Determining the minimum mass and cost of a magnetic refrigerator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørk, Rasmus; Smith, Anders; Bahl, Christian Robert Haffenden

2011-01-01

An expression is determined for the mass of the magnet and magnetocaloric material needed for a magnetic refrigerator and these are determined using numerical modeling for both parallel plate and packed sphere bed regenerators as function of temperature span and cooling power. As magnetocaloric......, respectively, the cheapest 100 W parallel plate refrigerator with a temperature span of 20 K using Gd and a Halbach magnet has 0.8 kg of magnet, 0.3 kg of Gd and a cost of $35. Using the constant material reduces this cost to $25. A packed sphere bed refrigerator with the constant material costs $7. It is also...

M-AMST: an automatic 3D neuron tracing method based on mean shift and adapted minimum spanning tree.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Zhijiang; He, Yishan; Hao, Ming; Yang, Jian; Zhong, Ning

2017-03-29

Understanding the working mechanism of the brain is one of the grandest challenges for modern science. Toward this end, the BigNeuron project was launched to gather a worldwide community to establish a big data resource and a set of the state-of-the-art of single neuron reconstruction algorithms. Many groups contributed their own algorithms for the project, including our mean shift and minimum spanning tree (M-MST). Although M-MST is intuitive and easy to implement, the MST just considers spatial information of single neuron and ignores the shape information, which might lead to less precise connections between some neuron segments. In this paper, we propose an improved algorithm, namely M-AMST, in which a rotating sphere model based on coordinate transformation is used to improve the weight calculation method in M-MST. Two experiments are designed to illustrate the effect of adapted minimum spanning tree algorithm and the adoptability of M-AMST in reconstructing variety of neuron image datasets respectively. In the experiment 1, taking the reconstruction of APP2 as reference, we produce the four difference scores (entire structure average (ESA), different structure average (DSA), percentage of different structure (PDS) and max distance of neurons' nodes (MDNN)) by comparing the neuron reconstruction of the APP2 and the other 5 competing algorithm. The result shows that M-AMST gets lower difference scores than M-MST in ESA, PDS and MDNN. Meanwhile, M-AMST is better than N-MST in ESA and MDNN. It indicates that utilizing the adapted minimum spanning tree algorithm which took the shape information of neuron into account can achieve better neuron reconstructions. In the experiment 2, 7 neuron image datasets are reconstructed and the four difference scores are calculated by comparing the gold standard reconstruction and the reconstructions produced by 6 competing algorithms. Comparing the four difference scores of M-AMST and the other 5 algorithm, we can conclude that

Minimum cost dynamic flows: The series-parallel case

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klinz, Bettina; Woeginger, Gerhard

2004-01-01

A dynamic network consists of a directed graph with capacities, costs, and integral transit times on the arcs. In the minimum-cost dynamic flow problem (MCDFP), the goal is to compute, for a given dynamic network with source s, sink t, and two integers v and T, a feasible dynamic flow from s to t of

A proof of the theorem regarding the distribution of lift over the span for minimum induced drag

Science.gov (United States)

Durand, W F

1931-01-01

The proof of the theorem that the elliptical distribution of lift over the span is that which will give rise to the minimum induced drag has been given in a variety of ways, generally speaking too difficult to be readily followed by the graduate of the average good technical school of the present day. In the form of proof this report makes an effort to bring the matter more readily within the grasp of this class of readers.

Solving Minimum Cost Multi-Commodity Network Flow Problem ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ADOWIE PERE

2018-03-23

Mar 23, 2018 ... network-based modeling framework for integrated fixed and mobile ... Minimum Cost Network Flow Problem (MCNFP) and some ..... Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Routing in Traffic. Incident ... Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. of Surveying &.

An Improved Algorithm Based on Minimum Spanning Tree for Multi-scale Segmentation of Remote Sensing Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LI Hui

2015-07-01

Full Text Available As the basis of object-oriented information extraction from remote sensing imagery,image segmentation using multiple image features,exploiting spatial context information, and by a multi-scale approach are currently the research focuses. Using an optimization approach of the graph theory, an improved multi-scale image segmentation method is proposed. In this method, the image is applied with a coherent enhancement anisotropic diffusion filter followed by a minimum spanning tree segmentation approach, and the resulting segments are merged with reference to a minimum heterogeneity criterion.The heterogeneity criterion is defined as a function of the spectral characteristics and shape parameters of segments. The purpose of the merging step is to realize the multi-scale image segmentation. Tested on two images, the proposed method was visually and quantitatively compared with the segmentation method employed in the eCognition software. The results show that the proposed method is effective and outperforms the latter on areas with subtle spectral differences.

Robust Branch-Cut-and-Price for the Capacitated Minimum Spanning Tree Problem over a Large Extended Formulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Uchoa, Eduardo; Fukasawa, Ricardo; Lysgaard, Jens

This paper presents a robust branch-cut-and-price algorithm for the Capacitated Minimum Spanning Tree Problem (CMST). The variables are associated to q-arbs, a structure that arises from a relaxation of the capacitated prize-collecting arborescence problem in order to make it solvable in pseudo......-polynomial time. Traditional inequalities over the arc formulation, like Capacity Cuts, are also used. Moreover, a novel feature is introduced in such kind of algorithms. Powerful new cuts expressed over a very large set of variables could be added, without increasing the complexity of the pricing subproblem...

Currency crises and the evolution of foreign exchange market: Evidence from minimum spanning tree

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Wooseok; Lee, Junghoon; Chang, Woojin

2011-02-01

We examined the time series properties of the foreign exchange market for 1990-2008 in relation to the history of the currency crises using the minimum spanning tree (MST) approach and made several meaningful observations about the MST of currencies. First, around currency crises, the mean correlation coefficient between currencies decreased whereas the normalized tree length increased. The mean correlation coefficient dropped dramatically passing through the Asian crisis and remained at the lowered level after that. Second, the Euro and the US dollar showed a strong negative correlation after 1997, implying that the prices of the two currencies moved in opposite directions. Third, we observed that Asian countries and Latin American countries moved away from the cluster center (USA) passing through the Asian crisis and Argentine crisis, respectively.

Revised analysis of the (1+1) EA for the minimum spanning tree problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Witt, Carsten

2014-01-01

We revisit the classical analysis of the (1+1) EA for the minimum spanning tree problem in the case that nothing is known about the weights of the underlying graph. Here the original upper bound on the expected running time by Neumann and Wegener [Theor. Comput. Sci. 378(1), 32-40, 2007], which...... depends on the largest weight of the graph, is of no use. The best upper bound available before in this case is due to Reichel and Skutella [FOGA 2009, 21-28] and is of order O(m3 \\log n), where m is the number of edges and n the number of vertices. Using an adaptive drift analysis, we show the improved...... bound O(m2 (sqrt{c(G)} + \\log n)), where c(G) is the circumference (length of the longest cycle) of the graph. This is only by an asymptotic factor of at most sqrt{n}/\\log n away from the classical lower bound. Furthermore, an alternative fitness function leading to the bound O(m2\\log n) is proposed...

Robust branch-cut-and-price for the Capacitated Minimum Spanning Tree problem over a large extended formulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Uchoa, Eduardo; Fukasawa, Ricardo; Lysgaard, Jens

2008-01-01

-polynomial time. Traditional inequalities over the arc formulation, like Capacity Cuts, are also used. Moreover, a novel feature is introduced in such kind of algorithms: powerful new cuts expressed over a very large set of variables are added, without increasing the complexity of the pricing subproblem......This paper presents a robust branch-cut-and-price algorithm for the Capacitated Minimum Spanning Tree Problem (CMST). The variables are associated to q-arbs, a structure that arises from a relaxation of the capacitated prize-collecting arborescence problem in order to make it solvable in pseudo...... or the size of the LPs that are actually solved. Computational results on benchmark instances from the OR-Library show very significant improvements over previous algorithms. Several open instances could be solved to optimality....

Patch-based image segmentation of satellite imagery using minimum spanning tree construction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skurikhin, Alexei N [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2010-01-01

We present a method for hierarchical image segmentation and feature extraction. This method builds upon the combination of the detection of image spectral discontinuities using Canny edge detection and the image Laplacian, followed by the construction of a hierarchy of segmented images of successively reduced levels of details. These images are represented as sets of polygonized pixel patches (polygons) attributed with spectral and structural characteristics. This hierarchy forms the basis for object-oriented image analysis. To build fine level-of-detail representation of the original image, seed partitions (polygons) are built upon a triangular mesh composed of irregular sized triangles, whose spatial arrangement is adapted to the image content. This is achieved by building the triangular mesh on the top of the detected spectral discontinuities that form a network of constraints for the Delaunay triangulation. A polygonized image is represented as a spatial network in the form of a graph with vertices which correspond to the polygonal partitions and graph edges reflecting pairwise partitions relations. Image graph partitioning is based on the iterative graph oontraction using Boruvka's Minimum Spanning Tree algorithm. An important characteristic of the approach is that the agglomeration of partitions is constrained by the detected spectral discontinuities; thus the shapes of agglomerated partitions are more likely to correspond to the outlines of real-world objects.

MISTICA: Minimum Spanning Tree-Based Coarse Image Alignment for Microscopy Image Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Nilanjan; McArdle, Sara; Ley, Klaus; Acton, Scott T

2016-11-01

Registration of an in vivo microscopy image sequence is necessary in many significant studies, including studies of atherosclerosis in large arteries and the heart. Significant cardiac and respiratory motion of the living subject, occasional spells of focal plane changes, drift in the field of view, and long image sequences are the principal roadblocks. The first step in such a registration process is the removal of translational and rotational motion. Next, a deformable registration can be performed. The focus of our study here is to remove the translation and/or rigid body motion that we refer to here as coarse alignment. The existing techniques for coarse alignment are unable to accommodate long sequences often consisting of periods of poor quality images (as quantified by a suitable perceptual measure). Many existing methods require the user to select an anchor image to which other images are registered. We propose a novel method for coarse image sequence alignment based on minimum weighted spanning trees (MISTICA) that overcomes these difficulties. The principal idea behind MISTICA is to reorder the images in shorter sequences, to demote nonconforming or poor quality images in the registration process, and to mitigate the error propagation. The anchor image is selected automatically making MISTICA completely automated. MISTICA is computationally efficient. It has a single tuning parameter that determines graph width, which can also be eliminated by the way of additional computation. MISTICA outperforms existing alignment methods when applied to microscopy image sequences of mouse arteries.

20 CFR 404.277 - When does the frozen minimum primary insurance amount increase because of cost-of-living...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... insurance amount increase because of cost-of-living adjustments? 404.277 Section 404.277 Employees' Benefits... Primary Insurance Amounts Cost-Of-Living Increases § 404.277 When does the frozen minimum primary insurance amount increase because of cost-of-living adjustments? (a) What is the frozen minimum primary...

Potential minimum cost of electricity of superconducting coil tokamak power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, R.L.; Peng, Y-K. M.

1989-01-01

The potential minimum cost of electricity (COE) for superconducting tokamak power reactors is estimated by increasing the physics (confinement, beta limit, bootstrap current fraction) and technology [neutral beam energy, toroidal field (TF) coil allowable stresses, divertor heat flux, superconducting coil critical field, critical temperature, and quench temperature rise] constraints far beyond those assumed for ITER until the point of diminishing returns is reached. A version of the TETRA systems code, calibrated with the ITER design and modified for power reactors, is used for this analysis, limiting this study to reactors with the same basic device configuration and costing algorithms as ITER. A minimum COE is reduced from >200 to about 80 mill/kWh when the allowable design constraints are raised to 2 times those of ITER. At 4 times the ITER allowables, a minimum COE of about 60 mill/kWh is obtained. The corresponding tokamak has a major radius of approximately 4 m, a plasma current close to 10 MA, an aspect ratio of 4, a confinement H- factor ≤3, a beta limit of approximately 2 times the first stability regime, a divertor heat flux of about 20 MW/m 2 , a Β max ≤ 18 T, and a TF coil average current density about 3 times that of ITER. The design constraints that bound the minimum COE are the allowable stresses in the TF coil, the neutral beam energy, and the 99% bootstrap current (essentially free current drive). 14 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Optimizing droop coefficients for minimum cost operation of islanded micro-grids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sanseverino, E. Riva; Tran, Q. T.T.; Zizzo, G.

2017-01-01

This paper shows how minimum cost energy management can be carried out for islanded micro-grids considering an expanded state that also includes the system's frequency. Each of the configurations outputted by the energy management system at each hour are indeed technically sound and coherent from...

Analyzing systemic risk using non-linear marginal expected shortfall and its minimum spanning tree

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jae Wook; Ko, Bonggyun; Chang, Woojin

2018-02-01

The aim of this paper is to propose a new theoretical framework for analyzing the systemic risk using the marginal expected shortfall (MES) and its correlation-based minimum spanning tree (MST). At first, we develop two parametric models of MES with their closed-form solutions based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Our models are derived from the non-symmetric quadratic form, which allows them to consolidate the non-linear relationship between the stock and market returns. Secondly, we discover the evidences related to the utility of our models and the possible association in between the non-linear relationship and the emergence of severe systemic risk by considering the US financial system as a benchmark. In this context, the evolution of MES also can be regarded as a reasonable proxy of systemic risk. Lastly, we analyze the structural properties of the systemic risk using the MST based on the computed series of MES. The topology of MST conveys the presence of sectoral clustering and strong co-movements of systemic risk leaded by few hubs during the crisis. Specifically, we discover that the Depositories are the majority sector leading the connections during the Non-Crisis period, whereas the Broker-Dealers are majority during the Crisis period.

Signal Enhancement with Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

This book introduces readers to the novel concept of variable span speech enhancement filters, and demonstrates how it can be used for effective noise reduction in various ways. Further, the book provides the accompanying Matlab code, allowing readers to easily implement the main ideas discussed....... Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal......-to-noise ratio, Wiener, and tradeoff filters (including their new generalizations) can be obtained using the variable span filter framework. It then illustrates how the variable span filters can be applied in various contexts, namely in single-channel STFT-based enhancement, in multichannel enhancement in both...

Minimum Covers of Fixed Cardinality in Weighted Graphs.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Lee J.

Reported is the result of research on combinatorial and algorithmic techniques for information processing. A method is discussed for obtaining minimum covers of specified cardinality from a given weighted graph. By the indicated method, it is shown that the family of minimum covers of varying cardinality is related to the minimum spanning tree of…

Multi-period fuzzy mean-semi variance portfolio selection problem with transaction cost and minimum transaction lots using genetic algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ali Barati

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Multi-period models of portfolio selection have been developed in the literature with respect to certain assumptions. In this study, for the first time, the portfolio selection problem has been modeled based on mean-semi variance with transaction cost and minimum transaction lots considering functional constraints and fuzzy parameters. Functional constraints such as transaction cost and minimum transaction lots were included. In addition, the returns on assets parameters were considered as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. An efficient genetic algorithm (GA was designed, results were analyzed using numerical instances and sensitivity analysis were executed. In the numerical study, the problem was solved based on the presence or absence of each mode of constraints including transaction costs and minimum transaction lots. In addition, with the use of sensitivity analysis, the results of the model were presented with the variations of minimum expected rate of programming periods.

