the dynamic behavior of the U-tube liquid manometer with equal diameter columns corresponds to an under-damped dynamic system. The influence of some important constructive and functional parameters (the columns diameter, the manometer liquid, the capillarity action and the connection tube between the reservoir and the manometer) has been investigated. Improving the dynamic response (decreasing the overshoot and the settling time, increasing the phase and delay margins) can be achieved by increasing the connection tube length, by decreasing the columns diameter and by using a high density liquid manometer.

[Subjectivity of nursing college students' awareness of gender equality: an application of Q-methodology].

Science.gov (United States)

Yeun, Eun Ja; Kwon, Hye Jin; Kim, Hyun Jeong

2012-06-01

This study was done to identify the awareness of gender equality among nursing college students, and to provide basic data for educational solutions and desirable directions. A Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. 34 selected Q-statements from each of 20 women nursing college students were classified into a shape of normal distribution using 9-point scale. Subjectivity on the equality among genders was analyzed by the pc-QUANL program. Four types of awareness of gender equality in nursing college students were identified. The name for type I was 'pursuit of androgyny', for type II, 'difference-recognition', for type III, 'human-relationship emphasis', and for type IV, 'social-system emphasis'. The results of this study indicate that different approaches to educational programs on gender equality are recommended for nursing college students based on the four types of gender equality awareness.

Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996, which was followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equa...

Cellular automaton-based position sensitive detector equalization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrando, Nestor [Grupo de Diseno de Sistemas Digitales, Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)], E-mail: nesferjo@upvnet.upv.es; Herrero, V.; Cerda, J.; Lerche, C.W.; Colom, R.J.; Gadea, R.; Martinez, J.D.; Monzo, J.M.; Mateo, F.; Sebastia, A.; Benlloch, J.M. [Grupo de Diseno de Sistemas Digitales, Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)

2009-06-01

Indirect position detectors based on scintillator crystals lack of spacial uniformity in their response. This happens due to crystal inhomogeneities and gain differences among the photomultiplier anodes. In order to solve this, PESIC, an integrated front-end for multianode photomultiplier based nuclear imaging devices was created. One of its main features is the digitally programmable gain adjustment for every photomultiplier output. On another front, cellular automata have been proved to be a useful method for dynamic system modeling. In this paper, a cellular automaton which emulates the behavior of the scintillator crystal, the photomultiplier and the front-end is introduced. Thanks to this model, an automatic energy-based calibration of the detector can be done by configuring the cellular automaton with experimental data and making it evolve up to an stable state. This can be useful as a precalibration method of the detector.

Cellular automaton-based position sensitive detector equalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrando, Nestor; Herrero, V.; Cerda, J.; Lerche, C.W.; Colom, R.J.; Gadea, R.; Martinez, J.D.; Monzo, J.M.; Mateo, F.; Sebastia, A.; Benlloch, J.M.

2009-01-01

Indirect position detectors based on scintillator crystals lack of spacial uniformity in their response. This happens due to crystal inhomogeneities and gain differences among the photomultiplier anodes. In order to solve this, PESIC, an integrated front-end for multianode photomultiplier based nuclear imaging devices was created. One of its main features is the digitally programmable gain adjustment for every photomultiplier output. On another front, cellular automata have been proved to be a useful method for dynamic system modeling. In this paper, a cellular automaton which emulates the behavior of the scintillator crystal, the photomultiplier and the front-end is introduced. Thanks to this model, an automatic energy-based calibration of the detector can be done by configuring the cellular automaton with experimental data and making it evolve up to an stable state. This can be useful as a precalibration method of the detector.

Equal pay for work of equal value in terms of the Employment Equity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Lastly, this article seeks to ascertain whether the EEA (including the Employment Equity Regulations) provides an adequate legal framework for determining an equal pay for work of equal value claim. Keywords: Equal pay; Employment Equity Act; Equality Act; International Labour Organisation; Equal Pay Guide; Equal ...

Channel Equalization Using Multilayer Perceptron Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saba Baloch

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In most digital communication systems, bandwidth limited channel along with multipath propagation causes ISI (Inter Symbol Interference to occur. This phenomenon causes distortion of the given transmitted symbol due to other transmitted symbols. With the help of equalization ISI can be reduced. This paper presents a solution to the ISI problem by performing blind equalization using ANN (Artificial Neural Networks. The simulated network is a multilayer feedforward Perceptron ANN, which has been trained by utilizing the error back-propagation algorithm. The weights of the network are updated in accordance with training of the network. This paper presents a very effective method for blind channel equalization, being more efficient than the pre-existing algorithms. The obtained results show a visible reduction in the noise content.

Counteracting 16-QAM Optical Fiber Transmission Impairments With Iterative Turbo Equalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arlunno, Valeria; Caballero Jambrina, Antonio; Borkowski, Robert

2013-01-01

A turbo equalization (TE) scheme based on convolutional code and normalized least mean square equalizer for coherent optical communication links is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed iterative TE technique is proved effective for counteracting polarization-division-multiplexin......A turbo equalization (TE) scheme based on convolutional code and normalized least mean square equalizer for coherent optical communication links is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed iterative TE technique is proved effective for counteracting polarization...

Reframing Inclusive Education: Educational Equality as Capability Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Terzi, Lorella

2014-01-01

In this paper, I argue that rethinking questions of inclusive education in the light of the value of educational equality--specifically conceived as capability equality, or genuine opportunities to achieve educational functionings--adds some important insights to the current debate on inclusive education. First, it provides a cohesive value…

PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY TROUGH EQUAL LIFE STANDARD IN EU COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandar Dashtevski

2018-06-01

Full Text Available After the World War II, especially in the early fifties there is an expansion of gender rights. Women are massively employed all over the world in all sectors of social life, contributing to an increase in both their own standard of living and the standard in their own countries. As the importance and role of women grows, this is achieved with increasing respect for its rights. Gender means elimination of inequality and promote equality between women and men in all areas of social life. If we want to achieve gender equality as a whole, it is inevitable to achieve an economic consolidation of the two sexes. Economic strengthening is possible trough equal pay. Experience shows that payments are not equal when it comes to wages for men and women. Therefore, the EU is constantly working to regulate this area, with special regulations, which are mandatory for the member states, but should also be respected by countries that would like to join the union. This led to the promotion of gender equality through an equal life.

An Importance Sampling Simulation Method for Bayesian Decision Feedback Equalizers

OpenAIRE

Chen, S.; Hanzo, L.

2000-01-01

An importance sampling (IS) simulation technique is presented for evaluating the lower-bound bit error rate (BER) of the Bayesian decision feedback equalizer (DFE) under the assumption of correct decisions being fed back. A design procedure is developed, which chooses appropriate bias vectors for the simulation density to ensure asymptotic efficiency of the IS simulation.

Aspects of Equality in Mandatory Partnerships – From the Perspective of Municipal Care in Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Ljunggren, Birgitte

2016-01-01

Introduction: This paper raises questions about equality in partnerships, since imbalance in partnerships may effect collaboration outcomes in integrated care. We address aspects of equality in mandatory, public-public partnerships, from the perspective of municipal care. We have developed a questionnaire wherein the Norwegian Coordination Reform is an illustrative example. The following research question is addressed: What equality dimensions are important for municipals related to mandatory partnerships with hospitals? Theory/methods: Since we did not find any instrument to measure equality in partnerships, an explorative design was chosen. The development of the instrument was based on the theory on partnership and knowledge about the field and context. A national online survey was emitted to all 429 Norwegian municipalities in 2013. The response rate was in total 58 percent (n = 248). The data were mainly analysed using Principal component analysis. Results: It seems that the two dimensions “learning and expertise equality” and “contractual equality” collects reliable and valid data to measure aspects of equality in partnerships. Discussion: Partnerships are usually based on voluntarism. The results indicate that mandatory partnerships, within a public health care system, can be appropriate to equalize partnerships between health care providers at different care levels. PMID:27616962

Periodic Discordance Between Vote Equality and Representational Equality in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah K. Cowan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available American democracy has two central values that are often in tension: vote equality, that each vote has equal influence, and representational equality, that each elected official represents equal numbers of people. The electoral standard of “one person, one vote” ensures representational equality, and that often ensures vote equality. This relationship fails, however, under certain demographic conditions, namely, when a large, non-enfranchised population resides unevenly across jurisdictions. Then, representational equality is preserved and vote equality is violated. Prior to women’s suffrage, for example, western states had relatively fewer women than the remainder of the country, contributing to gross vote inequality, though rectified through extension of the franchise. Given recent high rates of immigration to some states, I ask whether the two values are in tension. I find that they are, and quantify the electoral consequences of this disjuncture at 13 House seats in 2010.

Adaptive Histogram Equalization Based Image Forensics Using Statistics of DC DCT Coefficients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neetu Singh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The vulnerability of digital images is growing towards manipulation. This motivated an area of research to deal with digital image forgeries. The certifying origin and content of digital images is an open problem in the multimedia world. One of the ways to find the truth of images is finding the presence of any type of contrast enhancement. In this work, novel and simple machine learning tool is proposed to detect the presence of histogram equalization using statistical parameters of DC Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT coefficients. The statistical parameters of the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM fitted to DC DCT coefficients are used as features for classifying original and histogram equalized images. An SVM classifier has been developed to classify original and histogram equalized image which can detect histogram equalized image with accuracy greater than 95% when false rate is less than 5%.

A Bidirectional Multi-Port DC-DC Converter Integrating Voltage Equalizer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Jianfei; Hou, Shiying; Deng, Fujin

2015-01-01

A novel bidirectional multi-port dc-dc converter integrating voltage equalizer based on switched-capacitor voltage accumulator (SCVA) is proposed. It has two operating modes of charging and discharging for battery modules. All battery modules are connected in series indirectly and can be equalize...... battery modules with different voltages. Simulation results has shown the feasibility of the proposed converter.......A novel bidirectional multi-port dc-dc converter integrating voltage equalizer based on switched-capacitor voltage accumulator (SCVA) is proposed. It has two operating modes of charging and discharging for battery modules. All battery modules are connected in series indirectly and can be equalized...

Gender equality in couples and self-rated health - A survey study evaluating measurements of gender equality and its impact on health.

Science.gov (United States)

Sörlin, Ann; Lindholm, Lars; Ng, Nawi; Ohman, Ann

2011-08-26

Men and women have different patterns of health. These differences between the sexes present a challenge to the field of public health. The question why women experience more health problems than men despite their longevity has been discussed extensively, with both social and biological theories being offered as plausible explanations. In this article, we focus on how gender equality in a partnership might be associated with the respondents' perceptions of health. This study was a cross-sectional survey with 1400 respondents. We measured gender equality using two different measures: 1) a self-reported gender equality index, and 2) a self-perceived gender equality question. The aim of comparison of the self-reported gender equality index with the self-perceived gender equality question was to reveal possible disagreements between the normative discourse on gender equality and daily practice in couple relationships. We then evaluated the association with health, measured as self-rated health (SRH). With SRH dichotomized into 'good' and 'poor', logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with the outcome. For the comparison between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality, kappa statistics were used. Associations between gender equality and health found in this study vary with the type of gender equality measurement. Overall, we found little agreement between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality. Further, the patterns of agreement between self-perceived and self-reported gender equality were quite different for men and women: men perceived greater gender equality than they reported in the index, while women perceived less gender equality than they reported. The associations to health were depending on gender equality measurement used. Men and women perceive and report gender equality differently. This means that it is necessary not only to be conscious of the methods and measurements

Is Equality Fair?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Tarasov

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to answer the question whether people consider decisions that lead to equal outcomes fair. I find that this is not always the case. In an experiment where subjects are given equal opportunities to choose how to divide money between each other in a two-player game, any strategy is perceived to be fair more than half the time, including the profit-maximizing strategy. The equal divisions that lead to equal outcomes are sometimes considered unfair by both players. Moreover, players frequently punished the others, whose decisions led to equal outcomes. I hypothesize that such punishments occur because people have different conceptions of what a fair outcome and fair punishment are

Differential Control Strategy based on an Equal Slip Rate for an All-wheel Electricdrive Underground Articulated Dumping Truck

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Chun

2014-09-01

Full Text Available A differential control strategy based on equal slip rates is introduced to improve the steering stability of an all-wheelelectric-drive underground articulated dumping truck. Steering kinematic and dynamic models of the truck are derived to describe the movement relationship and force of the driving wheels. In consideration of the difficulty of obtaining the absolute velocity for an all-wheel-drive truck, an acceleration sensor was set on a test truck, and a kalman filter was applied to obtain the actual value for the truck body. Simulation results for an equal-slip control strategy were compared with experimental results for an equal-torque control strategy. In the simulation, the four-wheel slip rate was 0.08 and the steering system of the truck was stable. The results verify that the equal-slip control strategy makes better use of the ground adhesion coefficient, is able to reasonably distribute drive power, notably reduces tire wear, and improves the use of driving power.

Regionally adaptive histogram equalization of the chest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherrier, R.H.; Johnson, G.A.

1986-01-01

Advances in digital chest radiography have resulted in the acquisition of high-quality digital images of the human chest. With these advances, there arises a genuine need for image processing algorithms, specific to chest images. The author has implemented the technique of histogram equalization, noting the problems encountered when it is adapted to chest images. These problems have been successfully solved with a regionally adaptive histogram equalization method. Histograms are calculated locally and then modified according to both the mean pixel value of a given region and certain characteristics of the cumulative distribution function. The method allows certain regions of the chest radiograph to be enhanced differentially

Equality Matters: The Critical Implications of Precisely Defining Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, Valerie; Walkowiak, Temple; Cain, Chris; Lee, Carrie

2016-01-01

Equality is such an important concept for children to develop. In this article it is argued that a precise definition is needed to ensure that students are provided with a consistent "picture" of what it is that equality really means.

Automatic Bayes Factors for Testing Equality- and Inequality-Constrained Hypotheses on Variances.

Science.gov (United States)

Böing-Messing, Florian; Mulder, Joris

2018-05-03

In comparing characteristics of independent populations, researchers frequently expect a certain structure of the population variances. These expectations can be formulated as hypotheses with equality and/or inequality constraints on the variances. In this article, we consider the Bayes factor for testing such (in)equality-constrained hypotheses on variances. Application of Bayes factors requires specification of a prior under every hypothesis to be tested. However, specifying subjective priors for variances based on prior information is a difficult task. We therefore consider so-called automatic or default Bayes factors. These methods avoid the need for the user to specify priors by using information from the sample data. We present three automatic Bayes factors for testing variances. The first is a Bayes factor with equal priors on all variances, where the priors are specified automatically using a small share of the information in the sample data. The second is the fractional Bayes factor, where a fraction of the likelihood is used for automatic prior specification. The third is an adjustment of the fractional Bayes factor such that the parsimony of inequality-constrained hypotheses is properly taken into account. The Bayes factors are evaluated by investigating different properties such as information consistency and large sample consistency. Based on this evaluation, it is concluded that the adjusted fractional Bayes factor is generally recommendable for testing equality- and inequality-constrained hypotheses on variances.

Permutation entropy based time series analysis: Equalities in the input signal can lead to false conclusions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zunino, Luciano, E-mail: lucianoz@ciop.unlp.edu.ar [Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas (CONICET La Plata – CIC), C.C. 3, 1897 Gonnet (Argentina); Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), 1900 La Plata (Argentina); Olivares, Felipe, E-mail: olivaresfe@gmail.com [Instituto de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), 23-40025 Valparaíso (Chile); Scholkmann, Felix, E-mail: Felix.Scholkmann@gmail.com [Research Office for Complex Physical and Biological Systems (ROCoS), Mutschellenstr. 179, 8038 Zurich (Switzerland); Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Rosso, Osvaldo A., E-mail: oarosso@gmail.com [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), BR 104 Norte km 97, 57072-970, Maceió, Alagoas (Brazil); Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA) and CONICET, C1106ACD, Av. Eduardo Madero 399, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (Argentina); Complex Systems Group, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de los Andes, Av. Mons. Álvaro del Portillo 12.455, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile)

2017-06-15

A symbolic encoding scheme, based on the ordinal relation between the amplitude of neighboring values of a given data sequence, should be implemented before estimating the permutation entropy. Consequently, equalities in the analyzed signal, i.e. repeated equal values, deserve special attention and treatment. In this work, we carefully study the effect that the presence of equalities has on permutation entropy estimated values when these ties are symbolized, as it is commonly done, according to their order of appearance. On the one hand, the analysis of computer-generated time series is initially developed to understand the incidence of repeated values on permutation entropy estimations in controlled scenarios. The presence of temporal correlations is erroneously concluded when true pseudorandom time series with low amplitude resolutions are considered. On the other hand, the analysis of real-world data is included to illustrate how the presence of a significant number of equal values can give rise to false conclusions regarding the underlying temporal structures in practical contexts. - Highlights: • Impact of repeated values in a signal when estimating permutation entropy is studied. • Numerical and experimental tests are included for characterizing this limitation. • Non-negligible temporal correlations can be spuriously concluded by repeated values. • Data digitized with low amplitude resolutions could be especially affected. • Analysis with shuffled realizations can help to overcome this limitation.

Gender equality in India hit by illiteracy, child marriages and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Gender equality is fundamental to accelerate sustainable development. It is necessary to conduct gender analyses to identify sex and gender-based differences in health risks. This study aimed to find the gender equality in terms of illiteracy, child marriages and spousal violence among women based on data ...

Equalization of Loudspeaker and Room Responses Using Kautz Filters: Direct Least Squares Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karjalainen Matti

2007-01-01

Full Text Available DSP-based correction of loudspeaker and room responses is becoming an important part of improving sound reproduction. Such response equalization (EQ is based on using a digital filter in cascade with the reproduction channel to counteract the response errors introduced by loudspeakers and room acoustics. Several FIR and IIR filter design techniques have been proposed for equalization purposes. In this paper we investigate Kautz filters, an interesting class of IIR filters, from the point of view of direct least squares EQ design. Kautz filters can be seen as generalizations of FIR filters and their frequency-warped counterparts. They provide a flexible means to obtain desired frequency resolution behavior, which allows low filter orders even for complex corrections. Kautz filters have also the desirable property to avoid inverting dips in transfer function to sharp and long-ringing resonances in the equalizer. Furthermore, the direct least squares design is applicable to nonminimum-phase EQ design and allows using a desired target response. The proposed method is demonstrated by case examples with measured and synthetic loudspeaker and room responses.

Blind equalization with criterion with memory nonlinearity

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yuanjie; Nikias, Chrysostomos L.; Proakis, John G.

1992-06-01

Blind equalization methods usually combat the linear distortion caused by a nonideal channel via a transversal filter, without resorting to the a priori known training sequences. We introduce a new criterion with memory nonlinearity (CRIMNO) for the blind equalization problem. The basic idea of this criterion is to augment the Godard [or constant modulus algorithm (CMA)] cost function with additional terms that penalize the autocorrelations of the equalizer outputs. Several variations of the CRIMNO algorithms are derived, with the variations dependent on (1) whether the empirical averages or the single point estimates are used to approximate the expectations, (2) whether the recent or the delayed equalizer coefficients are used, and (3) whether the weights applied to the autocorrelation terms are fixed or are allowed to adapt. Simulation experiments show that the CRIMNO algorithm, and especially its adaptive weight version, exhibits faster convergence speed than the Godard (or CMA) algorithm. Extensions of the CRIMNO criterion to accommodate the case of correlated inputs to the channel are also presented.

Equal treatment of shareholders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arsić Zoran

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Equal treatment of shareholders is regulated in Art.269 of Company Act (2011 of Republic of Serbia. Equal treatment of shareholders means that all shareholders are to be treated equally under same circumstances. Obligation to treat all shareholders equally rests on all company bodies, predominantly general meeting. The standard whether an action violates the principle of equal treatment of all shareholders regarding the main rights of shareholders (such as voting right etc. is the nominal value of shares, or the equal treatment per person regarding ancillary rights (such as right to speak in shareholders' meeting etc.. Any action deviating from this standard is unlawful if the unequal treatment is not justified on the facts. If the principle of equal treatment is violated by general meeting resolution, such resolution may be annulled by the court.

Fair Equality of Opportunity in Our Actual World

Science.gov (United States)

Sachs, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Fair equality of opportunity, a principle that governs the competition for desirable jobs, can seem irrelevant in our actual world, for two reasons. First, parents have broad liberty to raise their children as they see fit, which seems to undermine the fair equality of opportunity-based commitment to eliminating the effects of social circumstances…

Nonlinear Equalization of Microwave Photonic Links

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-31

1][2] [3] (2) 123 is a combinatorial factor describing the number of unique permutations of frequency indicies...nonlinear equalizer works on the entire Nyquist band and is synthesized directly from mathematical requirements instead of using best- fit methods

Energy Management System with Equalization Algorithm for Distributed Energy Storage Systems in PV-Active Generator Based Low Voltage DC Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aldana, Nelson Leonardo Diaz; Hernández, Adriana Carolina Luna; Vasquez, Juan Carlos

2015-01-01

This paper presents a centralized strategy for equalizing the state of charge of distributed energy storage systems in an islanded DC microgrid. The proposed strategy is based on a simple algorithm called equalization algorithm, which modifies the charge or discharge rate by weighting the virtual...... results of a low voltage DC microgrid are presented in order to verify the performance of the proposed approach....

Equal opportunities in diversity

CERN Multimedia

Laëtitia Pedroso

2010-01-01

Promoting equal opportunities at CERN and advising the Director-General on all related matters is the task of the Equal Opportunities Officer, Doris Chromek-Burckhart, and Tim Smith, chair of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel. Changes are being introduced: in future, the focus of their work will be broadened to cover all aspects of diversity promotion.   The term "equal opportunities" has always been broader in scope than the equal treatment of men and women but this is what it has traditionally been confined to in practice. "We wanted to change how people see our mission", explains Doris Chromek-Burckhart. The word "diversity" has much wider connotations than "equal opportunities" and makes it clearer that we are also dealing with differences in nationality, religion, age, culture and physical ability”. Getting away from the old clichés is vital to ensuring equal treatment for everyone. The diversit...

Teaching the Economics of Equal Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ownby, Arnola C.; Rhea, Jeanine N.

1990-01-01

Focuses on equal opportunities--for education, pay, and with gender bias for individuals and business organizations. Suggests that business educators can expand the implications to include ethnic-based inequalities as well. (JOW)

An MGF-based capacity analysis of equal gain combining over fading channels

KAUST Repository

Yilmaz, Ferkan; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2010-01-01

Exact average capacity results for L-branch coherent equal-gain combining (EGC) in correlated and uncorrelated fading channels are not known. This paper develops a novel framework (approach) for capacity analysis of L-branch EGC in generalized fading channels. In addition, Gamma shadowed generalized Nakagami-m fading model is proposed in order to statistically model the fading environments in high frequencies such as 60 GHz and above. Some simulations are carried out and then the obtained results are accentuated by means of numerical analysis based on the proposed framework. Numerical and simulation results, performed to verify the correctness of the proposed framework, are in perfect agreement. ©2010 IEEE.

An MGF-based capacity analysis of equal gain combining over fading channels

KAUST Repository

Yilmaz, Ferkan

2010-09-01

Exact average capacity results for L-branch coherent equal-gain combining (EGC) in correlated and uncorrelated fading channels are not known. This paper develops a novel framework (approach) for capacity analysis of L-branch EGC in generalized fading channels. In addition, Gamma shadowed generalized Nakagami-m fading model is proposed in order to statistically model the fading environments in high frequencies such as 60 GHz and above. Some simulations are carried out and then the obtained results are accentuated by means of numerical analysis based on the proposed framework. Numerical and simulation results, performed to verify the correctness of the proposed framework, are in perfect agreement. ©2010 IEEE.

Efficient SDM-MIMO Stokes-space equalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caballero, F. J.Vaquero; Zanaty, A.; Pittala, F.

2016-01-01

We propose a novel frequency-domain 6x6 MIMO Stokes-space equalizer and compare its performance to a 6x6 MIMO LMS architecture. This method is suited to overcome DSP complexity and laser linewidth issues in SDM transmission systems....

Adaptive histogram equalization and its variations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pizer, S.M.; Amburn, E.P.; Austin, J.D.; Cromartie, R.; Geselowitz, A.; Greer, Trey; Haar Romenij, ter B.M.; Zimmerman, J.B.; Zuiderveld, K.J.

1987-01-01

Adaptive histogram equalization (ahe) is a contrast enhancement method designed to be broadly applicable and having demonstrated effectiveness. However, slow speed and the overenhancement of noise it produces in relatively homogeneous regions are two problems. We report algorithms designed to

Neural Network Blind Equalization Algorithm Applied in Medical CT Image Restoration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunshan Sun

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A new algorithm for iterative blind image restoration is presented in this paper. The method extends blind equalization found in the signal case to the image. A neural network blind equalization algorithm is derived and used in conjunction with Zigzag coding to restore the original image. As a result, the effect of PSF can be removed by using the proposed algorithm, which contributes to eliminate intersymbol interference (ISI. In order to obtain the estimation of the original image, what is proposed in this method is to optimize constant modulus blind equalization cost function applied to grayscale CT image by using conjugate gradient method. Analysis of convergence performance of the algorithm verifies the feasibility of this method theoretically; meanwhile, simulation results and performance evaluations of recent image quality metrics are provided to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Gender equality in primary immunisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepak S Khismatrao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Immunization, a well-known and effective method of preventing childhood illnesses is basic service under primary health care. Most surveys in India measure primary immunization coverage and quality, but no "Gender Equality." Aims: Assess "Gender Equality" in primary immunization with reference to coverage, quality, and place of immunization. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional survey in a primary health center, Pune, Maharashtra using World Health Organization 30-cluster sampling method with 14 beneficiaries (7 girls and 7 boys to be selected from each cluster. Instead of 420 children, data collected for 345 children, as requisite numbers of children were not available in low population villages and also children whose mothers were not present during survey were excluded. Materials and Methods: Vaccination data collected from either records and/or history by mother. Children born on or between 13-09-2009 and 13-09-2010, were included. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS 14.01 version with Chi-square as test of significance. Results: Of the study population, 171 (49.6% were females and 174 (50.4% males. A total of 64.1% children had immunization records with female proportion 69.0% and males 59.2%. Primary immunization coverage was 80.0%, with female proportion 82.5% and males 77.6%. One male child was completely unimmunized and remaining partially immunized, with unaware of schedule and illness of child being major reasons for partial immunization. There was no gender wise statistically significant difference observed in Primary Immunization with reference to coverage, quality, and place of immunization. Conclusions: Immunization coverage is nearing 85% benchmark with major contribution from Universal Immunization Program. Gender Equality observed in primary immunization. Preservation of immunization records by community and timely vaccinations are areas for improvement.

Leaky Zero-Forcing Adaptive Equalization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergmans, J.W.M.; Lin, M.Y.

2004-01-01

Zero-forcing equalizer adaptation schemes are attractive because of their simplicity. We study their steady-state solution, and find that it is more poorly conditioned than that of least mean-square adaptation schemes. A simple yet effective solution to this problem, based on tap leakage, is

Achieving equal pay for comparable worth through arbitration.

Science.gov (United States)

Wisniewski, S C

1982-01-01

Traditional "women's jobs" often pay relatively low wages because of the effects of institutionalized stereotypes concerning women and their role in the work place. One way of dealing with sex discrimination that results in job segregation is to narrow the existing wage differential between "men's jobs" and "women's jobs." Where the jobs are dissimilar on their face, this narrowing of pay differences involves implementing the concept of "equal pay for jobs of comparable worth." Some time in the future, far-reaching, perhaps even industrywide, reductions in male-female pay differentials may be achieved by pursuing legal remedies based on equal pay for comparable worth. However, as the author demonstrates, immediate, albeit more limited, relief for sex-based pay inequities found in specific work places can be obtained by implementing equal pay for jobs of comparable worth through the collective bargaining and arbitration processes.

Ethics, equality and evidence in health promotion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vallgårda, Signild

2014-01-01

Abstract Aim: The Danish National Board of Health has expressed its commitment to social equality in health, evidence-informed health promotion and public health ethics, and has issued guidelines for municipalities on health promotion, in Danish named prevention packages.The aim of this article...... is to analyse whether the Board of Health adheres to ideals of equality, evidence and ethics in these guidelines. Methods: An analysis to detect statements about equity, evidence and ethics in 10 health promotion packages directed at municipalities with the aim of guiding the municipalities towards evidence......-informed disease prevention and health promotion. Results: Despite declared intentions of prioritizing social equality in health, these intentions are largely absent from most of the packages.When health inequalities are mentioned, focus is on the disadvantaged or the marginalized. Several interventions...

Space-Time Equalization for High-Speed Wireless Digital Communications Based on Multipath-Incorporating Matched Filtering, Zero Forcing Equalization, and MMSE

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Zoltowski, Michael D

2003-01-01

The project has successfully demonstrated reduced-rank, space-time equalization for high-speed wireless digital communications capable of reliably transmitting multimedia data in support of military...

Study on the capability of four-level partial response equalization in RSOA-based WDM-PON

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Qi; Tran, An Vu

2010-12-01

The expected development of advanced video services with HDTV quality demands the delivery of more than Gb/s link to end users across the last mile connection. Future access networks are also required to have long reach for reduction in the number of central offices (CO). Fueled by those requirements, we propose a novel equalization scheme that increases the capacity and reach of the wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) based on a low bandwidth reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA). We investigate the characteristics of 10 Gb/s upstream transmission in WDM-PON using RSOA with only 1.2 GHz electrical bandwidth and various lengths of fiber. It is proven that the proposed four-level partial response equalizer (PRE) is capable of mitigating the impact of ISI in the received signals from optical network units (ONU) located 0 km to 75 km away from the optical line terminal (OLT).

