The harmonization of banking legislation in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shkëlqesa Çitaku

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to assess the current legislation of banking in the European Union. The process of unification in Europe is also followed by efforts to harmonize and unify the laws of the member states. In the field of banking industry the precondition for harmonization of laws is the integration of internal market with the free movement of capital. The regulation and supervision of banks in EU still remains fragmented. European member states still have diverse regulations concerning the role of the state. The European Commission has the important function of proposing EU legislation on financial services including banks and ensuring that EU law is properly applied throughout the EU. Banks are considered as a key industry enabling all the economic activities via depositing, crediting and arranging of payments. A number of secondary legislation has been adopted by the EU institutions to harmonize the national banking law of Member States. The principles and objectives set by the European Commission Treaty depend on four EU freedoms with the aim of effective and open market including banks. Therefore it was a continuous process of harmonization of national banking regulation via secondary law since the 70’s.

Legislation and regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-01

This document presents the fulfilling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 3 of the document contains some details about the Brazilian legislation and regulation, the nuclear and environmental licensing, and emergency preparedness legislation.

Legislation and regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

This document presents the fulfilling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 3 of the document contains some details about the Brazilian legislation and regulation, the nuclear and environmental licensing, and emergency preparedness legislation

The Key to School Security.

Science.gov (United States)

Hotle, Dan

1993-01-01

In addition to legislative accessibility requirements, other security issues facing school administrators who select a security system include the following: access control; user friendliness; durability or serviceability; life safety precautions; possibility of vandalism, theft, and tampering; and key control. Offers steps to take in considering…

Legislation and supervision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

In this part next aspects are described: (1) Legislative and supervision-related framework (reviews of structure of supervisory bodies; legislation; state supervision in the nuclear safety area, and state supervision in the area of health protection against radiation are given); (2) Operator's responsibility

Legislation and regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-09-01

This document presents the fulfilling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 3 of the document contains some details about the Brazilian legislation and regulation, the legislative and regulatory framework, regulatory body and responsibility of the license holder.

Legislation and regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This document presents the fulfilling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 3 of the document contains some details about the Brazilian legislation and regulation, the legislative and regulatory framework, regulatory body and responsibility of the license holder

Working with Your Legislative Delegation

Science.gov (United States)

Safransky, Robert J.

2010-01-01

In this article, the author discusses how to work with legislative delegation to get positive legislation passed. Most school districts have a person who is responsible for working with the legislators and informing them of the district's position on bills and issues that arise in each legislative session. Even if one has a full-time or part-time…

Construction of precast high performance concrete segmental bridges.

OpenAIRE

Ruiz Ripoll, Lidia

2016-01-01

The construction of both medium and long span precast concrete segmental bridges is widely spread throughout Spain. Usually, the segments have multiple-keyed epoxy joints, and are assembled by internal prestressing. Yet, there is a more recent type of bridge with dry joints and external prestressing. In these last ones, shear is transferred through physical support between keys and friction between faces of the compressed joint. This shear force is evaluated using friction coefficients from t...

Specific Statistics of Czech Legislation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Novák, František

2015-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 3 (2015), s. 162-183 ISSN 1805-8396 Institutional support: RVO:68378122 Keywords : legislation * quantitative description of legislation * structure and development of the legislation in the CR Subject RIV: AG - Legal Sciences

Antinomy in Legislation in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zainal Arifin Mochtar

2015-12-01

Full Text Available A number of reality for laws as a production of Parliament and President was canceled by the Constitutional Court, occur as a result of the legislation matter that plural reflects the injustice and legal uncertainty. The high number of judicial review becomes signal less accommodation of citizen interests and rights in a legislation product. The absence of arrangement harmony made by Parliament gives impact on plural legislation sued. This paper attempts to describe some debate antinomy that characterizes the existence of legislation in Indonesia. The analysis showed, antinomy-conflict-norm in the legislation is one thing that is difficult to avoid, especially given the poor-legislative process in the parliament today. In each establishment of legislation, synchronization and norms harmonization is not a major pressing point, but defeated by transnational politics inter-faction in the parliament that actually looked more dominant. But when these norms conflict constituted a rule of law which are simultaneous, dynamic, and meet legal ideals, would not be a problem. As long as not to cause harm to the fulfillment of constitutional rights of citizens.

Unfolding Implementation in Industrial Market Segmentation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøjgaard, John; Ellegaard, Chris

2011-01-01

to pave the way towards closing this gap. The extent of implementation coverage is assessed and various notions of implementation are identified. Implementation as the task of converting segmentation plans into action (referred to as execution) is identified as a particularly beneficial focus area...... for marketing management. Three key elements and challenges connected to execution of market segmentation are identified — organization, motivation, and adaptation....

Professional responsibility for patient welfare. Is it possible to legislate pharmaceutical care?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Almarsdóttir, A. B.; Morgall, J. M.; Grímsson, A.

2001-01-01

rural group met at a conference outside the capital area. Key findings: Professional responsibility for the patient's welfare has changed due to the legislation. Pharmacists now have less time for patient care and face new ethical dilemmas due to discount wars. There are differences in how pharmacists...

Changes in Tax Legislation and Social Responsibility of Taxpayers and Legislative Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Štager Vesna

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the cost of tax compliance which arises for taxpayers from tax complexity and the constant changes in tax legislation. A socially responsible institution for the fiscal aggression is the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, as its powers and responsibilities creates the tax position of individuals, businesses and the entire economy. The aim of our research is to encourage socially responsible behaviour of legislation institutions in adopting the tax legislation, which will help to improve the social responsibility of taxpayers and increase tax compliance.

Acid rain legislation update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storey, H.L.

1990-01-01

This paper presents the author's view that the coal industry should develop a strategy to respond to the global warming issue. A few weeks ago a speaker stated that the global warming issue placed coal at the crossroads. He stated that global warming legislation, could reduce the consumption of coal by approximately twenty-five percent, without global warming legislation coal would continue to grow at a approximately three percent per year. It is believed there is a path to be traveled between the two options, legislation or no legislation, that can result in coal obtaining the position as the primary fuel source for electrical generating throughout the world. This is a path the coal industry can define and should follow

Information report on state legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landau, M.

1983-06-01

Legislation that would consent to the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact has been introduced into Congress as H.R. 3002. Similar legislation is expected to be introduced into the Senate soon. This is the second compact consent legislation to be introduced into Congress this year - the first was the Northwest Compact, introduced in January. States in the Central Compact are AR, KS, LA, NE and OK. Enacted and introduced radioactive waste management legislation in various states is summarized

International environmental legislation; Internationales Umweltrecht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Proelss, Alexander (ed.) [Trier Univ. (Germany)

2017-07-01

The book on international environmental legislation includes the following contributions: Development, sources and actors concerning the international environmental legislation, cross-national environmental justice, principles of the international environmental legislation, environmental protection by lawsuit, environmental protection and human right, environmental protection and trading, responsibility and liability, peaceful settlement of disputes, climatic change, preservation and sustainable use of the biodiversity, protection of air and space, oceanic protection, protection of inland waters, protection of the Antarctic and Arctic environment, waste and hazardous materials legislation.

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

This section treats of the following National legislative and regulatory activities: 1 - Canada: Liability and compensation; 2 - France: Liability and compensation; Nuclear safety and radiological protection; 3 - Greece: Organisation and structure; 4 - Hungary: General legislation; 5 - India: Liability and compensation; 6 - Japan: Liability and compensation; 7 - Korea: Liability and compensation; 8 - Lithuania: General legislation; Transport of radioactive material; 9 - Slovak Republic: International co-operation; Liability and compensation; 10 - Slovenia: General legislation; 11 - Switzerland: Liability and compensation; 12 - United States: Radioactive waste management

ROUNDTABLE - SESSION 2 EXPLOITATION, CONSERVATION AND LEGISLATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

EDSMAN L.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The link between socioeconomics and conservation and the role of legislation in conservation work was discussed in the group with participants from nine European countries. Interest and knowledge among the general public, stakeholders and managers is the key to successful conservation of native crayfish species. Exploitation and conservation do not necessarily exclude each other. A controlled fishery, where it can be sustained, may be an essential tool for conservation by increasing the general awareness and involving more people in the task of protecting the native crayfish species. This strategy is mainly possible for the noble crayfish in the northern part of its distribution, where strong traditions connected to crayfish also exist. A balance between utilisation and overexploitation has to be found and local guidelines for sustainable exploitation produced. Media, the Internet and educational material aimed at schools and stakeholders are excellent ways of reaching a wide audience with information. Universal objectives, rules and regulations at the European level are desirable and the noble crayfish and the stone crayfish should be included in Annex II of the Habitat Directive. Based on this framework detailed regulations are best worked out at the national level, considering the specific crayfish situation in the country. Information about the legislation, the purpose of the legislation and the consequences when not obeying it should be distributed. Stricter regulation of the trade with live alien crayfish is vital because of the associated risk of introducing new diseases and species.

Legislative aspects of the development of medical devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Marešová, Petra; Klímová, Blanka; Krejcar, Ondřej; Kuča, Kamil

2015-09-01

European industry of medical device technologies represents 30% of all worlds sales. New health technologies bring effective treatment approaches, help shorten stays in hospital1),bring better treatment results and accelerate rehabilitation which leads to the earlier patients recovery.Legislative aspects are one of the key areas influencing the speed of development of medical devices and their launching. The aim of this article is to specify current state of legislation in the development of medical devices in the European Union in comparison with the market leaders such as China, Japan and USA.The best established market of medical devices is in the USA. Both Japan and China follow the USA model. However, a non-professional code of ethics in China in some respect contributes to the decrease of quality of medical devices, while Japan as well as the EU countries try really hard to conform to all the regulations imposed on the manufacturing of medical devices.

Status of legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warner, C.

1982-01-01

The status of the House legislation, the major differences between the House and Senate legislation and a preview of what is likely to take place during the lame duck session in December are presented. The House legislation provides: long-term program leading toward permanent disposal of nuclear waste; an interim program for storage and for expansion of storage space for spent fuel; provides an R and D component through what is called a test and evaluation facility; an alternative long-term storage program based on a proposal to be completed by the Department of Energy on what's called Monitored Retrievable Storage; full upfront financing of the program through user fees based on contracts between the government and the users of the nuclear waste disposal services

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

This section of the Bulletin presents a summary of the recent national legislative and regulatory activities sorted by country and topic: - Algeria: Nuclear security. - France: Radioactive waste management; Nuclear safety and radiological protection; General legislation; International co-operation. - Germany: International trade. - Indonesia: Nuclear security, General legislation. - Ireland: Nuclear safety and radiological protection; General legislation. - Lithuania: Nuclear security; Nuclear safety and radiological protection. - Slovak Republic: International co-operation; Liability and compensation; Environmental protection. - Switzerland: Radioactive waste management. - United Arab Emirates: Liability and compensation. - United States: Radioactive waste management; Licensing and regulatory infrastructure

Socio-economic Classification and its Scope in Crafting Rural Segments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinalini Pathak Kakati

2015-12-01

Full Text Available With the liberalization of the Indian Economy in the mid 1990’s, substantial growth has been seen in the rural areas. Rural India which comprises around 70% of the total population of the country has become an emerging area for marketers. This study tries to identify key market variables that can help in crafting rural market segments. The socio-economic classification (SEC 2011 which segments the market based on education level and possession of consumer durables. This study examines income as another key market variable together with education in the creation of distinct segments or hybrid segments. It then further identifies important criteria like technical, promotional and social in influencing consumers’ behaviour in the context of the purchase of consumer durables which can thereby help to create segments. The study concludes that the increase in education level has higher impact than increase in income on the important identified purchase criteria.

Law status of journalists and bloggers in the newest information legislation of Russian Federation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kapustina Anna Georgievna

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The author carries out a comparative analysis of Russian national rights and responsibilities of journalists and bloggers, distinguishes fundamental differences in the legal status of the subject of information relations, determines the trend of development of the Russian legislation activity regulation of participants of information relations in the Russian segment of the Internet. On August 1, 2014 the Law on bloggers entered into force that, on the one hand fixed the differences between journalism as a profession and the blogosphere as a kind of social activity. On the other hand, at the legislative level it has solved the problem of the responsible attitude to bloggers - often influential and popular sources of information - to the broadcasting of messages. It is obvious that in Russian Federation it is being actively formed a system of legal regulation of information relations on the Internet, existed for many years legal gaps in this area are gradually disappearing.

Deformable segmentation via sparse shape representation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shaoting; Zhan, Yiqiang; Dewan, Maneesh; Huang, Junzhou; Metaxas, Dimitris N; Zhou, Xiang Sean

2011-01-01

Appearance and shape are two key elements exploited in medical image segmentation. However, in some medical image analysis tasks, appearance cues are weak/misleading due to disease/artifacts and often lead to erroneous segmentation. In this paper, a novel deformable model is proposed for robust segmentation in the presence of weak/misleading appearance cues. Owing to the less trustable appearance information, this method focuses on the effective shape modeling with two contributions. First, a shape composition method is designed to incorporate shape prior on-the-fly. Based on two sparsity observations, this method is robust to false appearance information and adaptive to statistically insignificant shape modes. Second, shape priors are modeled and used in a hierarchical fashion. More specifically, by using affinity propagation method, our deformable surface is divided into multiple partitions, on which local shape models are built independently. This scheme facilitates a more compact shape prior modeling and hence a more robust and efficient segmentation. Our deformable model is applied on two very diverse segmentation problems, liver segmentation in PET-CT images and rodent brain segmentation in MR images. Compared to state-of-art methods, our method achieves better performance in both studies.

Framing health for land-use planning legislation: A qualitative descriptive content analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Patrick; Kent, Jennifer; Sainsbury, Peter; Thow, Anne Marie

2016-01-01

Framing health as a relevant policy issue for other sectors is not well understood. A recent review of the New South Wales (Australia) land-use planning system resulted in the drafting of legislation with an internationally unprecedented focus on human health. We apply a political science approach to investigate the question 'how and to what extent were health and wider issues framed in submissions to the review?' We investigated a range of stakeholder submissions including health focussed agencies (n = 31), purposively identified key stakeholders with influence on the review (n = 24), and a random sample of other agencies and individuals (n = 47). Using qualitative descriptive analysis we inductively coded for the term 'health' and sub-categories. We deductively coded for 'wider concerns' using a locally endorsed 'Healthy Urban Development Checklist'. Additional inductive analysis uncovered further 'wider concerns'. Health was explicitly identified as a relevant issue for planning policy only in submissions by health-focussed agencies. This framing concerned the new planning system promoting and protecting health as well as connecting health to wider planning concerns including economic issues, transport, public open space and, to a slightly lesser extent, environmental sustainability. Key stakeholder and other agency submissions focussed on these and other wider planning concerns but did not mention health in detail. Health agency submissions did not emphasise infrastructure, density or housing as explicitly as others. Framing health as a relevant policy issue has the potential to influence legislative change governing the business of other sectors. Without submissions from health agencies arguing the importance of having health as an objective in the proposed legislation it is unlikely health considerations would have gained prominence in the draft bill. The findings have implications for health agency engagement with legislative change processes and beyond in

Coping with EU environmental legislation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anker, Helle Tegner; de Graaf, Kars; Purdy, Ray

2015-01-01

A ‘burden reducing’ agenda has spurred an increased interest in how EU environmental legislation is transposed into national legislation—most prominently reflected in the principle of ‘no gold-plating’. Yet, an important question is to what extent transposition principles and practices may ensure...... on coherence and accessibility with respect to environmental legislation and that such issues deserve more attention in the transposition process.......A ‘burden reducing’ agenda has spurred an increased interest in how EU environmental legislation is transposed into national legislation—most prominently reflected in the principle of ‘no gold-plating’. Yet, an important question is to what extent transposition principles and practices may ensure...... a coherent and accessible body of environmental legislation, while at the same time ensuring adequate transposition of EU environmental legislation. This article analyses the existence, or emergence, of transposition principles and practices in three Member States—the United Kingdom, the Netherlands...

Navigating SA's climate change legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickey, Suzanne

2006-01-01

It is proposed that there should be a legislation to address climate change and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Bill. South Australian Government Greenhouse Strategy and climate change legislation in light of the far-reaching implications this legislation could have on clients, who face the impacts of climate change in the business and natural environment. It is a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in South Australia by 2050 to 60 per cent of 1990 levels

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2010-01-01

Belarus: general legislation with amendments to laws on the use of atomic energy (2009) and criminal law on acts concerning the use of radioactive sources and administrative law for non criminal violations of radiation safety requirement (2009). Egypt: general legislation with law on activities in the nuclear and radiation field (2010). France: radioactive waste management with a decree establishing a committee on industrial co-ordination of radioactive waste (2010) and third part liability with a law on the recognition and indemnification of victims of nuclear tests conducted by France (2010). Germany: general legislation with a tenth amendment to the atomic energy act (2010), and act on environmental impact assessment (2009) concerning organisation and structure we find a revised version of statutes of the Radiation Protection Commission (2009), about radiation protection we find an act on the protection against non-ionizing radiation (2009), and for transport of radioactive materials we have an ordinance on the international transport of dangerous goods by road (2009). Ireland: In radiation protection we have an order to amend Regulations on active implantable medical devices (2010). Italy: general legislation we have a decree setting out rules for the sitting, construction and operation of nuclear installations (2010). Romania: general legislation with a law on the reorganisation of public authorities (2009). Slovak Republic: general legislation with an amendment of the atomic act (2009). spain: radioactive waste management with a law regulation limited investment companies quoted on the real estate market (2009). Ukraine: general legislation with an overview of recent amendments to laws in the field of nuclear energy (2009). (N.C.)

Handbook on Nuclear Law: Implementing Legislation (Spanish Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoiber, C.; Cherf, A.; Tonhauser, W.; Vez Carmona, Maria de Lourdes

2012-01-01

In 2003, the IAEA published the Handbook on Nuclear Law (the 2003 Handbook), which emphasized that the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear energy in any State can only be ensured with the promulgation and implementation of an effective national legal framework to govern this technology. The IAEA has long been involved in providing assistance to its Member States in developing these frameworks, and demand for such assistance has increased dramatically. Since publication of the 2003 Handbook, requests for IAEA legislative assistance have - if anything - been even more numerous, in large part due to the fact that over sixty Member States that currently do not utilize nuclear energy for the production of electrical power have recently expressed interest in pursuing this option. The current nuclear laws in many of these States are limited to non-power uses of ionizing radiation, such as those utilizing radiation sources for medical, agricultural and industrial purposes. If these States move toward nuclear power development, they will need to adopt legislation consistent with the various relevant international legal instruments covering the field (such as the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, among others) and with relevant voluntary guidance documents developed under the aegis of the IAEA. The 2003 Handbook has already made an important contribution to enhancing national capabilities to develop the necessary legal frameworks by setting out the general scheme of nuclear law. However, a number of important developments in nuclear law have occurred since its publication. These developments are discussed in the present volume. Also, over the past six years, representatives of many Member States receiving IAEA legislative assistance have suggested that it would be valuable to develop model texts of legislative provisions covering the key elements needed in a national nuclear law. The present volume provides such

Regulatory control, legislation and framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parthasarathy, K.S.

1998-01-01

The legislation and regulations, a regulatory authority to authorise and inspect the regulated activities and to enforce the legislation and regulations, sufficient financial and man-power resources are the essential parts of a national infrastructure to implement the Basic Safety Standards. The legal framework consists of legislation (Act passed by Parliament) and the regulations (framed by the government and endorsed by the Parliament). This paper is primarily deals with the the legal framework set up in India for atomic energy activities

An assessment of the cyber security legislation and its impact on the United States electrical sector

Science.gov (United States)

Born, Joshua

The purpose of this research was to examine the cyber-security posture for the United States' electrical grid, which comprises a major component of critical infrastructure for the country. The United States electrical sector is so vast, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates, it contains more than 6,413 power plants (this includes 3,273 traditional electric utilities and 1,738 nonutility power producers) with approximately 1,075 gigawatts of energy produced on a daily basis. A targeted cyber-security attack against the electric grid would likely have catastrophic results and could even serve as a precursor to a physical attack against the United States. A recent report by the consulting firm Black and Veatch found that one of the top five greatest concerns for United States electric utilities is the risk that cybersecurity poses to their industry and yet, only one-third state they are currently prepared to meet the increasingly likely threat. The report goes on to state, "only 32% of electric utilities surveyed had integrated security systems with the proper segmentation, monitoring and redundancies needed for cyber threat protection. Another 48 % said they did not" Recent estimates indicate that a large-scale cyber-attack against this sector could cost the United States economy as much as a trillion dollars within a weeks' time. Legislative efforts in the past have primarily been focused on creating mandates that encourage public and private partnership, which have been not been adopted as quickly as desired. With 85 % of all electric utilities being privately owned, it is key that the public and private sector partner in order to mitigate risks and respond as a cohesive unit in the event of a major attack. Keywords: Cybersecurity, Professor Riddell, cyber security, energy, intelligence, outlook, electrical, compliance, legislation, partnerships, critical infrastructure.

Quantum key distribution with two-segment quantum repeaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kampermann, Hermann; Abruzzo, Silvestre; Bruss, Dagmar [Theoretische Physik III, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf (Germany)

2014-07-01

Quantum repeaters represent one possible way to achieve long-distance quantum key distribution. One way of improving the repeater rate and decreasing the memory coherence time is the usage of multiplexing. Motivated by the experimental fact that long-range connections are practically demanding, we extend the analysis of the quantum repeater multiplexing protocol to the case of short-range connections. We derive formulas for the repeater rate and we show that short-range connections lead to most of the benefits of a full-range multiplexing protocol. A less demanding QKD-protocol without quantum memories was recently introduced by Lo et al. We generalize this measurement-device-independent quantum key Distribution protocol to the scenario where the repeater Station contains also heralded quantum memories. We assume either single-photon sources or weak coherent pulse sources plus decay states. We show that it is possible to significantly outperform the original proposal, even in presence of decoherence of the quantum memory. We give formulas in terms of device imperfections i.e., the quantum bit error rate and the repeater rate.

Leaf segmentation in plant phenotyping

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scharr, Hanno; Minervini, Massimo; French, Andrew P.; Klukas, Christian; Kramer, David M.; Liu, Xiaoming; Luengo, Imanol; Pape, Jean Michel; Polder, Gerrit; Vukadinovic, Danijela; Yin, Xi; Tsaftaris, Sotirios A.

2016-01-01

Image-based plant phenotyping is a growing application area of computer vision in agriculture. A key task is the segmentation of all individual leaves in images. Here we focus on the most common rosette model plants, Arabidopsis and young tobacco. Although leaves do share appearance and shape

An undignified side of death with dignity legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Plaisted, Dennis

2013-09-01

The primary justification for Death with Dignity legislation has been the principle of respect for autonomy. However, some have objected that if respect for autonomy is the reason for allowing physician-assisted suicide, then why not allow it for people with longer than six months to live? Defenders of the laws have responded that respect for autonomy must be balanced against the state's interest in the lives of its citizens. Persons with less than six months remaining have virtually no life left to protect; persons with more time have a meaningfully long segment of life remaining. The state can therefore overrule their autonomy interests to preserve their lives. This paper will argue that this response constitutes an ironic affront to the dignity of people with less than six months to live, for it implies that their lives are not worth enough for the state to prevent them from committing physician-assisted suicide.

Mental health legislation and human rights in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Brendan D

2011-01-01

In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation (Geneva: WHO) presenting a detailed statement of human rights issues which need to be addressed in national legislation relating to mental health. The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which revised mental health legislation in England, Wales (2007) and Ireland (2001) accords with these standards (excluding standards relating solely to children or mentally-ill offenders). Legislation in England and Wales meets 90 (54.2%) of the 166 WHO standards examined, while legislation in Ireland meets 80 standards (48.2%). Areas of high compliance include definitions of mental disorder, relatively robust procedures for involuntary admission and treatment (although provision of information remains suboptimal) and clarity regarding offences and penalties Areas of medium compliance relate to competence, capacity and consent (with a particular deficit in capacity legislation in Ireland), oversight and review (which exclude long-term voluntary patients and require more robust complaints procedures), and rules governing special treatments, seclusion and restraint. Areas of low compliance relate to promoting rights (impacting on other areas within legislation, such as information management), voluntary patients (especially non-protesting, incapacitated patients), protection of vulnerable groups and emergency treatment. The greatest single deficit in both jurisdictions relates to economic and social rights. There are four key areas in need of rectification and clarification in relation to mental health legislation in England, Wales and Ireland; these relate to (1) measures to protect and promote the rights of voluntary patients; (2) issues relating to competence, capacity and consent (especially in Ireland); (3) the role of "common law" in relation to mental health law (especially in England and Wales); and (4) the extent to which each jurisdiction

Harmonization of Legislation of a Candidate Country with EU Legislation: Insights from the Prism of the Citizens of Macedonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdula Azizi

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Since the majority of the Western Balkan countries remain although they have expressed a willingness to join the EU, it is considered necessary to examine the topic of harmonization of national legislation of these countries with the EU legislation. So while until now, to this problem is not devoted adequate attention in scientific circles, it is considered necessary to explain and analyze the theoretical aspect of the harmonization of the legislation of the candidate countries with EU legislation, while they also learned things fr survey was conducted with the citizens of Macedonia where they express their opinions on the harmonization of Macedonian legislation and government policies related to Euro hope that in the future this work will encourage research and other activities related to government policy on the harmonization of national legislation with EU legislation.

The Indian civil liability for nuclear damage act, 2010. Legislation with flaws?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelzer, Norbert

2011-01-01

1. India has had no special legislation so far about liability under civil law for nuclear damage. Instead, the general law about damages outside of contractual provisions applied. 2. The ambitious Indian civil nuclear program requires intensified international cooperation. The potential partners in that cooperation demand that liability regulations be adopted on the basis of the principles of the international nuclear liability conventions so as to grant legal assurance to their export industries. 3. In May 2010, draft liability legislation was introduced into the Indian parliament. Final deliberations were held on August 30, 2010. On September 21, 2010, the President confirmed the draft legislation, thereby making it law. The draft legislation had been a matter of dispute in India from the outset. 4. The law applies to nuclear facilities owned or controlled by the Indian central government. Only the government or government institutions or state-owned companies can be owners of a nuclear facility. The owner is liable without fault having to be proven. The details of liability follow the provisions of the liability conventions. 5. The law provides for legal channelling of liability to the owner of a nuclear facility. 6. Regular courts of law have no competence to rule about claims for damages under the law. Instead, a 'Claims Commissioner' appointed ad hoc by the government, or a 'Nuclear Claims Commission,' are competent. 7. The 2010 Indian nuclear liability law is a piece of legislation with deficiencies. Key elements are incompatible with the principles of international nuclear liability regimes. (orig.)

Snowballing movement. Legislators are now active advocates regarding population and development.

Science.gov (United States)

De Leon, B D

1992-08-01

Newly industrializing economies (NIEs) in East Asia have demonstrated that the population programs were part of their economic success, such as in Thailand and Indonesia where family planning (FP) was made a way of life. The population growth in the Philippines has put pressure on the environment by migration to uplands where slash-and-burn agriculture adds to deforestation. The Global Committee of Parliamentarians of Population and Development headquartered in New York serves as a liaison for 56 legislative groups sponsoring meetings and seminars. In October 1981 the Asian Conference on Parliamentarians on Population and Development was held in Beijing with the participation of legislators from 19 countries. It set up the Asian Forum for Parliamentarians on Population and Development to contribute and promote activities that facilitate population and development, and to improve the living standards and welfare of people in Asia. The Secretariat is located in Bangkok, Thailand. In October 1987 in Beijing and in October 1990 follow-up regional conferences were organized. The latter was attended by 21 Asian parliamentarians who endorsed the stabilization of population growth to achieve a 1% growth rate for Asia by 2000. The Philippine population numbered 63.9 million in mid-1992 with an annual growth rate of 2.3%. The Philippine House of Representatives started an inquiry about the disturbing demographic trends with implications on economic growth. In 1987 a movement commenced that hosted the Philippine Parliamentarians Conference on Human Survival, Population and Development (PARLCON '88) in Manila. It focused on sustainable development, the conditions of women and children, the environment, and the promotion of FP which was adopted by the House and involved a major segment of legislators.

Legislations the field of food irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-05-01

An outline is given of the national legislation in 39 countries in the field of food irradiation. Where available the following information is given for each country: form of legislation, object of legislation including information on the irradiation treatment, the import and export trade of irradiated food, the package labelling and the authorization and control of the irradiation procedures

Synthesis of Automated Vehicle Legislation

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

This report provides a synthesis of issues addressed by state legislation regarding automated vehicles (AV); AV technologies are rapidly evolving and many states have developed legislation to govern AV testing and deployment and to assure safety on p...

Nuclear liability legislation in Slovenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skraban, A.

2000-01-01

This paper gives some basic data about nuclear installations in Slovenia, reviews Slovenian national legislation in the field of third-party liability for nuclear damage, applicability of the international nuclear liability treaties in the Slovenian legal system and outlines some main provisions of national legislation. It also aims to give some facts about history and present status of nuclear insurance pool and the insurance of nuclear risks in Slovenia. Paper finally indicates also some future legislative steps with respect to nuclear third party liability, at national and international level. (author)

Flexibility in radiation protection legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beaver, P.F.; Gill, J.R.

1980-01-01

The UK approach to radiation protection legislation is described in detail. The advantages are outlined of a flexible approach whereby the objectives of the legislation are clearly identified but the means of achieving these are left open or qualified by terms such as 'where reasonably practicable'. The roles and viewpoints of management and unions in such an approach are discussed especially with respect to legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act. Specific topics include requirements for notification of use, criteria for controlled areas and the tasks of the radiation protection adviser. (UK)

Mixed raster content segmentation, compression, transmission

CERN Document Server

Pavlidis, George

2017-01-01

This book presents the main concepts in handling digital images of mixed content, traditionally referenced as mixed raster content (MRC), in two main parts. The first includes introductory chapters covering the scientific and technical background aspects, whereas the second presents a set of research and development approaches to tackle key issues in MRC segmentation, compression and transmission. The book starts with a review of color theory and the mechanism of color vision in humans. In turn, the second chapter reviews data coding and compression methods so as to set the background and demonstrate the complexity involved in dealing with MRC. Chapter three addresses the segmentation of images through an extensive literature review, which highlights the various approaches used to tackle MRC segmentation. The second part of the book focuses on the segmentation of color images for optimized compression, including multi-layered decomposition and representation of MRC and the processes that can be employed to op...

Legislative background of food and nutrition policy in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Andreeva

2012-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The importance of effective policy aimed at improving nutrition practices is highly recognized by the global community. METHODS: Analysis of Ukrainian legislative documents was conducted to clarify the situation in the field of policy initiatives and legislation devoted to nutrition in Ukraine. Documents in force adopted from 1991 to 2011 including key words “nutrition”, “health”, “concept”, and “food products” were reviewed.RESULTS: We reviewed 55 legislative acts related to nutrition and identified several groups: 18 documents are related to organization of supply, regimen, norms of nutrition in state establishments or for special populations; 12 documents related to economic and technological regulation of food preparation, quality control and distribution; 3 documents regulating nutritious and safety norms of food products for children under 3 years; 14 documents aimed to control food safety, quality and accessibility; 6 other documents partly referred to nutrition, including 4 Concepts of healthy lifestyles. Some of the principles of healthy eating are declared in the “Concept of improving food security and quality of nutrition of the population” approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2004. Principles of maintaining breastfeeding, activities aimed to reduce iodine deficiency among population as well as school educational program “Foundations of health” were those few governmental activities, which supported some of the ideas declared in the Concept. CONCLUSION: Great attention of policymakers is paid to regulation of production, distribution of food, its quality control, affordability of products for special population groups, especially children. Not much attention is devoted in the official documents to creating and maintaining the healthy eating practices of the population. Mechanisms aimed to form healthy eating practices are not specified in the legislative documents. No regulatory documents to

Impact of clean air legislation on the petroleum industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Driscoll, J.G.

1991-01-01

As the 1990s begin, the petroleum refining and marketing industry faces an unprecedented number of environmental issues that, combined, will bring major changes in the fundamentals of the business by the turn of the century. The following background on the history of environmentally driven change in the oil business provides a broad view of current environmental laws and regulations, while addressing timing and general impacts on the downstream segment. It will then focus on the Clean Air Act of 1990, providing information on the range of areas this comprehensive legislative initiative will regulate. Finally, the discussion narrows to the mobile source provisions of the act. It is through this section that the most foundational changes in our business will occur. In this paper the nature of those changes are discussed, and a short list of issues with potential for significant impact on a global basis are covered

A legislative program to plan energy strategies for the 21st century and to demonstrate the role of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKlveen, J.W.; Blitz, P.

1989-01-01

In April 1989, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation and Arizona State University presented a national program, Energy Strategies for the 21st Century. Participants included state legislative leaders and key committee chairs from across the nation. The purpose of this program was to give legislative leaders an opportunity to examine and discuss many of the critical issues that will shape future energy policy. The participants were actively involved in developing realistic energy strategies. The scenarios had to use available and realistic future energy technologies. Their solutions were required to be both economically and environmentally compatible and acceptable to their constituents

Legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

This bulletin contains information about activities of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (UJD). In this leaflet the legislation activities of the UJD are presented. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (UJD) of the Slovak Republic, as the central body, performs legislative activities within its competence and defines binding criteria in the area of nuclear safety. In the area of nuclear safety the Act No.130/1998 Coll. 'on peaceful use of nuclear energy' (Atomic Act) is the principal document which came into force on July 1, 1998. Based on the Atomic Act UJD issued decrees on special materials and installations, limits for maximum quantities of nuclear materials at which nuclear damage is not presumed. Furthermore, the regulations are issued which deal with provision of physical protection of nuclear material and radioactive waste, professional ability of employees at nuclear installations, registration and control of nuclear materials, emergency planning for the case of an incident or an events on nuclear installations at their decommissioning, transportation of nuclear materials and radioactive waste. Simultaneously, other 6 regulations are just before the before the completion and they are in various stages of the of the legislative process. In addition, UJD performs remarkable activities in legislative area by preparation of comments to drafts of other relating generally binding legal provisions of the Slovak Republic. UJD also acts as the participant of the review procedure in the area of technical standards and publication. UJD also issues documents which have character of the recommendations, so called safety guides. These guides contain methods and approach how to meet safety requirements presented in binding documents, as acts and decrees. In accordance with the Atomic act it is possible to use nuclear energy or make business in the area of nuclear energy only the basis of the authorisation issued by UJD. Authorisations are following

A Novel Iris Segmentation Scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen-Chung Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available One of the key steps in the iris recognition system is the accurate iris segmentation from its surrounding noises including pupil, sclera, eyelashes, and eyebrows of a captured eye-image. This paper presents a novel iris segmentation scheme which utilizes the orientation matching transform to outline the outer and inner iris boundaries initially. It then employs Delogne-Kåsa circle fitting (instead of the traditional Hough transform to further eliminate the outlier points to extract a more precise iris area from an eye-image. In the extracted iris region, the proposed scheme further utilizes the differences in the intensity and positional characteristics of the iris, eyelid, and eyelashes to detect and delete these noises. The scheme is then applied on iris image database, UBIRIS.v1. The experimental results show that the presented scheme provides a more effective and efficient iris segmentation than other conventional methods.

Legislative and Judicial Information Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Louise Giovane

1983-01-01

Reviews computer applications in judicial, legal, and legislative information activities being used to support litigation and court administration, assist in searching for legislation and laws, aid criminal justice information systems, and provide appropriate bibliographic and reference assistance. Management issues in automating systems are…

Legal Principles and Legislative Instrumentalism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gribnau, J.L.M.; Soeteman, A.

2003-01-01

Instrumentalist legislation usually underestimates the importance of legal principles in modern law. Legal principles are the normative core of a value oriented conception of law. They function as essential criteria of evaluation for lawmaking by the legislator and the executive. In fact,

Preventing non-communicable disease in Oman, a legislative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Bahlani, Sabah; Mabry, Ruth

2014-06-01

The burden of non-communicable disease (NCD) is a major global concern and is projected to increase by 15% over the next 10 years. NCD is the leading cause of mortality in Oman and other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Some of the most successful interventions to address NCD include legislations like banning smoking in public places. A desk review of available policies and legislations related to the behavioural risk factors of NCD from the GCC and from Oman was conducted with a focus on policies and legislations related to food, physical activity and tobacco. The review identified numerous documents; most were policies and resolutions related to tobacco control. Although only a few documents were laws, a majority were issued by non-health sectors. This policy review is the first effort in the GCC to consolidate information on the regulatory framework for the three key risk behaviours in the region, tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Further work is needed to strengthen the regulatory framework, at both the national and regional levels, to strengthen tobacco control as well as to improve dietary patterns and physical activity levels. Given that a bulk of laws, regulations and policies are beyond the scope of the health sector, significant advocacy efforts are required to generate a multisectoral response. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Harmonization of the Romanian legislation in the field of civil liability for nuclear damages with the international legislation in the field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiripus, Vlad

2005-01-01

The paper is an overview of the Romanian legal provisions in the filed of civil liability for nuclear damages in the last three decades introducing the concept and the evolution of its legal regime towards a total harmonization with the European legislation. Its modernity even from (and in spite of) its communist beginnings in 1947 (Law no. 61 regarding the deployment of nuclear activities in the Romanian Socialist Republic) is emphasized. It focuses on the key laws - Law no. 703/2001 on civil liability for nuclear damages, and Government Decision no. 894/2003 for the approval of the Norms for enforcement of Law no. 703/2001- that currently define the Romanian regime for civil liability for nuclear damages. This encompasses the relevant responsibilities of nuclear operators, the Romanian nuclear damage compensation system, statute of limitation for claims, types of insurance and financial guarantees. These refer civil liability for nuclear damages, limits of nuclear operators' liability, specific requirements regarding the insurance, responsibilities of control and supervision bodies, assessment of nuclear damage. This makes Romania - in terms of legislation - one of the most advanced countries in the field. (author)

US legislative proposals for nuclear export controls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnelly, W.H.

1977-01-01

Some of the topics covered are: Congress' perception of proliferation; completed legislation for non-proliferation; partially complete legislative initiatives in the 94th Congress; non-proliferation measures defeated or vetoed; and legislation for non-proliferation in the 95th Congress

Implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control in Africa: current status of legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tumwine, Jacqueline

2011-11-01

To describe, as of July 2011, the status of tobacco control legislation in Africa in three key areas of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)-(1) Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke, (2) Packaging and labelling of tobacco products, and (3) Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Review and analysis of tobacco control legislation in Africa, media reports, journal articles, tobacco industry documents and data published in the 2011 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic. Modest progress in FCTC implementation in Africa with many countries having legislation or policies on the protection from exposure to tobacco smoke, however, only a handful of countries meet the standards of the FCTC Article 8 and its Guidelines particularly with regards to designated smoking areas. Little progress on packaging and labelling of tobacco products, with few countries having legislation meeting the minimum standards of the FCTC Article 11 and its Guidelines. Mauritius is the only African country with graphic or pictorial health warnings in place and has the largest warning labels in Africa. Slightly better progress in banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship has been shown by African countries, although the majority of legislation falls short of the standards of the FCTC Article 13 and its Guidelines. Despite their efforts, African countries' FCTC implementation at national level has not matched the strong regional commitment demonstrated during the FCTC treaty negotiations. This study highlights the need for Africa to step up efforts to adopt and implement effective tobacco control legislation that is fully compliant with the FCTC. In order to achieve this, countries should prioritise resources for capacity building for drafting strong FCTC compliant legislation, research to inform policy and boost political will, and countering the tobacco industry which is a major obstacle to FCTC implementation in Africa.

Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Africa: Current Status of Legislation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacqueline Tumwine

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: To describe, as of July 2011, the status of tobacco control legislation in Africa in three key areas of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC—(1 Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke, (2 Packaging and labelling of tobacco products, and (3 Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Methods: Review and analysis of tobacco control legislation in Africa, media reports, journal articles, tobacco industry documents and data published in the 2011 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic. Results: Modest progress in FCTC implementation in Africa with many countries having legislation or policies on the protection from exposure to tobacco smoke, however, only a handful of countries meet the standards of the FCTC Article 8 and its Guidelines particularly with regards to designated smoking areas. Little progress on packaging and labelling of tobacco products, with few countries having legislation meeting the minimum standards of the FCTC Article 11 and its Guidelines. Mauritius is the only African country with graphic or pictorial health warnings in place and has the largest warning labels in Africa. Slightly better progress in banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship has been shown by African countries, although the majority of legislation falls short of the standards of the FCTC Article 13 and its Guidelines. Despite their efforts, African countries’ FCTC implementation at national level has not matched the strong regional commitment demonstrated during the FCTC treaty negotiations. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for Africa to step up efforts to adopt and implement effective tobacco control legislation that is fully compliant with the FCTC. In order to achieve this, countries should prioritise resources for capacity building for drafting strong FCTC compliant legislation, research to inform policy and boost political will, and countering the tobacco industry which is a major obstacle to FCTC

Nuclear legislation in Czech Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stuller, J.

1996-01-01

The paper presents the status of nuclear legislation in the Czech Republic, specifying the fields of nuclear activities covered, partially covered and uncovered by the present legislation. The licensing process and the competence and powers of the State Office for Nuclear Safety are also briefly described

The impact of safety legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, J.L.; Gill, J.R.

1989-01-01

The impact of medicines legislation for radiopharmaceuticals is discussed with regard to product licensing, production and quality control, marketing authorisation within the EC, licensing exemptions and authorisation for administration. As regards safety legislation for radiopharmaceuticals the requirements of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 are outlined. (UK)

Starting a hospital-based home health agency: Part II--Key success factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, P

1993-09-01

In Part II of a three-part series, the financial, technological and legislative issues of a hospital-based home health-agency are discussed. Beginning a home healthcare service requires intensive research to answer key environmental and operational questions--need, competition, financial projections, initial start-up costs and the impact of delayed depreciation. Assessments involving technology, staffing, legislative and regulatory issues can help project service volume, productivity and cost-control.

Legislation for nuclear disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, Shozo

2012-01-01

Fukushima nuclear disaster accident clarified problems on nuclear-related legislation and its application. Legislation for nuclear disaster (LNA) could not respond to severe accident because assumed size of accident was not enough. After emergency event corresponding to the article 15 of LNA, was reported by the operator, more than two hours passed by the issuance of Emergency State Declaration. Off-site center could not work at all. This article reviewed outline of LNA and introduced discussion on the reform of legislation and its application. Reform discussion should be focused on swift and effective response readiness to emergency: 1) operator's substantial nuclear emergency drilling, (2) reinforcement of government's headquarters for emergency response, (3) after nuclear emergency, government's headquarters remained to enhance resident's safety from radiation hazard and (4) enactment of nuclear emergency preparedness guidelines for local communities. (T. Tanaka)

Legislative coalitions with incomplete information.

Science.gov (United States)

Dragu, Tiberiu; Laver, Michael

2017-03-14

In most parliamentary democracies, proportional representation electoral rules mean that no single party controls a majority of seats in the legislature. This in turn means that the formation of majority legislative coalitions in such settings is of critical political importance. Conventional approaches to modeling the formation of such legislative coalitions typically make the "common knowledge" assumption that the preferences of all politicians are public information. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework to investigate which legislative coalitions form when politicians' policy preferences are private information, not known with certainty by the other politicians with whom they are negotiating over what policies to implement. The model we develop has distinctive implications. It suggests that legislative coalitions should typically be either of the center left or the center right. In other words our model, distinctively, predicts only center-left or center-right policy coalitions, not coalitions comprising the median party plus parties both to its left and to its right.

Impact of the legislation on electric utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Long, M.

1982-01-01

The possible impact of Federal nuclear waste legislation on electric utilities is discussed. The proposed legislation will set forth a well defined program enabling utilities with nuclear plants to make long term plans under a statutory mandate committed to an available technology and implementation timetable. The legislation includes the necessary specificity for the utility companies to fulfill their responsibilities in describing their waste disposal plans to their customers, the concerned public, and state and local legislators

Status of legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilman, P.

1982-01-01

The Senate passed 69 to 6 legislation to provide a comprehensive nuclear waste policy. This legislation restates some things the Department of Energy is already doing. It modifies some others, and in some cases it provides new authorities, principally in those areas of state participation and in the area of financing of the program. Some of the provisions of the Senate bill are: schedule for a number of items in the disposal of nuclear waste, the first being an area referred to as away-from reactor storage; a timetable for geologic disposal; a plan for the long-term storage of nuclear waste for spent fuels; a financing mechanism; and states participation

Progress in Slovak nuclear legislation in 2011-2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pospisil, Martin

2012-01-01

In the legislative area, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic focused on 3 basic topics. First, the Slovak Atomic Act (Act No. 541/2004 on peaceful use of nuclear energy) was amended to include provisions of Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom. The key changes concerned the definition of a nuclear installation, introduction of a definition of safety culture, detailed specification of administrative, technical, organisational and financial requirements for licensees aimed to ensure nuclear safety quality management. Second, preparatory work was done on 2 new regulations: regulation on the requirements for nuclear safety and regulation on quality management. Third, regulations encompassing changes in the Atomic Act were prepared. (orig.)

Finite Element Based Response Surface Methodology to Optimize Segmental Tunnel Lining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Rastbood

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to optimize the geometrical and engineering characteristics of concrete segments of tunnel lining using Finite Element (FE based Response Surface Methodology (RSM. Input data for RSM statistical analysis were obtained using FEM. In RSM analysis, thickness (t and elasticity modulus of concrete segments (E, tunnel height (H, horizontal to vertical stress ratio (K and position of key segment in tunnel lining ring (θ were considered as input independent variables. Maximum values of Mises and Tresca stresses and tunnel ring displacement (UMAX were set as responses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA was carried out to investigate the influence of each input variable on the responses. Second-order polynomial equations in terms of influencing input variables were obtained for each response. It was found that elasticity modulus and key segment position variables were not included in yield stresses and ring displacement equations, and only tunnel height and stress ratio variables were included in ring displacement equation. Finally optimization analysis of tunnel lining ring was performed. Due to absence of elasticity modulus and key segment position variables in equations, their values were kept to average level and other variables were floated in related ranges. Response parameters were set to minimum. It was concluded that to obtain optimum values for responses, ring thickness and tunnel height must be near to their maximum and minimum values, respectively and ground state must be similar to hydrostatic conditions.

Brain MR image segmentation using NAMS in pseudo-color.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hua; Chen, Chuanbo; Fang, Shaohong; Zhao, Shengrong

2017-12-01

Image segmentation plays a crucial role in various biomedical applications. In general, the segmentation of brain Magnetic Resonance (MR) images is mainly used to represent the image with several homogeneous regions instead of pixels for surgical analyzing and planning. This paper proposes a new approach for segmenting MR brain images by using pseudo-color based segmentation with Non-symmetry and Anti-packing Model with Squares (NAMS). First of all, the NAMS model is presented. The model can represent the image with sub-patterns to keep the image content and largely reduce the data redundancy. Second, the key idea is proposed that convert the original gray-scale brain MR image into a pseudo-colored image and then segment the pseudo-colored image with NAMS model. The pseudo-colored image can enhance the color contrast in different tissues in brain MR images, which can improve the precision of segmentation as well as directly visual perceptional distinction. Experimental results indicate that compared with other brain MR image segmentation methods, the proposed NAMS based pseudo-color segmentation method performs more excellent in not only segmenting precisely but also saving storage.