1-Skeletons of the Spanning Tree Problems with Additional Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Bondarenko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study polyhedral properties of two spanning tree problems with additional constraints. In the first problem, it is required to find a tree with a minimum sum of edge weights among all spanning trees with the number of leaves less than or equal to a given value. In the second problem, an additional constraint is the assumption that the degree of all nodes of the spanning tree does not exceed a given value. The recognition versions of both problems are NP-complete. We consider polytopes of these problems and their 1-skeletons. We prove that in both cases it is a NP-complete problem to determine whether the vertices of 1-skeleton are adjacent. Although it is possible to obtain a superpolynomial lower bounds on the clique numbers of these graphs. These values characterize the time complexity in a broad class of algorithms based on linear comparisons. The results indicate a fundamental difference between combinatorial and geometric properties of the considered problems from the classical minimum spanning tree problem.

Research on configuration of railway self-equipped tanker based on minimum cost maximum flow model

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuefang; Gan, Chunhui; Shen, Tingting

2017-05-01

In the study of the configuration of the tanker of chemical logistics park, the minimum cost maximum flow model is adopted. Firstly, the transport capacity of the park loading and unloading area and the transportation demand of the dangerous goods are taken as the constraint condition of the model; then the transport arc capacity, the transport arc flow and the transport arc edge weight are determined in the transportation network diagram; finally, the software calculations. The calculation results show that the configuration issue of the tankers can be effectively solved by the minimum cost maximum flow model, which has theoretical and practical application value for tanker management of railway transportation of dangerous goods in the chemical logistics park.

Noise Reduction with Optimal Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

2016-01-01

In this paper, the problem of noise reduction is addressed as a linear filtering problem in a novel way by using concepts from subspace-based enhancement methods, resulting in variable span linear filters. This is done by forming the filter coefficients as linear combinations of a number...... included in forming the filter. Using these concepts, a number of different filter designs are considered, like minimum distortion, Wiener, maximum SNR, and tradeoff filters. Interestingly, all these can be expressed as special cases of variable span filters. We also derive expressions for the speech...... demonstrate the advantages and properties of the variable span filter designs, and their potential performance gain compared to widely used speech enhancement methods....

Signal enhancement with variable span linear filters

CERN Document Server

Benesty, Jacob; Jensen, Jesper R

2016-01-01

This book introduces readers to the novel concept of variable span speech enhancement filters, and demonstrates how it can be used for effective noise reduction in various ways. Further, the book provides the accompanying Matlab code, allowing readers to easily implement the main ideas discussed. Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal-to-noise ratio, Wiener, and tradeoff filters (including their new generalizations) can be obtained using the variable span filter framework. It then illustrates how the variable span filters can be applied in various contexts, namely in single-channel STFT-based enhancement, in multichannel enhancement in both the time and STFT domains, and, lastly, in time-domain binaural enhancement. In these contexts, the properties of ...

The impact of a minimum pension on old age poverty and its budgetary cost. Evidence from Latin America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Jacques Dethier

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the impact on old age poverty and the fiscal cost of universal minimum oldage pensions in Latin America using recent household survey data for 18 countries. Alleviatingold age poverty requires different approach from other age groups and a minimum pension islikely to be the only alternative available. First we measure old age poverty rates for all countries.Second we discuss the design of minimum pensions schemes, means-tested or not, as wellas the disincentive effects that they are expected to have on the economic and social behavior ofhouseholds including labor supply, saving and family solidarity. Third we use the household surveysto simulate the fiscal cost and the impact on poverty rates of alternative minimum pensionschemes in the 18 countries. We show that a universal minimum pension would substantiallyreduce poverty among the elderly except in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay where minimumpension systems already exist and poverty rates are low. Such schemes have much tobe commended in terms of incentives, spillover effects and administrative simplicity but have ahigh fiscal cost. The latter is a function of the age at which benefits are awarded, the prevailinglongevity, the generosity of benefits, the efficacy of means testing, and naturally the fiscal capacityof the country.

Minimum cost connection networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Tvede, Mich

2015-01-01

In the present paper we consider the allocation of costs in connection networks. Agents have connection demands in form of pairs of locations they want to have connected. Connections between locations are costly to build. The problem is to allocate costs of networks satisfying all connection...... demands. We use a few axioms to characterize allocation rules that truthfully implement cost minimizing networks satisfying all connection demands in a game where: (1) a central planner announces an allocation rule and a cost estimation rule; (2) every agent reports her own connection demand as well...... as all connection costs; (3) the central planner selects a cost minimizing network satisfying reported connection demands based on the estimated costs; and, (4) the planner allocates the true costs of the selected network. It turns out that an allocation rule satisfies the axioms if and only if relative...

Dynamics of investor spanning trees around dot-com bubble.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sindhuja Ranganathan

Full Text Available We identify temporal investor networks for Nokia stock by constructing networks from correlations between investor-specific net-volumes and analyze changes in the networks around dot-com bubble. The analysis is conducted separately for households, financial, and non-financial institutions. Our results indicate that spanning tree measures for households reflected the boom and crisis: the maximum spanning tree measures had a clear upward tendency in the bull markets when the bubble was building up, and, even more importantly, the minimum spanning tree measures pre-reacted the burst of the bubble. At the same time, we find less clear reactions in the minimal and maximal spanning trees of non-financial and financial institutions around the bubble, which suggests that household investors can have a greater herding tendency around bubbles.

Dynamics of investor spanning trees around dot-com bubble.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranganathan, Sindhuja; Kivelä, Mikko; Kanniainen, Juho

2018-01-01

We identify temporal investor networks for Nokia stock by constructing networks from correlations between investor-specific net-volumes and analyze changes in the networks around dot-com bubble. The analysis is conducted separately for households, financial, and non-financial institutions. Our results indicate that spanning tree measures for households reflected the boom and crisis: the maximum spanning tree measures had a clear upward tendency in the bull markets when the bubble was building up, and, even more importantly, the minimum spanning tree measures pre-reacted the burst of the bubble. At the same time, we find less clear reactions in the minimal and maximal spanning trees of non-financial and financial institutions around the bubble, which suggests that household investors can have a greater herding tendency around bubbles.

Spanning trees and the Eurozone crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, João

2013-12-01

The sovereign debt crisis in the euro area has not yet been solved and recent developments in Spain and Italy have further deteriorated the situation. In this paper we develop a new approach to analyze the ongoing Eurozone crisis. Firstly, we use Maximum Spanning Trees to analyze the topological properties of government bond rates’ dynamics. Secondly, we combine the information given by both Maximum and Minimum Spanning Trees to obtain a measure of market dissimilarity or disintegration. Thirdly, we extend this measure to include a convenient distance not limited to the interval [0, 2]. Our empirical results show that Maximum Spanning Tree gives an adequate description of the separation of the euro area into two distinct groups: those countries strongly affected by the crisis and those that have remained resilient during this period. The measures of market dissimilarity also reveal a persistent separation of these two groups and, according to our second measure, this separation strongly increased during the period July 2009-March 2012.

Optimization of memory use of fragment extension-based protein-ligand docking with an original fast minimum cost flow algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanagisawa, Keisuke; Komine, Shunta; Kubota, Rikuto; Ohue, Masahito; Akiyama, Yutaka

2018-03-16

The need to accelerate large-scale protein-ligand docking in virtual screening against a huge compound database led researchers to propose a strategy that entails memorizing the evaluation result of the partial structure of a compound and reusing it to evaluate other compounds. However, the previous method required frequent disk accesses, resulting in insufficient acceleration. Thus, more efficient memory usage can be expected to lead to further acceleration, and optimal memory usage could be achieved by solving the minimum cost flow problem. In this research, we propose a fast algorithm for the minimum cost flow problem utilizing the characteristics of the graph generated for this problem as constraints. The proposed algorithm, which optimized memory usage, was approximately seven times faster compared to existing minimum cost flow algorithms. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Minimum cost connection networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Tvede, Mich

In the present paper we consider the allocation of cost in connection networks. Agents have connection demands in form of pairs of locations they want to be connected. Connections between locations are costly to build. The problem is to allocate costs of networks satisfying all connection demands...

Cost of and soil loss on "minimum-standard" forest truck roads constructed in the central Appalachians

Science.gov (United States)

J. N. Kochenderfer; G. W. Wendel; H. Clay Smith

1984-01-01

A "minimum-standard" forest truck road that provides efficient and environmentally acceptable access for several forest activities is described. Cost data are presented for eight of these roads constructed in the central Appalachians. The average cost per mile excluding gravel was $8,119. The range was $5,048 to $14,424. Soil loss was measured from several...

Spanning trees with many leaves: new extremal results and an improved FPT algorithm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonsma, P.S.

We present two lower bounds for the maximum number of leaves in a spanning tree of a graph. For connected graphs without triangles, with minimum degree at least three, we show that a spanning tree with at least (n+4)/3 leaves exists, where n is the number of vertices of the graph. For connected

An Alternative to Optimize the Indonesian’s Airport Network Design: An Application of Minimum Spanning Tree (MST Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luluk Lusiantoro

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Using minimum spanning tree technique (MST, this exploratory research was done to optimize the interrelation and hierarchical network design of Indonesian’s airports. This research also identifies the position of the Indonesian’s airports regionally based on the ASEAN Open Sky Policy 2015. The secondary data containing distance between airports (both in Indonesia and in ASEAN, flight frequency, and correlation of Gross Domestic Regional Product (GDRP for each region in Indonesia are used as inputs to form MST networks. The result analysis is done by comparing the MST networks with the existing network in Indonesia. This research found that the existing airport network in Indonesia does not depict the optimal network connecting all airports with the shortest distance and maximizing the correlation of regional economic potential in the country. This research then suggests the optimal networks and identifies the airports and regions as hubs and spokes formed by the networks. Lastly, this research indicates that the Indonesian airports have no strategic position in the ASEAN Open Sky network, but they have an opportunity to get strategic positions if 33 airports in 33 regions in Indonesia are included in the network.

Potential benefits of minimum unit pricing for alcohol versus a ban on below cost selling in England 2014: modelling study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Alan; Meng, Yang; Holmes, John; Hill-McManus, Daniel; Meier, Petra S

2014-09-30

To evaluate the potential impact of two alcohol control policies under consideration in England: banning below cost selling of alcohol and minimum unit pricing. Modelling study using the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model version 2.5. England 2014-15. Adults and young people aged 16 or more, including subgroups of moderate, hazardous, and harmful drinkers. Policy to ban below cost selling, which means that the selling price to consumers could not be lower than tax payable on the product, compared with policies of minimum unit pricing at £0.40 (€0.57; $0.75), 45 p, and 50 p per unit (7.9 g/10 mL) of pure alcohol. Changes in mean consumption in terms of units of alcohol, drinkers' expenditure, and reductions in deaths, illnesses, admissions to hospital, and quality adjusted life years. The proportion of the market affected is a key driver of impact, with just 0.7% of all units estimated to be sold below the duty plus value added tax threshold implied by a ban on below cost selling, compared with 23.2% of units for a 45 p minimum unit price. Below cost selling is estimated to reduce harmful drinkers' mean annual consumption by just 0.08%, around 3 units per year, compared with 3.7% or 137 units per year for a 45 p minimum unit price (an approximately 45 times greater effect). The ban on below cost selling has a small effect on population health-saving an estimated 14 deaths and 500 admissions to hospital per annum. In contrast, a 45 p minimum unit price is estimated to save 624 deaths and 23,700 hospital admissions. Most of the harm reductions (for example, 89% of estimated deaths saved per annum) are estimated to occur in the 5.3% of people who are harmful drinkers. The ban on below cost selling, implemented in the England in May 2014, is estimated to have small effects on consumption and health harm. The previously announced policy of a minimum unit price, if set at expected levels between 40 p and 50 p per unit, is estimated to have an approximately 40-50 times

Life span and reproductive cost explain interspecific variation in the optimal onset of reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mourocq, Emeline; Bize, Pierre; Bouwhuis, Sandra; Bradley, Russell; Charmantier, Anne; de la Cruz, Carlos; Drobniak, Szymon M; Espie, Richard H M; Herényi, Márton; Hötker, Hermann; Krüger, Oliver; Marzluff, John; Møller, Anders P; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Phillips, Richard A; Radford, Andrew N; Roulin, Alexandre; Török, János; Valencia, Juliana; van de Pol, Martijn; Warkentin, Ian G; Winney, Isabel S; Wood, Andrew G; Griesser, Michael

2016-02-01

Fitness can be profoundly influenced by the age at first reproduction (AFR), but to date the AFR-fitness relationship only has been investigated intraspecifically. Here, we investigated the relationship between AFR and average lifetime reproductive success (LRS) across 34 bird species. We assessed differences in the deviation of the Optimal AFR (i.e., the species-specific AFR associated with the highest LRS) from the age at sexual maturity, considering potential effects of life history as well as social and ecological factors. Most individuals adopted the species-specific Optimal AFR and both the mean and Optimal AFR of species correlated positively with life span. Interspecific deviations of the Optimal AFR were associated with indices reflecting a change in LRS or survival as a function of AFR: a delayed AFR was beneficial in species where early AFR was associated with a decrease in subsequent survival or reproductive output. Overall, our results suggest that a delayed onset of reproduction beyond maturity is an optimal strategy explained by a long life span and costs of early reproduction. By providing the first empirical confirmations of key predictions of life-history theory across species, this study contributes to a better understanding of life-history evolution. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

A Generalized Minimum Cost Flow Model for Multiple Emergency Flow Routing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianxun Cui

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During real-life disasters, that is, earthquakes, floods, terrorist attacks, and other unexpected events, emergency evacuation and rescue are two primary operations that can save the lives and property of the affected population. It is unavoidable that evacuation flow and rescue flow will conflict with each other on the same spatial road network and within the same time window. Therefore, we propose a novel generalized minimum cost flow model to optimize the distribution pattern of these two types of flow on the same network by introducing the conflict cost. The travel time on each link is assumed to be subject to a bureau of public road (BPR function rather than a fixed cost. Additionally, we integrate contraflow operations into this model to redesign the network shared by those two types of flow. A nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear programming model with bilinear, fractional, and power components is constructed, and GAMS/BARON is used to solve this programming model. A case study is conducted in the downtown area of Harbin city in China to verify the efficiency of proposed model, and several helpful findings and managerial insights are also presented.

Offshore Wind Farm Cable Connection Configuration Optimization using Dynamic Minimum Spanning Tree Algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hou, Peng; Hu, Weihao; Chen, Zhe

2015-01-01

Anew approach, Dynamic Minimal Spanning Tree (DMST) algorithm, whichisbased on the MST algorithm isproposed in this paper to optimizethe cable connectionlayout for large scale offshore wind farm collection system. The current carrying capacity of the cable is considered as the main constraint....... It is amore economicalway for cable connection configurationdesignof offshore wind farm collection system....

The impact of minimum pay implementation on small businesses operating cost and sustainability: A case of service business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanim Rusly Fariza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The implementation of minimum wage requirement in Malaysia beginning mid 2016 seems to impact both employees and employers in different ways. While this implementation could increase household income and claimed to boost employees’ productivity, employers or business operators, on the other hand are experiencing stringent effect on their business operating cost. The effect is more significant for small business operators, including the childcare centers. Childcare industry operates in the service sector, which represents the main contributor of Malaysian SMEs. Unfortunately for the industry, there is an increasing numbers of childcare centers have to cease their operation due to inability to comply with the minimum pay requirement. In the absence of thorough understanding of the phenomena, the small businesses, particularly among institution-based childcare, is at the risk of losing their businesses. This exploratory study intends to assess how the implementation of minimum pay requirement affects the existing operating cost structure, and consequently business sustainability of Malaysian childcare industry.