ECONOMIC EQUALITY OR JUSTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekrem Tufan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available From the beginning of economic life, equality has been a matter for human. Intrinsically human has two legs: Selfish and Groupish. Our selfish side does not care equality while Groupish side cares. What about the justice? Does human wants justice more than equalities in economic life? In this research, we have applied a questionnaire to find these two questions answer. As a result we can report that respondents prefer equality rather than justice in negative outcomes. On the other hand, they tend to prefer justice if there is possibility for positive outcomes. We cannot give evidence about gender, education and age differences effect on equality and justice preference.

Gender Equality a case study of Sweden : Gender Equality Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal.

OpenAIRE

Sultan, Tipu

2010-01-01

The paper analyses Gender Equality, Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal as a case study of Sweden. The aim of paper is see the gender equality, gender equity, discrimination against women at workplace and to describe the policies combating inequality in the welfare state of Sweden. This work highlights the gender equality in terms of institutionalizing gender equality, gender equity, gender and pay gap, parental leave, gender and the pensi...

Fast Adaptive Blind MMSE Equalizer for Multichannel FIR Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abed-Meraim Karim

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a new blind minimum mean square error (MMSE equalization algorithm of noisy multichannel finite impulse response (FIR systems, that relies only on second-order statistics. The proposed algorithm offers two important advantages: a low computational complexity and a relative robustness against channel order overestimation errors. Exploiting the fact that the columns of the equalizer matrix filter belong both to the signal subspace and to the kernel of truncated data covariance matrix, the proposed algorithm achieves blindly a direct estimation of the zero-delay MMSE equalizer parameters. We develop a two-step procedure to further improve the performance gain and control the equalization delay. An efficient fast adaptive implementation of our equalizer, based on the projection approximation and the shift invariance property of temporal data covariance matrix, is proposed for reducing the computational complexity from to , where is the number of emitted signals, the data vector length, and the dimension of the signal subspace. We then derive a statistical performance analysis to compare the equalization performance with that of the optimal MMSE equalizer. Finally, simulation results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed blind equalization algorithm.

Asynchronous zero-forcing adaptive equalization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergmans, J.W.M.; Pozidis, H.; Lin, M.Y.

2005-01-01

Digital data receivers often operate at a fixed sampling rate 1/Ts that is asynchronous to the baud rate 1/T. A digital equalizer that processes the incoming signal will also be asynchronous, and its adaptation is commonly based on extensions of the LMS algorithm. In this paper, we develop and

High Temperature Deformation of Twin-Roll Cast Al-Mn-Based Alloys after Equal Channel Angular Pressing.

Science.gov (United States)

Málek, Přemysl; Šlapáková Poková, Michaela; Cieslar, Miroslav

2015-11-12

Twin roll cast Al-Mn- and Al-Mn-Zr-based alloys were subjected to four passes of equal channel angular pressing. The resulting grain size of 400 nm contributes to a significant strengthening at room temperature. This microstructure is not fully stable at elevated temperatures and recrystallization and vast grain growth occur at temperatures between 350 and 450 °C. The onset of these microstructure changes depends on chemical and phase composition. Better stability is observed in the Al-Mn-Zr-based alloy. High temperature tensile tests reveal that equal channel angular pressing results in a softening of all studied materials at high temperatures. This can be explained by an active role of grain boundaries in the deformation process. The maximum values of ductility and strain rate sensitivity parameter m found in the Al-Mn-Zr-based alloy are below the bottom limit of superplasticity (155%, m = 0.25). However, some features typical for superplastic behavior were observed-the strain rate dependence of the parameter m , the strengthening with increasing grain size, and the fracture by diffuse necking. Grain boundary sliding is believed to contribute partially to the overall strain in specimens where the grain size remained in the microcrystalline range.

Non-equal-time Poisson brackets

OpenAIRE

Nikolic, H.

1998-01-01

The standard definition of the Poisson brackets is generalized to the non-equal-time Poisson brackets. Their relationship to the equal-time Poisson brackets, as well as to the equal- and non-equal-time commutators, is discussed.

REAL-TIME FACE RECOGNITION BASED ON OPTICAL FLOW AND HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Sathish Kumar

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Face recognition is one of the intensive areas of research in computer vision and pattern recognition but many of which are focused on recognition of faces under varying facial expressions and pose variation. A constrained optical flow algorithm discussed in this paper, recognizes facial images involving various expressions based on motion vector computation. In this paper, an optical flow computation algorithm which computes the frames of varying facial gestures, and integrating with synthesized image in a probabilistic environment has been proposed. Also Histogram Equalization technique has been used to overcome the effect of illuminations while capturing the input data using camera devices. It also enhances the contrast of the image for better processing. The experimental results confirm that the proposed face recognition system is more robust and recognizes the facial images under varying expressions and pose variations more accurately.

Why does public transport not arrive on time? The pervasiveness of equal headway instability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Gershenson

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The equal headway instability phenomenon is pervasive in public transport systems. This instability is characterized by an aggregation of vehicles that causes inefficient service. While equal headway instability is common, it has not been studied independently of a particular scenario. However, the phenomenon is apparent in many transport systems and can be modeled and rectified in abstraction. METHODOLOGY: We present a multi-agent simulation where a default method with no restrictions always leads to unstable headways. We discuss two methods that attempt to achieve equal headways, called minimum and maximum. Since one parameter of the methods depends on the passenger density, adaptive versions--where the relevant parameter is adjusted automatically--are also put forward. Our results show that the adaptive maximum method improves significantly over the default method. The model and simulation give insights of the interplay between transport design and passenger behavior. Finally, we provide technological and social suggestions for engineers and passengers to help achieve equal headways and thus reduce delays. CONCLUSIONS: The equal headway instability phenomenon can be avoided with the suggested technological and social measures.

Five preference-based indexes in cataract and heart failure patients were not equally responsive to change.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Robert M; Tally, Steven; Hays, Ron D; Feeny, David; Ganiats, Theodore G; Palta, Mari; Fryback, Dennis G

2011-05-01

To compare the responsiveness to clinical change of five widely used preference-based health-related quality-of-life indexes in two longitudinal cohorts. Five generic instruments were simultaneously administered to 376 adults undergoing cataract surgery and 160 adults in heart failure management programs. Patients were assessed at baseline and reevaluated after 1 and 6 months. The measures were the Short Form (SF)-6D (based on responses scored from SF-36v2), Self-Administered Quality of Well-being Scale (QWB-SA), the EuroQol-5D developed by the EuroQol Group, the Health Utilities Indexes Mark 2 (HUI2) and Mark 3 (HUI3). Cataract patients completed the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25, and heart failure patients completed the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Responsiveness was estimated by the standardized response mean. For cataract patients, mean changes between baseline and 1-month follow-up for the generic indices ranged from 0.00 (SF-6D) to 0.052 (HUI3) and were statistically significant for all indexes except the SF-6D. For heart failure patients, only the SF-6D showed significant change from baseline to 1 month, whereas only the QWB-SA change was significant between 1 and 6 months. Preference-based methods for measuring health outcomes are not equally responsive to change. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Domestic gender equality and childbearing in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frances Goldscheider

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Sweden, which is among the most gender-equal societies in the world, combines 'modern' family patterns such as unmarried cohabitation, delayed parenthood, high maternal labor force participation, and high break-up rates - all usually linked with low birth rates - with relatively high fertility. Sweden also has a high level of shared parental responsibility for home and children. Objective: After decades of late 20th century research showing that increasing gender equality in the workplace was linked with lower fertility, might gender equality in the home increase fertility? Methods: Using data from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS, we use Cox regression to examine the effects on first, second, and third births of 1 holding attitudes about sharing equally in the care of the home and children, and 2 actual sharing in these domestic tasks. Results: Our analysis shows that, measuring attitudes before the transition to parenthood and actual practice four years later, it is inconsistency between sharing attitudes and the actual division of housework that reduces the likelihood of continued childbearing, especially on second births among women. Conclusions: As women are most likely to confront an inconsistent situation, with egalitarian ideals in a household without equal sharing, it is clear that having a partner who does not share housework is depressing Swedish fertility.

Equality Hypocrisy, Inconsistency, and Prejudice: The Unequal Application of the Universal Human Right to Equality

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

In Western culture, there appears to be widespread endorsement of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which stresses equality and freedom). But do people really apply their equality values equally, or are their principles and application systematically discrepant, resulting in equality hypocrisy? The present study, conducted with a representative national sample of adults in the United Kingdom (N = 2,895), provides the first societal test of whether people apply their value of “equality for all” similarly across multiple types of status minority (women, disabled people, people aged over 70, Blacks, Muslims, and gay people). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping we examined, relation to each of these groups, respondents’ judgments of how important it is to satisfy their particular wishes, whether there should be greater or reduced equality of employment opportunities, and feelings of social distance. The data revealed a clear gap between general equality values and responses to these specific measures. Respondents prioritized equality more for “paternalized” groups (targets of benevolent prejudice: women, disabled, over 70) than others (Black people, Muslims, and homosexual people), demonstrating significant inconsistency. Respondents who valued equality more, or who expressed higher internal or external motivation to control prejudice, showed greater consistency in applying equality. However, even respondents who valued equality highly showed significant divergence in their responses to paternalized versus nonpaternalized groups, revealing a degree of hypocrisy. Implications for strategies to promote equality and challenge prejudice are discussed. PMID:25914516

Equality Hypocrisy, Inconsistency, and Prejudice: The Unequal Application of the Universal Human Right to Equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Dominic; Houston, Diane M; Van de Vyver, Julie; Vasiljevic, Milica

2015-02-01

In Western culture, there appears to be widespread endorsement of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which stresses equality and freedom). But do people really apply their equality values equally, or are their principles and application systematically discrepant, resulting in equality hypocrisy? The present study, conducted with a representative national sample of adults in the United Kingdom ( N = 2,895), provides the first societal test of whether people apply their value of "equality for all" similarly across multiple types of status minority (women, disabled people, people aged over 70, Blacks, Muslims, and gay people). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping we examined, relation to each of these groups, respondents' judgments of how important it is to satisfy their particular wishes, whether there should be greater or reduced equality of employment opportunities, and feelings of social distance. The data revealed a clear gap between general equality values and responses to these specific measures. Respondents prioritized equality more for "paternalized" groups (targets of benevolent prejudice: women, disabled, over 70) than others (Black people, Muslims, and homosexual people), demonstrating significant inconsistency. Respondents who valued equality more, or who expressed higher internal or external motivation to control prejudice, showed greater consistency in applying equality. However, even respondents who valued equality highly showed significant divergence in their responses to paternalized versus nonpaternalized groups, revealing a degree of hypocrisy. Implications for strategies to promote equality and challenge prejudice are discussed.

A Cell-to-Cell Battery Equalizer With Zero-Current Switching and Zero-Voltage Gap Based on Quasi-Resonant LC Converter and Boost Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shang, Yunlong; Zhang, Chenghui; Cui, Naxin

2015-01-01

these difficulties, an innovative direct cell-to-cell battery equalizer based on quasi-resonant LC converter (QRLCC) and boost DC-DC converter (BDDC) is proposed. The QRLCC is employed to gain zero-current switching (ZCS), leading to a reduction of power losses. The BDDC is employed to enhance the equalization...

Teachers Negotiating Discourses of Gender (In) Equality: The Case of Equal Opportunities Reform in Andalusia

Science.gov (United States)

Cubero, Mercedes; Santamaría, Andrés; Rebollo, Mª Ángeles; Cubero, Rosario; García, Rafael; Vega, Luisa

2015-01-01

This article is focused on the analysis of the narratives produced by a group of teachers, experts in coeducation, while they were discussing their everyday activities. They are responsible for the implementation of a Plan for Gender Equality in public secondary schools in Andalusia (Spain). This study is based on contributions about doing gender…

Why the Equal Rights Amendment?

Science.gov (United States)

Denmark, Florence L.

The Equal Rights Amendment proposes to ensure constitutional protection against all legislative sex discrimination. "Separate but Equal" standards, be they legal, social or psychological, are inevitably incompatable with equal protection under the law and act as a barrier to each individual's freedom for self determination. Equal rights,…

THE PRESENCE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HR MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Farkas

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Ensuring equal opportunities is a priority for CEO-s and decision makers, however, it is often not put into practice. Changes in recent years along with the priorities of the EU and the efforts made to banish discrimination becoming more prominent brought with themselves a pressure on firms to provide equal opportunities for the different under-privileged social groups. In Hungary the Act CXXV of 2003 on discrimination and equal opportunities lists the groups in need of protection. The law requires employers with more than fifty employees to have an equal opportunities program. In spite of this, these programs are often general and do not implement the changes and goals identified after the assessment. Still, strategies and plans are only worth how much of them are realized. Our article is about the conscious principles of the Hungarian business sector about equality and whether there are regional differences. We compare answers given by both employers and employees on the subject of the extent to which the above mentioned principles are realized by the management and whether the employees experience these changes. Our theory is that the prioritisation of equal opportunities in firms is more the result of access to project funds than that of inner initiative from the firm's management. We analyse our research questions using a quantitative method on a regionally representative national sample. We examined 992 firms with special attention on those and their employees who had some sort of written guidelines on equal opportunities and plans on implementing these. In our paper we give a short review on the importance of equal opportunities, it's manifestation in HR management and it's written declaration, the so called Equal Opportunities Plan (EOP. The efforts of the EU and access to financial resources for the EU projects as a condition our hypotheses are that (1 at least 30% of the firms studied have written guidelines or declaration on equal

Equal intensity double plasmon resonance of bimetallic quasi-nanocomposites based on sandwich geometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chakravadhanula, V S K; Elbahri, M; Schuermann, U; Takele, H; Greve, H; Zaporojtchenko, V; Faupel, F [Chair for Multicomponent Materials, Technical Faculty of the CAU Kiel, Kaiserstrasse 2, D-24143 Kiel (Germany)], E-mail: ff@tf.uni-kiel.de

2008-06-04

We report a strategy to achieve a material showing equal intensity double plasmon resonance (EIDPR) based on sandwich geometry. We studied the interaction between localized plasmon resonances associated with different metal clusters (Au/Ag) on Teflon AF (TAF) in sandwich geometry. Engineering the EIDPR was done by tailoring the amount of Au/Ag and changing the TAF thickness. The samples were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. Interestingly, and in agreement with the dipole-surface interaction, the critical barrier thickness for an optimum EIDPR was observed at 3.3 nm. The results clearly show a plasmon sequence effect and visualize the role of plasmon decay.

Quantum Private Comparison of Equality Based on Five-Particle Cluster State

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Yan; Zhang Shi-Bin; Wang Hai-Chun; Yan Li-Li; Han Gui-Hua; Sheng Zhi-Wei; Huang Yuan-Yuan; Suo Wang; Xiong Jin-Xin; Zhang Wen-Bo

2016-01-01

A protocol for quantum private comparison of equality (QPCE) is proposed based on five-particle cluster state with the help of a semi-honest third party (TP). In our protocol, TP is allowed to misbehave on its own but can not conspire with either of two parties. Compared with most two-user QPCE protocols, our protocol not only can compare two groups of private information (each group has two users) in one execution, but also compare just two private information. Compared with the multi-user QPCE protocol proposed, our protocol is safer with more reasonable assumptions of TP. The qubit efficiency is computed and analyzed. Our protocol can also be generalized to the case of 2N participants with one TP. The 2N-participant protocol can compare two groups (each group has N private information) in one execution or just N private information. (paper)

GSM Channel Equalization Algorithm - Modern DSP Coprocessor Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Drutarovsky

1999-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents basic equations of efficient GSM Viterbi equalizer algorithm based on approximation of GMSK modulation by linear superposition of amplitude modulated pulses. This approximation allows to use Ungerboeck form of channel equalizer with significantly reduced arithmetic complexity. Proposed algorithm can be effectively implemented on the Viterbi and Filter coprocessors of new Motorola DSP56305 digital signal processor. Short overview of coprocessor features related to the proposed algorithm is included.

Time skewing and amplitude nonlinearity mitigation by feedback equalization for 56 Gbps VCSEL-based PAM-4 links

Science.gov (United States)

You, Yue; Zhang, Wenjia; Sun, Lin; Du, Jiangbing; Liang, Chenyu; Yang, Fan; He, Zuyuan

2018-03-01

The vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)-based multimode optical transceivers enabled by pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)-4 will be commercialized in near future to meet the 400-Gbps standard short reach optical interconnects. It is still challenging to achieve over 56/112-Gbps with the multilevel signaling as the multimode property of the device and link would introduce the nonlinear temporal response for the different levels. In this work, we scrutinize the distortions that relates to the multilevel feature of PAM-4 modulation, and propose an effective feedback equalization scheme for 56-Gbps VCSEL-based PAM-4 optical interconnects system to mitigate the distortions caused by eye timing-skew and nonlinear power-dependent noise. Level redistribution at Tx side is theoretically modeled and constructed to achieve equivalent symbol error ratios (SERs) of four levels and improved BER performance. The cause of the eye skewing and the mitigation approach are also simulated at 100-Gbps and experimentally investigated at 56-Gbps. The results indicate more than 2-dB power penalty improvement has been achieved by using such a distortion aware equalizer.

Scandinavian Approaches to Gender Equality in Academia: A Comparative Study

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2017-01-01

This study investigates how Denmark, Norway, and Sweden approach issues of gender equality in research differently. Based on a comparative document analysis of gender equality activities in six Scandinavian universities, together with an examination of the legislative and political frameworks surrounding these activities, the article provides new…

Foreign Models of Financial Equalization, Prospects for Implementation in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piontko Nataliia B.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed to identify the models of financial equalization applied in foreign countries, and to substantiate the possibilities for use of foreign experience in terms of financial equalization or individual elements of such models on the territory of Ukraine, for taking into consideration the foreign tools of financial equalization in the context of the State regional policy reforms is a priority and urgent task of the present day. During the generalization and systematization of scientific works by numerous domestic and foreign scientists, models of financial equalization, depending on the form of state structure in the country, have been identified. Determinants of the necessity of financial equalization were analyzed, such as: the imbalance between the own financial security and the level of assigned tasks; the level of fiscal decentralization. Methods of income and expenditures equalization, applied in vertical or horizontal levels for balancing regional development, have been substantiated. Features of expansion of financial security of budgets by using innovative tools for equalization have been determined. A comparison of the models of financial equalization in foreign countries was made and the major tasks for improving the mechanism and organization of financial equalization of budgets in Ukraine were defined. Prospects for further research in this area are diversification of tools for financial equalization, defining the investment component in the structure of budgets' incomes and studying the activities of sub-central authorities in the financial market

Equal Pay for Equal Work in Academic Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Eichelberger, Kacey Y

2018-02-01

The most compelling data suggest women in academic obstetrics and gynecology earn approximately $36,000 less than male colleagues per year in regression models correcting for commonly cited explanatory variables. Although residual confounding may exist, academic departments in the United States should consider rigorous examination of their own internal metrics around salary to ensure gender-neutral compensation, commonly referred to as equal pay for equal work.

Optimizing Properties of Aluminum-Based Nanocomposites by Genetic Algorithm Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.R. Dashtbayazi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Based on molecular dynamics simulation results, a model was developed for determining elastic properties of aluminum nanocomposites reinforced with silicon carbide particles. Also, two models for prediction of density and price of nanocomposites were suggested. Then, optimal volume fraction of reinforcement was obtained by genetic algorithm method for the least density and price, and the highest elastic properties. Based on optimization results, the optimum volume fraction of reinforcement was obtained equal to 0.44. For this optimum volume fraction, optimum Young’s modulus, shear modulus, the price and the density of the nanocomposite were obtained 165.89 GPa, 111.37 GPa, 8.75 $/lb and 2.92 gr/cm3, respectively.

Territorial Dynamics and Gender Equality Policies in Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alba Alonso

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the impact of the multilevel governance structure in Spain. Particularly, it explores how the main territorial dynamics underpinning the Spanish decentralization model have shaped gender equality policies, namely the cross-regional competitive bargaining, the existence of multiple arenas, the underdevelopment of intergovernmental mechanisms and a highly salient territorial cleavage. The article looks at three key fields of gender equality public intervention and scholarly research: gender mainstreaming, electoral gender quotas and policies against gender-based violence. Our results align with the conditional approach of the gender and federalism scholarship. While competition has stimulated policy diffusion across regions and feminist agency has frequently benefited from the multilevel opportunity structure, the lack of well-established intergovernmental mechanisms has brought about negative side-effects like ‘patchwork’ policies that fail to guarantee equal rights for all Spanish women. The article also shows that territorial interests have not trumped gender equality since the most advanced policies are found in regions with the highest territorial saliency.

Managing and monitoring equality and diversity in UK sport: An evaluation of the sporting equals Racial Equality Standard and its impact on organizational change

OpenAIRE

Spracklen, K; Hylton, K; Long, J

2006-01-01

Despite greater attention to racial equality in sport in recent years, the progress of national sports organizations toward creating equality of outcomes has been limited in the United Kingdom. The collaboration of the national sports agencies, equity organizations and national sports organizations (including national governing bodies of sport) has focused on Equality Standards. The authors revisit an earlier impact study of the Racial Equality Standard in sport and supplement it with another...

Deference or Interrogation? Contrasting Models for Reconciling Religion, Gender and Equality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moira Dustin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Since the late 1990s, the extension of the equality framework in the United Kingdom has been accompanied by the recognition of religion within that framework and new measures to address religious discrimination. This development has been contested, with many arguing that religion is substantively different to other discrimination grounds and that increased protection against religious discrimination may undermine equality for other marginalized groups – in particular, women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT people. This paper considers these concerns from the perspective of minoritized women in the UK. It analyses two theoretical approaches to reconciling religious claims with gender equality – one based on privileging, the other based on challenging religious claims – before considering which, if either, reflects experiences in the UK in recent years and what this means for gender equality.

Text extraction method for historical Tibetan document images based on block projections

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Li-juan; Zhang, Xi-qun; Ma, Long-long; Wu, Jian

2017-11-01

Text extraction is an important initial step in digitizing the historical documents. In this paper, we present a text extraction method for historical Tibetan document images based on block projections. The task of text extraction is considered as text area detection and location problem. The images are divided equally into blocks and the blocks are filtered by the information of the categories of connected components and corner point density. By analyzing the filtered blocks' projections, the approximate text areas can be located, and the text regions are extracted. Experiments on the dataset of historical Tibetan documents demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

On distributed parameter control systems in the abnormal case and in the case of nonoperator equality constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urszula Ledzewicz

1993-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a general distributed parameter control problem in Banach spaces with integral cost functional and with given initial and terminal data is considered. An extension of the Dubovitskii-Milyutin method to the case of nonregular operator equality constraints, based on Avakov's generalization of the Lusternik theorem, is presented. This result is applied to obtain an extension of the Extremum Principle for the case of abnormal optimal control problems. Then a version of this problem with nonoperator equality constraints is discussed and the Extremum Principle for this problem is presented.

Definition of Strong Equality of Tautologies and Universal System for Various Propositional Logics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anahit Chubaryan

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Earlier we have introduced a definition of strong equality of classical tautologies, according to which two tautologies are equal iff they have the same hardness. The strong equality implies well known equality, but not vice versa. The strong equality is based on the notion of determinitive conjunct, using of which some new deduction system for classical propositional logic were defined. Here the notions of strong equality of tautologies for various logics are suggested and the idea of construction of universal deduction system for various propositional logics is given.

Gender equality and meritocracy

OpenAIRE

Powell, Stina

2016-01-01

This thesis examines how gender equality measures and discourses are reconciled with notions of merit in academia. Gender equality is often defined as equal rights for women and men and has become a widely accepted political goal and vision. Meritocratic principles build on the assumption that everyone, regardless of gender, class, race and sexuality, has the same opportunities to advance provided they are sufficiently hardworking and intelligent. Meritocratic principles thus build on the ass...

Dilemmas in the Danish approach to gender equality : gender equality without gender quota

OpenAIRE

ROLANDSEN AGUSTÍN, Lise; SIIM, Birte

2015-01-01

The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality and discusses the intersections of citizenship, democracy and gender justice. Gender research understands gender quota as a means to achieve equal rights, gender equality and gender parity. Gender theory has conceptualized gender parity as one step towards achieving gender justice in all arenas of social, political and economic life. The Danish cases illustrate that conte...

Chip-scale pattern modification method for equalizing residual layer thickness in nanoimprint lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Youn, Sung-Won; Suzuki, Kenta; Hiroshima, Hiroshi

2018-06-01

A software program for modifying a mold design to obtain a uniform residual layer thickness (RLT) distribution has been developed and its validity was verified by UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) simulation. First, the effects of granularity (G) on both residual layer uniformity and filling characteristics were characterized. For a constant complementary pattern depth and a granularity that was sufficiently larger than the minimum pattern width, filling time decreased with the decrease in granularity. For a pattern design with a wide density range and an irregular distribution, the choice of a small granularity was not always a good strategy since the etching depth required for a complementary pattern occasionally exceptionally increased with the decrease in granularity. On basis of the results obtained, the automated method was applied to a chip-scale pattern modification. Simulation results showed a marked improvement in residual layer thickness uniformity for a capacity-equalized (CE) mold. For the given conditions, the standard deviation of RLT decreased in the range from 1/3 to 1/5 in accordance with pattern designs.

Gender equality in European Uniondevelopment policy: incorporatingwomen’s voices or confirminghierarchies?

OpenAIRE

Debusscher, Petra

2013-01-01

This paper examines gender mainstreaming in European Union (EU) development aid towards Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim is to detect how gender (in)equality in Sub-Saharan Africa is framed by the EU by critically assessing the nature and range of the differences between EU and civil so¬ciety framings of gender (in)equality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the method of Critical Frame Analysis, 28 EU programming documents have been analysed and compared to 10 civil society texts on gender equality. I ...

Advanced Equalization Techniques for Digital Coherent Optical Receivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arlunno, Valeria

approach based on joint encoding and equalization technique, known as Turbo Equalization (TE). This scheme is demonstrated to be powerful in transmission impairments mitigation for high order modulations formats, such as 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), considered a key technology for high speed...... a lower complexity convolutional code compared to state of the art reports. Furthermore, in order to fulfill the strict constrains of spectral efficiency, this thesis shows the application of digital adaptive equalizer for reconfigurable and Ultra Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (U......-over-Fiber (RoF) transmission system for a stand alone case and mixed modulation mixed bit rates transmission scheme. In conclusion, this PhD thesis demonstrates the flexibility, upgrade-ability and robustness offered by rising advanced digital signal processing techniques, for future high-speed, high...

The Colour of Equality : Racial Classification and Natural Equality in Enlightenment Encyclopaedias

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vartija, D.J.

2018-01-01

While it may seem obvious that human beings should be treated equally before the law and given equal opportunities to succeed, much of recorded history actually demonstrates the exact opposite: hierarchy and innate inequalities were generally seen as both natural and inevitable. It was only during

Gender Equality and Economic Growth in Brazil

OpenAIRE

Pierre-Richard Agénor; Otaviano Canuto

2013-01-01

This note studies the long-run impacts of policies aimed at fostering gender equality on economic growth in Brazil. After a brief review of gender issues in Brazil, this note describes a framework for quantifying the growth effects of gender-based policies in developing economies. The analysis is based on a computable overlapping generations (OLG) model that accounts for the impact of acce...

Equalization and detection for digital communication over nonlinear bandlimited satellite communication channels. Ph.D. Thesis

Science.gov (United States)

Gutierrez, Alberto, Jr.

1995-01-01

This dissertation evaluates receiver-based methods for mitigating the effects due to nonlinear bandlimited signal distortion present in high data rate satellite channels. The effects of the nonlinear bandlimited distortion is illustrated for digitally modulated signals. A lucid development of the low-pass Volterra discrete time model for a nonlinear communication channel is presented. In addition, finite-state machine models are explicitly developed for a nonlinear bandlimited satellite channel. A nonlinear fixed equalizer based on Volterra series has previously been studied for compensation of noiseless signal distortion due to a nonlinear satellite channel. This dissertation studies adaptive Volterra equalizers on a downlink-limited nonlinear bandlimited satellite channel. We employ as figure of merits performance in the mean-square error and probability of error senses. In addition, a receiver consisting of a fractionally-spaced equalizer (FSE) followed by a Volterra equalizer (FSE-Volterra) is found to give improvement beyond that gained by the Volterra equalizer. Significant probability of error performance improvement is found for multilevel modulation schemes. Also, it is found that probability of error improvement is more significant for modulation schemes, constant amplitude and multilevel, which require higher signal to noise ratios (i.e., higher modulation orders) for reliable operation. The maximum likelihood sequence detection (MLSD) receiver for a nonlinear satellite channel, a bank of matched filters followed by a Viterbi detector, serves as a probability of error lower bound for the Volterra and FSE-Volterra equalizers. However, this receiver has not been evaluated for a specific satellite channel. In this work, an MLSD receiver is evaluated for a specific downlink-limited satellite channel. Because of the bank of matched filters, the MLSD receiver may be high in complexity. Consequently, the probability of error performance of a more practical

A Multiobjective Programming Method for Ranking All Units Based on Compensatory DEA Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haifang Cheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to rank all decision making units (DMUs on the same basis, this paper proposes a multiobjective programming (MOP model based on a compensatory data envelopment analysis (DEA model to derive a common set of weights that can be used for the full ranking of all DMUs. We first revisit a compensatory DEA model for ranking all units, point out the existing problem for solving the model, and present an improved algorithm for which an approximate global optimal solution of the model can be obtained by solving a sequence of linear programming. Then, we applied the key idea of the compensatory DEA model to develop the MOP model in which the objectives are to simultaneously maximize all common weights under constraints that the sum of efficiency values of all DMUs is equal to unity and the sum of all common weights is also equal to unity. In order to solve the MOP model, we transform it into a single objective programming (SOP model using a fuzzy programming method and solve the SOP model using the proposed approximation algorithm. To illustrate the ranking method using the proposed method, two numerical examples are solved.