Progress on DEMO blanket attachment concept with keys and pins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vizvary, Zsolt; Iglesias, Daniel; Cooper, David; Crowe, Robert; Riccardo, Valeria

2015-01-01

Highlights: • DEMO blanket attachment system with keys and pins (without using bolts). • Blanket segments are preloaded by progressively designed springs. • Blanket back plate flexibility has a major impact on spring design. • Mechanical analysis of other components indicates no unresolvable issues. • Thermal analysis indicates acceptable temperatures for the support system. - Abstract: The blanket attachment has to cope with gravity, thermal and electromagnetic loads, also it has to be installed and serviced by remote handling. Pre-stressed components suffer from stress relaxation in irradiated environments such as DEMO. To circumvent this problem pre-stressed component should be either avoided or shielded, and where possible keys and pins should be used. This strategy has been proposed for the DEMO multi-module segments (MMS). The blanket segments are held by two tapered keys each, designed to allow thermal expansions while providing contact with the vacuum vessel and to resist the poloidal and radial moments the latter being dominant at 9.1 MNm inboard and 15 MNm outboard. On the top of the blanket segment there is a pin which provides vertical support. At the bottom another vertical support has to lock them in position after installation and manage the pre-load on the segments. The pre-load is required to deal with the electromagnetic loads during disruption. This is provided by a set of springs, which require shielding as they are preloaded. These are sized to cope with the force (3 MN inboard, 1.4 MN outboard) due to halo currents and the toroidal moment which can reverse. Calculations show that the flexibility of the blanket segment itself plays a significant role in defining the required support system. The blanket segment acts as a preloaded spring and it has to be part of the attachment design as well.

Evolution of European Union legislation of herbal medicinal products and its transposition to national legislation in 1965-2007: case Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Koski, Sari M; Laitinen-Parkkonen, Pirjo; Airaksinen, Marja

2015-01-01

The study aim was to explore the progress of legislation relating to herbal medicinal products in the European Union and compare it with the corresponding progress of the legislation in Finland in 1965-2007. The study was carried out using content analysis. Data were searched from publicly available European Union directives and national acts. All definitions and safety-related requirements for herbal medicinal products were identified. The transposition of safety-related requirements into the national legislation was studied. Medicinal products from plant origins have been part of the European Union legislation since 1965. Most plant-based products have not initially been regarded as medicinal products but rather as some kind of medicine-like products. The official definition of herbal medicinal products was introduced in Directive 2004/24/EC and implemented into the Finnish legislation with the terminology to recognise herbal medicinal products as part of medicinal products. The current safety-related requirements of medicinal products concern analogously herbal medicinal products. Herbal medicinal products have had different definitions in pharmaceutical legislation over the study period in the European Union and Finland. The current definition places herbal medicinal products more clearly under the medicinal products' legislation. Safety-related requirements are now practically identical for all medicinal products. Transposition of the European Union legislation into the national legislation in Finland is apparent. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

29 CFR 784.102 - General legislative history.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false General legislative history. 784.102 Section 784.102 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STATEMENTS OF GENERAL... Aquatic Products Legislative History of Exemptions § 784.102 General legislative history. (a) As orginally...

Key drivers of airline loyalty.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolnicar, Sara; Grabler, Klaus; Grün, Bettina; Kulnig, Anna

2011-10-01

This study investigates drivers of airline loyalty. It contributes to the body of knowledge in the area by investigating loyalty for a number of a priori market segments identified by airline management and by using a method which accounts for the multi-step nature of the airline choice process. The study is based on responses from 687 passengers. Results indicate that, at aggregate level, frequent flyer membership, price, the status of being a national carrier and the reputation of the airline as perceived by friends are the variables which best discriminate between travellers loyal to the airline and those who are not. Differences in drivers of airline loyalty for a number of segments were identified. For example, loyalty programs play a key role for business travellers whereas airline loyalty of leisure travellers is difficult to trace back to single factors. For none of the calculated models satisfaction emerged as a key driver of airline loyalty.

Human body segmentation via data-driven graph cut.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shifeng; Lu, Huchuan; Shao, Xingqing

2014-11-01

Human body segmentation is a challenging and important problem in computer vision. Existing methods usually entail a time-consuming training phase for prior knowledge learning with complex shape matching for body segmentation. In this paper, we propose a data-driven method that integrates top-down body pose information and bottom-up low-level visual cues for segmenting humans in static images within the graph cut framework. The key idea of our approach is first to exploit human kinematics to search for body part candidates via dynamic programming for high-level evidence. Then, by using the body parts classifiers, obtaining bottom-up cues of human body distribution for low-level evidence. All the evidence collected from top-down and bottom-up procedures are integrated in a graph cut framework for human body segmentation. Qualitative and quantitative experiment results demonstrate the merits of the proposed method in segmenting human bodies with arbitrary poses from cluttered backgrounds.

Sexual violence legislation in sub-Saharan Africa: the need for strengthened medico-legal linkages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilonzo, Nduku; Ndung'u, Njoki; Nthamburi, Nerida; Ajema, Caroline; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Theobald, Sally; Tolhurst, Rachel

2009-11-01

Six sub-Saharan African countries currently have laws on sexual violence, including Kenya, and eight others have provisions on sexual violence in other legislation. Effective legislation requires functioning medico-legal linkages to enable both justice to be done in cases of sexual violence and the provision of health services for survivors of sexual violence. The health sector also needs to provide post-rape care services and collect and deliver evidence to the criminal justice system. This paper reviews existing data on sexual violence in sub-Saharan Africa, and summarises the content of sexual violence legislation in the region and the strengths and weaknesses of existing medico-legal linkages, using Kenya as a case study. Many sub-Saharan African countries do not yet have comprehensive post-rape care services, nor substantial co-ordination between HIV and sexual and reproductive health services, the legal and judicial systems, and sexual violence legislation. These need to be integrated by cross-referrals, using standardised referral guidelines and pathways, treatment protocols, and medico-legal procedures. Common training approaches and harmonised information across sectors, and common indicators, would facilitate government accountability. Joint and collaborative planning and working at country level, through sharing of information and data between the different systems remain key to achieving this.

Barriers and Enablers to Enacting Child and Youth Related Injury Prevention Legislation in Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda Rothman

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Injury prevention policy is crucial for the safety of Canada’s children; however legislation is not adopted uniformly across the country. This study aimed to identify key barriers and enablers to enacting injury prevention legislation. Purposive snowball sampling identified individuals involved in injury prevention throughout Canada. An online survey asked respondents to identify policies that were relevant to them, and whether legislation existed in their province. Respondents rated the importance of barriers or enablers using a 5-point Likert type scale and included open-ended comments. Fifty-seven respondents identified the most common injury topics: bicycle helmets (44, 77%, cell phone-distracted driving (36, 63%, booster seats (28, 49%, ski helmets (24, 42%, and graduated driver’s licensing (21, 37%. The top enablers were research/surveillance, managerial/political support and professional group consultation, with much variability between injury topics. Open-ended comments emphasized the importance of a united opinion as an enabler and barriers included costs of protective equipment and inadequate enforcement of legislation. The results highlighted the importance of strategies that include research, management and community collaboration and that injury prevention topics should be addressed individually as information may be lost if topics are considered together. Findings can inform the process of turning injury prevention evidence into action.

29 CFR 783.28 - General legislative history.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false General legislative history. 783.28 Section 783.28 Labor... TO EMPLOYEES EMPLOYED AS SEAMEN Legislative History and Judicial Construction of the Exemptions § 783.28 General legislative history. As originally enacted in 1938, section 13(a)(3) of the Fair Labor...

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This section treats of the following National legislative and regulatory activities: 1 - France: General legislation, regulations and instruments; Nuclear trade (including non-proliferation); International co-operation; 2 - India: Licensing and regulatory infrastructure; Liability and compensation; 3 - Ireland: Nuclear safety and radiological protection (including nuclear emergency planning); Transport of radioactive material; Nuclear trade (including non-proliferation); 4 - Lithuania: Licensing and regulatory infrastructure; Nuclear safety and radiological protection (including nuclear emergency planning); Radioactive waste management; 5 - Luxembourg: Nuclear safety and radiological protection (including nuclear emergency planning); 6 - Slovak Republic: International co-operation; General legislation, regulations and instruments; 7 - Spain: Radioactive materials (including physical protection); Radioactive waste management; 8 - United States: Licensing and regulatory infrastructure

Maritime environmental penal law. International and German legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eller, Jan Frederik

2017-01-01

The book on maritime environmental penal law discusses the following issues: part I: introduction into the importance of oceanic environment and its thread, requirement of protective measures,; part II: focus of the study and terminology: oceanic pollution, maritime environmental legislation, international legislation; part 3: international legislative regulations concerning the protection of maritime environment: avoidance of environmental pollution, maritime legislative agreements, existing protective institutions; part 4: state penal power concerning maritime environmental protection; part 5: statutory offense according to German legislation; perspectives for regulations concerning criminal acts on sea.

Authentication for Bulk Data Dissemination in Sensor Networks Using Symmetric Keys

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wang, Limin; Kulkarni, Sandeep

2007-01-01

.... Our protocol uses the secret instantiation algorithm for distributing the keys. We apply the symmetric key signatures at the segment/group level and use hashed verification at the packet level...

Implementing the legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silverstrom, L.

1982-01-01

Leon Silverstrom explained how nuclear waste disposal legislation would be implemented. The legislation provides a framework that recognizes the tremendous number of views and opinions on the subject and provides a mechanism that will allow all these interests to be expressed before final decisions are reached. Implementing procedures are outlined for: (1) the final repository; (2) interim or last resort storage; (3) research and development; (4) the monitored retrievable storage phases. The whole process will involve: environmental assessments and licensing requirements for each phase; construction of a test and evaluation facility; provision for sharing information with the states and interested parties; and procedures for public hearings and state rejection of propoped sites

Legislative Basis of Pedagogical Education in Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Kuchai, Tetiana

2014-01-01

Legal framework policy of Japan in the field of education has been analyzed. The problem of influence of legislative materials on the development of education in Japan, its legislative support has been considered. It has been defined that directive materials affect the development of education system in Japan. Legislation policy of the country is…

Market segmentation of mobile communications in SEE region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domazet Anto

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In the focus of all activities are customers of mobile services on mobile communications market. As the basis of telecommunication network and services development, as also for creating an optimal marketing-mix from mobile operators' side, we have investigated the needs, motivations and customer behavior and have made analysis mobile communication customers on the SEE Region market. The aim of this analysis is identification of the regional segments and following their growth, size and profitability. At the end, we have contributed the suggestions for creating the marketing-mix using a strategy of marketing differentiation, which implicit optimal combination of all marketing-mix elements for each regional segment separately. For identified segments we have set up an estimation model of significant key factors on the particular segments, because of more efficient creation of marketing instruments.

Gender balance on company boards: a summary from a research project about the impact of the Norwegian gender quota legislation

OpenAIRE

2015-01-01

This report summarizes main findings from the research project: Effects of gender balance in corporate boards. The project is financed by the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. The report consists of nine chapters. The introductory chapter will provide key information about the gender quota legislation, as well as describe the policy process that led to the gender balance legislation; the second chapter will present some of the existing research on the gender balance regulat...

Consumer attitudes toward health policy and knowledge about health legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Riska, E; Taylor, J A

1978-01-01

Consumer attitudes toward key issues affecting health policy decisions in the local community have been ignored both by local health policy makers and by medical sociologists. The authors report an empirical analysis of: (1) consumer attitudes towards federal intervention in health care; (2) consumer perceptions of the free market philosophy of health providers; (3) consumer perceptions of their involvement in health policy making; (4) consumer confidence in present systems of health services delivery; and (5) consumer awareness of recent major health legislation. It was found that consumers are poorly informed about recent health care legislation. The authors compared the attitudes of consumers with those held by local hospital board members toward health policy issues. The differences for all comparisons were statistically significant. The authors argue that hospital board members attribute problems in health services delivery to demand dysfunctions while consumers perceive the problems to be a result of supply dysfunctions. Thus, failure to include consumers on health policy boards guarantees the absence of a solution-oriented dialogue and promotes the continuing predominance of a provider-biased ideology.

Equality, Legal Certainty and Tax Legislation in the Netherlands
Fundamental Legal Principles as Checks on Legislative Power: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans Gribnau

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Fundamental legal principles may function as a check on legislative power protecting citizens against arbitrary interferences with their liberty. This contribution deals with the principle of equality and the principle of certainty. First, the testing of legislation against the principle of equality is presented as a case study of constitutional review. In the Netherlands, the constitutional dialogue between the legislator and the Dutch Supreme Court revolving around the principle of equality demonstrates a fair amount of subtle details. As a result, constitutional review can hardly be called an all or nothing affair.Secondly, retroactive tax legislation is dealt with. The legislator does seem to take the principle of legal certainty, another fundamental legal principle, quite seriously, although no testing of statutory legislation is possible by the courts. With regard to retroactive tax legislation the Government has committed itself in a memorandum, requested by Parliament, to adhere to rules of conduct with regard to different situations where it deems retroactive tax legislation to be justified. Thus, a soft law instrument facilitates a dialogue between different partners in the business of law-making.

A qualitative exploration of key informant perspectives regarding the nature and impact of contemporary legislation on professional development: a grounded theory study of chiropractic in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Myburgh, Corrie

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to construct a substantive framework of the manner in which the Danish government interacts with the Danish chiropractic profession and influences professional practice. An exploratory, qualitative study was performed using a substantive grounded theory (GT) approach. Unstructured, face-to-face, individual interviews were conducted during the years 2012 and 2013 and thematically analyzed. Six people were interviewed for this study including a gatekeeper and witness to legislative history, a previous chiropractic political representative and witness to legislative history, a previous Department of Health negotiator and previous administrator of chiropractic affairs and witness to legislative history, a current administrator of chiropractic affairs, an active chiropractic political representative and witness to legislative history, and a chief negotiator for Danish Regional Health Care Services. Open and axial coding yielded 2 themes centering on licensing chiropractors in Denmark and the resultant developmental issues encountered. Through further selective coding, the GT core construct, "chiropractic practice in the Danish heath care system" emerged. The GT highlights the tension between the strategic political importance of legislation and the restrictive nature of the overly specific act currently regulating chiropractic practice. Moreover, the GT also revealed the perceived negative effect that the National Board of Health may exert on clinical practice due to its conservative interpretation of the act. The Danish government is perceived to act as a countervailing power related to chiropractic practice. The derived substantive GT suggests that the Danish government's dualistic action relative to the Danish chiropractic community may inhibit the spontaneous evolution of contemporary Danish chiropractic practice. Although historically narrow legislation may limit chiropractic practice, conservative interpretations by the Danish

Nuclear Regulatory Legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-08-01

This compilation of statutes and material pertaining to nuclear regulatory legislation through the 100th Congress, 2nd Session, has been prepared by the Office of the General Counsel, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with the assistance of staff, for use as an internal resource document. Persons using this document are placed on notice that it may not be used as an authoritative citation in lieu of the primary legislative sources. Furthermore, while every effort has been made to ensure the completeness and accuracy of this material, neither the United States Government, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, nor any of their employees makes any expressed or implied warranty or assumes liability for the accuracy or completeness of the material presented in this compilation

Legislative vulnerability of minority groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Paula, Carlos Eduardo Artiaga; Silva, Ana Paula da; Bittar, Cléria Maria Lôbo

2017-12-01

Minorities are in an inferior position in society and therefore vulnerable in many aspects. This study analyzes legislative vulnerability and aims to categorize as "weak" or "strong" the protection conferred by law to the following minorities: elderly, disabled, LGBT, Indians, women, children/ adolescents and black people. In order to do so, it was developed a documental research in 30 federal laws in which legal provisions were searched to protect minorities. Next, the articles were organized in the following categories: civil, criminal, administrative, labor and procedural, to be analyzed afterwards. Legal protection was considered "strong" when there were legal provisions that observed the five categories and "weak" when it did not meet this criterion. It was noted that six groups have "strong" legislative protection, which elides the assertion that minorities are outside the law. The exception is the LGBT group, whose legislative protection is weak. In addition, consecrating rights through laws strengthens the institutional channels for minorities to demand their rights. Finally, it was observed that the legislative protection granted tominorities is not homogeneous but rather discriminatory, and there is an interference by the majority group in the rights regulation of vulnerable groups.

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2009-01-01

This part gathers the national legislative and regulatory activities. The subjects tackled are as follow: radiological protection (Belgium), transport of radioactive materials (Belgium, France), general legislation (Brazil, Ireland, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Turkey), third part liability (Japan), radioactive waste management (Korea, Romania, Slovenia, Usa), regime of radioactive materials (Romania), organisation and structure (Switzerland), regime of nuclear installations (Usa), regulations on nuclear trade (Usa). (N.C)

From wastewater to fertilisers--Technical overview and critical review of European legislation governing phosphorus recycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Hukari, Sirja; Hermann, Ludwig; Nättorp, Anders

2016-01-15

The present paper is based on an analysis of the EU legislation regulating phosphorus recovery and recycling from wastewater stream, in particular as fertiliser. To recover phosphorus, operators need to deal with market regulations, health and environment protection laws. Often, several permits and lengthy authorisation processes for both installation (e.g. environmental impact assessment) and the recovered phosphorus (e.g. End-of-Waste, REACH) are required. Exemptions to certain registration processes for recoverers are in place but rarely applied. National solutions are often needed. Emerging recovery and recycling sectors are affected by legislation in different ways: Wastewater treatment plants are obliged to remove phosphorus but may also recover it in low quantities for operational reasons. Permit processes allowing recovery and recycling operations next to water purification should thus be rationalised. In contrast, the fertiliser industry relies on legal quality requirements, ensuring their market reputation. For start-ups, raw-material sourcing and related legislation will be the key. Phosphorus recycling is governed by fragmented decision-making in regional administrations. Active regulatory support, such as recycling obligation or subsidies, is lacking. Legislation harmonisation, inclusion of recycled phosphorus in existing fertiliser regulations and support of new operators would speed up market penetration of novel technologies, reduce phosphorus losses and safeguard European quality standards.

Legislation on university technology transfer and research management 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-02-01

This book deals with legislation on university technology transfer in 2012, which includes invention promotion act, legislation on technology transfer and promotion of industrialization, legislation on industrial education and industrial cooperation, and special legislation on venture business. It lists the legislation related research and development by government department : fundamental law of scientific technique, law on evaluation and management of domestic research development business, national science and technology council and the patent office.

Segmentation: Identification of consumer segments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høg, Esben

2005-01-01

It is very common to categorise people, especially in the advertising business. Also traditional marketing theory has taken in consumer segments as a favorite topic. Segmentation is closely related to the broader concept of classification. From a historical point of view, classification has its...... origin in other sciences as for example biology, anthropology etc. From an economic point of view, it is called segmentation when specific scientific techniques are used to classify consumers to different characteristic groupings. What is the purpose of segmentation? For example, to be able to obtain...... a basic understanding of grouping people. Advertising agencies may use segmentation totarget advertisements, while food companies may usesegmentation to develop products to various groups of consumers. MAPP has for example investigated the positioning of fish in relation to other food products...

Renewable Energy Project Financing: Impacts of the Financial Crisis and Federal Legislation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwabe, P.; Cory, K.; Newcomb, J.

2009-07-01

Extraordinary financial market conditions have disrupted the flows of equity and debt investment into U.S. renewable energy (RE) projects since the fourth quarter of 2008. The pace and structure of renewable energy project finance has been reshaped by a combination of forces, including the financial crisis, global economic recession, and major changes in federal legislation affecting renewable energy finance. This report explores the impacts of these key market events on renewable energy project financing and development.

Model Legislation for GAAP and GASB.

Science.gov (United States)

Bissell, George E.

1987-01-01

The use of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) by all state and local governments may require legislation. Findings from a survey of states to get data on current accounting and financial reporting practices are summarized. Model legislation to provide uniformity in accounting and reporting is presented. (MLF)

The Political Economy of Collective Labour Legislation in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James W. Y. Wang

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article provides a seminal analysis of collective labour legislation in Taiwan. A chronological review of Taiwan’s legislative process suggests that the context of incorporation, institutional framework, mechanisms for delivering reforms, and sequence of reforms together shape the legislative outcomes of labour reforms at the collective level. While most labour legislation was revised and passed after the preceding sequence of economic transition, the reform of collective labour rights was greatly constrained by the flexible labour-market structure. In order for politicians to form new alliances with labour organizations, legislation of collective labour rights was a strategy to cultivate support during electoral periods. Consequently, the industrial relations changed following the enactment of substantial reform-oriented labour legislation. Theore-tically, the historical analysis of legislative procedure unveils evolutionary reform paths for collective labour rights in new democracies. At the same time, empirically, Taiwan demonstrates an alternative reform path in combination with incremental steps and progressive agendas. For new democracies of small economy, a window of opportunity for the progress in collective labour legislation remains open today, albeit with limitations.

Legislative Bargaining and Incremental Budgeting

OpenAIRE

Dhammika Dharmapala

2002-01-01

The notion of 'incrementalism', formulated by Aaron Wildavsky in the 1960's, has been extremely influential in the public budgeting literature. In essence, it entails the claim that legislators engaged in budgetary policymaking accept past allocations, and decide only on the allocation of increments to revenue. Wildavsky explained incrementalism with reference to the cognitive limitations of lawmakers and their desire to reduce conflict. This paper uses a legislative bargaining framework to u...

Shape-tailored local descriptors and their application to segmentation and tracking

KAUST Repository

Khan, Naeemullah; Algarni, Marei Saeed Mohammed; Yezzi, Anthony; Sundaramoorthi, Ganesh

2015-01-01

We propose new dense descriptors for texture segmentation. Given a region of arbitrary shape in an image, these descriptors are formed from shape-dependent scale spaces of oriented gradients. These scale spaces are defined by Poisson-like partial differential equations. A key property of our new descriptors is that they do not aggregate image data across the boundary of the region, in contrast to existing descriptors based on aggregation of oriented gradients. As an example, we show how the descriptor can be incorporated in a Mumford-Shah energy for texture segmentation. We test our method on several challenging datasets for texture segmentation and textured object tracking. Experiments indicate that our descriptors lead to more accurate segmentation than non-shape dependent descriptors and the state-of-the-art in texture segmentation.

Shape-tailored local descriptors and their application to segmentation and tracking

KAUST Repository

Khan, Naeemullah

2015-06-07

We propose new dense descriptors for texture segmentation. Given a region of arbitrary shape in an image, these descriptors are formed from shape-dependent scale spaces of oriented gradients. These scale spaces are defined by Poisson-like partial differential equations. A key property of our new descriptors is that they do not aggregate image data across the boundary of the region, in contrast to existing descriptors based on aggregation of oriented gradients. As an example, we show how the descriptor can be incorporated in a Mumford-Shah energy for texture segmentation. We test our method on several challenging datasets for texture segmentation and textured object tracking. Experiments indicate that our descriptors lead to more accurate segmentation than non-shape dependent descriptors and the state-of-the-art in texture segmentation.

Does State Legislation Improve Nursing Workforce Diversity?

Science.gov (United States)

Travers, Jasmine; Smaldone, Arlene; Cohn, Elizabeth Gross

2015-08-01

A health-care workforce representative of our nation's diversity is a health and research priority. Although racial and ethnic minorities represent 37% of Americans, they comprise only 16% of the nursing workforce. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of state legislation on minority recruitment to nursing. Using data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and U.S. census, we compared minority enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs of states (Texas, Virginia, Michigan, California, Florida, Connecticut, and Arkansas) before and 3 years after enacting legislation with geographically adjacent states without legislation. Data were analyzed using descriptive and chi-square statistics. Following legislation, Arkansas (13.8%-24.5%), California (3.3%-5.4%), and Michigan (8.0%-10.0%) significantly increased enrollment of Blacks, and Florida (11.8%-15.4%) and Texas (11.2%-13.9%) significantly increased enrollment of Hispanic baccalaureate nursing students. States that tied legislation to funding, encouragement, and reimbursement had larger enrollment gains and greater minority representation. © The Author(s) 2015.

Correction tool for Active Shape Model based lumbar muscle segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Valenzuela, Waldo; Ferguson, Stephen J; Ignasiak, Dominika; Diserens, Gaelle; Vermathen, Peter; Boesch, Chris; Reyes, Mauricio

2015-08-01

In the clinical environment, accuracy and speed of the image segmentation process plays a key role in the analysis of pathological regions. Despite advances in anatomic image segmentation, time-effective correction tools are commonly needed to improve segmentation results. Therefore, these tools must provide faster corrections with a low number of interactions, and a user-independent solution. In this work we present a new interactive correction method for correcting the image segmentation. Given an initial segmentation and the original image, our tool provides a 2D/3D environment, that enables 3D shape correction through simple 2D interactions. Our scheme is based on direct manipulation of free form deformation adapted to a 2D environment. This approach enables an intuitive and natural correction of 3D segmentation results. The developed method has been implemented into a software tool and has been evaluated for the task of lumbar muscle segmentation from Magnetic Resonance Images. Experimental results show that full segmentation correction could be performed within an average correction time of 6±4 minutes and an average of 68±37 number of interactions, while maintaining the quality of the final segmentation result within an average Dice coefficient of 0.92±0.03.

An analysis of state legislation on community trails.

Science.gov (United States)

Eyler, Amy; Lankford, Tina; Chriqui, Jamie; Evenson, Kelly R; Kruger, Judy; Tompkins, Nancy; Voorhees, Carolyn; Zieff, Susan; Aytur, Semra; Brownson, Ross

2010-03-01

Trails provide opportunities for recreation, transportation and activity. The purpose of this article is to describe state legislation related to community trails, to analyze legislation content, and to evaluate legislation on inclusion of evidence-informed elements. State trail legislation from 2001 to 2008 was identified using online legislative databases. An analysis of evidence-informed elements included in the legislation was conducted. These elements included: funding, liability, accessibility, connectivity, and maintenance. Of the total 991 trail bills, 516 (52.0%) were appropriations bills, of which 167 (32.2%) were enacted. We analyzed 475 (48%) nonappropriation trail bills of which 139 (29.3%) were enacted. The percentage of enactment of appropriations bills decreased over time while enactment of nonappropriations trail bills increased. Over half of the nonappropriations trail bills included at least 1 evidence-informed element, most commonly funding. Few bills contained liability, connectivity, accessibility, or maintenance. There is opportunity for providing evidence-informed information to policy-makers to potentially influence bill content. The number of bills with a funding element demonstrates that fiscal support for trails is an important policy lever that state legislatures may use to support trails. Lastly, trails should be considered in over-all state-level physical activity legislation to provide opportunities for communities to be active.

Bionic Control of Cheetah Bounding with a Segmented Spine

OpenAIRE

Wang, Chunlei; Wang, Shigang

2016-01-01

A cheetah model is built to mimic real cheetah and its mechanical and dimensional parameters are derived from the real cheetah. In particular, two joints in spine and four joints in a leg are used to realize the motion of segmented spine and segmented legs which are the key properties of the cheetah bounding. For actuating and stabilizing the bounding gait of cheetah, we present a bioinspired controller based on the state-machine. The controller mainly mimics the function of the cerebellum to...

Swiss legislation on dog ownership

CERN Multimedia

DSU Department

2008-01-01

The Swiss Permanent Mission in Geneva has requested CERN to inform the members of its personnel that a notice relating to Swiss legislation on dog ownership has been published on-line at the following address: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/topics/intorg/un/unge/gepri/pet.html This legislation is applicable to all international civil servants who own a dog. Relations with the Host States Service mailto:relations.secretariat@cern.ch http://www.cern.ch/relations/

Orthognathic model surgery with LEGO key-spacer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsang, Alfred Chee-Ching; Lee, Alfred Siu Hong; Li, Wai Keung

2013-12-01

A new technique of model surgery using LEGO plates as key-spacers is described. This technique requires less time to set up compared with the conventional plaster model method. It also retains the preoperative setup with the same set of models. Movement of the segments can be measured and examined in detail with LEGO key-spacers. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Innovative visualization and segmentation approaches for telemedicine

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, D.; Roehrig, Hans; Borders, Marisa H.; Fitzpatrick, Kimberly A.; Roveda, Janet

2014-09-01

In health care applications, we obtain, manage, store and communicate using high quality, large volume of image data through integrated devices. In this paper we propose several promising methods that can assist physicians in image data process and communication. We design a new semi-automated segmentation approach for radiological images, such as CT and MRI to clearly identify the areas of interest. This approach combines the advantages from both the region-based method and boundary-based methods. It has three key steps compose: coarse segmentation by using fuzzy affinity and homogeneity operator, image division and reclassification using the Voronoi Diagram, and refining boundary lines using the level set model.

LEGISLATIVE, ACCOUNTING AND FISCAL NON-CONFORMITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PALIU – POPA LUCIA

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In the context of the debate analysis from the last decades on the relationship between accounting and taxation, independence or dependence of the accounting rules from the tax ones and taking into consideration that the independence of the two leads to permanent and even significant differences between the accounting and tax profit, I found that certain terms are regulated differently in accounting legislation in our country compared to fiscal one or the legislation in the economic field. Taken from this perspective the main objective of this scientific approach is the identification of accounting and tax legislative nonconformities and the proposal of the ways to solve them so as to eliminate, where possible, differentiated professional interpretations.

LEGISLATIVE, ACCOUNTING AND FISCAL NON-CONFORMITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PALIU – POPA LUCIA

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the context of the debate analysis from the last decades on the relationship between accounting and taxation, independence or dependence of the accounting rules from the tax ones and taking into consideration that the independence of the two leads to permanent and even significant differences between the accounting and tax profit, I found that certain terms are regulated differently in accounting legislation in our country compared to fiscal one or the legislation in the economic field. Taken from this perspective the main objective of this scientific approach is the identification of accounting and tax legislative nonconformities and the proposal of the ways to solve them so as to eliminate, where possible, differentiated professional interpretations.

CFC legislation in the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvjetković Cvjetana M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author considers CFC legislation in the Member States of the European Union, and points to the official attitude of the institutions of the European Union toward CFC legislation. Special attention in this paper is focused on Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case Cadbury Schweppes. The aim of the paper is to analyze CFC legislation in the Member States in order to determine its basic characteristics, as well as to determine its compatibility with freedoms guaranteed by the primary law of the European Union, i.e. with Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Cadbury Schweppes case.

An improved optimum-path forest clustering algorithm for remote sensing image segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Siya; Sun, Tieli; Yang, Fengqin; Sun, Hongguang; Guan, Yu

2018-03-01

Remote sensing image segmentation is a key technology for processing remote sensing images. The image segmentation results can be used for feature extraction, target identification and object description. Thus, image segmentation directly affects the subsequent processing results. This paper proposes a novel Optimum-Path Forest (OPF) clustering algorithm that can be used for remote sensing segmentation. The method utilizes the principle that the cluster centres are characterized based on their densities and the distances between the centres and samples with higher densities. A new OPF clustering algorithm probability density function is defined based on this principle and applied to remote sensing image segmentation. Experiments are conducted using five remote sensing land cover images. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed method can outperform the original OPF approach.

Legislative Framework Required for Africa's M-Economy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Williams, Idongesit

2014-01-01

This article discusses the importance of developing legislative frameworks for the development of an m - economy in Africa......This article discusses the importance of developing legislative frameworks for the development of an m - economy in Africa...

Accountability legislation: Implications for financial and performance reporting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daphne Rixon

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this case study is to first examine the implications of accountability legislation on the financial and performance reporting of a public sector agency in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and secondly, to compare the level of accountability with Stewart’s (1984 ladder of accountability. This paper is based on the first phase of a two-phase study. The first phase focuses on the initial impacts of accountability legislation on agencies and the challenges created by the legislation’s ‘one size fits all’ approach. The second phase of this study will examine the impact of the legislation on stakeholders after it has been in operation for five years. The second phase will include interviews with stakeholders to ascertain the level of satisfaction with the new legislation. The first phase of the study is significant since it highlights how governments could consider stakeholder needs when drafting such legislation. This research contributes to the body of literature on stakeholder accountability since there is a paucity of research focused specifically on the impact of accountability legislation on public sector agencies. An important contribution of this paper is the introduction of a framework for legislated accountability reporting. The main theoretical frameworks used to analyse the findings are Stewart’s (1984 ladder of accountability in conjunction with Friedman and Miles (2006 ladder of stakeholder management and engagement.

"You Say Tomato, I Say Solanum Lycopersicum Containing Beta-ionone and Phenylacetaldehyde": an Analysis of Connecticut's GMO Labeling Legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunziato, Travis

2014-01-01

"You Say Tomato, I Say Solanum Lycopersicum Containing Beta-ionone and Phenylacetaldehyde" discusses the importance of requiring labels on products that contain genetically modified organisms, focusing on Connecticut's GMO Labeling statutes, as it is they are the first of their kind in the nation. The article will compare Connecticut's law to the legislation found in Australia, highlighting the positive aspects of Connecticut's bill and identifying its key weaknesses, namely the "trigger clause" found in the statute. Part I will provide an overview of Genetic Modification and provide a brief history of Biotechnology. It will also provide a brief overview of the federal regulatory framework in biotechnology, as well as evaluate the United States Food and Drug Association's role of regulating genetic modification. Part I will conclude by discussing how the American public has shown that labeling GMOs is important, and something that should occur. Part II of this article will explore Connecticut's recent legislation requiring labels on products that contain GMOs. Part III will explore Australia's legislation requiring labels on products containing GMOs, comparing Australia's law to Connecticut's legislation.

Firework related injury and legislation: the epidemiology of firework injuries and the effect of legislation in Northern Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Fogarty, B J; Gordon, D J

1999-02-01

The efficacy of legislation in reducing firework associated injuries is uncertain as is the nature of the problem within the United Kingdom (UK). In September 1996 the legislation governing firework sale in Northern Ireland was relaxed thus equalling that of the rest of the UK. For the 2 years following the change in legislation we prospectively assessed those patients who were admitted with a firework injury over the Halloween period. We then compared these results with retrospective data for the 3 years prior to the change in firework law. In the pre-legislation series the mean number of patients admitted annually was 0.38 per 100,000 while in the post-legislation series the mean was 0.43 per 100,000. Blast injury to the hand was the commonest injury accounting for 53% of cases in both series. Burn injuries were the second commonest form of injury comprising 30% of all admissions. Of those admitted with a hand injury 47% had at least one finger terminalised and nearly half of those patients admitted with burns (44%) required skin grafting. We conclude that early evidence suggests that liberalisation of the law on firework sale has not resulted in a significant increase in firework related injuries requiring hospital admission.

SEGMENTATION OF SME PORTFOLIO IN BANKING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Namolosu Simona Mihaela

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs represent an important target market for commercial Banks. In this respect, finding the best methods for designing and implementing the optimal marketing strategies (for this target are a continuous concern for the marketing specialists and researchers from the banking system; the purpose is to find the most suitable service model for these companies. SME portfolio of a bank is not homogeneous, different characteristics and behaviours being identified. The current paper reveals empirical evidence about SME portfolio characteristics and segmentation methods used in banking system. Its purpose is to identify if segmentation has an impact in finding the optimal marketing strategies and service model and if this hypothesis might be applicable for any commercial bank, irrespective of country/ region. Some banks are segmenting the SME portfolio by a single criterion: the annual company (official turnover; others are considering also profitability and other financial indicators of the company. In some cases, even the banking behaviour becomes a criterion. For all cases, creating scenarios with different thresholds and estimating the impact in profitability and volumes are two mandatory steps in establishing the final segmentation (criteria matrix. Details about each of these segmentation methods may be found in the paper. Testing the final matrix of criteria is also detailed, with the purpose of making realistic estimations. Example for lending products is provided; the product offer is presented as responding to needs of targeted sub segment and therefore being correlated with the sub segment characteristics. Identifying key issues and trends leads to further action plan proposal. Depending on overall strategy and commercial target of the bank, the focus may shift, one or more sub segments becoming high priority (for acquisition/ activation/ retention/ cross sell/ up sell/ increase profitability etc., while

Status of the segment interconnect, cable segment ancillary logic, and the cable segment hybrid driver projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swoboda, C.; Barsotti, E.; Chappa, S.; Downing, R.; Goeransson, G.; Lensy, D.; Moore, G.; Rotolo, C.; Urish, J.

1985-01-01

The FASTBUS Segment Interconnect (SI) provides a communication path between two otherwise independent, asynchronous bus segments. In particular, the Segment Interconnect links a backplane crate segment to a cable segment. All standard FASTBUS address and data transactions can be passed through the SI or any number of SIs and segments in a path. Thus systems of arbitrary connection complexity can be formed, allowing simultaneous independent processing, yet still permitting devices associated with one segment to be accessed from others. The model S1 Segment Interconnect and the Cable Segment Ancillary Logic covered in this report comply with all the mandatory features stated in the FASTBUS specification document DOE/ER-0189. A block diagram of the SI is shown

Legislating Interprofessional Regulatory Collaboration in Nova Scotia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Lahey

2013-10-01

Full Text Available To shift health professions regulation from traditional to ‘collaborative’ self-regulation, Nova Scotia has adopted legislation which will: make all self-regulating health professions members of the Regulated Health Professions Network; mandate the Network to facilitate voluntary collaboration among its members; and enable regulators to work together on investigations of patient complaints, to adjust scopes of practice on an ongoing basis and to adjudicate appeals of unsuccessful applicants for registration. The goals are to give health professions regulation the capacity to enable and support the functioning of interprofessional teams. The legislation was adopted primarily for two reasons: collaborative development and unanimous support by all of the province’s self-regulating professions; and alignment with the government’s health care reform agenda and its emphasis on collaborative team-based care. Contrary to the approach of several other provinces, the legislation will enable but not require regulators to collaborate on the premise that consensual collaboration is more likely to happen, to be meaningful and to yield tangible benefits. Support for this approach can be taken from the impressive collaborative work on which the legislation is based. Evaluation will be critical, and the five-year review required by the legislation will give Nova Scotia the opportunity to test not only the legislation but the ideas on which it is based. The extent of the legislation’s reliance on voluntary process will prove to be either its greatest strength or its greatest weakness.

New Ontario power legislation aims to protect consumers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2000-09-01

New legislation designed to improve regulation of the electricity sector in Ontario was introduced by the provincial government in June 2000, the first such legislation since the government mandated an open electricity market with the Energy Competition Act of 1998. The new legislation is described as narrowly focused on putting limits on local power rate increases. The legislation was introduced in combination with a directive to the Ontario Energy Board, and is designed to ensure that the Board approves municipal electric utility rates only when certain conditions are met. The Energy Minister was at great pains to point out that the legislation should not be interpreted as the government interfering in the marketplace, it is merely to help the utility wires side of the business during a two-year transition period. Municipal authorities reacted unfavorably to the legislation because it appears to require them to return significant assets to their utilities, assets that they considered as theirs under municipal restructuring. Energy Probe, an environmental advocacy group, suggested an alternative to the legislation, i. e., the government should allow the price increases requested by the municipal utilities to go through, but to leave consumers whole, it should impose a windfall profits tax on municipal governments, use the proceeds to reduce debt retirement taxes in the electricity bill, a leftover from Ontario Hydro's debt and stranded nuclear waste liabilities, and eliminate the province's own electricity tax on consumers. No direct reaction has been received from the Minister to date. If the legislation is passed in its present form it will prevent municipalities from using windfall profits from their utilities to justify rate hikes.

The relationship between administrative court control and legislative control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckmann, M.

1986-01-01

The legislator can determine the extent of control of administrative courts by reduction of substantive conditions. The author has the opinion that the judicial control cannot be stricter than the legislative control. For the range of the control of administrative courts is decisive, to what extent the legislator is forced to proper legislative settlements. In this context the author discusses the Kalkar-decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 1978. (CW) [de

Dissolution Threats and Legislative Bargaining

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Becher, Michael; Christiansen, Flemming Juul

2015-01-01

Chief executives in many parliamentary democracies have the power to dissolve the legislature. Despite a well-developed literature on the endogenous timing of parliamentary elections, political scientists know remarkably little about the strategic use of dissolution power to influence policymaking....... To address this gap, we propose and empirically evaluate a theoretical model of legislative bargaining in the shadow of executive dissolution power. The model implies that the chief executive's public support and legislative strength, as well as the time until the next constitutionally mandated election...

Сoncept of national legislative initiative and its types

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. Л. Крутько

2015-11-01

Full Text Available . National legislative initiative is a new instrument of popular wills demonstration as compared to different forms of direct democracy. In most of developed democracies this institution regulated at the constitutional/ legislative level. But in the modern Ukraine its constitutional legal regulation is absent, due disregard of its possibilities and lack of understanding of its essence. Paper objective. This article an aim is to analyze in details the definition of «national legislative initiative» and determinate its basic types according to theoretical insights and foreign current law. Recent research and publications analysis. The domestic and foreign scholars works on scientific research of national legislative initiative institution such as V.N. Rudenko, O.M. Mudra, V.M. Shapoval, V.F. Nesterovich, J. F. Zimmerman and etc. Their works were foundational at the time of writing. Paper main body. With the help of big definition dictionary and new encyclopedic dictionary it was found the etymology of the concept «initiative» which is characterized as the basis, also found meaning of «legislative initiative», «national initiative» and «national legislative initiative». It was argued impossibility an identification of «national initiative» with «national legislative initiative». The current definitions of the national legislative initiative were analyzed in the article. It was noted that suggested terms were limited only by identification of institute’s apparent indicator and withhold essence. This is precisely why four types of the national legislative initiative’s realization are briefly examined for the complex determination of the definition. These types depending on what role the legislator are assigning to citizen, who are the main actors of initiative. And on the basis of this analysis the author provided his own definition of «the national legislative initiative». The author had notes that the proposed definition was not

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' legislative activities and the Joint Medical Library Association/Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Legislative Task Force.

Science.gov (United States)

Zenan, Joan S

2003-04-01

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' (AAHSL's) involvement in national legislative activities and other advocacy initiatives has evolved and matured over the last twenty-five years. Some activities conducted by the Medical Library Association's (MLA's) Legislative Committee from 1976 to 1984 are highlighted to show the evolution of MLA's and AAHSL's interests in collaborating on national legislative issues, which resulted in an agreement to form a joint legislative task force. The history, work, challenges, and accomplishments of the Joint MLA/AAHSL Legislative Task Force, formed in 1985, are discussed.

Legislative amendments and informal politics in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cross, James P.; Hermansson, Henrik

2017-01-01

the Commission’s proposals and the final legislative outcome passed by the European Union. It does so by implementing minimum edit distance algorithms to measure changes between legislative proposals and outcomes. The findings suggest that legislative amendments are determined by the formal and informal...... institutional structures in which negotiations take place and characteristics of the proposal itself. Our conclusions contribute to the ongoing debate on the nature and distribution of legislative powers in the European Union....

Educational Policy Making in the State Legislature: Legislator as Policy Expert.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Sue Wells; Geske, Terry G.

1997-01-01

Examines the legislator's role as education policy expert in the legislative policymaking process. In a study of Louisiana state legislators, analysis of variance was used to determine expert legislators' degree of influence in formulating educational policy, given differences in policy types, information sources, and legislators' work roles.…

Nuclear Regulatory legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-06-01

This compilation of statutes and material pertaining to nuclear regulatory legislation through the 97th Congress, 2nd Session, has been prepared by the Office of the Executive Legal Director, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with the assistance of staff, for use as an internal resource document

Impact of foreign bribery legislation on developing countries and the role of donor agencies

OpenAIRE

Zagaris, Bruce

2014-01-01

Legislation prohibiting foreign bribery has been enacted and enforced by several countries, notably the United States and the United Kingdom, but its impact on developing countries is poorly understood. An analysis of literature and practice provides insights into factors that may help developing countries benefit from foreign bribery laws and minimize negative externalities. Lack of capacity, lack of political will, and weak flows of information emerge as key obstacles. Although donor agenci...

Optimization of reactor pressure vessel internals segmentation in Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Byung-Sik [Dankook Univ., Chungnam (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

2017-11-15

One of the most challenging tasks during plant decommissioning is the removal of highly radioactive internal components from the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). For RPV internals dismantling, it is essential that all activities are thoroughly planned and discussed in the early stage of the decommissioning project. One of the key activities in the detailed planning is to prepare the segmentation and packaging plan that describes the sequential steps required to segment, separate, and package each individual component of RPV, based on an activation analysis and component characterization study.

Segmented block copolymers with monodisperse aramide end-segments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Araichimani, A.; Gaymans, R.J.

2008-01-01

Segmented block copolymers were synthesized using monodisperse diaramide (TT) as hard segments and PTMO with a molecular weight of 2 900 g · mol-1 as soft segments. The aramide: PTMO segment ratio was increased from 1:1 to 2:1 thereby changing the structure from a high molecular weight multi-block

Legislative policy in Brazil : limits and possibilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De, Paula F.

2018-01-01

This doctoral thesis discusses the limits and possibilities for developing a new legislative-regulatory policy in Brazil, understood as a public policy whose purpose is to improve the process of drafting legislation and regulation and to increase the quality of rules. It considers the

To Legislate or Not to Legislate? A Comparison of the UK and South African Approaches to the Development and Implementation of Salt Reduction Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Charlton

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The World Health Organization promotes salt reduction as a best-buy strategy to reduce chronic diseases, and Member States have agreed to a 30% reduction target in mean population salt intake by 2025. Whilst the UK has made the most progress on salt reduction, South Africa was the first country to pass legislation for salt levels in a range of processed foods. This paper compares the process of developing salt reduction strategies in both countries and highlights lessons for other countries. Like the UK, the benefits of salt reduction were being debated in South Africa long before it became a policy priority. Whilst salt reduction was gaining a higher profile internationally, undoubtedly, local research to produce context-specific, domestic costs and outcome indicators for South Africa was crucial in influencing the decision to legislate. In the UK, strong government leadership and extensive advocacy activities initiated in the early 2000s have helped drive the voluntary uptake of salt targets by the food industry. It is too early to say which strategy will be most effective regarding reductions in population-level blood pressure. Robust monitoring and transparent mechanisms for holding the industry accountable will be key to continued progress in each of the countries.

Tradition and change in power industry legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baur, J.F.; Boerner, B.; Friauf, K.H.; Salzwedel, J.; Selmer, P.

1986-01-01

On September 24-25, 1985 the 15th conference of the Institute for Energy Law took place in Cologne. This book contains five of the lectures held at the conference. They deal with the following subjects: Constitutional restrictions of autonomous energy policy of the Land governments; compulsory connection to and use of district heating; is there any necessity for amending the anti-trust law for reasons of energy policy; environmental law - planning law - gaps in the legislation concerning the energy sector; Energy Industry Law - are there legislative deficiencies, or is it an adequate, correct legislative instrument. (HSCH) [de

SEMANTIC SEGMENTATION OF BUILDING ELEMENTS USING POINT CLOUD HASHING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Chizhova

2018-05-01

Full Text Available For the interpretation of point clouds, the semantic definition of extracted segments from point clouds or images is a common problem. Usually, the semantic of geometrical pre-segmented point cloud elements are determined using probabilistic networks and scene databases. The proposed semantic segmentation method is based on the psychological human interpretation of geometric objects, especially on fundamental rules of primary comprehension. Starting from these rules the buildings could be quite well and simply classified by a human operator (e.g. architect into different building types and structural elements (dome, nave, transept etc., including particular building parts which are visually detected. The key part of the procedure is a novel method based on hashing where point cloud projections are transformed into binary pixel representations. A segmentation approach released on the example of classical Orthodox churches is suitable for other buildings and objects characterized through a particular typology in its construction (e.g. industrial objects in standardized enviroments with strict component design allowing clear semantic modelling.

Spatio-Temporal Video Object Segmentation via Scale-Adaptive 3D Structure Tensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai-Yun Wang

2004-06-01

Full Text Available To address multiple motions and deformable objects' motions encountered in existing region-based approaches, an automatic video object (VO segmentation methodology is proposed in this paper by exploiting the duality of image segmentation and motion estimation such that spatial and temporal information could assist each other to jointly yield much improved segmentation results. The key novelties of our method are (1 scale-adaptive tensor computation, (2 spatial-constrained motion mask generation without invoking dense motion-field computation, (3 rigidity analysis, (4 motion mask generation and selection, and (5 motion-constrained spatial region merging. Experimental results demonstrate that these novelties jointly contribute much more accurate VO segmentation both in spatial and temporal domains.