Innovation in technology for the least product price and cost - a new minimum cost relation for reductions during technological learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duffey, R.B.

2004-01-01

By analogy with the concepts of human learning, we show and introduce a new method to obtain least product cost and price that includes the effect of innovation and technological learning in manufacturing and production. This key result is a new paradigm instead of the usual economic 'power law' formulation. The new analysis is based on extensive analysis of many technological systems, and is directly related to the presence of learning as experience is accumulated. The results agree with the observed data. By using a consistent basis, the method replaces previous empirical 'power law' descriptions of the technological learning curve with a new 'marginal minimum cost equation' (MCE). (author)

Phase synchronization based minimum spanning trees for analysis of financial time series with nonlinear correlations

Science.gov (United States)

Radhakrishnan, Srinivasan; Duvvuru, Arjun; Sultornsanee, Sivarit; Kamarthi, Sagar

2016-02-01

The cross correlation coefficient has been widely applied in financial time series analysis, in specific, for understanding chaotic behaviour in terms of stock price and index movements during crisis periods. To better understand time series correlation dynamics, the cross correlation matrices are represented as networks, in which a node stands for an individual time series and a link indicates cross correlation between a pair of nodes. These networks are converted into simpler trees using different schemes. In this context, Minimum Spanning Trees (MST) are the most favoured tree structures because of their ability to preserve all the nodes and thereby retain essential information imbued in the network. Although cross correlations underlying MSTs capture essential information, they do not faithfully capture dynamic behaviour embedded in the time series data of financial systems because cross correlation is a reliable measure only if the relationship between the time series is linear. To address the issue, this work investigates a new measure called phase synchronization (PS) for establishing correlations among different time series which relate to one another, linearly or nonlinearly. In this approach the strength of a link between a pair of time series (nodes) is determined by the level of phase synchronization between them. We compare the performance of phase synchronization based MST with cross correlation based MST along selected network measures across temporal frame that includes economically good and crisis periods. We observe agreement in the directionality of the results across these two methods. They show similar trends, upward or downward, when comparing selected network measures. Though both the methods give similar trends, the phase synchronization based MST is a more reliable representation of the dynamic behaviour of financial systems than the cross correlation based MST because of the former's ability to quantify nonlinear relationships among time

Not seeing the forest for the trees: size of the minimum spanning trees (MSTs) forest and branch significance in MST-based phylogenetic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Andreia Sofia; Monteiro, Pedro T; Carriço, João A; Ramirez, Mário; Francisco, Alexandre P

2015-01-01

Trees, including minimum spanning trees (MSTs), are commonly used in phylogenetic studies. But, for the research community, it may be unclear that the presented tree is just a hypothesis, chosen from among many possible alternatives. In this scenario, it is important to quantify our confidence in both the trees and the branches/edges included in such trees. In this paper, we address this problem for MSTs by introducing a new edge betweenness metric for undirected and weighted graphs. This spanning edge betweenness metric is defined as the fraction of equivalent MSTs where a given edge is present. The metric provides a per edge statistic that is similar to that of the bootstrap approach frequently used in phylogenetics to support the grouping of taxa. We provide methods for the exact computation of this metric based on the well known Kirchhoff's matrix tree theorem. Moreover, we implement and make available a module for the PHYLOViZ software and evaluate the proposed metric concerning both effectiveness and computational performance. Analysis of trees generated using multilocus sequence typing data (MLST) and the goeBURST algorithm revealed that the space of possible MSTs in real data sets is extremely large. Selection of the edge to be represented using bootstrap could lead to unreliable results since alternative edges are present in the same fraction of equivalent MSTs. The choice of the MST to be presented, results from criteria implemented in the algorithm that must be based in biologically plausible models.

A Resting-State Brain Functional Network Study in MDD Based on Minimum Spanning Tree Analysis and the Hierarchical Clustering

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Xiaowei Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A large number of studies demonstrated that major depressive disorder (MDD is characterized by the alterations in brain functional connections which is also identifiable during the brain’s “resting-state.” But, in the present study, the approach of constructing functional connectivity is often biased by the choice of the threshold. Besides, more attention was paid to the number and length of links in brain networks, and the clustering partitioning of nodes was unclear. Therefore, minimum spanning tree (MST analysis and the hierarchical clustering were first used for the depression disease in this study. Resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG sources were assessed from 15 healthy and 23 major depressive subjects. Then the coherence, MST, and the hierarchical clustering were obtained. In the theta band, coherence analysis showed that the EEG coherence of the MDD patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy controls especially in the left temporal region. The MST results indicated the higher leaf fraction in the depressed group. Compared with the normal group, the major depressive patients lost clustering in frontal regions. Our findings suggested that there was a stronger brain interaction in the MDD group and a left-right functional imbalance in the frontal regions for MDD controls.

Two- and three-index formulations of the minimum cost multicommodity k-splittable flow problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gamst, Mette; Jensen, Peter Neergaard; Pisinger, David

2010-01-01

The multicommodity flow problem (MCFP) considers the efficient routing of commodities from their origins to their destinations subject to capacity restrictions and edge costs. Baier et al. [G. Baier, E. Köhler, M. Skutella, On the k-splittable flow problem, in: 10th Annual European Symposium...... of commodities has to be satisfied at the lowest possible cost. The problem has applications in transportation problems where a number of commodities must be routed, using a limited number of distinct transportation units for each commodity. Based on a three-index formulation by Truffot et al. [J. Truffot, C...... on Algorithms, 2002, 101–113] introduced the maximum flow multicommodity k-splittable flow problem (MCkFP) where each commodity may use at most k paths between its origin and its destination. This paper studies the -hard minimum cost multicommodity k-splittable flow problem (MCMCkFP) in which a given flow...

A novel minimum cost maximum power algorithm for future smart home energy management.

Science.gov (United States)

Singaravelan, A; Kowsalya, M

2017-11-01

With the latest development of smart grid technology, the energy management system can be efficiently implemented at consumer premises. In this paper, an energy management system with wireless communication and smart meter are designed for scheduling the electric home appliances efficiently with an aim of reducing the cost and peak demand. For an efficient scheduling scheme, the appliances are classified into two types: uninterruptible and interruptible appliances. The problem formulation was constructed based on the practical constraints that make the proposed algorithm cope up with the real-time situation. The formulated problem was identified as Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem, so this problem was solved by a step-wise approach. This paper proposes a novel Minimum Cost Maximum Power (MCMP) algorithm to solve the formulated problem. The proposed algorithm was simulated with input data available in the existing method. For validating the proposed MCMP algorithm, results were compared with the existing method. The compared results prove that the proposed algorithm efficiently reduces the consumer electricity consumption cost and peak demand to optimum level with 100% task completion without sacrificing the consumer comfort.

Minimum long-term cost solution for remote telecommunication stations on the basis of photovoltaic-based hybrid power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaldellis, J.K.; Ninou, I.; Zafirakis, D.

2011-01-01

In the case of the telecommunication (T/C) services' expansion to rural and remote areas, the market generally responds with the minimum investments required. Considering the existing situation, cost-effective operation of the T/C infrastructure installed in these regions (i.e. remote T/C stations) becomes critical. However, since in most cases grid-connection is not feasible, the up-to-now electrification solution for remote T/C stations is based on the operation of costly, oil consuming and heavy polluting diesel engines. Instead, the use of photovoltaic (PV)-based hybrid power stations is currently examined, using as a case study a representative remote T/C station of the Greek territory. In this context, the present study is concentrated on the detailed cost-benefit analysis of the proposed solution. More precisely, the main part of the analysis is devoted to develop a complete electricity production cost model, accordingly applied for numerous oil consumption and service period scenarios. Note that in all cases examined, zero load rejections is a prerequisite while minimum long-term cost solutions designated are favorably compared with the diesel-only solution. Finally, a sensitivity analysis, demonstrating the impact of the main economic parameters on the energy production cost of optimum sized PV-diesel hybrid power stations, is also provided. - Research highlights: → Expansion of telecommunication (T/C) in remote areas is vital for their development. → Off-grid T/C stations employed in such areas operate on diesel engines. → The use of PV-diesel-battery hybrid power stations is currently examined. → A detailed long-term electricity production cost model is developed. → Cost-effectiveness of the proposed system is reflected for numerous configurations.

Road networks as collections of minimum cost paths

Science.gov (United States)

Wegner, Jan Dirk; Montoya-Zegarra, Javier Alexander; Schindler, Konrad

2015-10-01

We present a probabilistic representation of network structures in images. Our target application is the extraction of urban roads from aerial images. Roads appear as thin, elongated, partially curved structures forming a loopy graph, and this complex layout requires a prior that goes beyond standard smoothness and co-occurrence assumptions. In the proposed model the network is represented as a union of 1D paths connecting distant (super-)pixels. A large set of putative candidate paths is constructed in such a way that they include the true network as much as possible, by searching for minimum cost paths in the foreground (road) likelihood. Selecting the optimal subset of candidate paths is posed as MAP inference in a higher-order conditional random field. Each path forms a higher-order clique with a type of clique potential, which attracts the member nodes of cliques with high cumulative road evidence to the foreground label. That formulation induces a robust PN -Potts model, for which a global MAP solution can be found efficiently with graph cuts. Experiments with two road data sets show that the proposed model significantly improves per-pixel accuracies as well as the overall topological network quality with respect to several baselines.

Signal Enhancement with Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

. Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal...... the time and STFT domains, and, lastly, in time-domain binaural enhancement. In these contexts, the properties of these filters are analyzed in terms of their noise reduction capabilities and desired signal distortion, and the analyses are validated and further explored in simulations....

On the Minimum Induced Drag of Wings -or- Thinking Outside the Box

Science.gov (United States)

Bowers, Albion H.

2011-01-01

Of all the types of drag, induced drag is associated with the creation and generation of lift over wings. Induced drag is directly driven by the span load that the aircraft is flying at. The tools by which to calculate and predict induced drag we use were created by Ludwig Prandtl in 1903. Within a decade after Prandtl created a tool for calculating induced drag, Prandtl and his students had optimized the problem to solve the minimum induced drag for a wing of a given span, formalized and written about in 1920. This solution is quoted in textbooks extensively today. Prandtl did not stop with this first solution, and came to a dramatically different solution in 1932. Subsequent development of this 1932 solution solves several aeronautics design difficulties simultaneously, including maximum performance, minimum structure, minimum drag loss due to control input, and solution to adverse yaw without a vertical tail. This presentation lists that solution by Prandtl, and the refinements by Horten, Jones, Kline, Viswanathan, and Whitcomb.

Life cycle cost analysis of commercial buildings with energy efficient approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilima N. Kale

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In any construction project, cost effectiveness plays a crucial role. The Life Cycle Cost (LCC analysis provides a method of determining entire cost of a structure over its expected life along with operational and maintenance cost. LCC can be improved by adopting alternative modern techniques without much alteration in the building. LCC effectiveness can be calculated at various stages of entire span of the building. Moreover this provides decision makers with the financial information necessary for maintaining, improving, and constructing facilities. Financial benefits associated with energy use can also be calculated using LCC analysis. In the present work, case study of two educational buildings has been considered. The LCC of these buildings has been calculated with existing condition and with proposed energy efficient approach (EEA using net present value method. A solar panel having minimum capacity as well as solar panel with desired capacity as per the requirements of the building has been suggested. The comparison of LCC of existing structure with proposed solar panel system shows that 4% of cost can be reduced in case of minimum capacity solar panel and 54% cost can be reduced for desired capacity solar panel system, along with other added advantages of solar energy.

A novel minimum cost maximum power algorithm for future smart home energy management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Singaravelan

2017-11-01

Full Text Available With the latest development of smart grid technology, the energy management system can be efficiently implemented at consumer premises. In this paper, an energy management system with wireless communication and smart meter are designed for scheduling the electric home appliances efficiently with an aim of reducing the cost and peak demand. For an efficient scheduling scheme, the appliances are classified into two types: uninterruptible and interruptible appliances. The problem formulation was constructed based on the practical constraints that make the proposed algorithm cope up with the real-time situation. The formulated problem was identified as Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP problem, so this problem was solved by a step-wise approach. This paper proposes a novel Minimum Cost Maximum Power (MCMP algorithm to solve the formulated problem. The proposed algorithm was simulated with input data available in the existing method. For validating the proposed MCMP algorithm, results were compared with the existing method. The compared results prove that the proposed algorithm efficiently reduces the consumer electricity consumption cost and peak demand to optimum level with 100% task completion without sacrificing the consumer comfort.

A dual exterior point simplex type algorithm for the minimum cost network flow problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geranis George

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A new dual simplex type algorithm for the Minimum Cost Network Flow Problem (MCNFP is presented. The proposed algorithm belongs to a special 'exterior- point simplex type' category. Similarly to the classical network dual simplex algorithm (NDSA, this algorithm starts with a dual feasible tree-solution and reduces the primal infeasibility, iteration by iteration. However, contrary to the NDSA, the new algorithm does not always maintain a dual feasible solution. Instead, the new algorithm might reach a basic point (tree-solution outside the dual feasible area (exterior point - dual infeasible tree.

RESEARCH OF USING OPEN DOUBLE T BEAMS FOR SPANS IN FLOATING BRIDGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YU. M. Gorbatiuk

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The publication presents the results of calculations of spans for floating bridges with open double T beams. The purpose of research is to analyze the suitability of spans from open double T beams for floating bridges with minimum weight under loads, which is provided by standards for modern floating bridges designing. Methodology. Comparative method, analytical calculation methods (influence lines methodology, strength calculations, endurance, maximum shear stress are used in this paper. Findings. Current loads for bridges calculations are 75% more than those, for which the spans of floating bridge from NZhM-56 property are designed. The use of open double T beams that is formed with double T beam no. 70 (the height of the open one is 104 cm reduces the cross sectional area in a weakened spot, but virtually it does not influence the strength and durability of the material. The use of open double T beams for spans of floating bridges saves up to 22 % of metal that means one in five spans will made of saved metal. Savings on each spans, such as CRP, will be 33.6 - 263 thous. grn. (considering the price of 1 ton of final product 29 thous. grn.. Originality. Research allows making next step in material saving and use of open double T beams for spans in the whole. Practical value. The obtained results give us possibility to make a number of conclusions that allow us to become more familiar and more practical with the use of open double T beams for spans of floating bridges.

SOME NOTES ON COST ALLOCATION IN MULTICASTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darko Skorin-Kapov

2012-12-01

Full Text Available We analyze the cost allocation strategies with the problef of broadcasting information from some source to a number of communication network users. A multicast routing chooses a minimum cost tree network that spans the source and all the receivers. The cost of such a network is distributed among its receivers who may be individuals or organizations with possibly conflicting interests. Providing network developers, users and owners with practical computable 'fair' cost allocation solution procedures is of great importance for network mamagement. Consequently, this multidisciplinary problem was extensively studied by Operational Researchers, Economists, Mathematicians and Computer Scientists. The fairness of various proposed solutions was even argued in US courts. This presentation overviews some previously published, as well as some recent results, in the development of algorithmic mechanisms to efficiently compute 'attractive' cost allocation solutions for multicast networks. Specifically, we will analyze cooperative game theory based cost allocation models that avoid cross subsidies and/or are distance and population monotonic. We will also present some related open cost allocation problems and the potential contribution that such models might make to this problem in the future.