Equalization Algorithm for Distributed Energy Storage Systems in Islanded AC Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aldana, Nelson Leonardo Diaz; Hernández, Adriana Carolina Luna; Quintero, Juan Carlos Vasquez

2015-01-01

This paper presents a centralized strategy for equalizing the state of charge of distributed energy storage systems in an islanded ac microgrid. The strategy is based on a simple algorithm denoted as equalization algorithm, which modifies the charge or discharge ratio on the time, for distributed...

Singularity Processing Method of Microstrip Line Edge Based on LOD-FDTD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the performance of the accuracy and efficiency for analyzing the microstrip structure, a singularity processing method is proposed theoretically and experimentally based on the fundamental locally one-dimensional finite difference time domain (LOD-FDTD with second-order temporal accuracy (denoted as FLOD2-FDTD. The proposed method can highly improve the performance of the FLOD2-FDTD even when the conductor is embedded into more than half of the cell by the coordinate transformation. The experimental results showed that the proposed method can achieve higher accuracy when the time step size is less than or equal to 5 times of that the Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL condition allowed. In comparison with the previously reported methods, the proposed method for calculating electromagnetic field near microstrip line edge not only improves the efficiency, but also can provide a higher accuracy.

Synchronization of conference presentation sequence using delay equalization approach

Science.gov (United States)

Godavari, Rakesh K.; Celenk, Mehmet

2001-11-01

provided with a shared workspace among the web servers acting as administrators in the network. The arrival times and the presentation durations of the data packets at the recipient workstations are recorded in this shared workspace. For a case study, a Poisson distribution type delay density is selected to be the input for the delay equalizer with the desired output to be uniformly distributed. The transfer function input and output distributions are derived and depicted in a parametric form for different values of mean in the simulation results to illustrate the effectiveness of the equalization process. We have demonstrated that this method is appropriate for equalizing the lumped communication channel delays. Further work is in progress for developing the distributed channel delay equalization.

GENDER EQUALITY AS A MODERN PHENOMENON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Storozhuk

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the work. Forming the axiological system of Western society, with the intentions to establish gender equality as a guarantee of a just society being taken into account, on the one hand, and preserving the traditional gender stereotypes inherent to patriarchal gender roles in a considerable part of the world, on the other hand, is actualizing the study of the factors that have contributed to realizing the problem of gender inequality and discrimination. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to highlight the factors that stipulated the awareness of gender equality in European social and cultural space, while leaving alive the traditional gender values in a number of other cultural environments. Methodology of the study is determined by interdisciplinary approach involving the use of general scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis, generalization, etc. The leading role belonged to the principle of the historical and logical unity. At the same time the study applies the basic principles of philosophical hermeneutics and the contextual analysis method. Originality lies in putting forward the new theoretical statements aimed to show that in the ancient and pre-modern society, gender inequality and discrimination did not exist, because at that time gender relations were considered either as a result of the biological characteristics of a human body, or were explained by worldview ideas about the origin and structural features of the world, prevailing in a specific historical dimension. Consequently, gender roles were taken for granted and were not subject to any doubt. Conclusions. Despite all the worldview shifts that had been taking place in the pre-modern era social outlook, nevertheless, as history has shown, they failed to generate sufficient philosophical foundations either for recognizing the equality of women, or changing their social, legal and political status. This led to accumulating the unconscious internal resistance to

Aspects of Equality in Mandatory Partnerships - From the Perspective of Municipal Care in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchhoff, Ralf; Ljunggren, Birgitte

2016-05-18

This paper raises questions about equality in partnerships, since imbalance in partnerships may effect collaboration outcomes in integrated care. We address aspects of equality in mandatory, public-public partnerships, from the perspective of municipal care. We have developed a questionnaire wherein the Norwegian Coordination Reform is an illustrative example. The following research question is addressed: What equality dimensions are important for municipals related to mandatory partnerships with hospitals? Since we did not find any instrument to measure equality in partnerships, an explorative design was chosen. The development of the instrument was based on the theory on partnership and knowledge about the field and context. A national online survey was emitted to all 429 Norwegian municipalities in 2013. The response rate was in total 58 percent (n = 248). The data were mainly analysed using Principal component analysis. It seems that the two dimensions "learning and expertise equality" and "contractual equality" collects reliable and valid data to measure aspects of equality in partnerships. Partnerships are usually based on voluntarism. The results indicate that mandatory partnerships, within a public health care system, can be appropriate to equalize partnerships between health care providers at different care levels.

Repeated dose titration versus age-based method in electroconvulsive therapy: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aten, Jan Jaap; Oudega, Mardien; van Exel, Eric; Stek, Max L; van Waarde, Jeroen A

2015-06-01

In electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a dose titration method (DTM) was suggested to be more individualized and therefore more accurate than formula-based dosing methods. A repeated DTM (every sixth session and dose adjustment accordingly) was compared to an age-based method (ABM) regarding treatment characteristics, clinical outcome, and cognitive functioning after ECT. Thirty-nine unipolar depressed patients dosed using repeated DTM and 40 matched patients treated with ABM were compared. Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were assessed at baseline and at the end of the index course, as well as the total number of ECT sessions. Both groups were similar regarding age, sex, psychotic features, mean baseline MADRS, and median baseline MMSE. At the end of the index course, the two methods showed equal outcome (mean end MADRS, 11.6 ± 8.3 in DTM and 9.5 ± 7.6 in ABM (P = 0.26); median end MMSE, 28 (25-29) and 28 (25-29.8), respectively (P = 0.81). However, the median number of all ECT sessions differed 16 (11-22) in DTM versus 12 (10-14.8) in ABM; P = 0.02]. Using regression analysis, dosing method and age were independently associated with the total number of ECT sessions, with less sessions needed in ABM (P = 0.02) and in older patients (P = 0.001). In this comparative cohort study, ABM and DTM showed equal outcome for depression and cognition. However, the median ECT course duration in repeated DTM appeared longer. Additionally, higher age was associated with shorter ECT courses regardless of the dosing method. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Free-space optics mode-wavelength division multiplexing system using LG modes based on decision feedback equalization

Science.gov (United States)

Amphawan, Angela; Ghazi, Alaan; Al-dawoodi, Aras

2017-11-01

A free-space optics mode-wavelength division multiplexing (MWDM) system using Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes is designed using decision feedback equalization for controlling mode coupling and combating inter symbol interference so as to increase channel diversity. In this paper, a data rate of 24 Gbps is achieved for a FSO MWDM channel of 2.6 km in length using feedback equalization. Simulation results show significant improvement in eye diagrams and bit-error rates before and after decision feedback equalization.

Equal-Time and Equal-Space Poisson Brackets of the N -Component Coupled NLS Equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Ru-Guang; Li Pei-Yao; Gao Yuan

2017-01-01

Two Poisson brackets for the N-component coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation are derived by using the variantional principle. The first one is called the equal-time Poisson bracket which does not depend on time but only on the space variable. Actually it is just the usual one describing the time evolution of system in the traditional theory of integrable Hamiltonian systems. The second one is equal-space and new. It is shown that the spatial part of Lax pair with respect to the equal-time Poisson bracket and temporal part of Lax pair with respect to the equal-space Poisson bracket share the same r-matrix formulation. These properties are similar to that of the NLS equation. (paper)

Asynchronous LMS adaptive equalization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergmans, J.W.M.; Lin, M.Y.; Modrie, D.; Otte, R.

2005-01-01

Digital data receivers often operate at a fixed sampling rate 1/Ts that is asynchronous to the baud rate 1/T. A digital equalizer that processes the incoming signal will also operate in the asynchronous clock domain. Existing adaptation techniques for this equalizer involve an error sequence ek that

Incentives, health promotion and equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Kristin

2012-07-01

The use of incentives to encourage individuals to adopt 'healthier' behaviours is an increasingly popular instrument in health policy. Much of the literature has been critical of 'negative' incentives, often due to concerns about equality; 'positive' incentives, however, have largely been welcomed as an instrument for the improvement of population health and possibly the reduction of health inequalities. The aim of this paper is to provide a more systematic assessment of the use of incentives from the perspective of equality. The paper begins with an overview of existing and proposed incentive schemes. I then suggest that the distinction between 'positive' and 'negative' incentives - or 'carrots' and 'sticks' - is of limited use in distinguishing those incentive schemes that raise concerns of equality from those that do not. The paper assesses incentive schemes with respect to two important considerations of equality: equality of access and equality of outcomes. While our assessment of incentive schemes will, ultimately, depend on various empirical facts, the paper aims to advance the debate by identifying some of the empirical questions we need to ask. The paper concludes by considering a number of trade-offs and caveats relevant to the assessment of incentive schemes.

Newer developments on self-modeling curve resolution implementing equality and unimodality constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

Beyramysoltan, Samira; Abdollahi, Hamid; Rajkó, Róbert

2014-05-27

Analytical self-modeling curve resolution (SMCR) methods resolve data sets to a range of feasible solutions using only non-negative constraints. The Lawton-Sylvestre method was the first direct method to analyze a two-component system. It was generalized as a Borgen plot for determining the feasible regions in three-component systems. It seems that a geometrical view is required for considering curve resolution methods, because the complicated (only algebraic) conceptions caused a stop in the general study of Borgen's work for 20 years. Rajkó and István revised and elucidated the principles of existing theory in SMCR methods and subsequently introduced computational geometry tools for developing an algorithm to draw Borgen plots in three-component systems. These developments are theoretical inventions and the formulations are not always able to be given in close form or regularized formalism, especially for geometric descriptions, that is why several algorithms should have been developed and provided for even the theoretical deductions and determinations. In this study, analytical SMCR methods are revised and described using simple concepts. The details of a drawing algorithm for a developmental type of Borgen plot are given. Additionally, for the first time in the literature, equality and unimodality constraints are successfully implemented in the Lawton-Sylvestre method. To this end, a new state-of-the-art procedure is proposed to impose equality constraint in Borgen plots. Two- and three-component HPLC-DAD data set were simulated and analyzed by the new analytical curve resolution methods with and without additional constraints. Detailed descriptions and explanations are given based on the obtained abstract spaces. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Medical Need, Equality, and Uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Horne, L Chad

2016-10-01

Many hold that distributing healthcare according to medical need is a requirement of equality. Most egalitarians believe, however, that people ought to be equal on the whole, by some overall measure of well-being or life-prospects; it would be a massive coincidence if distributing healthcare according to medical need turned out to be an effective way of promoting equality overall. I argue that distributing healthcare according to medical need is important for reducing individuals' uncertainty surrounding their future medical needs. In other words, distributing healthcare according to medical need is a natural feature of healthcare insurance; it is about indemnity, not equality. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Discrimination and Equality of Opportunity

OpenAIRE

J. Ignacio García-Pérez; Antonio Villar

2009-01-01

This paper presents a measure of social discrimination based on the principle of equality of opportunity. According to this principle we only have to care about the inequality derived from people’s differential circumstances (and not about outcome differences due to people’s diverse degree of effort). We propose approaching the measurement of group discrimination as the “welfare loss” attributed to the inequality between social groups of similar characteristics. We also provide an empirical a...

Free-space optics mode-wavelength division multiplexing system using LG modes based on decision feedback equalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amphawan Angela

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A free-space optics mode-wavelength division multiplexing (MWDM system using Laguerre-Gaussian (LG modes is designed using decision feedback equalization for controlling mode coupling and combating inter symbol interference so as to increase channel diversity. In this paper, a data rate of 24 Gbps is achieved for a FSO MWDM channel of 2.6 km in length using feedback equalization. Simulation results show significant improvement in eye diagrams and bit-error rates before and after decision feedback equalization.

An Equal-Order DG Method for the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

KAUST Repository

Cockburn, Bernardo; Kanschat, Guido; Schö tzau, Dominik

2008-01-01

We introduce and analyze a discontinuous Galerkin method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations that is based on finite element spaces of the same polynomial order for the approximation of the velocity and the pressure. Stability

29 CFR 1604.8 - Relationship of title VII to the Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Relationship of title VII to the Equal Pay Act. 1604.8... GUIDELINES ON DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF SEX § 1604.8 Relationship of title VII to the Equal Pay Act. (a) The... based on the Equal Pay Act may be raised in a proceeding under title VII. (c) Where such a defense is...

Trust, Welfare States and Income Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergh, Andreas; Bjørnskov, Christian

2014-01-01

The cross-country correlation between social trust and income equality is well documented, but few studies examine the direction of causality. We show theoretically that by facilitating cooperation, trust may lead to more equal outcomes, while the feedback from inequality to trust is ambiguous....... Using a structural equation model estimated on a large country sample, we find that trust has a positive effect on both market and net income equality. Larger welfare states lead to higher net equality but neither net income equality nor welfare state size seems to have a causal effect on trust. We...

Gender equality in university sportspeople's drinking.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Kerry S; Hunter, Jackie; Kypri, Kypros; Ali, Ajmol

2008-11-01

In large population-based alcohol studies males are shown consistently to drink more, and more hazardously, than females. However, research from some countries suggests that gender differences in drinking are converging, with females drinking more than in the past. Large population-based research may miss gender-based changes in drinking behaviours that occur in sub-populations most at risk of hazardous drinking. We examine gender differences in a sub-population where hazardous drinking is common and endorsed, namely university sportspeople. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and a drinking motives measure were used to assess hazardous drinking behaviours and drinking motives in 631 university sportspeople (females = 331, 52%). There were no gender differences in AUDIT scores. However, drinking motives differed between genders, with coping motives being a significant predictor of hazardous drinking in females but not males. Hazardous drinking, including binge drinking (46.3%) and frequent binge drinking (35%), in New Zealand university sportspeople is high for both males and females. New Zealand university sportspeople are one population where gender differences in drinking are not apparent and run counter to European population based research and research in US sporting populations. Gender role equality in the university systems, and endorsement of drinking in sporting culture, may account for the lack of gender differences in this New Zealand sporting population. Future research on gender differences in drinking should examine sub-populations where gender role differentiation is low, and socio-cultural/structural factors supporting gender equality are high.

Equality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome

Science.gov (United States)

Kodelja, Zdenko

2016-01-01

The report on the findings of extensive empirical research on equality of educational opportunities carried out in the United States on a very large sample of public schools by Coleman and his colleagues has had a major impact on education policy and has given rise to a large amount of research and various interpretations. However, as some…

Gender and Development: - a Discourse Analysis of Danida's 2014 Strategy Report on Gender Equality

OpenAIRE

Jakshøj, Christoffer; Nielsen, Mie

2015-01-01

This project investigates how the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) articulates and understand gender in the ‘Strategic framework for gender equality, rights and diversity in Danish development cooperation’. The project is based on the discourse theory by Ernesto Laclau & Chantal Mouffe, and is situated within a poststructuralist frame. For the analysis the project is aided by Louise J. Phillips & Marianne Jørgensen in creating a strategy of analysis as well as a method...

Valuing Equal Protection in Aviation Security Screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Kenneth D; Rosoff, Heather; John, Richard S

2017-12-01

The growing number of anti-terrorism policies has elevated public concerns about discrimination. Within the context of airport security screening, the current study examines how American travelers value the principle of equal protection by quantifying the "equity premium" that they are willing to sacrifice to avoid screening procedures that result in differential treatments. In addition, we applied the notion of procedural justice to explore the effect of alternative selective screening procedures on the value of equal protection. Two-hundred and twenty-two respondents were randomly assigned to one of three selective screening procedures: (1) randomly, (2) using behavioral indicators, or (3) based on demographic characteristics. They were asked to choose between airlines using either an equal or a discriminatory screening procedure. While the former requires all passengers to be screened in the same manner, the latter mandates all passengers undergo a quick primary screening and, in addition, some passengers are selected for a secondary screening based on a predetermined selection criterion. Equity premiums were quantified in terms of monetary cost, wait time, convenience, and safety compromise. Results show that equity premiums varied greatly across respondents, with many indicating little willingness to sacrifice to avoid inequitable screening, and a smaller minority willing to sacrifice anything to avoid the discriminatory screening. The selective screening manipulation was effective in that equity premiums were greater under selection by demographic characteristics compared to the other two procedures. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Priority classes and weighted constrained equal awards rules for the claims problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szwagrzak, Karol

2015-01-01

. They are priority-augmented versions of the standard weighted constrained equal awards rules, also known as weighted gains methods (Moulin, 2000): individuals are sorted into priority classes; the resource is distributed among the individuals in the first priority class using a weighted constrained equal awards...... rule; if some of the resource is left over, then it is distributed among the individuals in the second priority class, again using a weighted constrained equal awards rule; the distribution carries on in this way until the resource is exhausted. Our characterization extends to a generalized version...

Equal Access Initiative HIV/AIDS Information Resources from NLM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Templin-Branner W. and N. Dancy

2010-09-11

The Equal Access Initiative: HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the National Minority AIDS Council 2010 Equal Access Initiative (EAI) Computer Grants Program awardees to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based

Gender equality revisited:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rostgaard, Tine; B. Eydal, G.

2011-01-01

The Nordic childcare policy model is often reviewed and even recommended internationally for its contribution to gender equality, high female labour force participation and, perhaps more indirectly, to a high fertility rate. Nordic childcare services and parental leave schemes have thus been...... portrayed in the literature as policies which have managed to facilitate a work–family model of dual earners and dual carers. However, the recent introduction of cash-for-care schemes seems to go against the Nordic dual earner/dual carer model and ideals of gender equality, in supporting parental (maternal...

Equality in the Framework of Justice

OpenAIRE

Aşik, Kübra

2015-01-01

This thesis assesses the relation between equality and justice by exploring and identifying the relation between equality and justice in Rawls's theory of justice, Sandel's communitarian account of Justice and Sen's capability approach. And these accounts of justice are evaluated from an egalitarian point of view. The main argument defended in the thesis is that justice requires equality. Accordingly, these three accounts of justice are evaluated by taking their understanding of equality into...

Office of Equal Opportunity Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Jennifer L.

2004-01-01

The NASA Glenn Office of Equal Opportunity Programs works to provide quality service for all programs and/or to assist the Center in becoming a model workplace. During the summer of 2004, I worked with Deborah Cotleur along with other staff members to create and modify customer satisfaction surveys. This office aims to assist in developing a model workplace by providing functions as a change agent to the center by serving as an advisor to management to ensure equity throughout the Center. In addition, the office serves as a mediator for the Center in addressing issues and concerns. Lastly, the office provides assistance to employees to enable attainment of personal and organizational goals. The Office of Equal Opportunities is a staff office which reports and provides advice to the Center Director and Executive Leadership, implements laws, regulations, and presidential executive orders, and provides center wide leadership and assistance to NASA GRC employees. Some of the major responsibilities of the office include working with the discrimination complaints program, special emphasis programs (advisory groups), management support, monitoring and evaluation, contract compliance, and community outreach. During my internship in this office, my main objective was to create four customer satisfaction surveys based on EO retreats, EO observances, EO advisory boards, and EO mediation/counseling. I created these surveys after conducting research on past events and surveys as well as similar survey research created and conducted by other NASA centers, program for EO Advisory group members, leadership training sessions for supervisors, preventing sexual harassment training sessions, and observance events. I also conducted research on the style and format from feedback surveys from the Marshall Equal Opportunity website, the Goddard website, and the main NASA website. Using the material from the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at Glenn Research Center along with my

Equal Protection of the Law: The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities Act, 2014, Bahamas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernadette Bain

2016-10-01

This analysis of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities Act, 2014, examines the nature and scope of equal rights and whether the Act provides adequate enforcement. The aim of the provisions is to restrict discrimination against persons with disabilities by providing opportunities on an equal basis and to require persons having dealings with the disabled to accommodate their needs. It is questionable whether the Act fulfils its purpose and whether penalties for failure to comply with the Act are adequate, as there is a lacuna or gap in the law, which hinders purposeful rights.

The Financial Equalization System in Germany and Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fehr Hans

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Based on the experience of European countries, practical recommendations on improving the level of financial capacity of regions in Ukraine have been developed. In the article the comparative analysis of the financial equalization system in Germany and Ukraine has been conducted, different approaches to equalization on the basis of the actual redistribution have been determined, the efficiency and transparency of the use of budgetary resources in these countries have been analyzed. The research result is the substantiation of the necessity for decentralization of tax revenues in Ukraine to reduce the volume of transfers from the State Budget to the regions. Prospects for further research in this direction are developing a reform strategy for Germany and Ukraine in order to improve the socio-economic relations between the center and regions and to make the redistribution of budgetary resources more efficient. Improving the system of financial equalization involves the use of optimization techniques taking into account the inter-regional economic and geographic ties.

Regulation vs. reality in Serbia: Gender equality, economy and state

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đurić-Kuzmanović Tatjana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available When the Law on Equality between Sexes (2009 and the National Strategy for Improving the Position of Women and Advancing Gender Equality (2009 were adopted, after a several years of obstruction of proceedings, in Serbia normative prerequisites for the implementation of the gender equality policy and for prevention and sanctioning of all kinds of gender based discrimination were created. In this paper, the author discusses the expected effect of the implementation of the Law on Equality between sexes. In addition, the key argument which restricts its implementation and potential positive effects is explained. The context of the dominate patriarchy and the prevailing human nondevelopment in Serbia does not stimulate neither women nor men, as development actors (manager, worker, trade union, state, to act in the direction to change gender regime and to take responsibility for development of the economy and society.

Equal pay for work of equal value in terms of the Employment Equity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Equal pay for work of equal value in terms of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998: lessons from the International Labour Organisation and the United Kingdom. ... Alternatively, you can download the PDF file directly to your computer, from where it can be opened using a PDF reader. To download the PDF, click the ...

Algorithms for adaptive histogram equalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pizer, S.M.; Austin, J.D.; Cromartie, R.; Geselowitz, A.; Ter Haar Romeny, B.; Zimmerman, J.B.; Zuiderveld, K.

1986-01-01

Adaptive histogram equalization (ahe) is a contrast enhancement method designed to be broadly applicable and having demonstrated effectiveness [Zimmerman, 1985]. However, slow speed and the overenhancement of noise it produces in relatively homogeneous regions are two problems. The authors summarize algorithms designed to overcome these and other concerns. These algorithms include interpolated ahe, to speed up the method on general purpose computers; a version of interpolated ahe designed to run in a few seconds on feedback processors; a version of full ahe designed to run in under one second on custom VLSI hardware; and clipped ahe, designed to overcome the problem of overenhancement of noise contrast. The authors conclude that clipped ahe should become a method of choice in medical imaging and probably also in other areas of digital imaging, and that clipped ahe can be made adequately fast to be routinely applied in the normal display sequence

Voltage equalization of an ultracapacitor module by cell grouping using number partitioning algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Oyarbide, E.; Bernal, C.; Molina, P.; Jiménez, L. A.; Gálvez, R.; Martínez, A.

2016-01-01

Ultracapacitors are low voltage devices and therefore, for practical applications, they need to be used in modules of series-connected cells. Because of the inherent manufacturing tolerance of the capacitance parameter of each cell, and as the maximum voltage value cannot be exceeded, the module requires inter-cell voltage equalization. If the intended application suffers repeated fast charging/discharging cycles, active equalization circuits must be rated to full power, and thus the module becomes expensive. Previous work shows that a series connection of several sets of paralleled ultracapacitors minimizes the dispersion of equivalent capacitance values, and also the voltage differences between capacitors. Thus the overall life expectancy is improved. This paper proposes a method to distribute ultracapacitors with a number partitioning-based strategy to reduce the dispersion between equivalent submodule capacitances. Thereafter, the total amount of stored energy and/or the life expectancy of the device can be considerably improved.

Transforming equality logic to propositional logic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zantema, H.; Groote, J.F.

2003-01-01

Abstract We investigate and compare various ways of transforming equality formulas to propositional formulas, in order to be able to solve satisfiability in equality logic by means of satisfiability in propositional logic. We propose equality substitution as a new approach combining desirable

Unjust Equalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albertsen, Andreas; Midtgaard, Søren Flinch

2014-01-01

In the luck egalitarian literature, one influential formulation of luck egalitarianism does not specify whether equalities that do not reflect people’s equivalent exercises of responsibility are bad with regard to inequality. This equivocation gives rise to two competing versions of luck egalitar......In the luck egalitarian literature, one influential formulation of luck egalitarianism does not specify whether equalities that do not reflect people’s equivalent exercises of responsibility are bad with regard to inequality. This equivocation gives rise to two competing versions of luck....... The symmetrical view, we argue, is by far the more compelling, both by internal luck egalitarian standards and in light of the external rightist emphasis on choice and responsibility to which luck egalitarianism may partly be seen as a response. Our main case for the symmetrical view is that when some people...

Joint Use of Adaptive Equalization and Cyclic Noise Cancellation for Band-Limited OQAM Based Multi-Carrier Transmission in Power-Line Communication Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kunishima, Hiromitsu; Koga, Hisao; Muta, Osamu; Akaiwa, Yoshihiko

Power-line communication (PLC) technique is one method to realize high-speed communications in a home network. In PLC channels, the transmission signal quality is degraded by colored non-Gaussian noise as well as frequency-selectivity of the channels. In this paper, we describe our investigation of the performance of a OQAM-MCT system in which a noise canceller is used jointly with a time-domain per-subcarrier adaptive equalizer. Furthermore, we propose a noise cancellation method designed for the OQAM-MCT system. The performance of the OQAM-MCT system is evaluated in PLC channels with measured impulse responses in the presence of measured noise. Computer simulation results show that the bit rate of the OQAM-MCT system is improved using both an adaptive equalizer and noise canceller, and that the OQAM-MCT system achieves better performance than an OFDM system with an insufficient length of the guard interval.

Perceptions of gender equality and attitudes toward equal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to explain consciousness of gender inequality in school sport and predict pro-equality attitudes among 1580 respondents (934 girls and 646 boys) from 45 Botswana secondary schools. Results of separate multiple regression models indicate that girls' sport participation is negatively correlated with ...

Gender (in)equality among employees in elder care : implications for health

OpenAIRE

Elwer, Sofia; Alex, Lena; Hammarström, Anne

2012-01-01

Abstract Introduction Gendered practices of working life create gender inequalities through horizontal and vertical gender segregation in work, which may lead to inequalities in health between women and men. Gender equality could therefore be a key element of health equity in working life. Our aim was to analyze what gender (in)equality means for the employees at a woman-dominated workplace and discuss possible implications for health experiences. Methods All caregiving staff at two workplace...

Acid-base titrations by stepwise addition of equal volumes of titrant with special reference to automatic titrations-III Presentation of a fully automatic titration apparatus and of results supporting the theories given in the preceding parts.

Science.gov (United States)

Pehrsson, L; Ingman, F

1977-02-01

This paper forms Part III of a series in which the first two parts describe methods for evaluating titrations performed by stepwise addition of equal volumes of titrant. The great advantage of these methods is that they do not require an accurate calibration of the electrode system. This property makes the methods very suitable for routine work. e.g., in automatic analysis. An apparatus for performing such titrations automatically is presented. Further, results of titrations of monoprotic acids, a diprotic acid, an ampholyte, a mixture of an acid with its conjugate base, and mixtures of two acids with a small difference between the stability constants are given. Most of these titrations cannot be evaluated by the Gran or Hofstee methods but yield results having errors of the order of 0.1% if the methods proposed in Parts I and II of this series are employed. The advantages of the method of stepwise addition of equal volumes of titrant combined with the proposed evaluation methods, in comparison with common methods such as titration to a preset pH, are that all the data are used in the evaluation, permitting a statistical treatment and giving better possibilities for tracing systematic errors.

12 CFR 268.202 - Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equal Pay Act. 268.202 Section 268.202 Banks... REGARDING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Provisions Applicable to Particular Complaints § 268.202 Equal Pay Act. Complaints alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act shall be processed under this part. ...

Turbo Equalization Using Partial Gaussian Approximation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Chuanzong; Wang, Zhongyong; Manchón, Carles Navarro

2016-01-01

This letter deals with turbo equalization for coded data transmission over intersymbol interference (ISI) channels. We propose a message-passing algorithm that uses the expectation propagation rule to convert messages passed from the demodulator and decoder to the equalizer and computes messages...... returned by the equalizer by using a partial Gaussian approximation (PGA). We exploit the specific structure of the ISI channel model to compute the latter messages from the beliefs obtained using a Kalman smoother/equalizer. Doing so leads to a significant complexity reduction compared to the initial PGA...

Certifying Equality With Limited Interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brody, Joshua Eric; Chakrabarti, Amit; McGregor, Andrew

2012-01-01

The \\textsc{equality} problem is usually one's first encounter with communication complexity and is one of the most fundamental problems in the field. Although its deterministic and randomized communication complexity were settled decades ago, we find several new things to say about the problem...... cost bounds, we obtain new bounded-round randomized lower bounds for the \\textsc{or-equality} problem that have a direct-sum flavor. Such lower bounds were previously known only for deterministic protocols or one-round randomized protocols. The \\textsc{or-equality} problem is in turn closely related...