Segmentation of consumer's markets and evaluation of market's segments

OpenAIRE

ŠVECOVÁ, Iveta

2013-01-01

The goal of this bachelor thesis was to explain a possibly segmentation of consumer´s markets for a chosen company, and to present a suitable goods offer, so it would be suitable to the needs of selected segments. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. First part describes marketing, segmentation, segmentation of consumer's markets, consumer's market, market's segments a other terms. Second part describes an evaluation of questionnaire survey, discovering of market's segment...

Are the Keys loved to death? A study of diver specialization levels and preferences in the Florida Keys

Science.gov (United States)

Shona Paterson; David K. Loomis

2010-01-01

This paper presents research conducted for the Florida Reef Resilience Program on nonresident recreational SCUBA divers in three zones of the Florida Keys. When divers were segmented into specialization subgroups for analysis, divers in different subgroups tended to use different geographic locations. These results suggest differences in user preferences; yet when...

Evidence and argument in policymaking: development of workplace smoking legislation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bero Lisa A

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We sought to identify factors that affect the passage of public health legislation by examining the use of arguments, particularly arguments presenting research evidence, in legislative debates regarding workplace smoking restrictions. Methods We conducted a case-study based content analysis of legislative materials used in the development of six state workplace smoking laws, including written and spoken testimony and the text of proposed and passed bills and amendments. We coded testimony given before legislators for arguments used, and identified the institutional affiliations of presenters and their position on the legislation. We compared patterns in the arguments made in testimony to the relative strength of each state's final legislation. Results Greater discussion of scientific evidence within testimony given was associated with the passage of workplace smoking legislation that provided greater protection for public health, regardless of whether supporters outnumbered opponents or vice versa. Conclusion Our findings suggest that an emphasis on scientific discourse, relative to other arguments made in legislative testimony, might help produce political outcomes that favor public health.

Shape-Tailored Features and their Application to Texture Segmentation

KAUST Repository

Khan, Naeemullah

2014-04-01

Texture Segmentation is one of the most challenging areas of computer vision. One reason for this difficulty is the huge variety and variability of textures occurring in real world, making it very difficult to quantitatively study textures. One of the key tools used for texture segmentation is local invariant descriptors. Texture consists of textons, the basic building block of textures, that may vary by small nuisances like illumination variation, deformations, and noise. Local invariant descriptors are robust to these nuisances making them beneficial for texture segmentation. However, grouping dense descriptors directly for segmentation presents a problem: existing descriptors aggregate data from neighborhoods that may contain different textured regions, making descriptors from these neighborhoods difficult to group, leading to significant errors in segmentation. This work addresses this issue by proposing dense local descriptors, called Shape-Tailored Features, which are tailored to an arbitrarily shaped region, aggregating data only within the region of interest. Since the segmentation, i.e., the regions, are not known a-priori, we propose a joint problem for Shape-Tailored Features and the regions. We present a framework based on variational methods. Extensive experiments on a new large texture dataset, which we introduce, show that the joint approach with Shape-Tailored Features leads to better segmentations over the non-joint non Shape-Tailored approach, and the method out-performs existing state-of-the-art.

Legislation on smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland: how will we evaluate the impact?

Science.gov (United States)

Haw, Sally J; Gruer, Laurence; Amos, Amanda; Currie, Candace; Fischbacher, Colin; Fong, Geoffrey T; Hastings, Gerard; Malam, Sally; Pell, Jill; Scott, Calum; Semple, Sean

2006-03-01

From 26 March 2006, smoking will be prohibited in wholly and substantially enclosed public places in Scotland, and it will be an offence to permit smoking or to smoke in no-smoking premises. We anticipate that implementation of the smoke-free legislation will result in significant health gains associated with reductions in exposure to both environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and personal tobacco consumption as well as other social and economic impacts. Health Scotland in conjunction with the Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland and the Scottish Executive have developed a comprehensive evaluation strategy to assess the expected short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes. Using routine health, behavioural and economic data and commissioned research, we will assess the impact of the smoke-free legislation in eight key outcome areas--knowledge and attitudes, ETS exposure, compliance, culture, smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption, tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, economic impacts on the hospitality sector and health inequalities. The findings from this evaluation will make a significant contribution to the international understanding of the health effects of exposure to ETS and the broader social, cultural and economic impacts of smoke-free legislation.

Image Mosaic Method Based on SIFT Features of Line Segment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel image mosaic method based on SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform feature of line segment, aiming to resolve incident scaling, rotation, changes in lighting condition, and so on between two images in the panoramic image mosaic process. This method firstly uses Harris corner detection operator to detect key points. Secondly, it constructs directed line segments, describes them with SIFT feature, and matches those directed segments to acquire rough point matching. Finally, Ransac method is used to eliminate wrong pairs in order to accomplish image mosaic. The results from experiment based on four pairs of images show that our method has strong robustness for resolution, lighting, rotation, and scaling.

Moral autonomy in Australian legislation and military doctrine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Adams

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Australian legislation and military doctrine stipulate that soldiers ‘subjugate their will’ to government, and fight in any war the government declares. Neither legislation nor doctrine enables the conscience of soldiers. Together, provisions of legislation and doctrine seem to take soldiers for granted. And, rather than strengthening the military instrument, the convention of legislation and doctrine seems to weaken the democratic foundations upon which the military may be shaped as a force for justice. Denied liberty of their conscience, soldiers are denied the foundational right of democratic citizenship and construed as utensils of the State. This article critiques the idea of moral agency in Australian legislation and military doctrine and is concerned with the obligation of the State to safeguard the moral integrity of individual soldiers, so soldiers might serve with a fully formed moral assurance to advance justice in the world. Beyond its explicit focus on the convention of Australian thought, this article raises questions of far-reaching relevance. The provisos of Australian legislation and doctrine are an analogue of western thinking. Thus, this discussion challenges many assumptions concerning military duty and effectiveness. Discussion will additionally provoke some reassessment of the expectations democratic societies hold of their soldiers.

'Pivotal politics' in US energy and climate legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skodvin, Tora

2010-01-01

In the 110th Congress (2007-2008) legislation related to climate change was introduced at a faster pace than in any previous Congress, yet it did not result in a corresponding increase in enacted climate-related laws. A pertinent example of the political infeasibility of climate policy change in the 110th Congress is the case of tax credit extensions for production of renewable energy. While this issue in itself was uncontroversial, the extensions were only adopted in the 11th hour, after innumerable failed attempts. With an analytical point of departure in Krehbiel's theory of pivotal politics, this paper seeks to identify pivotal legislators in the case of the tax credit extensions and discusses how changes in the composition of pivotal legislators in the 111th Congress (2009-2010) may impact the prospects of moving climate legislation more generally. The analysis indicates that a majority of the legislative pivots in the case of tax credit extensions were Republican senators representing coal-producing states. In the case of climate change, however, the regional dimension is likely to be more significant for Democratic voting behaviour. Thus, the opportunity space for climate legislation in the 111th Congress remains narrow even with a reinforced Democratic majority in Congress.

Environmental Legislation in China: Achievements, Challenges and Trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhilin Mu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Compared to the environmental legislation of many developed countries, China’s environmental legislation was initiated late, beginning in 1979, but nevertheless has obtained considerable achievements. As many as thirty environmental laws have provided rules regarding prevention and control of pollution, resource utilization, and ecological protection in China. However, China’s environmental legislation still faces a series of challenges and problems, including that the sustainable development concept has not yet been fully implemented, as well as presence of gaps and non-coordination phenomena between laws and regulations, unclear responsibility, imperfect system design, imbalance between rights and obligations, higher impacts resulted from the GDP-centralized economy, lack of operability and instruments in the legal content, as well as difficulty of public participation. In contrast, China’s environmental legislation has improved, as a result of learning from experience in developed countries and introducing innovations stimulated by domestic environmental pressure. Looking into the future, increased attention to environmental protection and ecological consciousness paid by China’s new leaders will bring a valuable opportunity to China’s further development concerning environmental legislation. In the future, there are prospects for the gradual improvement of legal approaches, continuous improvements of legislation to mitigate environmental problems, and more opportunities to strengthen public participation can be predicted.

Colombian mining legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendoza Delgado, Eva Isolina

2004-01-01

The paper makes a historical recount of the mining legislation in Colombia, it is about the more relevant aspects of the Code of Mines, like they are the title miner, obligations, economic aspects, integration of mining areas and of the benefits contemplated in the law 685 of 2001

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' legislative activities and the Joint Medical Library Association/Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Legislative Task Force

OpenAIRE

Zenan, Joan S.

2003-01-01

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' (AAHSL's) involvement in national legislative activities and other advocacy initiatives has evolved and matured over the last twenty-five years. Some activities conducted by the Medical Library Association's (MLA's) Legislative Committee from 1976 to 1984 are highlighted to show the evolution of MLA's and AAHSL's interests in collaborating on national legislative issues, which resulted in an agreement to form a joint legislative task forc...

Segmentation of Residential Gas Consumers Using Clustering Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta P. Fernandes

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The growing environmental concerns and liberalization of energy markets have resulted in an increased competition between utilities and a strong focus on efficiency. To develop new energy efficiency measures and optimize operations, utilities seek new market-related insights and customer engagement strategies. This paper proposes a clustering-based methodology to define the segmentation of residential gas consumers. The segments of gas consumers are obtained through a detailed clustering analysis using smart metering data. Insights are derived from the segmentation, where the segments result from the clustering process and are characterized based on the consumption profiles, as well as according to information regarding consumers’ socio-economic and household key features. The study is based on a sample of approximately one thousand households over one year. The representative load profiles of consumers are essentially characterized by two evident consumption peaks, one in the morning and the other in the evening, and an off-peak consumption. Significant insights can be derived from this methodology regarding typical consumption curves of the different segments of consumers in the population. This knowledge can assist energy utilities and policy makers in the development of consumer engagement strategies, demand forecasting tools and in the design of more sophisticated tariff systems.

PRESEE: an MDL/MML algorithm to time-series stream segmenting.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Kaikuo; Jiang, Yexi; Tang, Mingjie; Yuan, Changan; Tang, Changjie

2013-01-01

Time-series stream is one of the most common data types in data mining field. It is prevalent in fields such as stock market, ecology, and medical care. Segmentation is a key step to accelerate the processing speed of time-series stream mining. Previous algorithms for segmenting mainly focused on the issue of ameliorating precision instead of paying much attention to the efficiency. Moreover, the performance of these algorithms depends heavily on parameters, which are hard for the users to set. In this paper, we propose PRESEE (parameter-free, real-time, and scalable time-series stream segmenting algorithm), which greatly improves the efficiency of time-series stream segmenting. PRESEE is based on both MDL (minimum description length) and MML (minimum message length) methods, which could segment the data automatically. To evaluate the performance of PRESEE, we conduct several experiments on time-series streams of different types and compare it with the state-of-art algorithm. The empirical results show that PRESEE is very efficient for real-time stream datasets by improving segmenting speed nearly ten times. The novelty of this algorithm is further demonstrated by the application of PRESEE in segmenting real-time stream datasets from ChinaFLUX sensor networks data stream.

Terrorism and anti-terror legislation - the terrorised legislator? A comparison of counter-terrorism legislation and its implications on human rights in the legal systems of the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and France

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oehmichen, Anna

2009-01-01

The thesis deals with the history of terrorism and counter-terrorism legislation, focussing on the legislation in the UK, Spain, Germany and France, in the last 30 years, and analysing its compatibility with national and European human rights standards.

Autopsy issues in German Federal Republic transplantation legislation until 1997.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweikardt, Christoph

2014-01-01

This article analyzes the relevance of autopsy issues for German Federal Republic transplantation legislation until 1997 against the background of legal traditions and the distribution of constitutional legislative powers. It is based on Federal Ministry of Justice records and German Parliament documents on transplantation legislation. Transplantation and autopsy legislation started with close ties in the 1970s. Viewing transplantation legislation as relevant for future autopsy regulation contributed to the decision to stall transplantation legislation, because the interests of the federal government and the medical profession converged to avoid subsequent restrictions on the practice of conducting autopsies and procuring tissues for transplantation. Sublegal norms were insufficient for the prosecution of the organ trade and area-wide transplantation regulation after the reunification of Germany. In contrast to autopsy issues, legislative power for transplantation issues was extended to the federal level by an amendment to the constitution, allowing decision making for Germany as a whole.

Best practices for preparing vessel internals segmentation projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boucau, Joseph; Segerud, Per; Sanchez, Moises

2016-01-01

Westinghouse has been involved in reactor internals segmentation activities in the U.S. and Europe for 30 years. Westinghouse completed in 2015 the segmentation of the reactor vessel and reactor vessel internals at the Jose Cabrera nuclear power plant in Spain and a similar project is on-going at Chooz A in France. For all reactor dismantling projects, it is essential that all activities are thoroughly planned and discussed up-front together with the customer. Detailed planning is crucial for achieving a successful project. One key activity in the preparation phase is the 'Segmentation and Packaging Plan' that documents the sequential steps required to segment, separate, and package each individual component, based on an activation analysis and component characterization study. Detailed procedures and specialized rigging equipment have to be developed to provide safeguards for preventing certain identified risks. The preparatory work can include some plant civil structure modifications for making the segmentation work easier and safer. Some original plant equipment is sometimes not suitable enough and need to be replaced. Before going to the site, testing and qualification are performed on full scale mock-ups in a specially designed pool for segmentation purposes. The mockup testing is an important step in order to verify the function of the equipment and minimize risk on site. This paper is describing the typical activities needed for preparing the reactor internals segmentation activities using under water mechanical cutting techniques. It provides experiences and lessons learned that Westinghouse has collected from its recent projects and that will be applied for the new awarded projects. (authors)

Legislative processes in transition : comparative study of the legislative processes in Finland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom as a source of inspiration for enhancing the efficiency of the Dutch legislative process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voermans, W.; Napel, H.-M. ten; Diamant, M.; Groothuis, M.; Steunenberg, B.; Passchier, R.; Pack, S.

2012-01-01

The main research question of the current study is when whether the efficiency of the Dutch legislative procedure for parliamentary acts indeed constitutes a problem, in particular if compared to the achievements of legislative processes in several other European countries and, if that turns out to

New protein sources and food legislation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Belluco, Simone; Halloran, Afton Marina Szasz; Ricci, Antonia

2017-01-01

Growing global food demand has generated a greater interest in the consumption of new and diversified protein sources. Novel foodstuffs represent a challenge for food law as they need proper safety assessments before obtaining market permission. The case of edible insects and European law is a good...... representation of this issue because a selection of food grade insect species may be available on the European market in the coming years. However, European legislation does not explicitly address edible insects. Consequently, this has left a grey area, allowing different interpretations of the legislation among....... Particular attention will be paid to the evolution of legislation and to the experiences of both EU and non-EU countries. In recent years, a number of different stakeholders have supported the legalization of edible insect consumption in Europe, but market permission is just the first step towards a new...

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW. CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BETWEEN THE STATUS OF NEGATIVE LEGISLATOR AND THE STATUS OF POSITIVE CO-LEGISLATOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marieta Safta

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The study wants to emphasize that Constitutional Courts belonging to the European model depart from their traditional role as ”negative legislator” – which refers to the effect of their acts consisting in removal from the legal system of those rules contrary to the Basic Law -, becoming, to a certain extent, a ”positive legislator”. Official interpreters of the Constitution, Constitutional Courts assume, sometimes, a role of co-legislators, creating provisions they deduct from the Constitution - when controlling the absence of legislation or legislative omissions -, and revealing the content of constitutional and even infraconstitutional rules accordingly with the Constitution in their case-law, whose effects are nothing but specific forms of „impulse” or „coercion” of the legislator to proceed in a certain sense, and whose continuous development guides the evolution of the entire legal system. Case – law selected presents ways in which the Constitutional Court of Romania is associated to law-making activity. Without minimizing in any way its traditional role as "negative legislator", the study refers mainly to acts and situations that give expression to the creative role of the Constitutional Court of Romania.

Segmentation and packaging reactor vessels internals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boucau, Joseph

2014-01-01

Document available in abstract form only, full text follows: With more than 25 years of experience in the development of reactor vessel internals and reactor vessel segmentation and packaging technology, Westinghouse has accumulated significant know-how in the reactor dismantling market. The primary challenges of a segmentation and packaging project are to separate the highly activated materials from the less-activated materials and package them into appropriate containers for disposal. Since disposal cost is a key factor, it is important to plan and optimize waste segmentation and packaging. The choice of the optimum cutting technology is also important for a successful project implementation and depends on some specific constraints. Detailed 3-D modeling is the basis for tooling design and provides invaluable support in determining the optimum strategy for component cutting and disposal in waste containers, taking account of the radiological and packaging constraints. The usual method is to start at the end of the process, by evaluating handling of the containers, the waste disposal requirements, what type and size of containers are available for the different disposal options, and working backwards to select a cutting method and finally the cut geometry required. The 3-D models can include intelligent data such as weight, center of gravity, curie content, etc, for each segmented piece, which is very useful when comparing various cutting, handling and packaging options. The detailed 3-D analyses and thorough characterization assessment can draw the attention to material potentially subject to clearance, either directly or after certain period of decay, to allow recycling and further disposal cost reduction. Westinghouse has developed a variety of special cutting and handling tools, support fixtures, service bridges, water filtration systems, video-monitoring systems and customized rigging, all of which are required for a successful reactor vessel internals

Bayes Clustering and Structural Support Vector Machines for Segmentation of Carotid Artery Plaques in Multicontrast MRI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiu Guan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate segmentation of carotid artery plaque in MR images is not only a key part but also an essential step for in vivo plaque analysis. Due to the indistinct MR images, it is very difficult to implement the automatic segmentation. Two kinds of classification models, that is, Bayes clustering and SSVM, are introduced in this paper to segment the internal lumen wall of carotid artery. The comparative experimental results show the segmentation performance of SSVM is better than Bayes.

Legislations combating counterfeit drugs in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, C W; Chan, W K

2013-08-01

To understand legislation combating counterfeit drugs in Hong Kong. This study consisted of two parts. In part I, counterfeit drugs–related ordinances and court cases were reviewed. In part II, indepth interviews of the stakeholders were described. Hong Kong. All Hong Kong ordinances were screened manually to identify those combating counterfeit drugs. Court cases were searched for each of the identified cases. Then, the relevant judgement justifications were analysed to identify sentencing issues. Indepth interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to understand their perceptions about such legislation. Trade Marks Ordinance, Patents Ordinance, Trade Descriptions Ordinance, and Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance were current legislative items combating counterfeit drugs. Sentencing criteria depended on: intention to deceive, quantity of seized drugs, presence of expected therapeutic effect or toxic ingredients, previous criminal records, cooperativeness with Customs officers, honest confessions, pleas of guilty, types of drugs, and precautionary measures to prevent sale of counterfeit drugs. Stakeholders’ perceptions were explored with respect to legislation regarding the scale and significance of the counterfeit drug problem, penalties and deterrents, drug-specific legislation and authority, and inspections and enforcement. To plug the loopholes, a specific law with heavy penalties should be adopted. This could be supplemented by non-legal measures like education of judges, lawyers, and the public; publishing the names of offending pharmacies; and emphasising the role of pharmacists to the public.

Chronic Absenteeism: A Key Indicator of Student Success. Policy Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rafa, Alyssa

2017-01-01

Research shows that chronic absenteeism can affect academic performance in later grades and is a key early warning sign that a student is more likely to drop out of high school. Several states enacted legislation to address this issue, and many states are currently discussing the utility of chronic absenteeism as an indicator of school quality or…

3D Building Models Segmentation Based on K-Means++ Cluster Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C.; Mao, B.

2016-10-01

3D mesh model segmentation is drawing increasing attentions from digital geometry processing field in recent years. The original 3D mesh model need to be divided into separate meaningful parts or surface patches based on certain standards to support reconstruction, compressing, texture mapping, model retrieval and etc. Therefore, segmentation is a key problem for 3D mesh model segmentation. In this paper, we propose a method to segment Collada (a type of mesh model) 3D building models into meaningful parts using cluster analysis. Common clustering methods segment 3D mesh models by K-means, whose performance heavily depends on randomized initial seed points (i.e., centroid) and different randomized centroid can get quite different results. Therefore, we improved the existing method and used K-means++ clustering algorithm to solve this problem. Our experiments show that K-means++ improves both the speed and the accuracy of K-means, and achieve good and meaningful results.

3D BUILDING MODELS SEGMENTATION BASED ON K-MEANS++ CLUSTER ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Zhang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available 3D mesh model segmentation is drawing increasing attentions from digital geometry processing field in recent years. The original 3D mesh model need to be divided into separate meaningful parts or surface patches based on certain standards to support reconstruction, compressing, texture mapping, model retrieval and etc. Therefore, segmentation is a key problem for 3D mesh model segmentation. In this paper, we propose a method to segment Collada (a type of mesh model 3D building models into meaningful parts using cluster analysis. Common clustering methods segment 3D mesh models by K-means, whose performance heavily depends on randomized initial seed points (i.e., centroid and different randomized centroid can get quite different results. Therefore, we improved the existing method and used K-means++ clustering algorithm to solve this problem. Our experiments show that K-means++ improves both the speed and the accuracy of K-means, and achieve good and meaningful results.

Transportation of radioactive materials: legislative and regulatory information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fore, C.S.; Heiskell, M.M.

1980-01-01

The transportation of radioactive materials, as well as hazardous materials in general, has been an issue of ever-increasing concern and an object of numerous regulations and legislative actions worldwide. The Transportation Technology Center of the US Department of Energy's Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is currently involved in developing a national program to assure the safe shipment of radioactive materials. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee, this overall effort is being supported in a specialized manner. As part of the Logistics Modeling program at ORNL, the Ecological Sciences Information Center has developed comprehensive data bases containing legislative and regulatory actions relevant to the transportation of hazardous materials. The data bases are separated according to status level of the legislation. The Current Legislation Data Base includes all new legislative actions introduced during the present year (1980) or those bills carried over from the previous year's sessions. The second data file, Historical Legislation Data Base, consists of all legislative actions since 1976 that have passed and become public laws, as well as those actions that were unsuccessful and were classified as denied by law. Currently the data bases include state-, local-, and federal, level legislation, with emphasis on the transportation of radioactive materials. Because of their relevance to the transportation issues, actions involving related subject areas such as, disposal and storage of radioactive wastes, moratoriums on power plant construction, and remedial actions studies, special agencies to regulate shipment of radioactive materials, and requirements of advanced notification, permits and escorts are also included in the data bases

Access to Legislation in Europe: Overview and Future Trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martynas Mockus

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The article analyses problems facing electronic legislation development (especially legislation processes of publishing acts in EU and EFTA member countries. All European countries were publishing acts officially on paper until the end of year 2000. The way of publishing acts officially was the same in all Europe countries, except that some counties had one “official journal” in which legal acts and other official documents and legal notices were published, and other countries had separate legal gazettes for acts publishing and an official gazette for publishing other official documents and legal notices. At the beginning of 2001 Norway started to publish acts officially in digital form, and only 12-20 times a year paper editions to present the statutes and regulations enacted since the publication of the previous issue are published. In 2002 Estonia decided to finish the publishing of paper editions, and started to publish acts only electronically. Till 2011 more than 10 European countries started to publish acts officially in digital format. Author discusses the advantages, principles, and legitimate expectation of electronic legislation. For future electronic legislation information systems developments the following principles should be a guide: broad/universal and equal access to legislation, reliability of the means of publicity, integrity of information, easy access to the requisite information. The advantages of digital act forms, and internet based publications are instantaneous outreach to the public, free of charge, information easily accessible and retrievable, voluminous technical acts easier to handle, no printing costs, more environmentally-friendly, more and more people use ICT to seek information, no time constraints to the availability of data, legal certainty will be granted. The author thinks that before creating future digital legislation information systems, some procedures shall be done. If we want to have pan

Access to Legislation in Europe: Overview and Future Trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martynas Mockus

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyses problems facing electronic legislation development (especially legislation processes of publishing acts in EU and EFTA member countries.All European countries were publishing acts officially on paper until the end of year 2000. The way of publishing acts officially was the same in all Europe countries, except that some counties had one “official journal” in which legal acts and other official documents and legal notices were published, and other countries had separate legal gazettes for acts publishing and an official gazette for publishing other official documents and legal notices.At the beginning of 2001 Norway started to publish acts officially in digital form, and only 12-20 times a year paper editions to present the statutes and regulations enacted since the publication of the previous issue are published. In 2002 Estonia decided to finish the publishing of paper editions, and started to publish acts only electronically. Till 2011 more than 10 European countries started to publish acts officially in digital format.Author discusses the advantages, principles, and legitimate expectation of electronic legislation. For future electronic legislation information systems developments the following principles should be a guide: broad/universal and equal access to legislation, reliability of the means of publicity, integrity of information, easy access to the requisite information. The advantages of digital act forms, and internet based publications are instantaneous outreach to the public, free of charge, information easily accessible and retrievable, voluminous technical acts easier to handle, no printing costs, more environmentally-friendly, more and more people use ICT to seek information, no time constraints to the availability of data, legal certainty will be granted.The author thinks that before creating future digital legislation information systems, some procedures shall be done. If we want to have pan

Brazilian nuclear legislation. Revision n.1/2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matos, Gilberto Cardoso de

2002-01-01

This work intends to facilitate the access to the Brazilian nuclear legislation and other legal instruments, foreseeing the use of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation in health, work and environment areas up to 2002. Legislation on the civil liability of nuclear damage, the law of licensing taxes, controlling and inspection are also included

Examination of Market Segmentation among Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooke, Alexis; Freisthler, Bridget; Mulholland, Elycia

2018-01-05

As medical marijuana legislation becomes more common, concerns arise about the overconcentration of dispensaries, raising questions about the number of medicinal marijuana dispensaries (MMD) needed to serve medicinal users. This paper applies niche-marketing theory-which suggests dispensaries market to specific types of people-to examine if MMDs might be targeting recreational users. Observed differences between dispensary populations and between dispensary clients and local residents may indicate that dispensaries are drawing in patients based on factors other than medical need. Data were collected via exit surveys with patients at four dispensaries in Long Beach, CA. A total of 132 patients were surveyed regarding demographic data, purchase information, medical condition, and nearest cross street for their home address. Census tract information was collected for every dispensary. Chi-squared tests show significant associations between dispensary visited and race (χ 2 = 31.219, p market segmentation.

[The public health legislation in conditions of globalization].

Science.gov (United States)

Yefremov, D V; Jyliyaeva, E P

2013-01-01

The article demonstrates the impact of globalization on development of public health legislation at the international level and in particular countries. The legislation is considered as a tool to decrease the globalization health risks for population

Nuclear Liability Legislation in Slovenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skraban, A.

1998-01-01

This paper reviews Slovenian national legislation in the field of third party liability for nuclear damage, applicability of the international nuclear liability treaties in Slovenia legal system and outlines some main provisions of national legislation. It is worth mentioning that legal instruments covering third party liability and compulsory insurance of such liability exist in Slovenia for almost 20 years and that our nuclear facilities are covered by relevant international treaties and conventions in this field, among them also by the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (from 1977) and the Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention (from 1994). (author)

THE INFLUENCES OF CHANGES IN TAX LEGISLATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MORAR IOAN DAN

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Taxation is a fairly important field in the relationship between taxpayers and tax authorities, especially given the frequent changes in specific legislation. Legislative changes affect the patrimonial position of the taxpayers, but also their behavior, therefore this phenomenon is important to advise those interested and also to analyze the changes resulting from changes in tax legislation. This paper aims to meaningfully present the latest legislative changes and to analyze their influences on taxpayers and on budget revenues from taxes subject to change. The research methodology is based on comparison and inference, based on previous analyzes for such studies on the tax system. In the literature there are known ways and methods of increasing the tax burden and, based on these variables, in the present paper we will highlight the particular influences on the taxpayer’s , loaded by weight imposed by the official distribution of the tax burden. The implications of legislative changes in tax matters should be sought in the innermost chord of taxpayers and also in the increasingly large and patched pockets of the modern state. In the first place, we will point out the implications on changing tax procedures, in terms of the workload for the taxpayer and the tax collectors. By accurately and relevantly analyzing the influences generated by such changes, the author aims to demonstrate the harmful influences of some changes in terms of discouraging investments and honest labor.

Legislative impacts on Savannah River waste management operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, J.D.

1987-01-01

Today everyone has to be prepared to meet the challenges presented by new legislative actions. The Savannah River Plant is also impacted by this legislation as the exclusive nature of the Atomic Energy Act slowly erodes. This paper discusses the management of three types of radioactive waste from the production of defense nuclear materials and the impacts of major environmental legislation on the handling of these wastes. The paper briefly discusses the major environmental statutes, covers the statutes impact on the technical processes and, finally, considers the nontechnical impact of the statutes

Procedural key steps in laparoscopic colorectal surgery, consensus through Delphi methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, Frederieke A; Bosker, Robbert J I; Veeger, Nicolaas J G M; van Det, Marc J; Pierie, Jean Pierre E N

2015-09-01

While several procedural training curricula in laparoscopic colorectal surgery have been validated and published, none have focused on dividing surgical procedures into well-identified segments, which can be trained and assessed separately. This enables the surgeon and resident to focus on a specific segment, or combination of segments, of a procedure. Furthermore, it will provide a consistent and uniform method of training for residents rotating through different teaching hospitals. The goal of this study was to determine consensus on the key steps of laparoscopic right hemicolectomy and laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy among experts in our University Medical Center and affiliated hospitals. This will form the basis for the INVEST video-assisted side-by-side training curriculum. The Delphi method was used for determining consensus on key steps of both procedures. A list of 31 steps for laparoscopic right hemicolectomy and 37 steps for laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy was compiled from textbooks and national and international guidelines. In an online questionnaire, 22 experts in 12 hospitals within our teaching region were invited to rate all steps on a Likert scale on importance for the procedure. Consensus was reached in two rounds. Sixteen experts agreed to participate. Of these 16 experts, 14 (88%) completed the questionnaire for both procedures. Of the 14 who completed the first round, 13 (93%) completed the second round. Cronbach's alpha was 0.79 for the right hemicolectomy and 0.91 for the sigmoid colectomy, showing high internal consistency between the experts. For the right hemicolectomy, 25 key steps were established; for the sigmoid colectomy, 24 key steps were established. Expert consensus on the key steps for laparoscopic right hemicolectomy and laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy was reached. These key steps will form the basis for a video-assisted teaching curriculum.

Automatic comic page image understanding based on edge segment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dong; Wang, Yongtao; Tang, Zhi; Li, Luyuan; Gao, Liangcai

2013-12-01

Comic page image understanding aims to analyse the layout of the comic page images by detecting the storyboards and identifying the reading order automatically. It is the key technique to produce the digital comic documents suitable for reading on mobile devices. In this paper, we propose a novel comic page image understanding method based on edge segment analysis. First, we propose an efficient edge point chaining method to extract Canny edge segments (i.e., contiguous chains of Canny edge points) from the input comic page image; second, we propose a top-down scheme to detect line segments within each obtained edge segment; third, we develop a novel method to detect the storyboards by selecting the border lines and further identify the reading order of these storyboards. The proposed method is performed on a data set consisting of 2000 comic page images from ten printed comic series. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves satisfactory results on different comics and outperforms the existing methods.

Selecting salient frames for spatiotemporal video modeling and segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Xiaomu; Fan, Guoliang

2007-12-01

We propose a new statistical generative model for spatiotemporal video segmentation. The objective is to partition a video sequence into homogeneous segments that can be used as "building blocks" for semantic video segmentation. The baseline framework is a Gaussian mixture model (GMM)-based video modeling approach that involves a six-dimensional spatiotemporal feature space. Specifically, we introduce the concept of frame saliency to quantify the relevancy of a video frame to the GMM-based spatiotemporal video modeling. This helps us use a small set of salient frames to facilitate the model training by reducing data redundancy and irrelevance. A modified expectation maximization algorithm is developed for simultaneous GMM training and frame saliency estimation, and the frames with the highest saliency values are extracted to refine the GMM estimation for video segmentation. Moreover, it is interesting to find that frame saliency can imply some object behaviors. This makes the proposed method also applicable to other frame-related video analysis tasks, such as key-frame extraction, video skimming, etc. Experiments on real videos demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.

Legislation framework for Croatian renewable energy sources development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raguzin Igor

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The energy sector reform in the Republic of Croatia (started 2001, which comprises restructuring, liberalization, privatization, and changes in the overall energy sector, has a significant effect on the possibilities of introducing and increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES. The adoption of a new legislative framework within the context of reforming Croatia’s energy sector is of key importance for further development and for the future or RES utilization. The Electricity Market Act sets out the le- gal obligation to purchase electricity produced from RES in the manner that a quota or a minimum obligatory share of RES in electricity production is determined by a Government ordinance combined with Tariff system for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources and co-generation. Consequently, on the one hand, incentive funds needed to cover increased costs of production from RES will be collected from customers through the supplier and distributed to privileged producers (feed-in-tariffs, purchase is guaranteed to RES producers on known terms through the Market Opera- tor. On the other hand, RES investment projects will be encouraged by pur- pose-specific government subsidy and by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (out of public budget. By applying new energy legislation and associated by-laws (coming into force in 2007, RES projects in Croatia will be provided with a complete and stable legal framework as well as support through incentive measures which will equitably value environmental, social and other benefits of RES use.

[History of psychiatric legislation in Italy].

Science.gov (United States)

Stocco, Ester; Dario, Claudia; Piazzi, Gioia; Fiori Nastro, Paolo

2009-01-01

The different models of mental illness which have followed one another in Italian psychiatry have been linked to the history of psychiatric legislation and its various attempts at reform. The first law of the newly United State which unified legislations and former procedures, whose prevalent psychiatric theories were those that referred to degeneration, was the law 36/1904 that set up the asylums. Accordingly psychiatric praxis was focused on social protection and custody, given that the mentally ill was seen as incurable; Fascism added the inmate's obligation to be enrolled in the judicial register. Afterwards numerous attempts to reform the psychiatric legislation were made that eventually gave rise to law 431/1968 which paved the way to territorial psychiatry. Law 180/1978 changed the organization of Italian psychiatry abolishing asylums and the concept of dangerousness, including psychiatry in the National Health Service but adopting an idea of mental illness as simply social unease.

Domestic hygienic legislation concerning population radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marej, A.N.

1984-01-01

Problems and principles of domestic sanitary legislation, concerning population radiation protection, are considered. The legislation envisages preventive measures, directed to contamination preventation of the main environmental objects, it regulates their content in the objects, their human intake and ionizing radiation doses, which might affect population. Existing domestic hygienic guides and safety standards for personnel and population are enumerated and characterized

Firearm Legislation and Fatal Police Shootings in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Kivisto, Aaron J; Ray, Bradley; Phalen, Peter L

2017-07-01

To examine whether stricter firearm legislation is associated with rates of fatal police shootings. We used a cross-sectional, state-level design to evaluate the effect of state-level firearm legislation on rates of fatal police shootings from January 1, 2015, through October 31, 2016. We measured state-level variation in firearm laws with legislative scorecards from the Brady Center, and for fatal police shootings we used The Counted, an online database maintained by The Guardian. State-level firearm legislation was significantly associated with lower rates of fatal police shootings (incidence rate ratio = 0.961; 95% confidence interval = 0.939, 0.984). When we controlled for sociodemographic factors, states in the top quartile of legislative strength had a 51% lower incidence rate than did states in the lowest quartile. Laws aimed at strengthening background checks, promoting safe storage, and reducing gun trafficking were associated with fewer fatal police shootings. Legislative restrictions on firearms are associated with reductions in fatal police shootings. Public Health Implications. Although further research is necessary to determine causality and potential mechanisms, firearm legislation is a potential policy solution for reducing fatal police shootings in the United States.

Double segmental tibial fractures - an unusual fracture pattern

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bali Kamal

2012-02-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】A case of a 50-year-old pedestrian who was hit by a bike and suffered fractures of both bones of his right leg was presented. Complete clinical and radiographic assessment showed double segmental fractures of the tibia and multisegmental fractures of the fibula. Review of the literature revealed that this fracture pattern was unique and only a single case was reported so far. Moreover, we discussed the possible mechanisms which can lead to such an injury. We also discussed the management of segmental tibial fracture and the difficulties encountered with them. This case was managed by modern osteosynthesis tech- nique with a pleasing outcome. Key words: Fracture, bone; Tibia; Fibula; Nails

Hygienic quality of raw milk with regard to legislation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slavko Kirin

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Hygienic quality of raw milk is basic indicator of hygienic conditionduring processing and handling of milk as well as economical valorisation of animal product as a raw material in dairy products manufacture. Thus, total bacterial count in 1 mL of raw milk is used in modern legislation in milk pricing system. Apart from the economical and technological reasons hygienic quality of raw milk is also important from the health safety issue. In this paper microbiological quality legislation, set down by the EU and Croatian directives, are presented. Apart form the total microorganisms number the normative on the somatic cell number in row milk, as one of the quality indicators, are also presented. Pricing system of raw milk with regard to hygienic quality, current legislation especially from the point of view of a new legislation on row milk quality as well as suggestions to faster association into progressive dairy, legislation are listed.

The Deployment of Product-Related Environmental Legislation into Product Requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela C. A. Pigosso

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Environmental legislation is increasingly changing its focus from manufacturing-oriented to product-oriented instruments. Compliance with product-related environmental legislation is achieved by the incorporation of environmental requirements into the early phases of the product development process (PDP. Nevertheless, the deployment of product-related environmental legislation into product requirements is still a challenge. This study followed an inductive approach to propose a guideline to support the identification, analysis and deployment of product requirements based on product-related environmental legislation. The guideline is composed of nine steps, clustered into three groups according to their main objective: (A identification of environmental product-related legislation; (B identification of legislative topics to be considered for the deployment of requirements; and (C creation and validation of product requirements. The product requirements deployed are to be considered during the PDP. The guideline was evaluated in an expert consultation in a large manufacturing company, suggesting that it can be used to support the systematization and deployment of product-related environmental requirements.

TENORM legislation - Theory and practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsurikov, N.; Koperski, J.

2002-01-01

Processing of minerals often increases concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in mineral concentrates, products and waste streams. This so-called TENORM (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) phenomenon can result in usually very small increases of radiation exposures to workers and the public. However, proposed international radiation protection standards are likely to bring the TENORM issue into the realm of regulatory concern. Verbatim adoption by the national legislation's of the radiation protection standards like those proposed in the IAEA's 1996 Basic Safety Standards (BSS) would present enormous practical problems. Many industries and industrial practices would, for the first time, become subjected to the provisions of radiation protection legislation. Consequently, registration, licensing, occupational and environmental monitoring, statutory reporting, appointment of appropriately qualified staff, new approaches to the management of minerals and waste labeled as 'radioactive', etc. would be required. This would be mirrored by corresponding demands on the regulatory authorities, needing to provide an increased radiation protection regulatory control. In response to new Australian and other national radiation protection legislation that have incorporated the BSS criteria, this paper illustrates their impact on a number of industries that historically have not been considered as dealing with radioactive materials. The paper also proposes a number of initiatives that could be considered. Nationally, those initiatives should aim at adopting radiation protection legislation that is commensurate with the nature of the minerals industry operations, national circumstances, conditions and interests without compromising rational radiation protection practices. Otherwise, non-judicious application of the BSS would result in major diversions of resources from well recognized occupational health and safety issues

Segmenting patients and physicians using preferences from discrete choice experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Deal, Ken

2014-01-01

students. Those segments were very different-where one wanted substantial penalties against cyberbullies and were willing to devote time to a prevention program, while the other felt no need to be involved in prevention and wanted only minor penalties. Segmentation recognizes key differences in why patients and physicians prefer different health programs and treatments. A viable segmentation solution may lead to adapting prevention programs and treatments for each targeted segment and/or to educating and communicating to better inform those in each segment of the program/treatment benefits. Segment members' revealed preferences showing behavioral changes provide the ultimate basis for evaluating the segmentation benefits to the health organization.

Clinical implications of ST segment time-course recovery patterns ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Arun Kumar Agnihotri

Journal home page: http://www.akspublication.com/ijmu. Original Work. 3. Copyrighted © by Dr. ... KEY WORDS: Exercise stress test; ST segment time course patterns. INTRODUCTIONᴪ .... using simple descriptive statistics (mean ± SD) and contingency .... two patients who had the recovery time of less than. 3 minutes, had ...

Predictive market segmentation model: An application of logistic regression model and CHAID procedure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soldić-Aleksić Jasna

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Market segmentation presents one of the key concepts of the modern marketing. The main goal of market segmentation is focused on creating groups (segments of customers that have similar characteristics, needs, wishes and/or similar behavior regarding the purchase of concrete product/service. Companies can create specific marketing plan for each of these segments and therefore gain short or long term competitive advantage on the market. Depending on the concrete marketing goal, different segmentation schemes and techniques may be applied. This paper presents a predictive market segmentation model based on the application of logistic regression model and CHAID analysis. The logistic regression model was used for the purpose of variables selection (from the initial pool of eleven variables which are statistically significant for explaining the dependent variable. Selected variables were afterwards included in the CHAID procedure that generated the predictive market segmentation model. The model results are presented on the concrete empirical example in the following form: summary model results, CHAID tree, Gain chart, Index chart, risk and classification tables.

A Novel Approach of Cardiac Segmentation In CT Image Based On Spline Interpolation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Yuan; Ma Pengcheng

2011-01-01

Organ segmentation in CT images is the basis of organ model reconstruction, thus precisely detecting and extracting the organ boundary are keys for reconstruction. In CT image the cardiac are often adjacent to the surrounding tissues and gray gradient between them is too slight, which cause the difficulty of applying classical segmentation method. We proposed a novel algorithm for cardiac segmentation in CT images in this paper, which combines the gray gradient methods and the B-spline interpolation. This algorithm can perfectly detect the boundaries of cardiac, at the same time it could well keep the timeliness because of the automatic processing.

Compliance of the legal treatment of experimental animals in Serbian legislation with the legislation of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidić-Trninić Jelena

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The author focuses on compliance of the legal treatment of experimental animals in Serbian law with the provisions of the European legislation. Analysing, on one hand, the treatment that experimental animals have under the law of European Union, and on the other hand, the treatment that they have in the law of Serbia, in accordance with the relevant acts and subordinate legislation acts, this article seeks to answer the question whether the degree of legal protection of experimental animals in domestic law is satisfactory, as well as whether and to what extent the relevant national legislation complies with the European standards. At the same time, the article attempts to point out the appropriate measures necessary to be taken in the future in order to achieve as high quality and comprehensive protection of experimental animals as possible in Serbian law.

Military legislation: explaining military officers' writing deficiencies

OpenAIRE

Borysov, Andrii

2016-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited In performing jobs related to national security and defense, personnel must comply with rules and decisions communicated in the form of written legislation, which includes directives, memos, instructions, manuals, standard operating procedures, and reports. Incorrect understanding of legislative provisions may lead to disastrous consequences, making clear communication through these documents paramount. The vast majority of military of...

Canadian Firearms Legislation and Effects on Homicide 1974 to 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Langmann, Caillin

2012-01-01

Canada has implemented legislation covering all firearms since 1977 and presents a model to examine incremental firearms control. The effect of legislation on homicide by firearm and the subcategory, spousal homicide, is controversial and has not been well studied to date. Legislative effects on homicide and spousal homicide were analyzed using…

Impact of Scotland's comprehensive, smoke-free legislation on stroke.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel F Mackay

Full Text Available Previous studies have reported a reduction in acute coronary events following smoke-free legislation. Evidence is lacking on whether stroke is also reduced. The aim was to determine whether the incidence of stroke, overall and by sub-type, fell following introduction of smoke-free legislation across Scotland on 26 March 2006.A negative binomial regression model was used to determine whether the introduction of smoke-free legislation resulted in a step and/or slope change in stroke incidence. The model was adjusted for age-group, sex, socioeconomic deprivation quintile, urban/rural residence and month. Interaction tests were also performed. Routine hospital administrative data and death certificates were used to identify all hospital admissions and pre-hospital deaths due to stroke (ICD10 codes I61, I63 and I64 in Scotland between 2000 and 2010 inclusive. Prior to the legislation, rates of all stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage and unspecified stroke were decreasing, whilst cerebral infarction was increasing at 0.97% per annum. Following the legislation, there was a dramatic fall in cerebral infarctions that persisted for around 20 months. No visible effect was observed for other types of stroke. The model confirmed an 8.90% (95% CI 4.85, 12.77, p<0.001 stepwise reduction in cerebral infarction at the time the legislation was implemented, after adjustment for potential confounders.Following introduction of national, comprehensive smoke-free legislation there was a selective reduction in cerebral infarction that was not apparent in other types of stroke.

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT AND LEGISLATION THE UK EXPERIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SIBLEY P. J.

2003-04-01

Full Text Available Underpinning the conservation management of Austropotamobius pallipes in the UK is the process of monitoring and reporting crayfish distribution. Should the current trend in the decline of A. pallipes continue, the species could be virtually extinct in mainland Britain within 30 years (SIBLEY, 2003. Conversely, if the increase in the distribution of non-indigenous crayfish species (NICS continues at its current rate, the distribution (by 10 km squares of these species could double within 15 years. These forward projections are based on a number of possibly unreliable assumptions; they illustrate however the magnitude of the challenge facing those concerned with the conservation of A. pallipes in the UK at this time. Recent work in crayfish conservation management in the UK has yielded guidance in several areas including monitoring, habitat enhancement and a re-introduction protocol for A. pallipes (KEMP and HILEY, 2003. Similarly, scientific research continues to inform our understanding of the movement and behaviour of NICS and explores new methods for the potential management of these species. In addition, the protection afforded to A. pallipes by current legislation is key to the long-term survival prospects of the species, albeit with a probable fragmented distribution, across the British Isles and continental Europe. Legal provisions in the UK derive in part from European instructions (e.g. EC Habitats and Species Directive and also from national legislation (e.g. Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act (1975 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981. Also, a raft of “quasi-legislation” exists which requires responsible organisations in the UK to implement the white-clawed crayfish biodiversity action plan (BAP. Altogether these provisions constitute a considerable volume of legal protection for crayfish and provide the legal framework on which UK management policy and practice are based.

Legal barriers in accessing opioid medicines: results of the ATOME quick scan of national legislation of eastern European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Vranken, Marjolein J M; Mantel-Teeuwisse, Aukje K; Jünger, Saskia; Radbruch, Lukas; Lisman, John; Scholten, Willem; Payne, Sheila; Lynch, Tom; Schutjens, Marie-Hélène D B

2014-12-01

Overregulation of controlled medicines is one of the factors contributing to limited access to opioid medicines. The purpose of this study was to identify legal barriers to access to opioid medicines in 12 Eastern European countries participating in the Access to Opioid Medication in Europa project, using a quick scan method. A quick scan method to identify legal barriers was developed focusing on eight different categories of barriers. Key experts in 12 European countries were requested to send relevant legislation. Legislation was quick scanned using World Health Organization guidelines. Overly restrictive provisions and provisions that contain stigmatizing language and incorrect definitions were identified. The selected provisions were scored into two categories: 1) barrier and 2) uncertain, and reviewed by two authors. A barrier was recorded if both authors agreed the selected provision to be a barrier (Category 1). National legislation was obtained from 11 of 12 countries. All 11 countries showed legal barriers in the areas of prescribing (most frequently observed barrier). Ten countries showed barriers in the areas of dispensing and showed stigmatizing language and incorrect use of definitions in their legislation. Most barriers were identified in the legislation of Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Serbia, and Slovenia. The Cypriot legislation showed the fewest total number of barriers. The selected countries have in common as main barriers prescribing and dispensing restrictions, the use of stigmatizing language, and incorrect use of definitions. The practical impact of these barriers identified using a quick scan method needs to be validated by other means. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

45 CFR 604.200 - Agency and legislative liaison.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Agency and legislative liaison. 604.200 Section 604.200 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING Activities by Own Employees § 604.200 Agency and legislative liaison. (a...