Detailed free span assessment for Mexilhao flow lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, Antonio; Franco, Luciano; Eigbe, Uwa; BomfimSilva, Carlos [INTECSEA, Houston, TX (United States); Escudero, Carlos [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The subsea gas production system of Mexilhao Field SPS-35, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, is composed basically of two rigid 12.75 inches production flow lines approximately 21 km long installed in a fairly rough seabed. During the basic design, the free span assessment was performed considering the maximum allowable free span length determined by the response model proposed by DNV-RP-F105. This approach resulted in a large number of predicted free span requiring corrections, leading to a higher capital cost for the project. In this sense, a detailed free span VIV fatigue assessment was proposed, considering multi-spans and multi-mode effects and also the post lay survey data. The assessment followed the DNV-RP-F105 recommendations for multi-spans and multi-mode effects, using Finite Element Analysis to determine the natural frequencies, mode shapes and corresponding stresses associated with the mode shapes. The assessment was performed in three stages, the first during the detailed design as part of the bottom roughness analysis using the expected residual pipelay tension. The second stage was performed after pipelay, considering the post-lay survey data, where the actual requirements for span correction were determined. Actual pipelay tension was used and seabed soil stiffness adjusted in the model to match the as-laid pipeline profile obtained from the survey data. The first and second stage assessments are seamlessly automated to speed up the evaluation process and allow for quick response in the field, which was important to keep the construction vessel time minimized. The third stage was performed once the corrections of the spans were made and the purpose was to confirm that the new pipeline configuration along the supported spans had sufficient fatigue life for the temporary and operational phases. For the assessment of all three stages, the probability of occurrence and directionality of the near bottom current was considered to improve prediction of the

Identification of Evidence for Key Parameters in Decision-Analytic Models of Cost Effectiveness: A Description of Sources and a Recommended Minimum Search Requirement.

Science.gov (United States)

Paisley, Suzy

2016-06-01

This paper proposes recommendations for a minimum level of searching for data for key parameters in decision-analytic models of cost effectiveness and describes sources of evidence relevant to each parameter type. Key parameters are defined as treatment effects, adverse effects, costs, resource use, health state utility values (HSUVs) and baseline risk of events. The recommended minimum requirement for treatment effects is comprehensive searching according to available methodological guidance. For other parameter types, the minimum is the searching of one bibliographic database plus, where appropriate, specialist sources and non-research-based and non-standard format sources. The recommendations draw on the search methods literature and on existing analyses of how evidence is used to support decision-analytic models. They take account of the range of research and non-research-based sources of evidence used in cost-effectiveness models and of the need for efficient searching. Consideration is given to what constitutes best evidence for the different parameter types in terms of design and scientific quality and to making transparent the judgments that underpin the selection of evidence from the options available. Methodological issues are discussed, including the differences between decision-analytic models of cost effectiveness and systematic reviews when searching and selecting evidence and comprehensive versus sufficient searching. Areas are highlighted where further methodological research is required.

Cost-benefit analysis of implementing minimum energy efficiency standards for household refrigerator-freezers in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahlia, T.M.I.; Masjuki, H.H.; Saidur, R.; Amalina, M.A.

2004-01-01

The ownership of household electrical appliances especially refrigerator-freezer has increased rapidly in Malaysia. Almost every household in this country has a refrigerator-freezer. To reduce energy consumption in this sector the refrigerator is one of the top priorities of the energy efficiency program for household appliances. Malaysian authority is considering implementing minimum energy efficiency standards for refrigerator-freezer sometime in the coming year. This paper attempts to analyze cost-benefit of implementing minimum energy efficiency standards for household refrigerator-freezers in Malaysia. The calculations were made based on growth of ownership data for refrigerators in Malaysian households. The number of refrigerator-freezer has increased from 175,842 units in 1970 to 4,196,486 in 2000 and it will be about 11,293,043 in the year of 2020. Meanwhile it has accounted for about 26.3% of electricity consumption in a single household. Therefore, efficiency improvement of this appliance will give a significant impact in the future of electricity consumption in this country. Furthermore, it has been found that implementing an energy efficiency standard for household refrigerator-freezers is economically justified

Solution for Nonlinear Three-Dimensional Intercept Problem with Minimum Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henzeh Leeghim

2013-01-01

a minimum-energy application, which then generates both the desired initial interceptor velocity and the TOF for the minimum-energy transfer. The optimization problem is formulated by using the classical Lagrangian f and g coefficients, which map initial position and velocity vectors to future times, and a universal time variable x. A Newton-Raphson iteration algorithm is introduced for iteratively solving the problem. A generalized problem formulation is introduced for minimizing the TOF as part of the optimization problem. Several examples are presented, and the results are compared with the Hohmann transfer solution approaches. The resulting minimum-energy intercept solution algorithm is expected to be broadly useful as a starting iterative for applications spanning: targeting, rendezvous, interplanetary trajectory design, and so on.

Decision-making heuristics and biases across the life span

Science.gov (United States)

Strough, JoNell; Karns, Tara E.; Schlosnagle, Leo

2013-01-01

We outline a contextual and motivational model of judgment and decision-making (JDM) biases across the life span. Our model focuses on abilities and skills that correspond to deliberative, experiential, and affective decision-making processes. We review research that addresses links between JDM biases and these processes as represented by individual differences in specific abilities and skills (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functioning, emotion regulation, personality traits). We focus on two JDM biases—the sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) and the framing effect. We trace the developmental trajectory of each bias from preschool through middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and later adulthood. We conclude that life-span developmental trajectories differ depending on the bias investigated. Existing research suggests relative stability in the framing effect across the life span and decreases in the SCF with age, including in later life. We highlight directions for future research on JDM biases across the life span, emphasizing the need for process-oriented research and research that increases our understanding of JDM biases in people’s everyday lives. PMID:22023568

Decision-making heuristics and biases across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Strough, Jonell; Karns, Tara E; Schlosnagle, Leo

2011-10-01

We outline a contextual and motivational model of judgment and decision-making (JDM) biases across the life span. Our model focuses on abilities and skills that correspond to deliberative, experiential, and affective decision-making processes. We review research that addresses links between JDM biases and these processes as represented by individual differences in specific abilities and skills (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functioning, emotion regulation, personality traits). We focus on two JDM biases-the sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) and the framing effect. We trace the developmental trajectory of each bias from preschool through middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and later adulthood. We conclude that life-span developmental trajectories differ depending on the bias investigated. Existing research suggests relative stability in the framing effect across the life span and decreases in the SCF with age, including in later life. We highlight directions for future research on JDM biases across the life span, emphasizing the need for process-oriented research and research that increases our understanding of JDM biases in people's everyday lives. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

A Decision Processing Algorithm for CDC Location Under Minimum Cost SCM Network

Science.gov (United States)

Park, N. K.; Kim, J. Y.; Choi, W. Y.; Tian, Z. M.; Kim, D. J.

Location of CDC in the matter of network on Supply Chain is becoming on the high concern these days. Present status of methods on CDC has been mainly based on the calculation manually by the spread sheet to achieve the goal of minimum logistics cost. This study is focused on the development of new processing algorithm to overcome the limit of present methods, and examination of the propriety of this algorithm by case study. The algorithm suggested by this study is based on the principle of optimization on the directive GRAPH of SCM model and suggest the algorithm utilizing the traditionally introduced MST, shortest paths finding methods, etc. By the aftermath of this study, it helps to assess suitability of the present on-going SCM network and could be the criterion on the decision-making process for the optimal SCM network building-up for the demand prospect in the future.

49 CFR 639.27 - Minimum criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... dollar value to any non-financial factors that are considered by using performance-based specifications..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL LEASES Cost-Effectiveness § 639.27 Minimum criteria. In making the... used where possible and appropriate: (a) Operation costs; (b) Reliability of service; (c) Maintenance...

METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL CLEANING PERIOD OF HEAT EXCHANGERS BY USING THE CRITERIA OF MINIMUM COST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanileisy Rodríguez Calderón

2015-04-01

Full Text Available One of the most serious problems of the Process Industry is that when planning the maintenance of the heat exchangers is not applied the methodologies based on economic criteria to optimize periods of cleaning surfaces resulting in additional costs for the company and for the country. This work develops and proposes a methodical based on the criterion of Minimum Cost for determining the optimal cleaning period. It is given an example of application of this method to the case of intercoolers of a centrifugal compressor with a high fouling level.It occurs this because is used sea water with many microorganisms as cooling agent which severely embeds transfer surfaces of side water. The methodology employed can be generalized to other applications.

Confronting Regulatory Cost and Quality Expectations. An Exploration of Technical Change in Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, Margaret [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Spurlock, C. Anna [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Yang, Hung-Chia [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-09-21

The dual purpose of this project was to contribute to basic knowledge about the interaction between regulation and innovation and to inform the cost and benefit expectations related to technical change which are embedded in the rulemaking process of an important area of national regulation. The area of regulation focused on here is minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for appliances and other energy-using products. Relevant both to U.S. climate policy and energy policy for buildings, MEPS remove certain product models from the market that do not meet specified efficiency thresholds.

The impact of minimum pay implementation on small businesses operating cost and sustainability: A case of service business

OpenAIRE

Hanim Rusly Fariza; Yakimin Abdul Talib Yurita; Salleh Danilah

2017-01-01

The implementation of minimum wage requirement in Malaysia beginning mid 2016 seems to impact both employees and employers in different ways. While this implementation could increase household income and claimed to boost employees’ productivity, employers or business operators, on the other hand are experiencing stringent effect on their business operating cost. The effect is more significant for small business operators, including the childcare centers. Childcare industry operates in the ser...

A Nonlinear Multiobjective Bilevel Model for Minimum Cost Network Flow Problem in a Large-Scale Construction Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiuping Xu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to deal with a minimum cost network flow problem (MCNFP in a large-scale construction project using a nonlinear multiobjective bilevel model with birandom variables. The main target of the upper level is to minimize both direct and transportation time costs. The target of the lower level is to minimize transportation costs. After an analysis of the birandom variables, an expectation multiobjective bilevel programming model with chance constraints is formulated to incorporate decision makers’ preferences. To solve the identified special conditions, an equivalent crisp model is proposed with an additional multiobjective bilevel particle swarm optimization (MOBLPSO developed to solve the model. The Shuibuya Hydropower Project is used as a real-world example to verify the proposed approach. Results and analysis are presented to highlight the performances of the MOBLPSO, which is very effective and efficient compared to a genetic algorithm and a simulated annealing algorithm.

Optimal design and allocation of electrified vehicles and dedicated charging infrastructure for minimum life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Traut, Elizabeth; Hendrickson, Chris; Klampfl, Erica; Liu, Yimin; Michalek, Jeremy J.

2012-01-01

Electrified vehicles can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by shifting energy demand from gasoline to electricity. GHG reduction potential depends on vehicle design, adoption, driving and charging patterns, charging infrastructure, and electricity generation mix. We construct an optimization model to study these factors by determining optimal design of conventional vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with optimal allocation of vehicle designs and dedicated workplace charging infrastructure in the fleet for minimum life cycle cost or GHG emissions over a range of scenarios. We focus on vehicles with similar body size and acceleration to a Toyota Prius under government 5-cycle driving conditions. We find that under the current US grid mix, PHEVs offer only small GHG emissions reductions compared to HEVs, and workplace charging is insignificant. With grid decarbonization, PHEVs and BEVs offer substantial GHG emissions reductions, and workplace charging provides additional benefits. HEVs are optimal or near-optimal for minimum cost in most scenarios. High gas prices and low vehicle and battery costs are the major drivers for PHEVs and BEVs to enter and dominate the cost-optimal fleet. Carbon prices have little effect. Cost and range restrictions limit penetration of BEVs. - Highlights: ► We pose an MINLP model to minimize cost and GHG emissions of electrified vehicles. ► We design PHEVs and BEVs and assign vehicles and charging infrastructure in US fleet. ► Under US grid mix, PEVs provide minor GHG reductions and work chargers do little. ► HEVs are robust; PEVs and work charging potential improve with a decarbonized grid. ► We quantify factors needed for PEVs to enter and dominate the optimal fleet.

Is the minimum enough? Affordability of a nutritious diet for minimum wage earners in Nova Scotia (2002-2012).

Science.gov (United States)

Newell, Felicia D; Williams, Patricia L; Watt, Cynthia G

2014-05-09

This paper aims to assess the affordability of a nutritious diet for households earning minimum wage in Nova Scotia (NS) from 2002 to 2012 using an economic simulation that includes food costing and secondary data. The cost of the National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB) was assessed with a stratified, random sample of grocery stores in NS during six time periods: 2002, 2004/2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. The NNFB's cost was factored into affordability scenarios for three different household types relying on minimum wage earnings: a household of four; a lone mother with three children; and a lone man. Essential monthly living expenses were deducted from monthly net incomes using methods that were standardized from 2002 to 2012 to determine whether adequate funds remained to purchase a basic nutritious diet across the six time periods. A 79% increase to the minimum wage in NS has resulted in a decrease in the potential deficit faced by each household scenario in the period examined. However, the household of four and the lone mother with three children would still face monthly deficits ($44.89 and $496.77, respectively, in 2012) if they were to purchase a nutritiously sufficient diet. As a social determinant of health, risk of food insecurity is a critical public health issue for low wage earners. While it is essential to increase the minimum wage in the short term, adequately addressing income adequacy in NS and elsewhere requires a shift in thinking from a focus on minimum wage towards more comprehensive policies ensuring an adequate livable income for everyone.

Machine-Learning Classifier for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: Multifeature Approach Based on a High-Order Minimum Spanning Tree Functional Brain Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Hao; Qin, Mengna; Chen, Junjie; Xu, Yong; Xiang, Jie

2017-01-01

High-order functional connectivity networks are rich in time information that can reflect dynamic changes in functional connectivity between brain regions. Accordingly, such networks are widely used to classify brain diseases. However, traditional methods for processing high-order functional connectivity networks generally include the clustering method, which reduces data dimensionality. As a result, such networks cannot be effectively interpreted in the context of neurology. Additionally, due to the large scale of high-order functional connectivity networks, it can be computationally very expensive to use complex network or graph theory to calculate certain topological properties. Here, we propose a novel method of generating a high-order minimum spanning tree functional connectivity network. This method increases the neurological significance of the high-order functional connectivity network, reduces network computing consumption, and produces a network scale that is conducive to subsequent network analysis. To ensure the quality of the topological information in the network structure, we used frequent subgraph mining technology to capture the discriminative subnetworks as features and combined this with quantifiable local network features. Then we applied a multikernel learning technique to the corresponding selected features to obtain the final classification results. We evaluated our proposed method using a data set containing 38 patients with major depressive disorder and 28 healthy controls. The experimental results showed a classification accuracy of up to 97.54%.

Steiner tree heuristic in the Euclidean d-space using bottleneck distances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lorenzen, Stephan Sloth; Winter, Pawel

2016-01-01

Some of the most efficient heuristics for the Euclidean Steiner minimal tree problem in the d-dimensional space, d ≥2, use Delaunay tessellations and minimum spanning trees to determine small subsets of geometrically close terminals. Their low-cost Steiner trees are determined and concatenated...... in a greedy fashion to obtain a low cost tree spanning all terminals. The weakness of this approach is that obtained solutions are topologically related to minimum spanning trees. To avoid this and to obtain even better solutions, bottleneck distances are utilized to determine good subsets of terminals...

Winding Design for Minimum Power Loss and Low-Cost Manufacture in Application to Fixed-Speed PM Generator

OpenAIRE

Wrobel, Rafal; Staton, David; Lock, Richard J; Booker, Julian D; Drury, David

2015-01-01

This paper presents the results from a coupled thermal and power loss analysis of an open-slot permanent-magnet (PM) generator. The research focus has been placed on the winding design providing minimum power loss at an ac operation, together with low-cost manufacture. The analyzed PM generator is intended to operate at a fixed speed, allowing for the winding design to be finely tuned for a single operating point. Such a design approach has not been widely reported in literature, and the exis...

Computational Comparison of Several Greedy Algorithms for the Minimum Cost Perfect Matching Problem on Large Graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wøhlk, Sanne; Laporte, Gilbert

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to computationally compare several algorithms for the Minimum Cost Perfect Matching Problem on an undirected complete graph. Our work is motivated by the need to solve large instances of the Capacitated Arc Routing Problem (CARP) arising in the optimization of garbage...... collection in Denmark. Common heuristics for the CARP involve the optimal matching of the odd-degree nodes of a graph. The algorithms used in the comparison include the CPLEX solution of an exact formulation, the LEDA matching algorithm, a recent implementation of the Blossom algorithm, as well as six...

From diets to foods: using linear programming to formulate a nutritious, minimum-cost porridge mix for children aged 1 to 2 years.

Science.gov (United States)

De Carvalho, Irene Stuart Torrié; Granfeldt, Yvonne; Dejmek, Petr; Håkansson, Andreas

2015-03-01

Linear programming has been used extensively as a tool for nutritional recommendations. Extending the methodology to food formulation presents new challenges, since not all combinations of nutritious ingredients will produce an acceptable food. Furthermore, it would help in implementation and in ensuring the feasibility of the suggested recommendations. To extend the previously used linear programming methodology from diet optimization to food formulation using consistency constraints. In addition, to exemplify usability using the case of a porridge mix formulation for emergency situations in rural Mozambique. The linear programming method was extended with a consistency constraint based on previously published empirical studies on swelling of starch in soft porridges. The new method was exemplified using the formulation of a nutritious, minimum-cost porridge mix for children aged 1 to 2 years for use as a complete relief food, based primarily on local ingredients, in rural Mozambique. A nutritious porridge fulfilling the consistency constraints was found; however, the minimum cost was unfeasible with local ingredients only. This illustrates the challenges in formulating nutritious yet economically feasible foods from local ingredients. The high cost was caused by the high cost of mineral-rich foods. A nutritious, low-cost porridge that fulfills the consistency constraints was obtained by including supplements of zinc and calcium salts as ingredients. The optimizations were successful in fulfilling all constraints and provided a feasible porridge, showing that the extended constrained linear programming methodology provides a systematic tool for designing nutritious foods.

Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages. Recent Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Neumark, David

Using a specially constructed panel data set on state minimum wage laws and labor market conditions, Neumark and Wascher (1992) presented evidence that countered the claim that minimum wages could be raised with no cost to employment. They concluded that estimates indicating that minimum wages reduced employment on the order of 1-2 percent for a…

Span of control matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Cathcart, Deb; Jeska, Susan; Karnas, Joan; Miller, Sue E; Pechacek, Judy; Rheault, Lolita

2004-09-01

Prompted by manager concerns about span of control, a large, integrated health system set out to determine if span of control really mattered. Was there something to it, or was it just an excuse for poor performance? A team of middle managers studied the problem and ultimately demonstrated a strong relationship between span of control and employee engagement. Consequently, it was decided to add 4 management positions to note the effect. One year later, positive changes were observed in employee engagement scores in all 4 areas. This study suggests careful review of manager spans of control to address the untoward effects of large spans of control on employee engagement.

Comparative Research of Extra-large-span Cable-stayed Bridge with Steel Truss Girder and Steel Box Girder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Manjiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available To research structural performance of extra-large-span cable-stayed bridge under different section forms, with the engineering background of a 800m main-span cable-stayed bridge with steel truss girder, the cable-stayed bridge with steel box girder is designed according to the current bridge regulations when two bridges are designed in an ultimate state of the carrying capacity, so the maximum stress and minimum stress of the stress envelope diagram are substantially the same. A comprehensive comparison is given to two types of bridge on the aspect of static force, natural vibration frequency, stability, economic performance and so on. Analysis results provide future reference for the large-span cable-stayed bridge to select between the steel truss girder and the steel box girder.

Can households earning minimum wage in Nova Scotia afford a nutritious diet?

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Patricia L; Johnson, Christine P; Kratzmann, Meredith L V; Johnson, C Shanthi Jacob; Anderson, Barbara J; Chenhall, Cathy

2006-01-01

To assess the affordability of a nutritious diet for households earning minimum wage in Nova Scotia. Food costing data were collected in 43 randomly selected grocery stores throughout NS in 2002 using the National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB). To estimate the affordability of a nutritious diet for households earning minimum wage, average monthly costs for essential expenses were subtracted from overall income to see if enough money remained for the cost of the NNFB. This was calculated for three types of household: 1) two parents and two children; 2) lone parent and two children; and 3) single male. Calculations were also made for the proposed 2006 minimum wage increase with expenses adjusted using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The monthly cost of the NNFB priced in 2002 for the three types of household was 572.90 dollars, 351.68 dollars, and 198.73 dollars, respectively. Put into the context of basic living, these data showed that Nova Scotians relying on minimum wage could not afford to purchase a nutritious diet and meet their basic needs, placing their health at risk. These basic expenses do not include other routine costs, such as personal hygiene products, household and laundry cleaners, and prescriptions and costs associated with physical activity, education or savings for unexpected expenses. People working at minimum wage in Nova Scotia have not had adequate income to meet basic needs, including a nutritious diet. The 2006 increase in minimum wage to 7.15 dollars/hr is inadequate to ensure that Nova Scotians working at minimum wage are able to meet these basic needs. Wage increases and supplements, along with supports for expenses such as childcare and transportation, are indicated to address this public health problem.

Cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements in the Danish Building Regulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aggerholm, S.

2013-09-15

The purpose of the report is to analyse the cost optimality of the energy requirements in the Danish Building Regulations 2010, BR10 to new building and to existing buildings undergoing major renovation. The energy requirements in the Danish Building Regulations have by tradition always been based on the cost and benefits related to the private economical or financial perspective. Macro economical calculations have in the past only been made in addition. The cost optimum used in this report is thus based on the financial perspective. Due to the high energy taxes in Denmark there is a significant difference between the consumer price and the macro economical for energy. Energy taxes are also paid by commercial consumers when the energy is used for building operation e.g. heating, lighting, ventilation etc. In relation to the new housing examples the present minimum energy requirements in BR 10 all shows gaps that are negative with a deviation of up till 16 % from the point of cost optimality. With the planned tightening of the requirements to new houses in 2015 and in 2020, the energy requirements can be expected to be tighter than the cost optimal point, if the costs for the needed improvements don't decrease correspondingly. In relation to the new office building there is a gap of 31 % to the point of cost optimality in relation to the 2010 requirement. In relation to the 2015 and 2020 requirements there are negative gaps to the point of cost optimality based on today's prices. If the gaps for all the new buildings are weighted to an average based on mix of building types and heat supply for new buildings in Denmark there is a gap of 3 % in average for the new building. The excessive tightness with today's prices is 34 % in relation to the 2015 requirement and 49 % in relation to the 2020 requirement. The component requirement to elements in the building envelope and to installations in existing buildings adds up to significant energy efficiency

42 CFR 422.382 - Minimum net worth amount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... that CMS considers appropriate to reduce, control or eliminate start-up administrative costs. (b) After... section. (c) Calculation of the minimum net worth amount—(1) Cash requirement. (i) At the time of application, the organization must maintain at least $750,000 of the minimum net worth amount in cash or cash...

Guaranteed cost control of mobile sensor networks with Markov switching topologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yuan; Guo, Ge; Ding, Lei

2015-09-01

This paper investigates the consensus seeking problem of mobile sensor networks (MSNs) with random switching topologies. The network communication topologies are composed of a set of directed graphs (or digraph) with a spanning tree. The switching of topologies is governed by a Markov chain. The consensus seeking problem is addressed by introducing a global topology-aware linear quadratic (LQ) cost as the performance measure. By state transformation, the consensus problem is transformed to the stabilization of a Markovian jump system with guaranteed cost. A sufficient condition for global mean-square consensus is derived in the context of stochastic stability analysis of Markovian jump systems. A computational algorithm is given to synchronously calculate both the sub-optimal consensus controller gains and the sub-minimum upper bound of the cost. The effectiveness of the proposed design method is illustrated by three numerical examples. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal dual-fuel propulsion for minimum inert weight or minimum fuel cost

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, J. A.

1973-01-01

An analytical investigation of single-stage vehicles with multiple propulsion phases has been conducted with the phasing optimized to minimize a general cost function. Some results are presented for linearized sizing relationships which indicate that single-stage-to-orbit, dual-fuel rocket vehicles can have lower inert weight than similar single-fuel rocket vehicles and that the advantage of dual-fuel vehicles can be increased if a dual-fuel engine is developed. The results also indicate that the optimum split can vary considerably with the choice of cost function to be minimized.

The Steiner ratio for points on a triangular lattice | de Wet | ORiON

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study of spanning trees and Steiner trees arises naturally in applications, such as in the design of integrated circuit boards, communication networks, power networks and pipelines of minimum cost. In such applications the Steiner ratio is an indication of how badly a minimum spanning tree performs compared to a ...

Boundary Spanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zølner, Mette

The paper explores how locals span boundaries between corporate and local levels. The aim is to better comprehend potentialities and challenges when MNCs draws on locals’ culture specific knowledge. The study is based on an in-depth, interpretive case study of boundary spanning by local actors in...... approach with pattern matching is a way to shed light on the tacit local knowledge that organizational actors cannot articulate and that an exclusively inductive research is not likely to unveil....

Long Span Bridges in Scandinavia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gimsing, Niels Jørgen

1998-01-01

The first Scandinavian bridge with a span of more than 500 m was the Lillebælt Suspension Bridge opened to traffic in 1970.Art the end of the 20th century the longest span of any European bridge is found in the Storebælt East Bridge with a main span of 1624 m. Also the third longest span in Europe...... is found in Scandinavia - the 1210 m span of the Höga Kusten Bridge in Sweden.The Kvarnsund Bridge in Norway was at the completion in 1991 the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and the span of 530 m is still thge longest for cable-stayed bridges in concrete. The Øresund Bridge with its sapn of 490...

Minimum cost solution of wind–photovoltaic based stand-alone power systems for remote consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaldellis, J.K.; Zafirakis, D.; Kavadias, K.

2012-01-01

Renewable energy sources (RES) based stand-alone systems employing either wind or solar power and energy storage comprise a reliable energy alternative, on top of conventional diesel-electric generator sets, commonly used by remote consumers. However, such systems usually imply the need for oversizing and considerable energy storage requirements leading to relatively high costs. On the other hand, hybrid configurations that may exploit both wind and solar potential of a given area may considerably reduce energy storage capacity and improve the economic performance of the system. In this context, an integrated techno-economic methodology for the evaluation of hybrid wind–photovoltaic stand-alone power systems is currently developed, aiming at the designation of optimum configurations for a typical remote consumer, using economic performance criteria. For the problem investigation, the developed evaluation model is applied to four representative areas of the Greek territory with different wind potential characteristics in order to obtain optimum configurations on the basis of minimum initial investment, 10-year and 20-year total cost. According to the results obtained, the proposed solution is favorably compared with all other stand-alone energy alternatives, reflecting the ability of hybrid systems to adjust even in areas where the local RES potential is not necessarily of high quality. - Highlights: ► Wind- and PV-stand alone systems often imply use of extreme battery capacity. ► Hybrid wind–PV systems may reduce energy storage requirements and associated costs. ► An optimization methodology is developed, based on economic performance criteria. ► Methodology is applied to four Greek regions of different wind potential. ► Results obtained reflect the hybrid solution's advantages over other alternatives.

Construction of a yeast artifical chromosome contig spanning the spinal muscular atrophy disease gene region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kleyn, P.W.; Wang, C.H.; Vitale, E.; Pan, J.; Ross, B.M.; Grunn, A.; Palmer, D.A.; Warburton, D.; Brzustowicz, L.M.; Gilliam, T.G. (New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY (United States)); Lien, L.L.; Kunkel, L.M. (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA (United States))

1993-07-15

The childhood spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) are the most common, serious neuromuscular disorders of childhood second to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. A single locus for these disorders has been mapped by recombination events to a region of 0.7 centimorgan (range, 0.1-2.1 centimorgans) between loci D5S435 and MAP1B on chromosome 5q11.2-13.3. By using PCR amplification to screen yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) DNA pools and the PCR-vectorette method to amplify YAC ends, a YAC contig was constructed across the disease gene region. Nine walk steps identified 32 YACs, including a minimum of seven overlapping YAC clones (average size, 460 kb) that span the SMA region. The contig is characterized by a collection of 30 YAC-end sequence tag sites together with seven genetic markers. The entire YAC contig spans a minimum of 3.2 Mb; the SMA locus is confined to roughly half of this region. Microsatellite markers generated along the YAC contig segregate with the SMA locus in all families where the flanking markers (D5S435 and MAP1B) recombine. Construction of a YAC contig across the disease gene region is an essential step in isolation of the SMA-encoding gene. 26 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Life span effects of Hypericum perforatum extracts on Caenorhabditis elegans under heat stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Kılıçgün, Hasan; Göksen, Gülden

2012-10-01

The beneficial effects of antioxidants in plants are mainly extrapolated from in vitro studies or short-term dietary supplementation studies. Due to cost and duration, relatively little is known about whether dietary antioxidants are beneficial in whole animals' life span or not. To address this question, under heat stress (35°C), Hypericum perforatum was extracted with petroleum ether and the nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to three different extract concentrations (1mg/mL, 0.1mg/mL, 0.01mg/mL) of H. perforatum. We report that Hypericum perforatum extracts did not increase life span and slow aging related increase in C. elegans. Moreover, one fraction (1mg/mL) increased declines of C. elegans life span and thermotolerance. Given this mounting evidence for life span role of H. perforatum in the presence of heat stress in vivo, the question whether H. perforatum acts as a prooxidant or an antioxidant in vivo under heat stress arises.

WildSpan: mining structured motifs from protein sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chien-Yu

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Automatic extraction of motifs from biological sequences is an important research problem in study of molecular biology. For proteins, it is desired to discover sequence motifs containing a large number of wildcard symbols, as the residues associated with functional sites are usually largely separated in sequences. Discovering such patterns is time-consuming because abundant combinations exist when long gaps (a gap consists of one or more successive wildcards are considered. Mining algorithms often employ constraints to narrow down the search space in order to increase efficiency. However, improper constraint models might degrade the sensitivity and specificity of the motifs discovered by computational methods. We previously proposed a new constraint model to handle large wildcard regions for discovering functional motifs of proteins. The patterns that satisfy the proposed constraint model are called W-patterns. A W-pattern is a structured motif that groups motif symbols into pattern blocks interleaved with large irregular gaps. Considering large gaps reflects the fact that functional residues are not always from a single region of protein sequences, and restricting motif symbols into clusters corresponds to the observation that short motifs are frequently present within protein families. To efficiently discover W-patterns for large-scale sequence annotation and function prediction, this paper first formally introduces the problem to solve and proposes an algorithm named WildSpan (sequential pattern mining across large wildcard regions that incorporates several pruning strategies to largely reduce the mining cost. Results WildSpan is shown to efficiently find W-patterns containing conserved residues that are far separated in sequences. We conducted experiments with two mining strategies, protein-based and family-based mining, to evaluate the usefulness of W-patterns and performance of WildSpan. The protein-based mining mode

Evidence for deficits in the temporal attention span of poor readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy A W Visser

Full Text Available While poor reading is often associated with phonological deficits, many studies suggest that visual processing might also be impaired. In particular, recent research has indicated that poor readers show impaired spatial visual attention spans in partial and whole report tasks. Given the similarities between competition-based accounts for reduced visual attention span and similar explanations for impairments in sequential object processing, the present work examined whether poor readers show deficits in their "temporal attention span"--that is, their ability to rapidly and accurately process sequences of consecutive target items.Poor and normal readers monitored a sequential stream of visual items for two (TT condition or three (TTT condition consecutive target digits. Target identification was examined using both unconditional and conditional measures of accuracy in order to gauge the overall likelihood of identifying a target and the likelihood of identifying a target given successful identification of previous items. Compared to normal readers, poor readers showed small but consistent deficits in identification across targets whether unconditional or conditional accuracy was used. Additionally, in the TTT condition, final-target conditional accuracy was poorer than unconditional accuracy, particularly for poor readers, suggesting a substantial cost arising from processing the previous two targets that was not present in normal readers.Mirroring the differences found between poor and normal readers in spatial visual attention span, the present findings suggest two principal differences between the temporal attention spans of poor and normal readers. First, the consistent pattern of reduced performance across targets suggests increased competition amongst items within the same span for poor readers. Second, the steeper decline in final target performance amongst poor readers in the TTT condition suggests a reduction in the extent of their

Evidence for deficits in the temporal attention span of poor readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Visser, Troy A W

2014-01-01

While poor reading is often associated with phonological deficits, many studies suggest that visual processing might also be impaired. In particular, recent research has indicated that poor readers show impaired spatial visual attention spans in partial and whole report tasks. Given the similarities between competition-based accounts for reduced visual attention span and similar explanations for impairments in sequential object processing, the present work examined whether poor readers show deficits in their "temporal attention span"--that is, their ability to rapidly and accurately process sequences of consecutive target items. Poor and normal readers monitored a sequential stream of visual items for two (TT condition) or three (TTT condition) consecutive target digits. Target identification was examined using both unconditional and conditional measures of accuracy in order to gauge the overall likelihood of identifying a target and the likelihood of identifying a target given successful identification of previous items. Compared to normal readers, poor readers showed small but consistent deficits in identification across targets whether unconditional or conditional accuracy was used. Additionally, in the TTT condition, final-target conditional accuracy was poorer than unconditional accuracy, particularly for poor readers, suggesting a substantial cost arising from processing the previous two targets that was not present in normal readers. Mirroring the differences found between poor and normal readers in spatial visual attention span, the present findings suggest two principal differences between the temporal attention spans of poor and normal readers. First, the consistent pattern of reduced performance across targets suggests increased competition amongst items within the same span for poor readers. Second, the steeper decline in final target performance amongst poor readers in the TTT condition suggests a reduction in the extent of their temporal attention

Flexible pavement rehabilitation design based on pavement service life time span left

OpenAIRE

Gamelyak, I.; Shevchuk, V.

2005-01-01

The design of flexible pavement rehabilitation is analysed in terms of durability-cost. A notion of the remaining service life span is described. the model of rehabilitation strategy selection is presented for both design project and operation stages. the results can be used in the pavement management system.

Minimum Cost Nanosatellite Launch System, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Delta Velocity Corporation proposes the development of a very low cost, highly responsive nanosat launch system. We propose to develop an integrated propulsion...

Trade-off between cellular immunity and life span in mealworm beetles Tenebrio molitor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indrikis KRAMS, Janīna DAUKŠTE, Inese KIVLENIECE, Ants KAASIK, Tatjana KRAMA, Todd M. REEBERG, Markus J. RANTALA

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Encapsulation is a nonspecific, cellular response through which insects defend themselves against multicellular pathogens. During this immune reaction, haemocytes recognize an object as foreign and cause other haemocytes to aggregate and form a capsule around the object, often consisting of melanized cells. The process of melanisation is accompanied by the formation of potentially toxic reactive oxygen species, which can kill not only pathogens but also host cells. In this study we tested whether the encapsulation response is costly in mealworm beetles Tenebrio molitor. We found a negative relationship between the duration of implantation via a nylon monofilament and remaining life span. We also found a negative relationship between the strength of immune response and remaining life span, suggesting that cellular immunity is costly in T. molitor, and that there is a trade-off between immune response and remaining life span. However, this relationship disappeared at 31-32 hours of implantation at 25 ± 2℃. As the disappearance of a relationship between duration of implantation and lifespan coincided with the highest values of encapsulation response, we concluded that the beetles stopped investment in the production of melanotic cells, as the implant, a synthetic parasite, was fully isolated from the host’s tissues [Current Zoology 59 (3: 340–346, 2013].

Advance features in the SPAN and SPAN/XRF gamma ray and X ray spectrum analysis software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Liyu

1998-01-01

This paper describes the advanced techniques, integral peak background, experimental peak shape and complex peak shape, which have been used successfully in the software packages SPAN and SPAN/XRF to process gamma ray and X ray spectra from HPGe and Si(Li) detector. Main features of SPAN and SPAN/XRF are also described. The software runs on PC and has convenient graphical capabilities and a powerful user interface. (author)

Minimum Wage Policy and Country’s Technical Efficiency

OpenAIRE

Karim, Mohd Zaini Abd; Chan, Sok-Gee; Hassan, Sallahuddin

2016-01-01

Recently, the government has decided that Malaysia would introduce a minimum wage policy. However, some quarters argued against the idea of a nationwide minimum wage asserting that it will lead to an increase in the cost of doing business and thus will hurt Malaysian competitiveness. Although standard economic theory unambiguously implies that wage floors have a negative impact on employment, the existing empirical literature is not so clear. Some studies have found the expected negative impa...

Determinantal spanning forests on planar graphs

OpenAIRE

Kenyon, Richard

2017-01-01

We generalize the uniform spanning tree to construct a family of determinantal measures on essential spanning forests on periodic planar graphs in which every component tree is bi-infinite. Like the uniform spanning tree, these measures arise naturally from the laplacian on the graph. More generally these results hold for the "massive" laplacian determinant which counts rooted spanning forests with weight $M$ per finite component. These measures typically have a form of conformal invariance, ...

Thermodynamics and life span estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuddusi, Lütfullah

2015-01-01

In this study, the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey is estimated by applying the first and second laws of thermodynamics to the human body. The people living in different regions of Turkey have different food habits. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are used to calculate the entropy generation rate per unit mass of a human due to the food habits. The lifetime entropy generation per unit mass of a human was previously found statistically. The two entropy generations, lifetime entropy generation and entropy generation rate, enable one to determine the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey with different food habits. In order to estimate the life span, some statistics of Turkish Statistical Institute regarding the food habits of the people living in seven regions of Turkey are used. The life spans of people that live in Central Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia regions are the longest and shortest, respectively. Generally, the following inequality regarding the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey is found: Eastern Anatolia < Southeast Anatolia < Black Sea < Mediterranean < Marmara < Aegean < Central Anatolia. - Highlights: • The first and second laws of thermodynamics are applied to the human body. • The entropy generation of a human due to his food habits is determined. • The life span of Turks is estimated by using the entropy generation method. • Food habits of a human have effect on his life span

Reading Ability and Memory Span: Long-Term Memory Contributions to Span for Good and Poor Readers.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Sine J. P.; Donohoe, Rachael

2002-01-01

Investigates the extent to which differences in memory span for good and poor readers can be explained by differences in a long-term memory component to span as well as by differences in short-term memory processes. Discusses the nature of the interrelationships between memory span, reading and measures of phonological awareness. (SG)

Life Span Developmental Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Eryilmaz

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The Life Span Developmental Approach examines development of individuals which occurs from birth to death. Life span developmental approach is a multi-disciplinary approach related with disciplines like psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology and geriatrics that indicates the fact that development is not completed in adulthood, it continues during the life course. Development is a complex process that consists of dying and death. This approach carefully investigates the development of individuals with respect to developmental stages. This developmental approach suggests that scientific disciplines should not explain developmental facts only with age changes. Along with aging, cognitive, biological, and socioemotional development throughout life should also be considered to provide a reasonable and acceptable context, guideposts, and reasonable expectations for the person. There are three important subjects whom life span developmental approach deals with. These are nature vs nurture, continuity vs discontinuity, and change vs stability. Researchers using life span developmental approach gather and produce knowledge on these three most important domains of individual development with their unique scientific methodology.

Factors affecting the minimum capital cost of a tokamak reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hancox, R.

1981-01-01

The Mk IIA Culham conceptual tokamak reactor design is a 2500 MWe steady-state reactor developed on the basis of a cost optimisation. A revised 1200 MWe conceptual design, the Mk IIB, used a lower wall loading and lower thermodynamic efficiency. A detailed costing of the Mk IIB design, however, showed it to have an unacceptably high capital cost. Since this high cost is a common characteristic of many fusion reactor designs, the cost optimisation of the Mk II design has been reconsidered. (author)

Growing trees in child brains: graph theoretical analysis of electroencephalography-derived minimum spanning tree in 5- and 7-year-old children reflects brain maturation.

Science.gov (United States)

Boersma, Maria; Smit, Dirk J A; Boomsma, Dorret I; De Geus, Eco J C; Delemarre-van de Waal, Henriette A; Stam, Cornelis J

2013-01-01

The child brain is a small-world network, which is hypothesized to change toward more ordered configurations with development. In graph theoretical studies, comparing network topologies under different conditions remains a critical point. Constructing a minimum spanning tree (MST) might present a solution, since it does not require setting a threshold and uses a fixed number of nodes and edges. In this study, the MST method is introduced to examine developmental changes in functional brain network topology in young children. Resting-state electroencephalography was recorded from 227 children twice at 5 and 7 years of age. Synchronization likelihood (SL) weighted matrices were calculated in three different frequency bands from which MSTs were constructed, which represent constructs of the most important routes for information flow in a network. From these trees, several parameters were calculated to characterize developmental change in network organization. The MST diameter and eccentricity significantly increased, while the leaf number and hierarchy significantly decreased in the alpha band with development. Boys showed significant higher leaf number, betweenness, degree and hierarchy and significant lower SL, diameter, and eccentricity than girls in the theta band. The developmental changes indicate a shift toward more decentralized line-like trees, which supports the previously hypothesized increase toward regularity of brain networks with development. Additionally, girls showed more line-like decentralized configurations, which is consistent with the view that girls are ahead of boys in brain development. MST provides an elegant method sensitive to capture subtle developmental changes in network organization without the bias of network comparison.

The cost of anchoring on credit-card minimum repayments

OpenAIRE

Stewart, Neil

2009-01-01

About three quarters of credit card accounts attract interest charges. In the US, credit card debt is $951.7 billion of a total of $2,539.7 billion of consumer credit. In the UK, credit card debt is £55.1 billion of £174.4 billion of consumer credit. The 2005 US Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act and the 2003 UK Treasury Select Committee's report require lenders to collect a minimum payment of at least the interest accrued each month. Thus people are protected from the ef...

[Survey on menopausal age and menstruation span in women in Pudong district of Shanghai].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hua; Feng, You-ji; Shu, Hui-min; Lu, Tian-mei; Zhu, Hong-mei; Yang, Bin-lie; Xiong, Miao

2010-06-01

To investigate natural spontaneous menopausal age, menstruation span and their relationship with menarche age and parity in Pudong district of Shanghai. From Jan 2007 to Jul 2008, 15 083 spontaneous menopause women undergoing cervical cancer screening were enrolled in this study. The questionnaire included menarche age, parity, spontaneous menopausal age and menstruation span. Those women were divided into four groups based on age, which were group of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparing difference between menopausal age and menstruation span. Multiple factor regressions was used to analyze the relationship between menarche age, parity and menopausal age and menstruation span. (1) Spontaneous menopausal age: the minimum was 29 years old, the maximum was 61 years old, and the mean age was (50.6 ± 3.7) years old. The mean spontaneous menopause age were (50.9 ± 3.4), (50.7 ± 3.7), (50.0 ± 4.1), (49.6 ± 4.0) years in groups of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70 years. With the increasing age range in four groups, the increasing trends of menopausal age were observed, which the difference of 1.36 year was shown between groups of 56 - 60 and more than 70 years. (2) Menstruation span: the mean of menstruation span was (34.3 ± 4.1) years, which the minimal age of 12 years and maximal age of 48 years were recorded. (34.6 ± 3.8), (34.3 ± 4.1), (33.9 ± 4.6), (33.2 ± 4.5) were observed in groups of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70 years. With the increasing age range in four groups, the increasing trends of menstruation span were observed, which the difference of 1.41 year was shown between groups of 56 - 60 and more than 70 years. (3) The impact of menarche age on menopausal age and menstruation span: there was no correlation between menarche age and menopausal age (r = 0.02); however, menstruation span was found to be negatively correlated with the menarche age (r = -0.43). (4) The impact

Minimum bar size for flexure testing of irradiated SiC/SiC composite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youngblood, G.E.; Jones, R.H.

1998-01-01

This report covers material presented at the IEA/Jupiter Joint International Workshop on SiC/SiC Composites for Fusion structural Applications held in conjunction with ICFRM-8, Sendai, Japan, Oct. 23-24, 1997. The minimum bar size for 4-point flexure testing of SiC/SiC composite recommended by PNNL for irradiation effects studies is 30 x 6 x 2 mm 3 with a span-to-depth ratio of 10/1

A New Minimum Trees-Based Approach for Shape Matching with Improved Time Computing: Application to Graphical Symbols Recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Patrick; Ogier, Jean-Marc; Loonis, Pierre; Mullot, Rémy

Recently we have developed a model for shape description and matching. Based on minimum spanning trees construction and specifics stages like the mixture, it seems to have many desirable properties. Recognition invariance in front shift, rotated and noisy shape was checked through median scale tests related to GREC symbol reference database. Even if extracting the topology of a shape by mapping the shortest path connecting all the pixels seems to be powerful, the construction of graph induces an expensive algorithmic cost. In this article we discuss on the ways to reduce time computing. An alternative solution based on image compression concepts is provided and evaluated. The model no longer operates in the image space but in a compact space, namely the Discrete Cosine space. The use of block discrete cosine transform is discussed and justified. The experimental results led on the GREC2003 database show that the proposed method is characterized by a good discrimination power, a real robustness to noise with an acceptable time computing.

Working memory and inhibitory control across the life span: Intrusion errors in the Reading Span Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Robert, Christelle; Borella, Erika; Fagot, Delphine; Lecerf, Thierry; de Ribaupierre, Anik

2009-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent inhibitory control and working memory capacity are related across the life span. Intrusion errors committed by children and younger and older adults were investigated in two versions of the Reading Span Test. In Experiment 1, a mixed Reading Span Test with items of various list lengths was administered. Older adults and children recalled fewer correct words and produced more intrusions than did young adults. Also, age-related differences were found in the type of intrusions committed. In Experiment 2, an adaptive Reading Span Test was administered, in which the list length of items was adapted to each individual's working memory capacity. Age groups differed neither on correct recall nor on the rate of intrusions, but they differed on the type of intrusions. Altogether, these findings indicate that the availability of attentional resources influences the efficiency of inhibition across the life span.

Life Span Developmental Approach

OpenAIRE

Ali Eryilmaz

2011-01-01

The Life Span Developmental Approach examines development of individuals which occurs from birth to death. Life span developmental approach is a multi-disciplinary approach related with disciplines like psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology and geriatrics that indicates the fact that development is not completed in adulthood, it continues during the life course. Development is a complex process that consists of dying and death. This approach carefully investigates the development of...

Ba 5s photoionization in the region of the second Cooper minimum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitfield, S B; Wehlitz, R; Dolmatov, V K

2011-01-01

We investigate the 5s angular distribution parameter and partial photoionization cross section of atomic Ba in the region of the second Cooper minimum covering a photon energy region from 120 to 260 eV. We observe a strong drop in the Ba 5s β value from 2.0, reaching a minimum of 1.57 ± 0.07 at a photon energy of 150 eV. The β value then slowly rises back towards its nominal value of 2.0 at photon energies beyond the minimum. Our measured 5s partial cross section also shows a pronounced dip around 170 eV due to interchannel coupling with the Ba 4d photoelectrons. After combining our measurements with previous experimental values at lower photon energies, we obtain a consistent data set spanning the photon energy range prior to the onset of the partial cross section maximum and through the cross section minimum. We also calculate the 5s partial cross section under several different levels of approximation. We find that the generalized random-phase approximation with exchange calculation models the shape and position of the combined experimental cross section data set rather well after incorporating experimental ionization energies and a shift in the photon energy scale.

Environmental dispatch: Minimum cost generation planning for acid rain compliance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qadri, S.S.; Weinstein, R.E.

1991-01-01

Passage of Public Law 101-549, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, requires reductions in SO 2 and NO x emissions from many power generation stations by 1995, and by an electric utility company's entire generation system by year 2000. Another option to reduce the total environmental emissions is to dispatch generating units with lower emission rates prior to dispatching units with high emission rates. This option may not lower the emission levels to the desired limits, but can reduce emissions. This is practical as long as the added operating cost is modest compared to the cost of alternatives to meet the same levels of emission reduction. This cost can be optimized to provide the best compromise between reduced emissions and operating cost increase. An environmental dispatch algorithm developed by Gilbert/Commonwealth for its eVOLVE-p trademark production costing program makes this optimization possible. The algorithm modifies the traditional economic dispatch order of utility generation to include the impact of the Clean Air Act Amendments. The dispatch order is based on emissions in excess of Clean Air Act compliance limits. A cost is assigned to the excess emissions, and these costs are distributed to the individual generating units in proportion to their emission rates. This paper discusses how this environmental dispatch algorithm is applied for utility generation compliance planning

Approximation Algorithms for k-Connected Graph Factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manthey, Bodo; Waanders, Marten; Sanita, Laura; Skutella, Martin

2016-01-01

Finding low-cost spanning subgraphs with given degree and connectivity requirements is a fundamental problem in the area of network design. We consider the problem of finding d-regular spanning subgraphs (or d-factors) of minimum weight with connectivity requirements. For the case of

Indoor Positioning Using Nonparametric Belief Propagation Based on Spanning Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savic Vladimir

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Nonparametric belief propagation (NBP is one of the best-known methods for cooperative localization in sensor networks. It is capable of providing information about location estimation with appropriate uncertainty and to accommodate non-Gaussian distance measurement errors. However, the accuracy of NBP is questionable in loopy networks. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel approach, NBP based on spanning trees (NBP-ST created by breadth first search (BFS method. In addition, we propose a reliable indoor model based on obtained measurements in our lab. According to our simulation results, NBP-ST performs better than NBP in terms of accuracy and communication cost in the networks with high connectivity (i.e., highly loopy networks. Furthermore, the computational and communication costs are nearly constant with respect to the transmission radius. However, the drawbacks of proposed method are a little bit higher computational cost and poor performance in low-connected networks.

Age Differences in Memory Span

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Michelene T. H.

1977-01-01

Three experiments were conducted to determine processes underlying age differences in the level of recall in a memory-span task. Five-year-olds recalled fewer items than adults in memory-span tasks involving both familiar and unfamiliar faces, even though the use of rehearsal and recoding strategies was minimized for adults. (MS)

On the size of monotone span programs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikov, V.S.; Nikova, S.I.; Preneel, B.; Blundo, C.; Cimato, S.

2005-01-01

Span programs provide a linear algebraic model of computation. Monotone span programs (MSP) correspond to linear secret sharing schemes. This paper studies the properties of monotone span programs related to their size. Using the results of van Dijk (connecting codes and MSPs) and a construction for

London SPAN version 4 parameter file format

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-06-01

Powernext SA is a Multilateral Trading Facility in charge of managing the French power exchange through an optional and anonymous organised trading system. Powernext SA collaborates with the clearing organization LCH.Clearnet SA to secure and facilitate the transactions. The French Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk (SPAN) is a system used by LCH.Clearnet to calculate the initial margins from and for its clearing members. SPAN is a computerized system which calculates the impact of several possible variations of rates and volatility on by-product portfolios. The initial margin call is equal to the maximum probable loss calculated by the system. This document contains details of the format of the London SPAN version 4 parameter file. This file contains all the parameters and risk arrays required to calculate SPAN margins. London SPAN Version 4 is an upgrade from Version 3, which is also known as LME SPAN. This document contains the full revised file specification, highlighting the changes from Version 3 to Version 4

Upper bound for the span of pencil graph

Science.gov (United States)

Parvathi, N.; Vimala Rani, A.

2018-04-01

An L(2,1)-Coloring or Radio Coloring or λ coloring of a graph is a function f from the vertex set V(G) to the set of all nonnegative integers such that |f(x) ‑ f(y)| ≥ 2 if d(x,y) = 1 and |f(x) ‑ f(y)| ≥ 1 if d(x,y)=2, where d(x,y) denotes the distance between x and y in G. The L(2,1)-coloring number or span number λ(G) of G is the smallest number k such that G has an L(2,1)-coloring with max{f(v) : v ∈ V(G)} = k. [2]The minimum number of colors used in L(2,1)-coloring is called the radio number rn(G) of G (Positive integer). Griggs and yeh conjectured that λ(G) ≤ Δ2 for any simple graph with maximum degree Δ>2. In this article, we consider some special graphs like, n-sunlet graph, pencil graph families and derive its upper bound of (G) and rn(G).

Design Optimization of Long-Span Cold-Formed Steel Portal Frames Accounting for Effect of Knee Brace Joint Configuration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thanh Duoc Phan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The application of cold-formed steel channel sections for portal frames becomes more popular for industrial and residential purposes. Experimental tests showed that such structures with long-span up to 20 m can be achieved when knee brace joints are included. In this paper, the influence of knee brace configuration on the optimum design of long-span cold-formed steel portal frames is investigated. The cold-formed steel portal frames are designed using Eurocode 3 under ultimate limit states. A novel method in handling design constraints integrated with genetic algorithm is proposed for searching the optimum design of cold-formed steel portal frames. The result showed that the proposed routine for design optimization effectively searched the near global optimum solution with the computational time is approximate 50% faster than methods being popularly used in literature. The optimum configuration for knee brace joint can reduce the section size of rafter and so the lighter frame could be obtained especially for long-span portal frame. The minimum weight of main frame obtained from optimization process is approximate 19.72% lighter than a Benchmark Frame used in the full-scale experimental test.

Comparison on the heat requirements of a four-span greenhouse with a melting snow system and a single-span greenhouse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuno, S.; Sase, S.; Ishii, M.

2004-01-01

The heat requirements were measured and compared between a four-span greenhouse with a melting snow system and a typical single-span greenhouse with no melting snow system. Generally, single-span greenhouses require no melting snow system because snow drops off naturally from the roofs by gravity. The results for the four-span greenhouse showed that the provided heat by a heater for melting snow increased with an increase in snowfall, and there was a high correlation between them. The heat requirement per unit floor area of the four-span greenhouse was slightly less than that of the single-span greenhouse. This suggests that the decrease in heat requirement for internal air because of the larger floor/surface area ratio of the four-span greenhouse was more than the increase in heat requirement for melting snow. The measured heat requirement of the four-span greenhouse with the melting snow system was equal to the estimated heat load based on a common calculation procedure. On the other hand, that of the single-span greenhouse was slightly smaller than the estimated heat load. These suggest that the estimated heat load based on the common calculation procedure was slightly overestimated and larger than the actual heat requirement excluding the heat for the melting snow in snowy area. This is likely due to the fact that the parameters in the common calculation procedure were determined under the condition of larger net radiation than that in snowy area

Linking crowding, visual span, and reading.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yingchen; Legge, Gordon E

2017-09-01

The visual span is hypothesized to be a sensory bottleneck on reading speed with crowding thought to be the major sensory factor limiting the size of the visual span. This proposed linkage between crowding, visual span, and reading speed is challenged by the finding that training to read crowded letters reduced crowding but did not improve reading speed (Chung, 2007). Here, we examined two properties of letter-recognition training that may influence the transfer to improved reading: the spatial arrangement of training stimuli and the presence of flankers. Three groups of nine young adults were trained with different configurations of letter stimuli at 10° in the lower visual field: a flanked-local group (flanked letters localized at one position), a flanked-distributed group (flanked letters distributed across different horizontal locations), and an isolated-distributed group (isolated and distributed letters). We found that distributed training, but not the presence of flankers, appears to be necessary for the training benefit to transfer to increased reading speed. Localized training may have biased attention to one specific, small area in the visual field, thereby failing to improve reading. We conclude that the visual span represents a sensory bottleneck on reading, but there may also be an attentional bottleneck. Reducing the impact of crowding can enlarge the visual span and can potentially facilitate reading, but not when adverse attentional bias is present. Our results clarify the association between crowding, visual span, and reading.

Estimate of Cost-Effective Potential for Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards in 13 Major World Economies Energy Savings, Environmental and Financial Impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Letschert, Virginie E. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Bojda, Nicholas [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Ke, Jing [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); McNeil, Michael A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2012-07-01

This study analyzes the financial impacts on consumers of minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for appliances that could be implemented in 13 major economies around the world. We use the Bottom-Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS), developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), to analyze various appliance efficiency target levels to estimate the net present value (NPV) of policies designed to provide maximum energy savings while not penalizing consumers financially. These policies constitute what we call the “cost-effective potential” (CEP) scenario. The CEP scenario is designed to answer the question: How high can we raise the efficiency bar in mandatory programs while still saving consumers money?

Upper Tolerances and Lagrangian Relaxation for the DCMSTP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turkensteen, Marcel

The Degree-Constrained Minimum Spanning Tree Problem (DCMSTP) is the problem of connecting a set of vertices against minimum cost, where no more than a prespecified number of edges may enter or leave each vertex. The DCMSTP is an NP-hard problem with many practical applications in the design...

Energy costs form European wind farms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milborrow, D [Windpower Monthly, Knebel (Denmark)

1996-12-31

Energy generation costs from European wind farms span a very wide range. Reasons for these variations, include differences in capital and operating costs, wind speeds and differing legislative and regulatory frameworks. This article compares costs, wind speeds and discount rates for British and German windfarms and sets these alongside data from elsewhere in the European Union. In this way it is possible to determine the reasons for differences in energy generation costs. (author)

Energy costs form European wind farms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milborrow, D. [Windpower Monthly, Knebel (Denmark)

1995-12-31

Energy generation costs from European wind farms span a very wide range. Reasons for these variations, include differences in capital and operating costs, wind speeds and differing legislative and regulatory frameworks. This article compares costs, wind speeds and discount rates for British and German windfarms and sets these alongside data from elsewhere in the European Union. In this way it is possible to determine the reasons for differences in energy generation costs. (author)

Energy costs form European wind farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milborrow, D.

1995-01-01

Energy generation costs from European wind farms span a very wide range. Reasons for these variations, include differences in capital and operating costs, wind speeds and differing legislative and regulatory frameworks. This article compares costs, wind speeds and discount rates for British and German windfarms and sets these alongside data from elsewhere in the European Union. In this way it is possible to determine the reasons for differences in energy generation costs. (author)

Minimum target prices for production of direct-acting antivirals and associated diagnostics to combat hepatitis C virus.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Ven, Nikolien; Fortunak, Joe; Simmons, Bryony; Ford, Nathan; Cooke, Graham S; Khoo, Saye; Hill, Andrew

2015-04-01

Combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) can cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the majority of treatment-naïve patients. Mass treatment programs to cure HCV in developing countries are only feasible if the costs of treatment and laboratory diagnostics are very low. This analysis aimed to estimate minimum costs of DAA treatment and associated diagnostic monitoring. Clinical trials of HCV DAAs were reviewed to identify combinations with consistently high rates of sustained virological response across hepatitis C genotypes. For each DAA, molecular structures, doses, treatment duration, and components of retrosynthesis were used to estimate costs of large-scale, generic production. Manufacturing costs per gram of DAA were based upon treating at least 5 million patients per year and a 40% margin for formulation. Costs of diagnostic support were estimated based on published minimum prices of genotyping, HCV antigen tests plus full blood count/clinical chemistry tests. Predicted minimum costs for 12-week courses of combination DAAs with the most consistent efficacy results were: US$122 per person for sofosbuvir+daclatasvir; US$152 for sofosbuvir+ribavirin; US$192 for sofosbuvir+ledipasvir; and US$115 for MK-8742+MK-5172. Diagnostic testing costs were estimated at US$90 for genotyping US$34 for two HCV antigen tests and US$22 for two full blood count/clinical chemistry tests. Minimum costs of treatment and diagnostics to cure hepatitis C virus infection were estimated at US$171-360 per person without genotyping or US$261-450 per person with genotyping. These cost estimates assume that existing large-scale treatment programs can be established. © 2014 The Authors. Hepatology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

L-fuzzy/span> fixed points theorems for L-fuzzy/span> mappings via βℱL-admissible pair.

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Maliha; Azam, Akbar; Mehmood, Nayyar

2014-01-01

We define the concept of βℱL-admissible for a pair of L-fuzzy/span> mappings and establish the existence of common L-fuzzy/span> fixed point theorem. Our result generalizes some useful results in the literature. We provide an example to support our result.

Sexual conflict, life span, and aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Margo I; Bonduriansky, Russell

2014-06-17

The potential for sexual conflict to influence the evolution of life span and aging has been recognized for more than a decade, and recent work also suggests that variation in life span and aging can influence sexually antagonistic coevolution. However, empirical exploration of these ideas is only beginning. Here, we provide an overview of the ideas and evidence linking inter- and intralocus sexual conflicts with life span and aging. We aim to clarify the conceptual basis of this research program, examine the current state of knowledge, and suggest key questions for further investigation. Copyright © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

Costs in Swedish Public Transport : An analysis of cost drivers and cost efficiency in public transport contracts

OpenAIRE

Vigren, Andreas

2015-01-01

During the last seven years, the total cost for Swedish public transport provision has increased by over 30 percent in real terms according to figures from the government agency Transport Analysis. A similar pattern is found if considering a longer time span. Part of the cost increase can be attributed to an increased supply, and part is due to price increases on input factors that are measured by an industry index produced by the public transport industry. The fact that about half of the cos...

Spanning forests and the vector bundle Laplacian

OpenAIRE

Kenyon, Richard

2011-01-01

The classical matrix-tree theorem relates the determinant of the combinatorial Laplacian on a graph to the number of spanning trees. We generalize this result to Laplacians on one- and two-dimensional vector bundles, giving a combinatorial interpretation of their determinants in terms of so-called cycle rooted spanning forests (CRSFs). We construct natural measures on CRSFs for which the edges form a determinantal process. ¶ This theory gives a natural generalization of the spanning tre...

Span efficiency in hawkmoths.

Science.gov (United States)

Henningsson, Per; Bomphrey, Richard J

2013-07-06

Flight in animals is the result of aerodynamic forces generated as flight muscles drive the wings through air. Aerial performance is therefore limited by the efficiency with which momentum is imparted to the air, a property that can be measured using modern techniques. We measured the induced flow fields around six hawkmoth species flying tethered in a wind tunnel to assess span efficiency, ei, and from these measurements, determined the morphological and kinematic characters that predict efficient flight. The species were selected to represent a range in wingspan from 40 to 110 mm (2.75 times) and in mass from 0.2 to 1.5 g (7.5 times) but they were similar in their overall shape and their ecology. From high spatio-temporal resolution quantitative wake images, we extracted time-resolved downwash distributions behind the hawkmoths, calculating instantaneous values of ei throughout the wingbeat cycle as well as multi-wingbeat averages. Span efficiency correlated positively with normalized lift and negatively with advance ratio. Average span efficiencies for the moths ranged from 0.31 to 0.60 showing that the standard generic value of 0.83 used in previous studies of animal flight is not a suitable approximation of aerodynamic performance in insects.

Malingering in Toxic Exposure. Classification Accuracy of Reliable Digit Span and WAIS-III Digit Span Scaled Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Kevin W.; Springer, Steven; Bianchini, Kevin J.; Black, F. William; Heinly, Matthew T.; Love, Jeffrey M.; Swift, Douglas A.; Ciota, Megan A.

2007-01-01

This study examined the sensitivity and false-positive error rate of reliable digit span (RDS) and the WAIS-III Digit Span (DS) scaled score in persons alleging toxic exposure and determined whether error rates differed from published rates in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic pain (CP). Data were obtained from the files of 123 persons…

The Steiner ratio for points on a triangular lattice

African Journals Online (AJOL)

design of integrated circuit boards, communication networks, power networks and pipelines of minimum cost. In such applications the Steiner ratio is an indication of how badly a minimum spanning tree performs compared to a Steiner minimal tree. In this paper a short proof is presented for the Steiner ratio for points on a ...

Nursing Management Minimum Data Set: Cost-Effective Tool To Demonstrate the Value of Nurse Staffing in the Big Data Science Era.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruinelli, Lisiane; Delaney, Connie W; Garciannie, Amy; Caspers, Barbara; Westra, Bonnie L

2016-01-01

There is a growing body of evidence of the relationship of nurse staffing to patient, nurse, and financial outcomes. With the advent of big data science and developing big data analytics in nursing, data science with the reuse of big data is emerging as a timely and cost-effective approach to demonstrate nursing value. The Nursing Management Minimum Date Set (NMMDS) provides standard administrative data elements, definitions, and codes to measure the context where care is delivered and, consequently, the value of nursing. The integration of the NMMDS elements in the current health system provides evidence for nursing leaders to measure and manage decisions, leading to better patient, staffing, and financial outcomes. It also enables the reuse of data for clinical scholarship and research.

Electrode spanning with partial tripolar stimulation mode in cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ching-Chih; Luo, Xin

2014-12-01

The perceptual effects of electrode spanning (i.e., the use of nonadjacent return electrodes) in partial tripolar (pTP) mode were tested on a main electrode EL8 in five cochlear implant (CI) users. Current focusing was controlled by σ (the ratio of current returned within the cochlea), and current steering was controlled by α (the ratio of current returned to the basal electrode). Experiment 1 tested whether asymmetric spanning with α = 0.5 can create additional channels around standard pTP stimuli. It was found that in general, apical spanning (i.e., returning current to EL6 rather than EL7) elicited a pitch between those of standard pTP stimuli on main electrodes EL8 and EL9, while basal spanning (i.e., returning current to EL10 rather than EL9) elicited a pitch between those of standard pTP stimuli on main electrodes EL7 and EL8. The pitch increase caused by apical spanning was more salient than the pitch decrease caused by basal spanning. To replace the standard pTP channel on the main electrode EL8 when EL7 or EL9 is defective, experiment 2 tested asymmetrically spanned pTP stimuli with various α, and experiment 3 tested symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli with various σ. The results showed that pitch increased with decreasing α in asymmetric spanning, or with increasing σ in symmetric spanning. Apical spanning with α around 0.69 and basal spanning with α around 0.38 may both elicit a similar pitch as the standard pTP stimulus. With the same σ, the symmetrically spanned pTP stimulus was higher in pitch than the standard pTP stimulus. A smaller σ was thus required for symmetric spanning to match the pitch of the standard pTP stimulus. In summary, electrode spanning is an effective field-shaping technique that is useful for adding spectral channels and handling defective electrodes with CIs.

Cost Efficiency in Public Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Robst, John

This study used the frontier cost function framework to examine cost efficiency in public higher education. The frontier cost function estimates the minimum predicted cost for producing a given amount of output. Data from the annual Almanac issues of the "Chronicle of Higher Education" were used to calculate state level enrollments at two-year and…

A Minimum Shuffle Core Design Strategy for ESBWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karve, A.A.; Fawcett, R.M.

2008-01-01

The Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) is GEH's next evolution of advanced BWR technology. There are 1132 fuel bundles in the core and the thermal power is 4500 MWt. Similar to conventional plants there is an outage after a specified period of operation, when the plant shuts down. During the outage a specified fraction of fuel bundles are discharged from the core, it is loaded with the same fraction of fresh fuel, and fuel is shuffled to obtain an optimum core design that meets the goals for a successful operation of the next cycle. The discharge, load, and the associated shuffles are time-consuming and expensive tasks that impact the overall outage schedule and costs. Therefore, there is an incentive to keep maneuvers to a minimum and to perform them more efficiently. The benefits for a large core, such as the ESBWR with 1132 fuel bundles, are escalated. This study focuses on a core reload design strategy to minimize the total number of shuffles during an outage. A traditional equilibrium cycle is used as a reference basis, which sets the reference number of shuffles. In the minimum shuffle core design however, a set of two equilibrium cycles (N and N+1, referred to as a 'bi- equilibrium' cycle) is envisioned where the fresh fuel of cycle N (that becomes the once-burnt fuel of cycle N+1) ideally does not move in the two cycles. The cost of fuel efficiency is determined for obtaining such a core loading by comparing it to the traditional equilibrium cycle. There are several additional degrees of freedom when designing a bi-equilibrium cycle that could be utilized, and the potential benefits of these flexibilities are assessed. In summary, the feasibility of a minimum shuffle fuel cycle and core design for an ESBWR is studied. The cost of fuel efficiency is assessed in comparison to the traditional design. (authors)

Stochastic evolutionary dynamics in minimum-effort coordination games

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Kun; Cong, Rui; Wang, Long

2016-08-01

The minimum-effort coordination game draws recently more attention for the fact that human behavior in this social dilemma is often inconsistent with the predictions of classical game theory. Here, we combine evolutionary game theory and coalescence theory to investigate this game in finite populations. Both analytic results and individual-based simulations show that effort costs play a key role in the evolution of contribution levels, which is in good agreement with those observed experimentally. Besides well-mixed populations, set structured populations have also been taken into consideration. Therein we find that large number of sets and moderate migration rate greatly promote effort levels, especially for high effort costs.

The environmental cost of subsistence: Optimizing diets to minimize footprints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gephart, Jessica A.; Davis, Kyle F.; Emery, Kyle A.; Leach, Allison M.; Galloway, James N.; Pace, Michael L.

2016-01-01

The question of how to minimize monetary cost while meeting basic nutrient requirements (a subsistence diet) was posed by George Stigler in 1945. The problem, known as Stigler's diet problem, was famously solved using the simplex algorithm. Today, we are not only concerned with the monetary cost of food, but also the environmental cost. Efforts to quantify environmental impacts led to the development of footprint (FP) indicators. The environmental footprints of food production span multiple dimensions, including greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), nitrogen release (nitrogen footprint), water use (blue and green water footprint) and land use (land footprint), and a diet minimizing one of these impacts could result in higher impacts in another dimension. In this study based on nutritional and population data for the United States, we identify diets that minimize each of these four footprints subject to nutrient constraints. We then calculate tradeoffs by taking the composition of each footprint's minimum diet and calculating the other three footprints. We find that diets for the minimized footprints tend to be similar for the four footprints, suggesting there are generally synergies, rather than tradeoffs, among low footprint diets. Plant-based food and seafood (fish and other aquatic foods) commonly appear in minimized diets and tend to most efficiently supply macronutrients and micronutrients, respectively. Livestock products rarely appear in minimized diets, suggesting these foods tend to be less efficient from an environmental perspective, even when nutrient content is considered. The results' emphasis on seafood is complicated by the environmental impacts of aquaculture versus capture fisheries, increasing in aquaculture, and shifting compositions of aquaculture feeds. While this analysis does not make specific diet recommendations, our approach demonstrates potential environmental synergies of plant- and seafood-based diets. As a result, this study

The environmental cost of subsistence: Optimizing diets to minimize footprints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gephart, Jessica A.; Davis, Kyle F. [University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, 291 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Emery, Kyle A. [University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, 291 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); University of California, Santa Barbara. Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Leach, Allison M. [University of New Hampshire, 107 Nesmith Hall, 131 Main Street, Durham, NH, 03824 (United States); Galloway, James N.; Pace, Michael L. [University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, 291 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)

2016-05-15

The question of how to minimize monetary cost while meeting basic nutrient requirements (a subsistence diet) was posed by George Stigler in 1945. The problem, known as Stigler's diet problem, was famously solved using the simplex algorithm. Today, we are not only concerned with the monetary cost of food, but also the environmental cost. Efforts to quantify environmental impacts led to the development of footprint (FP) indicators. The environmental footprints of food production span multiple dimensions, including greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), nitrogen release (nitrogen footprint), water use (blue and green water footprint) and land use (land footprint), and a diet minimizing one of these impacts could result in higher impacts in another dimension. In this study based on nutritional and population data for the United States, we identify diets that minimize each of these four footprints subject to nutrient constraints. We then calculate tradeoffs by taking the composition of each footprint's minimum diet and calculating the other three footprints. We find that diets for the minimized footprints tend to be similar for the four footprints, suggesting there are generally synergies, rather than tradeoffs, among low footprint diets. Plant-based food and seafood (fish and other aquatic foods) commonly appear in minimized diets and tend to most efficiently supply macronutrients and micronutrients, respectively. Livestock products rarely appear in minimized diets, suggesting these foods tend to be less efficient from an environmental perspective, even when nutrient content is considered. The results' emphasis on seafood is complicated by the environmental impacts of aquaculture versus capture fisheries, increasing in aquaculture, and shifting compositions of aquaculture feeds. While this analysis does not make specific diet recommendations, our approach demonstrates potential environmental synergies of plant- and seafood-based diets. As a result

The SPAN cookbook: A practical guide to accessing SPAN

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Stephanie; Tencati, Ronald D.; Stern, David M.; Capps, Kimberly D.; Dorman, Gary; Peters, David J.

1990-01-01

This is a manual for remote users who wish to send electronic mail messages from the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN) to scientific colleagues on other computer networks and vice versa. In several instances more than one gateway has been included for the same network. Users are provided with an introduction to each network listed with helpful details about accessing the system and mail syntax examples. Also included is information on file transfers, remote logins, and help telephone numbers.

Radiation effects on life span in Caenorhabditis elegans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, T.E.; Hartman, P.S.

1988-01-01

Wild-type and radiation-sensitive (Rad) mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans were irradiated using a 137 Cs source (2.7 krads/min.) at several developmental stages and subsequently monitored for life span. Acute doses of radiation ranged from 1 krad to 300 krads. All stages required doses above 100 krads to reduce mean life span. Dauers and third stage larvae were more sensitive, and 8-day-old adults were the most resistant. Occasional statistically significant but nonrepeatable increases in survival were observed after intermediate levels of irradiation (10-30 krads). Unirradiated rad-4 and rad-7 had life spans similar to wild-type; all others had a significant reduction in survival. The mutants were about as sensitive as wild-type to the effects of ionizing radiation including occasional moderate life span extensions at intermediate doses. We conclude that the moderate life span extensions sometimes observed after irradiation are likely to be mediated by a means other than the induction of DNA repair enzymes

Reconfiguration of distribution networks to minimize loss and disruption costs using genetic algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cebrian, Juan Carlos; Kagan, Nelson [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Escola Politecnica, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, travessa 3 n 380 - CEP - 05508-970 - Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2010-01-15

In this paper a computational implementation of an evolutionary algorithm (EA) is shown in order to tackle the problem of reconfiguring radial distribution systems. The developed module considers power quality indices such as long duration interruptions and customer process disruptions due to voltage sags, by using the Monte Carlo simulation method. Power quality costs are modeled into the mathematical problem formulation, which are added to the cost of network losses. As for the EA codification proposed, a decimal representation is used. The EA operators, namely selection, recombination and mutation, which are considered for the reconfiguration algorithm, are herein analyzed. A number of selection procedures are analyzed, namely tournament, elitism and a mixed technique using both elitism and tournament. The recombination operator was developed by considering a chromosome structure representation that maps the network branches and system radiality, and another structure that takes into account the network topology and feasibility of network operation to exchange genetic material. The topologies regarding the initial population are randomly produced so as radial configurations are produced through the Prim and Kruskal algorithms that rapidly build minimum spanning trees. (author)

23 CFR 650.809 - Movable span bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Movable span bridges. 650.809 Section 650.809 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS BRIDGES, STRUCTURES, AND HYDRAULICS Navigational Clearances for Bridges § 650.809 Movable span bridges. A fixed bridge...

Research on the Best Root Span of 500kV Substation Frame Based on Finite Element

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Fang, Qing; Chen, