Application of macro material flow modeling to the decision making process for integrated waste management systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vigil, S.A.; Holter, G.M.

1995-04-01

Computer models have been used for almost a decade to model and analyze various aspects of solid waste management Commercially available models exist for estimating the capital and operating costs of landfills, waste-to-energy facilities and compost systems and for optimizing system performance along a single dimension (e.g. cost or transportation distance). An alternative to the use of currently available models is the more flexible macro material flow modeling approach in which a macro scale or regional level approach is taken. Waste materials are tracked through the complete integrated waste management cycle from generation through recycling and reuse, and finally to ultimate disposal. Such an approach has been applied by the authors to two different applications. The STELLA simulation language (for Macintosh computers) was used to model the solid waste management system of Puerto Rico. The model incorporated population projections for all 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico from 1990 to 2010, solid waste generation factors, remaining life for the existing landfills, and projected startup time for new facilities. The Pacific Northwest Laboratory has used the SimScript simulation language (for Windows computers) to model the management of solid and hazardous wastes produced during cleanup and remediation activities at the Hanford Nuclear Site

The Generalist Model: Where do the Micro and Macro Converge?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shari E. Miller

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Although macro issues are integral to social work, students continue to struggle with the acquisition of knowledge and skills pertaining to larger systems. Educators have developed innovative methods to integrate learning across systems of various sizes however it appears an imbalance persists. This challenge is supported by baccalaureate student responses to a social work program evaluation. Four years of data from 295 undergraduate students revealed that they felt less prepared to practice with larger, macro systems. Changes in curriculum to reflect collaboration and holism, and more research are needed to adequately provide macro learning and macro practice opportunities within the generalist model and in the context of the current socio-economic-political environment.

Macro-Finance Determinants of the Long-Run Stock-Bond Correlation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asgharian, Hossein; Christiansen, Charlotte; Hou, Ai Jun

itself. Macro-finance variables and the lagged realized correlation are simultaneously significant in forecasting the long-run stock-bond correlation. The behavior of the long-run stock-bond correlation is very different when estimated taking the macro-finance variables into account. Supporting......We investigate the long-run stock-bond correlation using a novel model that combines the dynamic conditional correlation model with the mixed-data sampling approach. The long-run correlation is affected by both macro-finance variables (historical and forecasts) and the lagged realized correlation...

Macro scale models for freight railroad terminals.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-02

The project has developed a yard capacity model for macro-level analysis. The study considers the detailed sequence and scheduling in classification yards and their impacts on yard capacities simulate typical freight railroad terminals, and statistic...

Determining potential locations for biomass valorization using a macro screening approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Dael, M.; Van Passel, S.; Schreurs, E. [Research Group of Environmental Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium); Pelkmans, L.; Guisson, R. [VITO, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Swinnen, G. [Research Group of Marketing, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium)

2012-10-15

European policy states that by 2020 at least 20% of final energy consumption should come from renewable energy sources. Biomass as a renewable energy source cannot be disregarded in order to attain this target. In this study a macro screening approach is developed to determine potential locations for biomass valorization in a specified region. The approach consists of five steps: (1) criteria determination, (2) data gathering, (3) weight assignment, (4) final score, (5) spatial representation. The resulting outcome provides a first well balanced scan of the possibilities for energy production using regional biomass. This way policy makers and investors can be supported and motivated to study the possibilities of building energy production plants at specific locations in more detail, which can be described as a 'micro-screening'. In our case study the approach is applied to determine the potentially interesting locations to establish a biomass project. The region has been limited to the forty-four communities in the province of Limburg (Belgium). The macro screening approach has shown to be very effective since the amount of interesting locations has been reduced drastically.

Interregional migration in Indonesia. Macro, micro, and agent-based modelling approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wajdi, N.

2017-01-01

This thesis aims to explain the dynamics of interregional migration in Indonesia in the 2000-2010 period and to project migration dynamics up to 2035. Four empirical studies presented in this thesis are interregional migration flows in Indonesia, migration and its relation to macro factors,

Macro-Finance Determinants of the Long-Run Stock-Bond Correlation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asgharian, Hossein; Christiansen, Charlotte; Hou, Ai Jun

2016-01-01

We investigate long-run stock–bond correlation using a model that combines the dynamic conditional correlation model with the mixed-data sampling approach and allows long-run correlation to be affected by macro-finance factors (historical and forecasts). We use macro-finance factors related...... to inflation and interest rates, illiquidity, state of the economy, and market uncertainty. Macro-finance factors, particularly their forecasts, are good at forecasting long-run stock–bond correlation. Supporting the flight-to-quality phenomenon, long-run correlation tends to be small and negative when...

Monetary policy and financial (in)stability : An integrated micro-macro approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Graeve, F.; Kick, T.; Koetter, M.; DeGraeve, F.

Evidence on central banks' twin objective, monetary and financial stability, is scarce. We suggest an integrated micro macro approach with two core virtues. First, we measure financial stability directly at the bank level as the probability of distress. Second, we integrate a microeconomic hazard

Macro-level gender equality and alcohol consumption: a multi-level analysis across U.S. States.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Sarah C M

2012-07-01

Higher levels of women's alcohol consumption have long been attributed to increases in gender equality. However, only limited research examines the relationship between gender equality and alcohol consumption. This study examined associations between five measures of state-level gender equality and five alcohol consumption measures in the United States. Survey data regarding men's and women's alcohol consumption from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were linked to state-level indicators of gender equality. Gender equality indicators included state-level women's socioeconomic status, gender equality in socioeconomic status, reproductive rights, policies relating to violence against women, and women's political participation. Alcohol consumption measures included past 30-day drinker status, drinking frequency, binge drinking, volume, and risky drinking. Other than drinker status, consumption is measured for drinkers only. Multi-level linear and logistic regression models adjusted for individual demographics as well as state-level income inequality, median income, and % Evangelical Protestant/Mormon. All gender equality indicators were positively associated with both women's and men's drinker status in models adjusting only for individual-level covariates; associations were not significant in models adjusting for other state-level characteristics. All other associations between gender equality and alcohol consumption were either negative or non-significant for both women and men in models adjusting for other state-level factors. Findings do not support the hypothesis that higher levels of gender equality are associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption by women or by men. In fact, most significant findings suggest that higher levels of equality are associated with less alcohol consumption overall. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A cross-comparison of different techniques for modeling macro-level cyclist crashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yanyong; Osama, Ahmed; Sayed, Tarek

2018-04-01

Despite the recognized benefits of cycling as a sustainable mode of transportation, cyclists are considered vulnerable road users and there are concerns about their safety. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the factors affecting cyclist safety. The goal of this study is to evaluate and compare different approaches of modeling macro-level cyclist safety as well as investigating factors that contribute to cyclist crashes using a comprehensive list of covariates. Data from 134 traffic analysis zones (TAZs) in the City of Vancouver were used to develop macro-level crash models (CM) incorporating variables related to actual traffic exposure, socio-economics, land use, built environment, and bike network. Four types of CMs were developed under a full Bayesian framework: Poisson lognormal model (PLN), random intercepts PLN model (RIPLN), random parameters PLN model (RPPLN), and spatial PLN model (SPLN). The SPLN model had the best goodness of fit, and the results highlighted the significant effects of spatial correlation. The models showed that the cyclist crashes were positively associated with bike and vehicle exposure measures, households, commercial area density, and signal density. On the other hand, negative associations were found between cyclist crashes and some bike network indicators such as average edge length, average zonal slope, and off-street bike links. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

OpenAIRE

ROLANDSEN AGUSTÍN, Lise; SIIM, Birte

2015-01-01

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

Food and Health Safety: a Macro-policy Approach in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Losurdo

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Food safety could be considered as a representative case of „market failure”. This would justify State regulatory intervention. Unfortunately, the lack of an organically policy framework is causing large loopholes specially in the quality control system which normally developed on the whole production process of value, including supply chain. The Common Agriculture Policy for 2014-2020 looks to be once again based on a partial and micro-economic approach while the growing interdependences between agriculture, industry and services are suggesting a different „macro-policy” method in theoretical, technical and political settings. An industrial macro-policy is more „holistic” than micro and sectoral one able to intervene on market in order to contribute to a stronger governance and control system of food safety and consumers choices.

Macro-institutional Complexity in Logistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wessel, Frederic; Kinra, Aseem; Kotzab, Herbert

2016-01-01

structure and transactional costs, the concept of environmental complexity is applied to the logistics management perspective. Thereby, the impacts which a given framework on a macro-institutional level might have on the situation and leeway in decision-making at the firm (micro) or the supply chain (meso......In this paper, the interlink between the concept of macro-institutional complexity in logistics and the dynamics in the logistics practice of Eastern Europe will be examined. Referring to the importance of different authors having ascribed to the external environmental uncertainty on organizational......) levels will be analysed. Furthermore, a quantitative modelling approach will be presented and exemplified by using the case of logistics infrastructure in Eastern Europe....

Scandinavian Approaches to Gender Equality in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2017-01-01

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

Growth structure and environment. 6 contributions to the macro economic model development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wier, Mette

1998-04-01

This thesis comprises 6 papers on the application of macro economic models to environmental problems. Interactions between the economic and the ecological models are elucidated and a description is given of a possible systematization of of the environmental-economic cycle within a macro economic model. Economic and technological limitations affecting the potential environmental advantages are discussed. In the second part of the thesis the general interdependence of production and consumption, and the various forms of environmental stress is analyzed. For this purpose an environment-related input-output model is presented, where for each industry there are given emissions and/or consumption of natural resources (so-called environmental coefficients), which are likely to originate from the activities of this industry. As examples of macro economic modelling,the nitrogen cycle in Denmark, environmental effects of consumer choice, use of building materials and emission due to energy generation and consumption etc. are analyzed. (EG) 146 refs

A Macro Model of Squeeze-Film Air Damping in the Free-Molecule Regime

KAUST Repository

Hong, Gang; Ye, Wenjing

2009-01-01

An accurate macro model for free‐molecule squeeze‐film air damping on micro plate resonators is present. This model relates air damping directly with device dimensions and operation parameters and therefore provides an efficient tool for the design of high‐performance micro resonators. The construction of the macro model is based on Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and analytical traveling‐time distribution. Its accuracy is validated via the comparison between the calculated quality factors of several micro resonators and the available experimental measurements and full MD simulation results. It has been found that the relative errors of the quality factors of two resonators, as compared with experimental data, are 3.9% and 5.7% respectively. The agreements between the macro model results and MD simulation results, on the other hand, are excellent in all cases considered.

A Macro Model of Squeeze-Film Air Damping in the Free-Molecule Regime

KAUST Repository

Hong, Gang

2009-11-30

An accurate macro model for free‐molecule squeeze‐film air damping on micro plate resonators is present. This model relates air damping directly with device dimensions and operation parameters and therefore provides an efficient tool for the design of high‐performance micro resonators. The construction of the macro model is based on Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and analytical traveling‐time distribution. Its accuracy is validated via the comparison between the calculated quality factors of several micro resonators and the available experimental measurements and full MD simulation results. It has been found that the relative errors of the quality factors of two resonators, as compared with experimental data, are 3.9% and 5.7% respectively. The agreements between the macro model results and MD simulation results, on the other hand, are excellent in all cases considered.

Histogram Equalization to Model Adaptation for Robust Speech Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suh Youngjoo

2010-01-01

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

The asymmetric effect of coal price on the China's macro economy using NARDL model

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, J. C.; Yang, M. C.

2016-08-01

The present work endeavors to explore the asymmetric effect of coal price on the China's macro economy by applying nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model for the period of January 2005 to June 2015. The obtained results indicate that the coal price has a strong asymmetric effect on China's macro economy in the long-run. Namely one percent increase in coal price leads to 0.6194 percent of the China's macro economy increase; and while the coal price is reduces by 1 percent, the China's macro economy will decrease by 0.008 percent. These data indicate that when coal price rises, the effect on China's macro economy is far greater than the price decline. In the short-run, coal price fluctuation has a positive effect on the China's macro economy.

A comparison between MARKAL-MACRO and MARKAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schepers, E.

1995-11-01

Differences between CO 2 -reduction scenarios of the MARKAL-MACRO model and the MARKAL model are studied. Also attention is paid to the rebound effect, i.e. the effect on a price decrease leads to an increase of the energy demand, and energy savings will result in a redistribution of saved income over other goods and services. MARKAL is an energy supply model and MACRO is a macro-economic model. The combination of the two is an example of a hard-linked model between a top-down model (MACRO) and a bottom-up model (MARKAL). 15 figs., 5 tabs., 18 refs., 2 appendices

An new MHD/kinetic model for exploring energetic particle production in macro-scale systems

Science.gov (United States)

Drake, J. F.; Swisdak, M.; Dahlin, J. T.

2017-12-01

A novel MHD/kinetic model is being developed to explore magneticreconnection and particle energization in macro-scale systems such asthe solar corona and the outer heliosphere. The model blends the MHDdescription with a macro-particle description. The rationale for thismodel is based on the recent discovery that energetic particleproduction during magnetic reconnection is controlled by Fermireflection and Betatron acceleration and not parallel electricfields. Since the former mechanisms are not dependent on kineticscales such as the Debye length and the electron and ion inertialscales, a model that sheds these scales is sufficient for describingparticle acceleration in macro-systems. Our MHD/kinetic model includesmacroparticles laid out on an MHD grid that are evolved with the MHDfields. Crucially, the feedback of the energetic component on the MHDfluid is included in the dynamics. Thus, energy of the total system,the MHD fluid plus the energetic component, is conserved. The systemhas no kinetic scales and therefore can be implemented to modelenergetic particle production in macro-systems with none of theconstraints associated with a PIC model. Tests of the new model insimple geometries will be presented and potential applications will bediscussed.

Hydrogen Macro System Model User Guide, Version 1.2.1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruth, M.; Diakov, V.; Sa, T.; Goldsby, M.; Genung, K.; Hoseley, R.; Smith, A.; Yuzugullu, E.

2009-07-01

The Hydrogen Macro System Model (MSM) is a simulation tool that links existing and emerging hydrogen-related models to perform rapid, cross-cutting analysis. It allows analysis of the economics, primary energy-source requirements, and emissions of hydrogen production and delivery pathways.

Dilemmas in the Danish Approach to Gender Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen; Siim, Birte

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

SPSS macros to compare any two fitted values from a regression model.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Bruce; Dubois, Sacha

2012-12-01

In regression models with first-order terms only, the coefficient for a given variable is typically interpreted as the change in the fitted value of Y for a one-unit increase in that variable, with all other variables held constant. Therefore, each regression coefficient represents the difference between two fitted values of Y. But the coefficients represent only a fraction of the possible fitted value comparisons that might be of interest to researchers. For many fitted value comparisons that are not captured by any of the regression coefficients, common statistical software packages do not provide the standard errors needed to compute confidence intervals or carry out statistical tests-particularly in more complex models that include interactions, polynomial terms, or regression splines. We describe two SPSS macros that implement a matrix algebra method for comparing any two fitted values from a regression model. The !OLScomp and !MLEcomp macros are for use with models fitted via ordinary least squares and maximum likelihood estimation, respectively. The output from the macros includes the standard error of the difference between the two fitted values, a 95% confidence interval for the difference, and a corresponding statistical test with its p-value.

The role of money in modern macro models

OpenAIRE

Seitz, Franz; Schmidt, Markus A.

2013-01-01

This paper is the starting point of a series of analyses aiming at re-discovering the role of money for monetary policy purposes. It provides an overview of the role of money in modern macro models. In particular, we are focussing on New Keynesian and New Monetarist models to investigate their main findings and most significant shortcomings in considering money properly. As a further step, we ask about the role of financial intermediaries in this respect. In dealing with these issues, we dist...

Macro- and micro-chaotic structures in the Hindmarsh-Rose model of bursting neurons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrio, Roberto, E-mail: rbarrio@unizar.es; Serrano, Sergio [Computational Dynamics Group, Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, GME and IUMA, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Angeles Martínez, M. [Computational Dynamics Group, GME, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Shilnikov, Andrey [Neuroscience Institute and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30078 (United States); Department of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, 603950 Nizhni Novgorod (Russian Federation)

2014-06-01

We study a plethora of chaotic phenomena in the Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model with the use of several computational techniques including the bifurcation parameter continuation, spike-quantification, and evaluation of Lyapunov exponents in bi-parameter diagrams. Such an aggregated approach allows for detecting regions of simple and chaotic dynamics, and demarcating borderlines—exact bifurcation curves. We demonstrate how the organizing centers—points corresponding to codimension-two homoclinic bifurcations—along with fold and period-doubling bifurcation curves structure the biparametric plane, thus forming macro-chaotic regions of onion bulb shapes and revealing spike-adding cascades that generate micro-chaotic structures due to the hysteresis.

Macro- and micro-chaotic structures in the Hindmarsh-Rose model of bursting neurons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrio, Roberto; Serrano, Sergio; Angeles Martínez, M.; Shilnikov, Andrey

2014-01-01

We study a plethora of chaotic phenomena in the Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model with the use of several computational techniques including the bifurcation parameter continuation, spike-quantification, and evaluation of Lyapunov exponents in bi-parameter diagrams. Such an aggregated approach allows for detecting regions of simple and chaotic dynamics, and demarcating borderlines—exact bifurcation curves. We demonstrate how the organizing centers—points corresponding to codimension-two homoclinic bifurcations—along with fold and period-doubling bifurcation curves structure the biparametric plane, thus forming macro-chaotic regions of onion bulb shapes and revealing spike-adding cascades that generate micro-chaotic structures due to the hysteresis

Every Newton Hertz: a macro to micro approach to investigating brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Duma, Stefan M; Rowson, Steven

2009-01-01

The high incidence of concussion in contact sports provides a unique opportunity to collect data to characterize mild traumatic brain injury. This paper outlines a macro to micro approach in which the organ level response of the head is analyzed through head acceleration data from human volunteers and the tissue level response is analyzed through finite element analysis of these data. The helmets of Virginia Tech football players are instrumented with multi-accelerometer measurement devices to record linear and rotational head accelerations for every impact during a game or practice. These impacts are then modeled using the Simulated Injury Monitor (SIMon) finite element head model. Cumulative strain damage measure was investigated for the impacts resulting in the high linear and rotational accelerations. The effect of head impacts on functional performance in football players is also investigated to identify any cognitive effects from repetitive sub-concussive impacts. A better understanding of the effects of head impacts and the mechanisms of brain injury will likely result in insight to future head injury prevention methods and cellular research on brain injury.

Macro- to microscale heat transfer the lagging behavior

CERN Document Server

Tzou, D Y

2014-01-01

Physical processes taking place in micro/nanoscale strongly depend on the material types and can be very complicated. Known approaches include kinetic theory and quantum mechanics, non-equilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics, molecular dynamics, and/or fractal theory and fraction model. Due to innately different physical bases employed, different approaches may involve different physical properties in describing micro/nanoscale heat transport. In addition, the parameters involved in different approaches, may not be mutually inclusive. Macro- to Microscale Heat Transfer: The Lagging Behav

A novel macro-model for spin-transfer-torque based magnetic-tunnel-junction elements

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seungyeon; Lee, Hyunjoo; Kim, Sojeong; Lee, Seungjun; Shin, Hyungsoon

2010-04-01

Spin-transfer-torque (STT) switching in magnetic-tunnel-junction (MTJ) has important merits over the conventional field induced magnetic switching (FIMS) MRAM in avoiding half-select problem, and improving scalability and selectivity. Design of MRAM circuitry using STT-based MTJ elements requires an accurate circuit model which exactly emulates the characteristics of an MTJ in a circuit simulator such as HSPICE. This work presents a novel macro-model that fully emulates the important characteristics of STT-based MTJ. The macro-model is realized as a three terminal sub-circuit that reproduces asymmetric resistance versus current (R-I) characteristics and temperature dependence of R-I hysteresis of STT-based MTJ element.

Sequential use of the STICS crop model and of the MACRO pesticide fate model to simulate pesticides leaching in cropping systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammoglia, Sabine-Karen; Moeys, Julien; Barriuso, Enrique; Larsbo, Mats; Marín-Benito, Jesús-María; Justes, Eric; Alletto, Lionel; Ubertosi, Marjorie; Nicolardot, Bernard; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas; Mamy, Laure

2017-03-01

The current challenge in sustainable agriculture is to introduce new cropping systems to reduce pesticides use in order to reduce ground and surface water contamination. However, it is difficult to carry out in situ experiments to assess the environmental impacts of pesticide use for all possible combinations of climate, crop, and soils; therefore, in silico tools are necessary. The objective of this work was to assess pesticides leaching in cropping systems coupling the performances of a crop model (STICS) and of a pesticide fate model (MACRO). STICS-MACRO has the advantage of being able to simulate pesticides fate in complex cropping systems and to consider some agricultural practices such as fertilization, mulch, or crop residues management, which cannot be accounted for with MACRO. The performance of STICS-MACRO was tested, without calibration, from measurements done in two French experimental sites with contrasted soil and climate properties. The prediction of water percolation and pesticides concentrations with STICS-MACRO was satisfactory, but it varied with the pedoclimatic context. The performance of STICS-MACRO was shown to be similar or better than that of MACRO. The improvement of the simulation of crop growth allowed better estimate of crop transpiration therefore of water balance. It also allowed better estimate of pesticide interception by the crop which was found to be crucial for the prediction of pesticides concentrations in water. STICS-MACRO is a new promising tool to improve the assessment of the environmental risks of pesticides used in cropping systems.

Scaling up: Assessing social impacts at the macro-scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schirmer, Jacki

2011-01-01

Social impacts occur at various scales, from the micro-scale of the individual to the macro-scale of the community. Identifying the macro-scale social changes that results from an impacting event is a common goal of social impact assessment (SIA), but is challenging as multiple factors simultaneously influence social trends at any given time, and there are usually only a small number of cases available for examination. While some methods have been proposed for establishing the contribution of an impacting event to macro-scale social change, they remain relatively untested. This paper critically reviews methods recommended to assess macro-scale social impacts, and proposes and demonstrates a new approach. The 'scaling up' method involves developing a chain of logic linking change at the individual/site scale to the community scale. It enables a more problematised assessment of the likely contribution of an impacting event to macro-scale social change than previous approaches. The use of this approach in a recent study of change in dairy farming in south east Australia is described.

A non-affine micro-macro approach to strain-crystallizing rubber-like materials

Science.gov (United States)

Rastak, Reza; Linder, Christian

2018-02-01

Crystallization can occur in rubber materials at large strains due to a phenomenon called strain-induced crystallization. We propose a multi-scale polymer network model to capture this process in rubber-like materials. At the microscopic scale, we present a chain formulation by studying the thermodynamic behavior of a polymer chain and its crystallization mechanism inside a stretching polymer network. The chain model accounts for the thermodynamics of crystallization and presents a rate-dependent evolution law for crystallization based on the gradient of the free energy with respect to the crystallinity variables to ensures the dissipation is always non-negative. The multiscale framework allows the anisotropic crystallization of rubber which has been observed experimentally. Two different approaches for formulating the orientational distribution of crystallinity are studied. In the first approach, the algorithm tracks the crystallization at a finite number of orientations. In contrast, the continuous distribution describes the crystallization for all polymer chain orientations and describes its evolution with only a few distribution parameters. To connect the deformation of the micro with that of the macro scale, our model combines the recently developed maximal advance path constraint with the principal of minimum average free energy, resulting in a non-affine deformation model for polymer chains. Various aspects of the proposed model are validated by existing experimental results, including the stress response, crystallinity evolution during loading and unloading, crystallinity distribution, and the rotation of the principal crystallization direction. As a case study, we simulate the formation of crystalline regions around a pre-existing notch in a 3D rubber block and we compare the results with experimental data.

On the Application of Macros to the Automation of different Dating Models Using ''210 Pb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasco, C.; Anton, M. P.; Ampudia, J.

2002-01-01

Different Dating models based on 210 Pb measurements, used for verifying recent events are shown in this report as well as, models that describe different processes affecting the vertical distribution of radionuclides in lacustrine and marine sediments. Macro-Commands are programmes included in calculation work sheets that allow automatised operations to run. In this report macros are used to: a) obtain 210 Pb results from a data base created from different sampling campaigns b) apply different dating models automatically c) optimise the diffusion coefficient employed by models through standards deviation calculations among experimental values and those obtained by the model. (Author) 21 refs

%lrasch_mml: A SAS Macro for Marginal Maximum Likelihood Estimation in Longitudinal Polytomous Rasch Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maja Olsbjerg

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Item response theory models are often applied when a number items are used to measure a unidimensional latent variable. Originally proposed and used within educational research, they are also used when focus is on physical functioning or psychological wellbeing. Modern applications often need more general models, typically models for multidimensional latent variables or longitudinal models for repeated measurements. This paper describes a SAS macro that fits two-dimensional polytomous Rasch models using a specification of the model that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate longitudinal Rasch models. The macro estimates item parameters using marginal maximum likelihood estimation. A graphical presentation of item characteristic curves is included.

Macro-economic model of aggregate market in the Albanian economy, and relevant problems thereto

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr.Sc. Alqi Naqellari

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper uses concrete data obtained on the Albanian economy to analyse the positions of aggregate demand/supply curves in the economy. As examples from micro-economics, we have taken the models of Ŵalras and Marshall, to view the possibilities of achieving an economic equilibrium. Data available from the Albanian economy, and from the global economic trends generally, have shown that the positions of curves are such, with differences in their inclination, while the classic position of the aggregate demand curve, with a negative trend, studied in the macro-economic theory, is unique. Therefore, our objective is to try and show the scholars of the field that the macro-economic problems must be viewed in this light, and not through the static scheme used so far. The equilibrium is met not only when the aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves are met, meaning when the aggregate expenditure are equal to aggregate production, but it exists at every moment, independently of whether it is consistent or not, while the pricing trends continue to increase, similar to two other aggregates. The understanding of such a situation should give the possibility to governments and other policy-making institutions to review their positions and relations with monetary and fiscal indicators, in a view of making the organic connection, and increasing their working effectiveness. The paper aims to show how one can define the relation between monetary and fiscal policies necessary to see their role and relevance in the economic growth of a country.

A full description of the Three-ME model: Multi-sector macro-economic Model for the Evaluation of Environmental and Energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callonnec, Gael; Landa, Gissela; Malliet, Paul; Yeddir-Tamsamani, Yasser; Reynes, Frederic

2013-01-01

Since 2008, the ADEME and the OFCE are involved in a research convention to develop the model Three-ME. This document provides a full description of new version of the model. Three-ME is a new model of the French economy especially designed to evaluate the medium and long term impact of environmental and energy policies at the macro-economic and sector levels. To do so Three-ME combines two important features. Firstly, it has the main characteristics of neo-Keynesian models by assuming a slow adjustment of effective quantities and prices to their notional level, an endogenous money supply, a Taylor rule and a Philips curve. Compared to standard multi-sector CGEM, this has the advantage to allow for the existence of under-optimum equilibria such as the presence of involuntary unemployment. Secondly, Three-ME is a hybrid model in the sense that it combines the top-down approach of general equilibrium macro-economic models with elements of bottom-up models of energy models developed by engineers. As in bottom-up models, the amount of energy consumed is related to their use, that is the number of buildings or cars, and the energy class to which they belong. This hypothesis is more realistic compared to the assumption made in the majority of top-down models where energy consumption is usually directly related to income through a nested structure of utility function. (authors)

Modelling the impact of altered axonal morphometry on the response of regenerative nervous tissue to electrical stimulation through macro-sieve electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Zellmer, Erik R.; MacEwan, Matthew R.; Moran, Daniel W.

2018-04-01

Objective. Regenerated peripheral nervous tissue possesses different morphometric properties compared to undisrupted nerve. It is poorly understood how these morphometric differences alter the response of the regenerated nerve to electrical stimulation. In this work, we use computational modeling to explore the electrophysiological response of regenerated and undisrupted nerve axons to electrical stimulation delivered by macro-sieve electrodes (MSEs). Approach. A 3D finite element model of a peripheral nerve segment populated with mammalian myelinated axons and implanted with a macro-sieve electrode has been developed. Fiber diameters and morphometric characteristics representative of undisrupted or regenerated peripheral nervous tissue were assigned to core conductor models to simulate the two tissue types. Simulations were carried out to quantify differences in thresholds and chronaxie between undisrupted and regenerated fiber populations. The model was also used to determine the influence of axonal caliber on recruitment thresholds for the two tissue types. Model accuracy was assessed through comparisons with in vivo recruitment data from chronically implanted MSEs. Main results. Recruitment thresholds of individual regenerated fibers with diameters  >2 µm were found to be lower compared to same caliber undisrupted fibers at electrode to fiber distances of less than about 90-140 µm but roughly equal or higher for larger distances. Caliber redistributions observed in regenerated nerve resulted in an overall increase in average recruitment thresholds and chronaxie during whole nerve stimulation. Modeling results also suggest that large diameter undisrupted fibers located close to a longitudinally restricted current source such as the MSE have higher average recruitment thresholds compared to small diameter fibers. In contrast, large diameter regenerated nerve fibers located in close proximity of MSE sites have, on average, lower recruitment thresholds

Scandinavian Approaches to Gender Equality in Academia: A Comparative Study

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2017-01-01

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

Modeling dispersal and spatial connectivity of macro-invertebrates in Danish waters: An agent-based approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pastor Rollan, Ane; Mariani, Patrizio; Erichsen, Anders Chr.

2018-01-01

behavior) and simulate dispersal processes within the muddy bottom habitats to derive recruitment rates and potential donor populations leading to population connectivity patterns on each site, one bay and two Danish fjords. We then use our recruitment results in the bay to compare them with field data...... and connectivity in marine populations as they can have multiple uses in the conservation and management of marine ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the open Kattegat, at the entrance to Baltic Sea, is the main source of recruitment to the benthos in associated estuaries and coastal sites through export...... in the study area. Our results show the importance of an integrated modeling tool combining ocean circulation and biological traits to obtain a detailed description of dispersal and connectivity of macro-invertebrate community in the area, which can provide a more accurate baseline to manage marine...

Circuit models and SPICE macro-models for quantum Hall effect devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortolano, Massimo; Callegaro, Luca

2015-01-01

Precise electrical measurement technology based on the quantum Hall effect is one of the pillars of modern quantum electrical metrology. Electrical networks including one or more QHE elements can be used as quantum resistance and impedance standards. The analysis of these networks allows metrologists to evaluate the effect of the inevitable parasitic parameters on their performance as standards. This paper presents a concise review of the various circuit models for QHE elements proposed in the literature, and the development of a new model. This last model is particularly suited to be employed with the analogue electronic circuit simulator SPICE. The SPICE macro-model and examples of SPICE simulations, validated by comparison with the corresponding analytical solution and/or experimental data, are provided. (paper)

MACRO MODEL OF SEAT BELT USE BY CAR DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazimierz JAMROZ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents some problems of seat belt use by car drivers and passengers. It looks in particular at seat belt use and effectiveness in selected countries. Next, factors of seat belt use are presented and methodology of model development. A macro model of seat belt use is presented based on data from around fifty countries from different continents.

Study on developing energy-macro model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Young Duk [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Kenya)

1999-12-01

It analyzed the effect of international oil price on domestic economy and its path, time difference and degree of effect. First of all, it analyzed whether the long-term relationship between international oil price and price exists focusing on integral relationship, and estimated dynamic price fluctuation by using error correction model. Moreover, using structural VAR model, it analyzed what kind of shocking reactions are showed when the increase of international oil price affects on domestic macro economic variables. Commonly it is estimated that price is increasing in a long term not in a short term as the international oil price is increasing. When the international oil price increases, it is estimated that its effect in a short term is insignificant because of direct price control by the government and then its spreading effect on economy shows a long-term effect by deepening the price control. (author). 16 refs., 3 figs., 10 tabs.

Micro-processus et macro-structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron Victor Cicourel

2008-10-01

Traditional sociological approaches have defined societal macro-structures as a particular level of social reality to be distinguished from the micro-episodes of social action. This has allowed them to conceive of and search for these macro-structures more or less independent of the observable practices of everyday life. Cicourel argue that (macro social facts are not simply given, but emerge from the routine practices of everyday life. The macro in the sense of typified, normalized, context-free summary descriptions is a typical product of organizational and interactive procedures which transform micro-events into macro-social structures. Thus a precondition for the integration of micro- and macro-social phenomena in our theory and methodology is that we identify the processes which contribute to the creation of macro-structures by routine inferences, interpretations and summary procedures. The paper also points out that differences between micro-sociologies parallel differences between micro- and macro-approaches. By focusing only on small fragments of conversational interaction, some versions of micro-sociology tend to ignore the context which informs the conversational interaction for participants themselves. The decontextualized accounts produced by such methods are not unlike the decontextualization which results from macro-sociological aggregate measurement procedure. Against this Cicourel argues for the generation of comparative data base which includes not only the context of single interactions, but which also studies social phenomena systematically over different contexts.Microprocesos y macroestructuras. Notas sobre la articulación de diferentes nivéles del análisisDiferentes aproximaciones sociológicas han definido ciertas macro estructuras sociales como un nivel particular de la realidad social diferente de los micro-episodios de la acción social. Esto les ha llevado a concebir esas macro estructuras y a llevar a cabo ciertas investigaciones de manera mas o menos

Propagation Path Loss Models for 5G Urban Micro- and Macro-Cellular Scenarios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sun, Shu; Rappaport, Theodore S.; Rangan, Sundeep

2016-01-01

This paper presents and compares two candidate large-scale propagation path loss models, the alpha-beta-gamma (ABG) model and the close-in (CI) free space reference distance model, for the design of fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems in urban micro- and macro-cellular scenarios....

Macro Dark Matter

CERN Document Server

Jacobs, David M; Lynn, Bryan W.

2015-01-01

Dark matter is a vital component of the current best model of our universe, $\\Lambda$CDM. There are leading candidates for what the dark matter could be (e.g. weakly-interacting massive particles, or axions), but no compelling observational or experimental evidence exists to support these particular candidates, nor any beyond-the-Standard-Model physics that might produce such candidates. This suggests that other dark matter candidates, including ones that might arise in the Standard Model, should receive increased attention. Here we consider a general class of dark matter candidates with characteristic masses and interaction cross-sections characterized in units of grams and cm$^2$, respectively -- we therefore dub these macroscopic objects as Macros. Such dark matter candidates could potentially be assembled out of Standard Model particles (quarks and leptons) in the early universe. A combination of earth-based, astrophysical, and cosmological observations constrain a portion of the Macro parameter space; ho...

The Nordic Gender Equality Model

OpenAIRE

Teigen, Mari; Skjeie, Hege

2017-01-01

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

Micro-macro model for prediction of local temperature distribution in heterogeneous and two-phase media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Furmański Piotr

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Heat flow in heterogeneous media with complex microstructure follows tortuous path and therefore determination of temperature distribution in them is a challenging task. Two-scales, micro-macro model of heat conduction with phase change in such media was considered in the paper. A relation between temperature distribution on the microscopic level, i.e., on the level of details of microstructure, and the temperature distribution on the macroscopic level, i.e., on the level where the properties were homogenized and treated as effective, was derived. The expansion applied to this relation allowed to obtain its more simplified, approximate form corresponding to separation of micro- and macro-scales. Then the validity of this model was checked by performing calculations for 2D microstructure of a composite made of two constituents. The range of application of the proposed micro-macro model was considered in transient states of heat conduction both for the case when the phase change in the material is present and when it is absent. Variation of the effective thermal conductivity with time was considered and a criterion was found for which application of the considered model is justified.

Carbon dioxide abatement in an empirical model of the Indian economy: an integration of micro and macro analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, S.

1995-01-01

Global warming and associated climate change are the likely results of an enhanced greenhouse effect due to excessive emission of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect. The costs of stabilising or reducing CO 2 emissions are estimated by two types of models. Macro models based on aggregate macroeconomic relationships, study the macroeconomic impacts of and responses to different policies. These overestimate costs as technological responses are not adequately modelled. Micro models contain the necessary technical information to assess the abatement potential, but exclude indirect costs. In this study, a methodology for integrating the two approaches for developing countries is proposed and illustrated for India. The problems associated with modelling developing economies are recognized in the integrated model proposed. (Author)

Writing Excel Macros with VBA

CERN Document Server

Roman, Steven

2008-01-01

To achieve the maximum control and flexibility from Microsoft® Excel often requires careful custom programming using the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) language. Writing Excel Macros with VBA, 2nd Edition offers a solid introduction to writing VBA macros and programs, and will show you how to get more power at the programming level: focusing on programming languages, the Visual Basic Editor, handling code, and the Excel object model.

Micro-macro multilevel latent class models with multiple discrete individual-level variables

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bennink, M.; Croon, M.A.; Kroon, B.; Vermunt, J.K.

2016-01-01

An existing micro-macro method for a single individual-level variable is extended to the multivariate situation by presenting two multilevel latent class models in which multiple discrete individual-level variables are used to explain a group-level outcome. As in the univariate case, the

New approach in two-dimensional fluid modeling of edge plasma transport with high intermittency due to blobs and edge localized modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pigarov, A. Yu.; Krasheninnikov, S. I.; Rognlien, T. D.

2011-01-01

A new approach is proposed to simulate intermittent, non-diffusive plasma transport (via blobs and filaments of edge localized modes (ELMs)) observed in the tokamak edge region within the framework of two-dimensional transport codes. This approach combines the inherently three-dimensional filamentary structures associated with an ensemble of blobs into a macro-blob in the two-dimensional poloidal cross-section and advects the macro-blob ballistically across the magnetic field, B. Intermittent transport is represented as a sequence of macro-blobs appropriately seeded in the edge plasma according to experimental statistics. In this case, the code is capable of reproducing both the long-scale temporal evolution of the background plasma and the fast spatiotemporal dynamics of blobs. We report the results from a two-dimensional edge plasma code modeling of a single macro-blob dynamics, and its interaction with initially stationary background plasma as well as with material surfaces. The mechanisms of edge plasma particle and energy losses from macro-blobs are analyzed. The effects of macro-blob sizes and advection velocity on edge plasma profiles are studied. The macro-blob impact on power loading and sputtering rates on the chamber wall and on inner and outer divertor plates is discussed. Temporal evolution of particle inventory of the edge plasma perturbed by macro-blobs is analyzed. Application of macro-blobs to ELM modeling is highlighted.

SAS macro programs for geographically weighted generalized linear modeling with spatial point data: applications to health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Vivian Yi-Ju; Yang, Tse-Chuan

2012-08-01

An increasing interest in exploring spatial non-stationarity has generated several specialized analytic software programs; however, few of these programs can be integrated natively into a well-developed statistical environment such as SAS. We not only developed a set of SAS macro programs to fill this gap, but also expanded the geographically weighted generalized linear modeling (GWGLM) by integrating the strengths of SAS into the GWGLM framework. Three features distinguish our work. First, the macro programs of this study provide more kernel weighting functions than the existing programs. Second, with our codes the users are able to better specify the bandwidth selection process compared to the capabilities of existing programs. Third, the development of the macro programs is fully embedded in the SAS environment, providing great potential for future exploration of complicated spatially varying coefficient models in other disciplines. We provided three empirical examples to illustrate the use of the SAS macro programs and demonstrated the advantages explained above. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mathematical modelling of the influenced of diffusion rate on macro nutrient availability in paddy field

Science.gov (United States)

Renny; Supriyanto

2018-04-01

Nutrition is the chemical compounds that needed by the organism for the growth process. In plants, nutrients are organic or inorganic compounds that are absorbed from the roots of the soil. It consist of macro and micro nutrient. Macro nutrients are nutrition that needed by plants in large quantities, such as, nitrogen, calcium, pottacium, magnesium, and sulfur. The total soil nutrient is the difference between the input nutrient and the output nutrients. Input nutrients are nutrient that derived from the decomposition of organic substances. Meanwhile, the output nutrient consists of the nutrients that absorbed by plant roots (uptake), the evaporated nutrients (volatilized) and leached nutrients. The nutrient transport can be done through diffusion process. The diffusion process is essential in removing the nutrient from one place to the root surface. It will cause the rate of absorption of nutrient by the roots will be greater. Nutrient concept in paddy filed can be represented into a mathematical modelling, by making compartment models. The rate of concentration change in the compartment model forms a system of homogeneous linear differential equations. In this research, we will use Laplaces transformation to solve the compartment model and determined the dynamics of macro nutrition due to diffusion process.

How can results from macro economic analyses of the energy consumption of households be used in macro models? A discussion of theoretical and empirical literature about aggregation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halvorsen, Bente; Larsen, Bodil M.; Nesbakken, Runa

2001-01-01

The literature on energy demand shows that there are systematic differences in income- and price elasticity from analyses based on macro data and micro data. Even if one estimates models with the same explanatory variables, the results may differ with respect to estimated price- and income sensitivity. These differences may be caused by problems involved in transferring micro properties to macro properties, or the estimated macro relationships have failed to adequately consideration the fact that households behave differently in their energy demand. Political goals are often directed towards the entire household sector. Partial equilibrium models do not capture important equilibrium effects and feedback through the energy markets and the economy in general. Thus, it is very interesting, politically and scientifically, to do macro economic model analyses of different political measures that affect the energy consumption. The results of behavioural analyses, in which one investigates the heterogeneity of the energy demand, must be based on information about individual households. When the demand is studied based on micro data, it is difficult to aggregate its properties to a total demand function for the entire household sector if different household sectors have different behaviour. Such heterogeneity of behaviour may for instance arise when households in different regions have different heating equipment because of regional differences in the price of electricity. The subject of aggregation arises immediately when one wants to draw conclusions about the household sector based on information about individual households, whether the discussion is about the whole population or a selection of households. Thus, aggregation is a topic of interest in a wide range of problems

A Study on the development of macro environmental economic model(I)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Young Keun; Han, Min Jung [Korea Environment Institute, Seoul (Korea)

1998-12-01

This study is the first year study of the two year research project for developing a macro environmental economic model to analyze environment and economics. By using this model, the economic effects of investment on pollution reduction and on energy conservation are analyzed. Also, a comprehensive modeling of analyzing effects of environmental tax, reduction on greenhouse gas emission, and problems on foreign exchange on environment and economy is a main goal of this study. It is planned to develop a simulation program for the estimation of model and policies using environmental and economic data. 126 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs.

Models of asthma: density-equalizing mapping and output benchmarking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fischer Tanja C

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Despite the large amount of experimental studies already conducted on bronchial asthma, further insights into the molecular basics of the disease are required to establish new therapeutic approaches. As a basis for this research different animal models of asthma have been developed in the past years. However, precise bibliometric data on the use of different models do not exist so far. Therefore the present study was conducted to establish a data base of the existing experimental approaches. Density-equalizing algorithms were used and data was retrieved from a Thomson Institute for Scientific Information database. During the period from 1900 to 2006 a number of 3489 filed items were connected to animal models of asthma, the first being published in the year 1968. The studies were published by 52 countries with the US, Japan and the UK being the most productive suppliers, participating in 55.8% of all published items. Analyzing the average citation per item as an indicator for research quality Switzerland ranked first (30.54/item and New Zealand ranked second for countries with more than 10 published studies. The 10 most productive journals included 4 with a main focus allergy and immunology and 4 with a main focus on the respiratory system. Two journals focussed on pharmacology or pharmacy. In all assigned subject categories examined for a relation to animal models of asthma, immunology ranked first. Assessing numbers of published items in relation to animal species it was found that mice were the preferred species followed by guinea pigs. In summary it can be concluded from density-equalizing calculations that the use of animal models of asthma is restricted to a relatively small number of countries. There are also differences in the use of species. These differences are based on variations in the research focus as assessed by subject category analysis.

Numerical modelling in building thermo-aeraulics: from CFD modelling to an hybrid finite volume / zonal approach; Modelisation numerique de la thermoaeraulique du batiment: des modeles CFD a une approche hybride volumes finis / zonale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellivier, A.

2004-05-15

For 3D modelling of thermo-aeraulics in building using field codes, it is necessary to reduce the computing time in order to model increasingly larger volumes. The solution suggested in this study is to couple two modelling: a zonal approach and a CFD approach. The first part of the work that was carried out is the setting of a simplified CFD modelling. We propose rules for use of coarse grids, a constant effective viscosity law and adapted coefficients for heat exchange in the framework of building thermo-aeraulics. The second part of this work concerns the creation of fluid Macro-Elements and their coupling with a calculation of CFD finite volume type. Depending on the boundary conditions of the problem, a local description of the driving flow is proposed via the installation and use of semi-empirical evolution laws. The Macro-Elements is then inserted in CFD computation: the values of velocity calculated by the evolution laws are imposed on the CFD cells corresponding to the Macro-Element. We use these two approaches on five cases representative of thermo-aeraulics in buildings. The results are compared with experimental data and with traditional RANS simulations. We highlight the significant gain of time that our approach allows while preserving a good quality of numerical results. (author)

River Export of Plastic from Land to Sea: A Global Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Siegfried, Max; Gabbert, Silke; Koelmans, Albert A.; Kroeze, Carolien; Löhr, Ansje; Verburg, Charlotte

2016-04-01

Plastic is increasingly considered a serious cause of water pollution. It is a threat to aquatic ecosystems, including rivers, coastal waters and oceans. Rivers transport considerable amounts of plastic from land to sea. The quantity and its main sources, however, are not well known. Assessing the amount of macro- and microplastic transport from river to sea is, therefore, important for understanding the dimension and the patterns of plastic pollution of aquatic ecosystems. In addition, it is crucial for assessing short- and long-term impacts caused by plastic pollution. Here we present a global modelling approach to quantify river export of plastic from land to sea. Our approach accounts for different types of plastic, including both macro- and micro-plastics. Moreover, we distinguish point sources and diffuse sources of plastic in rivers. Our modelling approach is inspired by global nutrient models, which include more than 6000 river basins. In this paper, we will present our modelling approach, as well as first model results for micro-plastic pollution in European rivers. Important sources of micro-plastics include personal care products, laundry, household dust and car tyre wear. We combine information on these sources with information on sewage management, and plastic retention during river transport for the largest European rivers. Our modelling approach may help to better understand and prevent water pollution by plastic , and at the same time serves as 'proof of concept' for future application on global scale.

Synchronization of conference presentation sequence using delay equalization approach

Science.gov (United States)

Godavari, Rakesh K.; Celenk, Mehmet

2001-11-01

In this paper, a delay equalization approach is proposed for cohesive conference presentation with minimal screen- freezing effect. The underlying screen-freezing effect is due to varying delays in the communication channels involved in broadcasting. In turn, this poses a threat to the goal of uniform delay distribution among data packets for synchronized presentation broadcast. We wish to achieve uniformity among packet arrival times to the recipients. This objective is achieved by transforming a given input delay distribution (D) to the desired output density through a delay equalization process. Considering a general case of between packet and frame delay distributions for a given input, the desired output is obtained through a delay equalization process. In case of a specific normal delay distribution, a memory-less system g(D) is determined as an approximation to the delay equalizer such that the equalizer output O(t)equalsg[D(t)] is uniformly distributed in the allowable delay limits of (a,b) assuring the specified quality of service (QoS) parameters. The corresponding delay is added at each recipient workstation, which acts as the wait period required before it begins its designated presentation.For a zero mean normal delay density case, the equalizer transfer function can be given in a closed from solution as O(t)equalsg[D(t)[equals(b-a)]0.5+eft(-D/$RO OTR(0)))[+a, where erf(x) is the standard error function. The histogram approximation is adopted as an asymptotically delay equalization means for general cases. This technique provides a means for modifying the dynamic range of data acquired by altering it into a desired distribution. In experimentation, equalizer characteristic functions are derived for a set of selected input delays to obtain the desired output. The delay equalizer system developed here is suited for deployment in a distributed hierarchical conferencing environment. To accommodate a broadcast continuity, the multimedia presentation is

Simulation of UMTS Capacity and Quality of Coverage in Urban Macro- and Microcellular Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Pechac

2005-12-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with simulations of a radio interface of thirdgeneration (3G mobile systems operating in the WCDMA FDD modeincluding propagation predictions in macro and microcells. In the radionetwork planning of 3G mobile systems, the quality of coverage and thesystem capacity present a common problem. Both macro and microcellularconcepts are very important for implementing wireless communicationsystems, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTS indense urban areas. The aim of this paper is to introduce differentimpacts - selected bit rate, uplink (UL loading, allocation and numberof Nodes B, selected propagation prediction models, macro andmicrocellular environment - on system capacity and quality of coveragein UMTS networks. Both separated and composite simulation scenarios ofmacro and microcellular environments are presented. The necessity of aniteration-based simulation approach and site-specific propagationmodeling in microcells is proven.

Dilemmas in the Danish Approach to Gender Quotas and Gender Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte; Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality. Gender theory has presented diverse arguments for gender quota: justice, resources and women’s interests. Gender quota can be understood as a means to achieve gender parity...... and gender justice in all arenas of society political and economic life. The belief in gender theory and research has been that gender quota would and should be a means to achieve equal rights and gender equality. Recently a new discourse and rhetoric of profitability of gender equality within a range...... of institutions from business to higher education has become prominent in many arenas. One example is the Report on gender equality between men and women in the EU, which argues that gender quotas are not only beneficial for women’s rights but also for industry, for society, and for men...

Simultaneous Feedback Models with Macro-Comparative Cross-Sectional Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nate Breznau

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Social scientists often work with theories of reciprocal causality. Sometimes theories suggest that reciprocal causes work simultaneously, or work on a time-scale small enough to make them appear simultaneous. Researchers may employ simultaneous feedback models to investigate such theories, although the practice is rare in cross-sectional survey research. This paper discusses the certain conditions that make these models possible if not desirable using such data. This methodological excursus covers the construction of simultaneous feedback models using a structural equation modeling perspective. This allows the researcher to test if a simultaneous feedback theory fits survey data, test competing hypotheses and engage in macro-comparisons. This paper presents methods in a manner and language amenable to the practicing social scientist who is not a statistician or matrix mathematician. It demonstrates how to run models using three popular software programs (MPlus, Stata and R, and an empirical example using International Social Survey Program data.

Foreign Models of Financial Equalization, Prospects for Implementation in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piontko Nataliia B.

2015-09-01

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

Education, Equality and the European Social Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Palle; Lynch, Kathleen; Brine, Jacky

2009-01-01

and employment. The importance of education is often mentioned in EU documents on social welfare. However, European policies in the areas of welfare and education are marked by a fundamental tension between the pursuit of capitalist growth on one hand, the pursuit of social justice and equality on the other......Social welfare and education have been themes in European collaboration since the early days of the Treaty of Rome. Especially after the establishment in 2000 of the Lisbon agenda the EU has stepped up its efforts in these two areas and has integrated both of them in a strategy for growth....... This often leads to an impoverished conceptualisation of education as just another service to be delivered on the market. A more holistic approach to education policy is necessary, an approach which takes account of the broader conditions of equality and includes not only the economic, but also the political...

Pathways to a low-carbon economy for the UK with the macro-econometric E3MG model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dagoumas, A.S.; Barker, T.S.

2010-01-01

This paper examines different carbon pathways for achieving deep CO 2 reduction targets for the UK using a macro-econometric hybrid model E3MG, which stands for Energy-Economy-Environment Model at the Global level. The E3MG, with the UK as one of its regions, combines a top-down approach for modeling the global economy and for estimating the aggregate and disaggregate energy demand and a bottom-up approach (Energy Technology subModel, ETM) for simulating the power sector, which then provides feedback to the energy demand equations and the whole economy. The ETM submodel uses a probabilistic approach and historical data for estimating the penetration levels of the different technologies, considering their economic, technical and environmental characteristics. Three pathway scenarios (CFH, CLC and CAM) simulate the CO 2 reduction by 40%, 60% and 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels respectively and are compared with a reference scenario (REF), with no reduction target. The targets are modeled as the UK contribution to an international mitigation effort, such as achieving the G8 reduction targets, which is a more realistic political framework for the UK to move towards deep reductions rather than moving alone. This paper aims to provide modeling evidence that deep reduction targets can be met through different carbon pathways while also assessing the macroeconomic effects of the pathways on GDP and investment.

Micro and Macro Segregation in Alloys Solidifying with Equiaxed Morphology

Science.gov (United States)

Stefanescu, Doru M.; Curreri, Peter A.; Leon-Torres, Jose; Sen, Subhayu

1996-01-01

To understand macro segregation formation in Al-Cu alloys, experiments were run under terrestrial gravity (1g) and under low gravity during parabolic flights (10(exp -2) g). Alloys of two different compositions (2% and 5% Cu) were solidified at two different cooling rates. Systematic microscopic and SEM observations produced microstructural and segregation maps for all samples. These maps may be used as benchmark experiments for validation of microstructure evolution and segregation models. As expected, the macro segregation maps are very complex. When segregation was measured along the central axis of the sample, the highest macro segregation for samples solidified at 1g was obtained for the lowest cooling rate. This behavior is attributed to the longer time available for natural convection and shrinkage flow to affect solute redistribution. In samples solidified under low-g, the highest macro-segregation was obtained at the highest cooling rate. In general, low-gravity solidification resulted in less segregation. To explain the experimental findings, an analytical (Flemings-Nereo) and a numerical model were used. For the numerical model, the continuum formulation was employed to describe the macroscopic transports of mass, energy, and momentum, associated with the microscopic transport phenomena, for a two-phase system. The model proposed considers that liquid flow is driven by thermal and solutal buoyancy, and by solidification shrinkage. The Flemings-Nereo model explains well macro segregation in the initial stages of low-gravity segregation. The numerical model can describe the complex macro segregation pattern and the differences between low- and high-gravity solidification.

Linking ground motion measurements and macro-seismic observations in France: A case study based on the RAP (accelerometric) and BCSF (macro-seismic) databases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesueur, Ch.

2011-01-01

Comparison between accelerometric and macro-seismic observations is made for three mw∼4.5 earthquakes of eastern France between 2003 and 2005. Scalar and spectral instrumental parameters are processed from the accelerometric data recorded by nine accelerometric stations located between 29 km and 180 km from the epicentres. Macro-seismic data are based on the French internet reports. In addition to the individual macro-seismic intensity, analysis of the internal correlation between the encoded answers highlights four predominant fields of questions, bearing different physical meanings: 1) 'vibratory motions of small objects', 2) 'displacement and fall of objects', 3) 'acoustic noise', and 4) 'personal feelings'. Best correlations between macro-seismic and instrumental observations are obtained when the macro-seismic parameters are averaged over 10 km radius circles around each station. macro-seismic intensities predicted by published pgv-intensity relationships quite agree with the observed intensities, contrary to those based on pga. The correlations between the macro-seismic and instrumental data, for intensities between ii and v (ems-98), show that pgv is the instrumental parameter presenting the best correlation with all macro-seismic parameters. The correlation with response spectra, exhibits clear frequency dependence over a limited frequency range [0.5-33 hz]. Horizontal and vertical components are significantly correlated with macro-seismic parameters between 1 and 10 hz, a range corresponding to both natural frequencies of most buildings and high energy content in the seismic ground motion. Between 10 and 25 hz, a clear lack of correlation between macro-seismic and instrumental data is observed, while beyond 25 hz the correlation coefficient increases, approaching that of the PGA correlation level. (author)

Macro-Micro Simulation for Polymer Crystallization in Couette Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunlei Ruan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Polymer crystallization in manufacturing is a process where quiescent crystallization and flow-induced crystallization coexists, and heat/mass transfer on a macroscopic level interacts with crystal morphology evolution on a microscopic level. Previous numerical studies on polymer crystallization are mostly concentrated at a single scale; they only calculate macroscale parameters, e.g., temperature and relative crystallinity, or they only predict microstructure details, e.g., crystal morphology and mean size of crystals. The multi-scale numerical works that overcome these disadvantages are unfortunately based on quiescent crystallization, in which flow effects are neglected. The objective of this work is to build up a macro-micro model and a macro-micro algorithm to consider both the thermal and flow effects on the crystallization. Our macro-micro model couples two parts: mass and heat transfer of polymeric flow at the macroscopic level, and nucleation and growth of spherulites and shish-kebabs at the microscopic level. Our macro-micro algorithm is a hybrid finite volume/Monte Carlo method, in which the finite volume method is used at the macroscopic level to calculate the flow and temperature fields, while the Monte Carlo method is used at the microscopic level to capture the development of spherulites and shish-kebabs. The macro-micro model and the macro-micro algorithm are applied to simulate polymer crystallization in Couette flow. The effects of shear rate, shear time, and wall temperature on the crystal morphology and crystallization kinetics are also discussed.

Ordered macro-microporous metal-organic framework single crystals

KAUST Repository

Shen, Kui

2018-01-16

We constructed highly oriented and ordered macropores within metal-organic framework (MOF) single crystals, opening up the area of three-dimensional-ordered macro-microporous materials (that is, materials containing both macro- and micropores) in single-crystalline form. Our methodology relies on the strong shaping effects of a polystyrene nanosphere monolith template and a double-solvent-induced heterogeneous nucleation approach. This process synergistically enabled the in situ growth of MOFs within ordered voids, rendering a single crystal with oriented and ordered macro-microporous structure. The improved mass diffusion properties of such hierarchical frameworks, together with their robust single-crystalline nature, endow them with superior catalytic activity and recyclability for bulky-molecule reactions, as compared with conventional, polycrystalline hollow, and disordered macroporous ZIF-8.

Ordered macro-microporous metal-organic framework single crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Kui; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Xiaodong; Liu, Lingmei; Zhang, Daliang; Han, Yu; Chen, Junying; Long, Jilan; Luque, Rafael; Li, Yingwei; Chen, Banglin

2018-01-01

We constructed highly oriented and ordered macropores within metal-organic framework (MOF) single crystals, opening up the area of three-dimensional–ordered macro-microporous materials (that is, materials containing both macro- and micropores) in single-crystalline form. Our methodology relies on the strong shaping effects of a polystyrene nanosphere monolith template and a double-solvent–induced heterogeneous nucleation approach. This process synergistically enabled the in situ growth of MOFs within ordered voids, rendering a single crystal with oriented and ordered macro-microporous structure. The improved mass diffusion properties of such hierarchical frameworks, together with their robust single-crystalline nature, endow them with superior catalytic activity and recyclability for bulky-molecule reactions, as compared with conventional, polycrystalline hollow, and disordered macroporous ZIF-8.

Ordered macro-microporous metal-organic framework single crystals

KAUST Repository

Shen, Kui; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Xiaodong; Liu, Lingmei; Zhang, Daliang; Han, Yu; Chen, Junying; Long, Jilan; Luque, Rafael; Li, Yingwei; Chen, Banglin

2018-01-01

We constructed highly oriented and ordered macropores within metal-organic framework (MOF) single crystals, opening up the area of three-dimensional-ordered macro-microporous materials (that is, materials containing both macro- and micropores) in single-crystalline form. Our methodology relies on the strong shaping effects of a polystyrene nanosphere monolith template and a double-solvent-induced heterogeneous nucleation approach. This process synergistically enabled the in situ growth of MOFs within ordered voids, rendering a single crystal with oriented and ordered macro-microporous structure. The improved mass diffusion properties of such hierarchical frameworks, together with their robust single-crystalline nature, endow them with superior catalytic activity and recyclability for bulky-molecule reactions, as compared with conventional, polycrystalline hollow, and disordered macroporous ZIF-8.

Using a micro-level model to generate a macro-level model of productive successful aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Jessica K M; Sarkisian, Natalia; Williamson, John B

2015-02-01

Aging successfully entails good physical and cognitive health, as well as ongoing participation in social and productive activity. This study hones in on participation in productive activity, a factor that makes an important contribution to successful aging. One conceptual model of productive activity in later life specifies the antecedents and consequences of productivity. This study draws on that micro-level model to develop a corresponding macro-level model and assesses its utility for examining the predictors of and explaining the relationships between one form of productivity (labor force participation rates) and one aspect of well-being (average life expectancy) among males and females. Random effects regression models and path analysis were used to analyze cross-national longitudinal data for 24 high-income Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries at seven time points (1980-2010; 168 observations total). OECD countries with higher labor force participation rates among older workers have higher life expectancies. Labor force participation mediates the effects of gross domestic product per capita on male and female life expectancy, and it mediates the effect of self-employment rate for men, but it acts as a suppressor with regard to the effect of public spending on male and female life expectancy. A well-known micro-level model of productive activity can be fruitfully adapted to account for macro-level cross-national variation in productivity and well-being. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An efficient macro-cell placement algorithm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aarts, E.H.L.; Bont, de F.M.J.; Korst, J.H.M.; Rongen, J.M.J.

1991-01-01

A new approximation algorithm is presented for the efficient handling of large macro-cell placement problems. The algorithm combines simulated annealing with new features based on a hierarchical approach and a divide-and-conquer technique. Numerical results show that these features can lead to a

Presentation of the Three-ME model: Multi-sector macro-economic Model for the Evaluation of Environmental and Energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynes, Frederic; Yeddir-Tamsamani, Yasser; Callonnec, Gael

2011-05-01

This paper presents the structure and the main properties of Three-ME. This new model of the French economy has been especially designed to evaluate the medium and long term impact of environmental and energy policies at the macro-economic and sector levels. To do so Three-ME combines two important features. Firstly, it has the main characteristics of neo-Keynesian models by assuming a slow adjustment of effective quantities and prices to their notional level. Compared to standard multi-sectors CGEM, this has the advantage to allow for the existence of under-optimum equilibriums such as the presence of involuntary unemployment. Secondly, production and consumption structures are represented with a generalized CES function which allows for the elasticity of substitution to differ between each couple of inputs or goods. This is an improvement compared to the standard approach that uses nested CES functions which has the disadvantage to impose a common elasticity of substitution between the goods located in two different nested structures. (authors)

Teaching Note--Incorporating Social Innovation Content into Macro Social Work Education

Science.gov (United States)

Pitt-Catsouphes, Marcie; Cosner Berzin, Stephanie

2015-01-01

The practice of social innovation offers promising approaches for addressing social issues. Although many social innovation strategies are congruent with macro social work theory and practice, some of the insights and tactics that have emerged in the social innovation field have the potential to strengthen current macro practice. Based on our…

Complex fluids with mobile charge-regulating macro-ions

Science.gov (United States)

Markovich, Tomer; Andelman, David; Podgornik, Rudi

2017-10-01

We generalize the concept of charge regulation of ionic solutions, and apply it to complex fluids with mobile macro-ions having internal non-electrostatic degrees of freedom. The suggested framework provides a convenient tool for investigating systems where mobile macro-ions can self-regulate their charge (e.g., proteins). We show that even within a simplified charge-regulation model, the charge dissociation equilibrium results in different and notable properties. Consequences of the charge regulation include a positional dependence of the effective charge of the macro-ions, a non-monotonic dependence of the effective Debye screening length on the concentration of the monovalent salt, a modification of the electric double-layer structure, and buffering by the macro-ions of the background electrolyte.

Macro-economic factors influencing the architectural business model shift in the pharmaceutical industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Dierks, Raphaela Marie Louisa; Bruyère, Olivier; Reginster, Jean-Yves; Richy, Florent-Frederic

2016-10-01

Technological innovations, new regulations, increasing costs of drug productions and new demands are only few key drivers of a projected alternation in the pharmaceutical industry. The purpose of this review is to understand the macro economic factors responsible for the business model revolution to possess a competitive advantage over market players. Areas covered: Existing literature on macro-economic factors changing the pharmaceutical landscape has been reviewed to present a clear image of the current market environment. Expert commentary: Literature shows that pharmaceutical companies are facing an architectural alteration, however the evidence on the rationale driving the transformation is outstanding. Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) deals and collaborations are headlining the papers. Q1 2016 did show a major slowdown in M&A deals by volume since 2013 (with deal cancellations of Pfizer and Allergan, or the downfall of Valeant), but pharmaceutical analysts remain confident that this shortfall was a consequence of the equity market volatility. It seems likely that the shift to an M&A model will become apparent during the remainder of 2016, with deal announcements of Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie and Sanofi worth USD 45billion showing the appetite of big pharma companies to shift from the fully vertical integrated business model to more horizontal business models.

Measuring Impact of Uncertainty in a Stylized Macro-Economic Climate Model within a Dynamic Game Perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stienen, V.F.; Engwerda, Jacob

2018-01-01

In this paper we try to quantify/measure the main factors that influence the equilibrium outcome and pursued strategies in a simplistic model for the use of fossil versus green energy over time. The model is derived using the standard Solow macro-economic growth model in a two-country setting within

Histogram equalization with Bayesian estimation for noise robust speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Youngjoo; Kim, Hoirin

2018-02-01

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

Development of a long term macro econometric model for strategic analysis and cost assessments in nuclear R and D fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mankin, Shuichi; Yamazaki, Shigeki.

1985-11-01

A Long Term Macro Econometric Model (LTMEMO) has been developed for the purpose of generating economic scenarios for strategic analysis and for cost assessments of technologies in the field of nuclear research and development. The program system of the model is composed of such sub-programs as related social and economic statistic data base and its treatment program, identification and estimation programs of various econometric functions, simulation programs for future projections, and a reference econometric model program. The reference econometric model in the program system would be improved and modified easily by using data base and other sub-programs as the purpose of data retrieval, application of economic hypothesis, and scenario generation. The reference model belongs to a category of such standard types as macro-econometric, deterministic, and descriptive one, however, it was deviated based on the combination of Keynesian theories and Neo-classical theories and was modified by system engineering aspects. The model obtained good performances in such various econometric tests as statistical examinations in parameter estimation of each functions and so called partial tests, total tests, and final tests. Macro economic scenarios α and β, long term projections through 2030 of macro economy in our country were evaluated appropriately by this model. This report describes the process in the development of the model from needs of econometric model in nuclear fields to examples of economic scenarios generated by this model. Some consideration are taken into descriptions on the deviation of each functions and on the application of economic theories for practical use of this program system at the time of modification and improvements of the reference model. (author)

Parser Macros for Scala

OpenAIRE

Duhem, Martin; Burmako, Eugene

2015-01-01

Parser macros are a new kind of macros that allow developers to create new language constructs and to define their own syntax for using them. In this report, we present why parser macros are useful and the kind of problems that they help to solve. We will also see how they are implemented and gain insight about how they take advantage from scala.meta, the new metaprogramming toolkit for Scala. Finally, we will discuss what are the current limitations of parser macros and what is left for futu...

Foreign Models of Financial Equalization, Prospects for Implementation in Ukraine

OpenAIRE

Piontko Nataliia B.

2015-01-01

The article is aimed to identify the models of financial equalization applied in foreign countries, and to substantiate the possibilities for use of foreign experience in terms of financial equalization or individual elements of such models on the territory of Ukraine, for taking into consideration the foreign tools of financial equalization in the context of the State regional policy reforms is a priority and urgent task of the present day. During the generalization and sys...

Macro Study of Spatial Development Area on Tourism Village

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Widhianthini Widhianthini

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Macro study is one approach that combines the rational method based on the results of previous studies by the authority with the empirical method utilizing the survey techniques. The purpose of this macro study is to identify and analyze the potentials, problems, and the limiting factors, and the needs of the regency; and to recommend the programs and models required by the community to achieve the sustainable development. This research uses the Participatory Rural Appraisal method, the  interview techniques (Semi Structured Interview, the technique of focused group discussion (FGD, the Rapid District Appraisal (RDA, then it is analyzed by the empirical and dynamical systems. The overview of macro studies is particularly relevant in developing the regions, especially the rural areas, based on the existing advantages, such as in Tabanan Regency. Tabanan Regency is a granary in Bali Province and the zoning of agricultural commodities in quadrant III,which is the rural farming area with combined functions between the cultivated and rural areas supported by the tourism department. The studies of the areas in the form of potential analysis, problem analysis, requirement analysis become the guidelines for preparing the development scenarios and program formats. The studies will then constitute the factors driving the realization of sustainable development of tourism villages in supporting the sustainable agriculture.

Macro-prudential policy on liquidity: What does a DSGE model tell us?

OpenAIRE

Chadha, Jagjit S.; Corrado, Luisa

2011-01-01

The financial crisis has led to the development of an active debate on the use of macro-prudential instruments for regulating the banking system, in particular for liquidity and capital holdings. Within the context of a micro-founded macroeconomic model, we allow commercial banks to choose their optimal mix of assets, apportioning these either to reserves or private sector loans. We examine the implications for quantities, relative non-financial and financial prices from standard macroeconomi...

Advanced Macro-Model with Pulse-Width Dependent Switching Characteristic for Spin Transfer Torque Based Magnetic-Tunnel-Junction Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Sojeong Kim,; Seungjun Lee,; Hyungsoon Shin,

2010-04-01

In spin transfer torque (STT)-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), the switching depends on the current pulse-width as well as the magnitude of the switching current. We present an advanced macro-model of an STT-MTJ for a circuit simulator such as HSPICE. The macro-model can simulate the dependence of switching behavior on current pulse-width in an STT-MTJ. An imaginary resistor-capacitor (RC) circuit is adopted to emulate complex timing behavior which cannot be described nicely by existing functions in HSPICE. Simulation results show the resistance-current (R-I) curve and timing behavior is in good agreement with the experimental data.

Modelling the Cast Component Weight in Hot Chamber Die Casting using Combined Taguchi and Buckingham's π Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rupinder

2018-02-01

Hot chamber (HC) die casting process is one of the most widely used commercial processes for the casting of low temperature metals and alloys. This process gives near-net shape product with high dimensional accuracy. However in actual field environment the best settings of input parameters is often conflicting as the shape and size of the casting changes and one have to trade off among various output parameters like hardness, dimensional accuracy, casting defects, microstructure etc. So for online inspection of the cast components properties (without affecting the production line) the weight measurement has been established as one of the cost effective method (as the difference in weight of sound and unsound casting reflects the possible casting defects) in field environment. In the present work at first stage the effect of three input process parameters (namely: pressure at 2nd phase in HC die casting; metal pouring temperature and die opening time) has been studied for optimizing the cast component weight `W' as output parameter in form of macro model based upon Taguchi L9 OA. After this Buckingham's π approach has been applied on Taguchi based macro model for the development of micro model. This study highlights the Taguchi-Buckingham based combined approach as a case study (for conversion of macro model into micro model) by identification of optimum levels of input parameters (based on Taguchi approach) and development of mathematical model (based on Buckingham's π approach). Finally developed mathematical model can be used for predicting W in HC die casting process with more flexibility. The results of study highlights second degree polynomial equation for predicting cast component weight in HC die casting and suggest that pressure at 2nd stage is one of the most contributing factors for controlling the casting defect/weight of casting.

Characteristics of soil water retention curve at macro-scale

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2009-01-01

Scale adaptable hydrological models have attracted more and more attentions in the hydrological modeling research community, and the constitutive relationship at the macro-scale is one of the most important issues, upon which there are not enough research activities yet. Taking the constitutive relationships of soil water movement--soil water retention curve (SWRC) as an example, this study extends the definition of SWRC at the micro-scale to that at the macro-scale, and aided by Monte Carlo method we demonstrate that soil property and the spatial distribution of soil moisture will affect the features of SWRC greatly. Furthermore, we assume that the spatial distribution of soil moisture is the result of self-organization of climate, soil, ground water and soil water movement under the specific boundary conditions, and we also carry out numerical experiments of soil water movement at the vertical direction in order to explore the relationship between SWRC at the macro-scale and the combinations of climate, soil, and groundwater. The results show that SWRCs at the macro-scale and micro-scale presents totally different features, e.g., the essential hysteresis phenomenon which is exaggerated with increasing aridity index and rising groundwater table. Soil property plays an important role in the shape of SWRC which will even lead to a rectangular shape under drier conditions, and power function form of SWRC widely adopted in hydrological model might be revised for most situations at the macro-scale.

A Macro-Micro-Symbolic Teaching to Promote Relational Understanding of Chemical Reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Jaber, Lama Ziad; Boujaoude, Saouma

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research is threefold: (1) to identify the difficulties that Grade 10 students in a Lebanese school have that hinder their conceptual understanding at the micro-macro-symbolic interface in chemistry, (2) to investigate the effect of a macro-micro-symbolic teaching approach on students' relational understanding of chemical…

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Large-Scale Deployment of Biomass Resources for Energy and Materials in the Netherlands. Appendix 2. Macro-economic Scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banse, M.

2009-03-01

The Bio-based Raw Materials Platform (known as PGG), which is part of the Energy Transition programme in the Netherlands, commissioned the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) and the Copernicus Institute of Utrecht University to study the macro-economic impact of large-scale deployment of biomass for energy and materials in the Netherlands. Two model approaches were applied based on a consistent set of scenario assumptions: a bottom-up study including techno-economic projections of fossil and bio-based conversion technologies and a top-down study including macro-economic modelling of (global) trade of biomass and fossil resources. The results of the top-down study (part 2) including macro-economic modelling of (global) trade of biomass and fossil resources, are presented in this report

101 Ready-To-Use Excel Macros

CERN Document Server

Alexander, Michael

2012-01-01

Save time and be more productive with this helpful guide to Excel macros! While most books about Excel macros offer only minor examples, usually aimed at illustrating a particular topic, this invaluable resource provides you with the tools needed to efficiently and effectively program Excel macros immediately. Step-by-step instructions show you how to create VBA macros and explain how to customize your applications to look and work exactly as you want them to. By the end of the book, you will understand how each featured macro works, be able to reuse the macros included in the book and online,

Enhanced MicroChannel Heat Transfer in Macro-Geometry using Conventional Fabrication Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ooi, KT; Goh, AL

2016-09-01

This paper presents studies on passive, single-phase, enhanced microchannel heat transfer in conventionally sized geometry. The intention is to allow economical, simple and readily available conventional fabrication techniques to be used for fabricating macro-scale heat exchangers with microchannel heat transfer capability. A concentric annular gap between a 20 mm diameter channel and an 19.4 mm diameter insert forms a microchannel where heat transfer occurs. Results show that the heat transfer coefficient of more than 50 kW/m·K can be obtained for Re≈4,000, at hydraulic diameter of 0.6 mm. The pressure drop values of the system are kept below 3.3 bars. The present study re-confirms the feasibility of fabricating macro-heat exchangers with microchannel heat transfer capability.

An equal force theory for network models of soft materials with arbitrary molecular weight distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Verron, E.; Gros, A.

2017-09-01

Most network models for soft materials, e.g. elastomers and gels, are dedicated to idealized materials: all chains admit the same number of Kuhn segments. Nevertheless, such standard models are not appropriate for materials involving multiple networks, and some specific constitutive equations devoted to these materials have been derived in the last few years. In nearly all cases, idealized networks of different chain lengths are assembled following an equal strain assumption; only few papers adopt an equal stress assumption, although some authors argue that such hypothesis would reflect the equilibrium of the different networks in contact. In this work, a full-network model with an arbitrary chain length distribution is derived by considering that chains of different lengths satisfy the equal force assumption in each direction of the unit sphere. The derivation is restricted to non-Gaussian freely jointed chains and to affine deformation of the sphere. Firstly, after a proper definition of the undeformed configuration of the network, we demonstrate that the equal force assumption leads to the equality of a normalized stretch in chains of different lengths. Secondly, we establish that the network with chain length distribution behaves as an idealized full-network of which both chain length and density of are provided by the chain length distribution. This approach is finally illustrated with two examples: the derivation of a new expression for the Young modulus of bimodal interpenetrated polymer networks, and the prediction of the change in fluorescence during deformation of mechanochemically responsive elastomers.

Equality of What? The Capability Approach and the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Broderick

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The right to education is indispensable in unlocking other substantive human rights and in ensuring full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in mainstream society. The cornerstone of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities seeks to ensure access to inclusive education for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others as well as the full development of human potential. Since the adoption of the Convention, there has been much theorising about inclusive education; however, there has been little focus on the meaning of equality in the context of the right to education for persons with disabilities. The capability approach, developed by Amartya Sen and further refined by Martha Nussbaum, focuses on ensuring equality and developing human potential. It is often viewed as a tool that can be used to overcome the limitations of traditional equality assessments in the educational sphere, which only measure resources and outcomes. This article explores whether the capability approach can offer new insights into the vision of educational equality contained in the Convention and how that vision can be implemented at the national level.

%HPGLIMMIX: A High-Performance SAS Macro for GLMM Estimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Xie

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs comprise a class of widely used statistical tools for data analysis with fixed and random effects when the response variable has a conditional distribution in the exponential family. GLMM analysis also has a close relationship with actuarial credibility theory. While readily available programs such as the GLIMMIX procedure in SAS and the lme4 package in R are powerful tools for using this class of models, these progarms are not able to handle models with thousands of levels of fixed and random effects. By using sparse-matrix and other high performance techniques, procedures such as HPMIXED in SAS can easily fit models with thousands of factor levels, but only for normally distributed response variables. In this paper, we present the %HPGLIMMIX SAS macro that fits GLMMs with large number of sparsely populated design matrices using the doubly-iterative linearization (pseudo-likelihood method, in which the sparse-matrix-based HPMIXED is used for the inner iterations with the pseudo-variable constructed from the inverse-link function and the chosen model. Although the macro does not have the full functionality of the GLIMMIX procedure, time and memory savings can be large with the new macro. In applications in which design matrices contain many zeros and there are hundreds or thousands of factor levels, models can be fitted without exhausting computer memory, and 90% or better reduction in running time can be observed. Examples with a Poisson, binomial, and gamma conditional distribution are presented to demonstrate the usage and efficiency of this macro.

Macro-mechanical material model for fiber reinforced metal matrix composites

CERN Document Server

Banks-Sills, L

1999-01-01

The stress-strain behavior of a metal matrix composite reinforced with unidirectional, continuous and periodic fibers is investigated. Three-dimensional micro-mechanical analyses of a unit cell by means of the finite element method $9 and homogenization-localization are carried out. These calculations allow the determination of material behavior of the in-plane, as well as the fiber directions. The fibers are assumed to be elastic and the matrix elasto-plastic. $9 The matrix material is governed by a von Mises yield surface, isotropic hardening and an associated flow rule. With the aid of these analyses, the foundation to a macro-mechanical material model is presented which is employed to $9 consider an elementary problem. The model includes an anisotropic yield surface with isotropic hardening and an associated flow rule. A beam in bending containing square fibers under plane strain conditions is analyzed by means of $9 the model. Two cases are considered: one in which the fibers are symmetric with respect t...

Performance Evaluation Of Macro amp Micro Mobility In HMIP Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osama Ali Abdelgadir

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Changing the location of mobile node during transmission or receiving of data always caused changing of the address of the mobile node which results in packet loss as well as delay in time taken to locate the new address of the Mobile Node therefore delay of data receiving is caused this problem was known as micro-mobility issue. To resolve this problem and ascurrently mobile IP is the most promising solution for mobility management in the Internet. Several IP micro mobility approaches have been proposed to enhance the performance of mobile IP which supports quality of service minimum packet loss limited handoff delay and scalability and power conservation but they are not scalable for macro mobility. A practical solution would therefore require integration of mobile IP and micro mobility protocols where mobile IP handles macro mobility and HMIP cellular IP HAWAII handles micro mobility. In this paper an integrated mobility management protocol for IP based wireless networks is proposed and analyzed.HIERARCHICAL MICRO MOBILITY PROTOCOL is used. To identify the impact of micro-mobility in IP based Wireless Network to implement selected micro-mobility model of Hierarchal Micro Mobility Protocol in network simulator and for more analysis and measurements results and for the purpose of performance comparison between both Macro and Micro mobility Protocol Management.. Simulation results presented in this paper are based on ns 2

A generalized macro-assembler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaul, Mohan Lai

1970-01-01

The objective of this research is to study existing macro assemblers, and to create a generalized macro assembler, MAG-I, which is a system independent of a source language, and provides the following possibilities: development of any existing language, translation from a language to another, and creation of a new language. The user can choose his own notations to define macros. The system is implemented on an IBM 360/91 computer. Programs are written in symbolic language and the input/output software is written in Fortran [fr

Analysis of Macro-micro Simulation Models for Service-Oriented Public Platform: Coordination of Networked Services and Measurement of Public Values

Science.gov (United States)

Kinoshita, Yumiko

When service sectors are a major driver for the growth of the world economy, we are challenged to implement service-oriented infrastructure as e-Gov platform to achieve further growth and innovation for both developed and developing countries. According to recent trends in service industry, it is clarified that main factors for the growth of service sectors are investment into knowledge, trade, and the enhanced capacity of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In addition, the design and deployment of public service platform require appropriate evaluation methodology. Reflecting these observations, this paper proposes macro-micro simulation approach to assess public values (PV) focusing on MSMEs. Linkage aggregate variables (LAVs) are defined to show connection between macro and micro impacts of public services. As a result, the relationship of demography, business environment, macro economy, and socio-economic impact are clarified and their values are quantified from the behavioral perspectives of citizens and firms.

The development of macros program-based cognitive evaluation model via e-learning course mathematics in senior high school based on curriculum 2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Djoko Purnomo

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The specific purpose of this research is: The implementation of the application of the learning tool with a form cognitive learning evaluation model based macros program via E-learning at High School grade X at july-december based on 2013 curriculum. The method used in this research followed the procedures is research and development by Borg and Gall [2]. In second year, population analysis has conducted at several universities in Semarang. The results of the research and application development of macro program-based cognitive evaluation model is effective which can be seen from (1 the student learning result is over KKM, (2 The student independency affects learning result positively, (3 the student learning a result by using macros program-based cognitive evaluation model is better than students class control. Based on the results above, the development of macros program-based cognitive evaluation model that have been tested have met quality standards according to Akker (1999. Large-scale testing includes operational phase of field testing and final product revision, i.e trials in the wider class that includes students in mathematics education major in several universities, they are the Universitas PGRI Semarang, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung and the Universitas Islam NegeriWalisongo Semarang. The positive responses is given by students at the Universitas PGRI Semarang, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung and the Universitas Islam NegeriWalisongo Semarang.

Alternative policy impacts on US GHG emissions and energy security: A hybrid modeling approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarica, Kemal; Tyner, Wallace E.

2013-01-01

This study addresses the possible impacts of energy and climate policies, namely corporate average fleet efficiency (CAFE) standard, renewable fuel standard (RFS) and clean energy standard (CES), and an economy wide equivalent carbon tax on GHG emissions in the US to the year 2045. Bottom–up and top–down modeling approaches find widespread use in energy economic modeling and policy analysis, in which they differ mainly with respect to the emphasis placed on technology of the energy system and/or the comprehensiveness of endogenous market adjustments. For this study, we use a hybrid energy modeling approach, MARKAL–Macro, that combines the characteristics of two divergent approaches, in order to investigate and quantify the cost of climate policies for the US and an equivalent carbon tax. The approach incorporates Macro-economic feedbacks through a single sector neoclassical growth model while maintaining sectoral and technological detail of the bottom–up optimization framework with endogenous aggregated energy demand. Our analysis is done for two important objectives of the US energy policy: GHG reduction and increased energy security. Our results suggest that the emission tax achieves results quite similar to the CES policy but very different results in the transportation sector. The CAFE standard and RFS are more expensive than a carbon tax for emission reductions. However, the CAFE standard and RFS are much more efficient at achieving crude oil import reductions. The GDP losses are 2.0% and 1.2% relative to the base case for the policy case and carbon tax. That difference may be perceived as being small given the increased energy security gained from the CAFE and RFS policy measures and the uncertainty inherent in this type of analysis. - Highlights: • Evaluates US impacts of three energy/climate policies and a carbon tax (CT) • Analysis done with bottom–up MARKAL model coupled with a macro model • Electricity clean energy standard very close to

Reproductive decision-making in a macro-micro environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Philipov, D.; Liefbroer, A.C.; Klobas, J.E.

2015-01-01

- Takes a new approach to understanding Europe’s fertility gap - Demonstrates how the macro-level environment affects micro-level decision-making - Provides new insights into how people make decisions about having children as well as how policies affect fertility This book provides new insights into

Equality and Quality in Education. A Comparative Study of 19 Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer, Fabian T.

2015-01-01

This contribution assesses the performance of national education systems along two important dimensions: The degree to which they help individuals develop capabilities necessary for their successful social integration (educational quality) and the degree to which they confer equal opportunities for social advancement (educational equality). It advances a new conceptualization to measure quality and equality in education and then uses it to study the relationship between institutional differentiation and these outcomes. It relies on data on final educational credentials and literacy among adults that circumvent some of the under-appreciated conceptual challenges entailed in the widespread analysis of international student assessment data. The analyses reveal a positive relationship between educational quality and equality and show that education systems with a lower degree of institutional differentiation not only provide more educational equality but are also marked by higher levels of educational quality. While the latter association is partly driven by other institutional and macro-structural factors, I demonstrate that the higher levels of educational equality in less differentiated education systems do not entail an often-assumed trade-off for lower quality. PMID:25769872

Extending the reach of powder diffraction modelling by user defined macros

CERN Document Server

Scardi, Paolo

2010-01-01

The main focus of this special topic volume is the development and possibilities of the MACRO language within TOPAS, with a specific session dedicated to WPPM. The collection is presented here in the form of a ""macro tutorial"" for the benefit of the entire powder diffraction community. More than a collection of standard scientific papers, the contributions to this special issue provide methods, tutorials and practical suggestions and solutions for the proper use of TOPAS and WPPM in a number of applications; ranging from the most common to the most refined and specific cases.Readers will fin

The effect of gender equality on happiness: Statistical modeling and analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Ge

2017-02-01

In this article, the researcher presents linear regression models that describe how five gender-equality indexes affect individuals' perceptions of well-being and happiness, controlling for their economic income and weighed by the population of the countries that contribute to the models. The logical premise of this study is that gender equality is not only favorable for women, but it is also conducive to fostering the greatest level of happiness for all people. The researcher believes that most findings confirmed this assumption and the opinion of John Stuart Mill regarding gender equality, while two exceptions are explained by social quality theory and the male breadwinner model.

The practical engineer-fine-tuning memory macros using variable internal delays

CERN Document Server

Gray, K

1999-01-01

Embedded memory blocks are extremely common in application-specific IC (ASIC) chips. In this era of design reuse, it is critical that these memory macros, as they are also called, should be as versatile as possible. Their $9 performance should be optimal, with adequate sense amplifier signal over the full manufacturing process range of the chip. Fortunately, several simple techniques exist for adapting memory macros to different applications running at $9 different speeds. The key is to design in delays that are variable and/or programmable. The approach is also helpful in debugging initial hardware where a memory macro is refusing to function because its timing is too fast and there $9 is insufficient internal delay for proper circuit operation. The techniques can also eliminate the process of redesigning and refabricating the initial hardware just to characterize it. A memory macro is made to function by internal $9 pulses, generated in the correct number, sequence and relationship by the internal timing ch...

Macro factors in oil futures returns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Pen, Yannick; Sevi, Benoit

2012-01-01

We investigate the macro factors that can explain the monthly oil futures return for the NYMEX WTI futures contract for the time period 1993:11 to 2010:03. We build a new database of 187 real and nominal macro-economic variables from developed and emerging countries and resort to the large factor approximate model to extract 9 factors from this dataset. We then regress crude oil return on several combinations of these factors. Our best model explains around 38% of the variability of oil futures return. More interestingly, the factor which has the largest influence on crude oil price is related to real variables from emerging countries. This result confirms the latest finding in the literature that the recent evolution in oil price is attributable to change in supply and demand conditions and not to the large increase in trading activity from speculators. (authors)

An empirical tool to evaluate the safety of cyclists: Community based, macro-level collision prediction models using negative binomial regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Feng; Lovegrove, Gordon

2013-12-01

Today, North American governments are more willing to consider compact neighborhoods with increased use of sustainable transportation modes. Bicycling, one of the most effective modes for short trips with distances less than 5km is being encouraged. However, as vulnerable road users (VRUs), cyclists are more likely to be injured when involved in collisions. In order to create a safe road environment for them, evaluating cyclists' road safety at a macro level in a proactive way is necessary. In this paper, different generalized linear regression methods for collision prediction model (CPM) development are reviewed and previous studies on micro-level and macro-level bicycle-related CPMs are summarized. On the basis of insights gained in the exploration stage, this paper also reports on efforts to develop negative binomial models for bicycle-auto collisions at a community-based, macro-level. Data came from the Central Okanagan Regional District (CORD), of British Columbia, Canada. The model results revealed two types of statistical associations between collisions and each explanatory variable: (1) An increase in bicycle-auto collisions is associated with an increase in total lane kilometers (TLKM), bicycle lane kilometers (BLKM), bus stops (BS), traffic signals (SIG), intersection density (INTD), and arterial-local intersection percentage (IALP). (2) A decrease in bicycle collisions was found to be associated with an increase in the number of drive commuters (DRIVE), and in the percentage of drive commuters (DRP). These results support our hypothesis that in North America, with its current low levels of bicycle use (macro-level CPMs. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

ZEUS - standardized macros for the TPA computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winde, M.

1976-01-01

An existing cross-assembler with macro-option was modified to allow the usage of the ZEUS macros. The ZEUS macros are understood by the assembler without prior definition by the user. ZEUS macros allow the programmer, who is obliged to code his TPA (PDP-8) programs on the assembler level to formulate his program logic as in a higher level language. ZEUS macros offer all basic elements necessary for structured programming. (author)

MacroBac: New Technologies for Robust and Efficient Large-Scale Production of Recombinant Multiprotein Complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gradia, Scott D; Ishida, Justin P; Tsai, Miaw-Sheue; Jeans, Chris; Tainer, John A; Fuss, Jill O

2017-01-01

Recombinant expression of large, multiprotein complexes is essential and often rate limiting for determining structural, biophysical, and biochemical properties of DNA repair, replication, transcription, and other key cellular processes. Baculovirus-infected insect cell expression systems are especially well suited for producing large, human proteins recombinantly, and multigene baculovirus systems have facilitated studies of multiprotein complexes. In this chapter, we describe a multigene baculovirus system called MacroBac that uses a Biobricks-type assembly method based on restriction and ligation (Series 11) or ligation-independent cloning (Series 438). MacroBac cloning and assembly is efficient and equally well suited for either single subcloning reactions or high-throughput cloning using 96-well plates and liquid handling robotics. MacroBac vectors are polypromoter with each gene flanked by a strong polyhedrin promoter and an SV40 poly(A) termination signal that minimize gene order expression level effects seen in many polycistronic assemblies. Large assemblies are robustly achievable, and we have successfully assembled as many as 10 genes into a single MacroBac vector. Importantly, we have observed significant increases in expression levels and quality of large, multiprotein complexes using a single, multigene, polypromoter virus rather than coinfection with multiple, single-gene viruses. Given the importance of characterizing functional complexes, we believe that MacroBac provides a critical enabling technology that may change the way that structural, biophysical, and biochemical research is done. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Macro-Fiber Composite Based Transduction

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

substrate Material properties of single crystal macro fiber composite actuators for active twist rotor blades Park, Jae-Sang (Seoul National...Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2007 Material properties of single crystal macro fiber composite actuators for active twist rotor ...19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) 10-03-20 16 Final Report 01 Jan 2013 - 31 Dec 2015 Macro-Fiber Composite Based Transduction N000-14-13-1-0212

Linking Resilience and Transformation as Micro- and Macro Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, E.; Breitzer, R.; Solecki, W. D.

2017-12-01

The concept of resiliency within climate adaptation planning and practice is widespread, but in some ways it has begun to suffer from its own success. While resiliency provides a valuable frame for understanding the conditions and opportunities for localized responses to increasing climate risks, the concept's ubiquitous use leads to it being applied to often conflicting policy agendas, which can mask or limit the capacity to connect efforts focused on near term risk to longer term and emergent climate threats in communities. These challenges are particularly evident in the context of extreme events and in the post extreme event policy windows. To overcome these issues and take advantage of the post-event policy window, the NOAA RISA Climate Change Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) project has been developing two specific, "boutique", policy tools. These include the PELT (Post-event learning toolkit) and MART (Macro-adaptation Resilience toolkit) toolkits. Embedded in these toolkits are two approaches to small scale strategies often associated with near term action (i.e., micro-adaptation) and large scale strategies associated with broad longer term needs (i.e., macro-adaptation). In this paper, these two approaches - micro and macro adaptation - are theoretically defined and presented in practice through the beta-testing of the PELT and MART toolkits. Most importantly, we illustrate how the theoretical links between resiliency and transformation can be operationalized through the use of these approaches, and how these approaches can be implemented in everyday risk management practice. We present our work through selected case studies in the Northeast US region, specifically in Jamaica Bay, New York, and Eastwick neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Meta-modeling of the pesticide fate model MACRO for groundwater exposure assessments using artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Stenemo, Fredrik; Lindahl, Anna M. L.; Gärdenäs, Annemieke; Jarvis, Nicholas

2007-08-01

Several simple index methods that use easily accessible data have been developed and included in decision-support systems to estimate pesticide leaching across larger areas. However, these methods often lack important process descriptions (e.g. macropore flow), which brings into question their reliability. Descriptions of macropore flow have been included in simulation models, but these are too complex and demanding for spatial applications. To resolve this dilemma, a neural network simulation meta-model of the dual-permeability macropore flow model MACRO was created for pesticide groundwater exposure assessment. The model was parameterized using pedotransfer functions that require as input the clay and sand content of the topsoil and subsoil, and the topsoil organic carbon content. The meta-model also requires the topsoil pesticide half-life and the soil organic carbon sorption coefficient as input. A fully connected feed-forward multilayer perceptron classification network with two hidden layers, linked to fully connected feed-forward multilayer perceptron neural networks with one hidden layer, trained on sub-sets of the target variable, was shown to be a suitable meta-model for the intended purpose. A Fourier amplitude sensitivity test showed that the model output (the 80th percentile average yearly pesticide concentration at 1 m depth for a 20 year simulation period) was sensitive to all input parameters. The two input parameters related to pesticide characteristics (i.e. soil organic carbon sorption coefficient and topsoil pesticide half-life) were the most influential, but texture in the topsoil was also quite important since it was assumed to control the mass exchange coefficient that regulates the strength of macropore flow. This is in contrast to models based on the advection-dispersion equation where soil texture is relatively unimportant. The use of the meta-model is exemplified with a case-study where the spatial variability of pesticide leaching is

Bio-based economy in the Netherlands. Macro-economic outline of a large-scale introduction of green resources in the Dutch energy supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van der Hoeven, D.

2009-03-01

The Bio-based Raw Materials Platform (PGG), part of the Energy Transition in The Netherlands, commissioned the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) and the Copernicus Institute of Utrecht University to conduct research on the macro-economic impact of large scale deployment of biomass for energy and materials in the Netherlands. Two model approaches were applied based on a consistent set of scenario assumptions: a bottom-up study including technoeconomic projections of fossil and bio-based conversion technologies and a topdown study including macro-economic modelling of (global) trade of biomass and fossil resources. The results of the top-down and bottom-up modelling work are reported separately. This is the public version of studies [nl

The influence of the macro-environment on physical activity: a multilevel analysis of 38 countries worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosdriesz, Jizzo R; Witvliet, Margot I; Visscher, Tommy L S; Kunst, Anton E

2012-09-11

As indicated by the ANGELO framework and similar models, various environmental factors influence population levels of physical activity (PA). To date attention has focused on the micro-level environment, while evidence on the macro-level environment remains scarce and mostly limited to high-income countries. This study aims to investigate whether environmental factors at macro-level are associated with PA among a broader range of countries. Data from the World Health Survey (WHS) was used to analyze 177,035 adults from 38 (mostly low and middle income) countries. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-S) was used to measure PA. Respondents were classified as active or inactive for vigorous PA, moderate PA and walking. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to assess associations between macro-level environmental factors and the prevalence of PA, with control for individual-level socioeconomic factors. The prevalence of PA varied widely between countries and types of PA (5.0%-93.8%). A negative association was found between gross domestic product and PA, odds ratios for men were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.65-0.89) for moderate PA and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.63-0.98) for walking. A higher temperature was associated with less PA (all types) and higher urbanization was associated with less vigorous and moderate PA. More gender equality was also associated with more walking for women. Governmental functioning and literacy rate were not found to be associated with any type of PA. This exploratory study indicates that factors such as climate, economic development and cultural factors are determinants of the level of overall PA at national levels. This underlines the suggestion that the macro-environment should be regarded as an important influence on PA.

The influence of the macro-environment on physical activity: a multilevel analysis of 38 countries worldwide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bosdriesz Jizzo R

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As indicated by the ANGELO framework and similar models, various environmental factors influence population levels of physical activity (PA. To date attention has focused on the micro-level environment, while evidence on the macro-level environment remains scarce and mostly limited to high-income countries. This study aims to investigate whether environmental factors at macro-level are associated with PA among a broader range of countries. Methods Data from the World Health Survey (WHS was used to analyze 177,035 adults from 38 (mostly low and middle income countries. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-S was used to measure PA. Respondents were classified as active or inactive for vigorous PA, moderate PA and walking. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to assess associations between macro-level environmental factors and the prevalence of PA, with control for individual-level socioeconomic factors. Results The prevalence of PA varied widely between countries and types of PA (5.0%-93.8%. A negative association was found between gross domestic product and PA, odds ratios for men were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.65-0.89 for moderate PA and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.63-0.98 for walking. A higher temperature was associated with less PA (all types and higher urbanization was associated with less vigorous and moderate PA. More gender equality was also associated with more walking for women. Governmental functioning and literacy rate were not found to be associated with any type of PA. Conclusions This exploratory study indicates that factors such as climate, economic development and cultural factors are determinants of the level of overall PA at national levels. This underlines the suggestion that the macro-environment should be regarded as an important influence on PA.

Relevance of the hadronic interaction model in the interpretation of multiple muon data as detected with the MACRO experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambrosio, M.; Antolini, R.; Aramo, C.; Auriemma, G.; Baldini, A.; Barbarino, G. C.; Barish, B. C.; Battistoni, G.; Bellotti, R.; Bemporad, C.; Bernardini, P.; Bilokon, H.; Bisi, V.; Bloise, C.; Bower, C.; Bussino, S.; Cafagna, F.; Calicchio, M.; Campana, D.; Carboni, M.; Castellano, M.; Cecchini, S.; Cei, F.; Chiarella, V.; Coutu, S.; De Benedictis, L.; De Cataldo, G.; Dekhissi, H.; De Marzo, C.; De Mitri, I.; De Vincenzi, M.; Di Credico, A.; Erriquez, O.; Favuzzi, C.; Forti, C.; Fusco, P.; Giacomelli, G.; Giannini, G.; Giglietto, N.; Grassi, M.; Gray, L.; Grillo, A.; Guarino, F.; Guarnaccia, P.; Gustavino, C.; Habig, A.; Hanson, K.; Hawthorne, A.; Heinz, R.; Iarocci, E.; Katsavounidis, E.; Kearns, E.; Kyriazopoulou, S.; Lamanna, E.; Lane, C.; Levin, D. S.; Lipari, P.; Longley, N. P.; Longo, M. J.; Maaroufi, F.; Mancarella, G.; Mandrioli, G.; Manzoor, S.; Neri, A. Margiotta; Marini, A.; Martello, D.; Marzari-Chiesa, A.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Mazzotta, C.; Michael, D. G.; Mikheyev, S.; Miller, L.; Monacelli, P.; Montaruli, T.; Monteno, M.; Mufson, S.; Musser, J.; Nicolo, D.; Nolty, R.; Okada, C.; Orth, C.; Osteria, G.; Palamara, O.; Patera, V.; Patrizii, L.; Pazzi, R.; Peck, C. W.; Petrera, S.; Pistilli, P.; Popa, V.; Raino, A.; Rastelli, A.; Reynoldson, J.; Ronga, F.; Rubizzo, U.; Sanzgiri, A.; Satriano, C.; Satta, L.; Scapparone, E.; Scholberg, K.; Sciubba, A.; Serra-Lugaresi, P.; Severi, M.; Sioli, M.; Sitta, M.; Spinelli, P.; Spinetti, M.; Spurio, M.; Steinberg, R.; Stone, J. L.; Sulak, L. R.; Surdo, A.; Tarle, G.; Togo, V.; Walter, C. W.; Webb, R.

1999-01-01

With the aim of discussing the effect of the possible sources of systematic uncertainties in simulation models, the analysis of multiple muon events from the MACRO experiment at Gran Sasso is reviewed. In particular, the predictions from different currently available hadronic interaction models are compared

The relationship between venture capital investment and macro economic variables via statistical computation method

Science.gov (United States)

Aygunes, Gunes

2017-07-01

The objective of this paper is to survey and determine the macroeconomic factors affecting the level of venture capital (VC) investments in a country. The literary depends on venture capitalists' quality and countries' venture capital investments. The aim of this paper is to give relationship between venture capital investment and macro economic variables via statistical computation method. We investigate the countries and macro economic variables. By using statistical computation method, we derive correlation between venture capital investments and macro economic variables. According to method of logistic regression model (logit regression or logit model), macro economic variables are correlated with each other in three group. Venture capitalists regard correlations as a indicator. Finally, we give correlation matrix of our results.

WinBUGSio: A SAS Macro for the Remote Execution of WinBUGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael K. Smith

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This is a macro which facilitates remote execution of WinBUGS from within SAS. The macro pre-processes data for WinBUGS, writes the WinBUGS batch-script, executes this script and reads in output statistics from the WinBUGS log-file back into SAS native format. The user specifies the input and output file names and directory path as well as the statistics to be monitored in WinBUGS. The code works best for a model that has already been set up and checked for convergence diagnostics within WinBUGS. An obvious extension of the use of this macro is for running simulations where the input and output files all have the same name but all that differs between simulation iterations is the input dataset. The functionality and syntax of the macro call are described in this paper and illustrated using a simple linear regression model.

Controlling Particle Morphologies at Fluid Interfaces: Macro- and Micro- approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Beesabathuni, Shilpa Naidu

The controlled generation of varying shaped particles is important for many applications: consumer goods, biomedical diagnostics, food processing, adsorbents and pharmaceuticals which can benefit from the availability of geometrically complex and chemically inhomogeneous particles. This thesis presents two approaches to spherical and non-spherical particle synthesis using macro and microfluidics. In the first approach, a droplet microfluidic technique is explored to fabricate spherical conducting polymer, polyaniline, particles with precise control over morphology and functionality. Microfluidics has recently emerged as an important alternate to the synthesis of complex particles. The conducting polymer, polyaniline, is widely used and known for its stability, high conductivity, and favorable redox properties. In this approach, monodisperse micron-sized polyaniline spherical particles were synthesized using two-phase droplet microfluidics from Aniline and Ammonium persulfate oxidative polymerization in an oil-based continuous phase. The morphology of the polymerized particles is porous in nature which can be used for encapsulation as well as controlled release applications. Encapsulation of an enzyme, glucose oxidase, was also performed using the technique to synthesize microspheres for glucose sensing. The polymer microspheres were characterized using SEM, UV-Vis and EDX to understand the relationship between their microstructure and stability. In the second approach, molten drop impact in a cooling aqueous medium to generate non-spherical particles was explored. Viscoelastic wax based materials are widely used in many applications and their performance and application depends on the particle morphology and size. The deformation of millimeter size molten wax drops as they impacted an immiscible liquid interface was investigated. Spherical molten wax drops impinged on a cooling water bath, then deformed and as a result of solidification were arrested into various

From micro-correlations to macro-correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eliazar, Iddo

2016-01-01

Random vectors with a symmetric correlation structure share a common value of pair-wise correlation between their different components. The symmetric correlation structure appears in a multitude of settings, e.g. mixture models. In a mixture model the components of the random vector are drawn independently from a general probability distribution that is determined by an underlying parameter, and the parameter itself is randomized. In this paper we study the overall correlation of high-dimensional random vectors with a symmetric correlation structure. Considering such a random vector, and terming its pair-wise correlation “micro-correlation”, we use an asymptotic analysis to derive the random vector’s “macro-correlation” : a score that takes values in the unit interval, and that quantifies the random vector’s overall correlation. The method of obtaining macro-correlations from micro-correlations is then applied to a diverse collection of frameworks that demonstrate the method’s wide applicability.

The evaluation/application of Hydrus-2D model for simulating macro-pores flow in loess soil

OpenAIRE

Xuexuan Xu; Shahmir Ali Kalhoro; Wen yuan Chen; Sajjad Raza

2017-01-01

Soil hydraulic properties were mainly governed by soil structures especially when the structures is full of the connected soil macro-pores. Therefore, the good hydrological models need to be well documented for revealing the process of soil water movement affected by soil medium. The Hydrus-2D model with double domain was recommended in simulating water movement in a heterogeneous medium of soil. To evaluate the performance of the double domain Hydrus-2D model in loess soil, the dynamic of so...

Data-Science Analysis of the Macro-scale Features Governing the Corrosion to Crack Transition in AA7050-T7451

Science.gov (United States)

Co, Noelle Easter C.; Brown, Donald E.; Burns, James T.

2018-05-01

This study applies data science approaches (random forest and logistic regression) to determine the extent to which macro-scale corrosion damage features govern the crack formation behavior in AA7050-T7451. Each corrosion morphology has a set of corresponding predictor variables (pit depth, volume, area, diameter, pit density, total fissure length, surface roughness metrics, etc.) describing the shape of the corrosion damage. The values of the predictor variables are obtained from white light interferometry, x-ray tomography, and scanning electron microscope imaging of the corrosion damage. A permutation test is employed to assess the significance of the logistic and random forest model predictions. Results indicate minimal relationship between the macro-scale corrosion feature predictor variables and fatigue crack initiation. These findings suggest that the macro-scale corrosion features and their interactions do not solely govern the crack formation behavior. While these results do not imply that the macro-features have no impact, they do suggest that additional parameters must be considered to rigorously inform the crack formation location.

A Fractional Micro-Macro Model for Crowds of Pedestrians Based on Fractional Mean Field Games

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Kecai Cao; Yang Quan Chen; Daniel Stuart

2016-01-01

Modeling a crowd of pedestrians has been considered in this paper from different aspects. Based on fractional microscopic model that may be much more close to reality, a fractional macroscopic model has been proposed using conservation law of mass. Then in order to characterize the competitive and cooperative interactions among pedestrians, fractional mean field games are utilized in the modeling problem when the number of pedestrians goes to infinity and fractional dynamic model composed of fractional backward and fractional forward equations are constructed in macro scale. Fractional micromacro model for crowds of pedestrians are obtained in the end.Simulation results are also included to illustrate the proposed fractional microscopic model and fractional macroscopic model,respectively.

Why Macro Practice Matters

Science.gov (United States)

Reisch, Michael

2016-01-01

This article asserts that macro practice is increasingly important in today's rapidly changing and complex practice environment. It briefly explores the history of macro practice in U.S. social work, summarizes its major contributions to the profession and to U.S. society, and provides some suggestions for how social work programs can expand…

Spreadsheet macros for coloring sequence alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Haygood, M G

1993-12-01

This article describes a set of Microsoft Excel macros designed to color amino acid and nucleotide sequence alignments for review and preparation of visual aids. The colored alignments can then be modified to emphasize features of interest. Procedures for importing and coloring sequences are described. The macro file adds a new menu to the menu bar containing sequence-related commands to enable users unfamiliar with Excel to use the macros more readily. The macros were designed for use with Macintosh computers but will also run with the DOS version of Excel.

Influence of dry cohesion on the micro- and macro-mechanical properties of dense polydisperse powders & grains

Science.gov (United States)

Kievitsbosch, Robert; Smit, Hendrik; Magnanimo, Vanessa; Luding, Stefan; Taghizadeh, Kianoosh

2017-06-01

Understanding how cohesive granular materials behave is of interest for many industrial applications, such as pharmaceutical or food and civil engineering. Models of the behaviour of granular materials on the microscopic scale can be used to obtain macroscopic continuum relations by a micro-macro transition approach. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to inspect the influence of cohesion on the micro and macro behaviour of granular assemblies by using an elasto-plastic cohesive contact model. Interestingly, we observe that frictional samples prepared with different cohesion values show a significant difference in pressure and coordination number in the jammed regime; the differences become more pronounced when packings are closer to the jamming density, i.e. the lowest density where the system is mechanically stable. Furthermore, we observe that cohesion has an influence on the jamming density for frictional samples, but there is no influence on the jamming density for frictionless samples.

Relevance of the hadronic interaction model in the interpretation of multiple muon data as detected with the MACRO experiment

CERN Document Server

Ambrosio, M; Aramo, C; Auriemma, G; Baldini, A; Barbarino, G C; Barish, B C; Battistoni, G; Bellotti, R; Bemporad, C; Bernardini, P; Bilokon, H; Bisi, V; Bloise, C; Bower, C; Bussino, S; Cafagna, F; Calicchio, M; Campana, D; Carboni, M; Castellano, M G; Cecchini, S; Cei, F; Chiarella, V; Coutu, S; De Benedictis, L; De Cataldo, G; Dekhissi, H; De Marzo, C; De Mitri, I; De Vincenzi, M; Di Credico, A; Erriquez, O; Favuzzi, C; Forti, C; Fusco, P; Giacomelli, G; Giannini, G; Giglietto, N; Grassi, M; Gray, L; Grillo, A; Guarino, F; Guarnaccia, P; Gustavino, C; Habig, A; Hanson, K; Hawthorne, A; Heinz, R; Iarocci, Enzo; Katsavounidis, E; Kearns, E T; Kyriazopoulou, S; Lamanna, E; Lane, C; Levin, D S; Lipari, P; Longley, N P; Longo, M J; Maaroufi, F; Mancarella, G; Mandrioli, G; Manzoor, S; Margiotta-Neri, A; Marini, A; Martello, D; Marzari-Chiesa, A; Mazziotta, M N; Mazzotta, C; Michael, D G; Mikheyev, S P; Miller, L; Monacelli, P; Montaruli, T; Monteno, M; Mufson, S L; Musser, J; Nicolò, D; Nolty, R; Okada, C; Orth, C; Osteria, G; Palamara, O; Patera, V; Patrizii, L; Pazzi, R; Peck, C W; Petrera, S; Pistilli, P; Popa, V; Rainó, A; Rastelli, A; Reynoldson, J; Ronga, F; Rubizzo, U; Sanzgiri, A; Satriano, C; Satta, L; Scapparone, E; Scholberg, K; Sciubba, A; Serra-Lugaresi, P; Severi, M; Sioli, M; Sitta, M; Spinelli, P; Spinetti, M; Spurio, M; Steinberg, R; Stone, J L; Sulak, Lawrence R; Surdo, A; Tarle, G; Togo, V; Walter, C W; Webb, R

1999-01-01

With the aim of discussing the effect of the possible sources of systematic uncertainties in simulation models, the analysis of multiple muon events from the MACRO experiment at Gran Sasso is reviewed. In particular, the predictions $9 from different currently available hadronic interaction models are compared. (9 refs).

The geometry of distributional preferences and a non-parametric identification approach: The Equality Equivalence Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerschbamer, Rudolf

2015-05-01

This paper proposes a geometric delineation of distributional preference types and a non-parametric approach for their identification in a two-person context. It starts with a small set of assumptions on preferences and shows that this set (i) naturally results in a taxonomy of distributional archetypes that nests all empirically relevant types considered in previous work; and (ii) gives rise to a clean experimental identification procedure - the Equality Equivalence Test - that discriminates between archetypes according to core features of preferences rather than properties of specific modeling variants. As a by-product the test yields a two-dimensional index of preference intensity.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moira Dustin

2012-01-01

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

Joint Macro and Femto Field Performance and Interference Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Niels T.K.; Isotalo, Tero; Pedersen, Klaus

2012-01-01

In this paper macro performance in a co-channel macro and femto setup is studied. Measurements are performed in a live Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network. It is concluded that femto interference does not affect macro downlink (DL) performance as long as the macro Received Si...... radius smaller than 5 meter – with realistic power settings. This makes co-channel femto deployment less promising in dense macro environments with good macro RSCP coverage.......In this paper macro performance in a co-channel macro and femto setup is studied. Measurements are performed in a live Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network. It is concluded that femto interference does not affect macro downlink (DL) performance as long as the macro Received...... Signal Code Power (RSCP) is stronger than femto RSCP. We also conclude that a macro escape carrier is a robust DL interference management solution. In uplink (UL) direction it is shown that a single femto UE close to macro cell potentially can cause a noise rise of 6 dB in the surrounding macro cell...

The integrated evaluation of the macro environment of companies providing transport services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Žvirblis

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The article presents the main principles of the integrated evaluation of macro environment components and factors influencing the performance of transport companies as well as providing the validated quantitative evaluation models and results obtained in evaluating the macro environment of Lithuanian companies providing transport services. Since quantitative evaluation is growing in importance, the process of developing the principles and methods of business macro environment quantitative evaluation is becoming relevant from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The created methodology is based on the concept of macro environment as an integrated whole of components, formalization and the principle of three-stage quantitative evaluation. The methodology suggested involves the quantitative evaluation of primary factors and macro environment components as an integral dimension (expressed in points. On the basis of this principle, an integrated macro environment evaluation parameter is established as its level index. The methodology integrates the identification of significant factors, building scenarios, a primary analysis of factors, expert evaluation, the quantitative evaluation of macro environment components and their whole. The application of the multi-criteria Simple Additive Weighting (SAW method is validated. The integrated evaluation of the macro environment of Lithuanian freight transportation companies was conducted. As a result, the level indices of all components as well as the level index of macro environment considered as a whole of components were identified. The latter reflects the extent of deviation from an average level of a favourable macro environment. This is important for developing strategic marketing decisions and expanding a strategic area.

Equality and quality in education. A comparative study of 19 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer, Fabian T

2015-05-01

This contribution assesses the performance of national education systems along two important dimensions: The degree to which they help individuals develop capabilities necessary for their successful social integration (educational quality) and the degree to which they confer equal opportunities for social advancement (educational equality). It advances a new conceptualization to measure quality and equality in education and then uses it to study the relationship between institutional differentiation and these outcomes. It relies on data on final educational credentials and literacy among adults that circumvent some of the under-appreciated conceptual challenges entailed in the widespread analysis of international student assessment data. The analyses reveal a positive relationship between educational quality and equality and show that education systems with a lower degree of institutional differentiation not only provide more educational equality but are also marked by higher levels of educational quality. While the latter association is partly driven by other institutional and macro-structural factors, I demonstrate that the higher levels of educational equality in less differentiated education systems do not entail an often-assumed trade-off for lower quality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Time to death and the forecasting of macro-level health care expenditures: some further considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

van Baal, Pieter H; Wong, Albert

2012-12-01

Although the effect of time to death (TTD) on health care expenditures (HCE) has been investigated using individual level data, the most profound implications of TTD have been for the forecasting of macro-level HCE. Here we estimate the TTD model using macro-level data from the Netherlands consisting of mortality rates and age- and gender-specific per capita health expenditures for the years 1981-2007. Forecasts for the years 2008-2020 of this macro-level TTD model were compared to forecasts that excluded TTD. Results revealed that the effect of TTD on HCE in our macro model was similar to those found in micro-econometric studies. As the inclusion of TTD pushed growth rate estimates from unidentified causes upwards, however, the two models' forecasts of HCE for the 2008-2020 were similar. We argue that including TTD, if modeled correctly, does not lower forecasts of HCE. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synchronized motion control and precision positioning compensation of a 3-DOFs macro-micro parallel manipulator fully actuated by piezoelectric actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Quan; Li, Chaodong; Zhang, Jiantao; Zhang, Xu

2017-11-01

The macro-micro combined approach, as an effective way to realize trans-scale nano-precision positioning with multi-dimensions and high velocity, plays a significant role in integrated circuit manufacturing field. A 3-degree-of-freedoms (3-DOFs) macro-micro manipulator is designed and analyzed to compromise the conflictions among the large stroke, high precision and multi-DOFs. The macro manipulator is a 3-Prismatic-Revolute-Revolute (3-PRR) structure parallel manipulator which is driven by three linear ultrasonic motors. The dynamic model and the cross-coupling error based synchronized motion controller of the 3-PRR parallel manipulator are theoretical analyzed and experimental tested. To further improve the positioning accuracy, a 3-DOFs monolithic compliant manipulator actuated by three piezoelectric stack actuators is designed. Then a multilayer BP neural network based inverse kinematic model identifier is developed to perform the positioning control. Finally, by forming the macro-micro structure, the dual stage manipulator successfully achieved the positioning task from the point (2 mm, 2 mm, 0 rad) back to the original point (0 mm, 0 mm, 0 rad) with the translation errors in X and Y directions less than ±50 nm and the rotation error around Z axis less than ±1 μrad, respectively.

Food/Hunger Macro-Analysis Seminar. A Do-It-Yourself Manual for College Courses and Action Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Moyer, William; Thorne, Erika

This guide describes a fifteen-week macro-analysis seminar about food production, distribution, and consumption on international, national, and local levels. The macro-analysis approach emphasizes the interrelatedness of all parts of the food/hunger issue; therefore the seminar also addresses escalating military expenditures, widening poverty, and…

Phase-field simulation of microstructure formation in technical castings - A self-consistent homoenthalpic approach to the micro-macro problem

Science.gov (United States)

Böttger, B.; Eiken, J.; Apel, M.

2009-10-01

Performing microstructure simulation of technical casting processes suffers from the strong interdependency between latent heat release due to local microstructure formation and heat diffusion on the macroscopic scale: local microstructure formation depends on the macroscopic heat fluxes and, in turn, the macroscopic temperature solution depends on the latent heat release, and therefore on the microstructure formation, in all parts of the casting. A self-consistent homoenthalpic approximation to this micro-macro problem is proposed, based on the assumption of a common enthalpy-temperature relation for the whole casting which is used for the description of latent heat production on the macroscale. This enthalpy-temperature relation is iteratively obtained by phase-field simulations on the microscale, thus taking into account the specific morphological impact on the latent heat production. This new approach is discussed and compared to other approximations for the coupling of the macroscopic heat flux to complex microstructure models. Simulations are performed for the binary alloy Al-3at%Cu, using a multiphase-field solidification model which is coupled to a thermodynamic database. Microstructure formation is simulated for several positions in a simple model plate casting, using a one-dimensional macroscopic temperature solver which can be directly coupled to the microscopic phase-field simulation tool.

Phase-field simulation of microstructure formation in technical castings - A self-consistent homoenthalpic approach to the micro-macro problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boettger, B.; Eiken, J.; Apel, M.

2009-01-01

Performing microstructure simulation of technical casting processes suffers from the strong interdependency between latent heat release due to local microstructure formation and heat diffusion on the macroscopic scale: local microstructure formation depends on the macroscopic heat fluxes and, in turn, the macroscopic temperature solution depends on the latent heat release, and therefore on the microstructure formation, in all parts of the casting. A self-consistent homoenthalpic approximation to this micro-macro problem is proposed, based on the assumption of a common enthalpy-temperature relation for the whole casting which is used for the description of latent heat production on the macroscale. This enthalpy-temperature relation is iteratively obtained by phase-field simulations on the microscale, thus taking into account the specific morphological impact on the latent heat production. This new approach is discussed and compared to other approximations for the coupling of the macroscopic heat flux to complex microstructure models. Simulations are performed for the binary alloy Al-3at%Cu, using a multiphase-field solidification model which is coupled to a thermodynamic database. Microstructure formation is simulated for several positions in a simple model plate casting, using a one-dimensional macroscopic temperature solver which can be directly coupled to the microscopic phase-field simulation tool.

Synthesis of three-dimensionally ordered macro-/mesoporous Pt with high electrocatalytic activity by a dual-templating approach

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chengwei; Yang, Hui; Sun, Tingting; Shan, Nannan; Chen, Jianfeng; Xu, Lianbin; Yan, Yushan

2014-01-01

Three dimensionally ordered macro-/mesoporous (3DOM/m) Pt catalysts are fabricated by chemical reduction employing a dual-templating synthesis approach combining both colloidal crystal (opal) templating (hard-templating) and lyotropic liquid crystal templating (soft-templating) techniques. The macropore walls of the prepared 3DOM/m Pt exhibit a uniform mesoporous structure composed of polycrystalline Pt nanoparticles. Both the size of the mesopores and Pt nanocrystallites are in the range of 3-5 nm. The 3DOM/m Pt catalyst shows a larger electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), and higher catalytic activity as well as better poisoning tolerance for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) than the commercial Pt black catalyst.

Mediation analysis allowing for exposure-mediator interactions and causal interpretation: theoretical assumptions and implementation with SAS and SPSS macros

Science.gov (United States)

Valeri, Linda; VanderWeele, Tyler J.

2012-01-01

Mediation analysis is a useful and widely employed approach to studies in the field of psychology and in the social and biomedical sciences. The contributions of this paper are several-fold. First we seek to bring the developments in mediation analysis for non linear models within the counterfactual framework to the psychology audience in an accessible format and compare the sorts of inferences about mediation that are possible in the presence of exposure-mediator interaction when using a counterfactual versus the standard statistical approach. Second, the work by VanderWeele and Vansteelandt (2009, 2010) is extended here to allow for dichotomous mediators and count outcomes. Third, we provide SAS and SPSS macros to implement all of these mediation analysis techniques automatically and we compare the types of inferences about mediation that are allowed by a variety of software macros. PMID:23379553

Macro-economic and energy scenarios for Japan through the long-term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mankin, Shuichi

1986-03-01

As one of studies and systems analyses on the role of VHTR and process heat utilization in future energy systems, long-term macro economic and energy scenarios of Japan until the year 2030 have been generated. This paper presents,; 1) the outline of the long-term macro econometric model and the energy system dynamics model by which these scenarios were generated, 2) back grounds and prospects on future societies of Japan and exogeneous assumptions for calculations, and 3) macro energy and economic scenarios generated. Reflecting the present economic prospects, these scenarios are seemed to be of extremely low-growth type, however, the role of VHTR and its energy systems could be prospected clealy to play a large and important role within these scenario regions. Basic philosophies of scenario generations are also mentioned in this paper. (author)

Residual stress relaxation measurements across interfaces at macro-and micro-scales using slitting and DIC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blair, A; Daynes, N; Hamilton, D; Horne, G; Hodgson, D Z L; Shterenlikht, A [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR (United Kingdom); Heard, P J; Scott, T B, E-mail: mexas@bristol.ac.u [Interface Analysis Centre, University of Bristol, Bristol BS2 8BS (United Kingdom)

2009-08-01

In this paper digital image correlation is used to measure relaxation of residual stresses across an interface. On the macro scale the method is applied to a tri-layer bonded aluminium sample, where the middle layer is in tension and the top and the bottom layers are in compression. High contrast speckle pattern was sprayed onto the surface. The relaxation was done with the slitting saw. Three dimensional image correlation was used. On the micro scale the technique was applied to a heat treated large grain brass loaded in tension. Mechanical and electro polishing was used for surface preparation. A focused ion beam was used for slitting across a grain boundary and for imaging. Grain orientation was measured using electron back-scattering diffraction. Two dimensional image correlation was employed. In all macro- and micro-scale experiments the range of measured relaxation was sub-pixel, almost at the limit of the resolution of the image correlation algorithms. In the macro-scale experiments, the limiting factor was low residual stress, due to low shear strength of the Araldite glue used for bonding. Finite element simulation of the relaxation agreed only qualitatively with the experimental results at both size scales. The methodology is intended for use with inverse methods, i.e. the measured relaxation is applied as the boundary conditions to an appropriate FE model which produces stresses equal to the relaxed residual stresses, but with opposite sign. The main conclusion is that the digital image correlation method could be used to measure relaxation caused by slitting in heterogeneous materials and structures at both macro- and micro-scales. However, the repeatability of the techniques needs to be improved before residual stresses can be determined confidently. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge Airbus UK for provision of materials. They thank Dr Richard Burguete, Airbus UK, and Prof Peter Flewitt, Department of Physics, University of Bristol, for

Residual stress relaxation measurements across interfaces at macro-and micro-scales using slitting and DIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blair, A; Daynes, N; Hamilton, D; Horne, G; Hodgson, D Z L; Shterenlikht, A; Heard, P J; Scott, T B

2009-01-01

In this paper digital image correlation is used to measure relaxation of residual stresses across an interface. On the macro scale the method is applied to a tri-layer bonded aluminium sample, where the middle layer is in tension and the top and the bottom layers are in compression. High contrast speckle pattern was sprayed onto the surface. The relaxation was done with the slitting saw. Three dimensional image correlation was used. On the micro scale the technique was applied to a heat treated large grain brass loaded in tension. Mechanical and electro polishing was used for surface preparation. A focused ion beam was used for slitting across a grain boundary and for imaging. Grain orientation was measured using electron back-scattering diffraction. Two dimensional image correlation was employed. In all macro- and micro-scale experiments the range of measured relaxation was sub-pixel, almost at the limit of the resolution of the image correlation algorithms. In the macro-scale experiments, the limiting factor was low residual stress, due to low shear strength of the Araldite glue used for bonding. Finite element simulation of the relaxation agreed only qualitatively with the experimental results at both size scales. The methodology is intended for use with inverse methods, i.e. the measured relaxation is applied as the boundary conditions to an appropriate FE model which produces stresses equal to the relaxed residual stresses, but with opposite sign. The main conclusion is that the digital image correlation method could be used to measure relaxation caused by slitting in heterogeneous materials and structures at both macro- and micro-scales. However, the repeatability of the techniques needs to be improved before residual stresses can be determined confidently. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge Airbus UK for provision of materials. They thank Dr Richard Burguete, Airbus UK, and Prof Peter Flewitt, Department of Physics, University of Bristol, for

New approaches in European governance? Perspectives of stakeholders in the Danube macro-region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Sielker

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Macro-regional cooperation in the EU are networks that use the horizontal and vertical dimension of the multilevel governance system to influence both strategic decision-making as well as implementation activities. Drawing on an analysis of expert interviews in the Danube Region the paper scrutinizes stakeholders’ shared views towards expectations, challenges and added values, and thereby seeks to explain why a trend towards macro-regions arises and for what reasons stakeholders are getting involved. The analysis of the drivers for stakeholders’ commitment in the EU Danube Region Strategy shows that new governance arrangements need to be adjustable to different contexts, allow for negotiation and new network creation whilst simultaneously offering the political ability to act. The evidence presented suggests that multilevel governance in the EU is becoming increasingly complex, embracing more and different types of cooperation, with soft characteristics as crucial elements.

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Large-Scale Deployment of Biomass Resources for Energy and Materials in the Netherlands. Macro-economics biobased synthesis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoefnagels, R.; Dornburg, V.; Faaij, A.; Banse, M.

2009-03-01

The Bio-based Raw Materials Platform (PGG), part of the Energy Transition in The Netherlands, commissioned the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) and the Copernicus Institute of Utrecht University to conduct research on the macro-economic impact of large scale deployment of biomass for energy and materials in the Netherlands. Two model approaches were applied based on a consistent set of scenario assumptions: a bottom-up study including technoeconomic projections of fossil and bio-based conversion technologies and a topdown study including macro-economic modelling of (global) trade of biomass and fossil resources. The results of the top-down and bottom-up modelling work are reported separately. The results of the synthesis of the modelling work are presented in this report

Automated a complex computer aided design concept generated using macros programming

Science.gov (United States)

Rizal Ramly, Mohammad; Asrokin, Azharrudin; Abd Rahman, Safura; Zulkifly, Nurul Ain Md

2013-12-01

Changing a complex Computer Aided design profile such as car and aircraft surfaces has always been difficult and challenging. The capability of CAD software such as AutoCAD and CATIA show that a simple configuration of a CAD design can be easily modified without hassle, but it is not the case with complex design configuration. Design changes help users to test and explore various configurations of the design concept before the production of a model. The purpose of this study is to look into macros programming as parametric method of the commercial aircraft design. Macros programming is a method where the configurations of the design are done by recording a script of commands, editing the data value and adding a certain new command line to create an element of parametric design. The steps and the procedure to create a macro programming are discussed, besides looking into some difficulties during the process of creation and advantage of its usage. Generally, the advantages of macros programming as a method of parametric design are; allowing flexibility for design exploration, increasing the usability of the design solution, allowing proper contained by the model while restricting others and real time feedback changes.

Automated a complex computer aided design concept generated using macros programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramly, Mohammad Rizal; Asrokin, Azharrudin; Rahman, Safura Abd; Zulkifly, Nurul Ain Md

2013-01-01

Changing a complex Computer Aided design profile such as car and aircraft surfaces has always been difficult and challenging. The capability of CAD software such as AutoCAD and CATIA show that a simple configuration of a CAD design can be easily modified without hassle, but it is not the case with complex design configuration. Design changes help users to test and explore various configurations of the design concept before the production of a model. The purpose of this study is to look into macros programming as parametric method of the commercial aircraft design. Macros programming is a method where the configurations of the design are done by recording a script of commands, editing the data value and adding a certain new command line to create an element of parametric design. The steps and the procedure to create a macro programming are discussed, besides looking into some difficulties during the process of creation and advantage of its usage. Generally, the advantages of macros programming as a method of parametric design are; allowing flexibility for design exploration, increasing the usability of the design solution, allowing proper contained by the model while restricting others and real time feedback changes

Recursive macro generator for the TAS-86 language. First part: the macro generator language. Second part: system internal logics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zraick, Samir

1970-01-01

A macro-generator is a translator which is able to interpret and translate a programme written in a macro-language. After a first part presenting the main notions and proposing a brief description of the TAS-86 language, the second part of this research thesis reports the development of the macro-generator language, and notably presents the additional functionalities provided by the macro generator. The development is illustrated by logical flowcharts and programming listings

Comparison of a new expert elicitation model with the Classical Model, equal weights and single experts, using a cross-validation technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flandoli, F. [Dip.to di Matematica Applicata, Universita di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Giorgi, E. [Dip.to di Matematica Applicata, Universita di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, via della Faggiola 32, 56126 Pisa (Italy); Aspinall, W.P. [Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, and Aspinall and Associates, Tisbury (United Kingdom); Neri, A., E-mail: neri@pi.ingv.it [Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, via della Faggiola 32, 56126 Pisa (Italy)

2011-10-15

The problem of ranking and weighting experts' performances when quantitative judgments are being elicited for decision support is considered. A new scoring model, the Expected Relative Frequency model, is presented, based on the closeness between central values provided by the expert and known values used for calibration. Using responses from experts in five different elicitation datasets, a cross-validation technique is used to compare this new approach with the Cooke Classical Model, the Equal Weights model, and individual experts. The analysis is performed using alternative reward schemes designed to capture proficiency either in quantifying uncertainty, or in estimating true central values. Results show that although there is only a limited probability that one approach is consistently better than another, the Cooke Classical Model is generally the most suitable for assessing uncertainties, whereas the new ERF model should be preferred if the goal is central value estimation accuracy. - Highlights: > A new expert elicitation model, named Expected Relative Frequency (ERF), is presented. > A cross-validation approach to evaluate the performance of different elicitation models is applied. > The new ERF model shows the best performance with respect to the point-wise estimates.

Simulation of water movement and isoproturon behaviour in a heavy clay soil using the MACRO model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. J. Besien

1997-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the dual-porosity MACRO model has been used to investigate methods of reducing leaching of isoproturon from a structured heavy clay soil. The MACRO model was applied to a pesticide leaching data-set generated from a plot scale experiment on a heavy clay soil at the Oxford University Farm, Wytham, England. The field drain was found to be the most important outflow from the plot in terms of pesticide removal. Therefore, this modelling exercise concentrated on simulating field drain flow. With calibration of field-saturated and micropore saturated hydraulic conductivity, the drain flow hydrographs were simulated during extended periods of above average rainfall, with both the hydrograph shape and peak flows agreeing well. Over the whole field season, the observed drain flow water budget was well simulated. However, the first and second drain flow events after pesticide application were not simulated satisfactorily. This is believed to be due to a poor simulation of evapotranspiration during a period of low rainfall around the pesticide application day. Apart from an initial rapid drop in the observed isoproturon soil residue, the model simulated isoproturon residues during the 100 days after pesticide application reasonably well. Finally, the calibrated model was used to show that changes in agricultural practice (deep ploughing, creating fine consolidated seed beds and organic matter applications could potentially reduce pesticide leaching to surface waters by up to 60%.

Long-term relationships of major macro-variables in a resource-related economic model of Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvie, Charles; Hoa, T. van

1993-01-01

The paper reports the results of a simple cointegration analysis applied to bivariate causality models using data on resource output, oil prices, terms of trade, current account and output growth to investigate the long-term relationships among these major macroeconomic aggregates in a resource-related economic model of Australia. For the period 1960-1990, the empirical evidence indicates that these five macro-variables, as formulated in our model, are not random walks. In addition, resource production and oil prices are significantly cointegrated, and they are also significantly cointegrated with the current account, terms of trade and economic growth. These findings provide support to the long-term adjustments foundation of our resource-related model. (author)

Analysis of entropy models with equality and inequality constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jefferson, T R; Scott, C H

1979-06-01

Entropy models are emerging as valuable tools in the study of various social problems of spatial interaction. With the development of the modeling has come diversity. Increased flexibility in the model can be obtained by allowing certain constraints to be relaxed from equality to inequality. To provide a better understanding of these entropy models they are analyzed by geometric programming. Dual mathematical programs and algorithms are obtained. 7 references.

MACRO1: a code to test a methodology for analyzing nuclear-waste management systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, L.L.

1979-01-01

The code is primarily a manager of probabilistic data and deterministic mathematical models. The user determines the desired aggregation of the available models into a composite model of a physical system. MACRO1 then propagates the finite probability distributions of the inputs to the model to finite probability distributions over the outputs. MACRO1 has been applied to a sample analysis of a nuclear-waste repository, and its results compared satisfactorily with previously obtained Monte Carlo statistics

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-01-01

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

Gender equality and equal opportunity mechanisms in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mršević Zorica

2007-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlotta Edström

2016-06-01

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

Sensitivity analysis of the STICS-MACRO model to identify cropping practices reducing pesticides losses.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammoglia, Sabine-Karen; Makowski, David; Moeys, Julien; Justes, Eric; Barriuso, Enrique; Mamy, Laure

2017-02-15

STICS-MACRO is a process-based model simulating the fate of pesticides in the soil-plant system as a function of agricultural practices and pedoclimatic conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of crop management practices on water and pesticide flows in contrasted environmental conditions. We used the Morris screening sensitivity analysis method to identify the most influential cropping practices. Crop residues management and tillage practices were shown to have strong effects on water percolation and pesticide leaching. In particular, the amount of organic residues added to soil was found to be the most influential input. The presence of a mulch could increase soil water content so water percolation and pesticide leaching. Conventional tillage was also found to decrease pesticide leaching, compared to no-till, which is consistent with many field observations. The effects of the soil, crop and climate conditions tested in this work were less important than those of cropping practices. STICS-MACRO allows an ex ante evaluation of cropping systems and agricultural practices, and of the related pesticides environmental impacts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mediation analysis allowing for exposure-mediator interactions and causal interpretation: theoretical assumptions and implementation with SAS and SPSS macros.

Science.gov (United States)

Valeri, Linda; Vanderweele, Tyler J

2013-06-01

Mediation analysis is a useful and widely employed approach to studies in the field of psychology and in the social and biomedical sciences. The contributions of this article are several-fold. First we seek to bring the developments in mediation analysis for nonlinear models within the counterfactual framework to the psychology audience in an accessible format and compare the sorts of inferences about mediation that are possible in the presence of exposure-mediator interaction when using a counterfactual versus the standard statistical approach. Second, the work by VanderWeele and Vansteelandt (2009, 2010) is extended here to allow for dichotomous mediators and count outcomes. Third, we provide SAS and SPSS macros to implement all of these mediation analysis techniques automatically, and we compare the types of inferences about mediation that are allowed by a variety of software macros. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

An evaluation grid for the assessments of macro-economic impacts of energy transition. Working paper Nr 48

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouvrard, Jean-Francois; Scapecchi, Pascale

2014-05-01

This study aims at comparing the main available macro-economic models used to assess the consequences of policies for energy transition, and at determining their scope and limitations of validity. More precisely, the authors study the impact of two categories of policy instruments (those aimed at modifying prices and incentive ones) and the role of the adopted modelling of technical progress and of the macro-economic closure of the model. In a first part, they present various tools or models used to assess economic impacts of energy transition: technical-economic, macro-economic, general balance, and hybrid models. Then, after a presentation of some principles adopted to analyse these various models, the authors discuss price-based tools, tools based on demand support, the key role of technological progress, the impact of the macro-economic closure on the reached objective. They finally discuss the results obtained by applying an evaluation grid to energy transition scenarios. A set of recommendations is finally proposed for a better assessment of these impacts

Constraints on genes shape long-term conservation of macro-synteny in metazoan genomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putnam Nicholas H

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many metazoan genomes conserve chromosome-scale gene linkage relationships (“macro-synteny” from the common ancestor of multicellular animal life 1234, but the biological explanation for this conservation is still unknown. Double cut and join (DCJ is a simple, well-studied model of neutral genome evolution amenable to both simulation and mathematical analysis 5, but as we show here, it is not sufficent to explain long-term macro-synteny conservation. Results We examine a family of simple (one-parameter extensions of DCJ to identify models and choices of parameters consistent with the levels of macro- and micro-synteny conservation observed among animal genomes. Our software implements a flexible strategy for incorporating genomic context into the DCJ model to incorporate various types of genomic context (“DCJ-[C]”, and is available as open source software from http://github.com/putnamlab/dcj-c. Conclusions A simple model of genome evolution, in which DCJ moves are allowed only if they maintain chromosomal linkage among a set of constrained genes, can simultaneously account for the level of macro-synteny conservation and for correlated conservation among multiple pairs of species. Simulations under this model indicate that a constraint on approximately 7% of metazoan genes is sufficient to constrain genome rearrangement to an average rate of 25 inversions and 1.7 translocations per million years.

Effects of stimulus order on discrimination processes in comparative and equality judgements: data and models.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyjas, Oliver; Ulrich, Rolf

2014-01-01

In typical discrimination experiments, participants are presented with a constant standard and a variable comparison stimulus and their task is to judge which of these two stimuli is larger (comparative judgement). In these experiments, discrimination sensitivity depends on the temporal order of these stimuli (Type B effect) and is usually higher when the standard precedes rather than follows the comparison. Here, we outline how two models of stimulus discrimination can account for the Type B effect, namely the weighted difference model (or basic Sensation Weighting model) and the Internal Reference Model. For both models, the predicted psychometric functions for comparative judgements as well as for equality judgements, in which participants indicate whether they perceived the two stimuli to be equal or not equal, are derived and it is shown that the models also predict a Type B effect for equality judgements. In the empirical part, the models' predictions are evaluated. To this end, participants performed a duration discrimination task with comparative judgements and with equality judgements. In line with the models' predictions, a Type B effect was observed for both judgement types. In addition, a time-order error, as indicated by shifts of the psychometric functions, and differences in response times were observed only for the equality judgement. Since both models entail distinct additional predictions, it seems worthwhile for future research to unite the two models into one conceptual framework.

Macro Security Methodology for Conducting Facility Security and Sustainability Assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herdes, Greg A.; Freier, Keith D.; Wright, Kyle A.

2007-01-01

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a macro security strategy that not only addresses traditional physical protection systems, but also focuses on sustainability as part of the security assessment and management process. This approach is designed to meet the needs of virtually any industry or environment requiring critical asset protection. PNNL has successfully demonstrated the utility of this macro security strategy through its support to the NNSA Office of Global Threat Reduction implementing security upgrades at international facilities possessing high activity radioactive sources that could be used in the assembly of a radiological dispersal device, commonly referred to as a 'dirty bomb'. Traditional vulnerability assessments provide a snap shot in time of the effectiveness of a physical protection system without significant consideration to the sustainability of the component elements that make up the system. This paper describes the approach and tools used to integrate technology, plans and procedures, training, and sustainability into a simple, quick, and easy-to-use security assessment and management tool.

A SAS IML Macro for Loglinear Smoothing

Science.gov (United States)

Moses, Tim; von Davier, Alina

2011-01-01

Polynomial loglinear models for one-, two-, and higher-way contingency tables have important applications to measurement and assessment. They are essentially regarded as a smoothing technique, which is commonly referred to as loglinear smoothing. A SAS IML (SAS Institute, 2002a) macro was created to implement loglinear smoothing according to…

A macro-economic and sectoral evaluation of carbon taxation in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callonnec, Gael; Reynes, Frederic; Yeddir-Tamsamani, Yasser

2011-01-01

This paper evaluates the macro-economic and sectoral impact of a carbon tax in France using the Three-ME model that combines two important features: (1) The model has a detailed industrial structure and detailed description of the French tax system, particularly the taxation applied to energy. (2) It has the main properties of the neo-Keynesian models because it takes into account the slow process adjustment of prices and quantifies. Our results show under certain conditions the possibility of a double economic and environmental dividends resulting from carbon taxation, for both the short and long term. Carbon tax. Neo-Keynesian macro-economic model. Sectoral analysis. Initially published in 'Revue de l'OFCE / Debats et politiques' No. 120

Characterization of the active deformation mechanisms in Zirconium alpha alloys, and use of micro-macro transfer models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francillette, H.; Bacroix, B.; Gasperini, M.; Lebensohn, R.A.

1996-01-01

The aim of this study is to model the evolution of the crystallographic textures of rolled zirconium sheet metals, based on the active deformation mechanisms. Plane compression tests have been carried out on Zr 702 polycrystalline samples, at ambient temperature. Active mechanisms were identified and characterized by the means of local orientation measurements (EBSD: electron BackScattering Diffraction), completed with global texture measurements. Measured orientations are then introduced in Taylor, Sachs and self-coherent type micro-macro models in order to validate these models with respect to mechanism activation and texture evolution. (A.B.)

Path Loss, Shadow Fading, and Line-Of-Sight Probability Models for 5G Urban Macro-Cellular Scenarios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sun, Shu; Thomas, Timothy; Rappaport, Theodore S.

2015-01-01

This paper presents key parameters including the line-of-sight (LOS) probability, large-scale path loss, and shadow fading models for the design of future fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems in urban macro-cellular (UMa) scenarios, using the data obtained from propagation...... measurements in Austin, US, and Aalborg, Denmark, at 2, 10, 18, and 38 GHz. A comparison of different LOS probability models is performed for the Aalborg environment. Both single-slope and dual-slope omnidirectional path loss models are investigated to analyze and contrast their root-mean-square (RMS) errors...

Macro-prudentiality and financial stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Ionescu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Taking into consideration the fact that financial crises, as a manifestation form of the financial instability, are becoming more and more frequent, complex and severe, it is important to discuss about the macroeconomic prudentiality, in order to protect and save the economy of a country or of a region by the inherent fragility of a very developed financial system. Therefore, the paper aims to analyze the following aspects: the macro-prudential regulation (in order to a better understanding of the financial instability process, the development of the macro-prudential vision and instruments (but emphasizing the existing limits and economic policies (in order to implement an operational macro-prudential regulation.

Equalization method for Medipix3RX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rinkel, Jean, E-mail: jean.rinkel@lnls.br [Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS/CNPEM), Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10.000, Caixa Postal 6192, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Magalhães, Debora; Wagner, Franz [Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS/CNPEM), Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10.000, Caixa Postal 6192, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Frojdh, Erik; Ballabriga Sune, Rafael [CERN, Route de Meyrin 385, Geneva (Switzerland)

2015-11-21

This paper describes a new method of threshold equalization for X-ray detectors based on the Medipix3RX ASIC, using electrical pulses to calibrate and correct for the threshold dispersion between pixels. This method involves a coarse threshold tuning, based on two 8 bits global DACs and which sets the range of variation of the threshold values; and a fine-tuning, based on two 5-bits adjustment DACs per pixel. As our fine-tuning approach is based on a state-of-the-art methodology, our coarse tuning relies on an original theoretical model. This model takes into account the noise level of the ASIC, which varies with temperature and received radiation dose. The experimental results using 300 μm Si sensor and Kα fluorescence of Zn show a global energy resolution improvement of 14% compared to previous equalization methods. We compared these results with the best achievable global energy resolution given by the resolution of individual pixels and concluded that the remaining 14% difference was due to the discretization error limited by the number of equalization bits.

An Improved Macro Model of Traffic Flow with the Consideration of Ramps and Numerical Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongke Shi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We present an improved macro model for traffic flow based on the existing models. The equilibrium point equation of the model is obtained. The stop-and-go traffic phenomenon is described in phase plane and the relationship between traffic jams and system instability is clearly shown in the phase plane diagrams. Using the improved model, some traffic phenomena on a highway with ramps are found in this paper. The numerical simulation is carried out to investigate various nonlinear traffic phenomena with a single ramp generated by different initial densities and vehicle generation rates. According to the actual road sections of Xi’an-Baoji highways, the situations of morning peak with several ramps are also analyzed. All these results are consistent with real traffic, which shows that the improved model is reasonable.

The International Macro-Environment of an Organization

OpenAIRE

Ileana (Badulescu) Anastase; Cornel Grigorut

2016-01-01

The international macro-environment (supranational macro-environment) brings together allthe uncontrollable factors with a global impact, and it is related to the organization’s indirectrelationships on international markets. Romania’s globalization and the EU integration increasedthe importance of the macro-environment for all organizations, regardless of their degree ofinternationalization. In marketing, we must master the main agreements between countries and theregulations emanating from ...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-04-01

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

Retrieval of Macro- and Micro-Physical Properties of Oceanic Hydrosols from Polarimetric Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Amir; Gilerson, Alexander; Chowdhary, Jacek; Ahmed, Samir

2016-01-01

Remote sensing has mainly relied on measurements of scalar radiance and its spectral and angular features to retrieve micro- and macro-physical properties of aerosols/hydrosols. However, it is recognized that measurements that include the polarimetric characteristics of light provide more intrinsic information about particulate scattering. To take advantage of this, we used vector radiative transfer (VRT) simulations and developed an analytical relationship to retrieve the macro and micro-physical properties of the oceanic hydrosols. Specifically, we investigated the relationship between the observed degree of linear polarization (DoLP) and the ratio of attenuation-to- absorption coefficients (c/a) in water, from which the scattering coefficient can be readily computed (b equals c minus a), after retrieving a. This relationship was parameterized for various scattering geometries, including sensor zenith/azimuth angles relative to the Sun's principal plane, and for varying Sun zenith angles. An inversion method was also developed for the retrieval of the microphysical properties of hydrosols, such as the bulk refractive index and the particle size distribution. The DoLP vs c/a relationship was tested and validated against in-situ measurements of underwater light polarization obtained by a custom-built polarimeter and measurements of the coefficients a and c, obtained using an in-water WET (Western Environmental Technologies) Labs ac-s (attenuation coefficients In-Situ Spectrophotometer) instrument package. These measurements confirmed the validity of the approach, with retrievals of attenuation coefficients showing a high coefficient of determination depending on the wavelength. We also performed a sensitivity analysis of the DoLP at the Top of Atmosphere (TOA) over coastal waters showing the possibility of polarimetric remote sensing application for ocean color.

Macro-scale turbulence modelling for flows in porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinson, F.

2006-03-01

- This work deals with the macroscopic modeling of turbulence in porous media. It concerns heat exchangers, nuclear reactors as well as urban flows, etc. The objective of this study is to describe in an homogenized way, by the mean of a spatial average operator, turbulent flows in a solid matrix. In addition to this first operator, the use of a statistical average operator permits to handle the pseudo-aleatory character of turbulence. The successive application of both operators allows us to derive the balance equations of the kind of flows under study. Two major issues are then highlighted, the modeling of dispersion induced by the solid matrix and the turbulence modeling at a macroscopic scale (Reynolds tensor and turbulent dispersion). To this aim, we lean on the local modeling of turbulence and more precisely on the k - ε RANS models. The methodology of dispersion study, derived thanks to the volume averaging theory, is extended to turbulent flows. Its application includes the simulation, at a microscopic scale, of turbulent flows within a representative elementary volume of the porous media. Applied to channel flows, this analysis shows that even within the turbulent regime, dispersion remains one of the dominating phenomena within the macro-scale modeling framework. A two-scale analysis of the flow allows us to understand the dominating role of the drag force in the kinetic energy transfers between scales. Transfers between the mean part and the turbulent part of the flow are formally derived. This description significantly improves our understanding of the issue of macroscopic modeling of turbulence and leads us to define the sub-filter production and the wake dissipation. A f - f - w >f model is derived. It is based on three balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy, the viscous dissipation and the wake dissipation. Furthermore, a dynamical predictor for the friction coefficient is proposed. This model is then successfully applied to the study of

A multiscale model on hospital infections coupling macro and micro dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xia; Tang, Sanyi

2017-09-01

A multiscale model of hospital infections coupling the micro model of the growth of bacteria and the macro model describing the transmission of the bacteria among patients and health care workers (HCWs) was established to investigate the effects of antibiotic treatment on the transmission of the bacteria among patients and HCWs. The model was formulated by viewing the transmission rate from infected patients to HCWs and the shedding rate of bacteria from infected patients to the environment as saturated functions of the within-host bacterial load. The equilibria and the basic reproduction number of the coupled system were studied, and the global dynamics of the disease free equilibrium and the endemic equilibrium were analyzed in detail by constructing two Lyapunov functions. Furthermore, effects of drug treatment in the within-host model on the basic reproduction number and the dynamics of the coupled model were studied by coupling a pharmacokinetics model with the within-host model. Sensitive analysis indicated that the growth rate of the bacteria, the maximum drug effect and the dosing interval are the three most sensitive parameters contributing to the basic reproduction number. Thus, adopting ;wonder; drugs to decrease the growth rate of the bacteria or to increase the drug's effect is the most effective measure but changing the dosage regime is also effective. A quantitative criterion of how to choose the best dosage regimen can also be obtained from numerical results.

Nano/macro porous bioactive glass scaffold

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shaojie

Bioactive glass (BG) and ceramics have been widely studied and developed as implants to replace hard tissues of the musculo-skeletal system, such as bones and teeth. Recently, instead of using bulk materials, which usually do not degrade rapidly enough and may remain in the human body for a long time, the idea of bioscaffold for tissue regeneration has generated much interest. An ideal bioscaffold is a porous material that would not only provide a three-dimensional structure for the regeneration of natural tissue, but also degrade gradually and, eventually be replaced by the natural tissue completely. Among various material choices the nano-macro dual porous BG appears as the most promising candidate for bioscaffold applications. Here macropores facilitate tissue growth while nanopores control degradation and enhance cell response. The surface area, which controls the degradation of scaffold can also be tuned by changing the nanopore size. However, fabrication of such 3D structure with desirable nano and macro pores has remained challenging. In this dissertation, sol-gel process combined with spinodal decomposition or polymer sponge replication method has been developed to fabricate the nano-macro porous BG scaffolds. Macropores up to 100microm are created by freezing polymer induced spinodal structure through sol-gel transition, while larger macropores (>200um) of predetermined size are obtained by the polymer sponge replication technique. The size of nanopores, which are inherent to the sol-gel method of glass fabrication, has been tailored using several approaches: Before gel point, small nanopores are generated using acid catalyst that leads to weakly-branched polymer-like network. On the other hand, larger nanopores are created with the base-catalyzed gel with highly-branched cluster-like structure. After the gel point, the nanostructure can be further modified by manipulating the sintering temperature and/or the ammonia concentration used in the solvent

Formal And Informal Macro-Regional Transport Clusters As A Primary Step In The Design And Implementation Of Cluster-Based Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nežerenko Olga

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is the identification of a formal macro-regional transport and logistics cluster and its development trends on a macro-regional level in 2007-2011 by means of the hierarchical cluster analysis. The central approach of the study is based on two concepts: 1 the concept of formal and informal macro-regions, and 2 the concept of clustering which is based on the similarities shared by the countries of a macro-region and tightly related to the concept of macro-region. The authors seek to answer the question whether the formation of a formal transport cluster could provide the BSR a stable competitive position in the global transportation and logistics market.

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

OpenAIRE

Edström, Charlotta; Brunila, Kristiina

2016-01-01

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

Regionalization of meso-scale physically based nitrogen modeling outputs to the macro-scale by the use of regression trees

Science.gov (United States)

Künne, A.; Fink, M.; Kipka, H.; Krause, P.; Flügel, W.-A.

2012-06-01

In this paper, a method is presented to estimate excess nitrogen on large scales considering single field processes. The approach was implemented by using the physically based model J2000-S to simulate the nitrogen balance as well as the hydrological dynamics within meso-scale test catchments. The model input data, the parameterization, the results and a detailed system understanding were used to generate the regression tree models with GUIDE (Loh, 2002). For each landscape type in the federal state of Thuringia a regression tree was calibrated and validated using the model data and results of excess nitrogen from the test catchments. Hydrological parameters such as precipitation and evapotranspiration were also used to predict excess nitrogen by the regression tree model. Hence they had to be calculated and regionalized as well for the state of Thuringia. Here the model J2000g was used to simulate the water balance on the macro scale. With the regression trees the excess nitrogen was regionalized for each landscape type of Thuringia. The approach allows calculating the potential nitrogen input into the streams of the drainage area. The results show that the applied methodology was able to transfer the detailed model results of the meso-scale catchments to the entire state of Thuringia by low computing time without losing the detailed knowledge from the nitrogen transport modeling. This was validated with modeling results from Fink (2004) in a catchment lying in the regionalization area. The regionalized and modeled excess nitrogen correspond with 94%. The study was conducted within the framework of a project in collaboration with the Thuringian Environmental Ministry, whose overall aim was to assess the effect of agro-environmental measures regarding load reduction in the water bodies of Thuringia to fulfill the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (Bäse et al., 2007; Fink, 2006; Fink et al., 2007).

Widely Linear Equalization for IQ Imbalance and Skew Compensation in Optical Coherent Receivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Porto da Silva, Edson; Zibar, Darko

2016-01-01

In this paper, an alternative approach to design linear equalization algorithms for optical coherent receivers is introduced. Using widely linear complex analysis, a general analytical model it is shown, where In-phase/quadrature (IQ) imbalances and IQ skew at the coherent receiver front-end are ......In this paper, an alternative approach to design linear equalization algorithms for optical coherent receivers is introduced. Using widely linear complex analysis, a general analytical model it is shown, where In-phase/quadrature (IQ) imbalances and IQ skew at the coherent receiver front...

Particle Filtering Equalization Method for a Satellite Communication Channel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amblard Pierre-Olivier

2004-01-01

Full Text Available We propose the use of particle filtering techniques and Monte Carlo methods to tackle the in-line and blind equalization of a satellite communication channel. The main difficulties encountered are the nonlinear distortions caused by the amplifier stage in the satellite. Several processing methods manage to take into account these nonlinearities but they require the knowledge of a training input sequence for updating the equalizer parameters. Blind equalization methods also exist but they require a Volterra modelization of the system which is not suited for equalization purpose for the present model. The aim of the method proposed in the paper is also to blindly restore the emitted message. To reach this goal, a Bayesian point of view is adopted. Prior knowledge of the emitted symbols and of the nonlinear amplification model, as well as the information available from the received signal, is jointly used by considering the posterior distribution of the input sequence. Such a probability distribution is very difficult to study and thus motivates the implementation of Monte Carlo simulation methods. The presentation of the equalization method is cut into two parts. The first part solves the problem for a simplified model, focusing on the nonlinearities of the model. The second part deals with the complete model, using sampling approaches previously developed. The algorithms are illustrated and their performance is evaluated using bit error rate versus signal-to-noise ratio curves.

Macro-habitat preferences by the African manatee and crocodiles – ecological and conservation implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Luiselli

2012-07-01

Full Text Available African manatees (Trichechus senegalensis and crocodiles are threatened species in parts of their range. In West Africa, crocodiles may constitute the main predators for manatees apart from humans. Here, we explore the macro-habitat selection of manatees and two species of crocodiles (West African crocodiles Crocodylus suchus and dwarf crocodile Osteolaemus tetraspis in the Niger Delta (Nigeria, testing the hypotheses that (i manatees may avoid crocodiles in order to minimize risks of predation, and (ii the two crocodile species do compete. The study was carried out between 1994 and 2010 with a suite of different field techniques. We observed that the main macro-habitat types were freshwater rivers and coastal lagoons for manatees, mangroves for West African crocodiles, and rivers and creeks for dwarf crocodiles, with (i the three species differing significantly in terms of their macro-habitat type selection, and (ii significant seasonal influence on habitat selection of each species. Null models for niche overlap showed a significantly lower overlap in macro-habitat type use between manatee and crocodiles, whereas the two crocodiles were relatively similar. Null model analyses did not indicate any competitive interactions between crocodiles. On the other hand, manatees avoided macro-habitats where crocodiles, and especially West African crocodiles, are abundant.

Dis-Equality: Exploring the Juxtaposition of Disability and Equality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bronagh Byrne

2018-03-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sooyong; Lee, Te-Won

2004-07-01

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

Effects of macro nutrient concentration on biological N2 fixation by Azotobacter vinelandii ATCC 12837

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liew Pauline Woan Ying; Nazalan Najimudin; Jong Bor Chyan; Latiffah Noordin; Khairuddin Abdul Rahim; Amir Hamzah Ahmad Ghazali

2010-01-01

The dynamic changes of biological N 2 fixation by Azotobacter vinelandii ATCC 12837 under the influence of various macro nutrients, specifically phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), was investigated. In this attempt, Oryza sativa L. var. MR 219 was used as the model plant. Results obtained showed changes in the biological N 2 fixation activities with different macro nutrient(s) manipulations. The research activity enables optimisation of macro nutrients concentration for optimal/ enhanced biological N 2 fixation by A. vinelandii ATCC 12837. (author)

Immunopositivity for histone macroH2A1 isoforms marks steatosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Rappa

Full Text Available Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Prevention and risk reduction are important and the identification of specific biomarkers for early diagnosis of HCC represents an active field of research. Increasing evidence indicates that fat accumulation in the liver, defined as hepatosteatosis, is an independent and strong risk factor for developing an HCC. MacroH2A1, a histone protein generally associated with the repressed regions of chromosomes, is involved in hepatic lipid metabolism and is present in two alternative spliced isoforms, macroH2A1.1 and macroH2A1.2. These isoforms have been shown to predict lung and colon cancer recurrence but to our knowledge, their role in fatty-liver associated HCC has not been investigated previously.We examined macroH2A1.1 and macroH2A1.2 protein expression levels in the liver of two murine models of fat-associated HCC, the high fat diet/diethylnistrosamine (DEN and the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN liver specific knock-out (KO mouse, and in human liver samples of subjects with steatosis or HCC, using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry.Protein levels for both macroH2A1 isoforms were massively upregulated in HCC, whereas macroH2A1.2 was specifically upregulated in steatosis. In addition, examination of human liver samples showed a significant difference (p<0.01 in number of positive nuclei in HCC (100% of tumor cells positive for either macroH2A1.1 or macroH2A1.2, when compared to steatosis (<2% of hepatocytes positive for either isoform. The steatotic areas flanking the tumors were highly immunopositive for macroH2A1.1 and macroH2A1.2.These data obtained in mice and humans suggest that both macroH2A1 isoforms may play a role in HCC pathogenesis and moreover may be considered as novel diagnostic markers for human HCC.

Handbook of damage mechanics nano to macro scale for materials and structures

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This authoritative reference provides comprehensive coverage of the topics of damage and healing mechanics. Computational modeling of constitutive equations is provided as well as solved examples in engineering applications. A wide range of materials that engineers may encounter are covered, including metals, composites, ceramics, polymers, biomaterials, and nanomaterials. The internationally recognized team of contributors employ a consistent and systematic approach, offering readers a user-friendly reference that is ideal for frequent consultation. Handbook of Damage Mechanics: Nano to Macro Scale for Materials and Structures is ideal for graduate students and faculty, researchers, and professionals in the fields of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science, and Engineering Mechanics.

"Engendering" Agenda 21: gender equality and water resource management: five years after Rio.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannan-andersson, C

1997-01-01

Agenda 21 acknowledges women's role in natural resources management at the local level and emphasizes the need for more women in senior positions to contribute positively to the implementation of environmental policy. This article assesses Agenda 21's approach to gender equality and its achievements. A few explicit references to women and water resource management (WRM) without consideration on the gender implications of the WRM policies and strategies were noted. The macro-oriented, technology-focused and supply-oriented approach of Agenda 21 on WRM hinders the inclusion of a gender perspective. There are two levels of implications of gender-blind intervention in relation to WRM: the issue of social justice and rights, and the negative impact of the neglect of gender inequality on overall planning and success of interventions. The inclusion of a gender perspective at policy and planning levels to facilitate the resolution of inconsistencies, as well as the importance of water sources and patterns of use knowledge for adequate policy development and planning was suggested. It is important that the WRM principle application utilize a sociocultural and gender perspective at both community and household levels before decisions are made on WRM interventions.

GSM Channel Equalization Algorithm - Modern DSP Coprocessor Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Drutarovsky

1999-12-01

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

A Note on the (In)stability of Diamond's Growth Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blomgren-Hansen, Niels

2005-01-01

Diamond's two-period OLG growth model is based on the assumption that the stock of capital in any period is equal to the wealth accumulated in the previous period by the generation of pensioners. This stock equlibrium condition may appear an innocuous paraphrase of the ordinary macro-economic flow...

Predicting EEG complexity from sleep macro and microstructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chouvarda, I; Maglaveras, N; Mendez, M O; Rosso, V; Parrino, L; Grassi, A; Terzano, M; Bianchi, A M; Cerutti, S

2011-01-01

This work investigates the relation between the complexity of electroencephalography (EEG) signal, as measured by fractal dimension (FD), and normal sleep structure in terms of its macrostructure and microstructure. Sleep features are defined, encoding sleep stage and cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) related information, both in short and long term. The relevance of each sleep feature to the EEG FD is investigated, and the most informative ones are depicted. In order to quantitatively assess the relation between sleep characteristics and EEG dynamics, a modeling approach is proposed which employs subsets of the sleep macrostructure and microstructure features as input variables and predicts EEG FD based on these features of sleep micro/macrostructure. Different sleep feature sets are investigated along with linear and nonlinear models. Findings suggest that the EEG FD time series is best predicted by a nonlinear support vector machine (SVM) model, employing both sleep stage/transitions and CAP features at different time scales depending on the EEG activation subtype. This combination of features suggests that short-term and long-term history of macro and micro sleep events interact in a complex manner toward generating the dynamics of sleep

Transforming equality logic to propositional logic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zantema, H.; Groote, J.F.

2003-01-01

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

Predicting Bond Betas using Macro-Finance Variables

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aslanidis, Nektarios; Christiansen, Charlotte; Cipollini, Andrea

We conduct in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting using the new approach of combining explanatory variables through complete subset regressions (CSR). We predict bond CAPM betas and bond returns conditioning on various macro-fi…nance variables. We explore differences across long-term government ...... bonds, investment grade corporate bonds, and high-yield corporate bonds. The CSR method performs well in predicting bond betas, especially in-sample, and, mainly high-yield bond betas when the focus is out-of-sample. Bond returns are less predictable than bond betas....

A comparative study on life cycle assessment of micro and macro components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Omidvarnia, Farzaneh; Islam, Aminul; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard

2013-01-01

their smaller dimensional scale. So performing of LCA for micro products is equally important as it is for macro products. Keeping this motivation in mind, current paper systematically performs the LCA of a micro Socket used in hearing aids. The analysis makes a guide line about how to use the conventional...... knowledge about LCA and tools for the efficient LCA analysis of the micro parts. A comparative study is made in the paper by comparing two different sockets of hearing aid and it shows well how to make a comparative study for LCAwhen the manufacturer makes a new product to replace an old one. Another...

Transport phenomena of macro and micro flows behind orifice and flow accelerated corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujisawa, Nobuyuki; Hayase, Toshiyuki; Ohara, Taku; Ikohagi, Toshiaki

2008-01-01

This paper describes experiment and numerical simulations for macro and micro flows behind an orifice model in a square pipe, which are carried from the viewpoint of flow accelerated corrosion (FAC). The measurements of velocity field behind the orifice model were carried out using particle image velocimetry, and the variations of velocity field with respect to the accuracy of the orifice position were studied. It is found that the reattachment behavior of the flow is highly influenced by the orifice position, which is a critical problem for predicting the pipe thinning phenomena by FAC. The DNS simulation was also conducted for calculating the macro flow behind the orifice. The result suggests that the DNS simulation is applicable to the prediction of pipe thinning macro flow for highly aged nuclear plant. The micro flow simulation can predict the pipe thinning phenomena near the wall. (author)

Micro or macro. A case study of approaches to forecasting based on oil trading, 1970-1974

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scanlan, T

1984-03-01

This paper attempts to survey the events of 1970-1974 in the oil and tanker trades and to analyse the relative merits of macro and micro approaches at the time. There are several reasons why the turbulent events in the world oil and tanker markets, at the beginning of the last decade, are worth analysing. It is 10 years since the major oil crisis of 1973 changed the pattern of events in both industries - and indeed changed the terms of trade between nations. The implications of these changes are still with us today. There are some for whom this is far from clear and who would argue that we have moved from supply constraints in both industries to chronic surplus, that the forecast of increasing scarcity of oil were simply extrapolatory and have not been fulfilled and therefore that looking back a decade has little lasting value for us today.

Comparison of different approaches of modelling in a masonry building

Science.gov (United States)

Saba, M.; Meloni, D.

2017-12-01

The present work has the objective to model a simple masonry building, through two different modelling methods in order to assess their validity in terms of evaluation of static stresses. Have been chosen two of the most commercial software used to address this kind of problem, which are of S.T.A. Data S.r.l. and Sismicad12 of Concrete S.r.l. While the 3Muri software adopts the Frame by Macro Elements Method (FME), which should be more schematic and more efficient, Sismicad12 software uses the Finite Element Method (FEM), which guarantees accurate results, with greater computational burden. Remarkably differences of the static stresses, for such a simple structure between the two approaches have been found, and an interesting comparison and analysis of the reasons is proposed.

A Prediction Study of Path Loss Models from 2-73.5 GHz in an Urban-Macro Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomas, Timothy; Rybakowski, Marcin; Sun, Shu

2016-01-01

can roughly be broken into two categories, ones that have some anchor in physics, and ones that curve-match only over the data set without any physical anchor. In this paper we use both real-world measurements from 2.0 to 28 GHz and ray-tracing studies from 2.0 to 73.5 GHz, both in an urban-macro...... environment, to assess the prediction performance of the two PL modeling techniques. In other words we look at how the two different PL modeling techniques perform when the PL model is applied to a prediction set which is different in distance, frequency, or environment from a measurement set where...

Numerical analysis of macro-crack formation behavior within the lump coke; Cokes sonai kiretsu shinten kiko no kaiseki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aoki, H; Sato, H; Miura, T [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1995-03-15

The thermal stress analysis within lump coke was studied in order to investigate macro-crack formation and deformation behavior which strongly influence heat and mass transfer in a coke oven chamber. The dilatation of plastic layer, heating rate dependence of thermophysical and mechanical properties of coal/coke, creep in the plastic and semi-coke layers, macro-crack propagation and radiative heat transfer within the macro-crack were considered in an analytical model. The macro-crack propagation was determined from the estimated crack tip stress intensity factor, K{sub I}, at the macro-crack tip compared with the plane strain fracture toughness, K{sub IC}, through the unsteady-state calculation. Calculated results on crack formation and deformation behavior of lump coke were in good agreement with experimental observations in a laboratory-scale oven chamber. The analytical model could predict micro-crack formation within the lump coke normal to the heated wall and the coke surface close to the heated wall. 12 refs., 13 figs.

[Heavy metal pollution ecology of macro-fungi: research advances and expectation].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qi-xing; An, Xin-long; Wei, Shu-he

2008-08-01

Macro-fungi are the main component of biosphere and one of the ecological resources, and play very important roles in matter cycling and in maintaining ecological balances. This paper summarized and reviewed the research advances in the eco-toxicological effects of heavy metals on macro-fungi, the bioaccumulation function of macro-fungi on heavy metals, the ecological adaptation mechanisms of macro-fungi to heavy metal pollution, the role of macro-fungi as a bio-indicator of heavy metal pollution, and the potential of macro-fungi in the ecological remediation of contaminated environment. To strengthen the researches on the heavy metal pollution ecology of macro-fungi would be of practical significance in the reasonable utilization of macro-fungi resources and in the ecological remediation of contaminated environment.

Macro-Prudential Policy in a Fisherian model of Financial Innovation

OpenAIRE

Javier Bianchi; Emine Boz; Enrique G. Mendoza

2012-01-01

The interaction between credit frictions, financial innovation, and a switch from optimistic to pessimistic beliefs played a central role in the 2008 financial crisis. This paper develops a quantitative general equilibrium framework in which this interaction drives the financial amplification mechanism to study the effects of macro-prudential policy. Financial innovation enhances the ability of agents to collateralize assets into debt, but the riskiness of this new regime can only be learned ...

The International Macro-Environment of an Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ileana (Badulescu Anastase

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The international macro-environment (supranational macro-environment brings together allthe uncontrollable factors with a global impact, and it is related to the organization’s indirectrelationships on international markets. Romania’s globalization and the EU integration increasedthe importance of the macro-environment for all organizations, regardless of their degree ofinternationalization. In marketing, we must master the main agreements between countries and theregulations emanating from general international bodies, reflecting on their business, on differentforeign markets. Knowledge of the international environment is possible only through an analysisof its components (Anastase, I., 2012, p.41.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Edström, Charlotta; Brunila, Kristiina

2016-01-01

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

Macro- and micronutrient disposition in an ex vivo model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Science.gov (United States)

Estensen, Kristine; Shekar, Kiran; Robins, Elissa; McDonald, Charles; Barnett, Adrian G; Fraser, John F

2014-12-01

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuits have been shown to sequester circulating blood compounds such as drugs based on their physicochemical properties. This study aimed to describe the disposition of macro- and micronutrients in simulated ECMO circuits. Following baseline sampling, known quantities of macro- and micronutrients were injected post oxygenator into ex vivo ECMO circuits primed with the fresh human whole blood and maintained under standard physiologic conditions. Serial blood samples were then obtained at 1, 30 and 60 min and at 6, 12 and 24 h after the addition of nutrients, to measure the concentrations of study compounds using validated assays. Twenty-one samples were tested for thirty-one nutrient compounds. There were significant reductions (p single-dose ex vivo circuit study. Most significantly, there is potential for circuit loss of essential amino acid isoleucine and lipid soluble vitamins (A and E) in the ECMO circuit, and the mechanisms for this need further exploration. While the reductions in glucose concentrations and an increase in other macro- and micronutrient concentrations probably reflect cellular metabolism and breakdown, the decrement in arginine and glutamine concentrations may be attributed to their enzymatic conversion to ornithine and glutamate, respectively. While the results are generally reassuring from a macronutrient perspective, prospective studies in clinical subjects are indicated to further evaluate the influence of ECMO circuit on micronutrient concentrations and clinical outcomes.

An approach to multiscale modelling with graph grammars.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Yongzhi; Streit, Katarína; Henke, Michael; Kurth, Winfried

2014-09-01

Functional-structural plant models (FSPMs) simulate biological processes at different spatial scales. Methods exist for multiscale data representation and modification, but the advantages of using multiple scales in the dynamic aspects of FSPMs remain unclear. Results from multiscale models in various other areas of science that share fundamental modelling issues with FSPMs suggest that potential advantages do exist, and this study therefore aims to introduce an approach to multiscale modelling in FSPMs. A three-part graph data structure and grammar is revisited, and presented with a conceptual framework for multiscale modelling. The framework is used for identifying roles, categorizing and describing scale-to-scale interactions, thus allowing alternative approaches to model development as opposed to correlation-based modelling at a single scale. Reverse information flow (from macro- to micro-scale) is catered for in the framework. The methods are implemented within the programming language XL. Three example models are implemented using the proposed multiscale graph model and framework. The first illustrates the fundamental usage of the graph data structure and grammar, the second uses probabilistic modelling for organs at the fine scale in order to derive crown growth, and the third combines multiscale plant topology with ozone trends and metabolic network simulations in order to model juvenile beech stands under exposure to a toxic trace gas. The graph data structure supports data representation and grammar operations at multiple scales. The results demonstrate that multiscale modelling is a viable method in FSPM and an alternative to correlation-based modelling. Advantages and disadvantages of multiscale modelling are illustrated by comparisons with single-scale implementations, leading to motivations for further research in sensitivity analysis and run-time efficiency for these models.

Determinants of The Application of Macro Prudential Instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zakaria Firano

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The use of macro prudential instruments today gives rise to a major debate within the walls of central banks and other authorities in charge of financial stability. Contrary to micro prudential instruments, whose effects remain limited, macro prudential instruments are different in nature and can affect the stability of the financial system. By influencing the financial cycle and the financial structure of financial institutions, the use of such instruments should be conducted with great vigilance as well as macroeconomic and financial expertise. But the experiences of central banks in this area are sketchy, and only some emerging countries have experience using these types of instruments in different ways. This paper presents an analysis of instruments of macro prudential policy and attempts to empirically demonstrate that these instruments should be used only in specific economic and financial situations. Indeed, the results obtained, using modeling bivariate panel, confirm that these instruments are more effective when used to mitigate the euphoria of financial and economic cycles. In this sense, the output gap, describing the economic cycle, and the Z-score are the intermediate variables for the activation of capital instruments. Moreover, the liquidity ratio and changes in bank profitability are the two early warning indicators for activation of liquidity instruments.

Macro-economic impact of large-scale deployment of biomass resources for energy and materials on a national level—A combined approach for the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoefnagels, Ric; Banse, Martin; Dornburg, Veronika; Faaij, André

2013-01-01

Biomass is considered one of the most important options in the transition to a sustainable energy system with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increased security of enegry supply. In order to facilitate this transition with targeted policies and implementation strategies, it is of vital importance to understand the economic benefits, uncertainties and risks of this transition. This article presents a quantification of the economic impacts on value added, employment shares and the trade balance as well as required biomass and avoided primary energy and greenhouse gases related to large scale biomass deployment on a country level (the Netherlands) for different future scenarios to 2030. This is done by using the macro-economic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model LEITAP, capable of quantifying direct and indirect effects of a bio-based economy combined with a spread sheet tool to address underlying technological details. Although the combined approach has limitations, the results of the projections show that substitution of fossil energy carriers by biomass, could have positive economic effects, as well as reducing GHG emissions and fossil energy requirement. Key factors to achieve these targets are enhanced technological development and the import of sustainable biomass resources to the Netherlands. - Highlights: • We analyse large scale production of bioenergy and biochemicals in the Netherlands. • The scenarios include up to 30% substitution of fossil fuels by biomass in 2030. • Resulting in strong greenhouse gas savings and positive macro-economic effects. • Large amounts of imported biomass are required to meet the domestic demand. • This requires high rates of technological change and strict sustainability criteria

Investigating equality: The poverty and riches indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eliazar, Iddo

2016-01-01

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

Impact of Macro-economic Factors on Deposit Formation by Ukrainian Population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shevaldina Valentyna H.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of the article is detection of interconnections between the common economic processes and formation of bank deposits by population. The article builds a correlation and regression model of complex assessment of interconnection between macro-economic factors, savings behaviour of population and level of deposits of population in banks for two hour horizons: short-term, which is characterised with deployment of crisis phenomena both in global economy and in Ukrainian economy and the medium-term one. The article characterises the most significant common macro-economic factors. In the result of the study the article establishes that Ukrainian population is oriented at short-term horizon when forming savings due to the uncertainty in future. In the medium-term prospective, savings of the population are formed basically under influence of macro-economic factors, while formation of deposits by Ukrainian population is mostly influenced by socio-psychological factors.

The Baltic Sea Macro-Regional Transport Cluster as an Element of the Silk Road Economic Belt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nežerenko Olga

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the opportunities of the Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road”, for the development of the Baltic Sea macro-region (BSR, as a single transport cluster. One of the objectives of the initiative is to strengthen transport linkages from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea Region. Thus, the contemporary macro-regional approach to the development of EU macro-regions can provide an additional impulse to the creation of formal macro-regional inter-cooperation, via in this case, the project that will advance the transport infrastructure of the region. This study examines the situation of the railway sector in the BSR in the period 2004–2015, through hierarchical cluster analysis, to identify countries with similar trends in cargo flow turnover. Taking into account the favorable geographical position of Poland, its transport performance and advanced (in comparison to other Baltic Sea region countries relations with China, it is concluded that Poland’s conditions are more suitable to promote economic integration with its closest neighbors – the Baltic countries-through the creation of formal macro-regional railway transport within the Rail Baltic project.

Macro-level integrated renewable energy production schemes for sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subhadra, Bobban G.

2011-01-01

The production of renewable clean energy is a prime necessity for the sustainable future existence of our planet. However, because of the resource-intensive nature, and other challenges associated with these new generation renewable energy sources, novel industrial frameworks need to be co-developed. Integrated renewable energy production schemes with foundations on resource sharing, carbon neutrality, energy-efficient design, source reduction, green processing plan, anthropogenic use of waste resources for the production green energy along with the production of raw material for allied food and chemical industries is imperative for the sustainable development of this sector especially in an emission-constrained future industrial scenario. To attain these objectives, the scope of hybrid renewable production systems and integrated renewable energy industrial ecology is briefly described. Further, the principles of Integrated Renewable Energy Park (IREP) approach, an example for macro-level energy production, and its benefits and global applications are also explored. - Research highlights: → Discusses the need for macro-level renewable energy production schemes. → Scope of hybrid and integrated industrial ecology for renewable energy production. → Integrated Renewable Energy Parks (IREPs): A macro-level energy production scheme. → Discusses the principle foundations and global applications of IREPs. → Describes the significance of IREPs in the carbon-neutral future business arena.

Dependence of credit spread and macro-conditions based on an alterable structure model

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

The fat-tail financial data and cyclical financial market makes it difficult for the fixed structure model based on Gaussian distribution to characterize the dynamics of corporate bonds spreads. Using a flexible structure model based on generalized error distribution, this paper focuses on the impact of macro-level factors on the spreads of corporate bonds in China. It is found that in China's corporate bonds market, macroeconomic conditions have obvious structural transformational effects on bonds spreads, and their structural features remain stable with the downgrade of bonds ratings. The impact of macroeconomic conditions on spreads is significant for different structures, and the differences between the structures increase as ratings decline. For different structures, the persistent characteristics of bonds spreads are obviously stronger than those of recursive ones, which suggest an obvious speculation in bonds market. It is also found that the structure switching of bonds with different ratings is not synchronous, which indicates the shift of investment between different grades of bonds. PMID:29723295

Dependence of credit spread and macro-conditions based on an alterable structure model.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yun; Tian, Yixiang; Xiao, Zhuang; Zhou, Xiangyun

2018-01-01

The fat-tail financial data and cyclical financial market makes it difficult for the fixed structure model based on Gaussian distribution to characterize the dynamics of corporate bonds spreads. Using a flexible structure model based on generalized error distribution, this paper focuses on the impact of macro-level factors on the spreads of corporate bonds in China. It is found that in China's corporate bonds market, macroeconomic conditions have obvious structural transformational effects on bonds spreads, and their structural features remain stable with the downgrade of bonds ratings. The impact of macroeconomic conditions on spreads is significant for different structures, and the differences between the structures increase as ratings decline. For different structures, the persistent characteristics of bonds spreads are obviously stronger than those of recursive ones, which suggest an obvious speculation in bonds market. It is also found that the structure switching of bonds with different ratings is not synchronous, which indicates the shift of investment between different grades of bonds.

Automation of the Weighting and its Register Using Macros; Automatizacion de la Pesada y su Registro mediante el Uso de Macro-Instrucciones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gasco, C.; Ampudia, J.

2005-07-01

Macros automate a repetitive or complex task that oneself otherwise would have to execute manually. Macros have been implemented (based on Visual Basic Applications) on the laboratory calculation sheets to obtain automatically the weight-registers from the Balances. The combined utilization of the programme Balint (trademark Precisa) and macros has allowed us to transfer in real time the weight data to the sheets and later information storage. The method for using these macros has been summarised in this report. This way of working permits: to register the data of all the laboratory samples and to be available for auditory purposes. (Author) 4 refs.

Clinimetrics and clinical psychometrics: macro- and micro-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomba, Elena; Bech, Per

2012-01-01

Clinimetrics was introduced three decades ago to specify the domain of clinical markers in clinical medicine (indexes or rating scales). In this perspective, clinical validity is the platform for selecting the various indexes or rating scales (macro-analysis). Psychometric validation of these indexes or rating scales is the measuring aspect (micro-analysis). Clinical judgment analysis by experienced psychiatrists is included in the macro-analysis and the item response theory models are especially preferred in the micro-analysis when using the total score as a sufficient statistic. Clinical assessment tools covering severity of illness scales, prognostic measures, issues of co-morbidity, longitudinal assessments, recovery, stressors, lifestyle, psychological well-being, and illness behavior have been identified. The constructive dialogue in clinimetrics between clinical judgment and psychometric validation procedures is outlined for generating developments of clinical practice in psychiatry. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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

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

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

Design for manufacturability of macro and micro products: a case study of heat exchanger design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Omidvarnia, F.; Weng Feng, L.; Hansen, H. N.

2018-01-01

In this paper, a novel methodology in designing a micro heat exchanger is proposed by modifying a conventional design methodology for macro products with the considerations of differences between design of a micro and a macro product. The methodology starts with the identification of differences...... for fabricating micro heat exchangers are ranked based on the defined criteria. Following the design methodology, primary design ideas for micro heat exchangers are generated according to the heat transfer principles for macro heat exchangers. Taking micro design considerations into account, the designs from next...... iteration are created. Finally, the performances of the designs for micro heat exchangers are compared with their macro counterparts. The most appropriate designs for micro heat exchangers are finalized. The micro specific design guidelines obtained by the designer through evaluating the modeling results...

Territorial Dynamics and Gender Equality Policies in Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alba Alonso

2014-12-01

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

Gender equality revisited:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rostgaard, Tine; B. Eydal, G.

2011-01-01

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

Equality in the Framework of Justice

OpenAIRE

Aşik, Kübra

2015-01-01

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

A macro perspective for client-centred practice in curricula: Critique and teaching methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming-Castaldy, Rita P

2015-07-01

Client-centred practice is often eclipsed by social, economic, and political inequities. Ignoring these realities obstructs clients' goal attainment. The author advocates for the integration of a macro perspective inclusive of participation barriers and supports in occupational therapy curricula and seeks to motivate educators to adopt teaching approaches that develop students' abilities to address the complexities of client-centred practice. This article integrates a critical analysis of the literature on client-centred practice with reflexivity on disability studies and autoethnography. Educational standards require students to learn about the social, economic, and political contexts that impact on client-centred practice and the need for advocacy to enable participation. Theoretical support of a macro perspective for client-centred practice is strongly evident in the literature. Information on methods for teaching students how to actualize these concepts in practice is scant. Thus, strategies to inform the integration of a macro perspective into curricula and concrete activities to develop students' competencies for empowered client-centred practice are required. Educators have an ethical responsibility to critique their pedagogy to determine whether they are adequately preparing students for client-centred practice. The focus must move from teaching a micro perspective of client-centred practice to a macro perspective that enables occupational justice and empowerment.

Individual Mortality and Macro-Economic Conditions from Birth to Death

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindeboom, Maarten; Portrait, France; Berg, van den G.J.

2003-01-01

This paper analyzes the effects of macro-economic conditions throughout life on the individual mortality rate. We estimate flexible duration models where the individual's mortality rate depends on current conditions, conditions earlier in life (notably during childhood), calendar time, age,

Macro-meso-micro thinking with structure-property relations for chemistry education: an explorative design based study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, M.R.

2011-01-01

‘You went deeper, step by step, towards a level with a lower scale’. This is a statement of a student that is characteristic for macro-micro thinking in this thesis. Macro-micro thinking refers to a way of reasoning, using causal relations between properties of materials and submicroscopic models of

Multidisciplinary acute care research organization (MACRO): if you build it, they will come.

Science.gov (United States)

Early, Barbara J; Huang, David T; Callaway, Clifton W; Zenati, Mazen; Angus, Derek C; Gunn, Scott R; Yealy, Donald M; Unikel, Daniel; Billiar, Timothy R; Peitzman, Andrew B; Sperry, Jason L

2013-07-01

Clinical research will increasingly play a core role in the evolution and growth of acute care surgery program development across the country. What constitutes an efficient and effective clinical research infrastructure in the current fiscal and academic environment remains obscure. We sought to characterize the effects of implementation of a multidisciplinary acute care research organization (MACRO) at a busy tertiary referral university setting. In 2008, to minimize redundancy and cost as well as to maximize existing resources promoting acute care research, MACRO was created, unifying clinical research infrastructure among the Departments of Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Surgery. During the periods 2008 to 2012, we performed a retrospective analysis and determined volume of clinical studies, patient enrollment for both observational and interventional trials, and staff growth since MACRO's origination and characterized changes over time. From 2008 to 2011, the volume of patients enrolled in clinical studies, which MACRO facilitates has significantly increased more than 300%. The percentage of interventional/observational trials has remained stable during the same period (50-60%). Staff has increased from 6 coordinators to 10, with an additional 15 research associates allowing 24/7 service. With this significant growth, MACRO has become financially self-sufficient, and additional outside departments now seek MACRO's services. Appropriate organization of acute care clinical research infrastructure minimizes redundancy and can promote sustainable, efficient growth in the current academic environment. Further studies are required to determine if similar models can be successful at other acute care surgery programs.

THE CULTURE AND ARTS ORGANIZATION: MACRO-SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarita Rasimovna Pashaeva

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this study we analyze the macro-sociological aspect of culture and arts organization. The subject of research is reputation policy and communication technologies in  macro-sociological aspect of culture and arts organization. The target is the research the effects of macro-sociological aspect in the activities of such organization. In the study were used such methods of research: theoretical study and  synthesis; quantative method of elicitation: questionnaire; information processing methods of primary analysis; interpretation. The results of research can be applied in the activities of different culture and arts organization. The research identified the negative and positive tendencies in the context of the macro-sociological aspect.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-8-49

[A global view of population health in Colombia: role of social macro-determinants].

Science.gov (United States)

Idrovo, Alvaro J; Ruiz-Rodríguez, Myriam

2007-09-01

The social environment is an important determinant of population and individual health. However, its impact is often not considered in national health policies and generally its attributes are considered as constants. For this reason, contemporary health policies place greater emphasis on individual risk factors. Colombias position in the world ranking is described with respect to several social macro-determinants of health, previously characterized as components of class/welfare regime model. The exploratory study included all countries with comparable data including the following: (1) economic development [gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity], (2) income inequality [Gini coefficient], (3) social capital corruption perceptions index and generalized trust, and (4) political regime index of freedom. First, correlations between these macro-determinants were estimated, and second, the relationship between them and life expectancy at birth was explored. Finally, the position of Colombia in global context was determined. Important correlations occurred among the macro-determinants. Colombia tended to have intermediate to low positions in the global context in all macro-determinants, with the exception of gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity. The macro-determinant of population health with the highest potential of effecting improvement in health conditions is to modify income inequality.

Three hitherto unreported macro-fungi from Kashmir Himalaya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pala, S.A.; Wana, A.H.; Boda, R.H.

2012-01-01

The Himalayan state, Jammu and Kashmir due to its climate ranging from tropical deciduous forests to temperate and coniferous forests provides congenial habitat for the growth of diverse macro fungal species which in turn gives it the status of 'hub' of macro-fungal species. The macro fungal species richness of the state is directly related to its expansive forest communities and diverse weather patterns, but all the regions of the state have not been extensively surveyed till now. In this backdrop, a systematic survey for exploration and inventorization of macro fungal species of Western Kashmir Himalaya was undertaken during the year 2009 and 2010, which in turn resulted identification of the three species viz., Thelephora caryophyllea (Schaeff.) Pers., Coltricia cinnamomea (Pers.) Murr., and Guepinia helvelloides Fr. as new reports from the Kashmir. These species were identified on the basis of macro and microscopic characters and also the aid of taxonomic keys, field manuals, mushroom herbaria and help from expert taxonomists in the related field was taken into account. (author)

Distributive Equality, Relational Equality and Preferences about Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Kristin

2017-01-01

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

Macro-economic Impact Study for Bio-based Malaysia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijl, van H.; Smeets, E.M.W.; Dijk, van M.; Powell, J.P.; Tabeau, A.A.

2012-01-01

This Macro-economic Impact Study (MES) provides quantitative insights into the macro-economic effects of introducing green, palmbased alternatives for electricity, fuels, chemicals and materials industries in Malaysia between now and 2030.

Prioritizing environmental justice and equality: diesel emissions in southern California.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Julian D; Swor, Kathryn R; Nguyen, Nam P

2014-04-01

Existing environmental policies aim to reduce emissions but lack standards for addressing environmental justice. Environmental justice research documents disparities in exposure to air pollution; however, little guidance currently exists on how to make improvements or on how specific emission-reduction scenarios would improve or deteriorate environmental justice conditions. Here, we quantify how emission reductions from specific sources would change various measures of environmental equality and justice. We evaluate potential emission reductions for fine diesel particulate matter (DPM) in Southern California for five sources: on-road mobile, off-road mobile, ships, trains, and stationary. Our approach employs state-of-the-science dispersion and exposure models. We compare four environmental goals: impact, efficiency, equality, and justice. Results indicate potential trade-offs among those goals. For example, reductions in train emissions produce the greatest improvements in terms of efficiency, equality, and justice, whereas off-road mobile source reductions can have the greatest total impact. Reductions in on-road emissions produce improvements in impact, equality, and justice, whereas emission reductions from ships would widen existing population inequalities. Results are similar for complex versus simplified exposure analyses. The approach employed here could usefully be applied elsewhere to evaluate opportunities for improving environmental equality and justice in other locations.

Macro-economic impact of loss of health; Macro-economische impact van gezondheidsverlies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franchimon, F. [BAM Techniek, Capelle a/d IJssel (Netherlands); Ament, H.J.A. [Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht (Netherlands); Knies, J.; Pernot, C.E.E. [Pernot Consulting, Heeze (Netherlands); Van Bronswijk, J.M.H. [Technische Universiteit Eindhoven TUE, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2010-11-15

More healthy life years are achievable by dwelling improvements. This article computes the healthy life years that may be gained by increased ventilation rates. It concerns the diseases Asthma, COPD en lung cancer. Increased ventilation removes house dust mites and their allergens, as well as tobacco smoke, which are associated with these diseases. Costs and savings are computes and compared in order to test the macro-economical feasibility of increased ventilation in dwellings. [Dutch] Door verbetering van woningen zijn veel gezonde levensjaren te behalen. In dit artikel worden de gewonnen gezonde levensjaren uitgerekend door meer ventileren voor de ziekten astma, COPD en longkanker. Zowel huisstofmijtallergeen als tabaksrook zijn geassocieerd met astma, COPD en longkanker. De kosten en de opbrengsten van meer ventileren worden met elkaar vergeleken om de macro-economische haalbaarheid te toetsen.

Synopsis Session III and IV 'Water and ion mobility, up-scaling and implementation in model approaches'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

The contributions of Session III 'Water and ion mobility' and Session IV 'Up-scaling and implementation in model approaches' were merged for the proceedings volume. The range of scales we are interested in starts at molecular scale (1-3 Angstrom) to crystal scale (3 Angstrom-2 nm) over particle scale with 2-200 nm dimension to the particle/macro-aggregate scale with 0.2-1500 μm. Methods available to study the particle scale concerning pore structure and connectivity which determines water mobility are under dry conditions N 2 adsorption and Hg intrusion, whereas under the hydrated state methods like X-Ray tomography and X-ray and neutron scattering are available. Going down in size molecular modeling, x-ray and neutron diffraction modeling and water adsorption gravimetry are inter alia available. There are resolution limits to the methods presented in session II (e.g. BIB-SEM) on pore characterization as e.g. the clay matrix characterization being only possible under a limited clay induration and pore throats being on the limit of resolution. These pore throats however are very important for as macroscopic phenomena observed. One methodological approach to bridge the gap between the molecular/crystal scale and the particle/macro-aggregate scale (FIB-SEM) is to use complementary techniques as cryo-NMR, N 2 and water ad-/desorption and TEM

Charge Equalization Controller Algorithm for Series-Connected Lithium-Ion Battery Storage Systems: Modeling and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahammad A. Hannan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to develop an accurate model of a charge equalization controller (CEC that manages individual cell monitoring and equalizing by charging and discharging series-connected lithium-ion (Li-ion battery cells. In this concept, an intelligent control algorithm is developed to activate bidirectional cell switches and control direct current (DC–DC converter switches along with pulse width modulation (PWM generation. Individual models of an electric vehicle (EV-sustainable Li-ion battery, optimal power rating, a bidirectional flyback DC–DC converter, and charging and discharging controllers are integrated to develop a small-scale CEC model that can be implemented for 10 series-connected Li-ion battery cells. Results show that the charge equalization controller operates at 91% efficiency and performs well in equalizing both overdischarged and overcharged cells on time. Moreover, the outputs of the CEC model show that the desired balancing level occurs at 2% of state of charge difference and that all cells are operated within a normal range. The configuration, execution, control, power loss, cost, size, and efficiency of the developed CEC model are compared with those of existing controllers. The proposed model is proven suitable for high-tech storage systems toward the advancement of sustainable EV technologies and renewable source of applications.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-09-01

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

Fast generation of macro basis functions for LEGO through the adaptive cross approximation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lancellotti, V.

2015-01-01

We present a method for the fast generation of macro basis functions in the context of the linear embedding via Green's operators approach (LEGO) which is a domain decomposition technique based on the combination of electromagnetic bricks in turn described by means of scattering operators. We show

Time-History Seismic Analysis of Masonry Buildings: A Comparison between Two Non-Linear Modelling Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michele Betti

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a comparison between two numerical modelling approaches employed to investigate the seismic behavior of unreinforced masonry buildings with flexible diaphragms. The comparison is performed analyzing a two-story prototype tested on a shaking table at the CNR-ENEA research center of Casaccia (Italy. The first numerical model was built by using the finite element (FE technique, while the second one was built by a simplified macro-element (ME approach. Both models were employed to perform non-linear dynamic analyses, integrating the equations of motion by step-by-step procedures. The shaking table tests were simulated to analyze the behavior of the prototype from the initial elastic state until the development of extensive damage. The main results of the analyses are discussed and critically compared in terms of engineering parameters, such as accelerations, displacements and base shears. The effectiveness of both models within the investigated typology of buildings is then evaluated in depth.

Equalization method for Medipix3RX

CERN Document Server

Rinkel, Jean; Wagner, Franz; Frojdh, Erik; Ballabriga Sune, Rafael

2015-01-01

This paper describes a new method of threshold equalization for X-ray detectors based on the Medipix3RX ASIC, using electrical pulses to calibrate and correct for the threshold dispersion between pixels. This method involves a coarse threshold tuning, based on two 8 bits global DACs and which sets the range of variation of the threshold values; and a fine-tuning, based on two 5-bits adjustment DACs per pixel. As our fine-tuning approach is based on a state-of-the-art methodology, our coarse tuning relies on an original theoretical model. This model takes into account the noise level of the ASIC, which varies with temperature and received radiation dose. The experimental results using 300 μm Si sensor and Kα fluorescence of Zn show a global energy resolution improvement of 14% compared to previous equalization methods. We compared these results with the best achievable global energy resolution given by the resolution of individual pixels and concluded that the remaining 14% difference was due to the discreti...

An Integrated Modelling and Toolpathing Approach for a Frameless Stressed Skin Structure, Fabricated Using Robotic Incremental Sheet Forming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nicholas, Paul; Stasiuk, David; Nørgaard, Esben Clausen

2016-01-01

with performance implications at material, element and structural scales. This paper briefly presents ISF as a method of fabrication, and introduces the context of structures where the skin plays an integral role. It describes the development of an integrated approach for the modelling and fabrication of Stressed...... Skins, an incrementally formed sheet metal structure. The paper then focus upon the use of prototypes and empirical testing as means to inform digital models about fabrication and material parameters including: material forming limits and thinning; the parameterisation of macro and meso simulations...

Equal Pay for Equal Work in Academic Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Eichelberger, Kacey Y

2018-02-01

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

Control of a flexible beam actuated by macro-fiber composite patches: I. Modeling and feedforward trajectory control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schröck, Johannes; Meurer, Thomas; Kugi, Andreas

2011-01-01

This paper considers a systematic approach for motion planning and feedforward control design for a flexible cantilever actuated by piezoelectric macro-fiber composite (MFC) patches. For accurate feedforward tracking control, special attention has to be paid to the inherent nonlinear hysteresis and creep behavior of these actuators. In order to account for these effects an appropriate compensator is applied which allows us to perform the tracking controller design on the basis of a linear infinite-dimensional model. A detailed analysis of the nonlinear actuator behavior as well as the compensator design and the overall experimental validation is presented in the companion paper (Schröck et al 2011 Smart Mater. Struct. 20 015016). The governing equations of motion of the hysteresis and creep compensated cantilever are determined by means of the extended Hamilton's principle. This allows us to consider the influence of the bonded patch actuators on the mechanical properties of the underlying beam structure in a straightforward manner and results in a model with spatially varying system parameters. For the solution of the motion planning and feedforward control problem a flatness-based methodology is proposed. In a first step, the infinite-dimensional system of the MFC-actuated flexible cantilever is approximated by a finite-dimensional model, where all system variables, i.e. the states, input and output, can be parameterized in terms of a so-called flat output. In a second step, it is shown by numerical simulations that these parameterizations converge with increasing system order of the finite-dimensional model such that the feedforward control input can be directly calculated in order to realize prescribed output trajectories

Reducing the risk of the collapse of the soil by macro system modeling the slopes stability of the quarries

Science.gov (United States)

Klimova, E. V.; Semeykin, A. Yu

2018-01-01

The urgent task of modern production is to reduce the risks of man-made disasters and, as a consequence, preserve the life and health of workers, material properties and natural environment. In the mining industry, one of the reasons for the high level of injuries and accidents is the collapse of the soil. Macro system modelling of slopes stability of the quarries is based on the compliance with the conditions of physical and mathematical correctness of the application of the model of a continuous medium. This type of modelling allows to choose the safe parameters of the slopes of the quarries and to reduce the risk of collapse of the soil.

Model and Analytic Processes for Export License Assessments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, Sandra E.; Whitney, Paul D.; Weimar, Mark R.; Wood, Thomas W.; Daly, Don S.; Brothers, Alan J.; Sanfilippo, Antonio P.; Cook, Diane; Holder, Larry

2011-09-29

This paper represents the Department of Energy Office of Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22) Simulations, Algorithms and Modeling (SAM) Program's first effort to identify and frame analytical methods and tools to aid export control professionals in effectively predicting proliferation intent; a complex, multi-step and multi-agency process. The report focuses on analytical modeling methodologies that alone, or combined, may improve the proliferation export control license approval process. It is a follow-up to an earlier paper describing information sources and environments related to international nuclear technology transfer. This report describes the decision criteria used to evaluate modeling techniques and tools to determine which approaches will be investigated during the final 2 years of the project. The report also details the motivation for why new modeling techniques and tools are needed. The analytical modeling methodologies will enable analysts to evaluate the information environment for relevance to detecting proliferation intent, with specific focus on assessing risks associated with transferring dual-use technologies. Dual-use technologies can be used in both weapons and commercial enterprises. A decision-framework was developed to evaluate which of the different analytical modeling methodologies would be most appropriate conditional on the uniqueness of the approach, data availability, laboratory capabilities, relevance to NA-22 and Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation (NA-24) research needs and the impact if successful. Modeling methodologies were divided into whether they could help micro-level assessments (e.g., help improve individual license assessments) or macro-level assessment. Macro-level assessment focuses on suppliers, technology, consumers, economies, and proliferation context. Macro-level assessment technologies scored higher in the area of uniqueness because less work has been done at the macro level. An

A New Macro Model for Traffic Flow on a Highway with Ramps and Numerical Tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Tieqiao; Huang Haijun; Zhang Ying; Wong, S.C.; Gao Ziyou

2009-01-01

In this paper, we present a new macro model for traffic flow on a highway with ramps based on the existing models. We use the new model to study the effects of on-off-ramp on the main road traffic during the morning rush period and the evening rush period. Numerical tests show that, during the two rush periods, these effects are often different and related to the status of the main road traffic. If the main road traffic flow is uniform, then ramps always produce stop-and-go traffic when the main road density is between two critical values, and ramps have little effect on the main road traffic when the main road density is less than the smaller critical value or greater than the larger critical value. If a small perturbation appears on the main road, ramp may lead to stop-and-go traffic, or relieve or even eliminate the stop-and-go traffic, under different circumstances. These results are consistent with real traffic, which shows that the new model is reasonable.

Gender Equality and the Corporate Sector

OpenAIRE

Lisa Warth

2009-01-01

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

Sustaining anti-littering behavior within coastal and marine environments: Through the macro-micro level lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Beeharry, Yashna Devi; Bekaroo, Girish; Bokhoree, Chandradeo; Phillips, Michael Robert; Jory, Neelakshi

2017-06-30

Being regarded as a problem of global dimensions, marine litter has been a growing concern that affects human beings, wildlife and the economic health of coastal communities to varying degrees. Due to its involvement with human behavior, marine littering has been regarded as a cultural matter encompassing macro and micro level aspects. At the micro or individual level, behavior and behavioral motivation of an individual are driven by perception of that person while at the macro or societal level, aspects including policies and legislations influence behavior. This paper investigates marine littering through the macro-micro level lenses in order to analyze and recommend how anti-littering behavior can be improved and sustained. Using Coleman's model of micro-macro relations, research questions are formulated and investigated through a social survey. Results showed important differences in perceptions among participating groups and to address key issues, potential actions are proposed along with a framework to sustain anti-littering behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Resource Partitioning for Downlink Femto-to-Macro-Cell Interference Avoidance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zubin Bharucha

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Femto-cells consist of user-deployed Home Evolved NodeBs (HeNBs that promise substantial gains in system spectral efficiency, coverage, and data rates due to an enhanced reuse of radio resources. However, reusing radio resources in an uncoordinated, random fashion introduces potentially destructive interference to the system, both, in the femto and macro layers. An especially critical scenario is a closed-access femto-cell, cochannel deployed with a macro-cell, which imposes strong downlink interference to nearby macro user equipments (UEs that are not permitted to hand over to the femto-cell. In order to maintain reliable service of macro-cells, it is imperative to mitigate the destructive femto-cell to macro-cell interference. The contribution in this paper focuses on mitigating downlink femto-cell to macro-cell interference through dynamic resource partitioning, in the way that HeNBs are denied access to downlink resources that are assigned to macro UEs in their vicinity. By doing so, interference to the most vulnerable macro UEs is effectively controlled at the expense of a modest degradation in femto-cell capacity. The necessary signaling is conveyed through downlink high interference indicator (DL-HII messages over the wired backbone. Extensive system level simulations demonstrate that by using resource partitioning, for a sacrifice of 4% of overall femto downlink capacity, macro UEs exposed to high HeNB interference experience a tenfold boost in capacity.

Intake of macro- and micronutrients in Danish vegans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Nadja B; Madsen, Mia L; H Hansen, Tue

2015-01-01

Since information about macro- and micronutrient intake among vegans is limited we aimed to determine and evaluate their dietary and supplementary intake. Seventy 18-61 years old Danish vegans completed a four-day weighed food record from which their daily intake of macro- and micronutrients was ...

Complex energy eigenstates in a model with two equal mass particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gleiser, R J; Reula, D A; Moreschi, O M [Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (Argentina). Inst. de Matematica, Astronomia y Fisica

1980-09-01

The properties of a simples quantum mechanical model for the decay of two equal mass particles are studied and related to some recent work on complex energy eigenvalues. It consists essentially in a generalization of the Lee-Friedrichs model for an unstable particle and gives a highly idealized version of the K/sup 0/-anti K/sup 0/ system, including CP violations. The model is completely solvable, thus allowing a comparison with the well known Weisskopf-Wigner formalism for the decay amplitudes. A different model, describing the same system is also briefly outlined.

Documentation for Grants Equal To Tax model: Volume 2, User manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

The Grants Equal To Tax (GETT) model was developed to assist in evaluating the amount of Federal grant monies that would go to State and local jurisdictions as a result of site characterization and repository activities. Because a variety of policy issues are involved in estimating the grant payments, the GETT model is designed to have the flexibility to implement different policy options. The GETT User Manual describes how to run the GETT model and how to modify the data bases. 22 figs

[The nurse's administrative point of view in the hospitalar macro system: a reflexive study].

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Fábia Maria; Soares, Enedina

2006-01-01

The study aimed at investigating the nurses' administration points of view concerning managing activities in the hospital macro-system, based on the Administration Contingent Theory A group of 9 nurses responsible for the administration of nursing services at 6 reference hospitals in Fortaleza/Ceara, participated of the study. Data were assessed by means of free interview techniques, from August to December 2001. The results suggest that the administrative approach focused the development of Leadership and Control activities. The interview outcomes reveal that nursing administration in a Hospital Macro-system was not perceived as an easy task, but feasible nevertheless. The greatest difficulty seemed to be due to a poor reflexive practice about the nurse's administrative attributions.

Macro economic profitability of hourly measurements and binary communications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, Christian; Lund, Arne-Christian

2005-11-01

There are several actors that are subject to hourly measurements and dynamic pricing. The effects are registered in several analyses. A typical division would be effects connected to power producers, power deliverers, network companies and end users. In a macro economic analysis the goal would be to identify alterations in total benefits and costs. The transition from studying isolated effects for single actors to a macro economic perspective produces several principal problems. When the analysis is based on the effects for various actors it would be important to identify transitions between various actors that in itself does not contribute to alterations in the macro economic profit. At the same time it will be important that effects to be valued are evaluated in a consistent an consequential way. In this context it may be beneficial to use a model for the actors adaptation to the power market where various effects may be used. This working paper describes utility and cost elements that is a basis for Norwegian and foreign analysis of hourly measurements and dynamic prices. The survey shows that it is a large agreement between different investigations with respect to principle effects to be emphasized. There is however, variation with respect to what effects actually are in operation and quantified. There may also be large deviances in the valuation of various utility and cost components. Some single effects are studied closer. An effort is made to compare certain figures from the literature. However, this comparison has been difficult because it is not always clear what conditions have lead to the figures in use. There are large variations between the various analysis estimates. There may be several reasons. The technical products to be priced may vary. It is also evident that the costs for changing measuring equipment may be dependent of the management strategy. The paper refers to newer theoretical literature about the effects of hourly measurements and dynamic

A micro-macro constitutive model for finite-deformation viscoelasticity of elastomers with nonlinear viscosity

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jianyou; Jiang, Liying; Khayat, Roger E.

2018-01-01

Elastomers are known to exhibit viscoelastic behavior under deformation, which is linked to the diffusion processes of the highly mobile and flexible polymer chains. Inspired by the theories of polymer dynamics, a micro-macro constitutive model is developed to study the viscoelastic behaviors and the relaxation process of elastomeric materials under large deformation, in which the material parameters all have a microscopic foundation or a microstructural justification. The proposed model incorporates the nonlinear material viscosity into the continuum finite-deformation viscoelasticity theories which represent the polymer networks of elastomers with an elastic ground network and a few viscous subnetworks. The developed modeling framework is capable of adopting most of strain energy density functions for hyperelastic materials and thermodynamics evolution laws of viscoelastic solids. The modeling capacity of the framework is outlined by comparing the simulation results with the experimental data of three commonly used elastomeric materials, namely, VHB4910, HNBR50 and carbon black (CB) filled elastomers. The comparison shows that the stress responses and some typical behaviors of filled and unfilled elastomers can be quantitatively predicted by the model with suitable strain energy density functions. Particularly, the strain-softening effect of elastomers could be explained by the deformation-dependent (nonlinear) viscosity of the polymer chains. The presented modeling framework is expected to be useful as a modeling platform for further study on the performance of different type of elastomeric materials.

Time-dependent 2-D modeling of edge plasma transport with high intermittency due to blobs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pigarov, A. Yu.; Krasheninnikov, S. I.; Rognlien, T. D.

2012-01-01

The results on time-dependent 2-D fluid modeling of edge plasmas with non-diffusive intermittent transport across the magnetic field (termed cross-field) based on the novel macro-blob approach are presented. The capability of this approach to simulate the long temporal evolution (∼0.1 s) of the background plasma and simultaneously the fast spatiotemporal dynamics of blobs (∼10 −4 s) is demonstrated. An analysis of a periodic sequence of many macro-blobs (PSMB) is given showing that the resulting plasma attains a dynamic equilibrium. Plasma properties in the dynamic equilibrium are discussed. In PSMB modeling, the effect of macro-blob generation frequency on edge plasma parameters is studied. Comparison between PSMB modeling and experimental profile data is given. The calculations are performed for the same plasma discharge using two different models for anomalous cross-field transport: time-average convection and PSMB. Parametric analysis of edge plasma variation with transport coefficients in these models is presented. The capability of the models to accurately simulate enhanced transport due to blobs is compared. Impurity dynamics in edge plasma with macro-blobs is also studied showing strong impact of macro-blob on profiles of impurity charge states caused by enhanced outward transport of high-charge states and simultaneous inward transport of low-charge states towards the core. Macro-blobs cause enhancement of sputtering rates, increase radiation and impurity concentration in plasma, and change erosion/deposition patterns.

Evaluation of vitrification factors from DWPF's macro-batch 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, T.B.

2000-01-01

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is evaluating new sampling and analytical methods that may be used to support future Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) batch acceptability decisions. This report uses data acquired during DWPF's processing of macro-batch 1 to determine a set of vitrification factors covering several SME and Melter Feed Tank (MFT) batches. Such values are needed for converting the cation measurements derived from the new methods to a ''glass'' basis. The available data from macro-batch 1 were used to examine the stability of these vitrification factors, to estimate their uncertainty over the course of a macro-batch, and to provide a recommendation on the use of a single factor for an entire macro-batch. The report is in response to Technical Task Request HLW/DWPF/TTR-980015

Technology strategy as macro-actor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tryggestad, Kjell

2003-01-01

-human entities to the explanatory repertoire of strategy research, another line of inquiry is pursued. The performative perspective thus proposed, is inspired by the classical work of Von Clausewitz and the recent anthropology of science, technology and organizational identities. In the proposed perspective...... case account for how the strategic technology and the strategic collective emerge and co-produce each other as a macro-actor, only to become transformed in unexpected ways - as common technology and reflective human subjects.In the concluding section, it is argued that the humanity of the reflective...... outcomes, as providers of explanations and observations. The expression `technological strategy as macro-actor' summarizes these findings and the associated implications for research and practice....

Dental Implant Macro-Design Features Can Impact the Dynamics of Osseointegration.

Science.gov (United States)

Vivan Cardoso, Marcio; Vandamme, Katleen; Chaudhari, Amol; De Rycker, Judith; Van Meerbeek, Bart; Naert, Ignace; Duyck, Joke

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical performance of two dental implant types possessing a different macro-design in the in vivo pig model. Titanium Aadva(TM) implants (GC, Tokyo, Japan) were compared with OsseoSpeed(TM) implants (Astra, Mölndal, Sweden), with the Aadva implant displaying significant larger inter-thread dimensions than the OsseoSpeed implant. Implants were installed in the parietal bone of 12 domestic pigs and left for healing for either 1 or 3 months. Implant osseointegration was evaluated by quantitative histology (bone volume relative to the tissue volume [BV/TV]; bone-to-implant contact [BIC]) for distinct implant regions (collar, body, total implant length) with specific implant thread features. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test with α = 0.05 was performed. An inferior amount of bone enveloping the Aadva implant compared with the OsseoSpeed implant was observed, in particular at the implant body part with its considerable inter-thread gaps (p macro-design negatively affected the amount of bone in direct contact with the implant for this specific implant part (p implant osseointegration at the initial healing stage (total implant length; 1-month healing; p implant displayed a clinically acceptable level of osseointegration, the findings demonstrate that implant macro-design features can impact the dynamics of implant osseointegration. Consideration of specific implant macro-design features should be made relative to the biological and mechanical microenvironment. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Improvement of aquaponic performance through micro- and macro-nutrient addition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ru, Dongyun; Liu, Jikai; Hu, Zhen; Zou, Yina; Jiang, Liping; Cheng, Xiaodian; Lv, Zhenting

2017-07-01

Aquaponics is one of the "zero waste" industry in the twenty-first century, and is considered to be one of the major trends for the future development of agriculture. However, the low nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) restricted its widely application. To date, many attempts have been conducted to improve its NUE. In the present study, effect of micro- and macro-nutrient addition on performance of tilapia-pak choi aquaponics was investigated. Results showed that the addition of micro- and macro-nutrients improved the growth of plant directly and facilitated fish physiology indirectly, which subsequently increased NUE of aquaponics from 40.42 to 50.64%. In addition, remarkable lower total phosphorus concentration was obtained in aquaponics with micro- and macro-nutrient addition, which was attributed to the formation of struvite. Most of the added micro-nutrients were enriched in plant root, while macro-nutrients mainly existed in water. Moreover, no enrichment of micro- and macro-nutrients in aquaponic products (i.e., fish and plant leaves) was observed, indicating that it had no influence on food safety. The findings here reported manifest that appropriate addition of micro- and macro-nutrients to aquaponics is necessary, and would improve its economic feasibility.

A neural approach for the numerical modeling of two-dimensional magnetic hysteresis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardelli, E.; Faba, A.; Laudani, A.; Riganti Fulginei, F.; Salvini, A.

2015-01-01

This paper deals with a neural network approach to model magnetic hysteresis at macro-magnetic scale. Such approach to the problem seems promising in order to couple the numerical treatment of magnetic hysteresis to FEM numerical solvers of the Maxwell's equations in time domain, as in case of the non-linear dynamic analysis of electrical machines, and other similar devices, making possible a full computer simulation in a reasonable time. The neural system proposed consists of four inputs representing the magnetic field and the magnetic inductions components at each time step and it is trained by 2-d measurements performed on the magnetic material to be modeled. The magnetic induction B is assumed as entry point and the output of the neural system returns the predicted value of the field H at the same time step. A suitable partitioning of the neural system, described in the paper, makes the computing process rather fast. Validations with experimental tests and simulations for non-symmetric and minor loops are presented

Relative efficiency of unequal versus equal cluster sizes in cluster randomized trials using generalized estimating equation models.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingxia; Colditz, Graham A

2018-05-01

There is growing interest in conducting cluster randomized trials (CRTs). For simplicity in sample size calculation, the cluster sizes are assumed to be identical across all clusters. However, equal cluster sizes are not guaranteed in practice. Therefore, the relative efficiency (RE) of unequal versus equal cluster sizes has been investigated when testing the treatment effect. One of the most important approaches to analyze a set of correlated data is the generalized estimating equation (GEE) proposed by Liang and Zeger, in which the "working correlation structure" is introduced and the association pattern depends on a vector of association parameters denoted by ρ. In this paper, we utilize GEE models to test the treatment effect in a two-group comparison for continuous, binary, or count data in CRTs. The variances of the estimator of the treatment effect are derived for the different types of outcome. RE is defined as the ratio of variance of the estimator of the treatment effect for equal to unequal cluster sizes. We discuss a commonly used structure in CRTs-exchangeable, and derive the simpler formula of RE with continuous, binary, and count outcomes. Finally, REs are investigated for several scenarios of cluster size distributions through simulation studies. We propose an adjusted sample size due to efficiency loss. Additionally, we also propose an optimal sample size estimation based on the GEE models under a fixed budget for known and unknown association parameter (ρ) in the working correlation structure within the cluster. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Navigating catastrophes: Local but not global optimisation allows for macro-economic navigation of crises

Science.gov (United States)

Harré, Michael S.

2013-02-01

Two aspects of modern economic theory have dominated the recent discussion on the state of the global economy: Crashes in financial markets and whether or not traditional notions of economic equilibrium have any validity. We have all seen the consequences of market crashes: plummeting share prices, businesses collapsing and considerable uncertainty throughout the global economy. This seems contrary to what might be expected of a system in equilibrium where growth dominates the relatively minor fluctuations in prices. Recent work from within economics as well as by physicists, psychologists and computational scientists has significantly improved our understanding of the more complex aspects of these systems. With this interdisciplinary approach in mind, a behavioural economics model of local optimisation is introduced and three general properties are proven. The first is that under very specific conditions local optimisation leads to a conventional macro-economic notion of a global equilibrium. The second is that if both global optimisation and economic growth are required then under very mild assumptions market catastrophes are an unavoidable consequence. Third, if only local optimisation and economic growth are required then there is sufficient parametric freedom for macro-economic policy makers to steer an economy around catastrophes without overtly disrupting local optimisation.

On equal constituent quark masses in different heavy quarkonia potential models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewin, K.; Motz, G.

1989-01-01

In a representative number of more or less QCD-motivated QQ-bar potentials the simultaneous transformations of potentials V' j (r)=V i (r)-V i (r 0 ), m' Qi +1/2V j (r 0 ) (i -model index) introduce approximately equal constituent quark masses m' Qi ≅m Q (Q=b,c) for all considered models. The known model independence of m bi -m ci is explained and the influence of the transformation on data reproduction is studied. 16 refs.; 4 figs.; 1 tab

Justifications of Gender Equality in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mathias Wullum

2014-01-01

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

Macro-level enabling conditions for the formation of social business enterprises in the Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron Laylo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose - A conducive and enabling environment is imperative for the formation of sustainable social business enterprises (SBEs. This paper aims to identify the macro-level enabling conditions necessary for SBE formation and to analyze them in the context of the Philippines, an emerging economy that is yet to be transformed into an inclusive one. Design/methodology/approach - Major developments on micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, specifically on social enterprises, were revisited and analyzed. The author also looked into how they are sustained, supported and nurtured in the Philippines’ overall economic landscape. Extensive data were collected from relevant agencies in public and private sectors, after which they were analyzed parallel to existing academic literature, i.e. theories, models and concepts, on social entrepreneurship and development nexus. Findings - It has been found that the four macro-level enabling conditions, namely, governance, socially inclusive economic approach, financial services and entrepreneurial culture, presumed to be vital for SBE formation, contribute to the latter at various levels, but surely complement each other in the process. Research limitations/implications - The significance of exploring the context in which social enterprises are formed and flourish lies in the sheer importance of understanding the sustained prevalence of SBEs in many economies – both in developed and developing ones. Originality/value - By having a more structured knowledge of the components surrounding SBE formation, the community may be able to also simultaneously explore why and how social entrepreneurs form profit-earning business entities that are primarily driven by social advocacies and goals.

Studies on the ANN implementation in the macro BIM cost analyzes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Juszczyk

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an approach which combines the concept of macro-level BIM-based cost analyzes and application of artificial intelligence tools – namely artificial neural networks. Discussion and foundations of the proposed approach are introduced in the paper to clarify the problem’s core. An exemplary case study reports the results of initial studies on the application of neural networks for the purposes of BIM-based cost analysis of a buildings’ floor structural frame. The results obtained justify the proposal of application of neural networks as a supportive mathematical tool in the problem presented in the paper.

Multi-scale-nonlinear interactions among macro-MHD mode, micro-turbulence, and zonal flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishizawa, Akihiro; Nakajima, Noriyoshi

2007-01-01

This is the first numerical simulation demonstrating that macro-magnetohydrodynamic (macro-MHD) mode is exited as a result of multi-scale interaction in a quasi-steady equilibrium formed by a balance between zonal flow and micro-turbulence via reduced-two-fluid simulation. Only after obtaining the equilibrium which includes zonal flow and the turbulence caused by kinetic ballooning mode is this simulation of macro-MHD mode, double tearing mode, accomplished. In the quasi-steady equilibrium a macro-fluctuation which has the same helicity as that of double tearing mode is a part of the turbulence until it grows as a macro-MHD mode finally. When the macro-MHD grows it effectively utilize free energy of equilibrium current density gradient because of positive feedback loop between suppression of zonal flow and growth of the macro-fluctuation causing magnetic reconnection. Thus once the macro-MHD grows from the quasi-equilibrium, it does not go back. This simulation is more comparable with experimental observation of growing macro-fluctuation than traditional MHD simulation of linear instabilities in a static equilibrium. (author)

Macro policy responses to oil booms and busts in the United Arab Emirates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Mutawa, A.K.

1991-01-01

The effects of oil shocks and macro policy changes in the United Arab Emirates are analyzed. A theoretical model is developed within the framework of the Dutch Disease literature. It contains four unique features that are applicable to the United Arab Emirates' economy. There are: (1) the presence of a large foreign labor force; (2) OPEC's oil export quotas; (3) the division of oil profits; and (4) the important role of government expenditures. The model is then used to examine the welfare effects of the above-mentioned shocks. An econometric model is then specified that conforms to the analytical model. In the econometric model the method of 'principal components' is applied owing to the undersized sample data. The principal components methodology is used in both the identification testing and the estimation of the structural equations. The oil and macro policy shocks are then simulated. The simulation results show that an oil-quantity boom leads to a higher welfare gain than an oil-price boom. Under certain circumstances, this finding is also confirmed by the comparative statistics that follow from the analytical model

Modeling macro-and microstructures of Gas-Metal-Arc Welded HSLA-100 steel

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Z.; Debroy, T.

1999-06-01

Fluid flow and heat transfer during gas-metal-arc welding (GMAW) of HSLA-100 steel were studied using a transient, three-dimensional, turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow model. The temperature and velocity fields, cooling rates, and shape and size of the fusion and heat-affected zones (HAZs) were calculated. A continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) diagram was computed to aid in the understanding of the observed weld metal microstructure. The computed results demonstrate that the dissipation of heat and momentum in the weld pool is significantly aided by turbulence, thus suggesting that previous modeling results based on laminar flow need to be re-examined. A comparison of the calculated fusion and HAZ geometries with their corresponding measured values showed good agreement. Furthermore, “finger” penetration, a unique geometric characteristic of gas-metal-arc weld pools, could be satisfactorily predicted from the model. The ability to predict these geometric variables and the agreement between the calculated and the measured cooling rates indicate the appropriateness of using a turbulence model for accurate calculations. The microstructure of the weld metal consisted mainly of acicular ferrite with small amounts of bainite. At high heat inputs, small amounts of allotriomorphic and Widmanstätten ferrite were also observed. The observed microstructures are consistent with those expected from the computed CCT diagram and the cooling rates. The results presented here demonstrate significant promise for understanding both macro-and microstructures of steel welds from the combination of the fundamental principles from both transport phenomena and phase transformation theory.

Macro-evolutionary studies of cultural diversity: a review of empirical studies of cultural transmission and cultural adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mace, Ruth; Jordan, Fiona M

2011-02-12

A growing body of theoretical and empirical research has examined cultural transmission and adaptive cultural behaviour at the individual, within-group level. However, relatively few studies have tried to examine proximate transmission or test ultimate adaptive hypotheses about behavioural or cultural diversity at a between-societies macro-level. In both the history of anthropology and in present-day work, a common approach to examining adaptive behaviour at the macro-level has been through correlating various cultural traits with features of ecology. We discuss some difficulties with simple ecological associations, and then review cultural phylogenetic studies that have attempted to go beyond correlations to understand the underlying cultural evolutionary processes. We conclude with an example of a phylogenetically controlled approach to understanding proximate transmission pathways in Austronesian cultural diversity.

The neural bases for valuing social equality.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki, Ryuta; Yomogida, Yukihito; Matsumoto, Kenji

2015-01-01

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

Investigation of Micro- and Macro-Scale Transport Processes for Improved Fuel Cell Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gu, Wenbin [General Motors LLC, Pontiac, MI (United States)

2014-08-29

This report documents the work performed by General Motors (GM) under the Cooperative agreement No. DE-EE0000470, “Investigation of Micro- and Macro-Scale Transport Processes for Improved Fuel Cell Performance,” in collaboration with the Penn State University (PSU), University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and University of Rochester (UR) via subcontracts. The overall objectives of the project are to investigate and synthesize fundamental understanding of transport phenomena at both the macro- and micro-scales for the development of a down-the-channel model that accounts for all transport domains in a broad operating space. GM as a prime contractor focused on cell level experiments and modeling, and the Universities as subcontractors worked toward fundamental understanding of each component and associated interface.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Gaoyang; Gong, Jiangbin

2014-11-01

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

Macro-elementwise preconditioning methods

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Axelsson, Owe

2012-01-01

Roč. 82, č. 10 (2012), s. 1952-1963 ISSN 0378-4754 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30860518 Keywords : heterogeniety * elementwise preconditioning * block matrix partitioning * macro-elements Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.836, year: 2012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03784754

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of micro and macro aspects of agricultural finance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veselinović Branislav

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The epicenter of this analysis is to provide an overview of the current situation in micro and macro agricultural finance in Serbia and the EU. One of the goals of this research is to consider the weaknesses and potentials of agricultural policy in Serbia, through comparison with more developed countries. In this qualitative and quantitative analysis, authors used comparation method, analysis and synthesis method, inductive and deductive method, and a local and international literature review. There are several important conclusions which can be drawn from this manuscript. Access to finance among farmers and agricultural SMEs is among the poorest of any sector in Serbia. The Serbian financial sector offers a poor range of loan products to the agricultural sector. Therefore, existing mechanisms for micro and macro agricultural finance in Serbia are not adequate and a change should be made in approach.

Perceptions of gender equality and attitudes toward equal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Gender Equality, Intersectionality and Diversity in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

. Drawing on discursive policy analysis, it addresses the interaction between policies, institutions and civil society actors in relation to gender equality, diversity and intersectionality at the European level. Rolandsen Agustín successfully integrates the concepts of diversity and gender equality...... into a contextualized approach to analyzing transnational intersectionality. This unique approach focuses on processes of institutionalization and mobilization, which are addressed in relation to the institutional setup of the EU, its policies and policymaking structures, as well as transnational civil society...

From micro-scale 3D simulations to macro-scale model of periodic porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Crevacore, Eleonora; Tosco, Tiziana; Marchisio, Daniele; Sethi, Rajandrea; Messina, Francesca

2015-04-01

In environmental engineering, the transport of colloidal suspensions in porous media is studied to understand the fate of potentially harmful nano-particles and to design new remediation technologies. In this perspective, averaging techniques applied to micro-scale numerical simulations are a powerful tool to extrapolate accurate macro-scale models. Choosing two simplified packing configurations of soil grains and starting from a single elementary cell (module), it is possible to take advantage of the periodicity of the structures to reduce the computation costs of full 3D simulations. Steady-state flow simulations for incompressible fluid in laminar regime are implemented. Transport simulations are based on the pore-scale advection-diffusion equation, that can be enriched introducing also the Stokes velocity (to consider the gravity effect) and the interception mechanism. Simulations are carried on a domain composed of several elementary modules, that serve as control volumes in a finite volume method for the macro-scale method. The periodicity of the medium involves the periodicity of the flow field and this will be of great importance during the up-scaling procedure, allowing relevant simplifications. Micro-scale numerical data are treated in order to compute the mean concentration (volume and area averages) and fluxes on each module. The simulation results are used to compare the micro-scale averaged equation to the integral form of the macroscopic one, making a distinction between those terms that could be computed exactly and those for which a closure in needed. Of particular interest it is the investigation of the origin of macro-scale terms such as the dispersion and tortuosity, trying to describe them with micro-scale known quantities. Traditionally, to study the colloidal transport many simplifications are introduced, such those concerning ultra-simplified geometry that usually account for a single collector. Gradual removal of such hypothesis leads to a

Diversity begets diversity: A global perspective on gender equality in scientific society leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin, Dominique A; Burdfield-Steel, Emily; Potvin, Jacqueline M; Heap, Stephen M

2018-01-01

Research shows that gender inequality is still a major issue in academic science, yet academic societies may serve as underappreciated and effective avenues for promoting female leadership. That is, society membership is often self-selective, and board positions are elected (with a high turnover compared to institutions)-these characteristics, among others, may thus create an environment conducive to gender equality. We therefore investigate this potential using an information-theoretic approach to quantify gender equality (male:female ratios) in zoology society boards around the world. We compare alternative models to analyze how society characteristics might predict or correlate with the proportion of female leaders, and find that a cultural model, including society age, size of board and whether or not a society had an outward commitment or statement of equality, was the most informative predictor for the gender ratio of society boards and leadership positions. This model was more informative than alternatives that considered, for instance, geographic location, discipline of study or taxonomic focus. While women were more highly represented in society leadership than in institutional academic leadership, this representation was still far short of equal (~30%): we thus also provide a checklist and recommendations for societies to contribute to global gender equality in science.

Macro-Micro Interlocked Simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Tetsuya

2005-01-01

Simulation Science is now standing on a turning point. After the appearance of the Earth Simulator, HEC is struggling with several severe difficulties due to the physical limit of LSI technologies and the so-called latency problem. In this paper I would like to propose one clever way to overcome these difficulties from the simulation algorithm viewpoint. Nature and artificial products are usually organized with several nearly autonomously working internal systems (organizations, or layers). The Earth Simulator has gifted us with a really useful scientific tool that can deal with the entire evolution of one internal system with a sufficient soundness. In order to make a leap jump of Simulation Science, therefore, it is desired to design an innovative simulator that enables us to deal with simultaneously and as consistently as possible a real system that evolves cooperatively with several internal autonomous systems. Three years experience of the Earth Simulator Project has stimulated to come up with one innovative simulation algorithm to get rid of the technological barrier standing in front of us, which I would like to call 'Macro-Micro Interlocked Algorithm', or 'Macro-Micro Multiplying Algorithm', and present a couple of such examples to validate the proposed algorithm. The first example is an aurora-arc formation as a result of the mutual interaction between the macroscopic magnetosphere-ionosphere system and the microscopic field-aligned electron and ion system. The second example is the local heavy rain fall resulting from the interaction between the global climate evolution and the microscopic raindrop growth process. Based on this innovative feasible algorithm, I came up with a Macro-Micro Multiplying Simulator

Healthy public policy in poor countries: tackling macro-economic policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohindra, K S

2007-06-01

Large segments of the population in poor countries continue to suffer from a high level of unmet health needs, requiring macro-level, broad-based interventions. Healthy public policy, a key health promotion strategy, aims to put health on the agenda of policy makers across sectors and levels of government. Macro-economic policy in developing countries has thus far not adequately captured the attention of health promotion researchers. This paper argues that healthy public policy should not only be an objective in rich countries, but also in poor countries. This paper takes up this issue by reviewing the main macro-economic aid programs offered by international financial institutions as a response to economic crises and unmanageable debt burdens. Although health promotion researchers were largely absent during a key debate on structural adjustment programs and health during the 1980s and 1990s, the international macro-economic policy tool currently in play offers a new opportunity to participate in assessing these policies, ensuring new forms of macro-economic policy interventions do not simply reproduce patterns of (neoliberal) economics-dominated development policy.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Teelken, Christine; Deem, Rosemary

2013-01-01

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

Computer Models in Biomechanics From Nano to Macro

CERN Document Server

Kuhl, Ellen

2013-01-01

This book contains a collection of papers that were presented at the IUTAM Symposium on “Computer Models in Biomechanics: From Nano to Macro” held at Stanford University, California, USA, from August 29 to September 2, 2011. It contains state-of-the-art papers on: - Protein and Cell Mechanics: coarse-grained model for unfolded proteins, collagen-proteoglycan structural interactions in the cornea, simulations of cell behavior on substrates - Muscle Mechanics: modeling approaches for Ca2+–regulated smooth muscle contraction, smooth muscle modeling using continuum thermodynamical frameworks, cross-bridge model describing the mechanoenergetics of actomyosin interaction, multiscale skeletal muscle modeling - Cardiovascular Mechanics: multiscale modeling of arterial adaptations by incorporating molecular mechanisms, cardiovascular tissue damage, dissection properties of aortic aneurysms, intracranial aneurysms, electromechanics of the heart, hemodynamic alterations associated with arterial remodeling followin...

Influence of Secondary Cooling Mode on Solidification Structure and Macro-segregation Behavior for High-carbon Continuous Casting Bloom

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Kun; Yang, Zhenguo; Liu, Qing; Huang, Yunhua; Dong, Hongbiao

2017-07-01

A cellular automaton-finite element coupling model for high-carbon continuously cast bloom of GCr15 steel is established to simulate the solidification structure and to investigate the influence of different secondary cooling modes on characteristic parameters such as equiaxed crystal ratio, grain size and secondary dendrite arm spacing, in which the effect of phase transformation and electromagnetic stirring is taken into consideration. On this basis, evolution of carbon macro-segregation for GCr15 steel bloom is researched correspondingly via industrial tests. Based on above analysis, the relationship among secondary cooling modes, characteristic parameters for solidification structure as well as carbon macro-segregation is illustrated to obtain optimum secondary cooling strategy and alleviate carbon macro-segregation degree for GCr15 steel bloom in continuous casting process. The evaluating method for element macro-segregation is applicable in various steel types.

Tax Incentives for Retirement Savings: Macro and Welfare Effects in an OLG-GE Model with Liquidity Constraints and Heterogeneous Consumers.

OpenAIRE

Rodrigo Cifuentes

2003-01-01

This paper uses an Overlapping Generations-General Equilibrium model to study the impact of the introduction of tax incentives to voluntary savings for retirement in Chile. The paper analyzes the macro impact of the reform, driven mainly by its effect on savings and capital accumulation, and its effect on welfare. A setting with heterogeneous consumers is considered where agents differ in their income levels, and therefore on the relevance that tax-incentives have for them. Both the transitio...

Functional test of pedotransfer functions to predict water flow and solute transport with the dual-permeability model MACRO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Moeys

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Estimating pesticide leaching risks at the regional scale requires the ability to completely parameterise a pesticide fate model using only survey data, such as soil and land-use maps. Such parameterisations usually rely on a set of lookup tables and (pedotransfer functions, relating elementary soil and site properties to model parameters. The aim of this paper is to describe and test a complete set of parameter estimation algorithms developed for the pesticide fate model MACRO, which accounts for preferential flow in soil macropores. We used tracer monitoring data from 16 lysimeter studies, carried out in three European countries, to evaluate the ability of MACRO and this "blind parameterisation" scheme to reproduce measured solute leaching at the base of each lysimeter. We focused on the prediction of early tracer breakthrough due to preferential flow, because this is critical for pesticide leaching. We then calibrated a selected number of parameters in order to assess to what extent the prediction of water and solute leaching could be improved.

Our results show that water flow was generally reasonably well predicted (median model efficiency, ME, of 0.42. Although the general pattern of solute leaching was reproduced well by the model, the overall model efficiency was low (median ME = −0.26 due to errors in the timing and magnitude of some peaks. Preferential solute leaching at early pore volumes was also systematically underestimated. Nonetheless, the ranking of soils according to solute loads at early pore volumes was reasonably well estimated (concordance correlation coefficient, CCC, between 0.54 and 0.72. Moreover, we also found that ignoring macropore flow leads to a significant deterioration in the ability of the model to reproduce the observed leaching pattern, and especially the early breakthrough in some soils. Finally, the calibration procedure showed that improving the estimation of solute transport parameters is

Functional test of pedotransfer functions to predict water flow and solute transport with the dual-permeability model MACRO

Science.gov (United States)

Moeys, J.; Larsbo, M.; Bergström, L.; Brown, C. D.; Coquet, Y.; Jarvis, N. J.

2012-07-01

Estimating pesticide leaching risks at the regional scale requires the ability to completely parameterise a pesticide fate model using only survey data, such as soil and land-use maps. Such parameterisations usually rely on a set of lookup tables and (pedo)transfer functions, relating elementary soil and site properties to model parameters. The aim of this paper is to describe and test a complete set of parameter estimation algorithms developed for the pesticide fate model MACRO, which accounts for preferential flow in soil macropores. We used tracer monitoring data from 16 lysimeter studies, carried out in three European countries, to evaluate the ability of MACRO and this "blind parameterisation" scheme to reproduce measured solute leaching at the base of each lysimeter. We focused on the prediction of early tracer breakthrough due to preferential flow, because this is critical for pesticide leaching. We then calibrated a selected number of parameters in order to assess to what extent the prediction of water and solute leaching could be improved. Our results show that water flow was generally reasonably well predicted (median model efficiency, ME, of 0.42). Although the general pattern of solute leaching was reproduced well by the model, the overall model efficiency was low (median ME = -0.26) due to errors in the timing and magnitude of some peaks. Preferential solute leaching at early pore volumes was also systematically underestimated. Nonetheless, the ranking of soils according to solute loads at early pore volumes was reasonably well estimated (concordance correlation coefficient, CCC, between 0.54 and 0.72). Moreover, we also found that ignoring macropore flow leads to a significant deterioration in the ability of the model to reproduce the observed leaching pattern, and especially the early breakthrough in some soils. Finally, the calibration procedure showed that improving the estimation of solute transport parameters is probably more important than the

DISTRIBUTIONAND DIVERSITY OF MACRO ALGAE COMMUNITIES IN THE AMBON BAY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina Litaay

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Water conditions affected by natural and anthropogenic parameters such as sedimentation and solid waste disposal can influence the growth and distribution of macro algae. Sustainable management efforts can reduce damage on the Gulf coast of Ambon due to human activities and land clearing. This study was conducted in October 2008 using the transect method with 3 replicates in five locations i.e., Tantui, Air Salobar, Hative Besar, Halong, and Lateri. The interior and exterior waters of Ambon Bay contained different habitat conditions due to  sedimentation processes. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution and diversity of macro algae communities in the Ambon Bay. The results found 21 species of macro- algae consisting of 10 species of Rhodhophyceae, 6 species of Chlorophyceae, and 5 species of Phaeophyceae. The highest density value of seaweed in Tantui was 389.0 g/m² of Chlorophyceae of Halimeda genus. In Air Salobar and Halong, the highest density value was Rhodophyceae of Gracilaria genus of 172.0 g/m² and 155.0 g/m², respectively. For the other genus in the Tantui and Lateri regions were dominated by Ulva at 92.10 gr/m2 and Padina of 20.0 gr/m2, respectively. The highest dominance of macro algae in the Hative Besar was found Chlorophyceae of Halimeda genus of 2.93 %, in the Air Salobar of Phaeophyceae of Turbinaria genus of 1.43 %. The difference values in density and the dominance of macro algae indicated an influence of habitat and environment due to seasons, sediment, and solid waste disposal to the diversity of macro algae. Keywords: Diversity, macro algae, Ambon Bay.

Comparative Performance of Complex-Valued B-Spline and Polynomial Models Applied to Iterative Frequency-Domain Decision Feedback Equalization of Hammerstein Channels.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sheng; Hong, Xia; Khalaf, Emad F; Alsaadi, Fuad E; Harris, Chris J

2017-12-01

Complex-valued (CV) B-spline neural network approach offers a highly effective means for identifying and inverting practical Hammerstein systems. Compared with its conventional CV polynomial-based counterpart, a CV B-spline neural network has superior performance in identifying and inverting CV Hammerstein systems, while imposing a similar complexity. This paper reviews the optimality of the CV B-spline neural network approach. Advantages of B-spline neural network approach as compared with the polynomial based modeling approach are extensively discussed, and the effectiveness of the CV neural network-based approach is demonstrated in a real-world application. More specifically, we evaluate the comparative performance of the CV B-spline and polynomial-based approaches for the nonlinear iterative frequency-domain decision feedback equalization (NIFDDFE) of single-carrier Hammerstein channels. Our results confirm the superior performance of the CV B-spline-based NIFDDFE over its CV polynomial-based counterpart.

El debate micro-macro: dilemas y contextos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vania Salles

2001-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the general terms of the sociological debate on the micro macro question. Not only the main trends organizing the debate are examined, but also some ways to solve the dichotomies present in some proposals. It is held that contemporary theoretical practice produces —after the classics and with different focuses— a reflexivecorpus and research practices rooted in the blurring of the micro macro as polar questions, by the way of offering integrating proposals and overcoming reducing positions.

The restructuring of the fiscal equalization system in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Primorac

2014-12-01

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

Log-normal frailty models fitted as Poisson generalized linear mixed models.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Katharina; Wienke, Andreas; Kuss, Oliver

2016-12-01

The equivalence of a survival model with a piecewise constant baseline hazard function and a Poisson regression model has been known since decades. As shown in recent studies, this equivalence carries over to clustered survival data: A frailty model with a log-normal frailty term can be interpreted and estimated as a generalized linear mixed model with a binary response, a Poisson likelihood, and a specific offset. Proceeding this way, statistical theory and software for generalized linear mixed models are readily available for fitting frailty models. This gain in flexibility comes at the small price of (1) having to fix the number of pieces for the baseline hazard in advance and (2) having to "explode" the data set by the number of pieces. In this paper we extend the simulations of former studies by using a more realistic baseline hazard (Gompertz) and by comparing the model under consideration with competing models. Furthermore, the SAS macro %PCFrailty is introduced to apply the Poisson generalized linear mixed approach to frailty models. The simulations show good results for the shared frailty model. Our new %PCFrailty macro provides proper estimates, especially in case of 4 events per piece. The suggested Poisson generalized linear mixed approach for log-normal frailty models based on the %PCFrailty macro provides several advantages in the analysis of clustered survival data with respect to more flexible modelling of fixed and random effects, exact (in the sense of non-approximate) maximum likelihood estimation, and standard errors and different types of confidence intervals for all variance parameters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparation of thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent and its application for drug delivery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Cunfeng; Yu, Shirong; Liu, Cheng; Deng, Yuanming; Xu, Yiting; Chen, Xiaoling; Dai, Lizong

2016-01-01

A methodology to prepare thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent was proposed. The macro-RAFT agent with pendant dithioester (ZC(S)SR) was facilely prepared via the combination of RAFT polymerization and esterification reaction. By means of ZC(S)SR-initiated RAFT polymerization, the thermo-responsive graft copolymer consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-hydroxylethyl methacrylate) (P(MMA-co-HEMA)) backbone and hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) side chains was constructed through the “grafting from” approach. The chemical compositions and molecular weight distributions of the synthesized polymers were respectively characterized by "1H nuclear magnetic resonance ("1H NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Self-assembly behavior of the amphiphilic graft copolymers (P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm) was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and spectrofluorimeter. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value was 0.052 mg mL"−"1. These micelles have thermo-responsibility and a low critical solution temperature (LCST) of 33.5 °C. Further investigation indicated that the guest molecule release property of these micelles, which can be well described by a first-order kinetic model, was significantly affected by temperature. Besides, the micelles exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cellular uptake property. Hence, these micelles are considered to have potential application in controlled drug delivery. - Highlights: • A novel macro-RAFT agent with ZC(S)SR was used for preparing graft copolymer. • P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm was successful prepared via the “grafting from” approach. • Thermo-responsibility of the P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm micelles was investigated. • The drug release behavior of the P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm micelles was studied. • These micelles exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cellular uptake property.

Preparation of thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent and its application for drug delivery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Cunfeng; Yu, Shirong [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China); Liu, Cheng; Deng, Yuanming; Xu, Yiting [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China); Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Fire Retardant Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China); Chen, Xiaoling, E-mail: tinachen0628@163.com [Department of Endodontics, Xiamen Stomatology Hospital, Teaching Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Xiamen 361003 (China); Dai, Lizong, E-mail: lzdai@xmu.edu.cn [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China); Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Fire Retardant Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China)

2016-05-01

A methodology to prepare thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent was proposed. The macro-RAFT agent with pendant dithioester (ZC(S)SR) was facilely prepared via the combination of RAFT polymerization and esterification reaction. By means of ZC(S)SR-initiated RAFT polymerization, the thermo-responsive graft copolymer consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-hydroxylethyl methacrylate) (P(MMA-co-HEMA)) backbone and hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) side chains was constructed through the “grafting from” approach. The chemical compositions and molecular weight distributions of the synthesized polymers were respectively characterized by {sup 1}H nuclear magnetic resonance ({sup 1}H NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Self-assembly behavior of the amphiphilic graft copolymers (P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm) was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and spectrofluorimeter. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value was 0.052 mg mL{sup −1}. These micelles have thermo-responsibility and a low critical solution temperature (LCST) of 33.5 °C. Further investigation indicated that the guest molecule release property of these micelles, which can be well described by a first-order kinetic model, was significantly affected by temperature. Besides, the micelles exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cellular uptake property. Hence, these micelles are considered to have potential application in controlled drug delivery. - Highlights: • A novel macro-RAFT agent with ZC(S)SR was used for preparing graft copolymer. • P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm was successful prepared via the “grafting from” approach. • Thermo-responsibility of the P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm micelles was investigated. • The drug release behavior of the P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm micelles was studied. • These micelles exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cellular uptake property.

CT-Based Micro-Mechanical Approach to Predict Response of Closed-Cell Porous Biomaterials to Low-Velocity Impact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehrdad Koloushani

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, a new numerical approach based on CT-scan images and finite element (FE method has been used to predict the mechanical behavior of closed-cell foams under impact loading. Micro-structural FE models based on CT-scan images of foam specimens (elastic-plastic material model with material constants of bulk aluminum and macro-mechanical FE models (with crushable foam material model with material constants of foams were constructed. Several experimental tests were also conducted to see which of the two noted (micro- or macro- mechanical FE models can better predict the deformation and force-displacement curves of foams. Compared to the macro-structural models, the results of the micro-structural models were much closer to the corresponding experimental results. This can be explained by the fact that the micro-structural models are able to take into account the interaction of stress waves with cell walls and the complex pathways the stress waves have to go through, while the macro-structural models do not have such capabilities. Despite their high demand for computational resources, using micro-scale FE models is very beneficial when one needs to understand the failure mechanisms acting in the micro-structure of a foam in order to modify or diminish them.

A zwitterionic macro-crosslinker for durable non-fouling coatings.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Lu, Yang; Xie, Jinbing; Zhu, Hui; Cao, Zhiqiang

2016-03-28

A novel zwitterionic macro-crosslinker was developed and applied to fabricate durable non-fouling coatings on a polyurethane substrate. The zwitterionic macro-crosslinker coating exhibited superior durability over the traditional brush polymer coating and was able to retain its non-fouling property even after weeks of shearing in flowing liquid.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF INTEGRATED MACRO AND MICRO MOBILITY PROTOCOLS FOR WIDE AREA WIRELESS NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.Gunasundari

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The success of next generation wireless networks will rely much on advanced mechanisms for seamless mobility support among emerging heterogeneous technologies. Currently, Mobile IP is the most promising solution for mobility management in the Internet. Several IP micro mobility approaches have been proposed to enhance the performance of Mobile IP which supports quality of service, minimum packet loss, limited handoff delay and scalability and power conservation but they are not scalable for macro mobility. A practical solution would therefore require integration of Mobile IP and Micro mobility protocols where Mobile IP handles macro mobility and micro mobility protocols handles micro mobility. In this paper an integrated mobility management protocol for IP based wireless networks is proposed and analyzed. Simulation results presented in this paper are based on ns 2.

Multicultural Challenges - new gender equality dilemmas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte

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

All About Audio Equalization: Solutions and Frontiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesa Välimäki

2016-05-01

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

Retention prediction and separation optimization under multilinear gradient elution in liquid chromatography with Microsoft Excel macros.

Science.gov (United States)

Fasoula, S; Zisi, Ch; Gika, H; Pappa-Louisi, A; Nikitas, P

2015-05-22

A package of Excel VBA macros have been developed for modeling multilinear gradient retention data obtained in single or double gradient elution mode by changing organic modifier(s) content and/or eluent pH. For this purpose, ten chromatographic models were used and four methods were adopted for their application. The methods were based on (a) the analytical expression of the retention time, provided that this expression is available, (b) the retention times estimated using the Nikitas-Pappa approach, (c) the stepwise approximation, and (d) a simple numerical approximation involving the trapezoid rule for integration of the fundamental equation for gradient elution. For all these methods, Excel VBA macros have been written and implemented using two different platforms; the fitting and the optimization platform. The fitting platform calculates not only the adjustable parameters of the chromatographic models, but also the significance of these parameters and furthermore predicts the analyte elution times. The optimization platform determines the gradient conditions that lead to the optimum separation of a mixture of analytes by using the Solver evolutionary mode, provided that proper constraints are set in order to obtain the optimum gradient profile in the minimum gradient time. The performance of the two platforms was tested using experimental and artificial data. It was found that using the proposed spreadsheets, fitting, prediction, and optimization can be performed easily and effectively under all conditions. Overall, the best performance is exhibited by the analytical and Nikitas-Pappa's methods, although the former cannot be used under all circumstances. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Explanatory IRT Analysis Using the SPIRIT Macro in SPSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DiTrapani, Jack

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Item Response Theory (IRT is a modeling framework that can be applied to a large variety of research questions spanning several disciplines. To make IRT models more accessible for the general researcher, a free tool has been created that can easily conduct one-parameter logistic IRT (1PL analyses using the convenient point-and-click interface in SPSS without any required downloads or add-ons. This tool, the SPIRIT macro, can fit 1PL models with person and item covariates, DIF analyses, multidimensional models, multigroup models, rating scale models, and several other variations. Example explanatory models are presented with an applied dataset containing responses to an ADHD rating scale. Illustrations of how to fit basic 1PL models as well as two more complicated analyses using SPIRIT are given.

Towards representing human behavior and decision making in Earth system models - an overview of techniques and approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Hansen, Finn; Schlüter, Maja; Mäs, Michael; Donges, Jonathan F.; Kolb, Jakob J.; Thonicke, Kirsten; Heitzig, Jobst

2017-11-01

Today, humans have a critical impact on the Earth system and vice versa, which can generate complex feedback processes between social and ecological dynamics. Integrating human behavior into formal Earth system models (ESMs), however, requires crucial modeling assumptions about actors and their goals, behavioral options, and decision rules, as well as modeling decisions regarding human social interactions and the aggregation of individuals' behavior. Here, we review existing modeling approaches and techniques from various disciplines and schools of thought dealing with human behavior at different levels of decision making. We demonstrate modelers' often vast degrees of freedom but also seek to make modelers aware of the often crucial consequences of seemingly innocent modeling assumptions. After discussing which socioeconomic units are potentially important for ESMs, we compare models of individual decision making that correspond to alternative behavioral theories and that make diverse modeling assumptions about individuals' preferences, beliefs, decision rules, and foresight. We review approaches to model social interaction, covering game theoretic frameworks, models of social influence, and network models. Finally, we discuss approaches to studying how the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations can aggregate to complex collective phenomena, discussing agent-based, statistical, and representative-agent modeling and economic macro-dynamics. We illustrate the main ingredients of modeling techniques with examples from land-use dynamics as one of the main drivers of environmental change bridging local to global scales.

Time and Space Complexity of Inside-Out Macro Grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asveld, P.R.J.

1980-01-01

Starting form Fischer's IO Standard Form Theorem we show that for each inside-out (or IO-) macro language $L$ there exists a $\\lambda$-free IO macro grammar with the following property: for each $x$ in $L$ there is a derivation of $x$ of length at most linear in the length of $x$. Then we construct

Differential geometry based multiscale models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Guo-Wei

2010-08-01

Large chemical and biological systems such as fuel cells, ion channels, molecular motors, and viruses are of great importance to the scientific community and public health. Typically, these complex systems in conjunction with their aquatic environment pose a fabulous challenge to theoretical description, simulation, and prediction. In this work, we propose a differential geometry based multiscale paradigm to model complex macromolecular systems, and to put macroscopic and microscopic descriptions on an equal footing. In our approach, the differential geometry theory of surfaces and geometric measure theory are employed as a natural means to couple the macroscopic continuum mechanical description of the aquatic environment with the microscopic discrete atomistic description of the macromolecule. Multiscale free energy functionals, or multiscale action functionals are constructed as a unified framework to derive the governing equations for the dynamics of different scales and different descriptions. Two types of aqueous macromolecular complexes, ones that are near equilibrium and others that are far from equilibrium, are considered in our formulations. We show that generalized Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid dynamics, generalized Poisson equations or generalized Poisson-Boltzmann equations for electrostatic interactions, and Newton's equation for the molecular dynamics can be derived by the least action principle. These equations are coupled through the continuum-discrete interface whose dynamics is governed by potential driven geometric flows. Comparison is given to classical descriptions of the fluid and electrostatic interactions without geometric flow based micro-macro interfaces. The detailed balance of forces is emphasized in the present work. We further extend the proposed multiscale paradigm to micro-macro analysis of electrohydrodynamics, electrophoresis, fuel cells, and ion channels. We derive generalized Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations that are

Differential Geometry Based Multiscale Models

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Guo-Wei

2010-01-01

Large chemical and biological systems such as fuel cells, ion channels, molecular motors, and viruses are of great importance to the scientific community and public health. Typically, these complex systems in conjunction with their aquatic environment pose a fabulous challenge to theoretical description, simulation, and prediction. In this work, we propose a differential geometry based multiscale paradigm to model complex macromolecular systems, and to put macroscopic and microscopic descriptions on an equal footing. In our approach, the differential geometry theory of surfaces and geometric measure theory are employed as a natural means to couple the macroscopic continuum mechanical description of the aquatic environment with the microscopic discrete atom-istic description of the macromolecule. Multiscale free energy functionals, or multiscale action functionals are constructed as a unified framework to derive the governing equations for the dynamics of different scales and different descriptions. Two types of aqueous macromolecular complexes, ones that are near equilibrium and others that are far from equilibrium, are considered in our formulations. We show that generalized Navier–Stokes equations for the fluid dynamics, generalized Poisson equations or generalized Poisson–Boltzmann equations for electrostatic interactions, and Newton's equation for the molecular dynamics can be derived by the least action principle. These equations are coupled through the continuum-discrete interface whose dynamics is governed by potential driven geometric flows. Comparison is given to classical descriptions of the fluid and electrostatic interactions without geometric flow based micro-macro interfaces. The detailed balance of forces is emphasized in the present work. We further extend the proposed multiscale paradigm to micro-macro analysis of electrohydrodynamics, electrophoresis, fuel cells, and ion channels. We derive generalized Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations that

Including the monetary part in macro accounting: A ‘modern’ approach to the macroeconomic accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Onur TUTULMAZ

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Economic output is placed at the heart of the macroeconomics. To calculate the output one needs to achieve simplifying a high level complexity of economic relationships to form a system. On the flip side, the model should be enough elaborated to be able to reflect the important relationships. In this manner, the classical macroeconomic identity as Keynes suggested is simple enough to understand the main elements but it does not show the financial parts of transactions. Not having the monetary part of the economy it lacks the coherence. With the financial and economic crises getting more frequent, more endeavour to build a more inclusive and coherent macroeconomic system has been observed. However, there are large variety in different options of simplifying and simulating complex relationships among the real and monetary part of the modern economies.  Our paper tries to set an analysis comparing some of the recent prominent ideas in building balance sheet and transaction flow matrix in regard to macroeconomic accounting system. We can conclude the new achievement of including the monetary transactions in the frame causes a compromise from the simplicity for a coherent and more complete picture of macro economy.

Are Micro and Macro Labor Supply Elasticities Consistent? A Review of Evidence on the Intensive and Extensive Margins

OpenAIRE

Raj Chetty; Adam Guren; Day Manoli; Andrea Weber

2011-01-01

We evaluate whether state-of-the-art macro models featuring indivisible labor are consistent with modern quasi-experimental micro evidence by synthesizing evidence on both the intensive and extensive margins. We find that micro estimates are consistent with macro estimates of the steady-state (Hicksian) elasticities relevant for cross-country comparisons on both the extensive and intensive margins. However, micro estimates of intertemporal substitution (Frisch) elasticities are an order of ...

Participatory modeling to support gender equality: The importance of including stakeholders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bleijenbergh, I.L.; Engen, M.L. van; Engen, M. van

2015-01-01

- Purpose – Interventions to support gender equality in organisations are often unsuccessful. Stakeholders disagree about the causes and problem definition of gender equality or pay lip service to the principle of gender equality, but fail to implement gender equality in practice. The purpose of

Towards Realising FollowMe User Profiles for Macro-Intelligent Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Whittington

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce the concept of a Large-Scale Intelligent Environment (LSIE and provide an introduction to the use of bigraphs as a formal method for description and modelling. We then propose our MacroIE model as a solution to the LSIE problem and describe how that model may be implemented to achieve a continuity-of-experience to end users as they travel from place-to-place (a technology we call FollowMe. Our initial experiments with these implementations are presented, providing some valuable insights and promise for future refinement towards real-world deployment.

The relationship between oil price shocks and China's macro-economy. An empirical analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Limin; Yanan, He; Wei; Chu

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between the world oil price and China's macro-economy based on a monthly time series from 1995:1 to 2008:12, using the method of multivariate vector autoregression (VAR). The results show that the world oil price affects the economic growth and inflation of China significantly, and the impact is non-linear. On the other hand, China's economic activity fails to affect the world oil price, which means that the world oil price is still exogenous with respect to China's macro-economy in time series sense, and China has not yet had an oil pricing power in the world oil markets. The structural stability tests demonstrate that there is a structural break in the VAR model because of the reforms of China's oil pricing mechanism, thus it is more appropriate to break the whole sample into different sub-samples for the estimation of the model. (author)

Trust, Welfare States and Income Equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergh, Andreas; Bjørnskov, Christian

2014-01-01

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

Group-Wise Herding Behavior in Financial Markets: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minsung; Kim, Minki

2014-01-01

In this paper, we shed light on the dynamic characteristics of rational group behaviors and the relationship between monetary policy and economic units in the financial market by using an agent-based model (ABM), the Hurst exponent, and the Shannon entropy. First, an agent-based model is used to analyze the characteristics of the group behaviors at different levels of irrationality. Second, the Hurst exponent is applied to analyze the characteristics of the trend-following irrationality group. Third, the Shannon entropy is used to analyze the randomness and unpredictability of group behavior. We show that in a system that focuses on macro-monetary policy, steep fluctuations occur, meaning that the medium-level irrationality group has the highest Hurst exponent and Shannon entropy among all of the groups. However, in a system that focuses on micro-monetary policy, all group behaviors follow a stable trend, and the medium irrationality group thus remains stable, too. Likewise, in a system that focuses on both micro- and macro-monetary policies, all groups tend to be stable. Consequently, we find that group behavior varies across economic units at each irrationality level for micro- and macro-monetary policy in the financial market. Together, these findings offer key insights into monetary policy. PMID:24714635

Control of a flexible beam actuated by macro-fiber composite patches: II. Hysteresis and creep compensation, experimental results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schröck, Johannes; Meurer, Thomas; Kugi, Andreas

2011-01-01

This paper considers a flexible cantilever beam, which is actuated by piezoelectric macro-fiber composite (MFC) patch actuators. For accurate positioning tasks, special attention has to be paid to the inherent nonlinear hysteresis and creep behavior of these actuators. A detailed analysis of the MFC-actuated cantilever verifies that these nonlinearities can be efficiently captured by an operator-based model using Prandtl–Ishlinskii's theory. Based on a Hammerstein-like model with the nonlinearities at the input connected in series with a linear infinite-dimensional beam model it follows that hysteresis and creep effects can be compensated by application of the inverse operator. Experimental results prove the feasibility of this approach. With this result, the tracking accuracy of the combination of the compensator with the flatness-based feedforward control design as proposed in the companion paper (Schröck et al 2011 Smart Mater. Struct. 20 015015) can be verified. Measurements demonstrate the applicability of this approach for the realization of highly dynamic trajectories for the beam's tip deflection

A SAS-macro for estimation of the cumulative incidence using Poisson regression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waltoft, Berit Lindum

2009-01-01

the hazard rates, and the hazard rates are often estimated by the Cox regression. This procedure may not be suitable for large studies due to limited computer resources. Instead one uses Poisson regression, which approximates the Cox regression. Rosthøj et al. presented a SAS-macro for the estimation...... of the cumulative incidences based on the Cox regression. I present the functional form of the probabilities and variances when using piecewise constant hazard rates and a SAS-macro for the estimation using Poisson regression. The use of the macro is demonstrated through examples and compared to the macro presented...

Endogenous innovation, the economy and the environment : impacts of a technology-based modelling approach for energy-intensive industries in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lutz, C.; Meyer, B.; Nathani, C.; Schleich, J.

2007-01-01

Policy simulations in environmental-economic models are influenced by the modelling of technological change. However, environmental-economic models have generally treated technological change as exogenous. This paper presented simulations with a new modelling approach in which technological change was portrayed and linked to actual production processes in 3 industry sectors in Germany, namely iron and steel; cement; and, pulp and paper. Technological choice was modelled via investments in new production process lines. The generic modelling procedure for all 3 industry sectors was presented along with an overview of the relevant sector-specific modelling results and the integration into the macro-economic model PANTA RHEI. The new modelling approach endogenizes technological change. As such, it considers that policy interventions may affect the rate and direction of technological progress. Carbon tax simulations were also performed to investigate the influence of a tax in both the new and conventional modelling approach. For the energy- and capital-intensive industries considered in this study, the conventional top-down approach overestimated the short-term possibilities to adapt to higher carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) prices in the early years. Since the new approach includes policy-induced technological change and process shifts, it also captures the long-term effects on CO 2 emissions far beyond the initial price impulse. It was concluded that the new modelling approach results in significantly higher emission reductions than the conventional approach. Therefore, the estimated costs of the climate policy are lower using the new modelling approach. 37 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs., 1 appendix

Investigation of porous concrete through macro and meso-scale testing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Agar Ozbek, A.S.; Weerheijm, J.; Schlangen, H.E.J.G.

2010-01-01

In designing a porous concrete, containing a high volume of air pores, the effects of its mesoscale phases on its macro level properties have to be known. For this purpose, porous concretes having different aggregate gradings and cement paste compositions were investigated through macro-scale

Search for stellar collapse with the MACRO detector at Gran Sasso

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

The first MACRO supermodule commenced data taking in February 1989. Two complementary trigger and readout systems have been used to monitor the horizontal scintillation counters, which contain 42 tonnes (∼1 ktonne for the full MACRO detector) of liquid scintillator, for bursts of low energy anti-neutrinos from gravitational stellar collapses. This paper reports on an initial search and discusses the present as well as ultimate sensitivity of MACRO to this class of events. 4 figs

Macro-economic effects of additional energy conservation in the European Community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sips, H.W.; Bakker, L.; Muizelaar, J.; Velthuijsen, J.W.

1991-01-01

The aim of the title study is to evaluate the environmental and economic consequences of additional energy conservation in five Western European countries: the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. In the first part of the study the economic effects of a policy, in which additional energy conservation is realized only for the Netherlands, is calculated. In this report the results are presented. The calculated results of the economic effects of a coordinated energy conservation policy in the abovementioned countries will be published in a separate report. The effects of three policy variants will be evaluated: the non-financial policy variant, the shift of the financial burden variant, and the variant in which the levies are not compensated.The starting point for the first variant is an autonomous realization of the energy conservation. The basis of the second variant is that an equal amount of energy can be saved by means of a substantial energy levy. The profits of this levy can be used to reduce the financial burden of labour. For the economic calculations use has been made of the HERMES-model. Every member of the European Community has developed such a macro-economic model. In chapter two the different starting points for the calculations are outlined, with special attention to descriptions of the policy variants, the model-input and the basic projection. In chapter three the economic effects of the policy variants are presented and discussed. In chapter four the energy conservation and the environmental effects of the variants are dealt with. The most important conclusion of this study is that a considerable amount of energy can be saved, which will have positive effects on the economy and the environment. 8 figs., 20 tabs., 6 apps., 32 refs

Injection moulding for macro and micro products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Islam, Mohammad Aminul

used for macro products but with the ages it is going deep into the micro areas having machine and process improvements. Extensive research work on injection moulding is going on all over the world. New ideas are flowing into the machines, materials and processes. The technology has made significant......The purpose of the literature survey is to investigate the injection moulding technology in the macro and micro areas from the basic to the state-of-the-art recent technology. Injection moulding is a versatile production process for the manufacturing of plastic parts and the process is extensively...

Macro-Elements and Trace Elements in Cereal Grains Cultivated in Latvia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jākobsone Ida

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Cereal-based foods have great importance in the compensation of micro- and trace element deficiency, because 50% of the foods produced worldwide are made up of cereal grains. The aim of the research was to determine the concentration of macro-elements and trace elements in different cereals cultivated in Latvia. Various cereals were used in the research: rye (n = 45, barley (n = 54, spring wheat (n = 27, winter wheat (n = 53, triticale (n = 45 and oats (n = 42. Thirteen macro- and trace elements (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Al, Cu, K, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca were determined in cereal grain samples (n = 266. Macro-elements and trace elements varied significantly (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001. The highest concentrations of macro- and trace elements were found in oats and the lowest in rye. The obtained data will expand the opportunity for food and nutrition scientists to evaluate content of the examined elements in grain products, and dietary consumption (bioavailability of the examined macro-elements and trace elements.

Risk Modeling Approaches in Terms of Volatility Banking Transactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Cucşa (Stratulat

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The inseparability of risk and banking activity is one demonstrated ever since banking systems, the importance of the topic being presend in current life and future equally in the development of banking sector. Banking sector development is done in the context of the constraints of nature and number of existing risks and those that may arise, and serves as limiting the risk of banking activity. We intend to develop approaches to analyse risk through mathematical models by also developing a model for the Romanian capital market 10 active trading picks that will test investor reaction in controlled and uncontrolled conditions of risk aggregated with harmonised factors.

TableMaker: An Excel Macro for Publication-Quality Tables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Hlavac

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article introduces TableMaker, a Microsoft Excel macro that produces publicationquality tables and includes them as new sheets in workbooks. The macro provides an intuitive graphical user interface that allows for the full customization of all table features. It also allows users to save and load table templates, and thus allows layouts to be both reproducible and transferable. It is distributed in a single computer file. As such, the macro is easy to share, as well as accessible to even beginning and casual users of Excel. Since it allows for the quick creation of reproducible and fully customizable tables, TableMaker can be very useful to academics, policy-makers and businesses by making the presentation and formatting of results faster and more efficient.

Intake of macro- and micronutrients in Danish vegans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Nadja B; Madsen, Mia L; Hansen, Tue H; Allin, Kristine H; Hoppe, Camilla; Fagt, Sisse; Lausten, Mia S; Gøbel, Rikke J; Vestergaard, Henrik; Hansen, Torben; Pedersen, Oluf

2015-10-30

Since information about macro- and micronutrient intake among vegans is limited we aimed to determine and evaluate their dietary and supplementary intake. Seventy 18-61 years old Danish vegans completed a four-day weighed food record from which their daily intake of macro- and micronutrients was assessed and subsequently compared to an age-range-matched group of 1,257 omnivorous individuals from the general Danish population. Moreover, the vegan dietary and supplementary intake was compared to the 2012 Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR). Dietary intake differed significantly between vegans and the general Danish population in all measured macro- and micronutrients (p vegans the intake of macro- and micronutrients (including supplements) did not reach the NNR for protein, vitamin D, iodine and selenium. Among vegan women vitamin A intake also failed to reach the recommendations. With reference to the NNR, the dietary content of added sugar, sodium and fatty acids, including the ratio of PUFA to SFA, was more favorable among vegans. At the macronutrient level, the diet of Danish vegans is in better accordance with the NNR than the diet of the general Danish population. At the micronutrient level, considering both diet and supplements, the vegan diet falls short in certain nutrients, suggesting a need for greater attention toward ensuring recommended daily intake of specific vitamins and minerals.

An Improved QTM Subdivision Model with Approximate Equal-area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHAO Xuesheng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To overcome the defect of large area deformation in the traditional QTM subdivision model, an improved subdivision model is proposed which based on the “parallel method” and the thought of the equal area subdivision with changed-longitude-latitude. By adjusting the position of the parallel, this model ensures that the grid area between two adjacent parallels combined with no variation, so as to control area variation and variation accumulation of the QTM grid. The experimental results show that this improved model not only remains some advantages of the traditional QTM model(such as the simple calculation and the clear corresponding relationship with longitude/latitude grid, etc, but also has the following advantages: ①this improved model has a better convergence than the traditional one. The ratio of area_max/min finally converges to 1.38, far less than 1.73 of the “parallel method”; ②the grid units in middle and low latitude regions have small area variations and successive distributions; meanwhile, with the increase of subdivision level, the grid units with large variations gradually concentrate to the poles; ③the area variation of grid unit will not cumulate with the increasing of subdivision level.

Fresh Approaches to Business Process Modeling (Dagstuhl Seminar 16191)

OpenAIRE

Hull, Richard; Koschmider, Agnes; Reijers, Hajo A.; Wong, William

2016-01-01

Business Process Management (BPM) has significantly advanced and gained high popularity in industry. However, it remains an open issue why tools frequently are used for business process modeling that are not mainly implemented for this purpose. Often, macros for Microsoft Visio or Microsoft Excel form the first choice to capture the flow of business activities. One reason why these tools might be used is the low training effort and the fast creation of a quick model, which can be generated wi...

Soil dehydrogenase activity of natural macro aggregates in a toposequence of forest soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maira Kussainova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to determine changes in soil dehydrogenase activity in natural macro aggregates development along a slope in forest soils. This study was carried out in Kocadag, Samsun, Turkey. Four landscape positions i.e., summit, shoulder backslope and footslope, were selected. For each landseape position, soil macro aggregates were separated into six aggregate size classes using a dry sieving method and then dehydrogenase activity was analyzed. In this research, topography influenced the macroaggregate size and dehydrogenase activity within the aggregates. At all landscape positions, the contents of macro aggregates (especially > 6.3 mm and 2.00–4.75 mm in all soil samples were higher than other macro aggregate contents. In footslope position, the soils had generally the higher dehydrogenase activity than the other positions at all landscape positions. In all positions, except for shoulder, dehydrogenase activity was greater macro aggregates of <1 mm than in the other macro aggregate size.

Comprehensive comparison of macro-strain mode and displacement mode based on different sensing technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Wan; Zhang, Jian; Wu, Gang; Wu, Zhishen

2015-01-01

A comprehensive comparison of macro-strain mode and displacement mode obtained from distributed macro-strain sensing and high-density point sensing (such as accelerometers) technologies is presented in this paper. Theoretical derivation reveals that displacement mode shape from accelerometers and modal macro-strain from distributed macro-strain sensors can be converted into each other. However, it is realized that displacement mode shape as global behavior of a structure can still be calculated with high-precision from modal macro-strain considering measurement errors in practical monitoring, whereas modal macro-strain can hardly be accurately achieved from displacement mode shape when signals are corrupted with noise in practical monitoring. Simulation and experiment results show that the calculated displacement mode shapes are very close to the actual ones even if the noise level reaches 5%. Meanwhile, damage index using measured modal macro-strain is still effective when the measurements are corrupted with 5% noise which is reliable for damage detection in practical monitoring. Calculating modal macro-strain from noise-polluted displacement mode shape will cause an unacceptable error if the noise level reaches only 0.5%, which has been verified in the simulation.

Turbo Equalization Using Partial Gaussian Approximation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2016-01-01

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

Towards a 3d Spatial Urban Energy Modelling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bahu, J.-M.; Koch, A.; Kremers, E.; Murshed, S. M.

2013-09-01

Today's needs to reduce the environmental impact of energy use impose dramatic changes for energy infrastructure and existing demand patterns (e.g. buildings) corresponding to their specific context. In addition, future energy systems are expected to integrate a considerable share of fluctuating power sources and equally a high share of distributed generation of electricity. Energy system models capable of describing such future systems and allowing the simulation of the impact of these developments thus require a spatial representation in order to reflect the local context and the boundary conditions. This paper describes two recent research approaches developed at EIFER in the fields of (a) geo-localised simulation of heat energy demand in cities based on 3D morphological data and (b) spatially explicit Agent-Based Models (ABM) for the simulation of smart grids. 3D city models were used to assess solar potential and heat energy demand of residential buildings which enable cities to target the building refurbishment potentials. Distributed energy systems require innovative modelling techniques where individual components are represented and can interact. With this approach, several smart grid demonstrators were simulated, where heterogeneous models are spatially represented. Coupling 3D geodata with energy system ABMs holds different advantages for both approaches. On one hand, energy system models can be enhanced with high resolution data from 3D city models and their semantic relations. Furthermore, they allow for spatial analysis and visualisation of the results, with emphasis on spatially and structurally correlations among the different layers (e.g. infrastructure, buildings, administrative zones) to provide an integrated approach. On the other hand, 3D models can benefit from more detailed system description of energy infrastructure, representing dynamic phenomena and high resolution models for energy use at component level. The proposed modelling strategies

A rate-dependent multi-scale crack model for concrete

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karamnejad, A.; Nguyen, V.P.; Sluys, L.J.

2013-01-01

A multi-scale numerical approach for modeling cracking in heterogeneous quasi-brittle materials under dynamic loading is presented. In the model, a discontinuous crack model is used at macro-scale to simulate fracture and a gradient-enhanced damage model has been used at meso-scale to simulate

A nonlinear complementarity approach for the national energy modeling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabriel, S.A.; Kydes, A.S.

1995-01-01

The National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) is a large-scale mathematical model that computes equilibrium fuel prices and quantities in the U.S. energy sector. At present, to generate these equilibrium values, NEMS sequentially solves a collection of linear programs and nonlinear equations. The NEMS solution procedure then incorporates the solutions of these linear programs and nonlinear equations in a nonlinear Gauss-Seidel approach. The authors describe how the current version of NEMS can be formulated as a particular nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP), thereby possibly avoiding current convergence problems. In addition, they show that the NCP format is equally valid for a more general form of NEMS. They also describe several promising approaches for solving the NCP form of NEMS based on recent Newton type methods for general NCPs. These approaches share the feature of needing to solve their direction-finding subproblems only approximately. Hence, they can effectively exploit the sparsity inherent in the NEMS NCP

High macro rubber band ligature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José A. Reis Neto

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The goal of a rubber band ligature is to promote fibrosis of the submucosa with subsequent fixation of the anal epithelium to the underlying sphincter. Following this principle, a new technique of ligature was developed based on two aspects: 1. macro banding: to have a better fibrosis and fixation by banding a bigger volume of mucosa and 2. higher ligature: to have this fixation at the origin of the hemorrhoidal cushion displacement. Methods: 1634 patients with internal hemorrhoidal disease grade II or III were treated by the technique called high macro rubber band. There was no distinction as to age, gender or race. To perform this technique a new hemorrhoidal device was specially designed with a larger diameter and a bigger capacity for mucosal volume aspiration. It is recommended to utilize a longer and wider anoscope to obtain a better view of the anal canal, which will facilitate the injection of submucosa higher in the anal canal and the insertion of the rubber band device. The hemorrhoidal cushion must be banded higher in the anal canal (4 cm above the pectinate line. It is preferable to treat all the hemorrhoids in one single session (maximum of three areas banded. Results: The analysis was retrospective without any comparison with conventional banding. The period of evaluation extended from one to twelve years. The analysis of the results showed perianal edema in 1.6% of the patients, immediate tenesmus in 0.8%, intense pain (need for parenteral analgesia in 1.6%, urinary retention in 0.1% of the patients and a symptomatic recurrence rate of 4.2%. All patients with symptomatic recurrence were treated with a new session of macro rubber banding. None of the patients developed anal or rectal sepsis. Small post-ligature bleeding was observed only in 0.8% of the patients. Conclusions: The high macro rubber banding technique represents an alternative method for the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease grades II or III, with good

A polynomial-chaos-expansion-based building block approach for stochastic analysis of photonic circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Waqas, Abi; Melati, Daniele; Manfredi, Paolo; Grassi, Flavia; Melloni, Andrea

2018-02-01

The Building Block (BB) approach has recently emerged in photonic as a suitable strategy for the analysis and design of complex circuits. Each BB can be foundry related and contains a mathematical macro-model of its functionality. As well known, statistical variations in fabrication processes can have a strong effect on their functionality and ultimately affect the yield. In order to predict the statistical behavior of the circuit, proper analysis of the uncertainties effects is crucial. This paper presents a method to build a novel class of Stochastic Process Design Kits for the analysis of photonic circuits. The proposed design kits directly store the information on the stochastic behavior of each building block in the form of a generalized-polynomial-chaos-based augmented macro-model obtained by properly exploiting stochastic collocation and Galerkin methods. Using this approach, we demonstrate that the augmented macro-models of the BBs can be calculated once and stored in a BB (foundry dependent) library and then used for the analysis of any desired circuit. The main advantage of this approach, shown here for the first time in photonics, is that the stochastic moments of an arbitrary photonic circuit can be evaluated by a single simulation only, without the need for repeated simulations. The accuracy and the significant speed-up with respect to the classical Monte Carlo analysis are verified by means of classical photonic circuit example with multiple uncertain variables.

Expression, purification and crystallization of the SARS-CoV macro domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malet, Hélène; Dalle, Karen; Brémond, Nicolas; Tocque, Fabienne; Blangy, Stéphanie; Campanacci, Valérie; Coutard, Bruno; Grisel, Sacha; Lichière, Julie; Lantez, Violaine; Cambillau, Christian; Canard, Bruno; Egloff, Marie-Pierre

2006-01-01

The SARS-CoV macro domain was expressed, purified and crystallized. Selenomethionine-labelled crystals diffracted to 1.8 Å resolution. Macro domains or X domains are found as modules of multidomain proteins, but can also constitute a protein on their own. Recently, biochemical and structural studies of cellular macro domains have been performed, showing that they are active as ADP-ribose-1′′-phosphatases. Macro domains are also present in a number of positive-stranded RNA viruses, but their precise function in viral replication is still unknown. The major human pathogen severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) encodes 16 non-structural proteins (nsps), one of which (nsp3) encompasses a macro domain. The SARS-CoV nsp3 gene region corresponding to amino acids 182–355 has been cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. The crystals belong to space group P2 1 , with unit-cell parameters a = 37.5, b = 55.6, c = 108.9 Å, β = 91.4°, and the asymmetric unit contains either two or three molecules. Both native and selenomethionine-labelled crystals diffract to 1.8 Å

Plasma membrane partitioning: from macro-domains to new views on plasmodesmata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yohann eBoutté

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Compartmentalization of cellular functions relies on partitioning of domains of diverse sizes within the plasma membrane (PM. Macro-domains measure several micrometers and contain specific proteins concentrated to specific sides (apical, basal and lateral of the PM conferring a polarity to the cell. Cell polarity is one of the driving forces in tissue and growth patterning. To maintain macro-domains within the PM, eukaryotic cells exert diverse mechanisms to counteract the free lateral diffusion of proteins. Protein activation/inactivation, endocytosis, PM recycling of transmembrane proteins and the role of diffusion barriers in macro-domains partitioning at PM will be discussed. Moreover, as plasmodesmata (PDs are domains inserted within the PM which also mediate tissue and growth patterning, it is essential to understand how segregation of specific set of proteins is maintained at PDs while PDs domains are smaller in size compared to macro-domains. Here, we will present mechanisms allowing restriction of proteins at PM macrodomains, but for which molecular components have been found in PDs proteome. We will explore the hypothesis that partitioning of macro-domains and PDs may be ruled by similar mechanisms.

Expression, purification and crystallization of the SARS-CoV macro domain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malet, Hélène; Dalle, Karen; Brémond, Nicolas; Tocque, Fabienne; Blangy, Stéphanie; Campanacci, Valérie; Coutard, Bruno; Grisel, Sacha; Lichière, Julie; Lantez, Violaine; Cambillau, Christian; Canard, Bruno; Egloff, Marie-Pierre, E-mail: marie-pierre.egloff@afmb.univ-mrs.fr [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Universités d’Aix-Marseille I et II, UMR 6098, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 6098-Case 932, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille CEDEX 9 (France)

2006-04-01

The SARS-CoV macro domain was expressed, purified and crystallized. Selenomethionine-labelled crystals diffracted to 1.8 Å resolution. Macro domains or X domains are found as modules of multidomain proteins, but can also constitute a protein on their own. Recently, biochemical and structural studies of cellular macro domains have been performed, showing that they are active as ADP-ribose-1′′-phosphatases. Macro domains are also present in a number of positive-stranded RNA viruses, but their precise function in viral replication is still unknown. The major human pathogen severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) encodes 16 non-structural proteins (nsps), one of which (nsp3) encompasses a macro domain. The SARS-CoV nsp3 gene region corresponding to amino acids 182–355 has been cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. The crystals belong to space group P2{sub 1}, with unit-cell parameters a = 37.5, b = 55.6, c = 108.9 Å, β = 91.4°, and the asymmetric unit contains either two or three molecules. Both native and selenomethionine-labelled crystals diffract to 1.8 Å.

An Introduction to Macro- Level Spatial Nonstationarity: a Geographically Weighted Regression Analysis of Diabetes and Poverty.

Science.gov (United States)

Siordia, Carlos; Saenz, Joseph; Tom, Sarah E

2012-01-01

Type II diabetes is a growing health problem in the United States. Understanding geographic variation in diabetes prevalence will inform where resources for management and prevention should be allocated. Investigations of the correlates of diabetes prevalence have largely ignored how spatial nonstationarity might play a role in the macro-level distribution of diabetes. This paper introduces the reader to the concept of spatial nonstationarity-variance in statistical relationships as a function of geographical location. Since spatial nonstationarity means different predictors can have varying effects on model outcomes, we make use of a geographically weighed regression to calculate correlates of diabetes as a function of geographic location. By doing so, we demonstrate an exploratory example in which the diabetes-poverty macro-level statistical relationship varies as a function of location. In particular, we provide evidence that when predicting macro-level diabetes prevalence, poverty is not always positively associated with diabetes.

Understanding the peculiarities of the piezoelectric effect in macro-porous BaTiO3.

Science.gov (United States)

Roscow, James I; Topolov, Vitaly Yu; Bowen, Christopher R; Taylor, John; Panich, Anatoly E

2016-01-01

This work demonstrates the potential of porous BaTiO 3 for piezoelectric sensor and energy-harvesting applications by manufacture of materials, detailed characterisation and application of new models. Ferroelectric macro-porous BaTiO 3 ceramics for piezoelectric applications are manufactured for a range of relative densities, α  = 0.30-0.95, using the burned out polymer spheres method. The piezoelectric activity and relevant parameters for specific applications are interpreted by developing two models: a model of a 3-0 composite and a 'composite in composite' model. The appropriate ranges of relative density for the application of these models to accurately predict piezoelectric properties are examined. The two models are extended to take into account the effect of 90° domain-wall mobility within ceramic grains on the piezoelectric coefficients [Formula: see text]. It is shown that porous ferroelectrics provide a novel route to form materials with large piezoelectric anisotropy [Formula: see text] at 0.20 ≤ α ≤ 0.45 and achieve a high squared figure of merit [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. The modelling approach allows a detailed analysis of the relationships between the properties of the monolithic and porous materials for the design of porous structures with optimum properties.

The histone variant macroH2A is an epigenetic regulator of key developmental genes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buschbeck, Marcus; Uribesalgo, Iris; Wibowo, Indra

2009-01-01

The histone variants macroH2A1 and macroH2A2 are associated with X chromosome inactivation in female mammals. However, the physiological function of macroH2A proteins on autosomes is poorly understood. Microarray-based analysis in human male pluripotent cells uncovered occupancy of both macroH2A ...

Equal exchange: Determining a fair price for carbon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodes, G.; Kamel, S.

2007-12-14

This first volume in the new series CD4CDM Perspective Series focuses on determining an equal exchange between carbon buyers and sellers in CDM transactions. Contributors to this volume represent a wide spectrum of the various market actors that are interacting in order to realize both successful and equitable carbon transactions. The following issues are discussed: Global carbon price dynamics; CDM project risk profiles and/or premiums; Importance of time factors and delivery guarantees; Impact of regulatory drivers and post-Kyoto outlook; Region-specific outlooks; Strategies, contracting models and approaches. (BA)

Conceptualising Gender Equality in Research on Education Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Aikman, Sheila; Halai, Anjum; Rubagiza, Jolly

2011-01-01

This article sets out to re-conceptualise gender equality in education quality. Four approaches to conceptualising gender equitable education quality are identified in the literature: human capital theory with a focus on parity and sameness for all; a human rights and power perspective, within which gender equality is viewed as transforming unjust…

Muon energy estimate through multiple scattering with the MACRO detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ambrosio, M.; Antolini, R.; Auriemma, G.; Bakari, D.; Baldini, A.; Barbarino, G.C.; Barish, B.C.; Battistoni, G.; Becherini, Y.; Bellotti, R.; Bemporad, C.; Bernardini, P.; Bilokon, H.; Bloise, C.; Bower, C.; Brigida, M.; Bussino, S.; Cafagna, F.; Calicchio, M.; Campana, D.; Candela, A.; Carboni, M.; Caruso, R.; Cassese, F.; Cecchini, S.; Cei, F.; Chiarella, V.; Choudhary, B.C.; Coutu, S.; Cozzi, M.; De Cataldo, G.; De Deo, M.; Dekhissi, H.; De Marzo, C.; De Mitri, I.; Derkaoui, J.; De Vincenzi, M.; Di Credico, A.; Dincecco, M.; Erriquez, O.; Favuzzi, C.; Forti, C.; Fusco, P.; Giacomelli, G.; Giannini, G.; Giglietto, N.; Giorgini, M.; Grassi, M.; Gray, L.; Grillo, A.; Guarino, F.; Gustavino, C.; Habig, A.; Hanson, K.; Heinz, R.; Iarocci, E.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katsavounidis, I.; Kearns, E.; Kim, H.; Kyriazopoulou, S.; Lamanna, E.; Lane, C.; Levin, D.S.; Lindozzi, M.; Lipari, P.; Longley, N.P.; Longo, M.J.; Loparco, F.; Maaroufi, F.; Mancarella, G.; Mandrioli, G.; Margiotta, A.; Marini, A.; Martello, D.; Marzari-Chiesa, A.; Mazziotta, M.N.; Michael, D.G.; Monacelli, P.; Montaruli, T.; Monteno, M.; Mufson, S.; Musser, J.; Nicolo, D.; Nolty, R.; Orth, C.; Osteria, G.; Palamara, O.; Patera, V.; Patrizii, L.; Pazzi, R.; Peck, C.W.; Perrone, L.; Petrera, S.; Pistilli, P.; Popa, V.; Raino, A.; Reynoldson, J.; Ronga, F.; Rrhioua, A.; Satriano, C.; Scapparone, E. E-mail: eugenio.scapparone@bo.infn.it; Scholberg, K.; Sciubba, A.; Serra, P.; Sioli, M. E-mail: maximiliano.sioli@bo.infn.it; Sirri, G.; Sitta, M.; Spinelli, P.; Spinetti, M.; Spurio, M.; Steinberg, R.; Stone, J.L.; Sulak, L.R.; Surdo, A.; Tarle, G.; Tatananni, E.; Togo, V.; Vakili, M.; Walter, C.W.; Webb, R

2002-10-21

Muon energy measurement represents an important issue for any experiment addressing neutrino-induced up-going muon studies. Since the neutrino oscillation probability depends on the neutrino energy, a measurement of the muon energy adds an important piece of information concerning the neutrino system. We show in this paper how the MACRO limited streamer tube system can be operated in drift mode by using the TDCs included in the QTPs, an electronics designed for magnetic monopole search. An improvement of the space resolution is obtained, through an analysis of the multiple scattering of muon tracks as they pass through our detector. This information can be used further to obtain an estimate of the energy of muons crossing the detector. Here we present the results of two dedicated tests, performed at CERN PS-T9 and SPS-X7 beam lines, to provide a full check of the electronics and to exploit the feasibility of such a multiple scattering analysis. We show that by using a neural network approach, we are able to reconstruct the muon energy for E{sub {mu}}<40 GeV. The test beam data provide an absolute energy calibration, which allows us to apply this method to MACRO data.

Phylogenetic mixtures and linear invariants for equal input models.

Science.gov (United States)

Casanellas, Marta; Steel, Mike

2017-04-01

The reconstruction of phylogenetic trees from molecular sequence data relies on modelling site substitutions by a Markov process, or a mixture of such processes. In general, allowing mixed processes can result in different tree topologies becoming indistinguishable from the data, even for infinitely long sequences. However, when the underlying Markov process supports linear phylogenetic invariants, then provided these are sufficiently informative, the identifiability of the tree topology can be restored. In this paper, we investigate a class of processes that support linear invariants once the stationary distribution is fixed, the 'equal input model'. This model generalizes the 'Felsenstein 1981' model (and thereby the Jukes-Cantor model) from four states to an arbitrary number of states (finite or infinite), and it can also be described by a 'random cluster' process. We describe the structure and dimension of the vector spaces of phylogenetic mixtures and of linear invariants for any fixed phylogenetic tree (and for all trees-the so called 'model invariants'), on any number n of leaves. We also provide a precise description of the space of mixtures and linear invariants for the special case of [Formula: see text] leaves. By combining techniques from discrete random processes and (multi-) linear algebra, our results build on a classic result that was first established by James Lake (Mol Biol Evol 4:167-191, 1987).

Energy prices, equalization and federalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courchene, T.J.

2005-01-01

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

Energy prices, equalization and federalism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2005-10-01

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

Collaboration potentials in micro and macro politics of audience creativity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brites, Maria José; Chimirri, Niklas Alexander; Amaral, Inês

2017-01-01

In our stakeholder consultation following up on trends concerning the micro and macropolitics of audience action, we explore the potential impact of audiences’ micro-participation and connection to macro-actions. We address this issue taking into consideration intrinsic continuities and discontin...... and discontinuities between academia and the stakeholders’ perspectives. Our findings continue to emphasise the • (dis)connections between micro and macro actions • a technological appeal for action • collaboration potentials between academia and other stakeholders.......In our stakeholder consultation following up on trends concerning the micro and macropolitics of audience action, we explore the potential impact of audiences’ micro-participation and connection to macro-actions. We address this issue taking into consideration intrinsic continuities...

PETRO.CALC.PLOT, Microsoft Excel macros to aid petrologic interpretation

Science.gov (United States)

Sidder, G.B.

1994-01-01

PETRO.CALC.PLOT is a package of macros which normalizes whole-rock oxide data to 100%, calculates the cation percentages and molecular proportions used for normative mineral calculations, computes the apices for ternary diagrams, determines sums and ratios of specific elements of petrologic interest, and plots 33 X-Y graphs and five ternary diagrams. PETRO.CALC.PLOT also may be used to create other diagrams as desired by the user. The macros run in Microsoft Excel 3.0 and 4.0 for Macintosh computers and in Microsoft Excel 3.0 and 4.0 for Windows. Macros provided in PETRO.CALC.PLOT minimize repetition and time required to recalculate and plot whole-rock oxide data for petrologic analysis. ?? 1994.

Learning to Solve Problems by Searching for Macro-Operators

Science.gov (United States)

1983-07-01

executing generalized robot plans. Aritificial Intelligence 3:25 1-288, 1972. [Frey 821 Frey, Alexander Ii. Jr., and David Singmaster. Handbook of Cubik...and that searching for macros may be a useful general learning paradigm. 1.1. Introduction One view of die die field of artificial intelligence is that... intelligence literature [Schofield 67, Gaschnig 79, Ericsson 761 and provides one of the simplest examples of the operation of the Macro Problem Solver. It

How SEIPS can be used as a model for macroergonomic approach in subunit healthcare (Case study: The nurse perception of fatigue in surgery ward unit)

Science.gov (United States)

Iftadi, Irwan; Astuti, Rahmaniyah Dwi; Pristiyana, Ardian Ade

2017-11-01

Occupational fatigue in healthcare nurses, which has multifaceted issues, is associated with decreased patient safety and the quality of nursing care. The aim of this study was to investigate the nurses fatigue problem in sub-unit healthcare based on their perceptual experience. Interviews were conducted and analyzed utilizing a direct qualitative content analysis approach using NVivo Software and guided by Model of System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS). The findings of this research were a steering on what nurses perceive as contributing and preventing to fatigue which are likewise arranged in SEIPS model. It was shown that a macro ergonomic approach is valuable for understanding complexities of work systems, even though it is a small unit organization.

A macro-physics model of depreciation rate in economic exchange

Science.gov (United States)

Marmont Lobo, Rui F.; de Sousa, Miguel Rocha

2014-02-01

This article aims at a new approach for a known fundamental result: barter or trade increases economic value. It successfully bridges the gap between the theory of value and the exchange process attached to the transition from endowments to the equilibrium in the core and contract curve. First, we summarise the theory of value; in Section 2, we present the Edgeworth (1881) box and an axiomatic approach and in Section 3, we apply our pure exchange model. Finally (in Section 4), using our open econo-physics pure barter (EPB) model, we derive an improvement in value, which means that pure barter leads to a decline in depreciation rate.

A esportivização do skate (1960-1990: relações entre o macro e o micro La deportivización del skate (1960-1990: relaciones entre lo macro y micro The sportivization of skateboarding (1960-1990: relations between the macro and the micro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Honorato

2013-03-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo foi apresentar elementos da esportivização da prática cultural skate (1960-1990, como conhecimento para o entendimento da relação entre o micro e o macro processo sócio-histórico do skate. Como fonte de pesquisa histórica para a esportivização do skate no Brasil, dimensão macro, utilizamos a Revista Tribo Skate e para a de Piracicaba/SP, dimensão micro, entrevistamos dois colaboradores a partir do método da história oral. Os resultados evidenciaram que o skate surgiu para gerar fortes tensões agradáveis, suas formas de lazer precedem as formas esportivas e, guardadas as particularidades, os seus processos macro e micro-históricos são interdependentes.El objetivo del estudio fue presentar elementos de la deportivización de la práctica cultural skate (1960-1990, como conocimiento para el entendimiento de la relación entre el micro y macro proceso socio-histórico del mismo. Como fuente de investigación histórica para la deportivización del skate en Brasil, dimensión macro, utilizamos la Revista Tribo Skate y para la de Piracicaba/SP, dimensión micro, entrevistamos dos colaboradores a partir del método de historia oral. Los resultados evidenciaron que el skate surgió para generar fuertes tensiones agradables, sus formas de ocio preceden a sus formas deportivas y, salvando las particularidades, los procesos macro y micro-históricos son interdependientes.The objective of this study is to present the elements of the sportivization of the cultural practice of skateboarding (1960-1990, as knowledge for the understanding of the relation between the micro and the macro social and historical processes of skateboarding. We used the magazine Revista Tribo Skate as source of historical research for the sportivization of skateboarding in Brazil, the macro dimension, and for the micro dimension, the city of Piracicaba/SP, where we interviewed two collaborators based on the method of oral history. The results

Valuing Equality in Irish Social Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niall Hanlon

2009-01-01

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

WORK PLACE RELATIONS AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT: BETWEEN THE MICRO AND MACRO? EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROVOCATIONS RELACIONES DE TRABAJO Y GESTIÓN DE PERSONAS: ¿ENTRE EL MACRO Y EL MICRO? PROVOCACIONES EPISTEMOLÓGICAS RELAÇÕES DE TRABALHO E GESTÃO DE PESSOAS: ENTRE O MACRO E O MICRO? PROVOCAÇÕES EPISTEMOLÓGICAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Carvalho Neto

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to promote discussion about our epistemological choices in view of the debate over macro or micro analysis in the  fields of study of Workplace Relations (WR and PersonnelManagement (PM. The WR field is commonly identified with a macro analysis, while the PM is identified with the micro analysis. WR focuses on contexts as determinants, while PM focuses on contexts as conditioners. The article has exercises with themes of WR and PM to discuss micro or macro associating these two fields respectively to the polarization between subjectivism  versus objectivism; irrationalismversus rationalism; individual action  versus structure; individual volition  versus non volition and conditioning context (methodological individualism versus determinant context (methodologicalcollectivism. The contributions of Marxism, Positivism and the Frankfurt School are discussed and their contributions may be relevant to the macro and the micro approaches, if an epistemological conversation is possible with a minimum of prejudice.El objetivo de este artículo es provocar la discusión sobre nuestras elecciones epistemológicas a la luz deldebate sobre la predominancia del macro o del micro en la metodología de las investigaciones en los campos de las Relaciones de Trabajo (RT y de la Gestión de Personas (GP. De manera general, el campo de RT se identifica con una mirada macro, mientras el de la GP se identifica con el micro. Autores de RTcentralizan su análisis en la fuerza de los contextos como determinantes de los fenómenos, mientras autores de GP trabajan con la noción de contexto condicionante. El artículo hace ejercicios con temas de RT y de GP para cuestionar lo que es micro o macro, relacionando esos dos campos respectivamente a la oposición  entre: subjetivismo versus objetivismo; irracionalismo versus racionalismo; acción del individuo versus estructura; volición del individuo versus no volici

Micro-Macro Paradoxes of Entrepreneurship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Villy

2008-01-01

Artiklen tager afsæt i det såkaldte micro-macro paradox fra Aids-Efficiency litteraturen og argumenterer for, at en tilsvarende problemstilling bør inddrages i vurderingen af f.eks. de beskæftigelsesmæssige konsekvenser af entrepreneuriel virksomhed. Den påviser også i en gennemgang af litteratur...

Air traffic energy efficiency differs from place to place: analysis of historical trends by geographical zones using a macro-level methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheze, Benoit; Gastineau, Pascal; Chevallier, Julien

2011-01-01

This article analyses energy efficiency coefficients and their evolution in the air transport sector. The proposed 'macro-level' methodology allows obtaining energy efficiency coefficients and their growth rates (corresponding to the evolution of energy gains) from 1983 to 2006 for eight distinct geographical regions and at the world level. During the whole period, energy efficiency improvements have been equal to 2.88% per year at the world level, with strong differences between regions. Moreover, our results indicate that domestic air travels are less energy efficient (i.e. more carbon intensive) than international air travels. This result applies in all regions. (authors)

MORTRAN-2, FORTRAN Language Extension with User-Supplied Macros

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, A. James; Shustek, L.J.

1980-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: MORTRAN2 is a FORTRAN language extension that permits a relatively easy transition from FORTRAN to a more convenient and structured language. Its features include free-field format; alphanumeric statement labels; flexible comment convention; nested block structure; for-by-to, do, while, until, loop, if-then-else, if-else, exit, and next statements; multiple assignment statements; conditional compilation; and automatic listing indentation. The language is implemented by a macro-based pre-processor and is further extensible by user-defined macros. 2 - Method of solution: The MORTRAN2 pre-processor may be regarded as a compiler whose object code is ANSI Standard FORTRAN. The MORTRAN2 language is dynamically defined by macros which are input at each use of the pre-processor. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The pre-processor output must be accepted by a FORTRAN compiler

3D-DART: a DNA structure modelling server

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dijk, M.; Bonvin, A.M.J.J.

2009-01-01

There is a growing interest in structural studies of DNA by both experimental and computational approaches. Often, 3D-structural models of DNA are required, for instance, to serve as templates for homology modeling, as starting structures for macro-molecular docking or as scaffold for NMR structure

Modelling the transport and decay processes of microbial tracers in a macro-tidal estuary.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Bakar, Amyrhul; Ahmadian, Reza; Falconer, Roger A

2017-10-15

The Loughor Estuary is a macro-tidal coastal basin, located along the Bristol Channel, in the South West of the U.K. The maximum spring tidal range in the estuary is up to 7.5 m, near Burry Port Harbour. This estuarine region can experience severe coastal flooding during high spring tides, including extreme flooding of the intertidal saltmarshes at Llanrhidian, as well as the lower industrial and residential areas at Llanelli and Gowerton. The water quality of this estuarine basin needs to comply with the designated standards for safe recreational bathing and shellfish harvesting industries. The waterbody however, potentially receives overloading of bacterial inputs that enter the estuarine system from both point and diffuse sources. Therefore, a microbial tracer study was carried out to get a better understanding of the faecal bacteria sources and to enable a hydro-environmental model to be refined and calibrated for both advection and dispersion transport. A two-dimensional hydro-environmental model has been refined and extended to predict the highest water level covering the intertidal floodplains of the Loughor Estuary. The validated hydrodynamic model for both water levels and currents, was included with the injected mass of microbial tracer, i.e. MS2 coliphage from upstream of the estuary, and modelled as a non-conservative tracer over several tidal cycles through the system. The calibration and validation of the transport and decay of microbial tracer was undertaken, by comparing the model results and the measured data at two different sampling locations. The refined model developed as a part of this study, was used to acquire a better understanding of the water quality processes and the potential sources of bacterial pollution in the estuary. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revolutionary Transformation in the Macro-Regional Modernities

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hrubec, Marek

2015-01-01

Roč. 11, č. 6 (2015), s. 79-91 ISSN 1841-0464 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : macro-regional * modernities * revolutionary transformations * intercultural * global Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

Modeling policy mix to improve the competitiveness of Indonesian palm oil industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roland Y H Silitonga

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this research is to develop a model that will explain the impact of government policies to the competitiveness of palm oil industry. The model involves two commodities in this industry, namely crude palm oil (CPO and refined palm oil (RPO, each has different added value. Design/methodology/approach: The model built will define the behavior of government in controlling palm oil industry, and their interactions with macro-environment, in order to improve the competitiveness of the industry. Therefore the first step was to map the main activities in this industry using value chain analysis. After that a conceptual model was built, where the output of the model is competitiveness of the industry based on market share. The third step was model formulation. The model is then utilized to simulate the policy mix given by government in improving the competitiveness of Palm Oil Industry. Research limitations/implications: The model was developed using only some policies which give direct impact to the competitiveness of the industry. For macro environment input, only price is considered in this model. Practical implications: The model can simulate the output of the industry for various government policies mix given to the industry. Originality/value: This research develops a model that can represent the structure and relationship between industry, government and macro environment, using value chain analysis and hierarchical multilevel system approach.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Eaves, Lindon; Foley, Debra; Silberg, Judy

2003-12-01

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

Oil prices and the South African economy. A macro-meso-micro analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fofana, Ismael; Chitiga, Margaret; Mabugu, Ramos

2009-01-01

Three levels of analysis are used to track the channels by which South Africa and its people are impacted by an increase of oil prices, namely the macro-economic level, the meso-economic level and the micro-economic/household level. The paper uses an economy and energy integrated approach to quantify these different channels. The approach combines a household survey dataset and an input-output dataset to implement the models. Results indicate that the impacts on the macroeconomy are negative, with gross domestic product falling and the current account balance worsening. All of the industries falling into the high intensive oil - use group witness an increase of their input cost that is above the economy - wide average. The impact of doubling paraffin prices results in poor households in rural areas and among the ''Black'' population, in particular, witnessing an increase of their cost of living which is much higher than their corresponding highest expenditure quintile groups. An increase of transport fuel hits the richer households much harder. The distributional impacts of rising transport cost as a consequence of high oil and oil-products prices shows that median quintile expenditure groups observe the highest impact both in urban and rural areas and especially among the ''Black'' population. (author)

Response of tropical peat swamp forest tree species seedlings to macro nutrients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tri Wira Yuwati

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Efforts of restoration of degraded tropical peat swamp forest were facing constraints due to the low available nutrient level of peat. The transplanted peat swamp forest species seedlings experienced low survival rate and poor growth performance. This study aimed to demonstrate the response of ten tropical peat swamp forest species seedlings whether climax and pioneer species to macro-nutrients addition in the nursery. The growth performance of climax and pioneer tropical peat swamp species seedlings was recorded following addition of macro nutrients of Nitrogen (N, Phosphorus(P, Potassium(K and Dolomitic limestone (CaMg. The result showed that Alstonia spatulata and Parartocarpus venenosus showed positive growth response following macro nutrients addition. This study concluded that tropical peat swamp pioneer species has lower necessity for macro-nutrients addition than tropical peat swamp climax species.

On the relationship between micro and macro correlations in nuclear measurement uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.

1987-01-01

Consideration is given to the propagation of micro correlations between the component experimental errors (corresponding to diverse attributes of the measurement process) through to the macro correlations between the total errors in the final derived experimental values. Whenever certain micro correlations cannot be precisely specified, the macro correlations must also be uncertain. However, on the basis of fundamental principles from mathematical statistics, it is shown that these uncertainties in the macro correlations can be substantially smaller than the individual uncertainties for specific micro correlations, provided that the number of distinct attributes contributing to the total experimental error is reasonably large. Furthermore, the resulting macro correlations are shown to be approximately normally distributed regardless of teh distributions assumed for the micro correlations. Examples are provided to demonstrate these concepts and to illustrate their relevance to experimental nuclear research. (orig.)

Description and performances of MACRO TRD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellotti, R.; Barbarito, E.; Cafagna, F.; Castellano, M.; De Cataldo, G.; De Marzo, C.; Favuzzi, C.; Fusco, P.; Giglietto, N.; Mazziotta, M.N.; Perchiazzi, M.; Raino', A.; Sacchetti, A.; Spinelli, P.

1995-01-01

We discuss the applications of a transition radiation detector (TRD) to measure the residual energy of cosmic rays muons in underground laboratories and present the first MACRO TRD module. Results from prototypes operated in a test beam at CERN PS are also given. (orig.)

A Comparison of Alternative Estimators of Linearly Aggregated Macro Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fikri Akdeniz

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false TR X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:TR; mso-fareast-language:TR;} This paper deals with the linear aggregation problem. For the true underlying micro relations, which explain the micro behavior of the individuals, no restrictive rank conditions are assumed. Thus the analysis is presented in a framework utilizing generalized inverses of singular matrices. We investigate several estimators for certain linear transformations of the systematic part of the corresponding macro relations. Homogeneity of micro parameters is discussed. Best linear unbiased estimation for micro parameters is described.

Usefulness of an equal-probability assumption for out-of-equilibrium states: A master equation approach

KAUST Repository

Nogawa, Tomoaki

2012-10-18

We examine the effectiveness of assuming an equal probability for states far from equilibrium. For this aim, we propose a method to construct a master equation for extensive variables describing nonstationary nonequilibrium dynamics. The key point of the method is the assumption that transient states are equivalent to the equilibrium state that has the same extensive variables, i.e., an equal probability holds for microscopic states in nonequilibrium. We demonstrate an application of this method to the critical relaxation of the two-dimensional Potts model by Monte Carlo simulations. While the one-variable description, which is adequate for equilibrium, yields relaxation dynamics that are very fast, the redundant two-variable description well reproduces the true dynamics quantitatively. These results suggest that some class of the nonequilibrium state can be described with a small extension of degrees of freedom, which may lead to an alternative way to understand nonequilibrium phenomena. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Usefulness of an equal-probability assumption for out-of-equilibrium states: A master equation approach

KAUST Repository

Nogawa, Tomoaki; Ito, Nobuyasu; Watanabe, Hiroshi

2012-01-01

We examine the effectiveness of assuming an equal probability for states far from equilibrium. For this aim, we propose a method to construct a master equation for extensive variables describing nonstationary nonequilibrium dynamics. The key point of the method is the assumption that transient states are equivalent to the equilibrium state that has the same extensive variables, i.e., an equal probability holds for microscopic states in nonequilibrium. We demonstrate an application of this method to the critical relaxation of the two-dimensional Potts model by Monte Carlo simulations. While the one-variable description, which is adequate for equilibrium, yields relaxation dynamics that are very fast, the redundant two-variable description well reproduces the true dynamics quantitatively. These results suggest that some class of the nonequilibrium state can be described with a small extension of degrees of freedom, which may lead to an alternative way to understand nonequilibrium phenomena. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Normal Incidence of Sound Transmission Loss from Perforated Plates with Micro and Macro Size Holes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Putra

2014-01-01

contrary to the results for those with the macro holes. Both show similar trend at high frequency where the fluid behavior inside the hole is inertial. Simple analytical formulae for engineering purpose are provided. Validation of the models with measurement data also gives good agreement.

Studying neighborhood crime across different macro spatial scales: The case of robbery in 4 cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hipp, John R; Wo, James C; Kim, Young-An

2017-11-01

Whereas there is a burgeoning literature focusing on the spatial distribution of crime events across neighborhoods or micro-geographic units in a specific city, the present study expands this line of research by selecting four cities that vary across two macro-spatial dimensions: population in the micro-environment, and population in the broader macro-environment. We assess the relationship between measures constructed at different spatial scales and robbery rates in blocks in four cities: 1) San Francisco (high in micro- and macro-environment population); 2) Honolulu (high in micro- but low in macro-environment population); 3) Los Angeles (low in micro- but high in macro-environment population); 4) Sacramento (low in micro- and macro-environment population). Whereas the socio-demographic characteristics of residents further than ½ mile away do not impact robbery rates, the number of people up to 2.5 miles away are related to robbery rates, especially in the two cities with smaller micro-environment population, implying a larger spatial scale than is often considered. The results show that coefficient estimates differ somewhat more between cities differing in micro-environment population compared to those differing based on macro-environment population. It is therefore necessary to consider the broader macro-environment even when focusing on the level of crime across neighborhoods or micro-geographic units within an area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Participating Unequally? Assessing the Macro-Micro Relationship between Income Inequality and Political Engagement in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Filetti

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A great deal of attention has been paid to the consequences of economic inequality on political participation, yet only few empirical studies address the macro-micro relationship between income in-equality and individual engagement. Furthermore, empirical indications diverge and give rise to competing theoretical arguments to be tested. This article seeks to fill this gap and to do so by using the latest round of the European Social Survey (ESS. The contribution is twofold: on the one hand, it establishes a direct link between measures of economic and political inequality - albeit of a particular type. On the other, it provides an up-to-date picture on participatory trends in Europe. In more details, income inequality is found to depress overall political participation and, most importantly, to increase the participatory gap between rich and poor for all unconventional forms of engagement.

Gender as a Macro Economic Variable

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.P. van Staveren (Irene)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This chapter will analyse how gender can be used in a meaningful way in macroeconomic analysis. The challenge is that gender cannot be measured easily at the macro level. This is either because current gender variables are one-dimensional and miss out much gender

Gender as a Macro Economic Variable

NARCIS (Netherlands)

I.P. van Staveren (Irene)

2013-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This chapter will analyse how gender can be used in a meaningful way in macroeconomic analysis. The challenge is that gender cannot be measured easily at the macro level. This is either because current gender variables are one-dimensional and miss out much gender

Regularization in global sound equalization based on effort variation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stefanakis, Nick; Sarris, John; Jacobsen, Finn

2009-01-01

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

Modelling PM10 aerosol data from the Qalabotjha low-smoke fuels macro-scale experiment in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Engelbrecht, JP

2000-03-30

Full Text Available for combustion in cooking and heating appliances are being con- sidered to mitigate human exposure to D-grade coal combustion emissions. In 1997, South Africa's Department of Minerals and Energy conducted a macro-scale experiment to test three brands of low...

Pharmaceutical interventions for mitigating an influenza pandemic: modeling the risks and health-economic impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Postma, Maarten J; Milne, George; Nelson, E Anthony S; Pyenson, Bruce; Basili, Marcello; Coker, Richard; Oxford, John; Garrison, Louis P

2010-12-01

Model-based analyses built on burden-of-disease and cost-effectiveness theory predict that pharmaceutical interventions may efficiently mitigate both the epidemiologic and economic impact of an influenza pandemic. Pharmaceutical interventions typically encompass the application of (pre)pandemic influenza vaccines, other vaccines (notably pneumococcal), antiviral treatments and other drug treatment (e.g., antibiotics to target potential complications of influenza). However, these models may be too limited to capture the full macro-economic impact of pandemic influenza. The aim of this article is to summarize current health-economic modeling approaches to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, and to compare these with more recently proposed alternative methods. We conclude that it is useful, particularly for policy and planning purposes, to extend modeling concepts through the application of alternative approaches, including insurers' risk theories, human capital approaches and sectoral and full macro-economic modeling. This article builds on a roundtable meeting of the Pandemic Influenza Economic Impact Group that was held in Boston, MA, USA, in December 2008.

Enhanced stopping of macro-particles in particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

May, J.; Tonge, J.; Ellis, I.; Mori, W. B.; Fiuza, F.; Fonseca, R. A.; Silva, L. O.; Ren, C.

2014-01-01

We derive an equation for energy transfer from relativistic charged particles to a cold background plasma appropriate for finite-size particles that are used in particle-in-cell simulation codes. Expressions for one-, two-, and three-dimensional particles are presented, with special attention given to the two-dimensional case. This energy transfer is due to the electric field of the wake set up in the background plasma by the relativistic particle. The enhanced stopping is dependent on the q 2 /m, where q is the charge and m is the mass of the relativistic particle, and therefore simulation macro-particles with large charge but identical q/m will stop more rapidly. The stopping power also depends on the effective particle shape of the macro-particle. These conclusions are verified in particle-in-cell simulations. We present 2D simulations of test particles, relaxation of high-energy tails, and integrated fast ignition simulations showing that the enhanced drag on macro-particles may adversely affect the results of these simulations in a wide range of high-energy density plasma scenarios. We also describe a particle splitting algorithm which can potentially overcome this problem and show its effect in controlling the stopping of macro-particles

An economic and environmental assessment of future electricity generation mixes in Japan – an assessment using the E3MG macro-econometric model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollitt, Hector; Park, Seung-Joon; Lee, Soocheol; Ueta, Kazuhiro

2014-01-01

In this paper we consider future options for Japanese energy and climate policy. We assess the economic and environmental impacts of changing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power and varying the mid-term GHG targets. The quantitative approach we use is based on the global macro-econometric E3MG model. Our analysis reveals that the cost of denuclearisation to Japanese GDP is close to zero, and for employment the impact is slightly positive. Our results also show a double-dividend effect if (revenue-neutral) carbon taxes are levied in order to meet the GHG reduction targets, and this double-dividend effect is largest in the scenarios without nuclear power. However, our analysis suggests that a very high carbon tax rate would have to be imposed in order to achieve a 25% reduction in GHG emissions in 2020 (compared to 1990 levels) while simultaneously phasing out nuclear power. - Highlights: • We modelled 12 scenarios for Japan with different shares for nuclear power and different emission targets. • The results showed that phasing out nuclear power would have at most a very small reduction in GDP. • If a carbon tax with revenue recycling is applied, there could be an increase in GDP. • But the carbon price required to meet Japan's 25% emission reduction target is very high if the share of nuclear power is reduced

Development of Hollow Steel Ball Macro-Encapsulated PCM for Thermal Energy Storage Concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijun Dong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The application of thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs for energy efficiency of buildings grew rapidly in the last few years. In this research, octadecane paraffin was served as a PCM, and a structural concrete with the function of indoor temperature control was developed by using a macro-encapsulated PCM hollow steel ball (HSB. The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB was prepared by incorporation of octadecane into HSBs through vacuum impregnation. Test results showed that the maximum percentage of octadecane carried by HSBs was 80.3% by mass. The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB has a latent heat storage capacity as high as 200.5 J/g. The compressive strength of concrete with macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB at 28 days ranged from 22 to 40 MPa. The indoor thermal performance test revealed that concrete with macro-encapsulated octadecane-HSB was capable of reducing the peak indoor air temperature and the fluctuation of indoor temperature. It can be very effective in transferring the heating and cooling loads away from the peak demand times.

Development of Hollow Steel Ball Macro-Encapsulated PCM for Thermal Energy Storage Concrete.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zhijun; Cui, Hongzhi; Tang, Waiching; Chen, Dazhu; Wen, Haibo

2016-01-19

The application of thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) for energy efficiency of buildings grew rapidly in the last few years. In this research, octadecane paraffin was served as a PCM, and a structural concrete with the function of indoor temperature control was developed by using a macro-encapsulated PCM hollow steel ball (HSB). The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB was prepared by incorporation of octadecane into HSBs through vacuum impregnation. Test results showed that the maximum percentage of octadecane carried by HSBs was 80.3% by mass. The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB has a latent heat storage capacity as high as 200.5 J/g. The compressive strength of concrete with macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB at 28 days ranged from 22 to 40 MPa. The indoor thermal performance test revealed that concrete with macro-encapsulated octadecane-HSB was capable of reducing the peak indoor air temperature and the fluctuation of indoor temperature. It can be very effective in transferring the heating and cooling loads away from the peak demand times.

Development of Hollow Steel Ball Macro-Encapsulated PCM for Thermal Energy Storage Concrete

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zhijun; Cui, Hongzhi; Tang, Waiching; Chen, Dazhu; Wen, Haibo

2016-01-01

The application of thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) for energy efficiency of buildings grew rapidly in the last few years. In this research, octadecane paraffin was served as a PCM, and a structural concrete with the function of indoor temperature control was developed by using a macro-encapsulated PCM hollow steel ball (HSB). The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB was prepared by incorporation of octadecane into HSBs through vacuum impregnation. Test results showed that the maximum percentage of octadecane carried by HSBs was 80.3% by mass. The macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB has a latent heat storage capacity as high as 200.5 J/g. The compressive strength of concrete with macro-encapsulated PCM-HSB at 28 days ranged from 22 to 40 MPa. The indoor thermal performance test revealed that concrete with macro-encapsulated octadecane-HSB was capable of reducing the peak indoor air temperature and the fluctuation of indoor temperature. It can be very effective in transferring the heating and cooling loads away from the peak demand times. PMID:28787859

MACRO-PUBLIC RELATIONS: CRISIS COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF INTERNET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongxuan Lin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In order to study the crisis communication in the age of Internet, the study takes the battle between two Internet companies, Tencent and Qihoo, as a case study, but focuses more on their huge public audiences, which may be defined as a “macro-public” crowd. The study employs multiple research methods including survey, focus groups interviews and content analysis to explore their “macro-public relations” which may be driven by the spiral of silence and crowd psychology. This dynamic underground power is the reason that two companies employed similar public relations strategies in crisis communication but the results of the crisis were different. The study attempts to contribute to the knowledge base by defining and highlighting the power and function of “macro-public relations” for crisis communication in the age of Internet.

Practice to Policy: Clinical psychologists' experiences of macro-level work

OpenAIRE

Browne, N.

2017-01-01

Many clinical psychologists are venturing beyond their traditional therapeutic roles to undertake macro-level work, engaging with social change, policy and public health. However, no research has systematically examined clinical psychologists’ roles in policy work and the implications for the profession. Part 1 of the thesis is a literature review of one area of macro-level policy aimed at improving the social determinants of mental health. It reviews nine intervention studies of housing impr...

Potential of dynamic spectrum allocation in LTE macro networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, H.; Ramachandra, P.; Kovács, I. Z.; Jorguseski, L.; Gunnarsson, F.; Kürner, T.

2015-11-01

In recent years Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) worldwide are extensively deploying LTE networks in different spectrum bands and utilising different bandwidth configurations. Initially, the deployment is coverage oriented with macro cells using the lower LTE spectrum bands. As the offered traffic (i.e. the requested traffic from the users) increases the LTE deployment evolves with macro cells expanded with additional capacity boosting LTE carriers in higher frequency bands complemented with micro or small cells in traffic hotspot areas. For MNOs it is crucial to use the LTE spectrum assets, as well as the installed network infrastructure, in the most cost efficient way. The dynamic spectrum allocation (DSA) aims at (de)activating the available LTE frequency carriers according to the temporal and spatial traffic variations in order to increase the overall LTE system performance in terms of total network capacity by reducing the interference. This paper evaluates the DSA potential of achieving the envisaged performance improvement and identifying in which system and traffic conditions the DSA should be deployed. A self-optimised network (SON) DSA algorithm is also proposed and evaluated. The evaluations have been carried out in a hexagonal and a realistic site-specific urban macro layout assuming a central traffic hotspot area surrounded with an area of lower traffic with a total size of approximately 8 × 8 km2. The results show that up to 47 % and up to 40 % possible DSA gains are achievable with regards to the carried system load (i.e. used resources) for homogenous traffic distribution with hexagonal layout and for realistic site-specific urban macro layout, respectively. The SON DSA algorithm evaluation in a realistic site-specific urban macro cell deployment scenario including realistic non-uniform spatial traffic distribution shows insignificant cell throughput (i.e. served traffic) performance gains. Nevertheless, in the SON DSA investigations, a gain of up

Macro- and micro-designed chitosan-alginate scaffold architecture by three-dimensional printing and directional freezing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, Stephanie; Wu, Benjamin M; Lau, Grace; Delattre, Benjamin; Lopez, David Don; Tomsia, Antoni P

2016-01-01

While many tissue-engineered constructs aim to treat cartilage defects, most involve chondrocyte or stem cell seeding on scaffolds. The clinical application of cell-based techniques is limited due to the cost of maintaining cellular constructs on the shelf, potential immune response to allogeneic cell lines, and autologous chondrocyte sources requiring biopsy from already diseased or injured, scarce tissue. An acellular scaffold that can induce endogenous influx and homogeneous distribution of native stem cells from bone marrow holds great promise for cartilage regeneration. This study aims to develop such an acellular scaffold using designed, channeled architecture that simultaneously models the native zones of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Highly porous, hydrophilic chitosan-alginate (Ch-Al) scaffolds were fabricated in three-dimensionally printed (3DP) molds designed to create millimeter scale macro-channels. Different polymer preform casting techniques were employed to produce scaffolds from both negative and positive 3DP molds. Macro-channeled scaffolds improved cell suspension distribution and uptake overly randomly porous scaffolds, with a wicking volumetric flow rate of 445.6 ± 30.3 mm 3 s −1 for aqueous solutions and 177 ± 16 mm 3 s −1 for blood. Additionally, directional freezing was applied to Ch-Al scaffolds, resulting in lamellar pores measuring 300 μm and 50 μm on the long and short axes, thus creating micrometer scale micro-channels. After directionally freezing Ch-Al solution cast in 3DP molds, the combined macro- and micro-channeled scaffold architecture enhanced cell suspension uptake beyond either macro- or micro-channels alone, reaching a volumetric flow rate of 1782.1 ± 48 mm 3 s −1 for aqueous solutions and 440.9 ± 0.5 mm 3 s −1 for blood. By combining 3DP and directional freezing, we can control the micro- and macro-architecture of Ch-Al to drastically improve cell influx into and distribution within the

Efficiency model of Russian banks

OpenAIRE

Pavlyuk, Dmitry

2006-01-01

The article deals with problems related to the stochastic frontier model of bank efficiency measurement. The model is used to study the efficiency of the banking sector of The Russian Federation. It is based on the stochastic approach both to the efficiency frontier location and to individual bank efficiency values. The model allows estimating bank efficiency values, finding relations with different macro- and microeconomic factors and testing some economic hypotheses.

Comparing SMAP to Macro-scale and Hyper-resolution Land Surface Models over Continental U. S.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Ming; Cai, Xitian; Chaney, Nathaniel; Wood, Eric

2016-04-01

SMAP sensors collect moisture information in top soil at the spatial resolution of ~40 km (radiometer) and ~1 to 3 km (radar, before its failure in July 2015). Such information is extremely valuable for understanding various terrestrial hydrologic processes and their implications on human life. At the same time, soil moisture is a joint consequence of numerous physical processes (precipitation, temperature, radiation, topography, crop/vegetation dynamics, soil properties, etc.) that happen at a wide range of scales from tens of kilometers down to tens of meters. Therefore, a full and thorough analysis/exploration of SMAP data products calls for investigations at multiple spatial scales - from regional, to catchment, and to field scales. Here we first compare the SMAP retrievals to the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macro-scale land surface model simulations over the continental U. S. region at 3 km resolution. The forcing inputs to the model are merged/downscaled from a suite of best available data products including the NLDAS-2 forcing, Stage IV and Stage II precipitation, GOES Surface and Insolation Products, and fine elevation data. The near real time VIC simulation is intended to provide a source of large scale comparisons at the active sensor resolution. Beyond the VIC model scale, we perform comparisons at 30 m resolution against the recently developed HydroBloks hyper-resolution land surface model over several densely gauged USDA experimental watersheds. Comparisons are also made against in-situ point-scale observations from various SMAP Cal/Val and field campaign sites.

The influence of the macro-environment on physical activity: a multilevel analysis of 38 countries worldwide

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosdriesz, Jizzo R.; Witvliet, Margot I.; Visscher, Tommy L. S.; Kunst, Anton E.

2012-01-01

Background: As indicated by the ANGELO framework and similar models, various environmental factors influence population levels of physical activity (PA). To date attention has focused on the micro-level environment, while evidence on the macro-level environment remains scarce and mostly limited to

Participatory modeling to support gender equality : The importance of including stakeholders in interventions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bleijenbergh, I.L.; van Engen, Marloes

2015-01-01

Purpose Interventions to support gender equality in organisations are often unsuccessful. Stakeholders disagree about the causes and problem definition of gender equality or pay lip service to the principle of gender equality, but fail to implement gender equality in practice. The purpose of this

Macro cell assisted cell discovery method for 5G mobile networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marcano, Andrea; Christiansen, Henrik Lehrmann

2016-01-01

, and requires a new system design. The aspects concerning the impact of using mmWave frequencies on the medium access (MAC) layer are one of the topics that need to be further analyzed. In this article we focus on the cell discovery process of the MAC laywe for mmWave communications. A new approach assuming...... a joint search of the user equipment (UE) between the mmWave small cell (SC) and the macro cell (MC) is proposed. The performance of this method is analyzed and compared with existing methods. The results show that using the MC as aid during the search process can allow for up to 99% improvement in terms...

Climate change and macro-economic cycles in pre-industrial europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Qing; Zhang, David D; Lee, Harry F; Li, Guodong

2014-01-01

Climate change has been proven to be the ultimate cause of social crisis in pre-industrial Europe at a large scale. However, detailed analyses on climate change and macro-economic cycles in the pre-industrial era remain lacking, especially within different temporal scales. Therefore, fine-grained, paleo-climate, and economic data were employed with statistical methods to quantitatively assess the relations between climate change and agrarian economy in Europe during AD 1500 to 1800. In the study, the Butterworth filter was adopted to filter the data series into a long-term trend (low-frequency) and short-term fluctuations (high-frequency). Granger Causality Analysis was conducted to scrutinize the associations between climate change and macro-economic cycle at different frequency bands. Based on quantitative results, climate change can only show significant effects on the macro-economic cycle within the long-term. In terms of the short-term effects, society can relieve the influences from climate variations by social adaptation methods and self-adjustment mechanism. On a large spatial scale, temperature holds higher importance for the European agrarian economy than precipitation. By examining the supply-demand mechanism in the grain market, population during the study period acted as the producer in the long term, whereas as the consumer in the short term. These findings merely reflect the general interactions between climate change and macro-economic cycles at the large spatial region with a long-term study period. The findings neither illustrate individual incidents that can temporarily distort the agrarian economy nor explain some specific cases. In the study, the scale thinking in the analysis is raised as an essential methodological issue for the first time to interpret the associations between climatic impact and macro-economy in the past agrarian society within different temporal scales.

Modeling Oil Exploration and Production: Resource-Constrained and Agent-Based Approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakobsson, Kristofer

2010-05-01

Energy is essential to the functioning of society, and oil is the single largest commercial energy source. Some analysts have concluded that the peak in oil production is soon about to happen on the global scale, while others disagree. Such incompatible views can persist because the issue of 'peak oil' cuts through the established scientific disciplines. The question is: what characterizes the modeling approaches that are available today, and how can they be further developed to improve a trans-disciplinary understanding of oil depletion? The objective of this thesis is to present long-term scenarios of oil production (Paper I) using a resource-constrained model; and an agent-based model of the oil exploration process (Paper II). It is also an objective to assess the strengths, limitations, and future development potentials of resource-constrained modeling, analytical economic modeling, and agent-based modeling. Resource-constrained models are only suitable when the time frame is measured in decades, but they can give a rough indication of which production scenarios are reasonable given the size of the resource. However, the models are comprehensible, transparent and the only feasible long-term forecasting tools at present. It is certainly possible to distinguish between reasonable scenarios, based on historically observed parameter values, and unreasonable scenarios with parameter values obtained through flawed analogy. The economic subfield of optimal depletion theory is founded on the notion of rational economic agents, and there is a causal relation between decisions made at the micro-level and the macro-result. In terms of future improvements, however, the analytical form considerably restricts the versatility of the approach. Agent-based modeling makes it feasible to combine economically motivated agents with a physical environment. An example relating to oil exploration is given in Paper II, where it is shown that the exploratory activities of individual

Jarzynski equality: connections to thermodynamics and the second law.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmieri, Benoit; Ronis, David

2007-01-01

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

Using a Social Science--Fictional Play to Teach about Global Capitalism and Macro-Structural Systems in Introduction to Sociology

Science.gov (United States)

Pelak, Cynthia Fabrizio; Duncan, Stacey

2017-01-01

This article explores the use of a social science-fictional play to teach macro-structural concepts related to global capitalism and surplus labor in a small and large Introduction to Sociology course. Relying on a cross-disciplinary and critical pedagogical approach that combines theory and practice to empower students to develop a critical…

Moving the Field Forward: A Micro-Meso-Macro Model for Critical Language Planning. The Case of Estonia

Science.gov (United States)

Skerrett, Delaney Michael

2016-01-01

This study investigates "de facto" language policy in Estonia. It investigates how language choices at the micro (or individual) level are negotiated within the macro (or social and historical) context: how official language policy and other features of the discursive environment surrounding language and its use in Estonia translate into…

36 CFR 254.12 - Value equalization; cash equalization waiver.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

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

Dispersive traveling wave solutions of the Equal-Width and Modified Equal-Width equations via mathematical methods and its applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Dianchen; Seadawy, Aly R.; Ali, Asghar

2018-06-01

The Equal-Width and Modified Equal-Width equations are used as a model in partial differential equations for the simulation of one-dimensional wave transmission in nonlinear media with dispersion processes. In this article we have employed extend simple equation method and the exp(-varphi(ξ)) expansion method to construct the exact traveling wave solutions of equal width and modified equal width equations. The obtained results are novel and have numerous applications in current areas of research in mathematical physics. It is exposed that our method, with the help of symbolic computation, provides a effective and powerful mathematical tool for solving different kind nonlinear wave problems.

An Agent-Based Dynamic Model of Politics, Fertility and Economic Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zining Yang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the political economy of development, government policy choices at a single point in time can dramatically affect a country's development path by impacting fertility, economic and political decisions across generations. Combining system dynamics and agent-based modeling approaches in a complex adaptive system, a simulation framework of the Politics of Fertility and Economic Development (POFED is formalized to understand the relationship between politics, economic, and demography change at both macro and micro levels. First, a new political capacity measurement is used; and the system dynamics model is validated with the latest data. Second, the endogenous attributes are fused with non-cooperative game theory in an agent-based framework to simulate the interactive political economic dynamics of individual intra-societal transactions. Finally, macro and micro levels are connected with policy levers of political capacity and political instability by merging system dynamics and agent-based components. This paper also explores the agent-based model's behavioral dynamics via simulation methods to identify paths towards economic development and political stability. This model demonstrates micro level human agency can act, react and interact, thus driving macro level dynamics, while macro structures provide political, social and economic environments that constrain or incentivize micro level human behavior.

MACRO-PUBLIC RELATIONS: CRISIS COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF INTERNET

OpenAIRE

Zhongxuan Lin; Yujuan Guo; Yingying Chen

2013-01-01

In order to study the crisis communication in the age of Internet, the study takes the battle between two Internet companies, Tencent and Qihoo, as a case study, but focuses more on their huge public audiences, which may be defined as a “macro-public” crowd. The study employs multiple research methods including survey, focus groups interviews and content analysis to explore their “macro-public relations” which may be driven by the spiral of silence and crowd psychology. This dynamic undergrou...

Measurement of the decoherence function with the MACRO detector at Gran Sasso

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahlen, S.; Ambrosio, M.; Antolini, R.; Auriemma, G.; Baldini, A.; Barbarino, G.C.; Barish, B.C.; Battistoni, G.; Bellotti, R.; Bemporad, C.; Bernardini, P.; Bilokon, H.; Bisi, V.; Bloise, C.; Bussino, S.; Cafagna, F.; Calicchio, M.; Campana, D.; Campana, P.; Carboni, M.; Cecchini, S.; Cei, F.; Chiarella, V.; Chiera, C.; Cobis, A.; Cormack, R.; Corona, A.; Coutu, S.; DeCataldo, G.; Dekhussi, H.; DeMarzo, C.; De Vincenzi, M.; Di Credico, A.; Diehl, E.; Erriquez, O.; Favuzzi, C.; Ficenec, D.; Forti, C.; Foti, L.; Fusco, P.; Giacomelli, G.; Giannini, G.; Giglietto, N.; Giubellino, P.; Grassi, M.; Green, P.; Grillo, A.; Guarino, F.; Gustavino, C.; Habig, A.; Heinz, R.; Hong, J.T.; Iarocci, E.; Katsavounidis, E.; Kearns, E.; Klein, S.; Kyriazopoulou, S.; Lamanna, E.; Lane, C.; Lee, C.; Levin, D.S.; Lipari, P.; Liu, G.; Liu, R.; Longo, M.J.; Ludlam, G.; Mancarella, G.; Mandrioli, G.; Margiotta-Neri, A.; Marin, A.; Marini, A.; Martello, D.; Marzari Chiesa, A.; Masera, M.; Matteuzzi, P.; Michael, D.G.; Miller, L.; Monacelli, P.; Monteno, M.; Mufson, S.; Musser, J.; Nutter, S.; Okada, C.; Osteria, G.; Palamara, O.; Parlati, S.; Patera, V.; Patrizii, L.; Pazzi, R.; Peck, C.W.; Petrakis, J.; Petrera, S.; Pignatano, N.D.; Pistilli, P.; Predieri, F.; Ramello, L.; Reynoldson, J.; Ronga, F.; Rosa, G.; Satriano, C.; Satta, L.; Scapparone, E.; Scholberg, K.; Sciubba, A.; Serra Lugaresi, P.; Severi, M.; Sitta, M.; Spinelli, P.; Spinetti, M.; Spurio, M.; Steele, J.; Steinberg, R.; Stone, J.L.; Sulak, L.R.; Surdo, A.; Tarle, G.; Togo, V.; Valente, V.; Walter, C.W.; Webb, R.; Worstell, W.

1992-01-01

A measurement of the underground muon decoherence function has been performed using the multiple muon events collected by the MACRO detector at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory. A detector-independent analysis is presented for different zenith regions and rock depths; this allows direct comparison with any model of hadronic interactions. The measured decoherence function is compared with the predictions of a Monte Carlo simulation based on data taken by recent collider experiments

Macro creatine kinases: results of isoenzyme electrophoresis and differentiation of the immunoglobulin-bound type by radioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohner, J.; Stein, W.; Steinhart, R.; Wurzburg, U.; Eggstein, M.

1982-01-01

In 2.9% of sera from 1253 unselected patients we detected two different types of macromolecular creatine kinases (CK;EC 2.7.3.2). One macro type was represented by immunoglobulin-linked CK; in sera containing macro CK-BB isoenzyme, 125 I-labeled CK-BB was bound with high affinity to the immunoglobulin fraction. Furthermore, during electrophoresis, macro CK-BB mostly migrated between CK-MB and CK-MM, and was fixed to Protein A from Staphlococcus aureus. We therefore propose radioelectrophoresis as a specific, highly sensitive, and simple method for detecting this type of macro CK. This form occurs predominantly in elderly women, is not correlated to any specific disease, and persists in blood over a long period of time. In contrast, a second type (macro-CK type 2) never bound radiolabeled CK isoenzymes, and was not adsorbed to protein A. Electrophoretic migration of this macro-CK type 2 was generally cathodic to CK-MM. We observed this type in severely ill patients, frequently those suffering from malignant tumors. Clinical observations and biochemical data suggest that macro-CK type 2 is of mitochondrial origin

Documentation for Grants Equal to Tax model: Volume 1, Technical description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

A computerized model, the Grants Equal to Tax (GETT) model, was developed to assist in evaluating the amount of federal grant monies that would go to state and local jurisdictions under the provisions outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The GETT model is capable of forecasting the amount of tax liability associated with all property owned and all activities undertaken by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in site characterization and repository development. The GETT program is a user-friendly, menu-driven model developed using dBASE III/trademark/, a relational data base management system. The data base for GETT consists primarily of eight separate dBASE III/trademark/ files corresponding to each of the eight taxes levied by state and local jurisdictions on business property and activity. Additional smaller files help to control model inputs and reporting options. Volume 1 of the GETT model documentation is a technical description of the program and its capabilities providing (1) descriptions of the data management system and its procedures; (2) formulas for calculating taxes (illustrated with flow charts); (3) descriptions of tax data base variables for the Deaf Smith County, Texas, Richton Dome, Mississippi, and Davis Canyon, Utah, salt sites; and (4) data inputs for the GETT model. 10 refs., 18 figs., 3 tabs

PRODUCT TRIAL PROCESSING (PTP): A MODEL APPROACH ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Admin

This study is a theoretical approach to consumer's processing of product trail, and equally explored ... consumer's first usage experience with a company's brand or product that is most important in determining ... product, what it is really marketing is the expected ..... confidence, thus there is a positive relationship between ...

MEZZO ECONOMICS ANALITYCAL APPROACH AS THE PROPULSIVE PART OF MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS IN TOURISM

OpenAIRE

Kozuharov, Saso

2011-01-01

Mezzo Economics covers the area between the Micro and Macro Economics and the organizational approach of the economics of the integral economic communities, which are made of microeconomic entities. Mezzo Economics represents an organizational loop between the Macro economic system and Micro Economics. Tourism industry is a typical represent of Mezzo Economics. Mezzo Economics Analytical Approach represents a compositional and methodological approach that make constitution of the basic and de...

From equality to 'equality'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panov Slobodan

2009-01-01

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

Comparing the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 at macro- and microscopic scales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torras-Rosell, Antoni; Johannsen, Sabrina Rostgaard; Dirscherl, Kai

2016-01-01

. The photocatalytic properties of TiO2 at macro- and microscopic scales are investigated by comparing photocatalytic degradation of acetone and electrochemical experiments to Kelvin probe force microscopy. The good agreement between the macro- and microscopic experiments suggests that Kelvin probe force microscopy...

Economic implications of Japan's aging population: a macro-economic demographic modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawa, N

1982-01-01

This paper utilizes a macroeconomic demographic model to analyze the probable impact of population aging on various public programs in Japan. Rapid fertility decline aided by mortality decline has caused the proportion of the Japanese population aged 65 and over to increase from 4.9% in 1950 to 9.0% in 1980. A population projection based on the 1975 population census assumes a recovery of fertility from a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.9 in 1976 to 2.16 in 1980 and a gradual decline to 2.1 by 1987, while an alternative projection assumes a continuing fertility decline to a TFR of 1.65 in 2025. According to these assumptions, in 2025 18.12% to 21.29% of the total population would be aged 65 or over and 38.66% to 43.80% of the working age population would be aged 45-64. A macroeconomic neoclassical growth model with some Keynesian features was formulated to evaluate the future impact of population aging on social security programs. Population changes are transmitted to economic variables in the model through the supply of labor, level of savings, public health care plans, and old-age pension schemes. The simulation experiments included the 2 population projections and 2 alternative production functions, 1 with the quality of labor incorporated and 1 without. The results indicated that, regardless of the population projection and production function used, the growth of the economy is likely to slow to 1 or 0% in the beginning of the next century due to decreased growth of the labor force and a change in its quality due to age-compositional variations. Public health insurance schemes and pension plans will require increasing financial resources as a result of accelerated population aging; depending on the choice of benefit levels, the proportion of national income allocated to them is expected to range from 14%-40% in the year 2010. Per capita gross national product will continue to grow despite decreased economic growth, but savings might be adversely affected if the

Continuum-Kinetic Models and Numerical Methods for Multiphase Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Nault, Isaac Michael

This thesis presents a continuum-kinetic approach for modeling general problems in multiphase solid mechanics. In this context, a continuum model refers to any model, typically on the macro-scale, in which continuous state variables are used to capture the most important physics: conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. A kinetic model refers to any model, typically on the meso-scale, which captures the statistical motion and evolution of microscopic entitites. Multiphase phenomena usually involve non-negligible micro or meso-scopic effects at the interfaces between phases. The approach developed in the thesis attempts to combine the computational performance benefits of a continuum model with the physical accuracy of a kinetic model when applied to a multiphase problem. The approach is applied to modeling a single particle impact in Cold Spray, an engineering process that intimately involves the interaction of crystal grains with high-magnitude elastic waves. Such a situation could be classified a multiphase application due to the discrete nature of grains on the spatial scale of the problem. For this application, a hyper elasto-plastic model is solved by a finite volume method with approximate Riemann solver. The results of this model are compared for two types of plastic closure: a phenomenological macro-scale constitutive law, and a physics-based meso-scale Crystal Plasticity model.

MacroH2A1.1 regulates mitochondrial respiration by limiting nuclear NAD+ consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Posavec Marjanović, Melanija; Hurtado-Bagès, Sarah; Lassi, Maximilian; Valero, Vanesa; Malinverni, Roberto; Delage, Hélène; Navarro, Miriam; Corujo, David; Guberovic, Iva; Douet, Julien; Gama-Perez, Pau; Garcia-Roves, Pablo M; Ahel, Ivan; Ladurner, Andreas G; Yanes, Oscar; Bouvet, Philippe; Suelves, Mònica; Teperino, Raffaele; Pospisilik, J Andrew; Buschbeck, Marcus

2017-11-01

Histone variants are structural components of eukaryotic chromatin that can replace replication-coupled histones in the nucleosome. The histone variant macroH2A1.1 contains a macrodomain capable of binding NAD + -derived metabolites. Here we report that macroH2A1.1 is rapidly induced during myogenic differentiation through a switch in alternative splicing, and that myotubes that lack macroH2A1.1 have a defect in mitochondrial respiratory capacity. We found that the metabolite-binding macrodomain was essential for sustained optimal mitochondrial function but dispensable for gene regulation. Through direct binding, macroH2A1.1 inhibits basal poly-ADP ribose polymerase 1 (PARP-1) activity and thus reduces nuclear NAD + consumption. The resultant accumulation of the NAD + precursor NMN allows for maintenance of mitochondrial NAD + pools that are critical for respiration. Our data indicate that macroH2A1.1-containing chromatin regulates mitochondrial respiration by limiting nuclear NAD + consumption and establishing a buffer of NAD + precursors in differentiated cells.

Gender Summit 2011: Equality Research and Innovation Through Equality

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tenglerová, Hana

2011-01-01

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

Context-Dependent Effects of Genome-Wide Association Study Genotypes and Macro-Environmental Factors on Time to Biochemical (PSA) Failure after Prostatectomy

Science.gov (United States)

Rebbeck, Timothy R.; Weber, Anita L.; Walker, Amy H.; Stefflova, Klara; Tran, Teo V.; Spangler, Elaine; Chang, Bao-Li; Zeigler-Johnson, Charnita M.

2010-01-01

Background Disparities in cancer defined by race, age, or gender are well established. However, demographic metrics are surrogates for the complex contributions of genotypes, exposures, health care, socioeconomic and sociocultural environment, and many other factors. Macro-environmental factors represent novel surrogates for exposures, lifestyle and other factors that are difficult to measure but may influence cancer outcomes. Methods We applied a “multilevel molecular epidemiology” approach using a prospective cohort of 444 White prostate cancer cases who underwent prostatectomy and were followed until biochemical failure (BF) or censoring without BF. We applied Cox regression models to test for joint effects of 86 genome-wide association study-identified genotypes and macro-environmental contextual effects after geocoding all cases to their residential census tracts. All analyses were adjusted for age at diagnosis and tumor aggressiveness. Results Residents living in macroenvironments with a high proportion of older single heads of household, high rates of vacant housing, or high unemployment had shorter time until BF post-surgery after adjustment for patient age and tumor aggressiveness. After correction for multiple testing, genotypes alone did not predict time to BF, but interactions predicting time to BF were observed for MSMB (rs10993994) and percent of older single head of households (p=0.0004), and for HNF1B/TCF2 (rs4430796) and macroenvironment per capita income (p=0.0002). Conclusions Context-specific macro-environmental effects of genotype may improve the ability to identify groups that may experience poor prostate cancer outcomes. Impact Risk estimation and clinical translation of genotype information may require an understanding of both individual-level and macroenvironmental context. PMID:20826827

Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

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

Influence of pore structure on carbon retention/loss in soil macro-aggregates

Science.gov (United States)

Quigley, Michelle; Kravchenko, Alexandra; Rivers, Mark

2017-04-01

Carbon protection within soil macro-aggregates is an important component of soil carbon sequestration. Pores, as the transportation network for microorganisms, water, air and nutrients within macro-aggregates, are among the factors controlling carbon protection through restricting physical accessibility of carbon to microorganisms. The understanding of how the intra-aggregate pore structure relates to the degree of carbon physical protection, however, is currently lacking. This knowledge gap can lead to potentially inaccurate models and predictions of soil carbon's fate and storage in future changing climates. This study utilized the natural isotopic difference between C3 and C4 plants to trace the location of newly added carbon within macro-aggregates before and after decomposition and explored how location of this carbon relates to characteristics of intra-aggregate pores. To mimic the effect of decomposition, aggregates were incubated at 23˚ C for 28 days. Computed micro-tomographic images were used to determine pore characteristics at 6 μm resolution before and after incubation. Soil (0-10 cm depth) from a 20 year continuous corn (C4 plant) experiment was used. Two soil treatments were considered: 1) "destroyed-structure", where 1 mm sieved soil was used and 2) "intact-structure", where intact blocks of soil were used. Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) (C3 plant) was grown in the planting boxes (2 intact, 3 destroyed, and one control) for three months in a greenhouse. From each box, ˜5 macro-aggregates of ˜5 mm size were collected for a total of 27 macro-aggregates. Half of the aggregates were cut into 5-11 sections, with relative positions of the sections within the aggregate recorded, and analyzed for δ13C. The remaining aggregates were incubated and then subjected to cutting and δ13C analysis. While there were no significant differences between the aggregate pore size distributions of the two treatments, the roles that specific pores sizes played in

Getting to Equal : Promoting Gender Equality through Human Development

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2011-01-01

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

The long-run impact of energy prices on world agricultural markets: The role of macro-economic linkages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohin, A.; Chantret, F.

2010-01-01

The world prices of some food and energy products have followed similar large swings in recent years. We investigate the long-run relationship between these prices using a world Computable General Equilibrium model with detailed representations of food and energy markets. Particular attention is paid to specifying macro-economic linkages which have often been overlooked in recent analysis and debate. We find that the omission of these macro-economic linkages has a substantial bearing on this relationship. A positive relationship due to the cost push effect has been identified in most analysis, but we find that the introduction of the real income effect may indeed imply a negative relationship between world food and energy prices.

Impact of heavy metals on macro-invertebrate fauna of the thaddo stream

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nazneen, S.; Begum, F.; Sharmeen, R.; Ahmed, Z.

2003-01-01

Impact of some heavy metals like zinc, lead, copper, chromium and cadmium were studied at four spots on the macro-invertebrate fauna of the Thaddo stream, a tributary of Malir River. This was in correlation with an earlier study on the physico-chemical aspects of water which showed a severe pollution in this stream. Present data for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of macro-invertebrates and the ranges of heavy metals (Zn 0.5-3.5, Pb 0.90-1.42, Cu 0.35-0.93, Cr 0.0-0.08 and Cd 0.003-0.01 ppm) in the water samples also indicate high level of pollution in the stream. Macro-invertebrate fauna comprises only of aquatic insects which include larvae of Chironomus spp., adults of the Notonectus sp., and nymphs of Gomphus sp. (dragon fly) belonging to the order Diptera , Hemiptera and Odonata, respectively. Quantitatively Notonectus sp. predominated and followed by Chironomus larvae. The maximum concentrations of all heavy metals were recorded at spot 3. A general trend of increase was observed from up stream to down stream regions particularly in the level of zinc. However, a reverse trend was observed in the abundance of macro-invertebrates with a great reduction at spot 4. The statistical analysis of the data generally indicates a negative correlation between the values of the studied heavy metals and the abundance of macro-invertebrates throughout this study. (author)

A Simple Approach to Account for Climate Model Interdependence in Multi-Model Ensembles

Science.gov (United States)

Herger, N.; Abramowitz, G.; Angelil, O. M.; Knutti, R.; Sanderson, B.

2016-12-01

Multi-model ensembles are an indispensable tool for future climate projection and its uncertainty quantification. Ensembles containing multiple climate models generally have increased skill, consistency and reliability. Due to the lack of agreed-on alternatives, most scientists use the equally-weighted multi-model mean as they subscribe to model democracy ("one model, one vote").Different research groups are known to share sections of code, parameterizations in their model, literature, or even whole model components. Therefore, individual model runs do not represent truly independent estimates. Ignoring this dependence structure might lead to a false model consensus, wrong estimation of uncertainty and effective number of independent models.Here, we present a way to partially address this problem by selecting a subset of CMIP5 model runs so that its climatological mean minimizes the RMSE compared to a given observation product. Due to the cancelling out of errors, regional biases in the ensemble mean are reduced significantly.Using a model-as-truth experiment we demonstrate that those regional biases persist into the future and we are not fitting noise, thus providing improved observationally-constrained projections of the 21st century. The optimally selected ensemble shows significantly higher global mean surface temperature projections than the original ensemble, where all the model runs are considered. Moreover, the spread is decreased well beyond that expected from the decreased ensemble size.Several previous studies have recommended an ensemble selection approach based on performance ranking of the model runs. Here, we show that this approach can perform even worse than randomly selecting ensemble members and can thus be harmful. We suggest that accounting for interdependence in the ensemble selection process is a necessary step for robust projections for use in impact assessments, adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

SPSS Macros for Assessing the Reliability and Agreement of Student Evaluations of Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Morley, Donald D.

2009-01-01

This article reports and demonstrates two SPSS macros for calculating Krippendorff's alpha and intraclass reliability coefficients in repetitive situations where numerous coefficients are needed. Specifically, the reported SPSS macros were used to evaluate the interrater agreement and reliability of student evaluations of teaching in thousands of…

Finite Macro-Element Mesh Deformation in a Structured Multi-Block Navier-Stokes Code

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Robert E.

2005-01-01

A mesh deformation scheme is developed for a structured multi-block Navier-Stokes code consisting of two steps. The first step is a finite element solution of either user defined or automatically generated macro-elements. Macro-elements are hexagonal finite elements created from a subset of points from the full mesh. When assembled, the finite element system spans the complete flow domain. Macro-element moduli vary according to the distance to the nearest surface, resulting in extremely stiff elements near a moving surface and very pliable elements away from boundaries. Solution of the finite element system for the imposed boundary deflections generally produces smoothly varying nodal deflections. The manner in which distance to the nearest surface has been found to critically influence the quality of the element deformation. The second step is a transfinite interpolation which distributes the macro-element nodal deflections to the remaining fluid mesh points. The scheme is demonstrated for several two-dimensional applications.

Micro- and macro-scale self-organization in a dissipative plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skoric, M.M.; Sato, T.; Maluckov, A.; Jovanovic, M.S.

1998-10-01

We study a nonlinear three-wave interaction in an open dissipative model of stimulated Raman backscattering in a plasma. A hybrid kinetic-fluid scheme is proposed to include anomalous kinetic dissipation due to electron trapping and plasma wave breaking. We simulate a finite plasma with open boundaries and vary a transport parameter to examine a route to spatio-temporal complexity. An interplay between self-organization at micro (kinetic) and macro (wave/fluid) scales is revealed through quasi-periodic and intermittent evolution of dynamical variables, dissipative structures and related entropy rates. An evidence that entropy rate extrema correspond to structural transitions is found. (author)

Preparation of thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent and its application for drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Cunfeng; Yu, Shirong; Liu, Cheng; Deng, Yuanming; Xu, Yiting; Chen, Xiaoling; Dai, Lizong

2016-05-01

A methodology to prepare thermo-responsive graft copolymer by using a novel macro-RAFT agent was proposed. The macro-RAFT agent with pendant dithioester (ZC(S)SR) was facilely prepared via the combination of RAFT polymerization and esterification reaction. By means of ZC(S)SR-initiated RAFT polymerization, the thermo-responsive graft copolymer consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-hydroxylethyl methacrylate) (P(MMA-co-HEMA)) backbone and hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) side chains was constructed through the "grafting from" approach. The chemical compositions and molecular weight distributions of the synthesized polymers were respectively characterized by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Self-assembly behavior of the amphiphilic graft copolymers (P(MMA-co-HEMA)-g-PNIPAAm) was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and spectrofluorimeter. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value was 0.052 mg mL(-1). These micelles have thermo-responsibility and a low critical solution temperature (LCST) of 33.5°C. Further investigation indicated that the guest molecule release property of these micelles, which can be well described by a first-order kinetic model, was significantly affected by temperature. Besides, the micelles exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cellular uptake property. Hence, these micelles are considered to have potential application in controlled drug delivery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Machine Learning Approach for Software Reliability Growth Modeling with Infinite Testing Effort Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Subburaj Ramasamy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Reliability is one of the quantifiable software quality attributes. Software Reliability Growth Models (SRGMs are used to assess the reliability achieved at different times of testing. Traditional time-based SRGMs may not be accurate enough in all situations where test effort varies with time. To overcome this lacuna, test effort was used instead of time in SRGMs. In the past, finite test effort functions were proposed, which may not be realistic as, at infinite testing time, test effort will be infinite. Hence in this paper, we propose an infinite test effort function in conjunction with a classical Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process (NHPP model. We use Artificial Neural Network (ANN for training the proposed model with software failure data. Here it is possible to get a large set of weights for the same model to describe the past failure data equally well. We use machine learning approach to select the appropriate set of weights for the model which will describe both the past and the future data well. We compare the performance of the proposed model with existing model using practical software failure data sets. The proposed log-power TEF based SRGM describes all types of failure data equally well and also improves the accuracy of parameter estimation more than existing TEF and can be used for software release time determination as well.

Macro- and Micro-Political Vernaculizations of Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomer, Fiona

2017-01-01

Abstract How abortion is dealt with in law and policy is shaped through the multiple political and societal discourses on the issue within a particular society. Debate on abortion is constantly in flux, with progressive and regressive movements witnessed globally. This paper examines the translation of human rights norms into discourses on abortion in Northern Ireland, a region where abortion is highly restricted, with extensive contemporary public debate into potential liberalization of abortion law. This paper emanates from research examining political debates on abortion in Northern Ireland and contrasts findings with recent civil society developments, identifying competing narratives of human rights with regard to abortion at the macro- and micro-political level. The paper identifies the complexities of using human rights as a lobbying tool, and questions the utility of rights-based arguments in furthering abortion law reform. The paper concludes that a legalistic rights-based approach may have limited efficacy in creating a more nuanced debate and perspective on abortion in Northern Ireland but that it has particular resonance in arguing for limited reform in extreme cases. PMID:28630550