A legislator`s guide to municipal solid waste management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starkey, D; Hill, K

1996-08-01

The purpose of this guide is to allow individual state legislators to gain a better understanding of municipal solid waste (MSW) management issues in general, and examine the applicability of these concerns to their state. This guide incorporates a discussion of MSW management issues and a comprehensive overview of the components of an integrated solid waste management system. Major MSW topics discussed include current management issues affecting states, federal activities, and state laws and local activities. Solid waste characteristics and management approaches are also detailed.

A qualitative case study of the legislative process of the hygienist-therapist bill in a large Midwestern state.

Science.gov (United States)

Dollins, Haley E; Bray, Kimberly Krust; Gadbury-Amyot, Cynthia C

2013-10-01

Inequitable access to dental care contributes to oral health disparities. Midlevel dental provider models are utilized across the globe as a way to bridge the gap between preventive and restorative dental professionals and increase access to dental care. The purpose of this study was threefold: to examine lessons learned from the state legislative process related to creation of the hygienist-therapist in a Midwestern state, to improve understanding of the relationship between alternative oral health delivery models and public policy and to inform the development and passage of future policies aimed at addressing the unmet dental needs of the public. This research investigation utilized a qualitative research methodology to examine the process of legislation relating to an alternative oral health delivery model (hygienist-therapist) through the eyes of key stakeholders. Interview data was analyzed and then triangulated with 3 data sources: interviews with key stakeholders, documents and researcher participant field notes. Data analysis resulted in consensus on 3 emergent themes with accompanying categories. The themes that emerged included social justice, partnerships and coalitions, and the legislative process. This qualitative case study suggests that the creation of a new oral health workforce model was a long and arduous process involving multiple stakeholders and negotiation between the parties involved. The creation of this new workforce model was recognized as a necessary step to increasing access to dental care at the state and national level. The research in this case study may serve to inform advocates of access to oral health care as other states pursue their own workforce models.

Legislative and regulatory strategies to reduce childhood unintentional injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Schieber, R A; Gilchrist, J; Sleet, D A

2000-01-01

Laws and regulations are among the most effective mechanisms for getting large segments of the population to adopt safety behaviors. These have been applied at both the state and federal levels for diverse injury issues. Certain legal actions are taken to prevent the occurrence of an otherwise injury-producing event, while other legal actions are designed to prevent injury once an event has occurred. At the federal level, effective laws and regulations have been directed at dangers posed by unsafe manufactured products or motor vehicle design. At the state level, effective safety laws and regulations have been directed at encouraging safety behaviors and regulating the use of motor vehicles or other forms of transportation. In this article, six legislative efforts are described to point out pros and cons of the legislative approach to promoting safety. Three such efforts are aimed at preventing injury-producing events from occurring: mandating child-resistant packaging for prescription drugs and other hazardous substances, regulating tap water temperature by presetting a safe hot-water heater temperature at the factory, and graduated licensing. Three other examples illustrate the value and complexities of laws designed to prevent injuries once an injury-producing event does occur: mandatory bicycle helmet use, sleep-wear standards, and child safety seat use. This article concludes with specific recommendations, which include assessing the value of laws and regulations, preventing the rescission of laws and regulations known to work, refining existing laws to eliminate gaps in coverage, developing regulations to adapt to changing technology, exploring new legal means to encourage safe behavior, and increasing funding for basic and applied research and community programs. Further reductions in childhood injury rates will require that leaders working in the field of injury prevention together provide the creativity to devise new safety devices and programs, incentives

Legislation, standards and methods for mercury emissions control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-04-15

Mercury is an element of growing global concern. The United Nations Environment Programme plans to finalise and ratify a new global legally-binding convention on mercury by 2013. Canada already has legislation on mercury emissions from coal-fired utilities and the USA has recently released the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard. Although other countries may not have mercury-specific legislation as such, many have legislation which results in significant co-benefit mercury reduction due to the installation of effective flue-gas cleaning technologies. This report reviews the current situation and trends in mercury emission legislation and, where possible, discusses the actions that will be taken under proposed or impending standards globally and regionally. The report also reviews the methods currently applied for mercury control and for mercury emission measurement with emphasis on the methodologies most appropriate for compliance. Examples of the methods of mercury control currently deployed in the USA, Canada and elsewhere are included.

45 CFR 1230.200 - Agency and legislative liaison.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Agency and legislative liaison. 1230.200 Section 1230.200 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING Activities by Own Employees § 1230.200 Agency and legislative...

Consumer segmentation based on the level of environmental responsibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marija Ham

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Doubtless, there is an environmentally responsible segment of consumers in the market. However, with an increasing number of suppliers entering the green market, it is no longer sufficient to be aware of this fact. What is needed now are complex strategies of segmentation, targeting and positioning. The aim of this paper was to provide a theoretical framework for understanding the key concepts related to the green consumer segment and to help create a clearer picture of Croatia’s green consumers by gathering secondary data from the available literature, previous research and primary data from own research. Primary research was conducted by means of a structured questionnaire on a sample of 552 respondents. The questionnaire was divided into three parts, each measuring, respectively, attitudes, knowledge and activities undertaken. After the segmentation (three segments: green, neutral and brown consumers, a chi-square test was used in an attempt to prove statistically significant differences when comparing the given segment structure with the respondents’ demographic characteristics. The results of this research describe the average green consumer in the Republic of Croatia as a person who is 55 and older, with higher or university education, who is married, who responds to the advertising claims about eco-friendliness of products and is influenced by those claims, who occasionally or frequently makes purchasing decisions and shows readiness to pay a 20 percent mark-up for an environmentally friendly product.

Safety, risk and mental health: decision-making processes prescribed by Australian mental health legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith-Merry, Jennifer; Caple, Andrew

2014-03-01

Adverse events in mental health care occur frequently and cause significant distress for those who experience them, derailing treatment and sometimes leading to death. These events are clustered around particular aspects of care and treatment and are therefore avoidable if practices in these areas are strengthened. The research reported in this article takes as its starting point coronial recommendations made in relation to mental health. We report on those points and processes in treatment and discharge where coronial recommendations are most frequently made. We then examine the legislative requirements around these points and processes in three Australian States. We find that the key areas that need to be strengthened to avoid adverse events are assessment processes, communication and information transfer, documentation, planning and training. We make recommendations for improvements in these key areas.

Legislation and patients' rights: some necessary remarks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mujovic-Zornic, Hajrija

2007-12-01

The essence of a patient's rights and legislation framework requires an answer to the question on how legislation can work towards better defining, respecting, protecting and effectiveness of these rights. First, it is necessary to give a short introduction to patients' rights, their definition and different classifications. In the long list of human rights, patients' rights obviously take one of the very important places. Human life and health are the values, which, in comparison with all other human values, are considered as values of the highest rank. Patients' rights represent a legal expression of something, which every person basically and naturally expects from a doctor, medical staff, and from a health care system in general. The subject of the second part of this paper presents the intention, scope and conception of necessary legislation. How should it be considered - in a wider sense or as a special law? Some theoretical and practical questions regarding interaction between medical ethics regulation, confidentiality, and legislation are discussed as well. In the European context there are numerous examples of laws with the specific purpose of protecting patients' rights. Special attention and critical review will be paid to the situation of patients' rights in Serbia. The paper concludes with the point that the role of legislation is evidently important, but the traditional view should be replaced with a new one, due to the reason that modem health law puts the protection of patients' rights on a higher level. De lege lata, the whole system of health law in its diversity (civil, penal and administrative) is characterized by better understanding of rights, duties and legal relations, either through regulation or the protection of patients' rights.

Brookhaven segment interconnect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morse, W.M.; Benenson, G.; Leipuner, L.B.

1983-01-01

We have performed a high energy physics experiment using a multisegment Brookhaven FASTBUS system. The system was composed of three crate segments and two cable segments. We discuss the segment interconnect module which permits communication between the various segments

Formation Features of the Customer Segments for the Network Organizations in the Smart Era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena V. Yaroshenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Modern network society is based on the advances of information era of Smart, connecting information and communication technologies, intellectual resources and new forms of managing in the global electronic space. It leads to domination of network forms of the organization of economic activity. Many experts prove the importance of segmentation process of consumers when developing competitive strategy of the organization. Every company needs a competent segmentation of the customer base, allowing to concentrate the attention on satisfaction of requirements of the most perspective client segments. The network organizations have specific characteristics; therefore, it is important to understand how they can influence on the formation of client profiles. It causes the necessity of the network organizations’ research in terms of management of high-profitable client segments.The aim of this study is to determine the characteristics of the market segmentation and to choose the key customers for the network organizations. This purpose has defined the statement and the solution of the following tasks: to explore characteristic features of the network forms of the organization of economic activity of the companies, their prospects, Smart technologies’ influence on them; to reveal the work importance with different client profiles; to explore the existing methods and tools of formation of key customer segments; to define criteria for selection of key groups; to reveal the characteristics of customer segments’ formation for the network organizations.In the research process, methods of the system analysis, a method of analogies, methods of generalizations, a method of the expert evaluations, methods of classification and clustering were applied.This paper explores the characteristics and principles of functioning of network organizations, the appearance of which is directly linked with the development of Smart society. It shows the influence on the

ExpertiSZe, a tool for determining the effects of social security legislation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Svensson, Jorgen S.; Kordelaar, P.J.M.; Kordelaar, P.J.M.; Wassink, J.G.J.; van 't Eind, G.J.; Grütters, C.A.F.M.

1992-01-01

Social security legislation plays an important role in the Dutch society. In view of this, the effects of social security legislation have to be analysed carefully before new legislation can be made. Due to the growing complexity of legislation on the social security domain, this analysis has become

75 FR 17854 - Travel Expenses of State Legislators

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-08

... residence within the taxpayer's legislative district as the taxpayer's tax home. In addition, as a result of... section 162(h), a matter of Federal law. See Morgan v. Commissioner, 309 U.S. 78, 81 (1940) (``If it is... place of residence within the legislative district represented by the taxpayer is the taxpayer's home...

12 CFR 411.200 - Agency and legislative liaison.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Agency and legislative liaison. 411.200 Section 411.200 Banks and Banking EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING Activities by Own Employees § 411.200 Agency and legislative liaison. (a) The prohibition on the use of...

Active Segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Ajay; Aloimonos, Yiannis

2009-01-01

The human visual system observes and understands a scene/image by making a series of fixations. Every fixation point lies inside a particular region of arbitrary shape and size in the scene which can either be an object or just a part of it. We define as a basic segmentation problem the task of segmenting that region containing the fixation point. Segmenting the region containing the fixation is equivalent to finding the enclosing contour- a connected set of boundary edge fragments in the edge map of the scene - around the fixation. This enclosing contour should be a depth boundary.We present here a novel algorithm that finds this bounding contour and achieves the segmentation of one object, given the fixation. The proposed segmentation framework combines monocular cues (color/intensity/texture) with stereo and/or motion, in a cue independent manner. The semantic robots of the immediate future will be able to use this algorithm to automatically find objects in any environment. The capability of automatically segmenting objects in their visual field can bring the visual processing to the next level. Our approach is different from current approaches. While existing work attempts to segment the whole scene at once into many areas, we segment only one image region, specifically the one containing the fixation point. Experiments with real imagery collected by our active robot and from the known databases 1 demonstrate the promise of the approach.

Legislation on treating animals in human care

OpenAIRE

Konečná, Petra

2016-01-01

1 Abstract This Master's thesis entitled Legislation on treating animals in human care compares Czech and Australian legislation in selected aspects of three categories of animals in human care - farm animals, companion animals and animals used for scientific and other research purposes. The thesis is composed of 5 main chapters. The first chapter describes sources of law regarding treating animals in human care from the perspectives of international law, European Union law, federal Czech law...

The road to smoke-free legislation in Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Laura M; Clancy, Luke

2011-01-01

To describe the process through which Ireland changed its policies towards smoking in work-places and distil lessons for others implementing or extending smoke-free laws. This analysis is informed by a review of secondary sources including a commissioned media analysis, documentary analysis and key informant interviews with policy actors who provide insight into the process of smoke-free policy development. The policy analysis techniques used include the development of a time-line for policy reform, stakeholder analysis, policy mapping techniques, impact analysis through use of secondary data and a review process. The policy analysis triangle, which highlights the importance of examining policy content, context, actors and processes, will be used as an analytical framework. The importance of the political, economic, social and cultural context emerged clearly. The interaction of the context with the policy process both in identification of need for policy and its formulation demonstrated the opportunity for advocates to exert influence at all points of the process. The campaign to support the legislation had the following characteristics: a sustained consistent simple health message, sustained political leadership/commitment, a strong coalition between the Health Alliance, the Office of Tobacco Control and the Department of Health and Children, with cross-party political support and trade union support. The public and the media support clearly defined the benefit of deliberate and consistent planning and organization of a communication strategy. The Irish smoke-free legislation was a success as a policy initiative because of timing, dedication, planning, implementation and the existence of strong leadership and a powerful convinced credible political champion. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Automatic Segmentation of Optic Disc in Eye Fundus Images: A Survey

OpenAIRE

Allam, Ali; Youssif, Aliaa; Ghalwash, Atef

2015-01-01

Optic disc detection and segmentation is one of the key elements for automatic retinal disease screening systems. The aim of this survey paper is to review, categorize and compare the optic disc detection algorithms and methodologies, giving a description of each of them, highlighting their key points and performance measures. Accordingly, this survey firstly overviews the anatomy of the eye fundus showing its main structural components along with their properties and functions. Consequently,...

Information report on state legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

Summaries of laws enacted by states, during 1982, dealing with the management of low-level radioactive wastes are presented in this report. Also included are adopted resolutions, introduced legislation and introduced resolutions

Inclusive Education in Spain: Promoting Advocacy by Legislation

Science.gov (United States)

De Luis, Edurne Chocarro

2016-01-01

This article reviews the journey of special education in Spain by considering the legal frameworks. It examines the extent to which legislation has tapped into the feelings of society in general towards people with disabilities who wish to secure inclusion in both education and society. It tracks the evolution of legislation, originally based on a…

GeoSegmenter: A statistically learned Chinese word segmenter for the geoscience domain

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lan; Du, Youfu; Chen, Gongyang

2015-03-01

Unlike English, the Chinese language has no space between words. Segmenting texts into words, known as the Chinese word segmentation (CWS) problem, thus becomes a fundamental issue for processing Chinese documents and the first step in many text mining applications, including information retrieval, machine translation and knowledge acquisition. However, for the geoscience subject domain, the CWS problem remains unsolved. Although a generic segmenter can be applied to process geoscience documents, they lack the domain specific knowledge and consequently their segmentation accuracy drops dramatically. This motivated us to develop a segmenter specifically for the geoscience subject domain: the GeoSegmenter. We first proposed a generic two-step framework for domain specific CWS. Following this framework, we built GeoSegmenter using conditional random fields, a principled statistical framework for sequence learning. Specifically, GeoSegmenter first identifies general terms by using a generic baseline segmenter. Then it recognises geoscience terms by learning and applying a model that can transform the initial segmentation into the goal segmentation. Empirical experimental results on geoscience documents and benchmark datasets showed that GeoSegmenter could effectively recognise both geoscience terms and general terms.

Advocacy for booster seat legislation in Florida: a lesson in politics and policy formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Haring, R Sterling; Frattaroli, Shannon; Schneider, Eric B; Holland, M Becker; Vernick, Jon S

2015-04-01

MVCs are a major contributor to child injury and death. Infant restraint seats and child booster seats have been shown to reduce the odds of severe injury or death when used correctly. While all states have mandated the use of these restraint systems, the age at which a child can be legally restrained using an adult seat belt varies from state to state. Efforts to strengthen Florida's weak child restraint laws have failed for more than a decade; in the 2014 legislative session, advocates succeeded in raising the state's age requirement from 3 years to 5  years. While many factors contributed to this year's success, some key elements included efficient communication of supporting data, a strong and broad advocacy network and the leveraging of election year political rivalries. Efforts to further strengthen the law will continue into future legislative sessions. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The effects of sexual orientation on state legislators' behavior and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrick, Rebekah

2009-01-01

This article explores whether sexual orientation, surrogate representation, and political factors affect legislators' work on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) interests, and whether the latter explains away the influence of sexual orientation. A survey of openly GLB state legislators and their colleagues was conducted to measure legislators' campaign issues, legislative priorities, surrogate representation, and ambition. This information is supplemented with bill introduction and district data. The results indicate that legislators' sexual orientation strongly influences their work on GLB issues and although surrogate representation and electoral considerations also affect GLB work, they do not explain away the importance of sexual orientation. The implications of this for the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation are explored.

Single-segment and double-segment INTACS for post-LASIK ectasia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Hashemi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of the present study was to compare single segment and double segment INTACS rings in the treatment of post-LASIK ectasia. In this interventional study, 26 eyes with post-LASIK ectasia were assessed. Ectasia was defined as progressive myopia regardless of astigmatism, along with topographic evidence of inferior steepening of the cornea after LASIK. We excluded those with a history of intraocular surgery, certain eye conditions, and immune disorders, as well as monocular, pregnant and lactating patients. A total of 11 eyes had double ring and 15 eyes had single ring implantation. Visual and refractive outcomes were compared with preoperative values based on the number of implanted INTACS rings. Pre and postoperative spherical equivalent were -3.92 and -2.29 diopter (P=0.007. The spherical equivalent decreased by 1 ± 3.2 diopter in the single-segment group and 2.56 ± 1.58 diopter in the double-segment group (P=0.165. Mean preoperative astigmatism was 2.38 ± 1.93 diopter which decreased to 2.14 ± 1.1 diopter after surgery (P=0.508; 0.87 ± 1.98 diopter decrease in the single-segment group and 0.67 ± 1.2 diopter increase in the double-segment group (P=0.025. Nineteen patients (75% gained one or two lines, and only three, who were all in the double-segment group, lost one or two lines of best corrected visual acuity. The spherical equivalent and vision significantly decreased in all patients. In these post-LASIK ectasia patients, the spherical equivalent was corrected better with two segments compared to single segment implantation; nonetheless, the level of astigmatism in the single-segment group was significantly better than that in the double-segment group.

Sonora Legislators and their Constitution, 1857-1861

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zulema Trejo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the members of the Sonora constituent congress (1857-61, and analyzes the debates they held regarding the project for the state's Constitution, which would follow the lines estblished by the 1857 Federal Constitution. It also points out the relations between each legislator's trajectory and politicial affiliation (as far as available sources allow for this, and the proposals he presented during the legislative debates that gave place to the 1861 Constitution of Sonora.

The economic impact of merger control legislation

OpenAIRE

Carletti, Elena; Hartmann, Philipp; Onega, Steven

2007-01-01

We construct a unique dataset of legislative reforms in merger control legislation that occurred in nineteen industrial countries in the period 1987-2004, and investigate the economic impact of these changes on stock prices. In line with the hypothesis that merger control should challenge anticompetitive mergers and thus limit future monopolistic profits, we find that the strengthening of merger control decreases the stock prices of non-financial firms. In contrast, we find that bank stock pr...

Novel dehydrins lacking complete K-segments in Pinaceae. The exception rather than the rule

Science.gov (United States)

Perdiguero, Pedro; Collada, Carmen; Soto, Álvaro

2014-01-01

Dehydrins are thought to play an essential role in the plant response, acclimation and tolerance to different abiotic stresses, such as cold and drought. These proteins contain conserved and repeated segments in their amino acid sequence, used for their classification. Thus, dehydrins from angiosperms present different repetitions of the segments Y, S, and K, while gymnosperm dehydrins show A, E, S, and K segments. The only fragment present in all the dehydrins described to date is the K-segment. Different works suggest the K-segment is involved in key protective functions during dehydration stress, mainly stabilizing membranes. In this work, we describe for the first time two Pinus pinaster proteins with truncated K-segments and a third one completely lacking K-segments, but whose sequence homology leads us to consider them still as dehydrins. qRT-PCR expression analysis show a significant induction of these dehydrins during a severe and prolonged drought stress. By in silico analysis we confirmed the presence of these dehydrins in other Pinaceae species, breaking the convention regarding the compulsory presence of K-segments in these proteins. The way of action of these unusual dehydrins remains unrevealed. PMID:25520734

Novel dehydrins lacking complete K-segments in Pinaceae. The exception rather than the rule

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro ePerdiguero

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Dehydrins are thought to play an essential role in the plant response, acclimation and tolerance to different abiotic stresses, such as cold and drought. These proteins contain conserved and repeated segments in their amino acid sequence, used for their classification. Thus, dehydrins from angiosperms present different repetitions of the segments Y, S and K, while gymnosperm dehydrins show A, E, S and K segments. The only fragment present in all the dehydrins described to date is the K-segment. Different works suggest the K-segment is involved in key protective functions during dehydration stress, mainly stabilizing membranes. In this work, we describe for the first time two Pinus pinaster proteins with truncated K-segments and a third one completely lacking K-segments, but whose sequence homology leads us to consider them still as dehydrins. qRT-PCR expression analysis show a significant induction of these dehydrins during a severe and prolonged drought stress. By in silico analysis we confirmed the presence of these dehydrins in other Pinaceae species, breaking the convention regarding the compulsory presence of K-segments in these proteins. The way of action of these unusual dehydrins remains unrevealed.

Efficient lighting in buildings: The lack of legislation in Portugal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, António Manuel; Martins, António Gomes

2014-01-01

The behavior of building designers is conditioned by the existing legislation and regulations in the national context in which they operate. However, in the Portuguese legislation there are no rules concerning the use of daylight, and therefore, designers are not stimulated to adopt solutions that make use of the existing potential of sunlight availability. In the same way, it is difficult to understand the lack of specific regulation, with quantified targets, limiting power density of artificial lighting installed inside buildings. The present opportunity, generated by the need to carry out the revision of Portuguese building energy systems regulation, should be used to fill the existing gap in national legislation regarding those matters. In this paper the authors present some proposals for future legislation that will have as central purpose the utilization of efficient lighting systems and the promotion of architectural solutions that optimize the use of daylighting. It is possible, and desirable, to add new directives to national legislation that contribute to the improvement of Portuguese buildings, characterized by its good performance in terms of daylight availability, and at the same time, increasing the energy efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of lighting systems installed in those buildings. - Highlights: • In the Portuguese legislation there are no rules concerning the use of daylight. • Lack of specific regulation limiting power density of artificial lighting. • Revision of Portuguese building energy systems regulation. • Some proposals for future legislation. • Improvement of Portuguese buildings promoting energy efficiency

Did Globalization Lead to Segmentation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Di Vaio, Gianfranco; Enflo, Kerstin Sofia

Economic historians have stressed that income convergence was a key feature of the 'OECD-club' and that globalization was among the accelerating forces of this process in the long-run. This view has however been challenged, since it suffers from an ad hoc selection of countries. In the paper......, a mixture model is applied to a sample of 64 countries to endogenously analyze the cross-country growth behavior over the period 1870-2003. Results show that growth patterns were segmented in two worldwide regimes, the first one being characterized by convergence, and the other one denoted by divergence...

Linking gene regulation to cell behaviors in the posterior growth zone of sequentially segmenting arthropods.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Terri A; Nagy, Lisa M

2017-05-01

Virtually all arthropods all arthropods add their body segments sequentially, one by one in an anterior to posterior progression. That process requires not only segment specification but typically growth and elongation. Here we review the functions of some of the key genes that regulate segmentation: Wnt, caudal, Notch pathway, and pair-rule genes, and discuss what can be inferred about their evolution. We focus on how these regulatory factors are integrated with growth and elongation and discuss the importance and challenges of baseline measures of growth and elongation. We emphasize a perspective that integrates the genetic regulation of segment patterning with the cellular mechanisms of growth and elongation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Candidate Smoke Region Segmentation of Fire Video Based on Rough Set Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaqin Zhao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Candidate smoke region segmentation is the key link of smoke video detection; an effective and prompt method of candidate smoke region segmentation plays a significant role in a smoke recognition system. However, the interference of heavy fog and smoke-color moving objects greatly degrades the recognition accuracy. In this paper, a novel method of candidate smoke region segmentation based on rough set theory is presented. First, Kalman filtering is used to update video background in order to exclude the interference of static smoke-color objects, such as blue sky. Second, in RGB color space smoke regions are segmented by defining the upper approximation, lower approximation, and roughness of smoke-color distribution. Finally, in HSV color space small smoke regions are merged by the definition of equivalence relation so as to distinguish smoke images from heavy fog images in terms of V component value variety from center to edge of smoke region. The experimental results on smoke region segmentation demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed scheme.

Fifty years of German nuclear legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heller, W.

2006-01-01

The political situation and the state of legislation after World War II make it difficult to pinpoint a precise date of origin of German nuclear legislation. The restrictions imposed by the Allied High Commission (AHC) without any exception put a ban on the production of uranium and thorium metal as well as the construction of nuclear reactors. These restrictions were lifted expressly when the German Atomic Energy Act (AtG) entered into force on January 1, 1960, i.e. much later than the formal step of gaining sovereignty, which was marked by the protocol of May 5, 1955 terminating the Occupation Statute. In October 1955, the German federal government established the then Federal Ministry for Atomic Matters also in an attempt to reconnect to developments in nuclear fission in other parts of the Western world. To supersede the AHC law, the German federal government in December 1956 publicized a draft Atomic Energy Act. It is safe, therefore, to consider that year the starting point of German atomic legislation. This step was followed by deliberations preparatory to the adoption of the Atomic Energy Act. In 1957, however, adoption failed because no two-thirds majority was reached to amend the Basic Law, i.e. the Constitution. As a consequence, some federal states saw the need to adopt state legislation to regulate this area. On December 3, 1959, a new draft Atomic Energy Act was adopted by the German federal parliament after the second and third readings - coupled with an amendment to the Basic Law on that same day - with the votes of the opposition and with one abstention. (orig.)

The impact of legislation on divorce: a hazard function approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, M P

1995-01-01

"The paper examines the impact of the introduction of no-fault divorce legislation in Australia. The approach used is rather novel, a hazard model of the divorce rate is estimated with the role of legislation captured via a time-varying covariate. The paper concludes that contrary to U.S. empirical evidence, no-fault divorce legislation appears to have had a positive impact upon the divorce rate in Australia." excerpt

Implementation of patients' rights legislation in the Republic of Macedonia: gaps and disparities.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcheva, Gabriela; Gerovski, Filip; Beletsky, Leo

2013-12-12

Since its formation after the breakup of Yugoslavia, Macedonia has made major strides in formulating a framework for protecting patient rights through extensive legal reform. The impact of this reform had not been assessed before the work of this project. Within the context of a larger project on improving human rights in patient care, this paper provides an overview of patients' rights legislation in Macedonia and uses research, case reports, and other empirical information to highlight the gaps in the implementation of patients' rights legislation on the ground. The Law on the Protection of Patients' Rights (2008) and attendant legislation governing health care provision and other aspects of the social contract in Macedonia provide extensive protections for the rights of patients in such domains as the right to access health care, the right to information, and the right to remedy. This legislation also outlines several new procedural channels to enable patients to vindicate their rights within institutional and governmental structures on the local and national levels. Data from a number of studies and case file reviews suggest, however, that the implementation of many key provisions is lacking, both in terms of quality and presence of services or mechanisms contemplated by Macedonian law. Gaps in implementation disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women, rural residents, and Roma. Although the letter of Macedonian law generally complies with international best practices in patients' rights, these rights are not fully implemented and the mechanisms implied are not fully functional. Additional investment must be made in monitoring systems, education, and incentive mechanisms to ensure effective implementation, including the formation of a mandated commission for the protection of patients' rights. Copyright © 2013 Alcheva, Gerovski, and Beletsky. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

Generic legislation of new psychoactive drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

van Amsterdam, Jan; Nutt, David; van den Brink, Wim

2013-03-01

New psychoactive drugs (NPDs, new psychoactive substances) enter the market all the time. However, it takes several months to ban these NPDs and immediate action is generally not possible. Several European countries and drug enforcement officers insist on a faster procedure to ban NPDs. Introduction of generic legislation, in which clusters of psychotropic drugs are banned in advance, has been mentioned as a possible solution. Here we discuss the pros and cons of such an approach. First, generic legislation could unintentionally increase the expenditures of enforcement, black market practices, administrative burden and health risks for users. Second, it may have a negative impact on research and the development of new treatments. Third, due to the complexity of generic legislation, problems in the enforcement are anticipated due to lack of knowledge about the chemical nomenclature. Finally, various legal options are already available to ban the use, sale and trade of NPDs. We therefore conclude that the currently used scientific benefit-risk evaluation should be continued to limit the adverse health effects of NPDs. Only in emergency cases, where fatal incidents (may) occur, should this approach be overruled.

Legislation in the electricity economy 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antoni, W.; Haeusler, C.; Hermann, H.P.; Meyer-Woebse, G.; Schmidt, K.

1981-01-01

The authors survey substantial developments of legislation in the electricity economy in 1980. They deal with prominent, legal subjects of a political nature and discuss questions posed by the interpretation and application of laws with regard to supply concepts, to the 4th amendment to the anti-trust law, to legislation relating to the anti-trust law, to recommendations by the Investigation Committee, to rate approvals, general terms and conditions governing supplies, to atomic energy law, to the environmental protection law, to the law relating to the conservation of nature and preservation of rural amenities, to the law relating to roads and to developments of tax laws. (HSCH) [de

Impact of the legislation on consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D.O.

1982-01-01

Douglas Lee points out that the question of nuclear waste will not go away. Nuclear waste is with us and consumers should support legislation to deal with the problem once and for all. The spent fuel is growing, and twenty-nine nuclear plants will face onsite storage problems in this decade. If these plants shut down, consumers will face higher electric generating costs if a switch to a more expensive fuel is necssary, or if the utilities are forced to purchase power of the grid. The cost of waste disposal under this proposed legislation will amount to about 75 cents per month for those electric customers serviced by nuclear plants

Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap

OpenAIRE

Polachek, Solomon W.

2014-01-01

Despite equal pay legislation dating back 50 years, American women still earn 22% less than their male counterparts. In the UK, with its Equal Pay Act of 1970, and France, which legislated in 1972, the gap is 21% and 17% respectively, and in Australia it remains around 17%. Thus, the gender pay gap continues to be an important policy issue.

An analysis of physician antitrust exemption legislation: adjusting the balance of power.

Science.gov (United States)

Hellinger, F J; Young, G J

2001-07-04

Current antitrust law restricts physicians from joining together to collectively negotiate. However, such activities may be approved by state laws under the so-called state action immunity doctrine and by federal legislation under an explicit antitrust exemption. In 1999, Texas became the first state to pass physician antitrust exemption legislation allowing physicians, under certain defined circumstances, to collectively negotiate fees with health plans. Last year, similar legislation was introduced in the US Congress, in 18 state legislatures, and in the District of Columbia. This legislation was passed only in the District of Columbia where its implementation was blocked by the city's financial control board. Nonetheless, legislation permitting physicians to collectively negotiate fees with managed care plans has been introduced in 10 state legislatures this year, and there is continued interest in introducing similar legislation in the US Congress. This analysis examines the basic features of this legislation and its potential impact on the balance of power between physicians and managed care plans.

Legislator voting and behavioral science theory: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, Gregory J; Vernick, Jon S; Reiney, Erin V; Gielen, Andrea C

2012-11-01

To examine the application of behavioral science theories to explain the voting behavior of legislators for public health policies. We conducted a systematic review to identify studies that examined factors associated with legislator support, intention to vote, or actual votes on public health policies, emphasizing those grounded in behavior science theory. Twenty-one papers met our inclusion criteria, and 6 were explicitly grounded in a behavioral science theory. Behavioral science theories, and the theory of planned behavior in particular, provide a framework for understanding legislator voting behavior and can be used by advocates to advance pro-health policies.

Profiling the high frequency wine consumer by price segmentation in the US market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liz Thach

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Heavy users of consumer products are important to marketers as a profitable target segment. This is equally true in the wine industry, but with the added precaution of encouraging responsible consumption. This study examines the attributes and behaviors of 681 high frequency (heavy-user wine consumers in the US, based on a price segmentation of High, Moderate, and Low Spenders. For this study, price segmentation was defined as the price typically paid for a bottle of wine for home consumption. Significant differences were discovered based on gender, age, income, wine involvement, shopping channel, ecommerce/social media usage and other key areas. Implications for marketing managers as well as areas of future research are described.

Recent US legislative actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daniel, P.

1987-01-01

A view on legislative events in the US from the outside is presented. The author comments on the general principles and advantages of free trade against the possibility of an embargo into the US on uranium, on the issue of sanctions against South Africa, and Namibia, and how these issues affect the world market for uranium

Migration in a segmented labour market.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, I

1995-01-01

"Current research in migration is moving on from neo-classical and behavioural perspectives to a more structural approach relating to wider processes, issues of power and the particular role of employers. Within this programme a key issue for investigation is the interaction between spatial mobility and the structuring of labour markets. This paper focuses on the significance of labour market segmentation--in terms both of job stability and gender--for migration, both theoretically and through an empirical analysis of data from the UK Labour Force Survey on sponsored and unsponsored moves." excerpt

Accounting for segment correlations in segmented gamma-ray scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheppard, G.A.; Prettyman, T.H.; Piquette, E.C.

1994-01-01

In a typical segmented gamma-ray scanner (SGS), the detector's field of view is collimated so that a complete horizontal slice or segment of the desired thickness is visible. Ordinarily, the collimator is not deep enough to exclude gamma rays emitted from sample volumes above and below the segment aligned with the collimator. This can lead to assay biases, particularly for certain radioactive-material distributions. Another consequence of the collimator's low aspect ratio is that segment assays at the top and bottom of the sample are biased low because the detector's field of view is not filled. This effect is ordinarily countered by placing the sample on a low-Z pedestal and scanning one or more segment thicknesses below and above the sample. This takes extra time, however, We have investigated a number of techniques that both account for correlated segments and correct for end effects in SGS assays. Also, we have developed an algorithm that facilitates estimates of assay precision. Six calculation methods have been compared by evaluating the results of thousands of simulated, assays for three types of gamma-ray source distribution and ten masses. We will report on these computational studies and their experimental verification

Participation without representation? Senior opinion, legislative behavior, and federal health reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Katharine W V; Chen, Jowei

2014-04-01

Why do legislators sometimes engage in behavior that deviates from the expressed policy preferences of constituents who participate in politics at high rates? We examine this puzzle in the context of Democratic legislators' representation of their senior citizen constituents on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). We find that legislators' roll-call votes on the ACA did not reflect the stated preferences of their respective senior constituents; by contrast, these roll-call votes did reflect the preferences of nonsenior adults. We draw upon a theoretical framework developed by Mansbridge to explain this apparent nonresponsiveness to seniors on the ACA. This framework distinguishes between promissory representation, whereby legislators merely respond to constituents' preferences, and anticipatory representation, whereby legislators respond to constituents' underlying policy interests, even when such interests conflict with expressed preferences. By considering the Medicare provisions in the ACA and analyzing Democratic legislators' floor speeches on health reform, we provide preliminary evidence that members of Congress engaged in anticipatory representation of their senior constituents by attempting to educate seniors about how the ACA serves their policy interests.

Implementation and Change of Processual Administrative Legislation Through an Innovative Web 2.0 Solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polona KOVAČ

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Various extensive public sector reforms have been carried out across the world with the clear aim of making the services concerned more efficient and responsive to the needs of their users, such as the citizens, political authorities, and administrative bodies covering other public administration fields. The ever advancing information technology has frequently been used to support such reforms. Over the last years, the public phenomenon of Web 2.0 has even attracted some attention within e-government because of its vast success in the general civic environment. The paper investigates the possibilities of implementing such a Web 2.0 solution for the case of application of legislation and management of changes made into it through the example of the Slovenian General Administrative Procedure Act – a law that is subsidiarily used by practically all administrative bodies and therefore has to be applied in different fields, coping with sectoral legislation more or less coherent with it. To present the potential, patterns and risks (such as the limited role of public administration in interpreting law of such activities of using Web 2.0, the paper employs theory research, actual cases from different segments of the public sector, and a real example of a solution currently in the beta stage of development – the so-called Administrative Consultation Wiki, a project run by the Slovenian Faculty of Administration and the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia. The findings suggest a major potential of this kind of solutions, and point to the possibilities as well as warn of the risks involved.

End-to-End Assessment of a Large Aperture Segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Lee; Bolcar, Matt; Liu, Alice; Guyon, Olivier; Stark,Chris; Arenberg, Jon

2016-01-01

Key challenges of a future large aperture, segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope capable of performing a spectroscopic survey of hundreds of Exoplanets will be sufficient stability to achieve 10-10 contrast measurements and sufficient throughput and sensitivity for high yield Exo-Earth spectroscopic detection. Our team has collectively assessed an optimized end to end architecture including a high throughput coronagraph capable of working with a segmented telescope, a cost-effective and heritage based stable segmented telescope, a control architecture that minimizes the amount of new technologies, and an Exo-Earth yield assessment to evaluate potential performance.

Learning from Weak and Noisy Labels for Semantic Segmentation

KAUST Repository

Lu, Zhiwu

2016-04-08

A weakly supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) method aims to learn a segmentation model from weak (image-level) as opposed to strong (pixel-level) labels. By avoiding the tedious pixel-level annotation process, it can exploit the unlimited supply of user-tagged images from media-sharing sites such as Flickr for large scale applications. However, these ‘free’ tags/labels are often noisy and few existing works address the problem of learning with both weak and noisy labels. In this work, we cast the WSSS problem into a label noise reduction problem. Specifically, after segmenting each image into a set of superpixels, the weak and potentially noisy image-level labels are propagated to the superpixel level resulting in highly noisy labels; the key to semantic segmentation is thus to identify and correct the superpixel noisy labels. To this end, a novel L1-optimisation based sparse learning model is formulated to directly and explicitly detect noisy labels. To solve the L1-optimisation problem, we further develop an efficient learning algorithm by introducing an intermediate labelling variable. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets show that our method yields state-of-the-art results given noise-free labels, whilst significantly outperforming the existing methods when the weak labels are also noisy.

Learning from Weak and Noisy Labels for Semantic Segmentation

KAUST Repository

Lu, Zhiwu; Fu, Zhenyong; Xiang, Tao; Han, Peng; Wang, Liwei; Gao, Xin

2016-01-01

A weakly supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) method aims to learn a segmentation model from weak (image-level) as opposed to strong (pixel-level) labels. By avoiding the tedious pixel-level annotation process, it can exploit the unlimited supply of user-tagged images from media-sharing sites such as Flickr for large scale applications. However, these ‘free’ tags/labels are often noisy and few existing works address the problem of learning with both weak and noisy labels. In this work, we cast the WSSS problem into a label noise reduction problem. Specifically, after segmenting each image into a set of superpixels, the weak and potentially noisy image-level labels are propagated to the superpixel level resulting in highly noisy labels; the key to semantic segmentation is thus to identify and correct the superpixel noisy labels. To this end, a novel L1-optimisation based sparse learning model is formulated to directly and explicitly detect noisy labels. To solve the L1-optimisation problem, we further develop an efficient learning algorithm by introducing an intermediate labelling variable. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets show that our method yields state-of-the-art results given noise-free labels, whilst significantly outperforming the existing methods when the weak labels are also noisy.

Basic Test Framework for the Evaluation of Text Line Segmentation and Text Parameter Extraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darko Brodić

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Text line segmentation is an essential stage in off-line optical character recognition (OCR systems. It is a key because inaccurately segmented text lines will lead to OCR failure. Text line segmentation of handwritten documents is a complex and diverse problem, complicated by the nature of handwriting. Hence, text line segmentation is a leading challenge in handwritten document image processing. Due to inconsistencies in measurement and evaluation of text segmentation algorithm quality, some basic set of measurement methods is required. Currently, there is no commonly accepted one and all algorithm evaluation is custom oriented. In this paper, a basic test framework for the evaluation of text feature extraction algorithms is proposed. This test framework consists of a few experiments primarily linked to text line segmentation, skew rate and reference text line evaluation. Although they are mutually independent, the results obtained are strongly cross linked. In the end, its suitability for different types of letters and languages as well as its adaptability are its main advantages. Thus, the paper presents an efficient evaluation method for text analysis algorithms.

(Another Bankruptcy Legislation reform - functionalization of bankruptcy legal protection or placebo effect?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dejan Bodul

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the most current topic in the field of collective civil law protection. The reforms of the Bankruptcy Act (seven of them as well as implementation of the Financial Operations and Pre-Bankruptcy Settlements Act (three amendments, which were implemented in 2012, have significantly altered Croatian insolvency legislation. Nevertheless, the indicative methods of determining the facts show that the bankruptcy and preliminary bankruptcy procedures, in relation to other countries in the region, are consuming less time. They are more expensive and have lower satisfaction from creditors. In comparison to countries with developed bankruptcy systems, Croatian regulations still need improvement. One has to take into consideration a substantial impact of multiple external, institutional factors on legislative solutions (unfavourable social context, problems in the payment system, the precarious recordings of immovable and movable property, an insufficient number of judges who were entrusted with the liquidation proceedings, weak training of bankruptcy administrators, inadequate methods of financing, and consequently weak motivation to work. The legislators are planning to make another functionalization of the Bankruptcy Act. His intention is, after two years of experimentation in the Financial Operations and Pre-Bankruptcy Settlements Act, to accept provisions on pre-bankruptcy settlements and reinstate many pre-existing options in the preparation of the reorganization plan. Since the existing framework is not allowing for a detailed analysis of the aforementioned subjects, one must emphasize that the space here does not permit a detailed analysis of these issues. Therefore, authors of this article will deal with subjects they see as relevant and essential for understanding key issues within the domain of the Bankruptcy Act. This work has been supported by the Croatian science foundation under the project number 6558 "Business and

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

This section treats of the following National legislative and regulatory activities: 1 - Algeria, Nuclear safety and radiological protection, Executive Decree No. 17-126 of 27 March 2017; 2 - Belgium, Liability and compensation, Law of 7 December 2016 modifying the law of 22 July 1985 on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy; 3 - Canada, Liability and compensation, Ratification by Canada of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage; 4 - France, Radioactive waste management: Decree No. 2017-231 of 23 February 2017 implementing Article L. 542-1-2 of the French Environmental Code (Code de l'environnement) and setting out the provisions of the National Radioactive Material and Waste Management Plan; and Order of 23 February 2017 implementing Decree No. 2017-231 of 23 February 2017 implementing Article L. 542-1-2 of the French Environmental Code setting out the provisions of the National Radioactive Material and Waste Management Plan; Liability and compensation: Order of 10 November 2016 amending the Appendix to the Order of 19 August 2016, setting the list of reduced liability amount sites pursuant to Decree No. 2016-333 of 21 March 2016 implementing Article L. 597-28 of the Environmental Code and relating to third party liability in the nuclear energy field; International co-operation: Decree No. 2016-1225 of 16 September 2016 making public the Protocol to the Co-operation Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the Development of the Pacific Uses of Nuclear Energy, signed in Paris on 27 August 2008; 5 - Germany, Transport of radioactive materials: New Versions of Ordinances on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (2017); Radioactive Waste Management: Act on the Reorganisation of the Responsibility of Nuclear Waste Disposal (2017); 6 - Lithuania, Nuclear security: Cyber security; Nuclear installations: Free release criteria of buildings and site of nuclear

Pyramidal Watershed Segmentation Algorithm for High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images Using Discrete Wavelet Transforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Parvathi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The watershed transformation is a useful morphological segmentation tool for a variety of grey-scale images. However, over segmentation and under segmentation have become the key problems for the conventional algorithm. In this paper, an efficient segmentation method for high-resolution remote sensing image analysis is presented. Wavelet analysis is one of the most popular techniques that can be used to detect local intensity variation and hence the wavelet transformation is used to analyze the image. Wavelet transform is applied to the image, producing detail (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal and Approximation coefficients. The image gradient with selective regional minima is estimated with the grey-scale morphology for the Approximation image at a suitable resolution, and then the watershed is applied to the gradient image to avoid over segmentation. The segmented image is projected up to high resolutions using the inverse wavelet transform. The watershed segmentation is applied to small subset size image, demanding less computational time. We have applied our new approach to analyze remote sensing images. The algorithm was implemented in MATLAB. Experimental results demonstrated the method to be effective.

Norway's ICT Accessibility Legislation, Methods and Indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Rygg, Malin; Rømen, Dagfinn; Sterri, Brynhild Runa

2016-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the Norwegian legislation on Universal Design of information and communication technology (ICT) and how the Norwegian Authority for Universal Design of ICT works to enforce and achieve the goals behind the legislation. The Authority uses indicators to check websites for compliance with the regulations. This paper describes the rationale and intended use for the indicators and how they are used for both supervision and benchmarks as well as a way of gathering data to give an overview of the current state of Universal Design of websites in Norway.

Super-Segments Based Classification of 3D Urban Street Scenes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Zhou

2012-12-01

Full Text Available We address the problem of classifying 3D point clouds: given 3D urban street scenes gathered by a lidar sensor, we wish to assign a class label to every point. This work is a key step toward realizing applications in robots and cars, for example. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the classification of 3D urban scenes based on super-segments, which are generated from point clouds by two stages of segmentation: a clustering stage and a grouping stage. Then, six effective normal and dimension features that vary with object class are extracted at the super-segment level for training some general classifiers. We evaluate our method both quantitatively and qualitatively using the challenging Velodyne lidar data set. The results show that by only using normal and dimension features we can achieve better recognition than can be achieved with high-dimensional shape descriptors. We also evaluate the adopting of the MRF framework in our approach, but the experimental results indicate that thisbarely improved the accuracy of the classified results due to the sparse property of the super-segments.

Automated fetal brain segmentation from 2D MRI slices for motion correction.

Science.gov (United States)

Keraudren, K; Kuklisova-Murgasova, M; Kyriakopoulou, V; Malamateniou, C; Rutherford, M A; Kainz, B; Hajnal, J V; Rueckert, D

2014-11-01

Motion correction is a key element for imaging the fetal brain in-utero using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Maternal breathing can introduce motion, but a larger effect is frequently due to fetal movement within the womb. Consequently, imaging is frequently performed slice-by-slice using single shot techniques, which are then combined into volumetric images using slice-to-volume reconstruction methods (SVR). For successful SVR, a key preprocessing step is to isolate fetal brain tissues from maternal anatomy before correcting for the motion of the fetal head. This has hitherto been a manual or semi-automatic procedure. We propose an automatic method to localize and segment the brain of the fetus when the image data is acquired as stacks of 2D slices with anatomy misaligned due to fetal motion. We combine this segmentation process with a robust motion correction method, enabling the segmentation to be refined as the reconstruction proceeds. The fetal brain localization process uses Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER), which are classified using a Bag-of-Words model with Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) features. The segmentation process is a patch-based propagation of the MSER regions selected during detection, combined with a Conditional Random Field (CRF). The gestational age (GA) is used to incorporate prior knowledge about the size and volume of the fetal brain into the detection and segmentation process. The method was tested in a ten-fold cross-validation experiment on 66 datasets of healthy fetuses whose GA ranged from 22 to 39 weeks. In 85% of the tested cases, our proposed method produced a motion corrected volume of a relevant quality for clinical diagnosis, thus removing the need for manually delineating the contours of the brain before motion correction. Our method automatically generated as a side-product a segmentation of the reconstructed fetal brain with a mean Dice score of 93%, which can be used for further processing. Copyright �

ACHP | News | Legislation Passes Senate

Science.gov (United States)

Hillary Clinton. "Bipartisan approval of this legislation by an overwhelming margin reflects the Bingaman, former Senator Pete Domenici, and Senators Hillary Clinton and Richard Burr." At a Capitol , who introduced the House version; Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Sen.Pete Domenici, who introduced

Hydrophilic segmented block copolymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) and monodisperse amide segments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Husken, D.; Feijen, Jan; Gaymans, R.J.

2007-01-01

Segmented block copolymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) flexible segments and monodisperse crystallizable bisester tetra-amide segments were made via a polycondensation reaction. The molecular weight of the PEO segments varied from 600 to 4600 g/mol and a bisester tetra-amide segment (T6T6T)

Automated Glioblastoma Segmentation Based on a Multiparametric Structured Unsupervised Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Juan-Albarracín, Javier; Fuster-Garcia, Elies; Manjón, José V.; Robles, Montserrat; Aparici, F.; Martí-Bonmatí, L.; García-Gómez, Juan M.

2015-01-01

Automatic brain tumour segmentation has become a key component for the future of brain tumour treatment. Currently, most of brain tumour segmentation approaches arise from the supervised learning standpoint, which requires a labelled training dataset from which to infer the models of the classes. The performance of these models is directly determined by the size and quality of the training corpus, whose retrieval becomes a tedious and time-consuming task. On the other hand, unsupervised approaches avoid these limitations but often do not reach comparable results than the supervised methods. In this sense, we propose an automated unsupervised method for brain tumour segmentation based on anatomical Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. Four unsupervised classification algorithms, grouped by their structured or non-structured condition, were evaluated within our pipeline. Considering the non-structured algorithms, we evaluated K-means, Fuzzy K-means and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), whereas as structured classification algorithms we evaluated Gaussian Hidden Markov Random Field (GHMRF). An automated postprocess based on a statistical approach supported by tissue probability maps is proposed to automatically identify the tumour classes after the segmentations. We evaluated our brain tumour segmentation method with the public BRAin Tumor Segmentation (BRATS) 2013 Test and Leaderboard datasets. Our approach based on the GMM model improves the results obtained by most of the supervised methods evaluated with the Leaderboard set and reaches the second position in the ranking. Our variant based on the GHMRF achieves the first position in the Test ranking of the unsupervised approaches and the seventh position in the general Test ranking, which confirms the method as a viable alternative for brain tumour segmentation. PMID:25978453

Spinal segmental dysgenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N Mahomed

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Spinal segmental dysgenesis is a rare congenital spinal abnormality , seen in neonates and infants in which a segment of the spine and spinal cord fails to develop normally . The condition is segmental with normal vertebrae above and below the malformation. This condition is commonly associated with various abnormalities that affect the heart, genitourinary, gastrointestinal tract and skeletal system. We report two cases of spinal segmental dysgenesis and the associated abnormalities.

ALCOHOL RELATED TRAFFIC SAFETY LEGISLATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.B.R. DESAPRIYA

2002-01-01

Full Text Available There is a substantial amount of evidence from experimental studies to indicate that a variety of individual skills are impaired at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs well below 0.05%. Epidemiological studies indicate that the risk of a crash increases sharply for drivers with BACs below 0.05%. The correlation between drunk driving and the risk of traffic accidents has been established on the individual as well as the aggregate level. The BAC level legally permitted is a public policy decision by legislators, while scientists can present experimental and epidemiological evidence indicating the BAC level at which psychomotor skills deteriorate and accident probabilities increase. There is considerable epidemiological evidence to support the fact that the risk of alcohol impaired drivers being involved in traffic crashes rises with increasing BAC's. By contrast, the evidence on the BAC at which a driver should be regarded as committing an offence has been the subject of much debate and various legislative decisions. Historically, per se laws specify BAC levels which are a compromise figure intended to reflect both the point at which a driver becomes significantly more likely to be involved in an accident than a comparative driver with a zero BAC and that which is politically acceptable, but falls within the BAC region of increased accident liability. Therefore, the per se legislation in most countries has not kept pace with scientific progress. This study suggests that if saving lives on the road is an important issue, then, passing laws that incorporate scientific and epidemiological studies, is necessary.

Assessment of the accessibility legislation in Spain and its effective application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús Hernández-Galán

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The existence of legislation on accessibility does not always imply it is enforced effectively. This article aims to answer the following question: Is the existence of accessibility legislation enough to make physical environments truly accessible?This study assesses the current Spanish legislation as well as any existing voluntary regulations in the country. This assessment is done chronologically, so as to show the historical evolution of the accessibility regulations in Spain.In order to determine whether accessibility legislation has been truly effectively enforced, the issue is studied as it affects Spanish municipalities with respect to urban planning, public buildings, public transportation and websites. The conclusion of this study is that the existence of accessibility legislation per se is not enough to ensure its practical application, and ultimately, to render physical environments, products and services accessible to the majority of the population regardless of their functional capabilities.

Sea-land segmentation for infrared remote sensing images based on superpixels and multi-scale features

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Sen; Zou, Zhengxia; Liu, Dunge; Xia, Zhenghuan; Shi, Zhenwei

2018-06-01

Sea-land segmentation is a key step for the information processing of ocean remote sensing images. Traditional sea-land segmentation algorithms ignore the local similarity prior of sea and land, and thus fail in complex scenarios. In this paper, we propose a new sea-land segmentation method for infrared remote sensing images to tackle the problem based on superpixels and multi-scale features. Considering the connectivity and local similarity of sea or land, we interpret the sea-land segmentation task in view of superpixels rather than pixels, where similar pixels are clustered and the local similarity are explored. Moreover, the multi-scale features are elaborately designed, comprising of gray histogram and multi-scale total variation. Experimental results on infrared bands of Landsat-8 satellite images demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain more accurate and more robust sea-land segmentation results than the traditional algorithms.

Behavioral Response to Plastic Bag Legislation in Botswana

OpenAIRE

Dikgang, Johane; Visser, Martine

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the use of charges and standards in dealing with a common externality, plastic litter from shopping bags in Botswana. The country passed a plastic bag tax (effective 2007) to curb the plastic bag demand. Interestingly, the legislation did not force retailers to charge for plastic bags, which they did voluntarily at different prices. We assessed the environmental effectiveness and efficiency of the plastic bag legislation by analyzing consumers’ sensitivity to the impro...

Automatic Melody Segmentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodríguez López, Marcelo

2016-01-01

The work presented in this dissertation investigates music segmentation. In the field of Musicology, segmentation refers to a score analysis technique, whereby notated pieces or passages of these pieces are divided into “units” referred to as sections, periods, phrases, and so on. Segmentation

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Tax

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation-Tax. The STATE System...

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Tax

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation-Tax. The STATE System...

Transportation of radioactive materials: the legislative and regulatory information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fore, C.S.

1982-03-01

The US Department of Energy is carrying out a national program to assure the safe shipment of radioactive materials. As part of this overall effort, the Hazardous Materials Information Center of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed the comprehensive Legislative and Regulatory Information System, which contains information on federal-, state-, and local-level legislative and regulatory actions pertaining primarily to the shipment of radioactive materials. Specific subject areas chosen to highlight particular transportation restrictions include: (1) identification of state agency responsible for regulating transportation, (2) type of escorts required, (3) areas requiring prior notification, (4) areas requiring permits or licenses, and (5) areas totally banning transportation of all radioactive materials. Other legislative information being categorized and of immediate relevance to the transportation issues is covered under the areas of disposal, storage, and management of radioactive materials; establishment of additional regulations; emergency response regulations; moratoriums on power plant construction and siting; radiation safety and control studies; and remedial action studies. The collected information is abstracted, indexed, and input into one of the two data bases developed under this information system - Current Legislation Data Base and Historical Legislation Data Base. An appendix is included which provides a summary of the state and local laws affecting the transportation of radioactive materials throughout the United States. The Legislative and Regulatory Information System is supported by the Transportation Technology Center located at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Transportation of radioactive materials: the legislative and regulatory information system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fore, C.S.

1982-03-01

The US Department of Energy is carrying out a national program to assure the safe shipment of radioactive materials. As part of this overall effort, the Hazardous Materials Information Center of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed the comprehensive Legislative and Regulatory Information System, which contains information on federal-, state-, and local-level legislative and regulatory actions pertaining primarily to the shipment of radioactive materials. Specific subject areas chosen to highlight particular transportation restrictions include: (1) identification of state agency responsible for regulating transportation, (2) type of escorts required, (3) areas requiring prior notification, (4) areas requiring permits or licenses, and (5) areas totally banning transportation of all radioactive materials. Other legislative information being categorized and of immediate relevance to the transportation issues is covered under the areas of disposal, storage, and management of radioactive materials; establishment of additional regulations; emergency response regulations; moratoriums on power plant construction and siting; radiation safety and control studies; and remedial action studies. The collected information is abstracted, indexed, and input into one of the two data bases developed under this information system - Current Legislation Data Base and Historical Legislation Data Base. An appendix is included which provides a summary of the state and local laws affecting the transportation of radioactive materials throughout the United States. The Legislative and Regulatory Information System is supported by the Transportation Technology Center located at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Emerging Legislative Role in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, Alan

1977-01-01

Changes in the capacity, internal distribution of power, habits of work, and composition of state legislators have increased their involvement and assertiveness in educational policy formation, oversight, and control. (Author/MLF)

Re-enactment of power economy legislation failed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heller, W.

2002-01-01

Comment on the failed vote in the German Federal Parliament about the re-enactment of power economy legislation. The amendments were mainly intended to translate into national law the EU Single Market Directive of June 22, 1998 about common regulations of the gas market. The legislative process had included a mediation procedure between the two chambers of parliament, i.e. the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, had been rejected once more by the Bundesrat, and was to have been adopted by an absolute majority vote of the Bundestag, the so-called Chancellor's majority, still in this parliamentary term. (orig.)

Reconstruction of incomplete cell paths through a 3D-2D level set segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Hariri, Maia; Wan, Justin W. L.

2012-02-01

Segmentation of fluorescent cell images has been a popular technique for tracking live cells. One challenge of segmenting cells from fluorescence microscopy is that cells in fluorescent images frequently disappear. When the images are stacked together to form a 3D image volume, the disappearance of the cells leads to broken cell paths. In this paper, we present a segmentation method that can reconstruct incomplete cell paths. The key idea of this model is to perform 2D segmentation in a 3D framework. The 2D segmentation captures the cells that appear in the image slices while the 3D segmentation connects the broken cell paths. The formulation is similar to the Chan-Vese level set segmentation which detects edges by comparing the intensity value at each voxel with the mean intensity values inside and outside of the level set surface. Our model, however, performs the comparison on each 2D slice with the means calculated by the 2D projected contour. The resulting effect is to segment the cells on each image slice. Unlike segmentation on each image frame individually, these 2D contours together form the 3D level set function. By enforcing minimum mean curvature on the level set surface, our segmentation model is able to extend the cell contours right before (and after) the cell disappears (and reappears) into the gaps, eventually connecting the broken paths. We will present segmentation results of C2C12 cells in fluorescent images to illustrate the effectiveness of our model qualitatively and quantitatively by different numerical examples.

The Abrasive Wear Resistance of the Segmented Linear Polyurethane Elastomers Based on a Variety of Polyols as Soft Segments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konrad Kwiatkowski

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The presented results make an original contribution to the development of knowledge on the prediction and/or modeling of the abrasive wear properties of polyurethanes. A series of segmented linear polyurethane elastomers (PUR—In which the hard segments consist of 4,4′-methylene bis(phenylisocyanate and 1,4-butanodiol, whilst polyether, polycarbonate, or polyester polyols constitute the soft segments—Were synthesized and characterized. The hardness and wear performance as functions of the variable chemical composition of polyurethane elastomers were evaluated in order to define the relationship between studied factors. The microstructure was characterized in detail, including analysis of the hydrogen bonding by Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR spectroscopy and the phase structure by X-ray scattering (WAXS and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC methods. The presented studies provide the key features of the polymer composition affecting the abrasive resistance as well as attempts to explain the origin of the differences in the polyurethane elastomers’ performance.

And Affirmative Speeches Shall "Not" Serve as Legislative Intent!

Science.gov (United States)

Benoit, William L.; Follert, Vincent F.

Legislative intent as a debate tactic is drawn from the judicial system as a fundamental concept in the interpretation of statutes. Two paradigms for the application of legislative intent have emerged: (1) the courts will examine the affirmative proposal after enactment to bring it into line with the intent of the affirmative team, and (2) the…

Attending National Library Legislative Day: Why Is It Important?

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Robyn

2009-01-01

Prior to this year, the National Library Legislative Day never really held much importance for the author as a school library media specialist. However, this feeling changed after she attended her first National Library Legislative Day in May of 2008. The goal of this day is to allow everyday practicing professionals to speak with their national…

Employment protection legislation in Croatia

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Marina Kunovac

2014-06-01

Full Text Available According to business climate and competitiveness indicators published by international organisations, Croatia is a country with a rigid labour market and a high level of the legal protection of employees. Given that an Act on Amendments to the Labour Act (OG 73/13 entered into force in Croatia in June 2013, this paper examines changes in employment protection legislation in Croatia and Central and Eastern European (CEE countries, as well as in Croatia's main trading partners during the period between 2008 and 2013. A cross-country comparison shows a strong downward trend in legal employment protection in most CEE countries during the observed period, primarily as concerns individual dismissal in the cases of regular employment contracts, while in the case of temporary employment the protection strengthened slightly. On the other hand, despite the adoption of amendments to the Labour Act (LA, Croatian labour legislation governing employment protection for regular employment contracts remains relatively inflexible compared to that in other countries.

Segmented trapped vortex cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Grammel, Jr., Leonard Paul (Inventor); Pennekamp, David Lance (Inventor); Winslow, Jr., Ralph Henry (Inventor)

2010-01-01

An annular trapped vortex cavity assembly segment comprising includes a cavity forward wall, a cavity aft wall, and a cavity radially outer wall there between defining a cavity segment therein. A cavity opening extends between the forward and aft walls at a radially inner end of the assembly segment. Radially spaced apart pluralities of air injection first and second holes extend through the forward and aft walls respectively. The segment may include first and second expansion joint features at distal first and second ends respectively of the segment. The segment may include a forward subcomponent including the cavity forward wall attached to an aft subcomponent including the cavity aft wall. The forward and aft subcomponents include forward and aft portions of the cavity radially outer wall respectively. A ring of the segments may be circumferentially disposed about an axis to form an annular segmented vortex cavity assembly.

Federal legislative and regulatory incentives and disincentives for industrial waste reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordes, R.; Nixon, J.

1991-10-01

The Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) within the US DOE has recently initiated the Industrial Waste Reduction Program, which is designed to reduce industrial energy use and pollution by reducing the amount of waste materials generated. The Program's primary focus is to develop and commercialize waste reduction technologies and practices in conjunction with industrial partners. OIT recognizes that adoption of these technologies is often inhibited by an assortment of institutional barriers that are unrelated to technical or economic performance. Therefore, OIT is examining selected barriers to industrial waste reduction to help identify and remove impediments to wider technology implementation. This report examines the incentives and disincentives to industrial waste reduction that are provided in an assortment of legislation and regulations. The intent is to shed light on how our environmental laws affect industry's implementation of waste reduction, what particular problems exist with current legislation/regulations, and what general options are available for correcting any deficiencies. Our study was confined strictly to federal legislation and regulations. During the course of the study, (March and May 1991), we examined 16 pieces of existing legislation and their attendant regulations plus 22 pieces of proposed legislation. In addition, the authors consulted representatives from industry and from the government agencies administering or sponsoring the legislation. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is by far the most comprehensive and dominant piece of legislation affecting solid waste disposal. This is because RCRA, which governs, the management of both nonhazardous and hazardous waste, places the most restrictive requirements on industry. Other important pieces of legislation that exert a direct influence on waste reduction per se include the Clean Air Act and the Pollution Prevention Act. 90 refs., 12 tabs

Performance Analysis of Segmentation of Hyperspectral Images Based on Color Image Segmentation

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Praveen Agarwal

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Image segmentation is a fundamental approach in the field of image processing and based on user’s application .This paper propose an original and simple segmentation strategy based on the EM approach that resolves many informatics problems about hyperspectral images which are observed by airborne sensors. In a first step, to simplify the input color textured image into a color image without texture. The final segmentation is simply achieved by a spatially color segmentation using feature vector with the set of color values contained around the pixel to be classified with some mathematical equations. The spatial constraint allows taking into account the inherent spatial relationships of any image and its color. This approach provides effective PSNR for the segmented image. These results have the better performance as the segmented images are compared with Watershed & Region Growing Algorithm and provide effective segmentation for the Spectral Images & Medical Images.

1979 New Mexico legislative session: energy issues and legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barsumian, L.; Vandevender, S.G.

1979-10-01

This report is an account of the energy legislation and associated issues considered during the 1979 session of the 34th New Mexico Legislature. The session's major issue was the federal study of a proposed nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. A large proportion of time and effort was spent on resolving the state's formal position toward the federal project. However, other energy concerns were also significant even though they were neither as controversial nor as visible as the primary issue. The two most important laws enacted were the Radioactive Waste Consultation Act and the Radioactive Waste Transportation Act. The Legislature considered 47 other energy-related bills, of which 17 were enacted

The legislative perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartman, L.

1990-01-01

This paper reports that the United States Congress has only recently become interested in the issue of ballistic missile proliferation. It was primarily as a result of the outcome of the debate over chemical weapons legislation that Congress joined the issue of ballistic missile proliferation in the matter of restraints on foreign countries, particularly those based in Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) countries. This paper addresses the following questions: Is it Congress's place to enforce compliance with international agreements? More importantly, will such measures have the desired effect?

Impact of ARPANS-like legislation on minerals industry in Australia - the TENORM issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koperski, J.

2001-01-01

Processing of minerals results in increased concentrations of the naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in mineral products and/or process wastes, relative to those in the source materials. Due to the current legislative trends this technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) phenomenon may bring mineral processing practices, including disposal of NORM-elevated wastes, into the realm of regulatory concern for practically all mineral-processing operations in Australia. The 1999 Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ARPANS) legislation has been based on the 1996 International Basic Safety Standards (BSS) recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As such, it contains very restrictive exemption criteria from the provisions of the legislation. ARPANS legislation is only binding upon Commonwealth entities. They, incidentally, do not include minerals industry operations. This legislation has been incompatible with the nature of the minerals industry. However, the current legislative developments have been aimed at imposing this legislation onto States and Territories. If this happens, and the current ARPANS legislative exemption criteria are not rationalised, major radiation safety-related operational and administrative impacts on the Australian minerals industry will occur. They will result in a marked burden to the national economy for yet to be clearly identified health and safety benefits. It is thus recommended that, without compromising rational radiation protection principles and practices, legislation commensurate with the nature of the minerals industry operations, national and state circumstances, conditions and interests be adopted in Australia. Such legislation would follow the spirit of the IAEA 1996 recommendations. Copyright (2001) Australasian Radiation Protection Society Inc

Active contour segmentation in dynamic medical imaging: application to nuclear cardiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debreuve, Eric

2000-01-01

In emission imaging, nuclear medicine provides functional information about the organ of interest. In transmission imaging, it provides anatomical information whose goal may be the correction of physical phenomena that corrupt emission images. With both emission and transmission images, it is useful to know how to extract, either automatically or semi-automatically, the organs of interest and the body outline in the case of a large field of view. This is the aim of segmentation. We developed two active contour segmentation methods. They were implemented using level sets. The key point is the evolution velocity definition. First, we were interested in static transmission imaging of the thorax. The evolution velocity was heuristically defined and depended only on the acquired projections. The segmented transmission map was computed w/o reconstruction and could be advantageously used for attenuation correction. Then, we studied the segmentation of cardiac gated sequences. The developed space-time segmentation method results from the minimization of a variational criterion which takes into account the whole sequence. The computed segmentation could be used for calculating physiological parameters. As an illustration, we computed the ejection fraction. Finally, we exploited some level set properties to develop a non-rigid, non-parametric, and geometric registration method. We applied it for kinetic compensation of cardiac gated sequences. The registered images were then added together providing an image with noise characteristics similar to a cardiac static image but w/o motion-induced blurring. (author)

Enabling legislation and regulatory determinations for a nuclear power programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha-Vinh, Phuong

1975-01-01

Broad definition of the scope of enabling legislation, identification of branches of laws involved in the licensing and regulatory control, overview of some typical licensing practices and provisions, some specific legislative or regulatory requirements including financial security to over nuclear liability. (HP) [de

Segmental Vitiligo.

Science.gov (United States)

van Geel, Nanja; Speeckaert, Reinhart

2017-04-01

Segmental vitiligo is characterized by its early onset, rapid stabilization, and unilateral distribution. Recent evidence suggests that segmental and nonsegmental vitiligo could represent variants of the same disease spectrum. Observational studies with respect to its distribution pattern point to a possible role of cutaneous mosaicism, whereas the original stated dermatomal distribution seems to be a misnomer. Although the exact pathogenic mechanism behind the melanocyte destruction is still unknown, increasing evidence has been published on the autoimmune/inflammatory theory of segmental vitiligo. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Segmental vitiligo with segmental morphea: An autoimmune link?

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Pravesh Yadav

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An 18-year old girl with segmental vitiligo involving the left side of the trunk and left upper limb with segmental morphea involving the right side of trunk and right upper limb without any deeper involvement is illustrated. There was no history of preceding drug intake, vaccination, trauma, radiation therapy, infection, or hormonal therapy. Family history of stable vitiligo in her brother and a history of type II diabetes mellitus in the father were elicited. Screening for autoimmune diseases and antithyroid antibody was negative. An autoimmune link explaining the co-occurrence has been proposed. Cutaneous mosiacism could explain the presence of both the pathologies in a segmental distribution.

Market Segmentation in Business Technology Base: The Case of Segmentation of Sparkling

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Valéria Riscarolli

2014-08-01

Full Text Available A common market segmentation premise for products and services rules consumer behavior as the segmentation center piece. Would this be the logic for segmentation used by small technology based companies? In this article we target at determining the principles of market segmentation used by a vitiwinery company, as research object. This company is recognized by its products excellence, either in domestic as well as in the foreign market, among 13 distinct countries. The research method used is a case study, through information from the company’s CEOs and crossed by primary information from observation and formal registries and documents of the company. In this research we look at sparkling wines market segmentation. Main results indicate that the winery studied considers only technological elements as the basis to build a market segment. One may conclude that a market segmentation for this company is based upon technological dominion of sparkling wines production, aligned with a premium-price policy. In the company, directorship believes that as sparkling wines market is still incipient in the country, sparkling wine market segments will form and consolidate after the evolution of consumers tasting preferences, depending on technologies that boost sparkling wines quality. 

Influence of risk factors on development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and legislative foundations for copd medical care in Ukraine.

Science.gov (United States)

Mykhalchuk, Vasyl M; Vasyliev, Averian G

2018-01-01

Introduction: Out of all respiratory diseases COPD is the leading cause of death and is characterized with diffuse non-reversible airway obstruction. Many various components play role in development and progression of this disease, while COPD risk factors play the most prominent role. Further progress in healthcare system development around COPD in Ukraine requires analysis of legislation, regulating pulmonological medical service in Ukraine. The aim: To analyze the influence of major risk factors on the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and to determine key legislative aspects of the organization of medical care for COPD patients in Ukraine. Materials and methods: 50 medical literature sources were systematically reviewed as the material for the research of COPD risk factors and their impact on studies disease. Also, an analysis of existing legislative acts regulating the pulmonological medical care in Ukraine, specifically, in patients with COPD, was conducted. Conclusions: There is a need to develop and implement a set of organizational and medical measures aiming at addressing the priorities of public healthcare, and specifically improvement of the quality of medical care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Ukraine.

Health Policy, Ethics, and the Kansas Legislative Health Academy

Science.gov (United States)

Maree, Gina; Schrandt, Suzanne; Soderquist, Chris; Steffensmeier, Tim; St. Peter, Robert

2015-01-01

We describe a unique program, the Kansas Legislative Health Academy, that brings together state legislators from across the political spectrum to build their capacity in advancing policies that can improve the health of Kansans. To that end, the academy helps legislators develop new skills to deliberate the ethics of health policy, use systems thinking to understand the long- and short-term effects of policy action and inaction, and engage in acts of civic leadership. The academy also seeks to foster an environment of respectful open dialogue and to build new cross-chamber and cross-party relationships. Among the most important outcomes cited by program participants is the value of sustained, personal interaction and problem solving with individuals holding differing political views. PMID:25607945

Health policy, ethics, and the Kansas Legislative Health Academy.

Science.gov (United States)

Blacksher, Erika; Maree, Gina; Schrandt, Suzanne; Soderquist, Chris; Steffensmeier, Tim; St Peter, Robert

2015-03-01

We describe a unique program, the Kansas Legislative Health Academy, that brings together state legislators from across the political spectrum to build their capacity in advancing policies that can improve the health of Kansans. To that end, the academy helps legislators develop new skills to deliberate the ethics of health policy, use systems thinking to understand the long- and short-term effects of policy action and inaction, and engage in acts of civic leadership. The academy also seeks to foster an environment of respectful open dialogue and to build new cross-chamber and cross-party relationships. Among the most important outcomes cited by program participants is the value of sustained, personal interaction and problem solving with individuals holding differing political views.

Foreign trade legislation, war weapons control legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hucko, E.M.

1993-01-01

The volume contains, in addition to an introduction into the matter, the texts of the Foreign Trade Act (FTA), the War Weapons Control Act and all relevant ordinances. Foreign trade transactions of the Federal Republic of Germany are essentially, but not exclusively, governed by the FTA. They are strongly influenced by the legislation of the European Communities which in the form of directives are immediately effective here, and in the form of guidelines oblige the German lawgiver or ordinance giver to translate them into practice, mostly by appropriate modifications of the foreign trade ordinance, the import and export lists. It is not the war weapons which are the problem, but the so-called dual-use goods, namely articles, technologies and knowledge which, as a rule, serve civil purposes, which, however, may be used also to produce weapons, in particular ABC weapons or rockets. Nowadays we are concerned about several third-world states which are obsessed by the wish to build their own atomic bomb. (orig./HSCH) [de

Legislative update.

Science.gov (United States)

1999-07-23

Recent State legislation on HIV-related issues is summarized. Connecticut enacted a bill imposing penalties when public servants and health care workers are deliberately exposed to body fluids. Louisiana passed a bill mandating HIV testing for each incoming State prison inmate. New York has several bills under consideration related to guardianship, confidentiality of crime victims who are potentially exposed to HIV, and disability benefits for firefighters and police officers who contract HIV, tuberculosis, or hepatitis in the line of duty. North Carolina has a new law aimed at serving additional clients in the State=s AIDS drug assistance program. Oregon is working on a bill authorizing HIV testing for all defendants who may have transmitted body fluids to a crime victim.

Segmentation of dance movement: Effects of expertise, visual familiarity, motor experience and music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina E. Bläsing

2015-01-01

Full Text Available According to event segmentation theory, action perception depends on sensory cues and prior knowledge, and the segmentation of observed actions is crucial for understanding and memorizing these actions. While most activities in everyday life are characterized by external goals and interaction with objects or persons, this does not necessarily apply to dance-like actions. We investigated to what extent visual familiarity of the observed movement and accompanying music influence the segmentation of a dance phrase in dancers of different skill level and non-dancers. In Experiment 1, dancers and non-dancers repeatedly watched a video clip showing a dancer performing a choreographed dance phrase and indicated segment boundaries by key press. Dancers generally defined less segment boundaries than non-dancers, specifically in the first trials in which visual familiarity with the phrase was low. Music increased the number of segment boundaries in the non-dancers and decreased it in the dancers. The results suggest that dance expertise reduces the number of perceived segment boundaries in an observed dance phrase, and that the ways visual familiarity and music affect movement segmentation are modulated by dance expertise. In a second experiment, motor experience was added as factor, based on empirical evidence suggesting that action perception is modified by visual and motor expertise in different ways. In Experiment 2, the same task as in Experiment 1 was performed by dance amateurs, and was repeated by the same participants after they had learned to dance the presented dance phrase. Less segment boundaries were defined in the middle trials after participants had learned to dance the phrase, and music reduced the number of segment boundaries before learning. The results suggest that specific motor experience of the observed movement influences its perception and anticipation and makes segmentation broader, but not to the same degree as dance expertise

Effective Segmentation of University Alumni: Mining Contribution Data with Finite-Mixture Models

Science.gov (United States)

Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J.; Balasubramanian, Siva K.

2015-01-01

Having an effective segmentation strategy is key to the viability of any organization. This is particularly true for colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizations--who have seen sharp declines in private contributions, endowment income, and government grants in the past few years, and face fierce competition for donor dollars…

Fluence map segmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenwald, J.-C.

2008-01-01

The lecture addressed the following topics: 'Interpreting' the fluence map; The sequencer; Reasons for difference between desired and actual fluence map; Principle of 'Step and Shoot' segmentation; Large number of solutions for given fluence map; Optimizing 'step and shoot' segmentation; The interdigitation constraint; Main algorithms; Conclusions on segmentation algorithms (static mode); Optimizing intensity levels and monitor units; Sliding window sequencing; Synchronization to avoid the tongue-and-groove effect; Accounting for physical characteristics of MLC; Importance of corrections for leaf transmission and offset; Accounting for MLC mechanical constraints; The 'complexity' factor; Incorporating the sequencing into optimization algorithm; Data transfer to the treatment machine; Interface between R and V and accelerator; and Conclusions on fluence map segmentation (Segmentation is part of the overall inverse planning procedure; 'Step and Shoot' and 'Dynamic' options are available for most TPS (depending on accelerator model; The segmentation phase tends to come into the optimization loop; The physical characteristics of the MLC have a large influence on final dose distribution; The IMRT plans (MU and relative dose distribution) must be carefully validated). (P.A.)

Strategic market segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maričić Branko R.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Strategic planning of marketing activities is the basis of business success in modern business environment. Customers are not homogenous in their preferences and expectations. Formulating an adequate marketing strategy, focused on realization of company's strategic objectives, requires segmented approach to the market that appreciates differences in expectations and preferences of customers. One of significant activities in strategic planning of marketing activities is market segmentation. Strategic planning imposes a need to plan marketing activities according to strategically important segments on the long term basis. At the same time, there is a need to revise and adapt marketing activities on the short term basis. There are number of criteria based on which market segmentation is performed. The paper will consider effectiveness and efficiency of different market segmentation criteria based on empirical research of customer expectations and preferences. The analysis will include traditional criteria and criteria based on behavioral model. The research implications will be analyzed from the perspective of selection of the most adequate market segmentation criteria in strategic planning of marketing activities.

Why segmentation matters: Experience-driven segmentation errors impair "morpheme" learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Finn, Amy S; Hudson Kam, Carla L

2015-09-01

We ask whether an adult learner's knowledge of their native language impedes statistical learning in a new language beyond just word segmentation (as previously shown). In particular, we examine the impact of native-language word-form phonotactics on learners' ability to segment words into their component morphemes and learn phonologically triggered variation of morphemes. We find that learning is impaired when words and component morphemes are structured to conflict with a learner's native-language phonotactic system, but not when native-language phonotactics do not conflict with morpheme boundaries in the artificial language. A learner's native-language knowledge can therefore have a cascading impact affecting word segmentation and the morphological variation that relies upon proper segmentation. These results show that getting word segmentation right early in learning is deeply important for learning other aspects of language, even those (morphology) that are known to pose a great difficulty for adult language learners. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Malaysia water services reform: legislative issues

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Nabsiah Abdul Wahid

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The latest attempt by the Malaysian government to restructure its water sector has managed to promulgate two important acts, the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN Act (Act 654 and the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA/Act 655; these also complicate the governing of water services and water resources in the country as they affect the sovereignty of a state’s land and water issues. In Malaysia’s federated system of governance, water resources are placed fully within the purview of each State’s government, as stated in the Waters Act 1920 (Revised 1989, while water services are straddled across the purview of both the State and Federal government (Water Supply Enactment 1955. Any reforms will remain problematic unless further analysis is carried out on the available legislation that directly impacts said reform, particularly the Waters Act and Water Supply Enactment. For example, when the Waters Act stipulates “the entire property in and control of all rivers in any State is vested solely in the Ruler of that State”, it is clear that the Federal Government has no authority whatsoever over water resources of any states. The Water Supply Enactment 1955 (adopted by several States further empowers the state’s water supply authorities to supply water to domestic and commercial consumers. Other legislation that has been enacted to govern land and water issues in the country include the Geological Act 1974 on groundwater abstraction and the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (incorporating all amendments up to 1st January 2006 on some aspects of the environmental impact of groundwater abstraction. While these legislations seemed to provide adequate coverage on the governance of groundwater abstraction; treatment, distribution and wastewater management, which form the water supply value chain in the country, are not covered. Similarly, the Sewerage Services Act 1993 covers only wastewater governance issues rather than the whole value chain

Thailand--lighting up a dark market: British American tobacco, sports sponsorship and the circumvention of legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

MacKenzie, Ross; Collin, Jeff; Sriwongcharoen, Kobkul

2007-01-01

To examine how British American Tobacco (BAT) used sports sponsorship to circumvent restrictions on tobacco promotion in Thailand, both a key emerging market and a world leader in tobacco control. Analysis of previously confidential BAT company documents. Since its inception in 1987, BAT's sports sponsorship programme in Thailand has been politically sensitive and legally ambiguous. Given Thailand's ban on imported cigarettes, early events provided promotional support to smuggled brands. BAT's funding of local badminton, snooker, football and cricket tournaments generated substantial media coverage for its brands. After the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs decision that obliged Thailand to open its cigarette market to imports, Thailand's 1992 tobacco control legislation established one of the world's most restrictive marketing environments. BAT's sponsorship strategy shifted to rallying and motorbike racing, using broadcasts of regional competitions to undermine national regulations. BAT sought to dominate individual sports and to shape media coverage to maximise brand awareness. An adversarial approach was adopted, testing the limits of legality and requiring active enforcement to secure compliance with legislation. The documents show the opportunities offered by sports sponsorship to tobacco companies amid increasing advertising restrictions. Before the 1992 tobacco control legislation, sponsored events in Thailand promoted international brands by combining global and local imagery. The subsequent strategy of "regionalisation as defensibility" reflected the capacity of international sport to transcend domestic restrictions. These transnational effects may be effectively dealt with via the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but will require the negotiation of a specific protocol.

Automatic segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages from magnetic resonance images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neubert, A.; Yang, Z.; Engstrom, C.; Xia, Y.; Strudwick, M. W.; Chandra, S. S.; Crozier, S.; Fripp, J.

2016-01-01

Purpose: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging plays a key role in investigating early degenerative disorders and traumatic injuries of the glenohumeral cartilages. Subtle morphometric and biochemical changes of potential relevance to clinical diagnosis, treatment planning, and evaluation can be assessed from measurements derived from in vivo MR segmentation of the cartilages. However, segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages, using approaches spanning manual to automated methods, is technically challenging, due to their thin, curved structure and overlapping intensities of surrounding tissues. Automatic segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages from MR imaging is not at the same level compared to the weight-bearing knee and hip joint cartilages despite the potential applications with respect to clinical investigation of shoulder disorders. In this work, the authors present a fully automated segmentation method for the glenohumeral cartilages using MR images of healthy shoulders. Methods: The method involves automated segmentation of the humerus and scapula bones using 3D active shape models, the extraction of the expected bone–cartilage interface, and cartilage segmentation using a graph-based method. The cartilage segmentation uses localization, patient specific tissue estimation, and a model of the cartilage thickness variation. The accuracy of this method was experimentally validated using a leave-one-out scheme on a database of MR images acquired from 44 asymptomatic subjects with a true fast imaging with steady state precession sequence on a 3 T scanner (Siemens Trio) using a dedicated shoulder coil. The automated results were compared to manual segmentations from two experts (an experienced radiographer and an experienced musculoskeletal anatomist) using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and mean absolute surface distance (MASD) metrics. Results: Accurate and precise bone segmentations were achieved with mean DSC of 0.98 and 0.93 for the humeral head

Automatic segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages from magnetic resonance images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neubert, A., E-mail: ales.neubert@csiro.au [School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia and The Australian E-Health Research Centre, CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Brisbane 4029 (Australia); Yang, Z. [School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia and Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Engstrom, C. [School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 (Australia); Xia, Y.; Strudwick, M. W.; Chandra, S. S.; Crozier, S. [School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 (Australia); Fripp, J. [The Australian E-Health Research Centre, CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Brisbane, 4029 (Australia)

2016-10-15

Purpose: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging plays a key role in investigating early degenerative disorders and traumatic injuries of the glenohumeral cartilages. Subtle morphometric and biochemical changes of potential relevance to clinical diagnosis, treatment planning, and evaluation can be assessed from measurements derived from in vivo MR segmentation of the cartilages. However, segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages, using approaches spanning manual to automated methods, is technically challenging, due to their thin, curved structure and overlapping intensities of surrounding tissues. Automatic segmentation of the glenohumeral cartilages from MR imaging is not at the same level compared to the weight-bearing knee and hip joint cartilages despite the potential applications with respect to clinical investigation of shoulder disorders. In this work, the authors present a fully automated segmentation method for the glenohumeral cartilages using MR images of healthy shoulders. Methods: The method involves automated segmentation of the humerus and scapula bones using 3D active shape models, the extraction of the expected bone–cartilage interface, and cartilage segmentation using a graph-based method. The cartilage segmentation uses localization, patient specific tissue estimation, and a model of the cartilage thickness variation. The accuracy of this method was experimentally validated using a leave-one-out scheme on a database of MR images acquired from 44 asymptomatic subjects with a true fast imaging with steady state precession sequence on a 3 T scanner (Siemens Trio) using a dedicated shoulder coil. The automated results were compared to manual segmentations from two experts (an experienced radiographer and an experienced musculoskeletal anatomist) using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and mean absolute surface distance (MASD) metrics. Results: Accurate and precise bone segmentations were achieved with mean DSC of 0.98 and 0.93 for the humeral head

43 CFR 46.445 - Preparing a legislative environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 Environmental Impact Statements § 46.445 Preparing a legislative environmental impact statement. When required under 40 CFR 1506.8, the Department must ensure that a legislative environmental impact statement is included as a part of the formal...

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

Fr. Ikenga

NAUJILJ 9 (2) 2018. Page | 133 ... Keywords: Executive appointments, Legislative approval, National Assembly, Constitutional duty. 1. ... Representatives is led by a Speaker.6 The election of the leadership of the senate is entirely the affair of.

FORENSIC DNA BANKING LEGISLATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY CONCERNS REGARDING A DRAFT FROM TURKISH LEGISLATION.

Science.gov (United States)

Ilgili, Önder; Arda, Berna

This paper presents and analyses, in terms of privacy and confidentiality, the Turkish Draft Law on National DNA Database prepared in 2004, and concerning the use of DNA analysis for forensic objectives and identity verification in Turkey. After a short introduction including related concepts, we evaluate the draft law and provide articles about confidentiality. The evaluation reminded us of some important topics at international level for the developing countries. As a result, the need for sophisticated legislations about DNA databases, for solutions to issues related to the education of employees, and the technological dependency to other countries emerged as main challenges in terms of confidentiality for the developing countries. As seen in the Turkish Draft Law on National DNA Database, the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms requires more care during the legislative efforts.

Segmentation Technique for Image Indexing and Retrieval on Discrete Cosines Domain

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Suhendro Yusuf Irianto

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper uses region growing segmentation technique to segment the Discrete Cosines (DC  image. The problem of content Based image retrieval (CBIR is the luck of accuracy in matching between image query and image in the database as it matches object and background in the same time.   This the reason previous CBIR techniques inaccurate and time consuming. The CBIR   based on the segmented region proposed in this work  separates object from background as CBIR need only match the object not the background.  By using region growing technique on DC image, it reduces the number of image       regions.    The proposed of recursive region growing is not new technique but its application on DC images to build    indexing keys is quite new and not yet presented by many     authors. The experimental results show  that the proposed methods on   segmented images present good precision which are higher than 0.60 on all classes . It can be concluded that  region growing segmented based CBIR more efficient    compare to DC images  in term of their precision 0.59 and 0.75, respectively. Moreover,  DC based CBIR  can save time and simplify algorithm compare to DCT images.

Marker-controlled watershed for lymphoma segmentation in sequential CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Jiayong; Zhao Binsheng; Wang, Liang; Zelenetz, Andrew; Schwartz, Lawrence H.

2006-01-01

Segmentation of lymphoma containing lymph nodes is a difficult task because of multiple variables associated with the tumor's location, intensity distribution, and contrast to its surrounding tissues. In this paper, we present a reliable and practical marker-controlled watershed algorithm for semi-automated segmentation of lymphoma in sequential CT images. Robust determination of internal and external markers is the key to successful use of the marker-controlled watershed transform in the segmentation of lymphoma and is the focus of this work. The external marker in our algorithm is the circle enclosing the lymphoma in a single slice. The internal marker, however, is determined automatically by combining techniques including Canny edge detection, thresholding, morphological operation, and distance map estimation. To obtain tumor volume, the segmented lymphoma in the current slice needs to be propagated to the adjacent slice to help determine the external and internal markers for delineation of the lymphoma in that slice. The algorithm was applied to 29 lymphomas (size range, 9-53 mm in diameter; mean, 23 mm) in nine patients. A blinded radiologist manually delineated all lymphomas on all slices. The manual result served as the ''gold standard'' for comparison. Several quantitative methods were applied to objectively evaluate the performance of the segmentation algorithm. The algorithm received a mean overlap, overestimation, and underestimation ratios of 83.2%, 13.5%, and 5.5%, respectively. The mean average boundary distance and Hausdorff boundary distance were 0.7 and 3.7 mm. Preliminary results have shown the potential of this computer algorithm to allow reliable segmentation and quantification of lymphomas on sequential CT images

Research on a Pulmonary Nodule Segmentation Method Combining Fast Self-Adaptive FCM and Classification

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Hui Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The key problem of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD of lung cancer is to segment pathologically changed tissues fast and accurately. As pulmonary nodules are potential manifestation of lung cancer, we propose a fast and self-adaptive pulmonary nodules segmentation method based on a combination of FCM clustering and classification learning. The enhanced spatial function considers contributions to fuzzy membership from both the grayscale similarity between central pixels and single neighboring pixels and the spatial similarity between central pixels and neighborhood and improves effectively the convergence rate and self-adaptivity of the algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve more accurate segmentation of vascular adhesion, pleural adhesion, and ground glass opacity (GGO pulmonary nodules than other typical algorithms.

Comparative impact of smoke-free legislation on smoking cessation in three European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nagelhout, G.E.; de Vries, H.; Boudreau, C.; Allwright, S.; McNeill, A.; van den Putte, B.; Fong, G.T.; Willemsen, M.C.

2012-01-01

Background: Little is known about the differential impact of comprehensive and partial smoke-free legislation on smoking cessation. This study aimed to examine the impact of comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation in Ireland and England, and partial hospitality industry legislation in the

O PARAÍSO KEY WEST – UMA VISÃO DE SEGMENTAÇÃO DE MERCADO

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Myriam de Andrade Caminha Costa

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Society each time more, needs mechanisms to surpass problems and limitations. One understands that the world-wide tourism if characterizes for possessing great capacity of adaptation and segmentation of markets, on the basis of the dynamic of estruturação of new products and also in new consuming markets. The Tourism constitutes a economic activity that promotes one of the biggest factors of development. Key West it is the last Florida island Keys - joint of islands to the south of the Flowery one - Been Joined. The natural beauty of these islands forms a great tourist polar region. Key West had its economy shaken for the weakness of the commerce of the cigar, the sponges and the withdrawal of the Armed Forces; the tourism redirected its economy. Tourism Single it is a segmentation of market of the tourism that encloses some interfaces, such as: ecological tourism, of adventure, GLBT, cultural, among others. Key West for its ample gamma of performance, can be seen as a lesson of integration between cultures, social tolerance, ambient conscience and sustentabilidade.

Waterpipe tobacco smoking legislation and policy enactment: a global analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jawad, Mohammed; El Kadi, Lama; Mugharbil, Sanaa; Nakkash, Rima

2015-03-01

(1) To review how current global tobacco control policies address regulation of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS). (2) To identify features associated with enactment and enforcement of WTS legislation. (1) Legislations compiled by Tobacco Control Laws (www.tobaccocontrollaws.org). (2) Weekly news articles by 'Google Alerts' (www.google.com/alerts) from July 2013 to August 2014. (1) Countries containing legislative reviews, written by legal experts, were included. Countries prohibiting tobacco sales were excluded. (2) News articles discussing aspects of the WHO FCTC were included. News articles related to electronic-waterpipe, crime, smuggling, opinion pieces or brief mentions of WTS were excluded. (1) Two reviewers independently abstracted the definition of "tobacco product" and/or "smoking". Four tobacco control domains (smokefree law, misleading descriptors, health warning labels and advertising/promotion/sponsorship) were assigned one of four categories based on the degree to which WTS had specific legislation. (2) Two investigators independently assigned at least one theme and associated subtheme to each news article. (1) Reviewed legislations of 62 countries showed that most do not address WTS regulation but instead rely on generic tobacco/smoking definitions to cover all tobacco products. Where WTS was specifically addressed, no additional legislative guidance accounted for the unique way it is smoked, except for in one country specifying health warnings on waterpipe apparatuses (2) News articles mainly reported on noncompliance with public smoking bans, especially in India, Pakistan and the UK. A regulatory framework evaluated for effectiveness and tailored for the specificities of WTS needs to be developed. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Trends in trace element emission legislation - an international overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sloss, L.L.

2003-07-01

Emissions of trace elements have decreased for a variety of reasons in many developed countries. However, the application of more successful control strategies in other industry sectors means that coal combustion is still a relatively important source of some trace elements, especially mercury. International and national legislation is increasingly being applied to trace element emissions. International programmes for trace element reduction are generally in the form of voluntary action plans with recommendations and targets for reduction. National legislation in Europe is commonly in the form of emission limits for specific sources. New legislation in the USA may take the form of best available technology or a minimum emission reduction requirement. It is also possible that mercury could be included in multi-pollutant emissions trading schemes. 52 refs., 4 tabs.

A workflow for the automatic segmentation of organelles in electron microscopy image stacks

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Alex J.; Seyedhosseini, Mojtaba; Deerinck, Thomas J.; Bushong, Eric A.; Panda, Satchidananda; Tasdizen, Tolga; Ellisman, Mark H.

2014-01-01

Electron microscopy (EM) facilitates analysis of the form, distribution, and functional status of key organelle systems in various pathological processes, including those associated with neurodegenerative disease. Such EM data often provide important new insights into the underlying disease mechanisms. The development of more accurate and efficient methods to quantify changes in subcellular microanatomy has already proven key to understanding the pathogenesis of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, as well as glaucoma. While our ability to acquire large volumes of 3D EM data is progressing rapidly, more advanced analysis tools are needed to assist in measuring precise three-dimensional morphologies of organelles within data sets that can include hundreds to thousands of whole cells. Although new imaging instrument throughputs can exceed teravoxels of data per day, image segmentation and analysis remain significant bottlenecks to achieving quantitative descriptions of whole cell structural organellomes. Here, we present a novel method for the automatic segmentation of organelles in 3D EM image stacks. Segmentations are generated using only 2D image information, making the method suitable for anisotropic imaging techniques such as serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM). Additionally, no assumptions about 3D organelle morphology are made, ensuring the method can be easily expanded to any number of structurally and functionally diverse organelles. Following the presentation of our algorithm, we validate its performance by assessing the segmentation accuracy of different organelle targets in an example SBEM dataset and demonstrate that it can be efficiently parallelized on supercomputing resources, resulting in a dramatic reduction in runtime. PMID:25426032

LEGISLATIVE ASPECTS CONCERNING THE LEATHER WASTES

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TIMOFTE Claudia Simona

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper underlines the current legislation and compliance issues leather waste in different waste groups according to relevant legislation and shows that, although seemingly harmless waste of skin sometimes contain dangerous compounds. As presented risks to human health were some restricted substances in leather. Since 2001 Romania had preoccupation in national legislation on waste management, but some categories, such as leather waste are not framed to this category. Also, another goal is implementing the EU management/storage strategy of industrial waste. Unfortunately, Romania imports huge quantities of used clothing and shoes. Transport, storage and use of them are poor, and many of these are subsequently stored waste by the fact that it is even sometimes improperly discarded. The paper also shows the statistics on waste management in the Bihor County by activity of national economy and by activity of industry at level of CANE REV.2 Section. Analyzing the postings on Internet regarding the sale and purchase of leather wastes in Romania, it was found that there are the following 'categories' of wastes: leather goods, leather from coats, leather from footwear industry, suede, leather, leather resulting from the production of upholstery. It was found that most car buyers use waste leather upholstery. It is recommended that production companies to highlight more transparent their inventory textile and leather waste on types for those interested (including online can access/capitalize them.

On the importance of FIB-SEM specific segmentation algorithms for porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salzer, Martin, E-mail: martin.salzer@uni-ulm.de [Institute of Stochastics, Faculty of Mathematics and Economics, Ulm University, D-89069 Ulm (Germany); Thiele, Simon, E-mail: simon.thiele@imtek.uni-freiburg.de [Laboratory for MEMS Applications, IMTEK, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, D-79110 Freiburg (Germany); Zengerle, Roland, E-mail: zengerle@imtek.uni-freiburg.de [Laboratory for MEMS Applications, IMTEK, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, D-79110 Freiburg (Germany); Schmidt, Volker, E-mail: volker.schmidt@uni-ulm.de [Institute of Stochastics, Faculty of Mathematics and Economics, Ulm University, D-89069 Ulm (Germany)

2014-09-15

A new algorithmic approach to segmentation of highly porous three dimensional image data gained by focused ion beam tomography is described which extends the key-principle of local threshold backpropagation described in Salzer et al. (2012). The technique of focused ion beam tomography has shown to be capable of imaging the microstructure of functional materials. In order to perform a quantitative analysis on the corresponding microstructure a segmentation task needs to be performed. However, algorithmic segmentation of images obtained with focused ion beam tomography is a challenging problem for highly porous materials if filling the pore phase, e.g. with epoxy resin, is difficult. The gray intensities of individual voxels are not sufficient to determine the phase represented by them and usual thresholding methods are not applicable. We thus propose a new approach to segmentation that pays respect to the specifics of the imaging process of focused ion beam tomography. As an application of our approach, the segmentation of three dimensional images for a cathode material used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is discussed. We show that our approach preserves significantly more of the original nanostructure than a thresholding approach. - Highlights: • We describe a new approach to the segmentation of FIB-SEM images of porous media. • The first and last occurrences of structures are detected by analysing the z-profiles. • The algorithm is validated by comparing it to a manual segmentation. • The new approach shows significantly less artifacts than a thresholding approach. • A structural analysis also shows improved results for the obtained microstructure.

Game Theory and Educational Policy: Private Education Legislation in China

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Wing-Wah; Pan, Su-Yan

2009-01-01

This article presents a game theory analysis of legislating private education in China, based on set of primary and secondary documents related to this issue. The article argues that shaping educational legislation is a dynamic, repeated game of negotiation, cooperation, and/or competition on multiple occasions among various interested actors,…

No let-up in transport legislation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gutteridge, J M

1978-02-01

A discussion covers problems connected with the change from the current U.K. road transport legislation based on the 1968 U.K. Transport Act to the European Economic Community transport rules, which will go in effect Jan. 1 1978, with a three-year adjustment period, including the shortening of the drivers' working day from 10 to 8 hr with a four-hour limit of continuous driving, and 48 hr weekly and 92 hr fortnightly driving limits; the 450 km/day distance limit for drivers of articulate vehicles and vehicles exceeding 20 tons gross (except where a tachograph is used); new system of driver's license categories and professional competence examinations; proposed new taxation rules; and a special legislation for dangerous loads, e.g., for oil transport, including the mandatory use of hazard information marking of road tanks and the expected additional licensing of drivers.

GHG legislation: Lessons from Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, W.M.; Lee, Grace W.M.

2009-01-01

Taiwan has drafted a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Bill in 2006, which is currently undergoing the legislative process in the Congress. The purpose of this study is to reexamine the legal framework and contents of this Bill, evaluate potential problems and propose recommendations. This study advocates that setting the GHG reduction targets should be settled in this Bill. In addition, based on the analysis of international experiences, it is recommenced that emissions trading scheme in the Bill should be focused on large emission sources and the share of allowance auction should be increased to reduce gratis allocation. Furthermore, from the calculation results based on the long-range energy alternative planning (LEAP) model, a conflict is observed for the existing energy policy and GHG reduction efforts in Taiwan. That is, coal-burning power plants will be the most important source of energy for Taiwan in the future. In order to reduce this conflict, the authors have recommended that the Bill should also be integrated with other relevant existing legislation to achieve a complementary effect.

MITK-based segmentation of co-registered MRI for subject-related regional anesthesia simulation

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Teich, Christian; Liao, Wei; Ullrich, Sebastian; Kuhlen, Torsten; Ntouba, Alexandre; Rossaint, Rolf; Ullisch, Marcus; Deserno, Thomas M.

2008-03-01

With a steadily increasing indication, regional anesthesia is still trained directly on the patient. To develop a virtual reality (VR)-based simulation, a patient model is needed containing several tissues, which have to be extracted from individual magnet resonance imaging (MRI) volume datasets. Due to the given modality and the different characteristics of the single tissues, an adequate segmentation can only be achieved by using a combination of segmentation algorithms. In this paper, we present a framework for creating an individual model from MRI scans of the patient. Our work splits in two parts. At first, an easy-to-use and extensible tool for handling the segmentation task on arbitrary datasets is provided. The key idea is to let the user create a segmentation for the given subject by running different processing steps in a purposive order and store them in a segmentation script for reuse on new datasets. For data handling and visualization, we utilize the Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK), which is based on the Visualization Toolkit (VTK) and the Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK). The second part is to find suitable segmentation algorithms and respectively parameters for differentiating the tissues required by the RA simulation. For this purpose, a fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm combined with mathematical morphology operators and a geometric active contour-based approach is chosen. The segmentation process itself aims at operating with minimal user interaction, and the gained model fits the requirements of the simulation. First results are shown for both, male and female MRI of the pelvis.

Automatic segmentation of the lateral geniculate nucleus: Application to control and glaucoma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jieqiong; Miao, Wen; Li, Jing; Li, Meng; Zhen, Zonglei; Sabel, Bernhard; Xian, Junfang; He, Huiguang

2015-11-30

The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is a key relay center of the visual system. Because the LGN morphology is affected by different diseases, it is of interest to analyze its morphology by segmentation. However, existing LGN segmentation methods are non-automatic, inefficient and prone to experimenters' bias. To address these problems, we proposed an automatic LGN segmentation algorithm based on T1-weighted imaging. First, the prior information of LGN was used to create a prior mask. Then region growing was applied to delineate LGN. We evaluated this automatic LGN segmentation method by (1) comparison with manually segmented LGN, (2) anatomically locating LGN in the visual system via LGN-based tractography, (3) application to control and glaucoma patients. The similarity coefficients of automatic segmented LGN and manually segmented one are 0.72 (0.06) for the left LGN and 0.77 (0.07) for the right LGN. LGN-based tractography shows the subcortical pathway seeding from LGN passes the optic tract and also reaches V1 through the optic radiation, which is consistent with the LGN location in the visual system. In addition, LGN asymmetry as well as LGN atrophy along with age is observed in normal controls. The investigation of glaucoma effects on LGN volumes demonstrates that the bilateral LGN volumes shrink in patients. The automatic LGN segmentation is objective, efficient, valid and applicable. Experiment results proved the validity and applicability of the algorithm. Our method will speed up the research on visual system and greatly enhance studies of different vision-related diseases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Turkish nuclear legislation: Developments for a nuclear newcomer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ercan, Erinc; Schneider, Horst

2013-01-01

The scope of legal investigation in this article focuses on nuclear legislation with regard to siting, construction, operation and decommissioning of NPPs, taking into account the main issues of nuclear safety, security, safeguards, radiological protection and nuclear third party liability. The state of existing legislation and, furthermore, of drafts published or announced related to substantive regulations and organisational aspects are at the centre of this article. International conventions and agreements, national legislation consisting of the constitution, laws, decrees and regulations as binding norms and otherwise, directives and non-binding guides provide the legal structure for nuclear activities. The evaluation of Turkish nuclear legislation with regard to the accomplishment of the obligations under, in particular, the CNS and Euratom directives, leads finally to the perspective on the specific issues that should be addressed in the regulation of nuclear energy for Turkey's future energy needs and to ensure conformity with international standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). A brief discussion of Turkish energy legislation and institutional structure is necessary, because NPPs also need a licence for electricity production under Turkey's energy legislation. The Turkish government is aiming for greater privatisation in the energy sector. The current electricity market is governed, on the one hand, by the Electricity Market Law and Electricity Market License Regulation, which requires NPPs to have an electricity production licence and, on the other hand, by specific institutions. In terms of the Electricity Market Law, private legal entities who wish to obtain an electricity generation licence must 'be established as incorporated or limited liability companies in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Law'. The relevant institutions in Turkey's energy sector include: the Energy

Legislative Framework for Landscape Planning in Latvia

Science.gov (United States)

Nitavska, Natalija; Zigmunde, Daiga

2017-10-01

With the adoption and the ratification of the European Landscape Convention a legally justified need for a clear landscape policy was grounded in the European countries. It includes the elaboration of the new and the improvement of the existing legislative documents on landscape planning, protection and management. The aim of the particular study is to analyse the existing legislative documents in Latvia influencing landscape planning on different scales / and the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. The study emphasizes the complex structure of the Latvian legislative framework affected by the distribution of the normative documents under the various ministries. Therefore, the main problem is unclear responsibility levels and organizational system for solving the issues regarding landscape planning, protection and management. Thus the various discussions between the involved disciplines and responsible institutions are arising. Two groups of the legislative documents influencing the implementation of the landscape policy in Latvia are detected within the study. The first group is strategic documents determining main landscape planning principles and directions at European, national, regional and professional or sectoral level. The second group is operational documents providing a set of actions for the landscape planning, protection and management at the local or the municipality level. The study concludes that operational documents developed by the municipalities are in high importance because of their direct influence on the landscape planning in Latvia. This often leads to the different landscape planning requirements included in the normative documents of the neighbouring municipalities, although the spatial and ecological borders of the visual landscape do not fit with the formal borders of the municipalities. Thus, it is essential to develop the common principles and actions that would be incumbent on all municipalities to provide the

Legislative developments in radioactive materials transportation, April 1993--August 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, J.B.; Cummins, J.

1993-09-01

This is the seventh report prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on developments in radioactive materials transportation. It updates information contained in the April 1993 report on Legislative Developments in Radioactive Materials Transportation and describes activities for the period April 1, 1993--August 31, 1993. NCSL currently is updating an on-line data base that contains abstracts of federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the transportation of radioactive materials. The data base will be operated by NCSL under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Limited availability of on-line capability is anticipated by the end of 1993. Users approved by DOE and NCSL will have access to the data base. A copy of any legislation listed in this report can be obtained by contacting the people listed below. This report contains the current status of legislation introduced in the 1993 state legislative sessions, not previously reviewed in past reports. Bills that address nuclear materials transportation and the broader area of hazardous materials transportation are grouped by state according to their status--enacted, pending or failed. In addition, bills that deal with emergency preparedness are described. (General nuclear waste legislation with no transportation element is no longer tracked.) Also included are Federal Register notices pertinent to radioactive waste and hazardous materials transportation

Identification of key target markets for intermodal freight transport solutions in South Africa

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Joubert van Eeden

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA identified South Africa's freight logistics challenges as among the key binding constraints on the country's growth aspirations. The research presented here points to the structural imbalance between road and rail freight transport as one of the key contributors to this state of affairs. Most long-distance corridor transport has been captured by road. However, long-distance transport is a market segment that is very suitable for intermodal transportation : rail is utilised for the high-density, long-distance component and road for the feeder and distribution services at the corridor end points. A market segmentation approach is developed to identify the corridors and industries that are natural candidates for such solutions, thereby paving the way for role-players and stakeholders to initiate a dialogue on the development of appropriate solutions.

Key to marine arthropod larvae

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John A. Fornshell

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The scope of this key is restricted to the larvae of marine arthropods. The key is based solely on their morphology, patterns of body segmentation, numbers of appendages, and mode of locomotion. An effort has been made to treat all traditionally named larval forms, both planktonic and benthic. It is intended that this key be useful for a researcher working with archived museum specimens and therefore, does not include habitat information as a identifying trait, even though this information is usually available in the archived records. Within the phylum Arthropoda there are two sub-phyla and eleven classes having larval stages in the marineenvironment. Where feasible the original names of the various larval types have been used. Because this nomenclature is less commonly used today compared to the past, the more recent taxonomic affinities are included in parentheses after the original larval name. The key includes the following thirty-four larvae: Branchhiopoda nauplii; Cephalocarida nauplii; Mystacocarida nauplii; trilobite larva; protonymphon; hexapod larvae; Remipedia nauplii; nauplius - Y larvae; Cirripedia nauplii; Ascothoracida nauplii; Ostracoda nauplii; Euphausiacea nauplii; Penaeidea nauplii; Cyclopoida nauplii; Calanoida nauplii; Harpacticoida nauplii;Polyarthra nauplii; cypris larva; eryonecius larva; cypris-Y larva; elapthocaris larvae; mysis larvae; lucifer zoea; acetes zoea; acanthosoma larva; phyllosoma; antizoea larva; anomuran zoea; brachyuran zoea; calyptopis larvae; furcilia larva; crytopia larva; puerulus larva; alima larva.

Deformable meshes for medical image segmentation accurate automatic segmentation of anatomical structures

CERN Document Server

Kainmueller, Dagmar

2014-01-01

? Segmentation of anatomical structures in medical image data is an essential task in clinical practice. Dagmar Kainmueller introduces methods for accurate fully automatic segmentation of anatomical structures in 3D medical image data. The author's core methodological contribution is a novel deformation model that overcomes limitations of state-of-the-art Deformable Surface approaches, hence allowing for accurate segmentation of tip- and ridge-shaped features of anatomical structures. As for practical contributions, she proposes application-specific segmentation pipelines for a range of anatom

Legislation on and regulation of nuclear activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-05-01

This work is a compilation of legislative texts and regulations published by the Atomic Energy Commission's Legal Affairs Department (CEA). It provides a comprehensive source of knowledge and information on nuclear energy law. Legislative texts published over the last forty years, are collected and analytically indexed. The publication covers both French regulations and regulations of international organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and Euratom. It is divided into eight different chapters, dealing with regulations relevant to international and national institutions, nuclear installations, third party liability, protection of persons and the environment, etc. A chronological table of the texts of international and national laws is also included in this work. (NEA) [fr

Real-Time Adaptive Foreground/Background Segmentation

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Sridha Sridharan

2005-08-01

Full Text Available The automatic analysis of digital video scenes often requires the segmentation of moving objects from a static background. Historically, algorithms developed for this purpose have been restricted to small frame sizes, low frame rates, or offline processing. The simplest approach involves subtracting the current frame from the known background. However, as the background is rarely known beforehand, the key is how to learn and model it. This paper proposes a new algorithm that represents each pixel in the frame by a group of clusters. The clusters are sorted in order of the likelihood that they model the background and are adapted to deal with background and lighting variations. Incoming pixels are matched against the corresponding cluster group and are classified according to whether the matching cluster is considered part of the background. The algorithm has been qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated against three other well-known techniques. It demonstrated equal or better segmentation and proved capable of processing 320×240 PAL video at full frame rate using only 35%–40% of a 1.8 GHz Pentium 4 computer.

New Legislation on Capitol Hill

Science.gov (United States)

Wertman, John

2016-01-01

In this brief article, John Wertman describes the evolution of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the role the American Association of Geographers (AAG) played over the last decade in getting it passed, and the impact the Act has on funding for K-12 geography education. The legislation, while not perfect, includes promising new…

The Impact of FEP Legislation

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Arvil

1975-01-01

This testimony, before a public hearing of the New York City Commission on Human Rights in May 1974, had three express focuses: (1) on urban poverty among blacks in the non-south; (2) on the enforcement of Fair Employment Practice (FEP) legislation and its effect on the economic position of blacks and other minority groups; and, (3) on guidelines…

Information Extraction of High Resolution Remote Sensing Images Based on the Calculation of Optimal Segmentation Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hongchun; Cai, Lijie; Liu, Haiying; Huang, Wei

2016-01-01

Multi-scale image segmentation and the selection of optimal segmentation parameters are the key processes in the object-oriented information extraction of high-resolution remote sensing images. The accuracy of remote sensing special subject information depends on this extraction. On the basis of WorldView-2 high-resolution data, the optimal segmentation parameters methodof object-oriented image segmentation and high-resolution image information extraction, the following processes were conducted in this study. Firstly, the best combination of the bands and weights was determined for the information extraction of high-resolution remote sensing image. An improved weighted mean-variance method was proposed andused to calculatethe optimal segmentation scale. Thereafter, the best shape factor parameter and compact factor parameters were computed with the use of the control variables and the combination of the heterogeneity and homogeneity indexes. Different types of image segmentation parameters were obtained according to the surface features. The high-resolution remote sensing images were multi-scale segmented with the optimal segmentation parameters. Ahierarchical network structure was established by setting the information extraction rules to achieve object-oriented information extraction. This study presents an effective and practical method that can explain expert input judgment by reproducible quantitative measurements. Furthermore the results of this procedure may be incorporated into a classification scheme. PMID:27362762

One size (never) fits all: segment differences observed following a school-based alcohol social marketing program.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietrich, Timo; Rundle-Thiele, Sharyn; Leo, Cheryl; Connor, Jason

2015-04-01

According to commercial marketing theory, a market orientation leads to improved performance. Drawing on the social marketing principles of segmentation and audience research, the current study seeks to identify segments to examine responses to a school-based alcohol social marketing program. A sample of 371 year 10 students (aged: 14-16 years; 51.4% boys) participated in a prospective (pre-post) multisite alcohol social marketing program. Game On: Know Alcohol (GO:KA) program included 6, student-centered, and interactive lessons to teach adolescents about alcohol and strategies to abstain or moderate drinking. A repeated measures design was used. Baseline demographics, drinking attitudes, drinking intentions, and alcohol knowledge were cluster analyzed to identify segments. Change on key program outcome measures and satisfaction with program components were assessed by segment. Three segments were identified; (1) Skeptics, (2) Risky Males, (3) Good Females. Segments 2 and 3 showed greatest change in drinking attitudes and intentions. Good Females reported highest satisfaction with all program components and Skeptics lowest program satisfaction with all program components. Three segments, each differing on psychographic and demographic variables, exhibited different change patterns following participation in GO:KA. Post hoc analysis identified that satisfaction with program components differed by segment offering opportunities for further research. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Greater gains from smoke-free legislation for non-smoking bar staff in Belfast.

Science.gov (United States)

Bannon, Finian; Devlin, Anne; McElwee, Gerry; Gavin, Anna

2009-12-01

In April 2007, smoke-free legislation was enacted in workplaces throughout N. Ireland. The effects of this legislation on bar workers' health and their exposure to second-hand smoke at home, work and social environment, and their attitudes to the legislation before and after its implementation remain to be documented. A self-completed questionnaire of bar staff in 35 Belfast bars, before (March 2007, n = 110) and after the legislation (July 2007, n = 110). Smokers (excluding 'social smokers') made up 41.6% of respondents. After the introduction of the smoke-free legislation, the reductions in the proportion of bar workers reporting various respiratory symptoms ranged from 1.3% to 18.6% for smokers and from 21.9% to 33.2% for non-smokers. Likewise, the reductions for various sensory symptoms ranged from 7.3% to 17.7% for smokers and from 29.6% to 46.8% for non-smokers. Reduction in wheeze, cough and throat symptoms after the legislation were much greater for non-smokers than smokers. The proportion of bar staff who reported satisfaction with the legislation remained unchanged across the surveys. Decreases in perceived exposure to second-hand smoke occurred at work, home and in social settings. After the legislation's enactment, a majority of bar workers felt the workplace was healthier (98%). These first findings show reduced reported symptoms among bar workers, both smokers and non-smokers, after the introduction of smoke-free legislation in N. Ireland, though greater among non-smokers. There was also a reported fall in the hours of second-hand smoke exposure in the home for this group of workers which has a high prevalence of smokers.

Speaker segmentation and clustering

OpenAIRE

Kotti, M; Moschou, V; Kotropoulos, C

2008-01-01

07.08.13 KB. Ok to add the accepted version to Spiral, Elsevier says ok whlile mandate not enforced. This survey focuses on two challenging speech processing topics, namely: speaker segmentation and speaker clustering. Speaker segmentation aims at finding speaker change points in an audio stream, whereas speaker clustering aims at grouping speech segments based on speaker characteristics. Model-based, metric-based, and hybrid speaker segmentation algorithms are reviewed. Concerning speaker...

Lessons in Commercial PACE Leadership: The Path from Legislation to Launch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leventis, G; Schwartz, LC; Kramer, C; Deason, J

2018-02-27

arrived at the following key takeaways for state and local leaders: Enabling legislation: Carefully developed enabling legislation (which includes certain key provisions) and early stakeholder input can greatly improve the chances of program success. Options for program administrative structure: At least four program administrative structures are in use; certain administrative structures inherently result in more standardized product offerings and, potentially, economies of scale. Approaches to program and project capitalization: Two approaches to capitalization have been used. Bonding (project capital is raised through a bond sale) and direct funding (capital providers fund projects directly); programs can rely on one capital provider (a closed market) or allow multiple capital providers to participate (an open market). What and who qualifies for the program: Some programs require a minimum project savings-to-investment ratio; other programs encourage it or are indifferent. Estimating and documenting project energy cost saving: Estimating and documenting energy and cost savings can add costs to projects but also demonstrate C-PACE program value. Stakeholder engagement: Key stakeholder groups to engage include community leaders, local governments, building owners, contractors, utilities, capital providers and mortgage holders; stakeholder engagement should be tailored to each particular group. Start-up and ongoing costs: Understanding set-up and ongoing costs can help program sponsors plan for funding C-PACE programs and projects. The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs funded the report.

Documentation of Accounting Records in Light of Legislative Innovations

OpenAIRE

K. V. BEZVERKHIY

2017-01-01

Legislative reforms in accounting aim to simplify accounting records and compilation of financial reports by business entities, thus increasing the position of Ukraine in the global ranking of Doing Business. This simplification is implied in the changes in the Regulation on Documentation of Accounting Records, entered into force to the Resolution of the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance. The objective of the study is to analyze the legislative innovations involved. The review of changes in docum...

Segmentation of the Infant Food Market

OpenAIRE

Hrůzová, Daniela

2015-01-01

The theoretical part covers general market segmentation, namely the marketing importance of differences among consumers, the essence of market segmentation, its main conditions and the process of segmentation, which consists of four consecutive phases - defining the market, determining important criteria, uncovering segments and developing segment profiles. The segmentation criteria, segmentation approaches, methods and techniques for the process of market segmentation are also described in t...

Pancreas and cyst segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Dmitriev, Konstantin; Gutenko, Ievgeniia; Nadeem, Saad; Kaufman, Arie

2016-03-01

Accurate segmentation of abdominal organs from medical images is an essential part of surgical planning and computer-aided disease diagnosis. Many existing algorithms are specialized for the segmentation of healthy organs. Cystic pancreas segmentation is especially challenging due to its low contrast boundaries, variability in shape, location and the stage of the pancreatic cancer. We present a semi-automatic segmentation algorithm for pancreata with cysts. In contrast to existing automatic segmentation approaches for healthy pancreas segmentation which are amenable to atlas/statistical shape approaches, a pancreas with cysts can have even higher variability with respect to the shape of the pancreas due to the size and shape of the cyst(s). Hence, fine results are better attained with semi-automatic steerable approaches. We use a novel combination of random walker and region growing approaches to delineate the boundaries of the pancreas and cysts with respective best Dice coefficients of 85.1% and 86.7%, and respective best volumetric overlap errors of 26.0% and 23.5%. Results show that the proposed algorithm for pancreas and pancreatic cyst segmentation is accurate and stable.

Phasing multi-segment undulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chavanne, J.; Elleaume, P.; Vaerenbergh, P. Van

1996-01-01

An important issue in the manufacture of multi-segment undulators as a source of synchrotron radiation or as a free-electron laser (FEL) is the phasing between successive segments. The state of the art is briefly reviewed, after which a novel pure permanent magnet phasing section that is passive and does not require any current is presented. The phasing section allows the introduction of a 6 mm longitudinal gap between each segment, resulting in complete mechanical independence and reduced magnetic interaction between segments. The tolerance of the longitudinal positioning of one segment with respect to the next is found to be 2.8 times lower than that of conventional phasing. The spectrum at all gaps and useful harmonics is almost unchanged when compared with a single-segment undulator of the same total length. (au) 3 refs

Federal/State Radiation Control Legislation, 1974

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, L.A.

1975-07-01

A review is presented of Federal and State radiation control legislation for calendar year 1974, in Federal-State, subject, and status order. A brief description of each bill introduced in 1974 is included, plus existing laws or statutes governing radiation control. (auth)

FRAMEWORK FOR COMPARING SEGMENTATION ALGORITHMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Sithole

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The notion of a ‘Best’ segmentation does not exist. A segmentation algorithm is chosen based on the features it yields, the properties of the segments (point sets it generates, and the complexity of its algorithm. The segmentation is then assessed based on a variety of metrics such as homogeneity, heterogeneity, fragmentation, etc. Even after an algorithm is chosen its performance is still uncertain because the landscape/scenarios represented in a point cloud have a strong influence on the eventual segmentation. Thus selecting an appropriate segmentation algorithm is a process of trial and error. Automating the selection of segmentation algorithms and their parameters first requires methods to evaluate segmentations. Three common approaches for evaluating segmentation algorithms are ‘goodness methods’, ‘discrepancy methods’ and ‘benchmarks’. Benchmarks are considered the most comprehensive method of evaluation. This paper shortcomings in current benchmark methods are identified and a framework is proposed that permits both a visual and numerical evaluation of segmentations for different algorithms, algorithm parameters and evaluation metrics. The concept of the framework is demonstrated on a real point cloud. Current results are promising and suggest that it can be used to predict the performance of segmentation algorithms.

A dorsolateral prefrontal cortex semi-automatic segmenter

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Hakim, Ramsey; Fallon, James; Nain, Delphine; Melonakos, John; Tannenbaum, Allen

2006-03-01

Structural, functional, and clinical studies in schizophrenia have, for several decades, consistently implicated dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex in the etiology of the disease. Functional and structural imaging studies, combined with clinical, psychometric, and genetic analyses in schizophrenia have confirmed the key roles played by the prefrontal cortex and closely linked "prefrontal system" structures such as the striatum, amygdala, mediodorsal thalamus, substantia nigra-ventral tegmental area, and anterior cingulate cortices. The nodal structure of the prefrontal system circuit is the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), or Brodmann area 46, which also appears to be the most commonly studied and cited brain area with respect to schizophrenia. 1, 2, 3, 4 In 1986, Weinberger et. al. tied cerebral blood flow in the DLPFC to schizophrenia.1 In 2001, Perlstein et. al. demonstrated that DLPFC activation is essential for working memory tasks commonly deficient in schizophrenia. 2 More recently, groups have linked morphological changes due to gene deletion and increased DLPFC glutamate concentration to schizophrenia. 3, 4 Despite the experimental and clinical focus on the DLPFC in structural and functional imaging, the variability of the location of this area, differences in opinion on exactly what constitutes DLPFC, and inherent difficulties in segmenting this highly convoluted cortical region have contributed to a lack of widely used standards for manual or semi-automated segmentation programs. Given these implications, we developed a semi-automatic tool to segment the DLPFC from brain MRI scans in a reproducible way to conduct further morphological and statistical studies. The segmenter is based on expert neuroanatomist rules (Fallon-Kindermann rules), inspired by cytoarchitectonic data and reconstructions presented by Rajkowska and Goldman-Rakic. 5 It is semi-automated to provide essential user interactivity. We present our results and provide details on

Occupational radiation protection legislation in Israel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tadmor, J.; Schlesinger, T.; Lemesch, C.

1980-01-01

Various governmental agencies, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and the Israel AEC are responsible for the control of the use of radioactive materials and medical X-ray machines in Israel. Present legislation deals mainly with the legal aspects of the purchase, transport and possession of radioactive materials and the purchase and operation of medical X-ray machines. No legislation refers explicitly to the protection of the worker from ionizing (and non-ionizing) radiation. A special group of experts appointed by the Minister of Labor recently worked out a comprehensive draft law concerning all legal aspects of occupational radiation protection in Israel. Among the main chapters of the draft are: general radiation protection principles, national radiation protection standards, medical supervision of radiation workers, personal monitoring requirements. The present situation with regard to radiation hazard control in Israel and details of the proposed radiation protection law is discussed. (Author)

Why segmentation matters: experience-driven segmentation errors impair “morpheme” learning

Science.gov (United States)

Finn, Amy S.; Hudson Kam, Carla L.

2015-01-01

We ask whether an adult learner’s knowledge of their native language impedes statistical learning in a new language beyond just word segmentation (as previously shown). In particular, we examine the impact of native-language word-form phonotactics on learners’ ability to segment words into their component morphemes and learn phonologically triggered variation of morphemes. We find that learning is impaired when words and component morphemes are structured to conflict with a learner’s native-language phonotactic system, but not when native-language phonotactics do not conflict with morpheme boundaries in the artificial language. A learner’s native-language knowledge can therefore have a cascading impact affecting word segmentation and the morphological variation that relies upon proper segmentation. These results show that getting word segmentation right early in learning is deeply important for learning other aspects of language, even those (morphology) that are known to pose a great difficulty for adult language learners. PMID:25730305

Legislative and regulatory framework of radioactive waste management in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutoiu, D.

2000-01-01

The paper intent is to present an update on the Romanian legislative and regulatory framework in the area of radioactive waste management. Based on the experiences gained by the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control in the past years, the recent legislative initiatives related to the coherent radwaste management policy at the national level are presented. (author)

Segment-Tube: Spatio-Temporal Action Localization in Untrimmed Videos with Per-Frame Segmentation

OpenAIRE

Le Wang; Xuhuan Duan; Qilin Zhang; Zhenxing Niu; Gang Hua; Nanning Zheng

2018-01-01

Inspired by the recent spatio-temporal action localization efforts with tubelets (sequences of bounding boxes), we present a new spatio-temporal action localization detector Segment-tube, which consists of sequences of per-frame segmentation masks. The proposed Segment-tube detector can temporally pinpoint the starting/ending frame of each action category in the presence of preceding/subsequent interference actions in untrimmed videos. Simultaneously, the Segment-tube detector produces per-fr...

Legislators' beliefs on tobacco control policies in Nevada.

Science.gov (United States)

York, Nancy L; Pritsos, Chris A; Gutierrez, Antonio P

2012-02-01

The purpose of this study was to identify Nevada legislators' views on comprehensive smoke-free (SF) policy development. The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act (NCIAA) is a weak law that prohibits smoking in most indoor public places, excluding stand-alone bars and casino gaming areas. Nevada's state senators and assembly members were contacted to participate in the study. A literature review guided modifications of an instrument previously used to measure county-level officials' policy views in Kentucky. Descriptive statistics were conducted for selected variables, while independent t tests and one-way analysis of variance were used to examine differences between various groups. 23 of 63 legislators participated. Even though the majority of officials recognized smoking as a health hazard and nicotine as addictive, there was not overwhelming support for strengthening the NCIAA, raising cigarette excise taxes or providing cessation benefits to citizens. Officials believed that the NCIAA was having a negative economic impact on smaller gaming businesses, but not on the casino industry. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to agree that raising the excise tax by $1 is important for needed state revenues. 63% of legislators believed that they would be persuaded to strengthen the NCIAA regardless of its financial impact on small businesses, if their constituents supported such a move. No other state relies on gaming revenues as much as Nevada. Given that legislators are strongly influenced by their constituents' views, policy advocates need to establish grassroots support for strengthening the current NCIAA and also tobacco control laws in general.

Flexibility in radiation protection legislation -the UK approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beaver, P.F.; Gill, J.R.

1980-01-01

The case for flexibility in the formulation of radiation protection legislation and that for precise invariable requirements which are applicable to all users of ionising radiations are presented. It is asserted that greater participation on the part of persons affected in the shaping of legislation brings with it a commitment to flexibility if consensus is to be achieved. The nature of the participative and consultative processes in the UK is described. The means by which flexibility will be inbuilt into future UK legislation are discussed, taking as examples, three particular areas: a) Notification of use of ionising radiations, where flexibility needs to be introduced to take care of improved knowledge of potential risk, the avoidance of bureaucratic procedures, and the wide variation in practice from one work activity to another; b) The definition of controlled areas, where flexibility is needed to cope with the wide range of potential use situations, yet if controlled areas are to be the route to defining Category A workers, where that flexibility must be restrained to ensure proper categorysation and effective enforcement; c) The criteria for the need to appoint and for the selection of radiation protection advisers where flexibility must be invoked to ensure that any particular task is matched by the quality of the radiation protection adviser concerned. It is concluded that the proposed UK legislation will achieve flexibility where this is appropriate and cost-effective and on the other hand demand adherence to strictly expressed levels of exposure where that is appropriate. (author)

Pulmonary parenchyma segmentation in thin CT image sequences with spectral clustering and geodesic active contour model based on similarity

Science.gov (United States)

He, Nana; Zhang, Xiaolong; Zhao, Juanjuan; Zhao, Huilan; Qiang, Yan

2017-07-01

While the popular thin layer scanning technology of spiral CT has helped to improve diagnoses of lung diseases, the large volumes of scanning images produced by the technology also dramatically increase the load of physicians in lesion detection. Computer-aided diagnosis techniques like lesions segmentation in thin CT sequences have been developed to address this issue, but it remains a challenge to achieve high segmentation efficiency and accuracy without much involvement of human manual intervention. In this paper, we present our research on automated segmentation of lung parenchyma with an improved geodesic active contour model that is geodesic active contour model based on similarity (GACBS). Combining spectral clustering algorithm based on Nystrom (SCN) with GACBS, this algorithm first extracts key image slices, then uses these slices to generate an initial contour of pulmonary parenchyma of un-segmented slices with an interpolation algorithm, and finally segments lung parenchyma of un-segmented slices. Experimental results show that the segmentation results generated by our method are close to what manual segmentation can produce, with an average volume overlap ratio of 91.48%.

National legislative and regulatory activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

This section treats of the following National legislative and regulatory activities: 1 - Australia: General legislation - Bill to amend the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998; 2 - France: General legislation - Law No. 2015-992 of 17 August 2015 on the energy transition for green growth; ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2014; 3 - Germany: Radioactive waste management - First Ordinance to amend the 2005 Gorleben Development Freeze Ordinance (2015); 4 - Greece: Radioactive waste management - Joint Ministerial Decision establishing the national policy on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste; 5 - Lithuania: Nuclear safety and radiological protection - Revised requirements for modifications, Plan for enhancement of nuclear safety, New requirements for the commissioning of nuclear power plants, Revised requirements regulating the provision of information on abnormal events; Radioactive waste management - Revised requirements for acceptance criteria for near surface repository; Nuclear security - Revised requirements for physical protection; 6 - Romania: Licensing and regulatory infrastructure - Government Decision No. 600/2014 for approval of National Nuclear Safety and Security; International co-operation - Government Decision No. 525/2014 for approval of the Co-operation Agreement on the radioactive waste management between the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) and Nuclear Agency and Radioactive Waste (ANDR) Strategy; Memorandum of Understanding for Co-operation and Exchange of Information in Nuclear Regulatory Matters between the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) of Romania and the President of National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) of Poland; Government Decision No. 540/2015 for approval of the Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the People's Republic of China regarding co-operation in the peaceful

Seismic maps foster landmark legislation

Science.gov (United States)

Borcherdt, Roger D.; Brown, Robert B.; Page, Robert A.; Wentworth, Carl M.; Hendley, James W.

1995-01-01

When a powerful earthquake strikes an urban region, damage concentrates not only near the quake's source. Damage can also occur many miles from the source in areas of soft ground. In recent years, scientists have developed ways to identify and map these areas of high seismic hazard. This advance has spurred pioneering legislation to reduce earthquake losses in areas of greatest hazard.

Reflections On Employment Protection Legislation: An International Comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AMINE SAMIR

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In Europe, as in the rest of industrialized countries, reforms of the labour market have generally concerned employment protection legislation (EPL. One of the main missions of this legislation is to insure security for workers, particularly in case of redundancy. The object of this article is to compare the strictness and the degree of rigidity of EPL in two different economies, namely, Canada and France. This choice is justified by the fact that the labour market policies in both countries do not have the same orientation and are based on different ideological references.

Segmentation of dermatoscopic images by frequency domain filtering and k-means clustering algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajab, Maher I

2011-11-01

Since the introduction of epiluminescence microscopy (ELM), image analysis tools have been extended to the field of dermatology, in an attempt to algorithmically reproduce clinical evaluation. Accurate image segmentation of skin lesions is one of the key steps for useful, early and non-invasive diagnosis of coetaneous melanomas. This paper proposes two image segmentation algorithms based on frequency domain processing and k-means clustering/fuzzy k-means clustering. The two methods are capable of segmenting and extracting the true border that reveals the global structure irregularity (indentations and protrusions), which may suggest excessive cell growth or regression of a melanoma. As a pre-processing step, Fourier low-pass filtering is applied to reduce the surrounding noise in a skin lesion image. A quantitative comparison of the techniques is enabled by the use of synthetic skin lesion images that model lesions covered with hair to which Gaussian noise is added. The proposed techniques are also compared with an established optimal-based thresholding skin-segmentation method. It is demonstrated that for lesions with a range of different border irregularity properties, the k-means clustering and fuzzy k-means clustering segmentation methods provide the best performance over a range of signal to noise ratios. The proposed segmentation techniques are also demonstrated to have similar performance when tested on real skin lesions representing high-resolution ELM images. This study suggests that the segmentation results obtained using a combination of low-pass frequency filtering and k-means or fuzzy k-means clustering are superior to the result that would be obtained by using k-means or fuzzy k-means clustering segmentation methods alone. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Utility regulation and the legislative process in Oregon: a case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1979-01-01

This case study discusses the strategies employed by the Public Utility Commissioner and the Oregon Department of Energy in the design, passage and implementation of a set of energy conservation bills. Information is included on the development of new legislation for energy conservation and management, on developing public acceptance of such legislation, and the cooperation received from utility companies to affect implementation. The lessons in strategy and tactics and the skillful use of the legislative process to get the package of bills enacted should have immediate value for those about to undertake a similar effort in their state. (LCL)

Practical implications of developments in legislation on food irradiation in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neyssen, Peter J.G.

2000-01-01

Food irradiation legislation is very different in most member-states of the EU. For many years there was the desire by many interested groups to harmonise this legislation. As the member-states had a different view on irradiated foods, often based on their existing regulation, it took many years and revised drafts to come to a harmonised regulation acceptable to the majority. The background on the development of this EU-legislation and the final draft is discussed. Some information is also given on the possible influence of WTO (SPS- and TBT-agreements) and Codex Alimentarius on this EU-legislation. (author)

Segmentation of clustered cells in negative phase contrast images with integrated light intensity and cell shape information.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y; Wang, C; Zhang, Z

2018-05-01

Automated cell segmentation plays a key role in characterisations of cell behaviours for both biology research and clinical practices. Currently, the segmentation of clustered cells still remains as a challenge and is the main reason for false segmentation. In this study, the emphasis was put on the segmentation of clustered cells in negative phase contrast images. A new method was proposed to combine both light intensity and cell shape information through the construction of grey-weighted distance transform (GWDT) within preliminarily segmented areas. With the constructed GWDT, the clustered cells can be detected and then separated with a modified region skeleton-based method. Moreover, a contour expansion operation was applied to get optimised detection of cell boundaries. In this paper, the working principle and detailed procedure of the proposed method are described, followed by the evaluation of the method on clustered cell segmentation. Results show that the proposed method achieves an improved performance in clustered cell segmentation compared with other methods, with 85.8% and 97.16% accuracy rate for clustered cells and all cells, respectively. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society.

Evaluations of Antigay Hate Crimes and Hate Crime Legislation: Independent and Differentially Predicted.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Wayne W; Peters, Christopher S

2017-08-11

Minimal studies have investigated individuals' evaluations of antigay hate crimes and hate crime legislation simultaneously, with most research focusing on one or the other. In a sample of 246 heterosexual undergraduates, the present study found that evaluations of antigay hate crimes and hate crime legislation were unrelated. Higher social dominance orientation (SDO) and crime control orientation scores were associated with more positive evaluations of antigay hate crimes. Positive evaluations of hate crime legislation were associated with more positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. We also found that the relationship between SDO and evaluations were mediated by crime control beliefs (for hate crimes evaluations) and antigay attitudes (for hate crime legislation evaluations). The present findings have possible implications for the manner in which organizations advocate for the extension of hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation.

Environmental legislation as the legal framework for mitigating natural hazards in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Garrido, Jesús; Arana, Estanislao; Jiménez Soto, Ignacio; Delgado, José

2015-04-01

In Spain, the socioeconomic losses due to natural hazards (floods, earthquakes or landslides) are considerable, and the indirect costs associated with them are rarely considered because they are very difficult to evaluate. The prevention of losses due to natural hazards is more economic and efficient through legislation and spatial planning rather than through structural measures, such as walls, anchorages or structural reinforcements. However, there isn't a Spanish natural hazards law and national and regional sector legislation make only sparse mention of them. After 1978, when the Spanish Constitution was enacted, the Autonomous Communities (Spanish regions) were able to legislate according to the different competences (urban planning, environment or civil protection), which were established in the Constitution. In the 1990's, the Civil Protection legislation (national law and regional civil protection tools) dealt specifically with natural hazards (floods, earthquakes and volcanoes), but this was before any soil, seismic or hydrological studies were recommended in the national sector legislation. On the other hand, some Autonomous Communities referred to natural hazards in the Environmental Impact Assessment legislation (EIA) and also in the spatial and urban planning legislation and tools. The National Land Act, enacted in 1998, established, for the first time, that those lands exposed to natural hazards should be classified as non-developable. The Spanish recast text of the Land Act, enacted by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2008, requires that a natural hazards map be included in the Environmental Sustainability Report (ESR), which is compulsory for all master plans, according to the provisions set out by Act 9/2006, known as Spanish Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Consequently, the environmental legislation, after the aforementioned transposition of the SEA European Directive 2001/42/EC, is the legal framework to prevent losses due to natural hazards

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Smokefree Campus

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation – Smokefree Campuses. The...

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Preemption Summary

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation—Preemption. The STATE...

CDC STATE System E-Cigarette Legislation - Preemption

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. E-Cigarette Legislation—Preemption....

CDC STATE System E-Cigarette Legislation - Licensure

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. E-Cigarette Legislation—Licensure....

EU law revisions and legislative drift

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borghetto, Enrico; Mäder, Lars Kai

2014-01-01

in force in their original form for several years while others are revised soon after their enactment. What factors account for this variation? We empirically analyze the proposition that in the presence of ‘legislative drift,’ i.e. the intertemporal variation of decision-makers’ preferences, major...

Breast Density Legislation in New England: A Survey Study of Practicing Radiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lourenco, Ana P; DiFlorio-Alexander, Roberta M; Slanetz, Priscilla J

2017-10-01

This study aimed to assess radiologists' knowledge about breast density legislation as well as perceived practice changes resulting from the enactment of breast density legislation. This is an institutional review board-exempt anonymous email survey of 523 members of the New England Roentgen Ray Society. In addition to radiologist demographics, survey questions addressed radiologist knowledge of breast density legislation, knowledge of breast density as a risk factor for breast cancer, recommendations for supplemental screening, and perceived practice changes resulting from density notification legislation. Of the 523 members, 96 responded, yielding an 18% response rate. Seventy-three percent of respondents practiced in a state with breast density legislation. Sixty-nine percent felt that breast density notification increased patient anxiety about breast cancer, but also increased patient (74%) and provider (66%) understanding of the effect of breast density on mammographic sensitivity. Radiologist knowledge of the relative risk of breast cancer when comparing breasts of different density was variable. Considerable confusion and controversy regarding breast density persists, even among practicing radiologists. Copyright © 2017 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards Uniformity of Radiation Protection Legislation in a Multi-jurisdictional country- the Australian Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koperski, J. G.

2004-01-01

Australia is a federation of nine jurisdictions, each with independent radiation protection legislation. The existing legislative non-uniformity across the jurisdictions has constituted an impediment for operators who must comply with differing legislative requirements in different jurisdictions. To address this issue, a National Competition Policy Review of Radiation Protection Legislation took place in 2000/2001. It has produced 19 Recommendations, which addressed objectives of the legislation, the need to regulate, alternative regulatory approaches, national uniformity, licensing and registration, strict and prescriptive standards, advertising and promotional activities, compliance costs and cost recovery issues. The Review has recommended that jurisdictions should retain the regulatory approach to achieve radiation protection objectives rather than leave them to be decided by market forces. But the approach should be performance-based, i.e. outcome-focused rather than prescriptive. An Implementation Plan of the Recommendations has been created which, by the end of 2004, will produce the National Directory for Radiation Protection. The Directory, which will become a consolidated repository of radiation protection standards, guidelines, codes of practice and administrative principles will provide a uniform national framework for radiation protection legislation in Australia. It will provide guidance for the jurisdictions redrawing their legislations. Because of its central role in shaping future legislation, the Directory will contain only those provisions, which have passed a formal process (process for issue resolution) concluded by an approval by the Australian Health Ministers Conference. Such process will also expedite the uniform adoption nationwide of legislative trends emerging from international radiation protection recommendations and standards. This Australian model might be a viable example for other multi-jurisdictional countries to consider

Implications of prescription drug monitoring and medical cannabis legislation on opioid overdose mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Elyse; Gazmararian, Julie

To determine whether specific state legislation has an effect on opioid overdose mortality rates compared to states without those types of legislation. Ecological study estimating opioid-related mortality in states with and without a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) and/or medical cannabis legislation. Opioid-related mortality rates for 50 states and Washington DC from 2011 to 2014 were obtained from CDC WONDER. PDMP data were obtained from the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, and data on medical cannabis legislation from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The relationship between PDMPs with mandatory access provisions, medical cannabis legislation, and opioid-related mortality rates. Multivariate repeated measures analysis performed with software and services. Medical cannabis laws were associated with an increase of 21.7 percent in mean age-adjusted opioid-related mortality (p cannabis (p = 0.049) and 5.8 percent for states with a PDMP (p = 0.005). Interaction between both types of legislation produced a borderline significant decrease of 10.1 percent (p = 0.055). For every year states had both types of legislation, interaction resulted in a 0.6 percent decrease in rate (p = 0.013). When combined with the availability of medical cannabis as an alternative analgesic therapy, PDMPs may be more effective at decreasing opioid-related mortality.

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Youth Access

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation—Youth Access. The STATE...

Maritime environmental penal law. International and German legislation; Maritimes Umweltstrafrecht. Voelkerrechtliche Grundlagen und deutsches Recht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eller, Jan Frederik

2017-07-01

The book on maritime environmental penal law discusses the following issues: part I: introduction into the importance of oceanic environment and its thread, requirement of protective measures,; part II: focus of the study and terminology: oceanic pollution, maritime environmental legislation, international legislation; part 3: international legislative regulations concerning the protection of maritime environment: avoidance of environmental pollution, maritime legislative agreements, existing protective institutions; part 4: state penal power concerning maritime environmental protection; part 5: statutory offense according to German legislation; perspectives for regulations concerning criminal acts on sea.

An Approach to a Comprehensive Test Framework for Analysis and Evaluation of Text Line Segmentation Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran N. Milivojevic

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The paper introduces a testing framework for the evaluation and validation of text line segmentation algorithms. Text line segmentation represents the key action for correct optical character recognition. Many of the tests for the evaluation of text line segmentation algorithms deal with text databases as reference templates. Because of the mismatch, the reliable testing framework is required. Hence, a new approach to a comprehensive experimental framework for the evaluation of text line segmentation algorithms is proposed. It consists of synthetic multi-like text samples and real handwritten text as well. Although the tests are mutually independent, the results are cross-linked. The proposed method can be used for different types of scripts and languages. Furthermore, two different procedures for the evaluation of algorithm efficiency based on the obtained error type classification are proposed. The first is based on the segmentation line error description, while the second one incorporates well-known signal detection theory. Each of them has different capabilities and convenience, but they can be used as supplements to make the evaluation process efficient. Overall the proposed procedure based on the segmentation line error description has some advantages, characterized by five measures that describe measurement procedures.

RUSSIAN FAMILY LAW LEGISLATION: REVOLUTION, COUNTER-REVOLUTION, EVOLUTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NADEZHDA TARUSINA

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the political and legal aspects of the first decrees of the Soviet government  from 1917 and the codified acts on marriage and family from 1918 and 1926 as large and small  “revolutions” in Russian and Soviet family law. These acts put Russia forward into progressive  positions in comparison with comparable European and American law of that time. The article  analyzes the repressive, “counterrevolutionary” decisions of 1930s and 1940s that pushed family  law, particularly in the sphere of marriage and the legal status of children born out of wedlock,  back to pre-revolutionary imperial standards. It also reviews the normative legal acts on marriage  and the family dating from the “Khrushchev thaw” period. The article identifies the contradictory  and conflicting approaches of legal scholars and legislators to the methodology of legal regulation  of family relations in different periods of political and social history, as well as in our times. The  quality of Russia’s current family legislation, which mainly evolved during the political, economic  and social reforms of the late 20th century, is also assessed. The article traces the influence of  Soviet family law on the content of similar legislation elsewhere in Eastern Europe and the  countries of the former Soviet Union, where there are various levels of legal sovereignty. Their independent legal positions, which are worth comparing with Russia’s family-law doctrine and  legislation, are revealed. The article investigates and evaluates both successful and partially  unsuccessful attempts of modern Russian legislators to adapt the current Family Code and other federal laws regulating family relations to new challenges in the sphere of marriage and family. It speculates on three tendencies of family law doctrine: a certain adherence to the revolutionary ideas of 1917, an orientation toward a return to traditional family

Joint shape segmentation with linear programming

KAUST Repository

Huang, Qixing

2011-01-01

We present an approach to segmenting shapes in a heterogenous shape database. Our approach segments the shapes jointly, utilizing features from multiple shapes to improve the segmentation of each. The approach is entirely unsupervised and is based on an integer quadratic programming formulation of the joint segmentation problem. The program optimizes over possible segmentations of individual shapes as well as over possible correspondences between segments from multiple shapes. The integer quadratic program is solved via a linear programming relaxation, using a block coordinate descent procedure that makes the optimization feasible for large databases. We evaluate the presented approach on the Princeton segmentation benchmark and show that joint shape segmentation significantly outperforms single-shape segmentation techniques. © 2011 ACM.

Wildlife Legislation before and after the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Dorothy A.

1988-01-01

Reviews recent federal legislation on endangered species, the early history of wildlife legislation, and administration of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Annotated lists of congressional hearings and reports, laws, and comments on the laws are attached, as well as chronological listings of acts and court decisions. (MES)

Colombian mining legislation; Legislacion minera colombiana

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendoza Delgado, Eva Isolina

2004-07-01

The paper makes a historical recount of the mining legislation in Colombia, it is about the more relevant aspects of the Code of Mines, like they are the title miner, obligations, economic aspects, integration of mining areas and of the benefits contemplated in the law 685 of 2001.

Radiation protection and atomic energy legislation in the Nordic countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persson, L.

1987-01-01

The radiation protection and atomic energy laws of the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are presented in this report in their status of March 1, 1984. As a background to this legislation the Nordic co-operation is briefly reviewed and the common basis for the legal texts is given. Some historical remarks for the legislation of each country are included. (orig./HP)

An Overview of Pending Asylum and Refugee Legislation in the US Congress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Nezer

2014-05-01

Full Text Available There has been no significant legislation related to the asylum process enacted in Congress in nearly a decade.  In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA became law, rolling back protections for asylum seekers by including a one-year deadline for filing asylum applications, subjecting asylum seekers to “expedited removal” procedures, and expanding the detention of asylum seekers. In 2005, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act, which created additional legal barriers to asylum, including new requirements for proving an asylum claim. During the past several sessions of Congress, bills have been introduced that would make significant changes to the country’s asylum laws and refugee admissions program. This paper provides an overview of the pending legislation and the changes proposed.  This overview is instructive in understanding (1 which members of Congress have demonstrated interest and leadership in refugee and asylum issues; (2 which refugee and asylum reform issues have been of most interest to members of Congress in recent years; (3 the different approaches to refugee and asylum issues by members of Congress who have shown leadership on these issues; and (4 which provisions have been enacted, which have gained traction, and which remain pending without significant movement through the legislative process.While it is difficult to imagine in the current partisan climate how any asylum or refugee legislation could be enacted into law, some legislative provisions have been reintroduced over a number of sessions of Congress and some have a history of bipartisan support.  Legislation focused on a group of particular interest or concern to members of Congress could gain traction.  A more comprehensive legislative approach framed by the need generally to improve the system could be less effective, particularly in the context of the years-long stalemate on comprehensive immigration reform

Developing genetic privacy legislation: the South Carolina experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, J G; Young, S R; Brooks, K A; Aiken, J H; Patterson, E D; Pritchett, S T

1998-01-01

The availability of presymptomatic and predisposition genetic testing has spawned the need for legislation prohibiting health insurance discrimination on the basis of genetic information. The federal effort, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, falls short by protecting only those who access insurance through group plans. A committee of University of South Carolina professionals convened in 1996 to develop legislation in support of genetic privacy for the state of South Carolina. The legislation prevents health insurance companies from denying coverage or setting insurance rates on the basis of genetic information. It also protects the privacy of genetic information and prohibits performance of genetic tests without specific informed consent. In preparing the bill, genetic privacy laws from other states were reviewed, and a modified version of the Virginia law adopted. The South Carolina Committee for the Protection of Genetic Privacy version went a step further by including enforcement language and excluding Virginia's sunset clause. The definition of genetic information encompassed genetic test results, and importantly, includes family history of genetic disease. Our experience in navigating through the state legislature and working through opposition from the health insurance lobby is detailed herein.

Segmentation-DrivenTomographic Reconstruction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kongskov, Rasmus Dalgas

such that the segmentation subsequently can be carried out by use of a simple segmentation method, for instance just a thresholding method. We tested the advantages of going from a two-stage reconstruction method to a one stage segmentation-driven reconstruction method for the phase contrast tomography reconstruction......The tomographic reconstruction problem is concerned with creating a model of the interior of an object from some measured data, typically projections of the object. After reconstructing an object it is often desired to segment it, either automatically or manually. For computed tomography (CT...

Model instruments of effective segmentation of the fast food market

OpenAIRE

Mityaeva Tetyana L.

2013-01-01

The article presents results of optimisation step-type calculations of economic effectiveness of promotion of fast food with consideration of key parameters of assessment of efficiency of the marketing strategy of segmentation. The article justifies development of a mathematical model on the bases of 3D-presentations and three-dimensional system of management variables. The modern applied mathematical packages allow formation not only of one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays and analyse ...

Model instruments of effective segmentation of the fast food market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mityaeva Tetyana L.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The article presents results of optimisation step-type calculations of economic effectiveness of promotion of fast food with consideration of key parameters of assessment of efficiency of the marketing strategy of segmentation. The article justifies development of a mathematical model on the bases of 3D-presentations and three-dimensional system of management variables. The modern applied mathematical packages allow formation not only of one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays and analyse links of variables, but also of three-dimensional, besides, the more links and parameters are taken into account, the more adequate and adaptive are results of modelling and, as a result, more informative and strategically valuable. The article shows modelling possibilities that allow taking into account strategies and reactions on formation of the marketing strategy under conditions of entering the fast food market segments.

Critical analysis of the Colombian mining legislation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vargas P, Elkin; Gonzalez S, Carmen Lucia

2003-01-01

The document analyses the Colombian mining legislation, Act 685 of 2001, based on the reasons expressed by the government and the miners for its conceit and approval. The document tries to determine the developments achieved by this new Mining Code considering international mining competitiveness and its adaptation to the constitutional rules about environment, indigenous communities, decentralization and sustainable development. The analysis formulates general and specific hypothesis about the proposed objectives of the reform, which are confronted with the arguments and critical evaluations of the results. Most hypothesis are not verified, thus demonstrating that the Colombian mining legislation is far from being the necessary instrument to promote mining activities, making it competitive according to international standards and adapted to the principles of sustainable development, healthy environment, community participation, ethnic minorities and regional autonomy

Draft Legislative Proposals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.; Bugaian, Larisa; Niculita, Angela

2015-01-01

the objectives of the legislative proposals; discusses risks and challenges that HE in Moldova faces today and in the next 10-15 years; identifies expected outcomes; identifies basic principles on which the process will be founded; proposes a new structure for the HE sector; offers an example...... of a rationalization process, incl., a road map, recommending that there should be 7 universities in Moldova: 3 regional universities and 4 universities in Chisinau (capital); following the principle of clear demarcation between state regulation and institutional university autonomy, specifies universities powers...... and responsibilities; suggests a distinct separation between governance and management; suggests teaching and research funding formulae based on inputs and outputs; and outlines a new National Qualifications Framework....

Rediscovering market segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yankelovich, Daniel; Meer, David

2006-02-01

In 1964, Daniel Yankelovich introduced in the pages of HBR the concept of nondemographic segmentation, by which he meant the classification of consumers according to criteria other than age, residence, income, and such. The predictive power of marketing studies based on demographics was no longer strong enough to serve as a basis for marketing strategy, he argued. Buying patterns had become far better guides to consumers' future purchases. In addition, properly constructed nondemographic segmentations could help companies determine which products to develop, which distribution channels to sell them in, how much to charge for them, and how to advertise them. But more than 40 years later, nondemographic segmentation has become just as unenlightening as demographic segmentation had been. Today, the technique is used almost exclusively to fulfill the needs of advertising, which it serves mainly by populating commercials with characters that viewers can identify with. It is true that psychographic types like "High-Tech Harry" and "Joe Six-Pack" may capture some truth about real people's lifestyles, attitudes, self-image, and aspirations. But they are no better than demographics at predicting purchase behavior. Thus they give corporate decision makers very little idea of how to keep customers or capture new ones. Now, Daniel Yankelovich returns to these pages, with consultant David Meer, to argue the case for a broad view of nondemographic segmentation. They describe the elements of a smart segmentation strategy, explaining how segmentations meant to strengthen brand identity differ from those capable of telling a company which markets it should enter and what goods to make. And they introduce their "gravity of decision spectrum", a tool that focuses on the form of consumer behavior that should be of the greatest interest to marketers--the importance that consumers place on a product or product category.

Legislation, women, and breastfeeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbons, G

1987-01-01

Governmental policies and legislation aimed at validating the dual role of women as mothers and wage earners can significantly strengthen breastfeeding promotion efforts. Examples of such laws and policies are maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks at the workplace, allowances for pregnant women and new mothers, rooming-in at hospitals, child care at the worksite, flexible work schedules for new mothers, and a national marketing code for breastmilk substitutes. The International labor Organization (ILO) has played an important role in setting international standards to protect working mothers. The ILO defines minimal maternity protection as encompassing: a compulsory period of 6 weeks' leave after delivery; entitlement to a further 6 weeks of leave; the provision during maternity leave of benefits sufficient for the full and healthy maintenance of the child; medical care by a qualified midwife or physician; authorization to interrupt work for the purpose of breastfeeding; and protection from dismissal during maternity leave. In many countries there is a lack of public awareness of existing laws or policies; i.e., working women may not know they are entitled to maternity leave, or pediatricians may not know that the government has developed a marketing code for breastmilk substitutes. Overall, the enactment and enforcement of legislation can ensure the longterm effectiveness of breastfeeding promotion by raising the consciousness of individuals and institutions, putting breastfeeding activities in the wider context of support for women's rights, recognizing the dual roles of women, and institutionalizing and legitimating support for breastfeeding.

[Current legislation in the healthcare system 2015/2016].

Science.gov (United States)

Martenstein, I; Wienke, A

2016-05-01

The energy of the legislator in the healthcare system was barely stoppable in 2015. Many new laws have been brought into force and legal initiatives have also been implemented. The Hospital Structure Act, the Treatment Enhancement Act, amendments of the official medical fee schedules for physicians, the Prevention Act, the E-Health Act, the Anti-corruption Act, the hospital admission guidelines and amendments of the model specialty training regulations are just some of the essential alterations that lie ahead of the medical community. This article gives a review of the most important new legislative regulations in the healthcare system and presents the fundamental consequences for the practice.

An image processing pipeline to detect and segment nuclei in muscle fiber microscopic images.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yanen; Xu, Xiaoyin; Wang, Yuanyuan; Wang, Yaming; Xia, Shunren; Yang, Zhong

2014-08-01

Muscle fiber images play an important role in the medical diagnosis and treatment of many muscular diseases. The number of nuclei in skeletal muscle fiber images is a key bio-marker of the diagnosis of muscular dystrophy. In nuclei segmentation one primary challenge is to correctly separate the clustered nuclei. In this article, we developed an image processing pipeline to automatically detect, segment, and analyze nuclei in microscopic image of muscle fibers. The pipeline consists of image pre-processing, identification of isolated nuclei, identification and segmentation of clustered nuclei, and quantitative analysis. Nuclei are initially extracted from background by using local Otsu's threshold. Based on analysis of morphological features of the isolated nuclei, including their areas, compactness, and major axis lengths, a Bayesian network is trained and applied to identify isolated nuclei from clustered nuclei and artifacts in all the images. Then a two-step refined watershed algorithm is applied to segment clustered nuclei. After segmentation, the nuclei can be quantified for statistical analysis. Comparing the segmented results with those of manual analysis and an existing technique, we find that our proposed image processing pipeline achieves good performance with high accuracy and precision. The presented image processing pipeline can therefore help biologists increase their throughput and objectivity in analyzing large numbers of nuclei in muscle fiber images. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Legislative Provisions Underlying Trade Unions' Right to Define Their Organizational Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Korobchenko, Victoria V.; Penov, Yury V.; Safonov, Valery A.

2016-01-01

The article contains a comparative analysis of constitutional and other legislative provisions that ensure a trade union's right to define its own administrative structure in European states. The aim of the study is to reveal the management's problems of European trade unions, declarative and empirical mass-character legislative provisions, which…

1975 Legislative Activity Progress Report on Postsecondary Collective Negotiations Bills. Special Report No. 21.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmet, Thomas A.; Ross, Doris

The extent of legislative activity in the area of postsecondary collective bargaining throughout the states is outlined. Specific legislative document numbers needed to request copies from the various legislative houses are included. The states are grouped in three categories: (1) those not having educational employee public sector collective…

Sentinel lymph node mapping in minimally invasive surgery: Role of imaging with color-segmented fluorescence (CSF).

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez Labrousse, Maite I; Frumovitz, Michael; Guadalupe Patrono, M; Ramirez, Pedro T

2017-09-01

Sentinel lymph node mapping, alone or in combination with pelvic lymphadenectomy, is considered a standard approach in staging of patients with cervical or endometrial cancer [1-3]. The goal of this video is to demonstrate the use of indocyanine green (ICG) and color-segmented fluorescence when performing lymphatic mapping in patients with gynecologic malignancies. Injection of ICG is performed in two cervical sites using 1mL (0.5mL superficial and deep, respectively) at the 3 and 9 o'clock position. Sentinel lymph nodes are identified intraoperatively using the Pinpoint near-infrared imaging system (Novadaq, Ontario, CA). Color-segmented fluorescence is used to image different levels of ICG uptake demonstrating higher levels of perfusion. A color key on the side of the monitor shows the colors that coordinate with different levels of ICG uptake. Color-segmented fluorescence may help surgeons identify true sentinel nodes from fatty tissue that, although absorbing fluorescent dye, does not contain true nodal tissue. It is not intended to differentiate the primary sentinel node from secondary sentinel nodes. The key ranges from low levels of ICG uptake (gray) to the highest rate of ICG uptake (red). Bilateral sentinel lymph nodes are identified along the external iliac vessels using both standard and color-segmented fluorescence. No evidence of disease was noted after ultra-staging was performed in each of the sentinel nodes. Use of ICG in sentinel lymph node mapping allows for high bilateral detection rates. Color-segmented fluorescence may increase accuracy of sentinel lymph node identification over standard fluorescent imaging. The following are the supplementary data related to this article. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reflection symmetry-integrated image segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yu; Bhanu, Bir

2012-09-01

This paper presents a new symmetry-integrated region-based image segmentation method. The method is developed to obtain improved image segmentation by exploiting image symmetry. It is realized by constructing a symmetry token that can be flexibly embedded into segmentation cues. Interesting points are initially extracted from an image by the SIFT operator and they are further refined for detecting the global bilateral symmetry. A symmetry affinity matrix is then computed using the symmetry axis and it is used explicitly as a constraint in a region growing algorithm in order to refine the symmetry of the segmented regions. A multi-objective genetic search finds the segmentation result with the highest performance for both segmentation and symmetry, which is close to the global optimum. The method has been investigated experimentally in challenging natural images and images containing man-made objects. It is shown that the proposed method outperforms current segmentation methods both with and without exploiting symmetry. A thorough experimental analysis indicates that symmetry plays an important role as a segmentation cue, in conjunction with other attributes like color and texture.

Some international perspectives on legislation for the management of human-induced safety risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso Niemand

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Legislation that governs the health and safety of communities near major-hazard installations in South Africa is largely based on existing legislation that had been developed in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. The latter was developed as a consequence of several major human-induced technological disasters in Europe. The history of the evolution of health-and-safety legislation for the protection of vulnerable communities in European Union (EU countries, France, Malaysia and the USA is explored through a literature survey. A concise comparison is drawn between EU countries, the USA and South Africa to obtain an exploratory view of whether current South-African legislation represents an optimum model for the protection of the health-and-safety of workers and communities near major-hazard installations. The authors come to the conclusion that South-African legislation needs revision as was done in the UK in 2011. Specific areas in the legislation that need revision are an overlap between occupational health and safety and environmental legislation, appropriate land-use planning for the protection of communities near major-hazard installations, the inclusion of vulnerability studies and the refinement of appropriate decision-making instruments such as risk assessment. This article is the first in a series that forms part of a broader study aimed at the development of an optimised model for the regulatory management of human-induced health and safety risks associated with hazardous installations in South Africa.

Extremism, Free Speech and the Rule of Law: Evaluating the Compliance of Legislation Restricting Extremist Expressions with Article 19 ICCPR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Shepherd

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In the years since 9/11, international security discourse has heightened concerns around extremism, positioning this as the key threat that States need to address in order to prevent and combat terrorism. Politically, enactment of domestic legislation curtailing extremist expressions has been internationally authorised and encouraged and in May 2016 the United Kingdom (‘UK’, spearheading a liberal State trend towards rights-restrictive approaches to extremism, announced its intention to enact legislation imposing a range of civil sanctions on those publicly expressing extremist views. But laws such as this restrict the core democratic right to freedom of expression and so must comply with the tripartite requirements for restrictions enshrined in Article 19(3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’ to be legitimate. Using the UK to dynamically exemplify the issues, this paper assesses the manner in which the laws curtailing extremist expressions comply with international human rights law.

Factors affecting the implementation of health legislation and its impact on the rural poor in China: a case study of implementation of the maternal and infant health care law in two poor counties.

Science.gov (United States)

Tolhurst, Rachel; Zhang, Tuohong; Yang, Hui; Gao, Jun; Tang, Shenglan

2004-01-01

This paper presents and discusses a case study of health legislation in China. In the transition to a market economy, legislation has been developed to offset the weakening in the central planning mechanism and political control that have historically influenced the behaviour of institutions and individuals in the Ministry of Health. There has been relatively little empirical examination of the implementation and impact of legislation as a tool for influencing health service provision in low-income countries. The study aimed to contribute towards filling this gap by exploring the factors affecting the implementation and impact of the Maternal and Infant Health Care Law, through a case study of two poor, rural counties in Chongqing municipality, China. The study found that key local actors perceive health legislation to be an important tool for safeguarding access to essential health care. However, the implementation of health legislation is inevitably a political process. The study illustrates the difficulties involved in efforts to influence provider behaviour through a national level legislative framework in a situation of decentralization of control over those providers, due to extreme regional variation in economic situations and limited resource inputs from the centre. Lessons are drawn for Chinese and international policy makers.

Radiation Protection Legislation in the Nordic Countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Person, Lars.

1990-01-01

Recent alterations in the radiation protection laws of the Nordic countries are presented. The report amends the previous SS-report 87-37 with the title Radiation Protection and Atomic Energy Legislation in the Nordic Countries. (au)

Legislative Branch: FY2014 Appropriations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-25

for the renovation of the Cannon House Office Building and the condition of the Rayburn building, the effect of the sequester on overtime work, plans...provided by the Joint Committee on Taxation for all revenue legislation (Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, P.L. 99-177...Committee, the Joint Committee on Taxation , the Office of the Attending Physician, and the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services. The FY2012

Lung segment geometry study: simulation of largest possible tumours that fit into bronchopulmonary segments.

Science.gov (United States)

Welter, S; Stöcker, C; Dicken, V; Kühl, H; Krass, S; Stamatis, G

2012-03-01

Segmental resection in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been well described and is considered to have similar survival rates as lobectomy but with increased rates of local tumour recurrence due to inadequate parenchymal margins. In consequence, today segmentectomy is only performed when the tumour is smaller than 2 cm. Three-dimensional reconstructions from 11 thin-slice CT scans of bronchopulmonary segments were generated, and virtual spherical tumours were placed over the segments, respecting all segmental borders. As a next step, virtual parenchymal safety margins of 2 cm and 3 cm were subtracted and the size of the remaining tumour calculated. The maximum tumour diameters with a 30-mm parenchymal safety margin ranged from 26.1 mm in right-sided segments 7 + 8 to 59.8 mm in the left apical segments 1-3. Using a three-dimensional reconstruction of lung CT scans, we demonstrated that segmentectomy or resection of segmental groups should be feasible with adequate margins, even for larger tumours in selected cases. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Dynamic Post-Earthquake Image Segmentation with an Adaptive Spectral-Spatial Descriptor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genyun Sun

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The region merging algorithm is a widely used segmentation technique for very high resolution (VHR remote sensing images. However, the segmentation of post-earthquake VHR images is more difficult due to the complexity of these images, especially high intra-class and low inter-class variability among damage objects. Herein two key issues must be resolved: the first is to find an appropriate descriptor to measure the similarity of two adjacent regions since they exhibit high complexity among the diverse damage objects, such as landslides, debris flow, and collapsed buildings. The other is how to solve over-segmentation and under-segmentation problems, which are commonly encountered with conventional merging strategies due to their strong dependence on local information. To tackle these two issues, an adaptive dynamic region merging approach (ADRM is introduced, which combines an adaptive spectral-spatial descriptor and a dynamic merging strategy to adapt to the changes of merging regions for successfully detecting objects scattered globally in a post-earthquake image. In the new descriptor, the spectral similarity and spatial similarity of any two adjacent regions are automatically combined to measure their similarity. Accordingly, the new descriptor offers adaptive semantic descriptions for geo-objects and thus is capable of characterizing different damage objects. Besides, in the dynamic region merging strategy, the adaptive spectral-spatial descriptor is embedded in the defined testing order and combined with graph models to construct a dynamic merging strategy. The new strategy can find the global optimal merging order and ensures that the most similar regions are merged at first. With combination of the two strategies, ADRM can identify spatially scattered objects and alleviates the phenomenon of over-segmentation and under-segmentation. The performance of ADRM has been evaluated by comparing with four state-of-the-art segmentation methods

Spot detection and image segmentation in DNA microarray data.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Li; Rueda, Luis; Ali, Adnan; Ngom, Alioune

2005-01-01

Following the invention of microarrays in 1994, the development and applications of this technology have grown exponentially. The numerous applications of microarray technology include clinical diagnosis and treatment, drug design and discovery, tumour detection, and environmental health research. One of the key issues in the experimental approaches utilising microarrays is to extract quantitative information from the spots, which represent genes in a given experiment. For this process, the initial stages are important and they influence future steps in the analysis. Identifying the spots and separating the background from the foreground is a fundamental problem in DNA microarray data analysis. In this review, we present an overview of state-of-the-art methods for microarray image segmentation. We discuss the foundations of the circle-shaped approach, adaptive shape segmentation, histogram-based methods and the recently introduced clustering-based techniques. We analytically show that clustering-based techniques are equivalent to the one-dimensional, standard k-means clustering algorithm that utilises the Euclidean distance.

Nuclear legislation and nuclear safety in Slovenia in the context of enlargement of EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grlicarev, I.; Sirc, I.; Skraban, A.

2003-01-01

Slovenia, in the period after the Accession Treaty to the EU has been signed and the accession date is approaching, is concluding the tasks of aligning the national legislation and has started the observer status in all EU committees and other bodies. Some specific issues in this period in the area of nuclear legislation and nuclear safety are outlined here. The position of Slovenia regarding the latest developments in drafting the new nuclear safety legislation on an EU level is presented. Some experience gained during the implementation of the newly adopted legislation is given. (author)

Atomic Energy Act and Related Legislation. Environmental Guidance Program Reference Book: Revision 6

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-09-01

This report presents information related to the Atomic Energy Act and related legislation. Sections are presented pertaining to legislative history and statutes, implementing regulations, and updates.

Sipunculans and segmentation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wanninger, Andreas; Kristof, Alen; Brinkmann, Nora

2009-01-01

mechanisms may act on the level of gene expression, cell proliferation, tissue differentiation and organ system formation in individual segments. Accordingly, in some polychaete annelids the first three pairs of segmental peripheral neurons arise synchronously, while the metameric commissures of the ventral...

Segmentation of organs at risk in CT volumes of head, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Miaofei; Ma, Jinfeng; Li, Yan; Li, Meiling; Song, Yanli; Li, Qiang

2015-03-01

Accurate segmentation of organs at risk (OARs) is a key step in treatment planning system (TPS) of image guided radiation therapy. We are developing three classes of methods to segment 17 organs at risk throughout the whole body, including brain, brain stem, eyes, mandible, temporomandibular joints, parotid glands, spinal cord, lungs, trachea, heart, livers, kidneys, spleen, prostate, rectum, femoral heads, and skin. The three classes of segmentation methods include (1) threshold-based methods for organs of large contrast with adjacent structures such as lungs, trachea, and skin; (2) context-driven Generalized Hough Transform-based methods combined with graph cut algorithm for robust localization and segmentation of liver, kidneys and spleen; and (3) atlas and registration-based methods for segmentation of heart and all organs in CT volumes of head and pelvis. The segmentation accuracy for the seventeen organs was subjectively evaluated by two medical experts in three levels of score: 0, poor (unusable in clinical practice); 1, acceptable (minor revision needed); and 2, good (nearly no revision needed). A database was collected from Ruijin Hospital, Huashan Hospital, and Xuhui Central Hospital in Shanghai, China, including 127 head scans, 203 thoracic scans, 154 abdominal scans, and 73 pelvic scans. The percentages of "good" segmentation results were 97.6%, 92.9%, 81.1%, 87.4%, 85.0%, 78.7%, 94.1%, 91.1%, 81.3%, 86.7%, 82.5%, 86.4%, 79.9%, 72.6%, 68.5%, 93.2%, 96.9% for brain, brain stem, eyes, mandible, temporomandibular joints, parotid glands, spinal cord, lungs, trachea, heart, livers, kidneys, spleen, prostate, rectum, femoral heads, and skin, respectively. Various organs at risk can be reliably segmented from CT scans by use of the three classes of segmentation methods.

Building a stronger framework of nuclear law. The IAEA's legislative assistance services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoiber, C.

2003-01-01

The IAEA is publishing a Handbook on Nuclear Law which will provide IAEA Member States with a new resource for assessing the adequacy of their national legal frameworks governing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy; and practical guidance for governments in efforts to enhance their laws and regulations, in harmonizing them with internationally recognized standards, and in meeting their obligations under relevant international instruments. The Handbook responds to the growing demand from many national governments for assistance in the development of nuclear legislation and the need to harmonize their own legal and institutional arrangements with international standards. It also presents concise and authoritative instructional materials for teaching professionals (lawyers, scientists, engineers, health and radiation protection workers, government administrators) on the basic elements of a sound framework for managing and regulating nuclear energy. The Handbook is organized into five general parts: Part I provides a general overview of key concepts in the field: nuclear energy law and the legislative process; the regulatory authority; and the fundamental regulatory activities of licensing, inspection and enforcement. Part II deals with radiation protection. Part Ill covers various subjects arising from nuclear and radiation safety: radiation sources, nuclear installations, emergency preparedness and response, mining and milling, transportation, and waste and spent fuel. Part IV addresses the topic of nuclear liability and coverage. Part V moves to non-proliferation and security related subjects: safeguards, export and import controls, and physical protection. The Handbook also reflects and refers to the extensive range of IAEA Safety Standards covering all fields relevant to peaceful nuclear technology

Lessons from Queensland's last-drinks legislation: The use of extended trading permits.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahnow, Renee; Miller, Peter; Coomber, Kerri; de Andrade, Dominique; Ferris, Jason

2018-05-01

The association between alcohol availability, alcohol consumption and, in turn, alcohol-related harms is well established. Policies to reduce alcohol-related harms focus on limiting accessibility through the regulation of the liquor industry, including trading hours. On 1 July 2016, the Queensland Government introduced legislation to reduce ordinary liquor trading hours, replacing 5 am closing times with 3 am cessation of liquor sales in designated entertainment precincts and 2 am cessation of sales across the rest of the state. However, the amendment was under-inclusive and did not apply to temporary extended trading permits, a provision of the Liquor Act 1992 allowing one-off variations in trading hours for special events. We use 24 months of data (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016) from the Office of Liquor Gaming and Regulation to explore patterns of extended trading permit use across Queensland, pre- and post- 1 July 2016. We find that following the Amendment in 2016 there was also a distinct shift in the utilisation of temporary extended trading permits, with a 63% increase in approved permits between 2015 and 2016. Temporal clustering around key calendar events dissipated following 1 July 2016 with consistent concentration of permit utilisation over consecutive weeks. Using temporary extended trading permits venue owners avoided earlier closing times and continued to operate until 5 am. The findings provide lessons for future policy implementation by illustrating the capacity for under-inclusive legislation to result in the dilution of intended effects. © 2018 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Legislative developments in radioactive materials transportation, September 1993--June 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worthley, J.A.; Reed, J.B.; Cummins, J.

1994-07-01

This is the eighth report prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on developments in radioactive materials transportation. It updates information contained in the September 1993 report on Legislative Developments in Radioactive Materials Transportation and describes activities for the period September 1, 1993--June 30, 1994. NCSL currently is updating an on-line data base that contains abstracts of federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the transportation of radioactive materials. The data base will be operated by NCSL under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Availability of on-line capability is anticipated by the end of August 1994. Users approved by DOE and NCSL will have access to the data base. This report contains the current status of legislation introduced in the 1993 and 1994 state legislative sessions, not previously reviewed in past reports. Bills that address nuclear materials transportation and the broader area of hazardous materials transportation are grouped by state according to their status--enacted, pending or failed. In addition, bills that deal with emergency preparedness are described. (General nuclear waste legislation with no transportation element is no longer tracked.) Also included are Federal Register notices and changes in federal regulations pertinent to radioactive waste and hazardous materials transportation

Mental health legislation in Ireland: a lot done, more to do.

Science.gov (United States)

Latif, Zahid; Malik, Mansoor A

2012-01-01

Mental health legislation is necessary to protect the rights of people with mental disorders, a vulnerable section of society. Ireland's new Mental Health Act 2001 was fully implemented in 2006 with the intent of bringing Irish legislation more in line with international standards, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and United Nations Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness. The new legislation introduced several important reforms in relation to involuntary admission, independent reviews of involuntary detention, consent to treatment, and treatment of children and adolescents. It also presented significant challenges in terms of service delivery and resources within Irish mental health services. Both mental health service users and providers reported a range of difficulties with the new legislation. In this article, we analyze the Irish Mental Health Act focusing on the enhanced protection that it provides for patients, but also highlighting some areas of concern such as the conduct of mental health tribunals, consent and capacity problems, resource allocation, and disruptions in mental health service delivery.

Using Predictability for Lexical Segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Çöltekin, Çağrı

2017-09-01

This study investigates a strategy based on predictability of consecutive sub-lexical units in learning to segment a continuous speech stream into lexical units using computational modeling and simulations. Lexical segmentation is one of the early challenges during language acquisition, and it has been studied extensively through psycholinguistic experiments as well as computational methods. However, despite strong empirical evidence, the explicit use of predictability of basic sub-lexical units in models of segmentation is underexplored. This paper presents an incremental computational model of lexical segmentation for exploring the usefulness of predictability for lexical segmentation. We show that the predictability cue is a strong cue for segmentation. Contrary to earlier reports in the literature, the strategy yields state-of-the-art segmentation performance with an incremental computational model that uses only this particular cue in a cognitively plausible setting. The paper also reports an in-depth analysis of the model, investigating the conditions affecting the usefulness of the strategy. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Efficient graph-cut tattoo segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Joonsoo; Parra, Albert; Li, He; Delp, Edward J.

2015-03-01

Law enforcement is interested in exploiting tattoos as an information source to identify, track and prevent gang-related crimes. Many tattoo image retrieval systems have been described. In a retrieval system tattoo segmentation is an important step for retrieval accuracy since segmentation removes background information in a tattoo image. Existing segmentation methods do not extract the tattoo very well when the background includes textures and color similar to skin tones. In this paper we describe a tattoo segmentation approach by determining skin pixels in regions near the tattoo. In these regions graph-cut segmentation using a skin color model and a visual saliency map is used to find skin pixels. After segmentation we determine which set of skin pixels are connected with each other that form a closed contour including a tattoo. The regions surrounded by the closed contours are considered tattoo regions. Our method segments tattoos well when the background includes textures and color similar to skin.

Is principle based legislation smart choice for capital market’s regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Borut Stražišar

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Global financial crisis in 2008 posted numerous questions about the reasons and triggers. In past three years world’s economic literature has been full of academic articles analysing each reason or trigger and scientific explanations of possible connections. Majority outcome was, that key factor was excessive use of derivatives and synthetic financial products, which were under regulated or not regulated at all. The outcome was that countries with developed financial markets introduced new regulations and controls in the field of derivatives and synthetic financial products. Term “systemic risk” was introduced in global financial market. But will this approach really prevent such global crisis? Submission is divided in three parts. First part deals with the theory of principle based regulation. Principle based regulation was firstly introduced in UK and latter accepted by European Union in the field of capital markets. It was a way, together with the Lamfalussy process, to make EU regulation acceptable for all member states. Instead of detailed prescribed behaviour, legislation texts prescribe only desirable goals. Implementation is left to each state or, even worse, to each supervised subject. So the implementation should depend on the capital market’s development, capital product’s structure, tradition, investment companies’ size etc. From a distant view, principle based legislation could be seen as a great legislation writing’s technique. It could be seen as an effective solution to regulate a fast developing field without need to change the regulation. But is it true? Second part of the submission addresses the legal questions and problems, connected to the principle based regulation starting with the validity of regulations. Broad definitions in Market in financial instruments Directive (MiFID, introduced for fast adaptation to new financial products and instruments, are now turning into dinosaurs. Contrary to US’s fast

Psychiatric advance directives in Australian mental-health legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouliaris, Calina; Kealy-Bateman, Warren

2017-12-01

Following the recent widespread reform of mental-health legislation in Australia, psychiatric advance directives (PADs) have now been incorporated in four jurisdictions. We contextualise the potential role for PADs within the Australian legal framework and note their varying introduction across jurisdictions, with a focus on progressive legislation in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The formal recognition of PADs effectively shifts the trajectory of mental-health law towards a stronger recognition of consumer autonomy, albeit to varying degrees across jurisdictions. The most inspiring of these changes may be seen in the ACT Act, where an innovative framing of PAD provisions creates a safe space for clinicians and patients to engage, build therapeutic alliances and develop appropriate frameworks for further change.

Work Health & Safety legislation; the fire engineer’s neglected duty?

OpenAIRE

P.A. (Tony) Enright

2014-01-01

Fire engineers are in general, aware of their duties under Building legislation. However, they are often unfamiliar of separate duties under Work Health and Safety legislation. This paper describes an Australian case-study, but one that is presented generally so as to have applicability in those other jurisdictions where similar Work Health and Safety obligations exist. As society becomes safer, Work Health and Safety has evolved from being solely about the employer–employee relationshi...

Politeness Indicators in Nigeria Legislative Discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clara Unoalegie Bola Agbara

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In every human interaction, interlocutors strive to maintain appropriate decorum and politeness in order to avoid undue feeling of not being ‘nice’ or being insensitive to co-participant’s self-esteem or image. This culture of being ‘nice’ is expressed not only through verbal codes, but also through non-verbal cues such as pitch, tone, voice modulation, facial expression and other forms of body language. Nigeria legislative House reflects the uniqueness of Nigeria as a multicultural nation with about two hundred and fifty ethnic groups. Each tribe has a unique way of expressing ‘nice’ (politeness. This paper examines how Nigerian legislators from different ethnic groups acknowledge the self-esteem of other legislators during senate debates. The study used Scollon and Scollon’s politeness principle which states that in every interaction there is a continuous ‘face’ (self-image negotiation and this ‘face’ which is made up of two aspects - involvement and independent- must be balanced during interactions because ‘face’ is a paradoxical concept. The interest of this study is to identify and to explain how politicians, who though are in opposition, acknowledge the self-esteem of others. Six hansards were sampled from 2009 to 2010, one bill from each quarter of the year. It was discovered that speakers almost always punctuate their contributions to debate with different types of politeness indicators as a means of acknowledging both the involvement and dependent face wants of participants. The politeness indicators often used by senators include address forms which are used not only as vocative (to the presiding senator but also as designative (for reference to a third person mentioned in the speech, first person plural pronouns, rhetorical (speech politeness markers and ritualized utterances.

European social model and the harmonization of Macedonian labour legislation with the European Union community labour law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalamatiev Todor

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The European integration process accompanied by the harmonization of the EU member states' legislation will inevitably lead to the establishment of a European social model which has a 'sui generis' legal nature. European social model forms a part of the common legal heritage of the European countries and it can be defined as a system of values that include democracy and individual rights, free collective bargaining, market economy, equal opportunities for all, and social protection and solidarity. Subject of analysis in this paper are both, the essential components of the European social model such as: the social 'acquis communautaire' and the European industrial relations. The social 'acquis communautaire' is an integral part of the general 'acquis communautaire' and it encompasses the regulations arising from the primary and secondary labour law legislation of the EU, decisions of the European Court of Justice and other legal measures of the European Union with a binding or non-binding legal nature. European industrial relations encompass the key features of the European trade union models as well as the types of social dialogue in different EU member states. This paper pays attention to a profound elaboration of the harmonization of two EU labour law directives with the Macedonian employment legislation. The first Directive (Directive 91/533/EEC of 14 October 1991 on an employers' obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship may be classified in the field of individual employment relations, while the second one (Directive 2002/14/EC of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community can be subsumed within the field of collective employment relations. Finally, the authors illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the Macedonian labour legislation in the process of harmonization with the relevant EU directives

A sea-land segmentation algorithm based on multi-feature fusion for a large-field remote sensing image

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Xie, Weixin; Pei, Jihong

2018-03-01

Sea-land segmentation is one of the key technologies of sea target detection in remote sensing images. At present, the existing algorithms have the problems of low accuracy, low universality and poor automatic performance. This paper puts forward a sea-land segmentation algorithm based on multi-feature fusion for a large-field remote sensing image removing island. Firstly, the coastline data is extracted and all of land area is labeled by using the geographic information in large-field remote sensing image. Secondly, three features (local entropy, local texture and local gradient mean) is extracted in the sea-land border area, and the three features combine a 3D feature vector. And then the MultiGaussian model is adopted to describe 3D feature vectors of sea background in the edge of the coastline. Based on this multi-gaussian sea background model, the sea pixels and land pixels near coastline are classified more precise. Finally, the coarse segmentation result and the fine segmentation result are fused to obtain the accurate sea-land segmentation. Comparing and analyzing the experimental results by subjective vision, it shows that the proposed method has high segmentation accuracy, wide applicability and strong anti-disturbance ability.

Fold distributions at clover, crystal and segment levels for segmented clover detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kshetri, R; Bhattacharya, P

2014-01-01

Fold distributions at clover, crystal and segment levels have been extracted for an array of segmented clover detectors for various gamma energies. A simple analysis of the results based on a model independant approach has been presented. For the first time, the clover fold distribution of an array and associated array addback factor have been extracted. We have calculated the percentages of the number of crystals and segments that fire for a full energy peak event

Intercalary bone segment transport in treatment of segmental tibial defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iqbal, A.; Amin, M.S.

2002-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the results and complications of intercalary bone segment transport in the treatment of segmental tibial defects. Design: This is a retrospective analysis of patients with segmental tibial defects who were treated with intercalary bone segment transport method. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from September 1997 to April 2001. Subjects and methods: Thirteen patients were included in the study who had developed tibial defects either due to open fractures with bone loss or subsequent to bone debridement of infected non unions. The mean bone defect was 6.4 cms and there were eight associated soft tissue defects. Locally made unilateral 'Naseer-Awais' (NA) fixator was used for bone segment transport. The distraction was done at the rate of 1mm/day after 7-10 days of osteotomy. The patients were followed-up fortnightly during distraction and monthly thereafter. The mean follow-up duration was 18 months. Results: The mean time in external fixation was 9.4 months. The m ean healing index' was 1.47 months/cm. Satisfactory union was achieved in all cases. Six cases (46.2%) required bone grafting at target site and in one of them grafting was required at the level of regeneration as well. All the wounds healed well with no residual infection. There was no residual leg length discrepancy of more than 20 mm nd one angular deformity of more than 5 degrees. The commonest complication encountered was pin track infection seen in 38% of Shanz Screws applied. Loosening occurred in 6.8% of Shanz screws, requiring re-adjustment. Ankle joint contracture with equinus deformity and peroneal nerve paresis occurred in one case each. The functional results were graded as 'good' in seven, 'fair' in four, and 'poor' in two patients. Overall, thirteen patients had 31 (minor/major) complications with a ratio of 2.38 complications per patient. To treat the bone defects and associated complications, a mean of

[The REACH legislation: the consumer and environment protection perspective].

Science.gov (United States)

Gundert-Remy, Ursula

2008-12-01

REACH has been initiated with the aim of improving existing legislation. In order to assist in the interpretation of the REACH legislation, guidance documents have been developed, which have only lately become available. According to the REACH annexes and supported by guidance documents, waiving of test requirements will be possible, thus, opening the possibility that under REACH no new (eco)toxicological data will be required. Concerning products, a guidance document was released in April 2008 stating that the substance concentration threshold of 0.1 % (w/w) applies to the article as produced or imported and it does not relate to the homogeneous materials or parts of an article, but relates to the article as such (i.e., as produced or imported). Hence, notification will not be required for many products containing chemicals with properties which place them on the candidate list for authorization. In summary, it is at present not foreseeable whether the expected benefit of the REACH legislation will materialise for the environment and for the health of consumers and at the work place.

EU legislations affecting safety data availability of cosmetic ingredients.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauwels, Marleen; Rogiers, Vera

2007-12-01

With the introduction of the 6th and 7th Amendments (OJ L151, 32-37, 23 June 1993; OJ L066, 26-35, 11 March 2003) to the Cosmetic Products Directive (OJ L262, 169-200, 27 September 1976), imposing a testing and marketing ban on cosmetic products tested on animals, the retrieval of toxicological data on individual ingredients became of greater need. Since the majority of cosmetic ingredients are used for many other purposes than their cosmetic function, they fall under the scope of more than one EU Directive. An overview is given of EU legislation that could potentially affect the availability and interpretation of cosmetic safety data. It will become clear that, although cosmetics are regulated by a specific so-called "vertical" legislation, "horizontal" influences from other products' legislations play a role since they determine the type and amount of data that theoretically could be found on the specific substances they regulate. This knowledge is necessary while performing extended searches in databases and becomes indispensable when initiating negotiations with manufacturers or suppliers for obtaining the safety data required.

Queensland's proposed surrogacy legislation: an opportunity for national reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Tammy

2010-02-01

Surrogacy has existed since Biblical times when Hagar, the maidservant of the infertile Sarah, acted as a surrogate to bear Sarah and her husband, Abraham, a son. Despite the longevity of the practice of surrogacy, modern society has been reluctant to embrace surrogacy arrangements due to the ethical and sometimes practical debates they spark. This reluctance is evidenced by the general lack of legislative support for surrogacy arrangements in Australia and worldwide. In 2009 it was announced that Queensland will decriminalise altruistic surrogacy. While this decision is a step towards bringing Queensland in line with other Australian jurisdictions, it also has the potential to open up a Pandora's Box of legal and ethical issues. This article provides a snapshot of the anticipated new Queensland surrogacy legislation together with a brief overview of the regulation of surrogacy in all Australian jurisdictions. Recommendations are made as to whether there is a need for further reform of surrogacy regulation in certain Australian jurisdictions and if so, whether the proposed Queensland legislation constitutes an appropriate model on which to base such reform.

Comparisons of adaptive TIN modelling filtering method and threshold segmentation filtering method of LiDAR point cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Lin; Fan, Xiangtao; Du, Xiaoping

2014-01-01

Point cloud filtering is the basic and key step in LiDAR data processing. Adaptive Triangle Irregular Network Modelling (ATINM) algorithm and Threshold Segmentation on Elevation Statistics (TSES) algorithm are among the mature algorithms. However, few researches concentrate on the parameter selections of ATINM and the iteration condition of TSES, which can greatly affect the filtering results. First the paper presents these two key problems under two different terrain environments. For a flat area, small height parameter and angle parameter perform well and for areas with complex feature changes, large height parameter and angle parameter perform well. One-time segmentation is enough for flat areas, and repeated segmentations are essential for complex areas. Then the paper makes comparisons and analyses of the results by these two methods. ATINM has a larger I error in both two data sets as it sometimes removes excessive points. TSES has a larger II error in both two data sets as it ignores topological relations between points. ATINM performs well even with a large region and a dramatic topology while TSES is more suitable for small region with flat topology. Different parameters and iterations can cause relative large filtering differences

The circuitous path of democracy : legislative control of the bureaucracy in presidential regimes : the case of Mexico

OpenAIRE

Ríos C., Alejandra

2010-01-01

My research identifies conditions for legislators in emerging presidential democracies to achieve bureaucratic accountability, one of the least studies aspects of legislative politics. To better explain legislators' ability to hold the bureaucracy accountable, I develop a theoretical model of oversight in which resource constraints (i.e., capabilities) and electoral motivations and policy preferences (i.e., incentives) explain legislators' behavior. The model shows that legislators' oversight...

Market segmentation in behavioral perspective.

OpenAIRE

Wells, V.K.; Chang, S.W.; Oliveira-Castro, J.M.; Pallister, J.

2010-01-01

A segmentation approach is presented using both traditional demographic segmentation bases (age, social class/occupation, and working status) and a segmentation by benefits sought. The benefits sought in this case are utilitarian and informational reinforcement, variables developed from the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM). Using data from 1,847 consumers and from a total of 76,682 individual purchases, brand choice and price and reinforcement responsiveness were assessed for each segment a...

Considering the impact of the 'Right to Bargain' Legislation in Ireland: A Review

OpenAIRE

Cullinane, Niall; Dobbins, Anthony

2014-01-01

Ireland is rare among advanced economies in not having statutory trade union recognition legislation for collective bargaining purposes. The matter has been a source of policy contention over the years with attempts to resolve it encapsulated in the so-called ‘Right to Bargain’ legislation, introduced in 2001. This legislation has sought to circumvent statutory recognition in Ireland by putting in place an alternative mechanism for unions to represent members in non-union firms where collecti...

Noise destroys feedback enhanced figure-ground segmentation but not feedforward figure-ground segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Romeo, August; Arall, Marina; Supèr, Hans

2012-01-01

Figure-ground (FG) segmentation is the separation of visual information into background and foreground objects. In the visual cortex, FG responses are observed in the late stimulus response period, when neurons fire in tonic mode, and are accompanied by a switch in cortical state. When such a switch does not occur, FG segmentation fails. Currently, it is not known what happens in the brain on such occasions. A biologically plausible feedforward spiking neuron model was previously devised that performed FG segmentation successfully. After incorporating feedback the FG signal was enhanced, which was accompanied by a change in spiking regime. In a feedforward model neurons respond in a bursting mode whereas in the feedback model neurons fired in tonic mode. It is known that bursts can overcome noise, while tonic firing appears to be much more sensitive to noise. In the present study, we try to elucidate how the presence of noise can impair FG segmentation, and to what extent the feedforward and feedback pathways can overcome noise. We show that noise specifically destroys the feedback enhanced FG segmentation and leaves the feedforward FG segmentation largely intact. Our results predict that noise produces failure in FG perception. PMID:22934028

Racism in United States: Drug Legislation and the Trade-Off Behind It

Science.gov (United States)

Heiligman, Avron C.

1978-01-01

This paper attempts to show that drug legislation in the United States has been the result of racial discrimination as rationalized by labeling specific target populations deviant. The author suggests that organized medicine can also be linked to the controlling measures of drug legislation. (Author)

Philosophocal and legislation aspects of surrogacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakariadze, A

2011-06-01

Among current bioethical issues one of the most dilemmatic is an issue of surrogacy. It causes great moral, ethical and legal debate. The article aims to show philosophical and legislation aspects of surrogacy. The meaning of "motherhood", "kinship", "liberty" in connection with surrogacy is analyzed. The article provides an overview of Georgian Orthodox Church on surrogate motherhood.

New psychoactive substances legislation in Ireland - Perspectives from academia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kavanagh, Pierce V; Power, John D

2014-01-01

The emergence of 'legal highs' or 'new psychoactive substances' (NPS) on the Irish market is reflective of their appearance in many countries, with some notable exceptions. The official response to the situation is examined here by looking at Irish controlled drugs legislation and drug enforcement policies as enacted in recent years and their effects on academic research on NPS. The philosophy and practice of outright bans of scheduled substances has not been effective in delivering the stated aims of illicit drug control, namely harm reduction. With these legislative changes, we have witnessed the removal of the 'legitimate' sale and open marketing of a number of NPS to the general public in commercial retail premises. However, as legislation was enacted, suppliers and vendors rapidly changed the contents of their legal high products from now controlled to non-controlled substances. We have found that it is administratively challenging to perform scientific research on controlled substances at academic institutions. It is desirable to gather analytical, pharmacological, and toxicological data on these substances as they emerge on the market but due to the restrictive nature of licensing requirements, once a substance or generic class of substances is controlled, this becomes more difficult. The facts that any quantity of substance, no matter how small, is controlled, the nomenclature used to describe compounds is not consistent within the enacted legislation and the use of catch-all classes of compounds with the intention of controlling many similar molecular structures, all create problematic issues for academic researchers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ADVANCED CLUSTER BASED IMAGE SEGMENTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Kesavaraja

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents efficient and portable implementations of a useful image segmentation technique which makes use of the faster and a variant of the conventional connected components algorithm which we call parallel Components. In the Modern world majority of the doctors are need image segmentation as the service for various purposes and also they expect this system is run faster and secure. Usually Image segmentation Algorithms are not working faster. In spite of several ongoing researches in Conventional Segmentation and its Algorithms might not be able to run faster. So we propose a cluster computing environment for parallel image Segmentation to provide faster result. This paper is the real time implementation of Distributed Image Segmentation in Clustering of Nodes. We demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our method on a set of Medical CT Scan Images. Our general framework is a single address space, distributed memory programming model. We use efficient techniques for distributing and coalescing data as well as efficient combinations of task and data parallelism. The image segmentation algorithm makes use of an efficient cluster process which uses a novel approach for parallel merging. Our experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis and practical results. It provides the faster execution time for segmentation, when compared with Conventional method. Our test data is different CT scan images from the Medical database. More efficient implementations of Image Segmentation will likely result in even faster execution times.

Legislative Process For National Atomic Energy Laws Various Legal Approaches And Lessons Learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, A.M.

2008-01-01

Legislative Process for National Atomic Energy Laws (NAELs) aim at establishing a legal base for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Various approaches (partial and comprehensive) to draft the NAELs are studied. The paper also studies some national nuclear energy laws through a comparative legal analysis and the important developments that have taken place in the legislative process for NAELs. There are lessons learned from the legislative process for NAELs. First, each state must develop its own legislative framework based on its own situation. Second, although the NAELs have common features, they vary considerably due to national legal traditions, social, economic circumstances and cultural values. Third, the NAELs have also evolved in time. Fourth, the technical standards, rules and guidelines should not be part of legislation issued by the Parliament because they would also facilitate quick adaption to new technical developments. Fifth, interface between legal and technical issues, requiring legal and technical experts to interact with each other. Sixth, continuing assessment that may lead to amendments to the law over time

Liver segmentation in contrast enhanced CT data using graph cuts and interactive 3D segmentation refinement methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beichel, Reinhard; Bornik, Alexander; Bauer, Christian; Sorantin, Erich [Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Internal Medicine, Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (United States); Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16, A-8010 Graz (Austria); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (United States); Department of Radiology, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, A-8010 Graz (Austria)

2012-03-15

Purpose: Liver segmentation is an important prerequisite for the assessment of liver cancer treatment options like tumor resection, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), radiofrequency ablation, etc. The purpose of this work was to evaluate a new approach for liver segmentation. Methods: A graph cuts segmentation method was combined with a three-dimensional virtual reality based segmentation refinement approach. The developed interactive segmentation system allowed the user to manipulate volume chunks and/or surfaces instead of 2D contours in cross-sectional images (i.e, slice-by-slice). The method was evaluated on twenty routinely acquired portal-phase contrast enhanced multislice computed tomography (CT) data sets. An independent reference was generated by utilizing a currently clinically utilized slice-by-slice segmentation method. After 1 h of introduction to the developed segmentation system, three experts were asked to segment all twenty data sets with the proposed method. Results: Compared to the independent standard, the relative volumetric segmentation overlap error averaged over all three experts and all twenty data sets was 3.74%. Liver segmentation required on average 16 min of user interaction per case. The calculated relative volumetric overlap errors were not found to be significantly different [analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, p = 0.82] between experts who utilized the proposed 3D system. In contrast, the time required by each expert for segmentation was found to be significantly different (ANOVA test, p = 0.0009). Major differences between generated segmentations and independent references were observed in areas were vessels enter or leave the liver and no accepted criteria for defining liver boundaries exist. In comparison, slice-by-slice based generation of the independent standard utilizing a live wire tool took 70.1 min on average. A standard 2D segmentation refinement approach applied to all twenty data sets required on average 38.2 min of

Liver segmentation in contrast enhanced CT data using graph cuts and interactive 3D segmentation refinement methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beichel, Reinhard; Bornik, Alexander; Bauer, Christian; Sorantin, Erich

2012-01-01

Purpose: Liver segmentation is an important prerequisite for the assessment of liver cancer treatment options like tumor resection, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), radiofrequency ablation, etc. The purpose of this work was to evaluate a new approach for liver segmentation. Methods: A graph cuts segmentation method was combined with a three-dimensional virtual reality based segmentation refinement approach. The developed interactive segmentation system allowed the user to manipulate volume chunks and/or surfaces instead of 2D contours in cross-sectional images (i.e, slice-by-slice). The method was evaluated on twenty routinely acquired portal-phase contrast enhanced multislice computed tomography (CT) data sets. An independent reference was generated by utilizing a currently clinically utilized slice-by-slice segmentation method. After 1 h of introduction to the developed segmentation system, three experts were asked to segment all twenty data sets with the proposed method. Results: Compared to the independent standard, the relative volumetric segmentation overlap error averaged over all three experts and all twenty data sets was 3.74%. Liver segmentation required on average 16 min of user interaction per case. The calculated relative volumetric overlap errors were not found to be significantly different [analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, p = 0.82] between experts who utilized the proposed 3D system. In contrast, the time required by each expert for segmentation was found to be significantly different (ANOVA test, p = 0.0009). Major differences between generated segmentations and independent references were observed in areas were vessels enter or leave the liver and no accepted criteria for defining liver boundaries exist. In comparison, slice-by-slice based generation of the independent standard utilizing a live wire tool took 70.1 min on average. A standard 2D segmentation refinement approach applied to all twenty data sets required on average 38.2 min of

Liver segmentation in contrast enhanced CT data using graph cuts and interactive 3D segmentation refinement methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Beichel, Reinhard; Bornik, Alexander; Bauer, Christian; Sorantin, Erich

2012-03-01

Liver segmentation is an important prerequisite for the assessment of liver cancer treatment options like tumor resection, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), radiofrequency ablation, etc. The purpose of this work was to evaluate a new approach for liver segmentation. A graph cuts segmentation method was combined with a three-dimensional virtual reality based segmentation refinement approach. The developed interactive segmentation system allowed the user to manipulate volume chunks and∕or surfaces instead of 2D contours in cross-sectional images (i.e, slice-by-slice). The method was evaluated on twenty routinely acquired portal-phase contrast enhanced multislice computed tomography (CT) data sets. An independent reference was generated by utilizing a currently clinically utilized slice-by-slice segmentation method. After 1 h of introduction to the developed segmentation system, three experts were asked to segment all twenty data sets with the proposed method. Compared to the independent standard, the relative volumetric segmentation overlap error averaged over all three experts and all twenty data sets was 3.74%. Liver segmentation required on average 16 min of user interaction per case. The calculated relative volumetric overlap errors were not found to be significantly different [analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, p = 0.82] between experts who utilized the proposed 3D system. In contrast, the time required by each expert for segmentation was found to be significantly different (ANOVA test, p = 0.0009). Major differences between generated segmentations and independent references were observed in areas were vessels enter or leave the liver and no accepted criteria for defining liver boundaries exist. In comparison, slice-by-slice based generation of the independent standard utilizing a live wire tool took 70.1 min on average. A standard 2D segmentation refinement approach applied to all twenty data sets required on average 38.2 min of user interaction

Formulation of a possible advanced reactor legislative strategy and proposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

A number of initiatives have been taken to date regarding the formulation of legislation to support in various ways the DOE advanced nuclear reactor program. Among the more prominent of these are bills that have been introduced by Sen. Johnston (D-La) and Rep. Udall (D-Az) as well as a draft bill put together by the nuclear industry and that could be introduced by Rep. Stallings (D-Id). These legislative initiatives are presented in this paper

Cluster Ensemble-Based Image Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoru Wang

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Image segmentation is the foundation of computer vision applications. In this paper, we propose a new cluster ensemble-based image segmentation algorithm, which overcomes several problems of traditional methods. We make two main contributions in this paper. First, we introduce the cluster ensemble concept to fuse the segmentation results from different types of visual features effectively, which can deliver a better final result and achieve a much more stable performance for broad categories of images. Second, we exploit the PageRank idea from Internet applications and apply it to the image segmentation task. This can improve the final segmentation results by combining the spatial information of the image and the semantic similarity of regions. Our experiments on four public image databases validate the superiority of our algorithm over conventional single type of feature or multiple types of features-based algorithms, since our algorithm can fuse multiple types of features effectively for better segmentation results. Moreover, our method is also proved to be very competitive in comparison with other state-of-the-art segmentation algorithms.

Albedo estimation for scene segmentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, C H; Rosenfeld, A

1983-03-01

Standard methods of image segmentation do not take into account the three-dimensional nature of the underlying scene. For example, histogram-based segmentation tacitly assumes that the image intensity is piecewise constant, and this is not true when the scene contains curved surfaces. This paper introduces a method of taking 3d information into account in the segmentation process. The image intensities are adjusted to compensate for the effects of estimated surface orientation; the adjusted intensities can be regarded as reflectivity estimates. When histogram-based segmentation is applied to these new values, the image is segmented into parts corresponding to surfaces of constant reflectivity in the scene. 7 references.

End-to-End Assessment of a Large Aperture Segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Lee; Rioux, Norman; Bolcar, Matthew; Liu, Alice; Guyon, Oliver; Stark, Chris; Arenberg, Jon

2016-01-01

Key challenges of a future large aperture, segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope capable of performing a spectroscopic survey of hundreds of Exoplanets will be sufficient stability to achieve 10^-10 contrast measurements and sufficient throughput and sensitivity for high yield Exo-Earth spectroscopic detection. Our team has collectively assessed an optimized end to end architecture including a high throughput coronagraph capable of working with a segmented telescope, a cost-effective and heritage based stable segmented telescope, a control architecture that minimizes the amount of new technologies, and an Exo-Earth yield assessment to evaluate potential performance. These efforts are combined through integrated modeling, coronagraph evaluations, and Exo-Earth yield calculations to assess the potential performance of the selected architecture. In addition, we discusses the scalability of this architecture to larger apertures and the technological tall poles to enabling it.

Segmentation of Large Unstructured Point Clouds Using Octree-Based Region Growing and Conditional Random Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Bassier, M.; Bonduel, M.; Van Genechten, B.; Vergauwen, M.

2017-11-01

Point cloud segmentation is a crucial step in scene understanding and interpretation. The goal is to decompose the initial data into sets of workable clusters with similar properties. Additionally, it is a key aspect in the automated procedure from point cloud data to BIM. Current approaches typically only segment a single type of primitive such as planes or cylinders. Also, current algorithms suffer from oversegmenting the data and are often sensor or scene dependent. In this work, a method is presented to automatically segment large unstructured point clouds of buildings. More specifically, the segmentation is formulated as a graph optimisation problem. First, the data is oversegmented with a greedy octree-based region growing method. The growing is conditioned on the segmentation of planes as well as smooth surfaces. Next, the candidate clusters are represented by a Conditional Random Field after which the most likely configuration of candidate clusters is computed given a set of local and contextual features. The experiments prove that the used method is a fast and reliable framework for unstructured point cloud segmentation. Processing speeds up to 40,000 points per second are recorded for the region growing. Additionally, the recall and precision of the graph clustering is approximately 80%. Overall, nearly 22% of oversegmentation is reduced by clustering the data. These clusters will be classified and used as a basis for the reconstruction of BIM models.

Segmenting the Adult Education Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Aurand, Tim

1994-01-01

Describes market segmentation and how the principles of segmentation can be applied to the adult education market. Indicates that applying segmentation techniques to adult education programs results in programs that are educationally and financially satisfying and serve an appropriate population. (JOW)

Gamifying Video Object Segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Spampinato, Concetto; Palazzo, Simone; Giordano, Daniela

2017-10-01

Video object segmentation can be considered as one of the most challenging computer vision problems. Indeed, so far, no existing solution is able to effectively deal with the peculiarities of real-world videos, especially in cases of articulated motion and object occlusions; limitations that appear more evident when we compare the performance of automated methods with the human one. However, manually segmenting objects in videos is largely impractical as it requires a lot of time and concentration. To address this problem, in this paper we propose an interactive video object segmentation method, which exploits, on one hand, the capability of humans to identify correctly objects in visual scenes, and on the other hand, the collective human brainpower to solve challenging and large-scale tasks. In particular, our method relies on a game with a purpose to collect human inputs on object locations, followed by an accurate segmentation phase achieved by optimizing an energy function encoding spatial and temporal constraints between object regions as well as human-provided location priors. Performance analysis carried out on complex video benchmarks, and exploiting data provided by over 60 users, demonstrated that our method shows a better trade-off between annotation times and segmentation accuracy than interactive video annotation and automated video object segmentation approaches.

Legislation for higher education disabled students in Brazil and Portugal: some reflections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Ricardo Lins Vieira de Melo

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study aims to make a critical analysis of legislation regulating the inclusion of disabled students in higher education in Brazil and Portugal. Based on a documentary study, conducted between September and November 2015, the legal standards in recent decades have been analyzed. The results point out different stages of construction of the inclusion policy in the researched countries. It is emphasized that there is a significant variety of norms in the Brazilian context to ensure that these students have equal opportunities, and a scarcity of regulations in Portugal. The legislation has been referred to as an important factor for the development of inclusive education; however it is noteworthy that the existence of legislation does not necessarily imply it is actually complied. Besides legislation, removing barriers for the full participation and learning of disabled students involves awareness, investment in resources, public policy makers and managers’ scientific knowledge to ensure a quality education throughout life for all people.

Legislative developments in radioactive materials transportation, November 1992--March 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, J.B.; Cummins, J.

1993-04-01

This is the sixth report prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on developments in radioactive materials transportation. It updates information contained in the November 1992 Legislative and Legal Developments in Radioactive Materials Transportation report and describes activities for the period November 1, 1992--March 31, 1993. NCSL is working to bring on-line a data base that contains abstracts of state laws and regulations relating to the transportation of radioactive materials. The data base will be operated by NCSL under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Limited availability of on-line capability is anticipated by the end of July 1993. Users approved by DOE and NCSL will have access to the data base. Hard copy of any legislation listed in this report can be obtained by contacting the people listed below. This report contains summaries of legislation introduced in the 1993 state legislative sessions. Bills that address nuclear materials transportation and the broader area of hazardous materials transportation are grouped by state according to their status--enacted, pending or failed. In addition, bills that deal with emergency preparedness and general nuclear waste issues are described. Also included are Federal Register notices pertinent to radioactive waste and hazardous materials transportation. A recent court decision is also summarized

The development of Tobacco Harm Prevention Law in Vietnam: stakeholder tensions over tobacco control legislation in a state owned industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Higashi, Hideki; Khuong, Tuan A; Ngo, Anh D; Hill, Peter S

2011-09-18

Building on its National Tobacco Control Policy initiated in 2000, Vietnam is currently considering introducing a comprehensive law to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policy. This study analyses the positions of key stakeholders in the development of tobacco control legislation in the context of a largely state-owned industry, and discusses their implications for the policy process. Several qualitative methods were employed for the study including: literature review and documentary analysis; key informant interview; focus groups discussion; and key stakeholders survey. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Finance are key players in the tobacco control policy and legislation, representing competing bureaucratic interests over health, macro-economy and revenue. High-ranking officials, including the Communist Party and National Assembly members, take a rather relaxed position reflecting the low political stakes placed on tobacco issues. The state-owned tobacco industry is regarded as an important contributor to the government revenue and gross domestic product, and the relative weight on health and socioeconomic issues placed by stakeholders determine their positions on tobacco control. Overall, short-term economic interests have more immediate influence in setting policy directions, with the consequences of health gains perceived as relegated to a distant future. This was reflected in the position of tobacco control advocates, including MOH, that presented with reluctance in insisting on some tobacco control strategies revealing a mixture attitude of concessions to the socioeconomic uncertainties and a sense of bargaining to win the strategies that are more likely to be accepted. The state-ownership of tobacco industry poses a major paradox within the government that benefits from manufacturing of tobacco products and is also responsible for controlling tobacco consumption. The perceptions of negative implications

Legislating tolerance: Spain's national public smoking law.

Science.gov (United States)

Muggli, Monique E; Lockhart, Nikki J; Ebbert, Jon O; Jiménez-Ruiz, Carlos A; Riesco Miranda, Juan Antonio; Hurt, Richard D

2010-02-01

While Spain's national tobacco control legislation prohibits smoking in many indoor public places, the law provides for an exception to the prohibition of smoking by allowing separate seating sections and ventilation options in certain public places such as bars and restaurants, hotels and airports. Accordingly, Spain's law is not aligned with Article 8 Guidelines of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires parties to ensure universal protection against secondhand smoke exposure in all enclosed public places, workplaces and on all means of public transport. Spain's law is currently being promoted by the tobacco companies in other countries as a model for smoke-free legislation. In order to prevent weakening of smoke-free laws in other countries through industry-supported exceptions, we investigated the tactics used by the tobacco companies before the implementation of the new law and assessed the consequences of these actions in the hospitality sector. Internal tobacco industry documents made public through US litigation settlements dating back to the 1980s were searched in 2008-9. Documents show that tobacco companies sought to protect hospitality venues from smoking restrictions by promoting separate seating for smokers and ineffective ventilation technologies, supporting an unenforceable voluntary agreement between the Madrid local government and the hospitality industry, influencing ventilation standards setting and manipulating Spanish media. The Spanish National Assembly should adopt comprehensive smoke-free legislation that does not accommodate the interests of the tobacco industry. In doing so, Spain's smoke-free public places law would be better aligned with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Structured prediction for urban scene semantic segmentation with geographic contex

OpenAIRE

Volpi Michele; Ferrari Vittorio

2015-01-01

In this work we address the problem of semantic segmentation of urban remote sensing images into land cover maps. We propose to tackle this task by learning the geographic context of classes and use it to favor or discourage certain spatial configuration of label assignments. For this reason, we learn from training data two spatial priors enforcing different key aspects of the geographical space: local co-occurrence and relative location of land cover classes. We propose to embed these geogra...

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Smokefree Indoor Air

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation – Smokefree Indoor Air. The...

The parietal epithelial cell: a key player in the pathogenesis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in Thy-1.1 transgenic mice.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smeets, B.; Loeke, N. te; Dijkman, H.B.P.M.; Steenbergen, M.; Lensen, J.F.M.; Begieneman, M.P.; Kuppevelt, A.H.M.S.M. van; Wetzels, J.F.M.; Steenbergen, E.

2004-01-01

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a hallmark of progressive renal disease. Podocyte injury and loss have been proposed as the critical events that lead to FSGS. In the present study, the authors have examined the development of FSGS in Thy-1.1 transgenic (tg) mice, with emphasis on the

Analysis of cosmetics with regard to legislation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liem, D.H.

1976-01-01

A general picture of toxicological approach and practical aspects of cosmetic safety is described in this thesis. Such considerations are the basis for introducing negative and positive lists of cosmetic ingredients into cosmetic legislation. The first Dutch Cosmetic Act of 1968 already has several

The European legislative framework for audit committees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Elst, C.F.

In 2014 the European Union reformed the regulatory framework of statutory audits in Directive 2014/56/EC and Regulation (EU) Nr. 537/2014. Part of the new legislation addresses the composition and responsibilities of the audit committee of public-interest entities. This contribution studies the

Uniting Legislation with RFID Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rieback, M.R.; Crispo, B.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

2005-01-01

RFID is a popular identification and automation technology with serious security and privacy threats. Legislation expounds upon the actual security and privacy needs of people in RFID-enabled environments, while technology helps to ensure legal compliance. This paper examines the main aims of RFID

U.S. Army Custom Segmentation System

Science.gov (United States)

2007-06-01

segmentation is individual or intergroup differences in response to marketing - mix variables. Presumptions about segments: •different demands in a...product or service category, •respond differently to changes in the marketing mix Criteria for segments: •The segments must exist in the environment

A hybrid segmentation method for partitioning the liver based on 4D DCE-MR images

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tian; Wu, Zhiyi; Runge, Jurgen H.; Lavini, Cristina; Stoker, Jaap; van Gulik, Thomas; Cieslak, Kasia P.; van Vliet, Lucas J.; Vos, Frans M.

2018-03-01

The Couinaud classification of hepatic anatomy partitions the liver into eight functionally independent segments. Detection and segmentation of the hepatic vein (HV), portal vein (PV) and inferior vena cava (IVC) plays an important role in the subsequent delineation of the liver segments. To facilitate pharmacokinetic modeling of the liver based on the same data, a 4D DCE-MR scan protocol was selected. This yields images with high temporal resolution but low spatial resolution. Since the liver's vasculature consists of many tiny branches, segmentation of these images is challenging. The proposed framework starts with registration of the 4D DCE-MRI series followed by region growing from manually annotated seeds in the main branches of key blood vessels in the liver. It calculates the Pearson correlation between the time intensity curves (TICs) of a seed and all voxels. A maximum correlation map for each vessel is obtained by combining the correlation maps for all branches of the same vessel through a maximum selection per voxel. The maximum correlation map is incorporated in a level set scheme to individually delineate the main vessels. Subsequently, the eight liver segments are segmented based on three vertical intersecting planes fit through the three skeleton branches of HV and IVC's center of mass as well as a horizontal plane fit through the skeleton of PV. Our segmentation regarding delineation of the vessels is more accurate than the results of two state-of-the-art techniques on five subjects in terms of the average symmetric surface distance (ASSD) and modified Hausdorff distance (MHD). Furthermore, the proposed liver partitioning achieves large overlap with manual reference segmentations (expressed in Dice Coefficient) in all but a small minority of segments (mean values between 87% and 94% for segments 2-8). The lower mean overlap for segment 1 (72%) is due to the limited spatial resolution of our DCE-MR scan protocol.

Evaluation of the existing EIA legislation. How EIA procedures function in practice and areas needing improvement; YVA-lainsaeaedaennoen toimivuusarviointi. Ympaeristoevaikutusten arviointimenettelyn toimivuus ja kehittaemistarpeet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jantunen, J.; Hokkanen, P.

2010-09-15

planning tool. The EIA procedure is applied to a small number of projects, but these are highly significant in their environmental impact. There is a high threshold for applying the procedure in individual cases. Generally, the resources used for the assessment procedure are proportional to the projects and to the benefits gained. The two-step format of the assessment procedure works quite well. The EIA programme phase is highly significant for the results and quality of the EIA procedure. The programme phase allows stakeholders to participate at an early stage. Key stakeholders have clear and functional roles and responsibilities. The competent EIA authority's role as the coordinator and quality controller of the assessment procedure has turned out to be highly effective. Some of the areas needing improvement identified by the evaluation involve, for example, amending the legislation to streamline and clarify the EIA procedure and zoning regulations. Additionally, the option of assessing the environmental impact of alterations and extension work related to existing projects in connection with environmental permit procedures should be clarified further. The legislation for different sectors could be harmonised such that it would better take into account the broad information base created through the assessment procedure. A significant proportion of the areas needing improvement, among them drawing up of voluntary industry-specific guidelines or improved use of the Internet for purposes of better public participation, do not require changes to legislation. Attention should be paid to targeting the assessments adequately at those environmental effects with the greatest significance. To ensure unified operations of the authorities, competent EIA authorities' training and instructions must be continuous and up to date. There are some shortcomings in the evaluation of the overall impact of various projects, and in the follow-up activities and utilisation of follow

A moral justification for gay and lesbian civil rights legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Samar, V J

1994-01-01

This essay explores, in two parts, the problems of justifying civil rights legislation for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Part I shows that discrimination against gays and lesbians at least in respect to employment, housing, and public accommodations is an evil unsupported by ethical traditions in utilitarianism, rights theory, and communitarianism. It also shows that two theories, Kantian theory and natural law theory, which do support such discrimination on the claim that homoerotic behavior is universally or objectively immoral only do so because of a failure to make precise the concept of "natural" which underlies those theories. Part II argues that anti-discrimination legislation is both an appropriate and effective means to promote the idea that discrimination against lesbians and gays in respect to most employment, housing, and public accommodations is sufficiently injurious to both individuals and society that it should not be tolerated. The section also explains how such legislation might succeed practically in eliminating discrimination in these areas.

CDC STATE System Tobacco Legislation - Smokefree Indoor Air

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Legislation – Smokefree Indoor Air....

The parietal epithelial cell: a key player in the pathogenesis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in Thy-1.1 transgenic mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeets, Bart; Te Loeke, Nathalie A J M; Dijkman, Henry B P M; Steenbergen, Mark L M; Lensen, Joost F M; Begieneman, Mark P V; van Kuppevelt, Toin H; Wetzels, Jack F M; Steenbergen, Eric J

2004-04-01

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a hallmark of progressive renal disease. Podocyte injury and loss have been proposed as the critical events that lead to FSGS. In the present study, the authors have examined the development of FSGS in Thy-1.1 transgenic (tg) mice, with emphasis on the podocyte and parietal epithelial cell (PEC). Thy-1.1 tg mice express the Thy-1.1 antigen on podocytes. Injection of anti-Thy-1.1 mAb induces an acute albuminuria and development of FSGS lesions that resemble human collapsing FSGS. The authors studied FSGS lesions at days 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, and 21, in relation to changes in the expression of specific markers for normal podocytes (WT-1, synaptopodin, ASD33, and the Thy-1.1 antigen), for mouse PEC (CD10), for activated podocytes (desmin), for macrophages (CD68), and for proliferation (Ki-67). The composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that forms tuft adhesions or scars was studied using mAb against collagen IV alpha2 and alpha4 chains and antibodies directed against different heparan sulfate species. The first change observed was severe PEC injury at day 1, which increased in time, and resulted in denuded segments of Bowman's capsule at days 6 and 7. Podocytes showed foot process effacement and microvillous transformation. There was no evidence of podocyte loss or denudation of the GBM. Podocytes became hypertrophic at day 3, with decreased expression of ASD33 and synaptopodin and normal expression of WT-1 and Thy-1.1. Podocyte bridges were formed by attachment of hypertrophic podocytes to PEC and podocyte apposition against denuded segments of Bowman's capsule. At day 6, there was a marked proliferation of epithelial cells in Bowman's space. These proliferating cells were negative for desmin and all podocyte markers, but stained for CD10, and thus appeared to be PEC. The staining properties of the early adhesions were identical to that of Bowman's capsule, suggesting that the ECM in the adhesions was produced by PEC

Poly(ether amide) segmented block copolymers with adipicacid based tetra amide segments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biemond, G.J.E.; Feijen, Jan; Gaymans, R.J.

2007-01-01

Poly(tetramethylene oxide)-based poly(ether ester amide)s with monodisperse tetraamide segments were synthesized. The tetraamide segment was based on adipic acid, terephthalic acid, and hexamethylenediamine. The synthesis method of the copolymers and the influence of the tetraamide concentration,

Smoke-free legislation and charitable gaming in Kentucky.

Science.gov (United States)

Pyles, M K; Hahn, E J

2009-02-01

To determine the effect of municipal smoke-free laws in Kentucky on gross and/or net revenues from charitable gaming activities. Between January 2000 and June 2007, 13 Kentucky communities implemented smoke-free legislation; only three specifically exempted charitable gaming facilities and compliance in several communities was not consistent. Kentucky is a tobacco-growing state that has the highest smoking rate in the United States. A fixed-effects time series design to estimate the impact of municipal smoke-free laws on charitable gaming. 13 Kentucky counties that implemented smoke-free laws during the study period of January 2000 through June 2007. All charitable gaming facilities in 13 counties in which a smoke-free ordinance was enacted during the study period. Gross and net revenues from charitable gaming activities in each county for each quarter of the study period, obtained from the Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming. When controlling for economic variables, county-specific effects and time trends using a robust statistical framework, there was no significant relation between smoke-free laws and charitable gaming revenues. Municipal smoke-free legislation had no effect on charitable gaming revenues. No significant harm to charitable gaming revenues was associated with the smoke-free legislation during the 7.5-year study period, despite the fact that Kentucky is a tobacco-producing state with higher-than-average smoking rates.

Political realities of statewide smoking legislation: the passage of California's Assembly Bill 13.

Science.gov (United States)

Macdonald, H R; Glantz, S A

1997-01-01

To prepare a history of the enactment of California Assembly Bill 13 (AB 13), a state law prohibiting smoking in most workplaces passed in 1994, and to discuss its initial impacts. Data were gathered from open ended interviews with representatives of voluntary health organisations, local government organisations, and principal legislators involved in the process, as well as observers around the state who could provide insight into the legislative process. Information was also obtained from legislative hearings and debates, public documents, letters and personal communications, internal memoranda, and news reports. The success of local tobacco control legislation in California led to a situation in which some health groups were willing to accept state preemption in order to attract the support of the state restaurant association for a bill. The decision to accept this preemption compromise was made by the state level offices of the voluntary health agencies without consulting the broader tobacco control community within California. In contrast, local tobacco control advocates did not accept this compromise, in part because of their belief that local legislation was a better device to educate the public, generate media coverage, and build community support for enforcement and implementation of clean indoor air and other tobacco control laws. Enactment of AB 13 was associated with a slowing of all local tobacco control legislation, including youth oriented laws. Because its supporters initially doubted that AB 13 would pass, there was never an effort to reconcile the policy differences between state oriented and locally oriented tobacco control policies. This lack of consensus, combined with the political realities inherent in passing any state legislation, led to a bill with ambiguous preemption language which replaced the "patchwork of local laws" with a "patchwork of local enforcement."

CDC STATE System E-Cigarette Legislation - Youth Access

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1995-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. E-Cigarette Legislation—Youth Access....

Mandatory Reporting? Issues to consider when developing legislation and policy to improve discovery of child abuse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Davies

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Article by Dr Emma Davies (School of Law, Liverpool John Moores University, Associate Professor Ben Mathews (School of Law, Queensland University of Technology and Professor John Read (Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool. In the United Kingdom, recent investigations into child sexual abuse occurring within schools, the Catholic Church and the British Broadcasting Corporation, have intensified debate on ways to improve the discovery of child sexual abuse, and child maltreatment generally. One approach adopted in other jurisdictions to better identify cases of severe child maltreatment is the introduction of some form of legislative mandatory reporting to require designated persons to report known and suspected cases. The debate in England has raised the prospect of whether adopting a strategy of some kind of mandatory reporting law is advisable. The purpose of this article is to add to this debate by identifying fundamental principles, issues and complexities underpinning policy and even legislative developments in the interests of children and society. The article will first highlight the data on the hidden nature of child maltreatment and the background to the debate. Secondly, it will identify some significant gaps in knowledge that need to be filled. Thirdly, the article will summarise the barriers to reporting abuse and neglect. Fourthly, we will identify a range of options for, and clarify the dilemmas in developing, legislative mandatory reporting, addressing two key issues: who should be mandated to report, and what types of child maltreatment should they be required to report? Finally, we draw attention to some inherently different goals and competing interests, both between and within the various institutions involved in the safeguarding of children and the criminal prosecution of some offenders. Based on this analysis we offer some concluding observations that we hope contribute to informed and careful

Brazilian agriculture and environmental legislation: status and future challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Sparovek, Gerd; Berndes, Göran; Klug, Israel L F; Barretto, Alberto G O P

2010-08-15

Brazilian agriculture covers about one-third of the land area and is expected to expand further. We assessed the compliance of present Brazilian agriculture with environmental legislation and identified challenges for agricultural development connected to this legislation. We found (i) minor illegal land use in protected areas under public administration, (ii) a large deficit in legal reserves and protected riparian zones on private farmland, and (iii) large areas of unprotected natural vegetation in regions experiencing agriculture expansion. Achieving full compliance with the environmental laws as they presently stand would require drastic changes in agricultural land use, where large agricultural areas are taken out of production and converted back to natural vegetation. The outcome of a full compliance with environmental legislation might not be satisfactory due to leakage, where pristine unprotected areas become converted to compensate for lost production as current agricultural areas are reconverted to protected natural vegetation. Realizing the desired protection of biodiversity and natural vegetation, while expanding agriculture to meet food and biofuel demand, may require a new approach to environmental protection. New legal and regulatory instruments and the establishment of alternative development models should be considered.

Market Segmentation for Information Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Halperin, Michael

1981-01-01

Discusses the advantages and limitations of market segmentation as strategy for the marketing of information services made available by nonprofit organizations, particularly libraries. Market segmentation is defined, a market grid for libraries is described, and the segmentation of information services is outlined. A 16-item reference list is…

Probabilistic Segmentation of Folk Music Recordings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciril Bohak

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a novel method for automatic segmentation of folk music field recordings. The method is based on a distance measure that uses dynamic time warping to cope with tempo variations and a dynamic programming approach to handle pitch drifting for finding similarities and estimating the length of repeating segment. A probabilistic framework based on HMM is used to find segment boundaries, searching for optimal match between the expected segment length, between-segment similarities, and likely locations of segment beginnings. Evaluation of several current state-of-the-art approaches for segmentation of commercial music is presented and their weaknesses when dealing with folk music are exposed, such as intolerance to pitch drift and variable tempo. The proposed method is evaluated and its performance analyzed on a collection of 206 folk songs of different ensemble types: solo, two- and three-voiced, choir, instrumental, and instrumental with singing. It outperforms current commercial music segmentation methods for noninstrumental music and is on a par with the best for instrumental recordings. The method is also comparable to a more specialized method for segmentation of solo singing folk music recordings.

Prognostic validation of a 17-segment score derived from a 20-segment score for myocardial perfusion SPECT interpretation.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Daniel S; Abidov, Aiden; Kang, Xingping; Hayes, Sean W; Friedman, John D; Sciammarella, Maria G; Cohen, Ishac; Gerlach, James; Waechter, Parker B; Germano, Guido; Hachamovitch, Rory

2004-01-01

Recently, a 17-segment model of the left ventricle has been recommended as an optimally weighted approach for interpreting myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods to convert databases from previous 20- to new 17-segment data and criteria for abnormality for the 17-segment scores are needed. Initially, for derivation of the conversion algorithm, 65 patients were studied (algorithm population) (pilot group, n = 28; validation group, n = 37). Three conversion algorithms were derived: algorithm 1, which used mid, distal, and apical scores; algorithm 2, which used distal and apical scores alone; and algorithm 3, which used maximal scores of the distal septal, lateral, and apical segments in the 20-segment model for 3 corresponding segments of the 17-segment model. The prognosis population comprised 16,020 consecutive patients (mean age, 65 +/- 12 years; 41% women) who had exercise or vasodilator stress technetium 99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion SPECT and were followed up for 2.1 +/- 0.8 years. In this population, 17-segment scores were derived from 20-segment scores by use of algorithm 2, which demonstrated the best agreement with expert 17-segment reading in the algorithm population. The prognostic value of the 20- and 17-segment scores was compared by converting the respective summed scores into percent myocardium abnormal. Conversion algorithm 2 was found to be highly concordant with expert visual analysis by the 17-segment model (r = 0.982; kappa = 0.866) in the algorithm population. In the prognosis population, 456 cardiac deaths occurred during follow-up. When the conversion algorithm was applied, extent and severity of perfusion defects were nearly identical by 20- and derived 17-segment scores. The receiver operating characteristic curve areas by 20- and 17-segment perfusion scores were identical for predicting cardiac death (both 0.77 +/- 0.02, P = not significant). The optimal prognostic cutoff value for either 20

Bulgarian energy legislation. Status quo and problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denchev, P.

1996-01-01

The author gives a general survey of the present situation and the development tendencies in the Bulgarian nuclear legislation. The latest amendments of the Atomic Energy Act passed by the Bulgarian Parliament are discussed. Special attention is paid to the ratification of the following four groups of international documents: 1) The Convention on Nuclear Safety; 2) The Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Joint Protocol on the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy; 3) The Convention for the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency; 4) The European Energy Charter and its Protocol on Energy Efficiency. The need of adoption of new legislative documents regulating the supply of radioactive materials according to the EURATOM Treaty is stressed

Working Together: An Empirical Analysis of a Multiclass Legislative-Executive Branch Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Kalaf-Hughes, Nicole; Mills, Russell W.

2016-01-01

Much of the research on the use of simulations in the political science classroom focuses on how simulations model different events in the real world, including political campaigns, international diplomacy, and legislative bargaining. In the case of American Politics, many simulations focus on the behavior of Congress and the legislative process,…

The convenience food market in Great Britain: convenience food lifestyle (CFL) segments.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, Marie; Cowan, Cathal; McCarthy, Mary

2007-11-01

Convenience foods enable the consumer to save time and effort in food activities, related to shopping, meal preparation and cooking, consumption and post-meal activities. The objective of this paper is to report on the attitudes and reported behaviour of food consumers in Great Britain based on a review of their convenience food lifestyle (CFLs). The paper also reports the development and application of a segmentation technique that can supply information on consumer attitudes towards convenience foods. The convenience food market in Great Britain is examined and the key drivers of growth in this market are highlighted. A survey was applied to a nationally representative sample of 1000 consumers (defined as the persons primarily responsible for food shopping and cooking in the household) in Great Britain in 2002. Segmentation analysis, based on the identification of 20 convenience lifestyle factors, identified four CFL segments of consumers: the 'food connoisseurs' (26%), the 'home meal preparers' (25%), the 'kitchen evaders' (16%) and the 'convenience-seeking grazers' (33%). In particular, the 'kitchen evaders' and the 'convenience-seeking grazers' are identified as convenience-seeking segments. Implications for food producers, in particular, convenience food manufacturers are discussed. The study provides an understanding of the lifestyles of food consumers in Great Britain, and provides food manufacturers with an insight into what motivates individuals to purchase convenience foods.

Aspects of legislative cognizance of noise pollution in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Brind; Oberoi, Sharad V

2011-04-01

The impacts of noise pollution are associated with the mental, physical, emotional and psychological well-being of an individual. Its damaging effects from various natural and man-made sources are potential hazards that need to be checked at the planning, executive and judicial levels. The paper presents an overview of the technological aspects of noise pollution, and seeks to visit its legislative aspects with respect to India. Excerpts from international laws are presented for a meaningful discussion. References are made from the conclusions of studies carried out by researchers and legislative cases involving noise pollution to make this paper useful for researchers, planners and administrators.

NUCLEAR SEGMENTATION IN MICROSCOPE CELL IMAGES: A HAND-SEGMENTED DATASET AND COMPARISON OF ALGORITHMS

OpenAIRE

Coelho, Luís Pedro; Shariff, Aabid; Murphy, Robert F.

2009-01-01

Image segmentation is an essential step in many image analysis pipelines and many algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem. However, they are often evaluated subjectively or based on a small number of examples. To fill this gap, we hand-segmented a set of 97 fluorescence microscopy images (a total of 4009 cells) and objectively evaluated some previously proposed segmentation algorithms.

Generalized pixel profiling and comparative segmentation with application to arteriovenous malformation segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Babin, D; Pižurica, A; Bellens, R; De Bock, J; Shang, Y; Goossens, B; Vansteenkiste, E; Philips, W

2012-07-01

Extraction of structural and geometric information from 3-D images of blood vessels is a well known and widely addressed segmentation problem. The segmentation of cerebral blood vessels is of great importance in diagnostic and clinical applications, with a special application in diagnostics and surgery on arteriovenous malformations (AVM). However, the techniques addressing the problem of the AVM inner structure segmentation are rare. In this work we present a novel method of pixel profiling with the application to segmentation of the 3-D angiography AVM images. Our algorithm stands out in situations with low resolution images and high variability of pixel intensity. Another advantage of our method is that the parameters are set automatically, which yields little manual user intervention. The results on phantoms and real data demonstrate its effectiveness and potentials for fine delineation of AVM structure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Robust shape regression for supervised vessel segmentation and its application to coronary segmentation in CTA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schaap, Michiel; van Walsum, Theo; Neefjes, Lisan

2011-01-01

This paper presents a vessel segmentation method which learns the geometry and appearance of vessels in medical images from annotated data and uses this knowledge to segment vessels in unseen images. Vessels are segmented in a coarse-to-fine fashion. First, the vessel boundaries are estimated...

Contribution of Women in Influencing Legislation and Policy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Contribution of Women in Influencing Legislation and Policy Formulation and Implementation in Uganda (1995-2005) ... Africa Development ... The sectors of health, education and family are selected for the analysis because these are where ...

Influence of inverse dynamics methods on the calculation of inter-segmental moments in vertical jumping and weightlifting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cleather Daniel J

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A vast number of biomechanical studies have employed inverse dynamics methods to calculate inter-segmental moments during movement. Although all inverse dynamics methods are rooted in classical mechanics and thus theoretically the same, there exist a number of distinct computational methods. Recent research has demonstrated a key influence of the dynamics computation of the inverse dynamics method on the calculated moments, despite the theoretical equivalence of the methods. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the influence of the choice of inverse dynamics on the calculation of inter-segmental moments. Methods An inverse dynamics analysis was performed to analyse vertical jumping and weightlifting movements using two distinct methods. The first method was the traditional inverse dynamics approach, in this study characterized as the 3 step method, where inter-segmental moments were calculated in the local coordinate system of each segment, thus requiring multiple coordinate system transformations. The second method (the 1 step method was the recently proposed approach based on wrench notation that allows all calculations to be performed in the global coordinate system. In order to best compare the effect of the inverse dynamics computation a number of the key assumptions and methods were harmonized, in particular unit quaternions were used to parameterize rotation in both methods in order to standardize the kinematics. Results Mean peak inter-segmental moments calculated by the two methods were found to agree to 2 decimal places in all cases and were not significantly different (p > 0.05. Equally the normalized dispersions of the two methods were small. Conclusions In contrast to previously documented research the difference between the two methods was found to be negligible. This study demonstrates that the 1 and 3 step method are computationally equivalent and can thus be used interchangeably in

The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article shall present a detailed and critical review of the legislative and institutional framework of environmental protection and pollution control in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria; it shall conclude with some recommendations for a better, more efficient and effective environmental protection and pollution control regime ...

Wole Soyinka's Glocal Cultural Legislation | Awosanmi | Ibadan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Nobel Foundation‟s citation on Soyinka in 1986 as a writer “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones, fashions the drama of existence” marks the zenith of recognition accorded his humanistic legislative mission. Implied here is a profound cultural intelligence which authenticates his ...

Structure-properties relationships of novel poly(carbonate-co-amide) segmented copolymers with polyamide-6 as hard segments and polycarbonate as soft segments

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yunyun; Kong, Weibo; Yuan, Ye; Zhou, Changlin; Cai, Xufu

2018-04-01

Novel poly(carbonate-co-amide) (PCA) block copolymers are prepared with polycarbonate diol (PCD) as soft segments, polyamide-6 (PA6) as hard segments and 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) as coupling agent through reactive processing. The reactive processing strategy is eco-friendly and resolve the incompatibility between polyamide segments and PCD segments in preparation processing. The chemical structure, crystalline properties, thermal properties, mechanical properties and water resistance were extensively studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermal gravity analysis (TGA), Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile testing, water contact angle and water absorption, respectively. The as-prepared PCAs exhibit obvious microphase separation between the crystalline hard PA6 phase and amorphous PCD soft segments. Meanwhile, PCAs showed outstanding mechanical with the maximum tensile strength of 46.3 MPa and elongation at break of 909%. The contact angle and water absorption results indicate that PCAs demonstrate outstanding water resistance even though possess the hydrophilic surfaces. The TGA measurements prove that the thermal stability of PCA can satisfy the requirement of multiple-processing without decomposition.

Legislative Committee Simulation: Regulation in the Automobile Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Alan J.; And Others

1983-01-01

Examined are ways to overcome obstacles which often prevent creative teaching of legislative decision-making processes to high school students. A simulation dealing with regulation in the automobile industry is used for illustrative purposes. (RM)

Segmentation and informality in Vietnam : a survey of the literature: country case study on labour market segmentation

OpenAIRE

Cling, Jean-Pierre; Razafindrakoto, Mireille; Roubaud, François

2014-01-01

Labour market segmentation is usually defined as the division of the labour markets into separate sub-markets or segments, distinguished by different characteristics and behavioural rules (incomes, contracts, etc.). The economic debate on the segmentation issue has been focusing in developed countries, and especially in Europe, on contractual segmentation and dualism.

Segmentation by Large Scale Hypothesis Testing - Segmentation as Outlier Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Darkner, Sune; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Larsen, Rasmus

2010-01-01

a microscope and we show how the method can handle transparent particles with significant glare point. The method generalizes to other problems. THis is illustrated by applying the method to camera calibration images and MRI of the midsagittal plane for gray and white matter separation and segmentation......We propose a novel and efficient way of performing local image segmentation. For many applications a threshold of pixel intensities is sufficient but determine the appropriate threshold value can be difficult. In cases with large global intensity variation the threshold value has to be adapted...... locally. We propose a method based on large scale hypothesis testing with a consistent method for selecting an appropriate threshold for the given data. By estimating the background distribution we characterize the segment of interest as a set of outliers with a certain probability based on the estimated...

Compulsory Community Care in New Zealand Mental Health Legislation 1846-1992

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)