Using Multilayered Substrate Integrated Waveguide to Design Microwave Gain Equalizer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongfei Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and experiment of a novel microwave gain equalizer based on the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW technique. The proposed equalizer is formed by an SIW loaded by SIW resonators, which has very compact structure and can compensate for gain slope of microwave systems. Equivalent circuit analysis is given about the proposed structure for a better insight into the structure’s response. A Ku-Band equalizer with four SIW resonators is simulated and fabricated with a multilayer printed circuit board process. The measured results show good performance and agreement with the simulated results; an attenuation slope of −4.5 dB over 12.5–13.5 GHz is reached with a size reduction of 76%.

Educational Equality: Luck Egalitarian, Pluralist and Complex

Science.gov (United States)

Calvert, John

2014-01-01

The basic principle of educational equality is that each child should receive an equally good education. This sounds appealing, but is rather vague and needs substantial working out. Also, educational equality faces all the objections to equality per se, plus others specific to its subject matter. Together these have eroded confidence in the…

75 FR 21155 - National Equal Pay Day, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-23

..., helps women achieve wage fairness. This law brings us closer to ending pay disparities based on gender... Enforcement Task Force to bolster enforcement of pay discrimination laws, making sure women get equal pay for... America A Proclamation Throughout our Nation's history, extraordinary women have broken barriers to...

The Two-stage Constrained Equal Awards and Losses Rules for Multi-Issue Allocation Situation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lorenzo-Freire, S.; Casas-Mendez, B.; Hendrickx, R.L.P.

2005-01-01

This paper considers two-stage solutions for multi-issue allocation situations.Characterisations are provided for the two-stage constrained equal awards and constrained equal losses rules, based on the properties of composition and path independence.

The Path of New Information Technology Affecting Educational Equality in the New Digital Divide--Based on Information System Success Model

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Qian; Liang, Chang-Yong

2017-01-01

New information technology (new IT) plays an increasingly important role in the field of education, which greatly enriches the teaching means and promotes the sharing of education resources. However, because of the New Digital Divide existing, the impact of new IT on educational equality has yet to be discussed. Based on Information System Success…

Checking transfer efficiency and equal loading via qualitative optical way in western blotting.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Jun-Hua; Gong, Jian-Ping; Zheng, Kai-Wen

2017-11-01

The ability to determine that successful transfer and equal loading occur prior to using primary antibodies is important. And total protein staining is commonly used to check transfer efficiency and normalization, which play a crucial role in western blotting. Ponceau S and coomassie blue are commonly used, but there are disadvantages reported in recent years. Therefore, we are interested in finding another method, which is cheap, easy and fast. As we know, protein binding region of PVDF membrane is still hydrophilic when carbinol volatilizes, however, the non-protein binding region of PVDF membrane became hydrophobic again. And this different wettability between non-protein binding region and protein binding region of Polyvinylidene difluoride membrane may be used to check transfer efficiency and equal loading in western blotting. Based on the principle above, we describe an optical approach where an experimenter can observe that the proteins have been transferred to the membrane without any staining within minutes. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Does 0.999... Really Equal 1?

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Anderson; Baldwin, Michael

2012-01-01

This article confronts the issue of why secondary and post-secondary students resist accepting the equality of 0.999... and 1, even after they have seen and understood logical arguments for the equality. In some sense, we might say that the equality holds by definition of 0.999..., but this definition depends upon accepting properties of the real…

A new method for non-labeling attomolar detection of diseases based on an individual gold nanorod immunosensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phuoc Long, Truong; Cao, Cuong; Park, Sungho

2011-01-01

Herein, we present the use of a single gold nanorod sensor for detection of diseases on an antibodyfunctionalized surface, based on antibody–antigen interaction and the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) lmax shifts of the resonant Rayleigh light scattering spectra. By replacing...... can be equally compared to the assays based on DNA biobarcodes. This study shows that a gold nanorod has been used as a single nanobiosensor to detect antigens for the first time; and the detection method based on the resonant Rayleigh scattering spectrum of individual gold nanorods enables a simple...

Color and Contrast Enhancement by Controlled Piecewise Affine Histogram Equalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose-Luis Lisani

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a simple contrast enhancement algorithm based on histogram equalization (HE. The proposed algorithm performs a piecewise affine transform of the intensity levels of a digital image such that the new cumulative distribution function will be approximately uniform (as with HE, but where the stretching of the range is locally controlled to avoid brutal noise enhancement. We call this algorithm Piecewise Affine Equalization (PAE. Several experiments show that, in general, the new algorithm improves HE results.

The importance of institutional mechanisms for exercising gender equality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pajvančić Marijana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the contemporary democratic societies, equality between men and women is one of the fundamental human rights as well as the key moral and legal value. In order to be exercised, this right must be legally recognized and efficiently exercised in all aspects of human life: political, economic, social and cultural. Experience has shown that an effective exercise of gender equality calls for integrating the gender perspective into all public policies, at all levels and in all decision-making processes. The necessary prerequisite is a proper institutional and legal framework. The institutional framework in the field of gender equality includes institutions operating within the legislative and the executive branch, as well as those involved in the protection of gender equality. The jurisdiction of the institutional mechanism within the legislative branch is defined in general terms and it does not reflect the multi-sectoral nature of activities covered by this operative body. The Gender Equality Council and the Gender Equality Agency, which were operative until the year 2014, differed in their composition and membership selection method, and they had different positions in the structure of executive authorities; the content and scope of their jurisdiction was not clearly defined, nor were they vested with sufficient and relevant powers. For that reason, it is essential to establish a new structure of institutional mechanisms within the executive branch as soon as possible. In that course, it should be ascertained that these institutions have direct communication with the government, and their competences have to be regulated adequately and precisely. In order to ensure that the normative and other measures and activities produce good results, it is necessary to provide and sustain an inter-sectoral approach to gender equality and create systemic presumptions and adequate procedures which will provide for utmost coordination and cooperation of all

Incomplete equalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Anders; Jæger, Mads Meier; Karlson, Kristian Bernt

2013-01-01

improve access to lower-tier higher education for low-SES students. These findings point to an interesting paradox in that tracking has adverse effects at the micro-level but equalizes educational opportunities at the macro-level. We also discuss whether similar mechanisms might exist in other educational...

Comparison of tissue equalization, and premium view post-processing methods in full field digital mammography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Baoying, E-mail: chenby128@yahoo.co [Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xinsi Road 1, 710038 Xi' an, Shaanxi (China); Wang Wei; Huang Jin; Zhao Ming; Cui Guangbin [Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xinsi Road 1, 710038 Xi' an, Shaanxi (China); Xu Jing [Cell Engineering Research Centre and Department of Cell Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Changle West Road 169, 710032 Xi' an, Shaanxi (China); Guo Wei; Du Pang; Li Pei [Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xinsi Road 1, 710038 Xi' an, Shaanxi (China); Yu Jun, E-mail: pclamper@163.co [Department of Preclinical Experiment Center, Fourth Military Medical University, Changle West Road 169, 710032 Xi' an, Shaanxi (China)

2010-10-15

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic abilities of 2 post-processing methods provided by GE Senographe DS system, tissue equalization (TE) and premium view (PV) in full field digital mammography (FFDM). Materials and methods: In accordance with the ethical standards of the World Medical Association, this study was approved by regional ethics committee and signed informed patient consents were obtained. We retrospectively reviewed digital mammograms from 101 women (mean age, 47 years; range, 23-81 years) in the modes of TE and PV, respectively. Three radiologists, fully blinded to the post-processing methods, all patient clinical information and histologic results, read images by using objective image interpretation criteria for diagnostic information end points such as lesion border delineation, definition of disease extent, visualization of internal and surrounding morphologic features of the lesions. Also, overall diagnostic impression in terms of lesion conspicuity, detectability and diagnostic confidence was assessed. Between-group comparisons were performed with Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Readers 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated significant overall better impression of PV in 29, 27, and 24 patients, compared with that for TE in 12, 13, and 11 patients, respectively (p < 0.05). Significant (p < 0.05) better impression of PV was also demonstrated for diagnostic information end points. Importantly, PV proved to be more sensitive than TE while detecting malignant lesions in dense breast rather than benign lesions and malignancy in non-dense breast (p < 0.01). Conclusion: PV compared with TE provides marked better diagnostic information in FFDM, particularly for patients with malignancy in dense breast.

Comparison of tissue equalization, and premium view post-processing methods in full field digital mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Baoying; Wang Wei; Huang Jin; Zhao Ming; Cui Guangbin; Xu Jing; Guo Wei; Du Pang; Li Pei; Yu Jun

2010-01-01

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic abilities of 2 post-processing methods provided by GE Senographe DS system, tissue equalization (TE) and premium view (PV) in full field digital mammography (FFDM). Materials and methods: In accordance with the ethical standards of the World Medical Association, this study was approved by regional ethics committee and signed informed patient consents were obtained. We retrospectively reviewed digital mammograms from 101 women (mean age, 47 years; range, 23-81 years) in the modes of TE and PV, respectively. Three radiologists, fully blinded to the post-processing methods, all patient clinical information and histologic results, read images by using objective image interpretation criteria for diagnostic information end points such as lesion border delineation, definition of disease extent, visualization of internal and surrounding morphologic features of the lesions. Also, overall diagnostic impression in terms of lesion conspicuity, detectability and diagnostic confidence was assessed. Between-group comparisons were performed with Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Readers 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated significant overall better impression of PV in 29, 27, and 24 patients, compared with that for TE in 12, 13, and 11 patients, respectively (p < 0.05). Significant (p < 0.05) better impression of PV was also demonstrated for diagnostic information end points. Importantly, PV proved to be more sensitive than TE while detecting malignant lesions in dense breast rather than benign lesions and malignancy in non-dense breast (p < 0.01). Conclusion: PV compared with TE provides marked better diagnostic information in FFDM, particularly for patients with malignancy in dense breast.

The principle of equality and the right to assisted procreation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Živojinović Dragica

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The principle of equality is the foundation of developing an entire system of human rights, and its implementation represents the standard of respecting each right individually. With these premises as a starting point, the subject of the author’s interests is whether the right to assisted reproduction, as a segment of reproductive rights, is regulated in conformity with the equality principal. In order to reach an answer, the author examines the concept of human assisted reproduction and analyzes the application of reproductive technologies in the light of legal, social and political reforms which affected marriages, the family and partnership in general at the end of the 20th century. The author finds that the most significant ones among them are the emancipation of women, recognition and legal formation of same sex unions and statements prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, by considering the right to assisted reproduction in the context of other human rights with which it is interconnected and interdependent (the right to life, right to privacy, the right to a family life, health rights, children’s rights, the author finds there are no absolute, unlimited rights in the contemporary system of human rights, but that they inevitably have certain restrictions. Since the same limitation attribute also characterizes the right to assisted reproduction, the author further researches whether there is discrimination, positive or negative, towards the existing forms of limitations to this right. The following forms of limitations have been singled out, as the key ones for this analysis: request for (nonmarital status and heterosexual orientation, sexual affiliation and age and the accessibility (prohibition of applying certain methods of assisted reproduction which are primarily in the function of eliminating female sterility. The author concludes that there are elements of discrimination based on family status, sexual

AN ILLUMINATION INVARIANT FACE RECOGNITION BY ENHANCED CONTRAST LIMITED ADAPTIVE HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Thamizharasi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Face recognition system is gaining more importance in social networks and surveillance. The face recognition task is complex due to the variations in illumination, expression, occlusion, aging and pose. The illumination variations in image are due to changes in lighting conditions, poor illumination, low contrast or increased brightness. The variations in illumination adversely affect the quality of image and recognition accuracy. The illumination variations in face image have to be pre-processed prior to face recognition. The Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE is an image enhancement technique popular in enhancing medical images. The proposed work is to create illumination invariant face recognition system by enhancing Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization technique. This method is termed as “Enhanced CLAHE”. The efficiency of Enhanced CLAHE is tested using Fuzzy K Nearest Neighbour classifier and fisher face subspace projection method. The face recognition accuracy percentage rate, Equal Error Rate and False Acceptance Rate at 1% are calculated. The performance of CLAHE and Enhanced CLAHE methods is compared. The efficiency of the Enhanced CLAHE method is tested with three public face databases AR, Yale and ORL. The Enhanced CLAHE has very high recognition accuracy percentage rate when compared to CLAHE.

Public hospital care: equal for all or equal for some? Evidence from the Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Chris D; Peabody, John; Hanson, Kara; Solon, Orville

2015-03-01

In low- and middle-income countries, government budgets are rarely sufficient to cover a public hospital's operating costs. Shortfalls are typically financed through a combination of health insurance contributions and user charges. The mixed nature of this financing arrangement potentially creates financial incentives to treat patients with equal health need unequally. Using data from the Philippines, the authors analyzed whether doctors respond to such incentives. After controlling for a patient's condition, they found that patients using insurance, paying more for hospital accommodation, and being treated in externally monitored hospitals were likely to receive more care. This highlights the worrying possibility that public hospital patients with equal health needs are not always equally treated. © 2011 APJPH.

Aren't We There Yet? Why Re-Invigorating the Equality Agenda Is an Institutional Priority

Science.gov (United States)

Ruebain, David

2012-01-01

Perhaps more than any other country in Europe, the UK has well-established equality law and practice, originating with the Race Relations Act of 1965, but based on a longer history of struggle for equality. In 2011 public bodies, including higher education institutions (HEIs), were required to respond to the implementation of the Equality Act…

Equal opportunities group. His mission : accelerating equal opportunities at CERN

CERN Multimedia

Patrice Loïez

2000-01-01

L. to r.: Michel Mayoud, Christine Petit-Jean-Genaz, the Equal Opportunities Officer Sudeshna Datta-Cockerill, Elena Wildner, Anne-Sylvie Cerne, Karl-Heinz Kissler, the Chairman John Ellis and Eva-Maria Groniger-Voss

29 CFR 34.22 - Designation of Equal Opportunity Officer.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... OPPORTUNITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1982, AS AMENDED (JTPA) Recordkeeping and... and implementation of the Methods of Administration pursuant to § 34.33. The Equal Opportunity Officer..., Job Corps Center Director, SESA Administrator, or chief executive officer of the SDA or substate grant...

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ITALIAN LABOUR MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balazs-Foldi Emese

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The integration of persons with disabilities and with reduced work capacity in the labour market represents one of the biggest challenges for labour market policies. The non-integration of disabled people in the labour market causes huge costs for the countries’ economy. The European Union’s aim is to transform passive social support into active support by means of labor market policy measures, to help people to obtain gainful employment and to raise employment levels of people with disabilities and with reduced work capacities. Earlier this target group has to work in the sheltered employment. But it changed from the 90’s years because of the social model of disability definition. Nowadays the main goal to help this target group integrates in the open employment. The members of European Union imagine this aim on other way. The Scandinavian countries or England prefer the equal opportunities and the personalised mainstreaming programmes and services. Other European countries, as Germany, Austria or Italy prefer the rehabilitation quota system. Thus, the labor force participation and employment rates for people with disabilities and with reduced working capacities are strong differences between the European countries. But lot of other options also influence the member of countries’ policy and employment system. Since the Amsterdam Treaty the European Union has devoted exceptional attention to the equal opportunities of disabled people, the enforcement of equal treatment, and the reduction of the dangers of discrimination, as it is, a significant part of persons with disabilities and reduced work capacity do not have a full-time job, they become unemployed two or three times more frequently than their abled-counterparts, and dispose of lower salary, therefore they need the help of their family and the community. This study examines the Italian situation. It bases on statistics on the Italian target group and provides comparisons with

Equality versus equity bases pay systems and their effects on rational altruism motivation in teams: wicked masked altruism

OpenAIRE

Javier García Bernal; Marisa Ramírez Alesón

2007-01-01

This paper analyses the design of optimal incentives in teams both with and without rational altruism. The main contribution of the paper is to study the influence of the incentive function on the altruism parameter chosen by team members. We find that optimal incentive is independent of the presence of rational altruism. Secondly, we compare the welfare loss of equal sharing rules versus second best optimal sharing rules (based on equity). Finally, we distinguish between two sources of ratio...

A study on the equality and benefit of China's national health care system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Shaoguo; Wang, Pei; Dong, Quanfang; Ren, Xing; Cai, Jiaoli; Coyte, Peter C

2017-08-29

This study is designed to evaluate whether the benefit which the residents received from the national health care system is equal in China. The perceived equality and benefit are used to measure the personal status of health care system, health status. This study examines variations in perceived equality and benefit of the national health care system between urban and rural residents from five cities of China and assessed their determinants. One thousand one hundred ninty eight residents were selected from a random survey among five nationally representative cities. The research characterizes perceptions into four population groupings based on a binary assessment of survey scores: high equality & high benefit; low equality & low benefit; high equality & low benefit; and low equality & high benefit. The distribution of the four groups above is 30.4%, 43.0%, 4.6% and 22.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, the type of health insurance, educational background, occupation, geographic regions, changes in health status and other factors have significant impacts on perceived equality and benefit derived from the health care system. The findings demonstrate wide variations in perceptions of equality and benefit between urban and rural residents and across population characteristics, leading to a perceived lack of fairness in benefits and accessibility. Opportunities exist for policy interventions that are targeted to eliminate perceived differences and promote greater equality in access to health care.

"Now the Work Begins": Gender Equality in Sámi Politics

OpenAIRE

Pedersen, Linn-Marie Lillehaug

2014-01-01

This study examines gender equality in Sámi politics after 2005, the year the Sámi Parliament achieved balanced gender representation. The project seeks to answer the question: Within the context of Sámi politics, how is gender equality represented and addressed? To answer this question, the study is based on official documents by the Sámi Parliament and the women’s organization Sámi NissonForum, as well as six semi-structured interviews with Sámi politicians and Sámi women’s activists. Quali...

Sickness absence in gender-equal companies A register study at organizational level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Öhman Ann

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The differences in sickness absence between men and women in Sweden have attracted a great deal of interest nationally in the media and among policymakers over a long period. The fact that women have much higher levels of sickness absence has been explained in various ways. These explanations are contextual and one of the theories points to the lack of gender equality as an explanation. In this study, we evaluate the impact of gender equality on health at organizational level. Gender equality is measured by an index ranking companies at organizational level; health is measured as days on sickness benefit. Methods Gender equality was measured using the Organizational Gender Gap Index or OGGI, which is constructed on the basis of six variables accessible in Swedish official registers. Each variable corresponds to a key word illustrating the interim objectives of the "National Plan for Gender Equality", implemented by the Swedish Parliament in 2006. Health is measured by a variable, days on sickness benefit, also accessible in the same registers. Results We found significant associations between company gender equality and days on sickness benefit. In gender-equal companies, the risk for days on sickness benefit was 1.7 (95% CI 1.6-1.8 higher than in gender-unequal companies. The differences were greater for men than for women: OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.7-2.0 compared to OR 1.4 (95% CI 1.3-1.5. Conclusions Even though employees at gender-equal companies had more days on sickness benefit, the differences between men and women in this measure were smaller in gender-equal companies. Gender equality appears to alter health patterns, converging the differences between men and women.

Novel Equalization Techniques for Space Division Multiplexing Based on Stokes Space Update Rule

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Javier Vaquero Caballero

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Space division multiplexing (SDM is a promising technology that aims to overcome the capacity crunch of optical communications. In this paper, we introduce the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO Stokes Space Algorithm (SSA implemented in frequency domain, a novel equalization technique for space division multiplexing (SDM. Although different papers have been published about the SSA and its MIMO implementation, we provide for the first time an analysis of the of the convergence speed and frequency offset of the SSA compared to the least mean square (LMS. SSA algorithm can deal with higher frequency offsets and linewidths than LMS, being suitable for optical communications with higher phase noise. SSA does not need pre-compensation of frequency offset, which can be compensated after equalization without penalties. On the other hand, due to reduced convergence speed, SSA requires longer training sequences than LMS.

«Equality! the sacred right of equality». Representation under Constitution of 1812

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodríguez O., Jaime E.

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Historians generally argue that Spaniards were not willing to grant Americans equal representation in the Cortes of Cádiz. This article examines the nature of representation in the Antiguo Régimen and the reasons inequality existed in the institutions that emerged after 1808, the Junta Central, the Regency, and the Cortes. Although it is true that the Peninsular majority refused to grant the castas full political rights, they acted to preserve equal representation for themselves in the Cortes. Their actions were predicated on an erroneous belief about the total population of the overseas territories. Opposition to granting the castas full political rights was also shared by some American deputies — those from regions with large African origin population—. Although the Peninsular majority failed to grant Americans the equal representation based on population that they desired, the Spaniards went further than the leaders of any other European nation. England never considered granting the white population of its North American possessions any representation in Parliament, much less equality.

La historiografía sostiene habitualmente que los españoles peninsulares no deseaban otorgar a los americanos una representación igualitaria en las Cortes de Cádiz. Este artículo estudia la naturaleza de la representación en el Antiguo Régimen y las razones por las que existía la desigualdad en instituciones surgidas después de 1808, como la Junta Central, la Regencia y las Cortes. Es cierto que la mayoría peninsular rechazó otorgar plenos derechos políticos a las castas (personas con ancestros africanos y que se esforzó en conservar la representación igualitaria para ellos mismos en las Cortes. Un comportamiento que se basaba en una idea equivocada sobre la población total de los territorios de ultramar. Sin embargo, en el rechazo a otorgar plenos derechos políticos también participaron algunos diputados

47 CFR 25.601 - Equal employment opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Equal employment opportunities. 25.601 Section 25.601 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS Equal Employment Opportunities § 25.601 Equal employment opportunities...

Distributive Equality, Relational Equality and Preferences about Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Kristin

2017-01-01

Are scenarios in which disadvantaged students prefer not to attend (certain) universities a concern from the perspective of an egalitarian theory of justice? I consider this question from the respective perspectives of two prominent approaches to equality: distributive theories, which focus on the fairness of inequalities in outcomes, and…

The Equality Paradox of Deliberative Democracy: Evidence from a National Deliberative Poll

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kasper Møller

2010-01-01

and openly without any procedural restrictions. At the same time, however it is argued that arguments referring to the common good and public interest should and will be emphasized in a deliberative process, which favors participants accustomed to this kind of reasoning, thus, compromising political equality...... the citizens' capabilities to form reasoned and reflective opinions based on the common good rather than self-interest. The focus on the normative potential of deliberation has to a large extent neglected deliberations' many pitfalls and contradictions. One of the most troubling paradoxes in deliberative...... democracy is the equality paradox. The equality paradox of deliberation relates to the idea that deliberative democrats advocate the importance of securing that the deliberative process fulfills political equality as the participants in the deliberative process are able to express their views freely...

Governing Equality: Mathematics for All?

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, Jennifer D.

2013-01-01

With the notion of governmentality, this article considers how the equal sign (=) in the U.S. math curriculum organizes knowledge of equality and inscribes cultural rules for thinking, acting, and seeing in the world. Situating the discussion within contemporary math reforms aimed at teaching mathematics for all, I draw attention to how the…

Equality in Sport for Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Geadelmann, Patricia L.; And Others

The subject of equal rights and opportunities for women in the field of physical education is discussed in nine articles. The major emphasis is on the legal aspects of sex discrimination. Defining equality, knowing the laws regarding enforcement, understanding the court procedures, and realizing the avenues for change are the essential tools…

Luck, Choice, and Educational Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Calvert, John

2015-01-01

Harry Brighouse discusses two conceptions of educational equality. The first is a type of equality of opportunity, heavily influenced by the work of John Rawls, which he calls the meritocratic conception. According to this conception, an individual's educational prospects should not be influenced by factors such as their social class background.…

Gender Equality and the Corporate Sector

OpenAIRE

Lisa Warth

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on how the commitment of businesses to promote gender equality within their organisations can be strengthened. A dual approach of encouraging voluntary measures and corporate social responsibility for gender equality on the one hand, and regulating and enforcing change through legislative reforms on the other hand are reviewed, focusing mainly on the European region. There are arguments for a business case for gender equality in terms of better financial performance and com...

Research on power equalization using a low-loss DC-DC chopper for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Y. W.; Liu, G. T.; Xiong, S. N.; Cheng, J. Z.; Huang, Y. H.

2017-01-01

In the near future, electric vehicle is entirely possible to replace traditional cars due to its zero pollution, small power consumption and low noise. Lithium-ion battery, which owns lots of advantages such as lighter and larger capacity and longer life, has been widely equipped in different electric cars all over the world. One disadvantage of this energy storage device is state of charge (SOC) difference among these cells in each series branch. If equalization circuit is not allocated for series-connected batteries, its safety and lifetime are declined due to over-charge or over-discharge happened, unavoidably. In this paper, a novel modularized equalization circuit, based on DC-DC chopper, is proposed to supply zero loss in theory. The proposed circuit works as an equalizer when Lithium-ion battery pack is charging or discharging or standing idle. Theoretical analysis and control method have been finished, respectively. Simulation and small scale experiments are applied to verify its real effect.

A hybrid method of incorporating extended priority list into equal incremental principle for energy-saving generation dispatch of thermal power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Chuntian; Li, Shushan; Li, Gang

2014-01-01

The energy-saving generation dispatch (ESGD) policy released by Chinese Government in 2007 is a new code for optimally dispatching electric power generation portfolio in the country with the dual objectives of improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental pollution. The ESGD is substantially different from the competitive market in the developed economies, the traditional economic dispatching or the rational dispatching principle implemented in China prior to the new policy. This paper develops a hybrid method that integrates the extended priority list (EPL), the equal incremental principle (EIP) and a heuristic method to optimize daily generation schedules under ESGD. The EPL is presented to search desirable units set that satisfies the complicated duration period requirements based on thermal unit generation priority list. The EIP is developed to allocate load among the committed units within the combined set. A heuristic method is proposed to deal with inequality constraints, which usually result in difficulty for power allocation, and used to improve these results. The algorithm has been embedded into a newly developed decision support system that is currently being used by operators of the Guizhou Province Power Grid to make day-ahead quarter-hourly generation schedules. - Highlights: • Electric power industry is one of key and important fields for energy conservation and emission reduction in China. • The energy-saving generation dispatch policy was released by Chinese government in 2007. • A Hybrid algorithm for energy-saving generation dispatch scheduling of thermal power system is presented. • The algorithm has been embedded into a newly developed decision support system

Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Opportunity Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity Home About ODMEO Leadership Documents News Skip to main content (Press Enter). Toggle navigation Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity Search Search ODMEO: Search Search ODMEO: Search Office of Diversity Management and Equal

Equal opportunity for low-degree network nodes: a PageRank-based method for protein target identification in metabolic graphs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dániel Bánky

Full Text Available Biological network data, such as metabolic-, signaling- or physical interaction graphs of proteins are increasingly available in public repositories for important species. Tools for the quantitative analysis of these networks are being developed today. Protein network-based drug target identification methods usually return protein hubs with large degrees in the networks as potentially important targets. Some known, important protein targets, however, are not hubs at all, and perturbing protein hubs in these networks may have several unwanted physiological effects, due to their interaction with numerous partners. Here, we show a novel method applicable in networks with directed edges (such as metabolic networks that compensates for the low degree (non-hub vertices in the network, and identifies important nodes, regardless of their hub properties. Our method computes the PageRank for the nodes of the network, and divides the PageRank by the in-degree (i.e., the number of incoming edges of the node. This quotient is the same in all nodes in an undirected graph (even for large- and low-degree nodes, that is, for hubs and non-hubs as well, but may differ significantly from node to node in directed graphs. We suggest to assign importance to non-hub nodes with large PageRank/in-degree quotient. Consequently, our method gives high scores to nodes with large PageRank, relative to their degrees: therefore non-hub important nodes can easily be identified in large networks. We demonstrate that these relatively high PageRank scores have biological relevance: the method correctly finds numerous already validated drug targets in distinct organisms (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Plasmodium falciparum and MRSA Staphylococcus aureus, and consequently, it may suggest new possible protein targets as well. Additionally, our scoring method was not chosen arbitrarily: its value for all nodes of all undirected graphs is constant; therefore its high value captures

Equal opportunity for low-degree network nodes: a PageRank-based method for protein target identification in metabolic graphs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bánky, Dániel; Iván, Gábor; Grolmusz, Vince

2013-01-01

Biological network data, such as metabolic-, signaling- or physical interaction graphs of proteins are increasingly available in public repositories for important species. Tools for the quantitative analysis of these networks are being developed today. Protein network-based drug target identification methods usually return protein hubs with large degrees in the networks as potentially important targets. Some known, important protein targets, however, are not hubs at all, and perturbing protein hubs in these networks may have several unwanted physiological effects, due to their interaction with numerous partners. Here, we show a novel method applicable in networks with directed edges (such as metabolic networks) that compensates for the low degree (non-hub) vertices in the network, and identifies important nodes, regardless of their hub properties. Our method computes the PageRank for the nodes of the network, and divides the PageRank by the in-degree (i.e., the number of incoming edges) of the node. This quotient is the same in all nodes in an undirected graph (even for large- and low-degree nodes, that is, for hubs and non-hubs as well), but may differ significantly from node to node in directed graphs. We suggest to assign importance to non-hub nodes with large PageRank/in-degree quotient. Consequently, our method gives high scores to nodes with large PageRank, relative to their degrees: therefore non-hub important nodes can easily be identified in large networks. We demonstrate that these relatively high PageRank scores have biological relevance: the method correctly finds numerous already validated drug targets in distinct organisms (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Plasmodium falciparum and MRSA Staphylococcus aureus), and consequently, it may suggest new possible protein targets as well. Additionally, our scoring method was not chosen arbitrarily: its value for all nodes of all undirected graphs is constant; therefore its high value captures importance in the

Multicultural Challenges - new gender equality dilemmas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte

In my research have been interested in exploring tensions between diversity and gender equality from a theoretical and comparative approach, looking at the Nordic welfare, citizenship and gender regimes from a cross-national European perspective. In this key-note presentation I draw on results...... and inspiration from a number of comparative research projects and networks. In the following I address three issues that have been central in academic debates: 1) The challenges from multiculturalism to gender equality, 2) gendering citizenship and migration and 3) Nordic feminist debates about diversity....... In the last section I argue that one solution to the new gender equality dilemma posed by increased diversity among women is a simultaneous re-framing of multiculturalism and gender equality....

Community understandings of and responses to gender equality and empowerment in Rakai, Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullinax, Margo; Higgins, Jenny; Wagman, Jennifer; Nakyanjo, Neema; Kigozi, Godfrey; Serwadda, David; Wawer, Maria; Gray, Ronald; Nalugoda, Fred

2013-01-01

Women's rights and gender empowerment programmes are now part of the international agenda for improving global public health, the benefits of which are well documented. However, the public health community has, yet, to address how people define and understand gender equality and how they enact the process of empowerment in their lives. This study uses safe homes and respect for everyone (SHARE), an anti-violence intervention in rural Rakai, Uganda, as a case study to investigate perceptions of gender equality. Investigators analysed 12 focus groups of adult women and men to explore how macro-level concepts of gender equality are being processed on an interpersonal level and the effects on health outcomes. Respondents generally agreed that women lack basic rights. However, they also expressed widespread disagreement about the meanings of gender equality, and reported difficulties integrating the concepts of gender equality into their interpersonal relationships. Community members reported that equality, with the resulting shift in gender norms, could expose women to adverse consequences such as violence, infidelity and abandonment with increased sexual health risks, and potential adverse effects on education. Efforts to increase women's rights must occur in conjunction with community-based work on understandings of gender equality.

Low-complexity blind equalization for OFDM systems with general constellations

KAUST Repository

Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Dahman, Ala A.; Sohail, Muhammad Sadiq; Xu, Weiyu; Hassibi, Babak

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a low-complexity algorithm for blind equalization of data in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless systems with general constellations. The proposed algorithm is able to recover the transmitted data

49 CFR 236.792 - Reservoir, equalizing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Reservoir, equalizing. An air reservoir connected with and adding volume to the top portion of the equalizing piston chamber of the automatic brake valve, to provide uniform service reductions in brake pipe...

Quantum Private Comparison of Equality Based on Five-Particle Cluster State

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yan; Zhang, Wen-Bo; Zhang, Shi-Bin; Wang, Hai-Chun; Yan, Li-Li; Han, Gui-Hua; Sheng, Zhi-Wei; Huang, Yuan-Yuan; Suo, Wang; Xiong, Jin-Xin

2016-12-01

A protocol for quantum private comparison of equality (QPCE) is proposed based on five-particle cluster state with the help of a semi-honest third party (TP). In our protocol, TP is allowed to misbehave on its own but can not conspire with either of two parties. Compared with most two-user QPCE protocols, our protocol not only can compare two groups of private information (each group has two users) in one execution, but also compare just two private information. Compared with the multi-user QPCE protocol proposed, our protocol is safer with more reasonable assumptions of TP. The qubit efficiency is computed and analyzed. Our protocol can also be generalized to the case of 2N participants with one TP. The 2N-participant protocol can compare two groups (each group has N private information) in one execution or just N private information. Supported by NSFC under Grant Nos. 61402058, 61572086, the Fund for Middle and Young Academic Leaders of CUIT under Grant No. J201511, the Science and Technology Support Project of Sichuan Province of China under Grant No. 2013GZX0137, the Fund for Young Persons Project of Sichuan Province of China under Grant No. 12ZB017, and the Foundation of Cyberspace Security Key Laboratory of Sichuan Higher Education Institutions under Grant No. szjj2014-074

Propagating separable equalities in an MDD store

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hadzic, Tarik; Hooker, John N.; Tiedemann, Peter

2008-01-01

We present a propagator that achieves MDD consistency for a separable equality over an MDD (multivalued decision diagram) store in pseudo-polynomial time. We integrate the propagator into a constraint solver based on an MDD store introduced in [1]. Our experiments show that the new propagator pro...... provides substantial computational advantage over propagation of two inequality constraints, and that the advantage increases when the maximum width of the MDD store increases....

Gender Equality, Citizenship and Human Rights

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

reflect upon challenges to gender equality, citizenship, and human rights in their respective societies; it combines theoretical insights with empirically grounded studies. The volume contextualises feminist political theory in China and the Nordic countries and subsequently puts it into a global......This comparative volume examines the ways in which current controversies and political, legal, and social struggles for gender equality raise conceptual questions and challenge our thinking on political theories of equality, citizenship and human rights. Bringing together scholars and activists who...

["Education" in an age of increasing equality--a path towards 'ochlocracy"?].

Science.gov (United States)

Mertz, Dieter Paul

2012-03-01

A philosophical and scientific analysis of how the concept of equality has developed from biological, political, sociological, social, economic and--not least--cultural points of view. The focus here is on the German chronic shortage of educational facilities continuing for decades, a cultural revolution without any foreseeable end. These reflections encompass a period of around two and a half millennia, beginning with the Ancient Greek state philosophy, reaching into our epoch of advanced globalisation with momentous changes in Western social welfare states. In consideration of a biochemical and intrinsic individuality based on genetic and epi-genetic factors, equal opportunities are an unlikely prerequisite in evolution. With regard to free education, equality can only be a starting point since, due to individual differences, egalitarian aims of education within a "group university" can never open up equally good chances to everybody. Because of a misunderstanding of equality, the student revolt in 1968 brought forth an egalitarian remodeling of school and university careers accompanied by a leveling, among other things a "university of education for the masses". Instead of "educational knowledge" based on scientific nature, an education towards vocational knowledge and regulation of studies took place. At present, a socialistic reversal of the school system aimed at learning together in ,community schools" until the 10th grade is in progress. The unity of (pure) research and teaching no longer exists. The change in the system supported by a welfare state will have consequences in worldwide competition. The final point of the Cultural Revolution, following historical examples, could be the emergence of a degenerate form of democracy: Ochlocracy.

Equal opportunities in the public and private sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca Monica Ardeleanu

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Equal opportunities are a goal to achieve in Romania at the legislative and institutional/ organizational level.In terms of legislation Romania has made progress, but the institutional mechanisms of the government dealing with gender equality issues are not functioning properly, are not generating a concreate impact on the equal opportunities for women and men.For this reason there is no specific and significant political commitmentto these issue of gender equality in Romania. Gender discrimination is addressed both by anti-discrimination and equal opportunities laws.Equality,fairness and non-discrimination in the workplace environment are present as objective requirements of economic, social and ethical behavior that goes beyond the labor market. Theoretically, on the labor market , both public and private sectors do not accept direct or indirect discrimination at the workplace, espeially during the process of recruitment , training , development, promotion, establishment, payment of the salary and benefits. In practice , the legislation regarding the equal opportunities and equal treatment it is not respected by the employers all the time.Promotion of the policies at the national and organizational level, focused on ensuring equal opportunities , will enhance the social cohesion of the population that will generate economic growrh overall.

Why Should We Demand Equality of Educational Opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kirsten

2016-01-01

This paper reveals how equal educational opportunities, equal job opportunities and equality of opportunity for welfare are related to each other, and how they are related to other demands for justice. There are several important objections to the emphasis on equal educational opportunities. Nevertheless, this paper shows that demanding equal…

Child Support, Poverty and Gender Equality in the Caribbean ...

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

Outputs of the project will include draft model legislation (including child support guidelines) to address the application and enforcement of child support provisions; a court-based social communications strategy on gender equality, shared family responsibility and child support; and a research approach to social protection ...

ANALISA PENINGKATAN KUALITAS CITRA BAWAH AIR BERBASIS KOREKSI GAMMA dan HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aria Hendrawan

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Underwater image of water quality in the dark, it depends on the depth of water at the time of image acquisition or image. The results of the image quality is adversely affecting the results matching the image pairs underwater with SIFT algorithm. This research aims to use the method of image preprocessing and Histogram Equalization Gamma Correction that works to improve the quality of images underwater. The results showed 27.76% increase using image preprocessing Gamma Correction and Histogram Equalization compared with no increase in image quality. Results of paired t-test has the null hypothesis is rejected so that there is a significant difference between the application of Gamma Correction Histogram Equalization with and without image enhancement.

Are consistent equal-weight particle filters possible?

Science.gov (United States)

van Leeuwen, P. J.

2017-12-01

Particle filters are fully nonlinear data-assimilation methods that could potentially change the way we do data-assimilation in highly nonlinear high-dimensional geophysical systems. However, the standard particle filter in which the observations come in by changing the relative weights of the particles is degenerate. This means that one particle obtains weight one, and all other particles obtain a very small weight, effectively meaning that the ensemble of particles reduces to that one particle. For over 10 years now scientists have searched for solutions to this problem. One obvious solution seems to be localisation, in which each part of the state only sees a limited number of observations. However, for a realistic localisation radius based on physical arguments, the number of observations is typically too large, and the filter is still degenerate. Another route taken is trying to find proposal densities that lead to more similar particle weights. There is a simple proof, however, that shows that there is an optimum, the so-called optimal proposal density, and that optimum will lead to a degenerate filter. On the other hand, it is easy to come up with a counter example of a particle filter that is not degenerate in high-dimensional systems. Furthermore, several particle filters have been developed recently that claim to have equal or equivalent weights. In this presentation I will show how to construct a particle filter that is never degenerate in high-dimensional systems, and how that is still consistent with the proof that one cannot do better than the optimal proposal density. Furthermore, it will be shown how equal- and equivalent-weights particle filters fit within this framework. This insight will then lead to new ways to generate particle filters that are non-degenerate, opening up the field of nonlinear filtering in high-dimensional systems.

29 CFR 1620.14 - Testing equality of jobs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.14... must be met in order for the equal pay standard to apply. It should be kept in mind that “equal” does..., or responsibility required for the performance of jobs will not render the equal pay standard...

29 CFR 1614.202 - Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equal Pay Act. 1614.202 Section 1614.202 Labor Regulations... OPPORTUNITY Provisions Applicable to Particular Complaints § 1614.202 Equal Pay Act. (a) In its enforcement of the Equal Pay Act, the Commission has the authority to investigate an agency's employment practices on...

Gender and occupational wage gaps in Romania: from planned equality to market inequality?

OpenAIRE

Andrén, Daniela; Andrén, Thomas

2008-01-01

In Romania, the communist regime promoted an official policy of gender equality for more than 40 years, providing equal access to education and employment, and restricting pay differentiation based on gender. After its fall in December 1989, the promotion of equal opportunities and treatment for women and men did not constitute a priority for any of the governments of the 1990s. This paper analyzes both gender and occupational wage gaps before and during the first years of transition to a mar...

Fast convergent frequency-domain MIMO equalizer for few-mode fiber communication systems

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xuan; Weng, Yi; Wang, Junyi; Pan, Z.

2018-02-01

Space division multiplexing using few-mode fibers has been extensively explored to sustain the continuous traffic growth. In few-mode fiber optical systems, both spatial and polarization modes are exploited to transmit parallel channels, thus increasing the overall capacity. However, signals on spatial channels inevitably suffer from the intrinsic inter-modal coupling and large accumulated differential mode group delay (DMGD), which causes spatial modes de-multiplex even harder. Many research articles have demonstrated that frequency domain adaptive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) equalizer can effectively compensate the DMGD and demultiplex the spatial channels with digital signal processing (DSP). However, the large accumulated DMGD usually requires a large number of training blocks for the initial convergence of adaptive MIMO equalizers, which will decrease the overall system efficiency and even degrade the equalizer performance in fast-changing optical channels. Least mean square (LMS) algorithm is always used in MIMO equalization to dynamically demultiplex the spatial signals. We have proposed to use signal power spectral density (PSD) dependent method and noise PSD directed method to improve the convergence speed of adaptive frequency domain LMS algorithm. We also proposed frequency domain recursive least square (RLS) algorithm to further increase the convergence speed of MIMO equalizer at cost of greater hardware complexity. In this paper, we will compare the hardware complexity and convergence speed of signal PSD dependent and noise power directed algorithms against the conventional frequency domain LMS algorithm. In our numerical study of a three-mode 112 Gbit/s PDM-QPSK optical system with 3000 km transmission, the noise PSD directed and signal PSD dependent methods could improve the convergence speed by 48.3% and 36.1% respectively, at cost of 17.2% and 10.7% higher hardware complexity. We will also compare the frequency domain RLS algorithm against

An analysis on equal width quantization and linearly separable subcode encoding-based discretization and its performance resemblances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lim Meng-Hui

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Biometric discretization extracts a binary string from a set of real-valued features per user. This representative string can be used as a cryptographic key in many security applications upon error correction. Discretization performance should not degrade from the actual continuous features-based classification performance significantly. However, numerous discretization approaches based on ineffective encoding schemes have been put forward. Therefore, the correlation between such discretization and classification has never been made clear. In this article, we aim to bridge the gap between continuous and Hamming domains, and provide a revelation upon how discretization based on equal-width quantization and linearly separable subcode encoding could affect the classification performance in the Hamming domain. We further illustrate how such discretization can be applied in order to obtain a highly resembled classification performance under the general Lp distance and the inner product metrics. Finally, empirical studies conducted on two benchmark face datasets vindicate our analysis results.

The Equal Sign: Teachers' Knowledge and Students' Misconceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Vermeulen, Cornelis; Meyer, Bronwin

2017-01-01

This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which 57 Grade 6 students at a particular school have misconceptions regarding equality, with the equal sign as focus. It also investigated this school's three Grade 5 and 6 teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching regarding equality, again focusing on the equal sign. The…

Findings: Sector-Leading and Innovative Practice in Advancing Equality and Diversity. Report to HEFCE by the Equality Challenge Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Higher Education Funding Council for England, 2017

2017-01-01

Following our "Call for evidence of sector-leading and innovative practice in advancing equality and diversity" (HEFCE Circular letter 16/2016), HEFCE commissioned the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to report back on the range of equality and diversity practice undertaken across the higher education sector. Of 120 submissions received,…

Individualized Sex Equality in Transforming Finnish Academia

Science.gov (United States)

Lätti, Johanna

2017-01-01

This article examines the equality agenda in the context of Finnish university reform in the 21st century. In Finland, the academic regime went through an organizational transformation after the Universities Act in 2009. However, little attention has been paid to the questions of sex or equality. Since the policy influences on equality in…

[Gender equality activity in the Bioimaging Society].

Science.gov (United States)

Suzaki, Etsuko

2013-09-01

Gender equality activity in the Bioimaging Society was initiated in 2005 when it joined the Japan Inter-Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of Men and Women in Science and Engineering (EPMEWSE). The Gender Equality Committee of the Bioimaging Society is acting on this issue by following the policy of the EPMEWSE, and has also been planning and conducting lectures at annual meetings of the society to gain the understanding, consents, and cooperation of the members of the society to become conscious of gender equality. Women's participation in the society has been promoted through the activities of the Gender Equality Committee, and the number of women officers in the society has since increased from two women out of 40 members in 2005 to five out of 44 in 2013. The activities of the Gender Equality Committee of the Japanese Association of Anatomists (JAA) have just started. There are more than 400 women belonging to the JAA. When these women members join together and collaborate, women's participation in the JAA will increase.

Marriage equality is a mental health issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Kealy-Bateman, Warren; Pryor, Lisa

2015-10-01

We aim to review marriage equality in New Zealand and Australia and critically evaluate the health impact of such a legal change. We undertook a review of the literature using the search terms "marriage equality", "same sex marriage" and "gay marriage" in combination with "health", "wellbeing", "psych*", "mental illness" and "distress". This search included medical literature, legal literature and mass media. This review indicates that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people disproportionately face negative health stressors and negative health events compared with the general population and this is related to the stress of being a stigmatised minority group. The evidence strongly supports the proposition that marriage equality is related to improved health outcomes. A diverse range of professional health groups advocate for the legislative progression to marriage equality. The authors found no evidence that marriage equality harms opposite-sex marriage. Marriage equality is still lacking in Australia and as a positive correlate of health should be strongly supported. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

A High-precision Motion Compensation Method for SAR Based on Image Intensity Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hu Ke-bin

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Owing to the platform instability and precision limitations of motion sensors, motion errors negatively affect the quality of synthetic aperture radar (SAR images. The autofocus Back Projection (BP algorithm based on the optimization of image sharpness compensates for motion errors through phase error estimation. This method can attain relatively good performance, while assuming the same phase error for all pixels, i.e., it ignores the spatial variance of motion errors. To overcome this drawback, a high-precision motion error compensation method is presented in this study. In the proposed method, the Antenna Phase Centers (APC are estimated via optimization using the criterion of maximum image intensity. Then, the estimated APCs are applied for BP imaging. Because the APC estimation equals the range history estimation for each pixel, high-precision phase compensation for every pixel can be achieved. Point-target simulations and processing of experimental data validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A Scorecard on Gender Equality and Girls' Education in Asia, 1990-2000. Advocacy Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Unterhalter, Elaine; Rajagopalan, Rajee; Challender, Chloe

2005-01-01

Background: Existing measures for access to and efficiency in the school system are very limited as measures of gender equality, even though there have been marked improvements in sex-disaggregated data. A methodology for developing a scorecard which measures gender equality in schooling and education partly based on Amartya Sen's capability…

Energy prices, equalization and federalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courchene, T.J.

2005-01-01

A rise in oil prices over the last 30 years has shaped the debate on the equalization formula as well as the nature of fiscal federalism. The oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 contributed to the creation of the National Energy Program (NEP) in 1980 and the Energy Pricing and Taxation Agreement (EPTA) between Ottawa and Alberta in 1981. The current surge in oil prices, to recent highs of $70 a barrel has resulted in a new debate on energy pricing, equalization and fiscal frameworks. This article presented a review of the history of oil and federalism, and proposed a remedy to the horizontal fiscal imbalance by allocating the fixed equalization pool in accordance with fiscal capacity disparities relating to non-resource revenues. An interprovincial revenue-sharing pool was suggested for resource revenues, agreed to and operated by the provinces. It was suggested that after the price spike in 1973 in which the price of oil tripled, a key part of the rationale for imposing export taxes on oil equal to the difference between domestic and world prices was that the federal government could subsidize oil imports into eastern Canada and maintain a uniform domestic price across the country. By continuing to subsidize imports and maintaining a domestic price below the world price, the government has been diverting potential energy revenues from energy-rich provinces and transferring them directly to Canadians in terms of subsidized energy prices. It was noted that energy price surges cannot send equalization payments soaring as they did before because of the 2004 Framework Agreement, in which the overall equalization will be increased to $10.9 billion. A 2-tier approach to equalization was presented, in which it was suggested that the $10.9 billion pool should be allocated with fiscal capacity disparities relating to non-resource revenues. The creation of a revenue sharing pool for resource revenues was recommended. It was suggested that the 2 approaches will result in a strategic

Energy prices, equalization and federalism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courchene, T.J. [Queen' s Univ., Kingston, ON (Canada). School of Policy Studies

2005-10-01

A rise in oil prices over the last 30 years has shaped the debate on the equalization formula as well as the nature of fiscal federalism. The oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 contributed to the creation of the National Energy Program (NEP) in 1980 and the Energy Pricing and Taxation Agreement (EPTA) between Ottawa and Alberta in 1981. The current surge in oil prices, to recent highs of $70 a barrel has resulted in a new debate on energy pricing, equalization and fiscal frameworks. This article presented a review of the history of oil and federalism, and proposed a remedy to the horizontal fiscal imbalance by allocating the fixed equalization pool in accordance with fiscal capacity disparities relating to non-resource revenues. An interprovincial revenue-sharing pool was suggested for resource revenues, agreed to and operated by the provinces. It was suggested that after the price spike in 1973 in which the price of oil tripled, a key part of the rationale for imposing export taxes on oil equal to the difference between domestic and world prices was that the federal government could subsidize oil imports into eastern Canada and maintain a uniform domestic price across the country. By continuing to subsidize imports and maintaining a domestic price below the world price, the government has been diverting potential energy revenues from energy-rich provinces and transferring them directly to Canadians in terms of subsidized energy prices. It was noted that energy price surges cannot send equalization payments soaring as they did before because of the 2004 Framework Agreement, in which the overall equalization will be increased to $10.9 billion. A 2-tier approach to equalization was presented, in which it was suggested that the $10.9 billion pool should be allocated with fiscal capacity disparities relating to non-resource revenues. The creation of a revenue sharing pool for resource revenues was recommended. It was suggested that the 2 approaches will result in a strategic

Iterative Multiuser Equalization for Subconnected Hybrid mmWave Massive MIMO Architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Magueta

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Millimeter waves and massive MIMO are a promising combination to achieve the multi-Gb/s required by future 5G wireless systems. However, fully digital architectures are not feasible due to hardware limitations, which means that there is a need to design signal processing techniques for hybrid analog-digital architectures. In this manuscript, we propose a hybrid iterative block multiuser equalizer for subconnected millimeter wave massive MIMO systems. The low complexity user-terminals employ pure-analog random precoders, each with a single RF chain. For the base station, a subconnected hybrid analog-digital equalizer is designed to remove multiuser interference. The hybrid equalizer is optimized using the average bit-error-rate as a metric. Due to the coupling between the RF chains in the optimization problem, the computation of the optimal solutions is too complex. To address this problem, we compute the analog part of the equalizer sequentially over the RF chains using a dictionary built from the array response vectors. The proposed subconnected hybrid iterative multiuser equalizer is compared with a recently proposed fully connected approach. The results show that the performance of the proposed scheme is close to the fully connected hybrid approach counterpart after just a few iterations.

Evaluating comparative and equality judgments in contrast perception: attention alters appearance.

Science.gov (United States)

Anton-Erxleben, Katharina; Abrams, Jared; Carrasco, Marisa

2010-09-09

Covert attention not only improves performance in many visual tasks but also modulates the appearance of several visual features. Studies on attention and appearance have assessed subjective appearance using a task contingent upon a comparative judgment (e.g., M. Carrasco, S. Ling, & S. Read, 2004). Recently, K. A. Schneider and M. Komlos (2008) questioned the validity of those results because they did not find a significant effect of attention on contrast appearance using an equality task. They claim that such equality judgments are bias-free whereas comparative judgments are bias-prone and propose an alternative interpretation of the previous findings based on a decision bias. However, to date there is no empirical support for the superiority of the equality procedure. Here, we compare biases and sensitivity to shifts in perceived contrast of both paradigms. We measured contrast appearance using both a comparative and an equality judgment. Observers judged the contrasts of two simultaneously presented stimuli, while either the contrast of one stimulus was physically incremented (Experiments 1 and 2) or exogenous attention was drawn to it (Experiments 3 and 4). We demonstrate several methodological limitations of the equality paradigm. Nevertheless, both paradigms capture shifts in PSE due to physical and perceived changes in contrast and show that attention enhances apparent contrast.

Gender equality as a means to improve maternal and child health in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Kavita; Bloom, Shelah; Brodish, Paul

2015-01-01

In this article we examine whether measures of gender equality, household decision making, and attitudes toward gender-based violence are associated with maternal and child health outcomes in Africa. We pooled Demographic and Health Surveys data from eight African countries and used multilevel logistic regression on two maternal health outcomes (low body mass index and facility delivery) and two child health outcomes (immunization status and treatment for an acute respiratory infection). We found protective associations between the gender equality measures and the outcomes studied, indicating that gender equality is a potential strategy to improve maternal and child health in Africa.

Novel equalization techniques for space division multiplexing based on stokes space update rule

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caballero, Francisco Javier Vaquero; Pittalà, Fabio; Goeger, Gernot

2017-01-01

with higher frequency offsets and linewidths than LMS, being suitable for optical communications with higher phase noise. SSA does not need pre-compensation of frequency offset, which can be compensated after equalization without penalties. On the other hand, due to reduced convergence speed, SSA requires...... longer training sequences than LMS....

Experimental Verification of a Jarzynski-Related Information-Theoretic Equality by a Single Trapped Ion.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, T P; Yan, L L; Zhou, F; Rehan, K; Liang, D F; Chen, L; Yang, W L; Ma, Z H; Feng, M; Vedral, V

2018-01-05

Most nonequilibrium processes in thermodynamics are quantified only by inequalities; however, the Jarzynski relation presents a remarkably simple and general equality relating nonequilibrium quantities with the equilibrium free energy, and this equality holds in both the classical and quantum regimes. We report a single-spin test and confirmation of the Jarzynski relation in the quantum regime using a single ultracold ^{40}Ca^{+} ion trapped in a harmonic potential, based on a general information-theoretic equality for a temporal evolution of the system sandwiched between two projective measurements. By considering both initially pure and mixed states, respectively, we verify, in an exact and fundamental fashion, the nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics relevant to the mutual information and Jarzynski equality.

Causality, spin, and equal-time commutators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Rahman, A.M.

1975-01-01

We study the causality constraints on the structure of the Lorentz-antisymmetric component of the commutator of two conserved isovector currents between fermion states of equal momenta. We discuss the sum rules that follow from causality and scaling, using the recently introduced refined infinite-momentum technique. The complete set of sum rules is found to include the spin-dependent fixed-mass sum rules obtained from light-cone commutators. The causality and scaling restrictions on the structure of the electromagnetic equal-time commutators are discussed, and it is found, in particular, that causality requires the spin-dependent part of the matrix element for the time-space electromagnetic equal-time commutator to vanish identically. It is also shown, in comparison with the electromagnetic case, that the corresponding matrix element for the time-space isovector current equal-time commutator is required, by causality, to have isospin-antisymmetric tensor and scalar operator Schwinger terms

Equality of Opportunity for Well-Being

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahler, Daniel Gerszon; Ramos, Xavier

2017-01-01

A growing literature has tried to measure the extent to which individuals have equal opportunities to acquire income. At the same time, policy makers have doubled down on efforts to go beyond income when measuring well- being. We attempt to bridge these two areas by measuring the extent to which...... individuals have equal opportunities to achieve a high level of well-being. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel to measure well-being in four different ways including incomes. This makes it possible to determine if the way well-being is measured matters for identifying who the opportunity......-deprived are and for tracking inequality of opportunity over time. We find that, regardless of how well-being is measured, the same people are opportunity-deprived and equality of opportunity has improved over the past 20 years. This suggests that going beyond income has little relevance if the objective is to provide equal...

Sex, Money and the Equal Pay Act

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Edwin B.

1973-01-01

Institutions who justify a wage differential between male and female custodians on the basis that women typically do the lighter work, and men the heavier, can find themselves in trouble. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires that men and women get the same pay for equal work -- and all custodial work is substantially equal to the Labor Department.…

Space-Time Chip Equalization for Maximum Diversity Space-Time Block Coded DS-CDMA Downlink Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petré Frederik

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In the downlink of DS-CDMA, frequency-selectivity destroys the orthogonality of the user signals and introduces multiuser interference (MUI. Space-time chip equalization is an efficient tool to restore the orthogonality of the user signals and suppress the MUI. Furthermore, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO communication techniques can result in a significant increase in capacity. This paper focuses on space-time block coding (STBC techniques, and aims at combining STBC techniques with the original single-antenna DS-CDMA downlink scheme. This results into the so-called space-time block coded DS-CDMA downlink schemes, many of which have been presented in the past. We focus on a new scheme that enables both the maximum multiantenna diversity and the maximum multipath diversity. Although this maximum diversity can only be collected by maximum likelihood (ML detection, we pursue suboptimal detection by means of space-time chip equalization, which lowers the computational complexity significantly. To design the space-time chip equalizers, we also propose efficient pilot-based methods. Simulation results show improved performance over the space-time RAKE receiver for the space-time block coded DS-CDMA downlink schemes that have been proposed for the UMTS and IS-2000 W-CDMA standards.

A New Method of Multiattribute Decision-Making Based on Interval-Valued Hesitant Fuzzy Soft Sets and Its Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Combining interval-valued hesitant fuzzy soft sets (IVHFSSs and a new comparative law, we propose a new method, which can effectively solve multiattribute decision-making (MADM problems. Firstly, a characteristic function of two interval values and a new comparative law of interval-valued hesitant fuzzy elements (IVHFEs based on the possibility degree are proposed. Then, we define two important definitions of IVHFSSs including the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy soft quasi subset and soft quasi equal based on the new comparative law. Finally, an algorithm is presented to solve MADM problems. We also use the method proposed in this paper to evaluate the importance of major components of the well drilling mud pump.

Equal is as equal does: challenging Vatican views on women.

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

The authors of this piece are women from the Roman Catholic tradition who are critical of the Vatican position on women's rights. The Report of the Holy See in Preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women reveals a religious fundamentalism that misuses tradition and anthropology to limit women's roles and rights. The Vatican is itself a self-proclaimed state that offers women neither opportunities nor protections within its own organization, and there is no evidence of women's participation in the preparation of its report. The Vatican document constructs a vision of women and men in which men are normative persons, whose dignity is conferred by their humanity, and women are the variant other, defined by and granted dignity by their reproductive and mothering functions. The Vatican document is anti-feminist. It criticizes the "radical feminists" of the 1960s for trying to deny sexual differences, and accuses today's Western feminists of ignoring the needs of women in developing countries while pursuing selfish and hedonistic goals. It makes no recognition of the work of feminists to improve the lives of women worldwide. The Vatican document claims to support women's equality, but it qualifies each statement of equality with a presumption of difference. The document defines women as vulnerable without naming men as responsible for the oppression and violence to which women are vulnerable. It ridicules as feminist cant the well-documented fact that the home is the setting of most violence against women. The Vatican decries the suffering families undergo as a result of cumpulsory birth control and abortion policies, while it would deny families sex education, contraceptives, and safe abortion, thereby making pregnancy cumpulsory. A new vision of social justice is needed, one that: 1) rests on a radical equality, in which both women and men are expected to contribute to work, education, culture, morality, and reproduction; 2) accepts a "discipleship of equals

A Feature Subset Selection Method Based On High-Dimensional Mutual Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chee Keong Kwoh

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Feature selection is an important step in building accurate classifiers and provides better understanding of the data sets. In this paper, we propose a feature subset selection method based on high-dimensional mutual information. We also propose to use the entropy of the class attribute as a criterion to determine the appropriate subset of features when building classifiers. We prove that if the mutual information between a feature set X and the class attribute Y equals to the entropy of Y , then X is a Markov Blanket of Y . We show that in some cases, it is infeasible to approximate the high-dimensional mutual information with algebraic combinations of pairwise mutual information in any forms. In addition, the exhaustive searches of all combinations of features are prerequisite for finding the optimal feature subsets for classifying these kinds of data sets. We show that our approach outperforms existing filter feature subset selection methods for most of the 24 selected benchmark data sets.

Equal Rights Monitor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saskia Keuzenkamp; Ko Oudhof

2000-01-01

Original title: Emancipatiemonitor 2000. How is the emancipation process of women in the Netherlands progressing? What has been achieved? Have women already achieved equality, and have men accepted the sharing of power and responsibility? Was the emancipation process mainly a phenomenon of

The path of Equal Opportunity at the University of Salerno (1991-2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Rosaria Pelizzari

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The subject of this paper is the story of a policy of small steps, implemented by a group of women engaged in promoting the equal opportunities culture at the University of Salerno. The reconstruction of the history of bodies delegated to Equal Opportunities policies is based, first, on the memory of the authoress, who was one of the participants in the activities described. It reconstructs, in a useful way, a path of which, otherwise, you could lose your memory. Events, people and institutions are presented. This context is of particular importance for the establishment, in 2009, of the Documentation Centre on Gender and Equal Opportunities, and, in 2011, of the OGEPO (Observatory for the diffusion of the Gender Studies and the culture of Equal Opportunity, which is connected in a web forum, to provide, among other things, information and advices  about: reconciling work and family life, labor law, issues of career.

The Nordic Gender Equality Model

OpenAIRE

Teigen, Mari; Skjeie, Hege

2017-01-01

In this chapter, we investigate the descriptive premises involved in portrayals of a Nordic model of gender equality. Mainly, we focus on the equality dimensions that form the baseline in comparative welfare state research and research on political participation. We outline these dimensions as norms for economic equity and democratic parity. First, we examine whether and how descriptive statistics that assess these two dimensions currently rank Nordic countries compared with other European co...

Vocational Education and Equality of Opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz, Benjamin; Feinberg, Walter

1990-01-01

Examines the concepts of equality of opportunity and equality of educational opportunity and their relationship to vocational education. Traces the history of vocational education. Delineates the distinction between training and education as enumerated in Aristotelian philosophy. Discusses the role vocational education can play in the educative…

Has the "Equal Environments" assumption been tested in twin studies?

Science.gov (United States)

Eaves, Lindon; Foley, Debra; Silberg, Judy

2003-12-01

A recurring criticism of the twin method for quantifying genetic and environmental components of human differences is the necessity of the so-called "equal environments assumption" (EEA) (i.e., that monozygotic and dizygotic twins experience equally correlated environments). It has been proposed to test the EEA by stratifying twin correlations by indices of the amount of shared environment. However, relevant environments may also be influenced by genetic differences. We present a model for the role of genetic factors in niche selection by twins that may account for variation in indices of the shared twin environment (e.g., contact between members of twin pairs). Simulations reveal that stratification of twin correlations by amount of contact can yield spurious evidence of large shared environmental effects in some strata and even give false indications of genotype x environment interaction. The stratification approach to testing the equal environments assumption may be misleading and the results of such tests may actually be consistent with a simpler theory of the role of genetic factors in niche selection.

Valuing Equality in Irish Social Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niall Hanlon

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In this article the author critiques Irish social care by presenting an equality perspective on practice. An equality perspective involves developing emancipatory practices, that is, ways of helping that provide egalitarian solutions and outcomes. Although emancipatory values are often contrasted with traditional social care values, the author seeks a pragmatic and integrated approach to emancipatory practices rather than a restatement of traditional dichotomies. Emancipatory practice begins with an appreciation of the nature and relevance of inequalities on the lives of diverse social care users. Building a commitment to equality within social care education and practice is an important step in altering many individual and institutional social care practices by focussing on equality processes and outcomes as central social care objectives. Using a well credited framework that outlines five dimensions of inequality (Baker, Lynch, Cantillon and Walsh, 2004, the author argues that social care educators and practitioners need to debate the issues raised and develop emancipatory practices.

Equality, reasonableness and gender in the process of constitutionalization and internationalization of law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Fernando Quinche-Ramírez

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The themes of this paper are equality, reasonableness and gender rights in the dynamics of two sequential and convergent processes: the constitutionalization of judicial law, and the internationalization of constitutional law. The thesis of this paper is that in the face of non-compliance of the obligation to regulate, guarantee and protect gender rights, the best option has been to strengthen judicial law, which has enabled the development of rules for protection, the adoption of contemporary methods of interpretation and adjudication of the law, as well as the resolution of shortfalls in protection based on said processes of the constitutionalization and internationalization of local law.

Diversity, equal opportunities and human rights.

Science.gov (United States)

McKimm, Judy; Webb, Helen

2010-08-01

Equality and diversity are central to education and health services, in terms of both employment and service delivery. Clinical teachers need to be able to support students and trainees around equality issues, have the confidence to challenge discriminatory practice and provide an inclusive and safe learning and teaching environment.

34 CFR 108.6 - Equal access.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equal access. 108.6 Section 108.6 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION EQUAL... limited to, school-related means of communication, such as bulletin board notices and literature...

An Analysis of Citizenship and Democracy Education Text Book in the Context of Gender Equality and Determining Students' Perceptions on Gender Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Kalayci, Nurdan; Hayirsever, Fahriye

2014-01-01

Gender equality has been explained as both the equal treatment of women and men before the law and women's and men's equal usage of resources, opportunities, and services within the family and society. Today, although the conditions that support gender inequality have relatively decreased, gender discrimination still persists. Gender equality is…

Reforming Equalization: Balancing Efficiency, Entitlement and Ownership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bev Dahlby

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we provide an overview of the equalization grant system in Canada and the issues that have been raised concerning the reform of the fiscal transfer system. Any reforms to the equalization grant system have to balance three concerns — “efficiency” effects that arise through federal financing of transfers, and the incentive effects on provincial fiscal policies, “entitlement” to reasonably comparable public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation, and “ownership” of resources and independence of fiscal policies by provincial governments. Five proposals for reform of the equalization system are discussed. With regard to the inclusion rate for resource revenues in equalization formula, we argue that the rate should be reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent and that ceiling on total equalization payments should be eliminated. We argue against the proposal to exempt from the calculation of equalization entitlements that are deposited in provincial sovereign wealth funds because this would not reduce total equalization entitlements in present value terms, it would be complex to implement if it extended to all forms of savings by provinces (such as debt reduction, and it would not alter the resource rich provinces’ incentives to save more of their resource revenues. We argue against a proposal to reduce CHT and CST to provinces with above average fiscal capacities because this would reduce their incentive to develop and tax their resources, and it would be counter to the purpose of these block grants, which is to reduce the vertical fiscal imbalance between the federal and the provincial governments. We review the Gusen (2012a proto-type model for incorporating variations in costs and needs in the computation of the equalization entitlements and argue that this procedure seems feasible and merits further analysis.

Assessing Impact of Technology Based Digital Equalizer Programme on Improving Student Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Subrata; Mohapatra, Sanjay; Sundarakrishnan, J.

2017-01-01

The objective of this research was to assess the impact of the Digital Equalizer program (DE Program) in terms of student learning outcomes of students in subjects like science, mathematics and geography after 8 months of implementing the DE program in 283 schools across 30 districts of Odisha, India. This study was a inter group and intra group…

TOWARDS GENDER EQUALITY: UKRAINE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tetyana V. Danylova

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. This article attempts to examine the current state of addressing gender inequality in Ukraine. Methodology. The author has used methodology of historical inquiry, hermeneutical methodology and content analysis. Theoretical basis and results. Issues about gender imbalance are acute in Ukraine. Gender inequality in politics is a matter of serious concern. Insignificant part of women in political and decision-making processes is a serious challenge to democracy. Discrimination in the labor market should be noted. Obvious gender inequality in the labor market has led to feminization of poverty. Violence against women has become an acute problem, which can be resolved at the state level only. Although international and national legislation is based on the principle of equality, in practice women are not equal in social life and activities. There is a deep contradiction between the new needs in society and the lack of conditions for their satisfaction. This situation appears to be a challenge to modern Ukrainian society and state of Ukraine, thus, immediate appropriate actions are required. Scientific novelty. It is essential to bring Ukrainian legislation into conformity with the constitutional principles of equality and European standards; develop appropriate and effective anti-discrimination norms and sanctions for violating gender legislation; introduce special measures to ensure gender parity in decision-making, in all public offices; conduct special information campaigns; develop and institutionalize gender studies and gender education at all stages; get more public control over the implementation of international commitments and principles of equal rights and opportunities for women and men. Conclusion. Appropriate mechanisms for overcoming gender stereotypes will contribute to integration of equal rights’ principle and opportunities. Human resources policies require systematic approach to gender analysis and integration in order to

TOWARDS GENDER EQUALITY: UKRAINE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tetyana V. Danylova

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. This article attempts to examine the current state of addressing gender inequality in Ukraine. Methodology. The author has used methodology of historical inquiry, hermeneutical methodology and content analysis. Theoretical basis and results. Issues about gender imbalance are acute in Ukraine.  Gender inequality in politics is a matter of serious concern. Insignificant part of women in political and decision-making processes is a serious challenge to democracy. Discrimination in the labor market should be noted. Obvious gender inequality in the labor market has led to feminization of poverty. Violence against women has become an acute problem, which can be resolved at the state level only. Although international and national legislation is based on the principle of equality, in practice women are not equal in social life and activities. There is a deep contradiction between the new needs in society and the lack of conditions for their satisfaction. This situation appears to be a challenge to modern Ukrainian society and state of Ukraine, thus, immediate appropriate actions are required. Scientific novelty. It is essential to bring Ukrainian legislation into conformity with the constitutional principles of equality and European standards; develop appropriate and effective anti-discrimination norms and sanctions for violating gender legislation; introduce special measures to ensure gender parity in decision-making, in all public offices; conduct special information campaigns; develop and institutionalize gender studies and gender education at all stages; get more public control over the implementation of international commitments and principles of equal rights and opportunities for women and men. Conclusion. Appropriate mechanisms for overcoming gender stereotypes will contribute to integration of equal rights’ principle and opportunities.  Human resources policies require systematic approach to gender analysis and integration in order

Energy prices, equalization and Canadian federalism : comparing Canada's energy price shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courchene, T.J.

2006-01-01

Revenues from natural resources during periods of high energy prices can create problems with the way the Canadian federal government distributes wealth through equalization. This paper traced the history of equalization in comparison with energy prices from the years 1973 to 2003. It was noted that the National Energy Program, section 92A of the Constitution, and the 5-province standard were all federal responses to initial energy price increases. It was suggested that current increases in energy prices demand a different response. The author examined a method of using the national average standard to calculate equalization payments as a means of eliminating the inequities created by the current 5-province standard, which excludes both Alberta and the Atlantic provinces. It was argued that the exclusion of Alberta's energy resources creates a false impression that other provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan are rich in resources. It was suggested that fiscal imbalance between provinces is a significant challenge to the current Canadian government. New approaches to cash transfers to the provinces were discussed. A 2-tier equalization scheme was proposed that separated natural resource revenues from other revenues. It was concluded that the government's previous response to high energy prices will not be appropriate for addressing the current price shock. A 2-tier equalization scheme will mean that resource-rich provinces have an opportunity to participate more fully in federal decision-making. 53 refs., 3 figs

The influence of European sex equality law on the UK legislation: a challenge to the “male norm”?

OpenAIRE

Manfredi, Simonetta

2018-01-01

It has been argued that some of the main provisions of the EU sex equality law, namely the Equal Treatment and the Equal Pay Directives, have hardly had any influence on the decision to introduce legislation in the UK, aimed at eliminating discrimination based on sex with regard to pay, access to jobs, training and working conditions. The Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), which represent the two main pillars of equality legislation in the UK, were both introduced pri...

Equality of Opportunities, Divergent Conceptualisations and Their Implications for Early Childhood Care and Education Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Morabito, Christian; Vandenbroeck, Michel

2015-01-01

This article aims to explore the relations between equality of opportunity and early childhood. By referring to the work of contemporary philosophers, i.e. Rawls, Sen, Dworkin, Cohen and Roemer, we argue for different possible interpretations, based on political discussions, concerning how to operationalize equality of opportunities. We represent…

Equal Educational Opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Lorenzo

1980-01-01

Holds that the "Bakke" decision simply reaffirmed an insufficient commitment to equal opportunities for Blacks in higher education. Reviews several studies, including research conducted at the Institute for the Study of Educational Policy (ISEP) that has focused on the social and economic context of educational discrimination. (GC)

Stable Galerkin versus equal-order Galerkin least-squares elements for the stokes flow problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franca, L.P.; Frey, S.L.; Sampaio, R.

1989-11-01

Numerical experiments are performed for the stokes flow problem employing a stable Galerkin method and a Galerkin/Least-squares method with equal-order elements. Error estimates for the methods tested herein are reviewed. The numerical results presented attest the good stability properties of all methods examined herein. (A.C.A.S.) [pt

Community of Practice to Institutionalize Gender Equality | CRDI ...

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

Achieving equality between women and men ("gender equality") is an important principle of Canada's international cooperation program. Canadian organizations receiving CIDA funding must comply with CIDA's policy on gender equality, and many have adopted their own such policies. ... Date butoir. 31 mars 2015 ...

Managing equality and cultural diversity in the health workforce.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Beverley

2007-12-01

This article offers practical strategies to managers and others for supporting overseas trained nurses and managing cultural diversity in the health workforce. Widespread nursing shortages have led managers to recruit nurses from overseas, mainly from developing countries. This paper draws on evidence from the Researching Equal Opportunities for Internationally Recruited Nurses and Other Health Professionals study reported elsewhere in this issue, which indicates that overseas trained nurses encountered widespread discriminatory practices including an overuse of complaints and grievances against them. The researchers also found that the overseas trained nurses responded to their experiences by using various personal strategies to resist or re-negotiate and overcome such discriminatory practices. A research workshop was held in June 2005 at the midpoint of the Researching Equal Opportunities for Internationally Recruited Nurses and Other Health Professionals study. Twenty-five participants attended the workshop. They were the Researching Equal Opportunities for Internationally Recruited Nurses and Other Health Professionals study researchers, advisory group members, including the author of this paper and other researchers in the field of migration. The overall aim of the workshop was to share emerging research data from the Researching Equal Opportunities for Internationally Recruited Nurses and Other Health Professionals and related studies. The final session of the workshop on which this paper is based, was facilitated by the author, with the specific aim of asking the participants to discuss and determine the challenges to managers when managing a culturally diverse workforce. The discussion yielded four main themes collated by the author from which a framework of strategies to facilitate equality and cultural diversity management of the healthcare workers may be developed. The four themes are: assumptions and expectations; education and training to include

29 CFR 1620.15 - Jobs requiring equal skill in performance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.15 Jobs requiring equal skill in performance. (a) In general. The jobs to which the equal pay standard is applicable are jobs requiring equal skill in their performance. Where the amount... another job, the equal pay standard cannot apply even though the jobs may be equal in all other respects...

Equal task, equal exposure? Are men and women with the same tasks equally exposed to awkward working postures?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooftman, W.E.; Beek, A.J. van der; Wal, B.G. van de; Knol, D.L.; Bongers, P.M.; Burdorf, A.; Mechelen, M. van

2009-01-01

The aim of the study was to determine whether men and woman with equal tasks perform these tasks in the same way. Video recordings of 37 male and 43 female workers in six task groups were observed, from which data regarding frequency and duration of exposure to awkward postures were derived. These

The Many Faces of Equal Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Temkin, Larry S.

2016-01-01

The ideal of equality of opportunity plays an important role in contemporary social and political discourse, and it is one of the few ideals which most people, across the political spectrum, accept. In this article, I argue that the seemingly widespread agreement about the value of equal opportunity is more apparent than real. I distinguish…

Equal but different: Effects of equality/inclusion and cultural pluralism on intergroup outcomes in multiethnic classrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarzenthal, Miriam; Schachner, Maja K; van de Vijver, Fons J R; Juang, Linda P

2018-04-01

Integrating research on intergroup contact and intercultural relations, we investigated effects of 2 types of cultural diversity norms (equality/inclusion and cultural pluralism) on outgroup orientation and perceived discrimination among students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background. Our sample comprised 1,975 6th graders (M age = 11.53, SD age = 0.69, 47% female) in Germany, of whom 1,213 (61%) were of immigrant background, defined as having at least 1 parent born in a different country. A total of 83 countries of origin were represented. We applied a multilevel framework to assess the impact of individual-level and class-level predictors on intergroup outcomes, controlling for the classroom ethnic composition, school track, and individual-level covariates. Immigrant background was treated as a moderator. The 2 types of cultural diversity norms were generally associated with more positive intergroup outcomes. Some of the associations differed in strength between students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background. There were stronger associations of equality/inclusion with higher outgroup orientation among students of nonimmigrant background and with lower perceived discrimination among students of immigrant background. Ethnic composition, as well as the classroom-aggregated diversity norms (diversity climate) showed weaker relations with the outcome variables. Equality/inclusion norms and cultural pluralism norms can make complementary contributions to positive relations between students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background. Equality/inclusion norms foster positive contact and equal treatment, while cultural pluralism norms emphasize that it is also important to value diversity.¹ (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

EQUAL TREATMENT AND NON DISCRIMINATION ON GENDER CRITERIUM IN ROMANIAN LAW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TOFAN Mihaela

2012-06-01

Full Text Available There have been important changes in Romanian legal framework in the past two decades. Concepts as liberty, equality and equity evolved from declarative level to effective values applied into reality. Romanian Constitution, adopted in 1991 and considerably reviewed in 2003, started the process of adapting the Romanian legal framework to the European law. Fundamental principles, such as liberty, equal treatment and equality between all individuals have been ruled and are in force, as they are included in the constitutional texts. In order to confer stronger guaranties for respecting these principles, there have been adopted laws, ordinances and regulations. Although the separation of the power is ruled on constitutional level, the Romanian govern has the power to adopt ordinances, when the parliament is not able to act. This power is not used properly, the process of ruling through ordinances being the prior method and not the exception, as it should be. So, the equal treatment and the non-discrimination principles are insured by ordinance, many of the aspects being criticized. The constant, systematic and concentrated promotion of the equal opportunity principle for men and women, as it is known today, represents a relatively new worry for the international community, even though legal aspects about equality between men and women have been evoked ever since 1948 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the European Union, the preoccupation for the promotion of the equal opportunity and treatment for men and women was officially recognized as a necessity starting with the European Treaty from Maastricht (1993, and subsidiary through the adopted Directives for this purpose and not least through the jurisprudence of Luxembourg’s Court of Law. On institutional level, there have been founded some private and also public bodies to carry out the mission of protecting the equal treatment and non-discrimination principles. An important role is

The importance of activity-based methods in radiology and the technology that now makes this possible.

Science.gov (United States)

Monge, Paul

2006-01-01

Activity-based methods serve as a dynamic process that has allowed many other industries to reduce and control their costs, increase productivity, and streamline their processes while improving product quality and service. The method could serve the healthcare industry in an equally beneficial way. Activity-based methods encompass both activity based costing (ABC) and activity-based management (ABM). ABC is a cost management approach that links resource consumption to activities that an enterprise performs, and then assigns those activities and their associated costs to customers, products, or product lines. ABM uses the resource assignments derived in ABC so that operation managers can improve their departmental processes and workflows. There are three fundamental problems with traditional cost systems. First, traditional systems fail to reflect the underlying diversity of work taking place within an enterprise. Second, it uses allocations that are, for the most part, arbitrary Single step allocations fail to reflect the real work-the activities being performed and the associate resources actually consumed. Third, they only provide a cost number that, standing alone, does not provide any guidance on how to improve performance by lowering cost or enhancing throughput.

Tests of equal effect per fraction in microcolony assays of survival after fractionated irradiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, J.M.G.

1985-01-01

H.D Thames, Jr. and H.R. Withers propose a test of an equal effect per fraction in microcolony assays after fractionated radiation, in which the total effect is measured by counting microcolonies derived from surviving cells in a tissue. The factors considered to influence the cytocidal effect per fraction are incomplete repair, repopulation, and synchrony. The statistics used in the method are criticized and conditions are given under which the test should not be used. An alternative method of testing for an equal effect per fraction is proposed. The pros and cons of each test are discussed and compared using some mouse jejunal crypt cell survival data

Module 11: Gender Equality & Social Exclusion Issues in Rural Development

OpenAIRE

Kenny, Michael

2003-01-01

1.1 Introduction 1.2 The Equality Argument 1.3 Equality and the Culture of Contentment 1.4 Rawls and the Theory of a Just Society 1.5 Equal Opportunities and the Equality Continuum 1.6 The Equality Context

Ex-ante and ex-post measurement of equality of opportunity in health: a normative decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Donni, Paolo Li; Peragine, Vito; Pignataro, Giuseppe

2014-02-01

This paper proposes and discusses two different approaches to the definition of inequality in health: the ex-ante and the ex-post approach. It proposes strategies for measuring inequality of opportunity in health based on the path-independent Atkinson equality index. The proposed methodology is illustrated using data from the British Household Panel Survey; the results suggest that in the period 2000-2005, at least one-third of the observed health equalities in the UK were equalities of opportunity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Entrepreneur for Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duncan, Russell

Focuses on the first Republican Governor of the state of Georgia during the period of race adjustment and national reconstruction after the American Civil War. Bullock led the way to business connections in creating a New South, but he was best known for his steadfast efforts at human equality fo...

“Equal Work Require Equal Salary” – Part of the Principle of Equality Treatment between Men and Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla Carmina Spiridon

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Enlarging the provisions of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Convention no. 111 from 1958 regarding discrimination in the field of employing manpower and practicing profession, , has pointed out the effect of discrimination: to suppress or to prejudice the equal opportunities or treatment in the field of employing manpower and practicing profession.

76 FR 53807 - Women's Equality Day, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-29

... States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit ourselves to the goal of gender equality in... Vol. 76 Monday, No. 167 August 29, 2011 Part IV The President Proclamation 8699--Women's Equality...

The Fate of Equality in a Technological Civilization

Science.gov (United States)

Stivers, Richard

2008-01-01

The meaning of equality has been radically altered since the Enlightenment. In the 18th century, equality acquired political and economic meanings specifically in the contexts of democracy and capitalism. Today, the context in which equality is understood and practiced is technology as our most immediate and compelling environment. Moreover, the…

77 FR 52583 - Women's Equality Day, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-29

... celebrate the achievements of women and recommit to realizing gender equality in this country. [[Page 52586... Equality Day, 2012 #0; #0; #0; Presidential Documents #0; #0; #0;#0;Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 168...

Blind I/Q imbalance and nonlinear ISI mitigation in Nyquist-SCM direct detection system with cascaded widely linear and Volterra equalizer

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Na; Ju, Cheng

2018-02-01

Nyquist-SCM signal after fiber transmission, direct detection (DD), and analog down-conversion suffers from linear ISI, nonlinear ISI, and I/Q imbalance, simultaneously. Theoretical analysis based on widely linear (WL) and Volterra series is given to explain the relationship and interaction of these three interferences. A blind equalization algorithm, cascaded WL and Volterra equalizer, is designed to mitigate these three interferences. Furthermore, the feasibility of the proposed cascaded algorithm is experimentally demonstrated based on a 40-Gbps data rate 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) virtual single sideband (VSSB) Nyquist-SCM DD system over 100-km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) transmission. In addition, the performances of conventional strictly linear equalizer, WL equalizer, Volterra equalizer, and cascaded WL and Volterra equalizer are experimentally evaluated, respectively.

76 FR 65099 - Blind Americans Equality Day, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-20

... Americans Equality Day, 2011 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Generations of... inspiring as champions of sport. On Blind Americans Equality Day, we celebrate the achievements of blind and... interacted with the program's vendors. Though we have made progress in the march to equality for the blind...

Fight For Equality

Science.gov (United States)

Mink, Patsy T.

1973-01-01

In this presentation to the annual conventions of the NAWDAC and the ACPA (Cleveland 1973) the author, a Congresswoman from Hawaii, deplores the practice of some counselors of directing women students into traditional women's courses. She urges college counselors and personnel workers to join in the struggle to achieve equal educational and…

Dilemmas in the Danish Approach to Gender Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen; Siim, Birte

and gender parity. Gender theory has conceptualized gender parity as one step towards achieving gender justice in all arenas of social, political and economic life. The Danish cases illustrate that context matters and question gender quota as a universal strategy to achieve gender equality. The empirical......The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality and discusses the intersections of citizenship, democracy and gender justice. Gender research understands gender quota as a means to achieve equal rights, gender equality...... to a limited extent addresses the impact of these policies and their implications for lived practice. One issue concerns the paradox of the relatively high female representation in politics without the adoption of gender quotas. A second issue concerns the gap between gender equality policies. Denmark lacks...

34 CFR 21.1 - Equal Access to Justice Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equal Access to Justice Act. 21.1 Section 21.1 Education Office of the Secretary, Department of Education EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE General § 21.1 Equal Access to Justice Act. (a) The Equal Access to Justice Act (the Act) provides for the award of fees and...

12 CFR 268.101 - General policy for equal opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), the Equal Pay Act (29 U.S.C. 206(d)), or the... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General policy for equal opportunity. 268.101... RESERVE SYSTEM RULES REGARDING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Board Program To Promote Equal Opportunity § 268.101...

29 CFR 1614.408 - Civil action: Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Civil action: Equal Pay Act. 1614.408 Section 1614.408... EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Appeals and Civil Actions § 1614.408 Civil action: Equal Pay Act. A..., three years of the date of the alleged violation of the Equal Pay Act regardless of whether he or she...

48 CFR 52.211-6 - Brand name or equal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Brand name or equal. 52....211-6 Brand name or equal. As prescribed in 11.107(a), insert the following provision: Brand Name or Equal (AUG 1999) (a) If an item in this solicitation is identified as “brand name or equal,” the...

12 CFR 626.6025 - Equal housing lender poster.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equal housing lender poster. 626.6025 Section... § 626.6025 Equal housing lender poster. (a) Each Farm Credit institution that makes loans for the... by a dwelling shall post and maintain an Equal Housing Lender Poster in the lobby of each of its...

78 FR 21811 - National Equal Pay Day, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-11

..., 2013 National Equal Pay Day, 2013 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Over... of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 9, 2013, as National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all... Vol. 78 Thursday, No. 70 April 11, 2013 Part V The President Proclamation 8955--National Equal Pay...

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN ON THE LABOUR MARKET – THE GENDER PAY GAP WITHIN THE EU MEMBER STATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana Ancuţa Stângaciu

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The actions taken for the promotion of the equality of opportunity between men and women and for eliminating the direct or the indirect discrimination apply to the field of employment as well as to the field of education, health, culture, information and the participation in the decision making process. Starting from one of the objectives of the Strategy for the equality of opportunity, being aware of the real situation of women participation compared to men participation to the economical and social life, this analysis offers a perspective on the equality of opportunity between men and women in the field of employment, seen based on the statistical data. Thus, in order to quantify this phenomenon using methods specific to the statistical analysis, we used the gender pay gap indicator pertaining to the EU member states per total economy, as well as per economical activities, and the research results show that on the EU level there are still significant gender pay gaps.

Blind Channel Equalization Using Constrained Generalized Pattern Search Optimization and Reinitialization Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Tatkeu

2008-12-01

Full Text Available We propose a global convergence baud-spaced blind equalization method in this paper. This method is based on the application of both generalized pattern optimization and channel surfing reinitialization. The potentially used unimodal cost function relies on higher- order statistics, and its optimization is achieved using a pattern search algorithm. Since the convergence to the global minimum is not unconditionally warranted, we make use of channel surfing reinitialization (CSR strategy to find the right global minimum. The proposed algorithm is analyzed, and simulation results using a severe frequency selective propagation channel are given. Detailed comparisons with constant modulus algorithm (CMA are highlighted. The proposed algorithm performances are evaluated in terms of intersymbol interference, normalized received signal constellations, and root mean square error vector magnitude. In case of nonconstant modulus input signals, our algorithm outperforms significantly CMA algorithm with full channel surfing reinitialization strategy. However, comparable performances are obtained for constant modulus signals.

Blind Channel Equalization Using Constrained Generalized Pattern Search Optimization and Reinitialization Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Zaouche, Abdelouahib; Dayoub, Iyad; Rouvaen, Jean Michel; Tatkeu, Charles

2008-12-01

We propose a global convergence baud-spaced blind equalization method in this paper. This method is based on the application of both generalized pattern optimization and channel surfing reinitialization. The potentially used unimodal cost function relies on higher- order statistics, and its optimization is achieved using a pattern search algorithm. Since the convergence to the global minimum is not unconditionally warranted, we make use of channel surfing reinitialization (CSR) strategy to find the right global minimum. The proposed algorithm is analyzed, and simulation results using a severe frequency selective propagation channel are given. Detailed comparisons with constant modulus algorithm (CMA) are highlighted. The proposed algorithm performances are evaluated in terms of intersymbol interference, normalized received signal constellations, and root mean square error vector magnitude. In case of nonconstant modulus input signals, our algorithm outperforms significantly CMA algorithm with full channel surfing reinitialization strategy. However, comparable performances are obtained for constant modulus signals.

Low-complexity blind equalization for OFDM systems with general constellations

KAUST Repository

Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

2012-12-01

This paper proposes a low-complexity algorithm for blind equalization of data in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless systems with general constellations. The proposed algorithm is able to recover the transmitted data even when the channel changes on a symbol-by-symbol basis, making it suitable for fast fading channels. The proposed algorithm does not require any statistical information about the channel and thus does not suffer from latency normally associated with blind methods. The paper demonstrates how to reduce the complexity of the algorithm, which becomes especially low at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Specifically, it is shown that in the high SNR regime, the number of operations is of the order O(LN), where L is the cyclic prefix length and N is the total number of subcarriers. Simulation results confirm the favorable performance of the proposed algorithm. © 2012 IEEE.

Volterra equalization of complex modulation utilizing frequency chirp in directly modulated lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shaohua; Yi, Xingwen; Zhang, Jing; Song, Yang; Zhu, Mingyue; Qiu, Kun

2018-02-01

We apply Volterra-based equalization for complex modulated optical signals utilizing the frequency chirp in DMLs. We experimentally demonstrate that the higher order Volterra filter is necessary in the higher speed transmissions. For further study, we isolate the adiabatic chirp by injection locking and realize the optical PM transmission. We make a comparison among IM, FM and PM with Volterra equalization, finding that PM and FM are more power insensitive and suitable for high speed, power limited fiber transmission. The performance can be further improved by exploiting the diversity gain.

12 CFR 528.5 - Equal Housing Lender Poster.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equal Housing Lender Poster. 528.5 Section 528... REQUIREMENTS § 528.5 Equal Housing Lender Poster. (a) Each savings association shall post and maintain one or more Equal Housing Lender Posters, the text of which is prescribed in paragraph (b) of this section, in...

Analysis 1: SDG5, gender equal fisheries

OpenAIRE

Williams, Meryl J.

2017-01-01

What are the challenges in the path of achieving gender equality in fisheries and what should our priorities be? This article tries to identify these in the context of SDG 5, the Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality.

An Examination of Alternative Poverty Measures for the Wisconsin Equalization Aid Formula.

Science.gov (United States)

Cibulka, James G.

1986-01-01

Wisconsin's guaranteed tax base equalization formula has no direct adjustment for the additional costs of educating poverty level pupils. This paper establishes the need for an adjustment and examines three measures (based on varying poverty definitions) to determine which provides the most equitable funding formula for educating poor children. (9…

TAXATION. FAIRNESS. EQUALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morar Ioan Dan

2014-12-01

of the tax burden between them, depending on how the tax base, depending on the type of taxpayer and according to other criteria. Another coordinated taxation is part of contemporary consumerist polticilor new tax, taxing certain income, especially income individuals is marked by the overall objective of capitalist society, that consumption growth. Fiscal policies are policies the new contemporary consumerism. And this phenomenon influences the distribution of the tax burden among taxpayers, more or less fair. What is tax fairness and how we can quantify? Here's a question that I try to raspunt from equality before the law tax payers. Equality before the tax law is not a primary goal of modern tax policy, it losing ground to tax efficiency goals and its economic and social components. On the other hand though fiscal phenomenon can help to ensure social peace through taxation to keep Sean absolute size of the tax burden and the fact that all are equal before the law, tax law and within given social policies in broadly, social security or insurance in respect restrains can be promoted by themselves and less by fiscal policy.

Real-Time PCR-Based Quantitation Method for the Genetically Modified Soybean Line GTS 40-3-2.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitta, Kazumi; Takabatake, Reona; Mano, Junichi

2016-01-01

This chapter describes a real-time PCR-based method for quantitation of the relative amount of genetically modified (GM) soybean line GTS 40-3-2 [Roundup Ready(®) soybean (RRS)] contained in a batch. The method targets a taxon-specific soybean gene (lectin gene, Le1) and the specific DNA construct junction region between the Petunia hybrida chloroplast transit peptide sequence and the Agrobacterium 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase gene (epsps) sequence present in GTS 40-3-2. The method employs plasmid pMulSL2 as a reference material in order to quantify the relative amount of GTS 40-3-2 in soybean samples using a conversion factor (Cf) equal to the ratio of the RRS-specific DNA to the taxon-specific DNA in representative genuine GTS 40-3-2 seeds.

Low complexity adaptive equalizers for underwater acoustic communications

Science.gov (United States)

Soflaei, Masoumeh; Azmi, Paeiz

2014-08-01

Interference signals due to scattering from surface and reflecting from bottom is one of the most important problems of reliable communications in shallow water channels. To solve this problem, one of the best suggested ways is to use adaptive equalizers. Convergence rate and misadjustment error in adaptive algorithms play important roles in adaptive equalizer performance. In this paper, affine projection algorithm (APA), selective regressor APA(SR-APA), family of selective partial update (SPU) algorithms, family of set-membership (SM) algorithms and selective partial update selective regressor APA (SPU-SR-APA) are compared with conventional algorithms such as the least mean square (LMS) in underwater acoustic communications. We apply experimental data from the Strait of Hormuz for demonstrating the efficiency of the proposed methods over shallow water channel. We observe that the values of the steady-state mean square error (MSE) of SR-APA, SPU-APA, SPU-normalized least mean square (SPU-NLMS), SPU-SR-APA, SM-APA and SM-NLMS algorithms decrease in comparison with the LMS algorithm. Also these algorithms have better convergence rates than LMS type algorithm.

Promoting Racial Equality in the Nursing Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Foolchand, M. K.

1995-01-01

Equality in nursing education and the profession can be promoted in the following ways: a working policy on racism and equal opportunities; curriculum content that explores stereotypes, values, attitudes, and prejudices; and multicultural health research, education, and promotion. (SK)

CMOS continuous-time adaptive equalizers for high-speed serial links

CERN Document Server

Gimeno Gasca, Cecilia; Aldea Chagoyen, Concepción

2015-01-01

This book introduces readers to the design of adaptive equalization solutions integrated in standard CMOS technology for high-speed serial links. Since continuous-time equalizers offer various advantages as an alternative to discrete-time equalizers at multi-gigabit rates, this book provides a detailed description of continuous-time adaptive equalizers design - both at transistor and system levels-, their main characteristics and performances. The authors begin with a complete review and analysis of the state of the art of equalizers for wireline applications, describing why they are necessary, their types, and their main applications. Next, theoretical fundamentals of continuous-time adaptive equalizers are explored. Then, new structures are proposed to implement the different building blocks of the adaptive equalizer: line equalizer, loop-filters, power comparator, etc.  The authors demonstrate the design of a complete low-power, low-voltage, high-speed, continuous-time adaptive equalizer. Finally, a cost-...

PROMOTING EQUALITY THROUGH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, A SOCIOECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana-Maria NEAGU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of the proposed paper is to identify a possible cost benefit evaluation of assistive technologies in the context of promoting equal opportunities in life. Equal opportunities represent more than just ensuring an equitable framework for all individuals; equality represents recognition and respect for all individuals no matter the differences among us. The paper debates the issues of equality in the context of assistive technologies advance. The use of assistive technology was found to be predictive of enjoyment of human rights and increased capabilities for those with special needs. Because promoting equality among individuals necessitates more than doing nothing it is obvious that we should think of evaluating the costs and the benefits of such actions taking into consideration socio and economic aspects. The topic has a novelty and an applicability character mostly for our country.

A New Method of Reliability Evaluation Based on Wavelet Information Entropy for Equipment Condition Identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Z J; Zhang, X L; Chen, X F

2012-01-01

Aiming at reliability evaluation of condition identification of mechanical equipment, it is necessary to analyze condition monitoring information. A new method of reliability evaluation based on wavelet information entropy extracted from vibration signals of mechanical equipment is proposed. The method is quite different from traditional reliability evaluation models that are dependent on probability statistics analysis of large number sample data. The vibration signals of mechanical equipment were analyzed by means of second generation wavelet package (SGWP). We take relative energy in each frequency band of decomposed signal that equals a percentage of the whole signal energy as probability. Normalized information entropy (IE) is obtained based on the relative energy to describe uncertainty of a system instead of probability. The reliability degree is transformed by the normalized wavelet information entropy. A successful application has been achieved to evaluate the assembled quality reliability for a kind of dismountable disk-drum aero-engine. The reliability degree indicates the assembled quality satisfactorily.

All are equal, but some are more equal than others: Managerialism and gender equality in higher education in comparative perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teelken, J.C.; Deem, R.

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate what impact new regimes of management and governance, including new managerialism, have had on perceptions of gender equality at universities in three Western European countries. While in accordance with national laws and EU directives, contemporary

The Happiest Kids on Earth. Gender Equality and Adolescent Life Satisfaction in Europe and North America.

Science.gov (United States)

Looze, M E de; Huijts, T; Stevens, G W J M; Torsheim, T; Vollebergh, W A M

2018-05-01

Cross-national differences in adolescent life satisfaction in Europe and North America are consistent, but remain poorly understood. While previous studies have predominantly focused on the explanatory role of economic factors, such as national wealth and income equality, they revealed weak associations, at most. This study examines whether societal gender equality can explain the observed cross-national variability in adolescent life satisfaction. Based on the assumption that gender equality fosters a supportive social context, for example within families through a more equal involvement of fathers and mothers in child care tasks, adolescent life satisfaction was expected to be higher in more gender-equal countries. To test this hypothesis, national-level data of gender equality (i.e., women's share in political participation, decision making power, economic participation and command over resources) were linked to data from 175,470 adolescents aged 11-16 years old (M age  = 13.6, SD = 1.64, 52% girls) from 34 European and North American countries involved in the 2009/10 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Results of linear multilevel regression analyses indicate that adolescents in countries with relatively high levels of gender equality report higher life satisfaction than their peers in countries with lower levels of gender equality. The association between gender equality and adolescent life satisfaction remained significant after controlling for national wealth and income equality. It was equally strong for boys and girls. Moreover, the association between gender equality and life satisfaction was explained by social support in the family, peer and school context. This analysis suggests that gender equality fosters social support among members of a society, which in turn contributes to adolescent life satisfaction. Thus, promoting gender equality is likely to benefit all members of a society; not just by giving equal rights to women

An improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared images based on adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuo; Jin, Weiqi; Li, Li; Li, Yiyang

2018-05-01

Infrared thermal images can reflect the thermal-radiation distribution of a particular scene. However, the contrast of the infrared images is usually low. Hence, it is generally necessary to enhance the contrast of infrared images in advance to facilitate subsequent recognition and analysis. Based on the adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization, this paper presents an improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared thermal images. In the proposed algorithm, the normalized coefficient of variation of the histogram, which characterizes the level of contrast enhancement, is introduced as feedback information to adjust the upper and lower plateau thresholds. The experiments on actual infrared images show that compared to the three typical contrast-enhancement algorithms, the proposed algorithm has better scene adaptability and yields better contrast-enhancement results for infrared images with more dark areas or a higher dynamic range. Hence, it has high application value in contrast enhancement, dynamic range compression, and digital detail enhancement for infrared thermal images.

The Imputed Valuation and Adjusted Tax Base Concept: A System to Incorporate in Lieu of Property Tax Revenues in Definition of Wealth for Equalization Purposes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Richard L.; Torgeson, Ronald

1987-01-01

Outlines how the state of North Dakota is developing a system for incorporating the revenue from the coal and petroleum industries into the tax base for local school support as part of an equalization plan for supporting basic services during a depressed economic period. (MD)

We Do Not Enjoy Equal Political Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie-Antoinette Sossou

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This study explores Ghanaian women’s perception and voices about issues of gender equality in terms of exercising their political and decision-making rights in connection with political participation and governance in Ghana. The study uses demographic survey and six different focus group discussions to capture the views of a total of 68 women with different educational, socioeconomical, and occupational backgrounds, in two regions of the Ghana. The findings indicate that even though theoretically the constitution of Ghana gives women equal rights as their male counterparts to actively participate in the governance of their country, in practice, women face issues of gender-based power imbalance and discrimination in addition to other structural, institutional, cultural, and traditional barriers and roadblocks. These barriers expose women as being inferior and second-class citizens compared with their male counterparts in term of participation and inclusion in the governance of their country. The study discusses the social and policy implications of the issues of gender inequality and social exclusion of women in politics and calls for empowerment and organization of women and structural change in the system.

The Europeanisation of gender equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

2007-01-01

The paper examines the extent to which member states control the impact of European Union (EU) policies. It does so through an historical study of what is considered to be the ‘least likely case’ – the Europeanization of Danish gender equality. The analytical findings identify various and diverse...... effects of European integration over time on national policy, politics and law. Historically, the EU has had a major role in furthering and putting into effect equality rights – even in the ‘least likely’ case of Denmark. From a theoretical perspective, the paper argues that the study of Europeanization...

Women, gender equality, and diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannan, Carolyn

2009-03-01

Discussion of women, gender equality, and diabetes should be placed in the context of United Nations mandates on women's health which highlight the need for equal access to information, prevention activities, services, and care across the life cycle. Gender differences and inequalities have been identified in relation to causes and consequences of diabetes and access to services and support between women and men, and among different groups of women. Appropriate gender-sensitive policy responses, including research and data collection, need to be developed. The recent United Nations resolution on diabetes provides an opportunity to strengthen the focus on women and diabetes.

Consistency questions in the light cone gauge based on equal time commutation rules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haller, K.

1989-01-01

We investigate whether time displacement invariant propagators are compatible canonical formulations in the light cone gauge based on equal time commutation rules. We conclude that, in the light cone gauge, time displacement invariant propagators are not consistent with the requirement that, in canonical formulations of gauge theories, only transversely polarized, massless gauge field excitations (photons, or gluons in perturbative QCD), can contribute to the transverse part of a time displacement invariant propagator. When the time displacement invariant light cone gauge propagator is represented as a four-dimensional momentum space Fourier integral the following is observed: Transverse parts of the propagator obtain time displacement invariant contributions from the (k 3 -k 0 ) pole, as well as from the (vertical strokekvertical stroke 2 -k 0 2 ) pole. But since, in the Schroedinger picture (i.e. at t=0), the divergence-free part of the gauge field consists of transversely polarized gauge field excitations only, the transverse part of the propagator either can have time displacement invariant time dependence determined by the (vertical strokekvertical stroke 2 -k 0 2 ) pole; or, if any part of the transverse propagator has time dependence determined by the (k 3 -k 0 ) pole, it cannot be time displacement invariant. (orig.)

The Principles of Tax Law Equality in The Context of Direct Taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Jarczok-Guzy

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Aim/purpose - The purpose of this article is a presentation of the principles of tax law equality with the aim of establishing the significance of these rules for the system of direct taxation in Poland. Only forms of taxation have been selected to conduct this analysis because they offer the most transparent and variegated picture of the real tax burden. Design/methodology/approach - The article follows the method of economic comparative analysis and offers a review of available literature on the subject. Findings - This analysis proves that the choice of different types of income taxation for natural persons conducting business activity has influence on tax burden. Research implications/limitations - The system of direct taxation in Poland has problems with equality rules because of different tax rates and tax returns which are available in Polish law. Originality/value/contribution - This article presents the problem of tax law equality in the context of economic theories developed by selected economists.

Jarzynski equality: connections to thermodynamics and the second law.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmieri, Benoit; Ronis, David

2007-01-01

The one-dimensional expanding ideal gas model is used to compute the exact nonequilibrium distribution function. The state of the system during the expansion is defined in terms of local thermodynamics quantities. The final equilibrium free energy, obtained a long time after the expansion, is compared against the free energy that appears in the Jarzynski equality. Within this model, where the Jarzynski equality holds rigorously, the free energy change that appears in the equality does not equal the actual free energy change of the system at any time of the process. More generally, the work bound that is obtained from the Jarzynski equality is an upper bound to the upper bound that is obtained from the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The cancellation of the dissipative (nonequilibrium) terms that result in the Jarzynski equality is shown in the framework of response theory. This is used to show that the intuitive assumption that the Jarzynski work bound becomes equal to the average work done when the system evolves quasistatically is incorrect under some conditions.

All Are Equal, but Some Are More Equal than Others: Managerialism and Gender Equality in Higher Education in Comparative Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Teelken, Christine; Deem, Rosemary

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate what impact new regimes of management and governance, including new managerialism, have had on perceptions of gender equality at universities in three Western European countries. While in accordance with national laws and EU directives, contemporary current management approaches in universities…

Global pathways to men's caregiving: mixed methods findings from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey and the Men Who Care study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato-Wallace, Jane; Barker, Gary; Eads, Marci; Levtov, Ruti

2014-01-01

Promoting men's participation in unpaid care work is part of the Programme of Action for the International Conference on Population and Development. However, men's involvement in care work does not mirror the advances women have made in paid work outside the home. This mixed method study explores which men are more involved in caregiving, and what childhood and adulthood factors influence their level of involvement. Quantitative research presents findings from 1169 men across six countries with children aged 0-4, and a qualitative study presents findings from in-depth interviews with 83 men engaged in atypical caregiving practices. Survey research finds that being taught to care for children, witnessing one's father take care of one's siblings, respondents' present attitudes about gender equality and having outside help (or none, in some cases) were all also associated with men's higher level of involvement. Qualitative research reveals that men's experiences of violence, the normalisation of domestic work as children and life circumstances rather than greater-than-average beliefs in gender equality all propelled them into care work. Findings suggest that engaging more men into care work implies changes to policies and structural realities in the workplace coupled with changing gender attitudes. These insights inform policy and practice aimed at promoting greater involvement in care work by men.

A critical assessment of the equal environment assumption of the twin method for schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roar eFosse

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The classical twin method (CTM is central to the view that schizophrenia is ~80% heritable. The CTM rests on the equal environments assumption (EEA that identical and fraternal twin pairs experience equivalent trait relevant environmental exposures. The EEA has not been directly tested for schizophrenia with measures of child social adversity, which is particularly etiologically relevant to the disorder. However, if child social adversity is more similar in identical than fraternal pairs in the general twin population, the EEA is unlikely to be valid for schizophrenia, a question which we tested in this study. Using results from prior twin studies, we tested if intraclass correlations for the following five categories of child social adversity are larger in identical than fraternal twins: bullying, sexual abuse, physical maltreatment, emotional neglect and abuse, and general trauma. Eleven relevant studies that encompassed 9119 twin pairs provided 24 comparisons of intraclass correlations, which we grouped into the five social exposure categories. Fisher’s z-test revealed significantly higher correlations in identical than fraternal pairs for each exposure category (z ≥ 3.53, p <.001. The difference remained consistent across gender, study site (country, sample size, whether psychometric instruments were used, whether interviewing was proximate or distant to the exposures, and whether informants were twins or third persons. Combined with other evidence that the differential intraclass correlation for child social adversity cannot be explained by evocative gene-environment covariation, our results indicate that the CTM does not provide any valid indication of genomic effects in schizophrenia.

16 CFR 240.9 - Proportionally equal terms.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Proportionally equal terms. 240.9 Section 240.9 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION GUIDES AND TRADE PRACTICE RULES GUIDES FOR ADVERTISING ALLOWANCES AND OTHER MERCHANDISING PAYMENTS AND SERVICES § 240.9 Proportionally equal terms. (a...

Enhanced iris recognition method based on multi-unit iris images

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Kwang Yong; Kim, Yeong Gon; Park, Kang Ryoung

2013-04-01

For the purpose of biometric person identification, iris recognition uses the unique characteristics of the patterns of the iris; that is, the eye region between the pupil and the sclera. When obtaining an iris image, the iris's image is frequently rotated because of the user's head roll toward the left or right shoulder. As the rotation of the iris image leads to circular shifting of the iris features, the accuracy of iris recognition is degraded. To solve this problem, conventional iris recognition methods use shifting of the iris feature codes to perform the matching. However, this increases the computational complexity and level of false acceptance error. To solve these problems, we propose a novel iris recognition method based on multi-unit iris images. Our method is novel in the following five ways compared with previous methods. First, to detect both eyes, we use Adaboost and a rapid eye detector (RED) based on the iris shape feature and integral imaging. Both eyes are detected using RED in the approximate candidate region that consists of the binocular region, which is determined by the Adaboost detector. Second, we classify the detected eyes into the left and right eyes, because the iris patterns in the left and right eyes in the same person are different, and they are therefore considered as different classes. We can improve the accuracy of iris recognition using this pre-classification of the left and right eyes. Third, by measuring the angle of head roll using the two center positions of the left and right pupils, detected by two circular edge detectors, we obtain the information of the iris rotation angle. Fourth, in order to reduce the error and processing time of iris recognition, adaptive bit-shifting based on the measured iris rotation angle is used in feature matching. Fifth, the recognition accuracy is enhanced by the score fusion of the left and right irises. Experimental results on the iris open database of low-resolution images showed that the

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Stoilkovska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to examine the problem of the concept of equal employment opportunities in the HR recruitment and selection process. Due to the fact that in these processes, both the HR managers and the applicants are involved, this research is conducted separately among them. Thus, it will be determined if both sides share the same opinion with respect to the existence of this concept in the mentioned processes. Providing equal employment opportunities is crucial for any company and represents a key for selecting the real employees. Therefore, the research includes the existence of prejudices in the recruitment and selection process such as discrimination based on national and social origin, gender and sexual orientation, age, political affiliation etc. As an essential part of this concept, the legislation in the Republic of Macedonia and its impact in the process of generating equal opportunities will be considered.

Research on Signature Verification Method Based on Discrete Fréchet Distance

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, J. L.; Wu, W.

2018-05-01

This paper proposes a multi-feature signature template based on discrete Fréchet distance, which breaks through the limitation of traditional signature authentication using a single signature feature. It solves the online handwritten signature authentication signature global feature template extraction calculation workload, signature feature selection unreasonable problem. In this experiment, the false recognition rate (FAR) and false rejection rate (FRR) of the statistical signature are calculated and the average equal error rate (AEER) is calculated. The feasibility of the combined template scheme is verified by comparing the average equal error rate of the combination template and the original template.

Confiscatory equalization : the intriguing case of Saskatchewan's vanishing energy revenues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courchene, T.J.

2004-01-01

This paper examined fiscal policies and factors that affect economic growth. In particular, it examined Saskatchewan's equalization entitlements for energy revenues and how Canada's equalization program confiscated the province's energy revenues for the fiscal year 2000-2001. It included an equalization primer that familiarized readers with the theory and practice of equalization. Several equations and tables relating to the mechanics of equalization were included along with a summary of equalization and tax-back rates that address the nature of tax-back rates that accompany the equalization formula. The author proposed alternative ways to reduce tax-backs such as the generic solution that applies to offshore energy revenues in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He also suggested ways in which some important fiscal inequities can be redressed. A remedy that can be applied immediately involves an equitable approach which allows the province to retain at least 30 per cent of its energy revenues. A long term remedy would require the implementation of comprehensive reform such as restoring equalization to its national average standard (NAS) roots, but where only 25 per cent of resource revenues would be eligible for equalization. It was suggested that the maximum equalization tax-back rate for each of Saskatchewan's energy revenue categories should not exceed 70 per cent. refs., tabs., figs

Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value in Terms of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998: Lessons from the International Labour Organisation and the United Kingdom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shamier Ebrahim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Equal pay is an area of employment law that is complex and not easily understood. This complexity is recognised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO, which notes that equal pay for work of equal value has proved to be difficult to understand, both with regard to what it entails and in its application. Amendments have been made to the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA to include a specific provision to regulate equal pay claims in the form of section 6(4-(5 of the EEA. The amendments were made in terms of the Employment Equity Amendment Act 47 of 2013, which came into effect on 1 August 2014 by presidential proclamation. Prior to section 6(4, the EEA did not contain a specific provision regulating equal pay claims. Claims could be brought in terms of section 6(1 of the EEA, which prohibits unfair discrimination on a number of grounds. The recent amendments to the EEA in the form of section 6(4-(5 (including the Employment Equity Regulations and the Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value in respect of equal pay claims is a response to the ILO's criticism of South Africa's failure to include specific equal pay provisions in the EEA. Section 6(4 of the EEA provides for three causes of action in respect of equal pay. They are as follows: (a equal pay for the same work; (b equal pay for substantially the same work; and (c equal pay for work of equal value. The first two causes of action are not difficult to understand as opposed to the third cause of action, which is complex. The ILO has recognised the complexity of the third cause of action, "equal pay for work of equal value". In Mangena v Fila South Africa 2009 12 BLLR 1224 (LC, the Labour Court remarked in the context of an equal pay for work of equal value claim that it does not have expertise in job grading and in the allocation of value to particular occupations. This article will deal with the third cause of action only, "equal pay for work of equal value". The

THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY - LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS -

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius ANDREESCU

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The equality in human rights and obligations, the equality of citizens before the law are fundamental categories of the theories on social democracy but also conditions of the lawful state, without which constitutional democracy cannot be conceived. In Romanian Constitution, this principle is consecrated in the form of equality of the citizens before the law and public authorities. There are also particular aspects of this principle consecrated in the Constitution. The constitutional principle of equality requires that equal treatment be applied to equal situations. This social and legal reality implies numerous interferences between the principle of equality and other constitutional principles. In this study, by using theoretical and jurisprudential arguments, we intend to demonstrate that, in relation to contemporary social reality, equality, as a constitutional principle, is a particular aspect of the principle of proportionality. The latter one expresses in essence the ideas of: fairness, justice, reasonableness and fair appropriateness of state decisions to the facts and legitimate aims proposed.

Cross Validation on the Equality of Uav-Based and Contour-Based Dems

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, R.; Xu, Z.; Wu, L.; Liu, S.

2018-04-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have been widely used for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generation in geographic applications. This paper proposes a novel framework of generating DEM from UAV images. It starts with the generation of the point clouds by image matching, where the flight control data are used as reference for searching for the corresponding images, leading to a significant time saving. Besides, a set of ground control points (GCP) obtained from field surveying are used to transform the point clouds to the user's coordinate system. Following that, we use a multi-feature based supervised classification method for discriminating non-ground points from ground ones. In the end, we generate DEM by constructing triangular irregular networks and rasterization. The experiments are conducted in the east of Jilin province in China, which has been suffered from soil erosion for several years. The quality of UAV based DEM (UAV-DEM) is compared with that generated from contour interpolation (Contour-DEM). The comparison shows a higher resolution, as well as higher accuracy of UAV-DEMs, which contains more geographic information. In addition, the RMSE errors of the UAV-DEMs generated from point clouds with and without GCPs are ±0.5 m and ±20 m, respectively.

UNIVERSITY COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUALITY (CUIG. EXPERIENCE MAINSTREAMING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelia Flores-Hernández

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Gender mainstreaming suggests institutional reorganization and/or “mainstreaming” of gender at the university. Betting on institutionalization as part of a government policy that requires institutional commitment and the responsibility of all university powers by the advancement of equality between women and men. For certain approaches in the feminist movement, it represents the handling of a struggle in the very long term tension that cannot be bounded exclusively to the enunciation of instances nominal or degraded resource allocation without achieving larger structural changes and prone to genuine equality (Palomar, 2009; Pérez, 2010; Alonso, 2010. Therefore, in this paper seeks to explain the extent to which the proposal or mainstreaming should not own the feminist struggle. The reflection is located in the plane of the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala (UATX, for it challenges facing the institutionalization of gender are presented, based on the following questions: Does the University have a need to mainstream a gender perspective? And, if so, what elements allow this initiative? And, what elements constrain it?

45 CFR 1616.6 - Equal employment opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Equal employment opportunity. 1616.6 Section 1616.6 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION ATTORNEY HIRING § 1616.6 Equal employment opportunity. A recipient shall adopt employment qualifications, procedures, and policies that meet the...

36 CFR 254.11 - Exchanges at approximately equal value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... equal value. 254.11 Section 254.11 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LANDOWNERSHIP ADJUSTMENTS Land Exchanges § 254.11 Exchanges at approximately equal value. (a) The authorized officer may exchange lands which are of approximately equal value upon a determination that: (1...

From conditions of equality to demands of justice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartz, Emily; Nielsen, Carsten Fogh

2015-01-01

Equal freedom is the common starting point for most contractual theories of justice from Hobbes and Rousseau to Rawls. But while equal freedom defines a common starting point for these theories, this does not result in a general consensus on the conception of justice. On the contrary, different...... ways of conceptualizing the contractual starting point leads to different conceptions of the demands of justice. To fully understand the relationship between equal freedom and justice we therefore first need to explicate how and why the initial condition of equality is transformed into demands...... of justice. In this paper we discuss how this transformation takes place in the theories of Hobbes, Rousseau and Rawls, with particular emphasis on the vexed relationship between motivation and justification....

78 FR 53231 - Women's Equality Day, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-28

... Vol. 78 Wednesday, No. 167 August 28, 2013 Part IV The President Proclamation 9003--Women's Equality Day, 2013 Proclamation 9004--50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom #0... 9003 of August 23, 2013 Women's Equality Day, 2013 By the President of the United States of America A...

48 CFR 2811.104-70 - Brand-name or equal description.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Brand-name or equal... 2811.104-70 Brand-name or equal description. When a brand-name or equal description is used, the clause set forth in 2852.211-70, Brand-name or Equal, shall be inserted into the solicitation. ...

A Dynamic Tap Allocation for Concurrent CMA-DD Equalizers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trindade DiegovonBM

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper proposes a dynamic tap allocation for the concurrent CMA-DD equalizer as a low complexity solution for the blind channel deconvolution problem. The number of taps is a crucial factor which affects the performance and the complexity of most adaptive equalizers. Generally an equalizer requires a large number of taps in order to cope with long delays in the channel multipath profile. Simulations show that the proposed new blind equalizer is able to solve the blind channel deconvolution problem with a specified and reduced number of active taps. As a result, it minimizes the output excess mean square error due to inactive taps during and after the equalizer convergence and the hardware complexity as well.

Project Lifespan-based Nonstationary Hydrologic Design Methods for Changing Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, L.

2017-12-01

Under changing environment, we must associate design floods with the design life period of projects to ensure the hydrologic design is really relevant to the operation of the hydrologic projects, because the design value for a given exceedance probability over the project life period would be significantly different from that over other time periods of the same length due to the nonstationarity of probability distributions. Several hydrologic design methods that take the design life period of projects into account have been proposed in recent years, i.e. the expected number of exceedances (ENE), design life level (DLL), equivalent reliability (ER), and average design life level (ADLL). Among the four methods to be compared, both the ENE and ER methods are return period-based methods, while DLL and ADLL are risk/reliability- based methods which estimate design values for given probability values of risk or reliability. However, the four methods can be unified together under a general framework through a relationship transforming the so-called representative reliability (RRE) into the return period, i.e. m=1/1(1-RRE), in which we compute the return period m using the representative reliability RRE.The results of nonstationary design quantiles and associated confidence intervals calculated by ENE, ER and ADLL were very similar, since ENE or ER was a special case or had a similar expression form with respect to ADLL. In particular, the design quantiles calculated by ENE and ADLL were the same when return period was equal to the length of the design life. In addition, DLL can yield similar design values if the relationship between DLL and ER/ADLL return periods is considered. Furthermore, ENE, ER and ADLL had good adaptability to either an increasing or decreasing situation, yielding not too large or too small design quantiles. This is important for applications of nonstationary hydrologic design methods in actual practice because of the concern of choosing the emerging

A multi-label learning based kernel automatic recommendation method for support vector machine.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xueying; Song, Qinbao

2015-01-01

Choosing an appropriate kernel is very important and critical when classifying a new problem with Support Vector Machine. So far, more attention has been paid on constructing new kernels and choosing suitable parameter values for a specific kernel function, but less on kernel selection. Furthermore, most of current kernel selection methods focus on seeking a best kernel with the highest classification accuracy via cross-validation, they are time consuming and ignore the differences among the number of support vectors and the CPU time of SVM with different kernels. Considering the tradeoff between classification success ratio and CPU time, there may be multiple kernel functions performing equally well on the same classification problem. Aiming to automatically select those appropriate kernel functions for a given data set, we propose a multi-label learning based kernel recommendation method built on the data characteristics. For each data set, the meta-knowledge data base is first created by extracting the feature vector of data characteristics and identifying the corresponding applicable kernel set. Then the kernel recommendation model is constructed on the generated meta-knowledge data base with the multi-label classification method. Finally, the appropriate kernel functions are recommended to a new data set by the recommendation model according to the characteristics of the new data set. Extensive experiments over 132 UCI benchmark data sets, with five different types of data set characteristics, eleven typical kernels (Linear, Polynomial, Radial Basis Function, Sigmoidal function, Laplace, Multiquadric, Rational Quadratic, Spherical, Spline, Wave and Circular), and five multi-label classification methods demonstrate that, compared with the existing kernel selection methods and the most widely used RBF kernel function, SVM with the kernel function recommended by our proposed method achieved the highest classification performance.

A novel joint-processing adaptive nonlinear equalizer using a modular recurrent neural network for chaotic communication systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Haiquan; Zeng, Xiangping; Zhang, Jiashu; Liu, Yangguang; Wang, Xiaomin; Li, Tianrui

2011-01-01

To eliminate nonlinear channel distortion in chaotic communication systems, a novel joint-processing adaptive nonlinear equalizer based on a pipelined recurrent neural network (JPRNN) is proposed, using a modified real-time recurrent learning (RTRL) algorithm. Furthermore, an adaptive amplitude RTRL algorithm is adopted to overcome the deteriorating effect introduced by the nesting process. Computer simulations illustrate that the proposed equalizer outperforms the pipelined recurrent neural network (PRNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) equalizers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

48 CFR 452.211-70 - Brand Name or Equal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Brand Name or Equal. 452... FORMS SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 452.211-70 Brand Name or Equal. As prescribed in 411.171, insert the following provision: Brand Name or Equal (NOV 1996...

The uneasy marriage between Law and Equality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerman, Pauline C.

2015-01-01

There are two ways in which the social ideal of equality has found expression in the law: in the principle of equal treatment and in the principle of non-discrimination. In this article the meaning of these two legal principles is analysed, in order to answer the question to what extent they can be

29 CFR 1620.19 - Equality of wages-application of the principle.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Section 1620.19 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.19 Equality of wages—application of the principle. Equal wages must be paid... paying employees of the opposite sex a bonus. Comparison can be made for equal pay purposes between...

Analysis of covariance with pre-treatment measurements in randomized trials: comparison of equal and unequal slopes.

Science.gov (United States)

Funatogawa, Ikuko; Funatogawa, Takashi

2011-09-01

In randomized trials, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is often used to analyze post-treatment measurements with pre-treatment measurements as a covariate to compare two treatment groups. Random allocation guarantees only equal variances of pre-treatment measurements. We hence consider data with unequal covariances and variances of post-treatment measurements without assuming normality. Recently, we showed that the actual type I error rate of the usual ANCOVA assuming equal slopes and equal residual variances is asymptotically at a nominal level under equal sample sizes, and that of the ANCOVA with unequal variances is asymptotically at a nominal level, even under unequal sample sizes. In this paper, we investigated the asymptotic properties of the ANCOVA with unequal slopes for such data. The estimators of the treatment effect at the observed mean are identical between equal and unequal variance assumptions, and these are asymptotically normal estimators for the treatment effect at the true mean. However, the variances of these estimators based on standard formulas are biased, and the actual type I error rates are not at a nominal level, irrespective of variance assumptions. In equal sample sizes, the efficiency of the usual ANCOVA assuming equal slopes and equal variances is asymptotically the same as those of the ANCOVA with unequal slopes and higher than that of the ANCOVA with equal slopes and unequal variances. Therefore, the use of the usual ANCOVA is appropriate in equal sample sizes. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Some Thoughts on the Equal Pay Act and Coaching Salaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Boring, Phyllis

This paper discusses the Equal Pay Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as it applies to women athletic coaches and physical education teachers. The following points are considered: (1) application of the Equal Pay Act; (2) advantage of voluntary compliance with the Equal Pay Act; (3) factors used to measure "equal work"; (4)…

48 CFR 2852.211-70 - Brand-name or equal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Brand-name or equal. 2852... Forms SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES Text of Provisions and Clauses 2852.211-70 Brand-name or equal. As prescribed in 2811.104-70, insert the following clause: Brand-Name or Equal (JAN 1985...

Canada’s Equalization Formula: Peering Inside the Black Box.. and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jim Feehan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Ontario only started receiving equalization payments, for the first time in its history, in 2009. As soon as Ontario slipped into that “have-not” status, the federal government imposed a cap on the growth of equalization payouts. That led to substantial federal savings, but has cost Ontario and other recipients what would have been much larger payments since then. The federal government’s move to rein in the potential ballooning cost of equalization may have been understandable, from a cost-control perspective, but it ultimately defied the very purpose of equalization. The fixed-growth rule imposed by the federal government is just one of several elements within the current equalization arrangement that should be corrected. The federal government should end that practice and absorb any resulting increase in cost. However, if that cost is onerous, then it could consider adjustments of its other major transfers to the provinces – Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer – and reduce those per-capita transfers to provinces that are well ahead of the equalization norm. That would be better than shifting the entire burden to the those below the norm. Another flaw in the current equalization arrangement is the inclusion of Crown-owned hydro corporations’ remittances of earnings to their provincial owners in the natural resources category of equalization calculations. Many of these corporations are not simply energy producers, but are also vertically integrated, with transmission and retail sales operations, and some have no resources at all, but rely instead on fuel purchased in the marketplace. Moreover, taxes paid by private energy corporations are not considered part of the natural resource category but are included in the business income tax category. This means the formula is essentially inconsistent, discriminating based on the ownership profile. Hydro remittances should be removed from the natural resource revenue

Gender Achievement and Social, Political and Economic Equality: A European Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Ireson, Gren

2017-01-01

Differences in gender equality based on social, political and economic factors is cited, by some writers, as a contributory factor in the differentially greater achievement of boys in STEM subjects through the concept of gender stratification. Gender differences, especially in mathematics, have been linked directly to gender parity in wider…

29 CFR 530.414 - Equal Access to Justice Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equal Access to Justice Act. 530.414 Section 530.414 Labor... OF HOMEWORKERS IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES Administrative Procedures § 530.414 Equal Access to Justice Act. Proceedings under this part are not subject to the provisions of the Equal Access to Justice Act. In any...

48 CFR 852.211-73 - Brand name or equal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Brand name or equal. 852... Brand name or equal. As prescribed in 811.104-71, insert the following clause: Brand Name or Equal (JAN 2008) (Note: As used in this clause, the term “brand name” includes identification of products by make...

48 CFR 1852.210-70 - Brand name or equal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Brand name or equal. 1852... 1852.210-70 Brand name or equal. As prescribed in 1810.011-70(a), insert the following provision: Brand Name or Equal (DEC 1988) (a) As used in this provision, “brand name” means identification of products...

Analytical solutions of the planar cyclic voltammetry process for two soluble species with equal diffusivities and fast electron transfer using the method of eigenfunction expansions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samin, Adib; Lahti, Erik; Zhang, Jinsuo, E-mail: zhang.3558@osu.edu [Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, 201 W 19" t" h Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States)

2015-08-15

Cyclic voltammetry is a powerful tool that is used for characterizing electrochemical processes. Models of cyclic voltammetry take into account the mass transport of species and the kinetics at the electrode surface. Analytical solutions of these models are not well-known due to the complexity of the boundary conditions. In this study we present closed form analytical solutions of the planar voltammetry model for two soluble species with fast electron transfer and equal diffusivities using the eigenfunction expansion method. Our solution methodology does not incorporate Laplace transforms and yields good agreement with the numerical solution. This solution method can be extended to cases that are more general and may be useful for benchmarking purposes.

Analytical solutions of the planar cyclic voltammetry process for two soluble species with equal diffusivities and fast electron transfer using the method of eigenfunction expansions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, 201 W 19th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" >Samin, Adib; th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, 201 W 19th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" >Lahti, Erik; th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, 201 W 19th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States))" >Zhang, Jinsuo

2015-01-01

Cyclic voltammetry is a powerful tool that is used for characterizing electrochemical processes. Models of cyclic voltammetry take into account the mass transport of species and the kinetics at the electrode surface. Analytical solutions of these models are not well-known due to the complexity of the boundary conditions. In this study we present closed form analytical solutions of the planar voltammetry model for two soluble species with fast electron transfer and equal diffusivities using the eigenfunction expansion method. Our solution methodology does not incorporate Laplace transforms and yields good agreement with the numerical solution. This solution method can be extended to cases that are more general and may be useful for benchmarking purposes

Test Equality between Three Treatments under an Incomplete Block Crossover Design.

Science.gov (United States)

Lui, Kung-Jong

2015-01-01

Under a random effects linear additive risk model, we compare two experimental treatments with a placebo in continuous data under an incomplete block crossover trial. We develop three test procedures for simultaneously testing equality between two experimental treatments and a placebo, as well as interval estimators for the mean difference between treatments. We apply Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the performance of these test procedures and interval estimators in a variety of situations. We note that the bivariate test procedure accounting for the dependence structure based on the F-test is preferable to the other two procedures when there is only one of the two experimental treatments has a non-zero effect vs. the placebo. We note further that when the effects of the two experimental treatments vs. a placebo are in the same relative directions and are approximately of equal magnitude, the summary test procedure based on a simple average of two weighted-least-squares (WLS) estimators can outperform the other two procedures with respect to power. When one of the two experimental treatments has a relatively large effect vs. the placebo, the univariate test procedure with using Bonferroni's equality can be still of use. Finally, we use the data about the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) readings taken from a double-blind crossover trial comparing two different doses of formoterol with a placebo to illustrate the use of test procedures and interval estimators proposed here.

Baltic Consortium on Promoting Gender Equality in Marine Research Organisations (Baltic Gender)

Science.gov (United States)

Kısakürek Ibsen, Başak; Braun, Sarah; Heiskanen, Anna-Stiina; Kutser, Tiit; Stadmark, Johanna; Vaitkevičienė, Viktorija; Waniek, Joanna; Werner, Iris; Matthes, Katja

2017-04-01

Marine Science and Technology has been traditionally a male-dominated research field, with a significant lack of women in leadership positions. However, the whole intellectual capacity of men and women alike are needed to create innovative solutions for the sustainable use of marine resources in the face of major global challenges for the development of the marine environment. The EU-funded project, Baltic Gender (GA No. 710363), responds to this need for creating policies and implementing measures at the institutional level with the aim of harvesting the full human capital for the needs of marine research. The main goal of Baltic Gender is to help reduce gender segregation and gender inequalities in Marine Science and Technology. To this end, eight partner institutions from five countries in the Baltic Sea region (Estonia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden) came together for the exchange of institutional practices as well as for the transfer of knowledge from institutions/countries leading in gender equality to those following. Baltic Gender will sow the seeds for long-lasting institutional practices by initiating schemes and strategies that promote gender equality in the partner institutions. These include, for instance: the founding of grass-root networks that support the career advancement of women; creating strategies for better reconciliation of work and family life of women and men; the review and improvement of institutional policies and practices with regard to gender balance, fairness and transparency; development of a method protocol for incorporating gender analysis into research projects or programmes of Marine Science and Technology; initiating gender focused training and mentoring in or across all partner institutions. The project will support the implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), which consist of a set of actions an institution commits to in order to identify any existing gender bias and to implement strategies to advance gender

Acoustical numerology and lucky equal temperaments

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Donald E.

1988-04-01

Equally tempered musical scales with N steps per octave are known to work especially well in approximating justly tuned intervals for such values as N=12, 19, 31, and 53. A quantitative measure of the closeness of such fits is suggested, in terms of the probabilities of coming as close to randomly chosen intervals as to the justly tuned targets. When two or more harmonic intervals are considered simultaneously, this involves a Monte Carlo evaluation of the probabilities. The results can be used to gauge how much advantage the special values of N mentioned above have over others. This article presents the rationale and method of computation, together with illustrative results in a few of the most interesting cases. References are provided to help relate these results to earlier works by music theorists.

Terrain Correction on the moving equal area cylindrical map projection of the surface of a reference ellipsoid

Science.gov (United States)

Ardalan, A.; Safari, A.; Grafarend, E.

2003-04-01

An operational algorithm for computing the ellipsoidal terrain correction based on application of closed form solution of the Newton integral in terms of Cartesian coordinates in the cylindrical equal area map projected surface of a reference ellipsoid has been developed. As the first step the mapping of the points on the surface of a reference ellipsoid onto the cylindrical equal area map projection of a cylinder tangent to a point on the surface of reference ellipsoid closely studied and the map projection formulas are computed. Ellipsoidal mass elements with various sizes on the surface of the reference ellipsoid is considered and the gravitational potential and the vector of gravitational intensity of these mass elements has been computed via the solution of Newton integral in terms of ellipsoidal coordinates. The geographical cross section areas of the selected ellipsoidal mass elements are transferred into cylindrical equal area map projection and based on the transformed area elements Cartesian mass elements with the same height as that of the ellipsoidal mass elements are constructed. Using the close form solution of the Newton integral in terms of Cartesian coordinates the potential of the Cartesian mass elements are computed and compared with the same results based on the application of the ellipsoidal Newton integral over the ellipsoidal mass elements. The results of the numerical computations show that difference between computed gravitational potential of the ellipsoidal mass elements and Cartesian mass element in the cylindrical equal area map projection is of the order of 1.6 × 10-8m^2/s^2 for a mass element with the cross section size of 10 km × 10 km and the height of 1000 m. For a 1 km × 1 km mass element with the same height, this difference is less than 1.5 × 10-4 m^2}/s^2. The results of the numerical computations indicate that a new method for computing the terrain correction based on the closed form solution of the Newton integral in

29 CFR 1620.1 - Basic applicability of the Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Basic applicability of the Equal Pay Act. 1620.1 Section 1620.1 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.1 Basic applicability of the Equal Pay Act. (a) Since the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C...

12 CFR 268.407 - Civil action: Equal Pay Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Civil action: Equal Pay Act. 268.407 Section... Civil action: Equal Pay Act. A complainant is authorized under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards..., if the violation is willful, three years of the date of the alleged violation of the Equal Pay Act...

Energy prices, equalization and Canadian federalism : comparing Canada's energy price shocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courchene, T.J. [Queen' s Univ., Kingston, ON (Canada). School of Policy Studies; Institute for Research on Public Policy, Montreal, PQ (Canada)

2006-04-01

Revenues from natural resources during periods of high energy prices can create problems with the way the Canadian federal government distributes wealth through equalization. This paper traced the history of equalization in comparison with energy prices from the years 1973 to 2003. It was noted that the National Energy Program, section 92A of the Constitution, and the 5-province standard were all federal responses to initial energy price increases. It was suggested that current increases in energy prices demand a different response. The author examined a method of using the national average standard to calculate equalization payments as a means of eliminating the inequities created by the current 5-province standard, which excludes both Alberta and the Atlantic provinces. It was argued that the exclusion of Alberta's energy resources creates a false impression that other provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan are rich in resources. It was suggested that fiscal imbalance between provinces is a significant challenge to the current Canadian government. New approaches to cash transfers to the provinces were discussed. A 2-tier equalization scheme was proposed that separated natural resource revenues from other revenues. It was concluded that the government's previous response to high energy prices will not be appropriate for addressing the current price shock. A 2-tier equalization scheme will mean that resource-rich provinces have an opportunity to participate more fully in federal decision-making. 53 refs., 3 figs.

Asymmetric proteome equalization of the skeletal muscle proteome using a combinatorial hexapeptide library.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Rivers

Full Text Available Immobilized combinatorial peptide libraries have been advocated as a strategy for equalization of the dynamic range of a typical proteome. The technology has been applied predominantly to blood plasma and other biological fluids such as urine, but has not been used extensively to address the issue of dynamic range in tissue samples. Here, we have applied the combinatorial library approach to the equalization of a tissue where there is also a dramatic asymmetry in the range of abundances of proteins; namely, the soluble fraction of skeletal muscle. We have applied QconCAT and label-free methodology to the quantification of the proteins that bind to the beads as the loading is progressively increased. Although some equalization is achieved, and the most abundant proteins no longer dominate the proteome analysis, at high protein loadings a new asymmetry of protein expression is reached, consistent with the formation of complex assembles of heat shock proteins, cytoskeletal elements and other proteins on the beads. Loading at different ionic strength values leads to capture of different subpopulations of proteins, but does not completely eliminate the bias in protein accumulation. These assemblies may impair the broader utility of combinatorial library approaches to the equalization of tissue proteomes. However, the asymmetry in equalization is manifest at either low and high ionic strength values but manipulation of the solvent conditions may extend the capacity of the method.

Performance Comparison of Several Pre-Processing Methods in a Hand Gesture Recognition System based on Nearest Neighbor for Different Background Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iwan Setyawan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a performance analysis and comparison of several pre-processing methods used in a hand gesture recognition system. The pre-processing methods are based on the combinations of several image processing operations, namely edge detection, low pass filtering, histogram equalization, thresholding and desaturation. The hand gesture recognition system is designed to classify an input image into one of six possible classes. The input images are taken with various background conditions. Our experiments showed that the best result is achieved when the pre-processing method consists of only a desaturation operation, achieving a classification accuracy of up to 83.15%.

Zhang neural network for online solution of time-varying convex quadratic program subject to time-varying linear-equality constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yunong; Li Zhan

2009-01-01

In this Letter, by following Zhang et al.'s method, a recurrent neural network (termed as Zhang neural network, ZNN) is developed and analyzed for solving online the time-varying convex quadratic-programming problem subject to time-varying linear-equality constraints. Different from conventional gradient-based neural networks (GNN), such a ZNN model makes full use of the time-derivative information of time-varying coefficient. The resultant ZNN model is theoretically proved to have global exponential convergence to the time-varying theoretical optimal solution of the investigated time-varying convex quadratic program. Computer-simulation results further substantiate the effectiveness, efficiency and novelty of such ZNN model and method.

Programmable gain equalizer for multi-core fiber amplifiers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fontaine, N.K.; Guan, B.; Ryf, R.; Chen, H.; Koonen, A.M.J.; Ben Yoo, S.J.; Abedin, K.; Fini, J.; Taunay, T.F.; Neilson, D.T.

2014-01-01

We demonstrate a programmable gain equalizer for 7-core fiber that can independently equalize spectra or block wavelengths in each core across the C-band. It is spliced directly to a side-pumped multi-core amplifying fiber.

Equal Pay: A Thirty-Five Year Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Ida L.

Issued on the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Equal Pay Act (1963), this report is a historical analysis of the economic trends affecting women workers from the years leading up to passage of the act through the present. It is divided into three time periods to highlight important developments: Part I--The Early Impact of the Equal Pay Act,…

Some equalities and inequalities for fusion frames

OpenAIRE

Guo, Qianping; Leng, Jinsong; Li, Houbiao

2016-01-01

Fusion frames have some properties similar to those of frames in Hilbert spaces, but not all of their properties are similar. Some authors have established some equalities and inequalities for conventional frames. In this paper, we give some equalities and inequalities for fusion frames. Our results generalize and improve the remarkable results which have been obtained by Balan, Casazza and G?vruta etc.

Nonlinear Algorithms for Channel Equalization and Map Symbol Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Giridhar, K.

The transfer of information through a communication medium invariably results in various kinds of distortion to the transmitted signal. In this dissertation, a feed -forward neural network-based equalizer, and a family of maximum a posteriori (MAP) symbol detectors are proposed for signal recovery in the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI) and additive white Gaussian noise. The proposed neural network-based equalizer employs a novel bit-mapping strategy to handle multilevel data signals in an equivalent bipolar representation. It uses a training procedure to learn the channel characteristics, and at the end of training, the multilevel symbols are recovered from the corresponding inverse bit-mapping. When the channel characteristics are unknown and no training sequences are available, blind estimation of the channel (or its inverse) and simultaneous data recovery is required. Convergence properties of several existing Bussgang-type blind equalization algorithms are studied through computer simulations, and a unique gain independent approach is used to obtain a fair comparison of their rates of convergence. Although simple to implement, the slow convergence of these Bussgang-type blind equalizers make them unsuitable for many high data-rate applications. Rapidly converging blind algorithms based on the principle of MAP symbol-by -symbol detection are proposed, which adaptively estimate the channel impulse response (CIR) and simultaneously decode the received data sequence. Assuming a linear and Gaussian measurement model, the near-optimal blind MAP symbol detector (MAPSD) consists of a parallel bank of conditional Kalman channel estimators, where the conditioning is done on each possible data subsequence that can convolve with the CIR. This algorithm is also extended to the recovery of convolutionally encoded waveforms in the presence of ISI. Since the complexity of the MAPSD algorithm increases exponentially with the length of the assumed CIR, a suboptimal

DANIELA-SORINA ALBEANU, Equality of chances and health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

EMILIAN M. DOBRESCU

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Equality of chance is a major aim for humanity. Having a dynamic conceptualization, equalizing chances poses problems of acceptance on the part of certain socio-professional categories. Solving aspects like discrimination according to certain criteria, marginalization and social exclusion is the task of the government, agencies and of institutions set in the legislation. This work looks at the way in which the problems related to health interfere with the legislation on the equality of chances between men and women, on the one hand (gender policies, and disabled people on the other hands.

Moving beyond gender: processes that create relationship equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Knudson-Martin, Carmen; Mahoney, Anne Rankin

2005-04-01

Equality is related to relationship success, yet few couples achieve it. In this qualitative study, we examine how couples with children in two time cohorts (1982 and 2001) moved toward equality. The analysis identifies three types of couples: Postgender, gender legacy, and traditional. Movement toward equality is facilitated by: (a) Stimulus for change, including awareness of gender, commitment to family and work, and situational pressures; and (b) patterns that promote change, including active negotiation, challenges to gender entitlement, development of new competencies, and mutual attention to relationship and family tasks. Implications for practice are discussed.

Open Minds to Equality: A Source Book of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity. Third Edition

Science.gov (United States)

Schniedewind, Nancy; Davidson, Ellen

2006-01-01

"Open Minds to Equality" is an educator's sourcebook of activities to help students understand and change inequalities based on: race, gender, class, age, language, sexual orientation, physical/mental ability, and religion. The activities promote respect for diversity and interpersonal equality among students, fostering a classroom that is…

On Equal Opportunities at CERN: A report prepared for the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel

CERN Document Server

Rimmer, E M

2001-01-01

This report has been prepared at the request of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel. It is an attempt to demonstrate, simply and clearly, some additional facts relating to gender differences shown in previous reports of the Panel.

The Policy on Gender Equality in Denmark - Update

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

Upon request of the FEMM committee, this in-depth analysis updates a previous note published in October 2011 and describes Danish policies, practices and legislation within the area of women's rights and gender equality, covering the period from October 2011, when the Social Democrat-led government...... took office, to April 2015. During this period, the focus has been put on gender-based violence, leave policies, pay statistics, gender segregation in the labour market and in education, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights. Earmarked leave for fathers and gender quota on company boards...

Solving the multiple-set split equality common fixed-point problem of firmly quasi-nonexpansive operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Zong, Haili

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose parallel and cyclic iterative algorithms for solving the multiple-set split equality common fixed-point problem of firmly quasi-nonexpansive operators. We also combine the process of cyclic and parallel iterative methods and propose two mixed iterative algorithms. Our several algorithms do not need any prior information about the operator norms. Under mild assumptions, we prove weak convergence of the proposed iterative sequences in Hilbert spaces. As applications, we obtain several iterative algorithms to solve the multiple-set split equality problem.

Blood Density Is Nearly Equal to Water Density: A Validation Study of the Gravimetric Method of Measuring Intraoperative Blood Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitello, Dominic J; Ripper, Richard M; Fettiplace, Michael R; Weinberg, Guy L; Vitello, Joseph M

2015-01-01

Purpose. The gravimetric method of weighing surgical sponges is used to quantify intraoperative blood loss. The dry mass minus the wet mass of the gauze equals the volume of blood lost. This method assumes that the density of blood is equivalent to water (1 gm/mL). This study's purpose was to validate the assumption that the density of blood is equivalent to water and to correlate density with hematocrit. Methods. 50 µL of whole blood was weighed from eighteen rats. A distilled water control was weighed for each blood sample. The averages of the blood and water were compared utilizing a Student's unpaired, one-tailed t-test. The masses of the blood samples and the hematocrits were compared using a linear regression. Results. The average mass of the eighteen blood samples was 0.0489 g and that of the distilled water controls was 0.0492 g. The t-test showed P = 0.2269 and R (2) = 0.03154. The hematocrit values ranged from 24% to 48%. The linear regression R (2) value was 0.1767. Conclusions. The R (2) value comparing the blood and distilled water masses suggests high correlation between the two populations. Linear regression showed the hematocrit was not proportional to the mass of the blood. The study confirmed that the measured density of blood is similar to water.

The Practice of Equality: A Critical Understanding of Democratic Citizenship Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ruitenberg, Claudia W.

2015-01-01

This essay proposes a conception of citizenship that highlights its political aspects. Based on the work of Balibar, Rancière, and Biesta, it is argued that democratic citizenship education must include the education of equality. This means that students must have the opportunity to experience not only the membership aspect of citizenship that…

Novel pre-equalization transimpedance amplifier for 10 Gb/s optical interconnects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Qiwei; Mao Luhong; Xie Sheng; Kang Yuzhuo

2015-01-01

This paper presents a modified regulated cascode (RGC) transimpedance amplifier (TIA) with a novel pre-equalized technique. The pre-equalized circuit employed the broadband series inductive π-network and G m -boosting technique. The introduction of this technique compensates the transferred signal at the input port of the TIA without an increase in power dissipation. Furthermore, a novel miller capacitance degeneration method is designed in the gain stage for further bandwidth improvement. The TIA is realized in UMC 0.18 πm CMOS technology and tested with an on-chip 0.3 pF capacitor to emulate a photodetector (PD). The measured transimpedance gain amounts to 57 dBΩ with a −3 dB bandwidth of about 8.2 GHz and consumes only 22 mW power from a single 1.8 V supply. (paper)

Energy Storage System with Voltage Equalization Strategy for Wind Energy Conversion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Tao Tsai

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an energy storage system with voltage equalization strategy for wind energy conversion is presented. The proposed energy storage system provides a voltage equalization strategy for series-connected lead-acid batteries to increase their total storage capacity and lifecycle. In order to draw the maximum power from the wind energy, a perturbation-and-observation method and digital signal processor (DSP are incorporated to implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT algorithm and power regulating scheme. In the proposed energy storage system, all power switches have zero-voltage-switching (ZVS feature at turn-on transition. Therefore, the conversion efficiency can be increased. Finally, a prototype energy storage system for wind energy conversion is built and implemented. Experimental results have verified the performance and feasibility of the proposed energy storage system for wind energy conversion.

Light equalization radiography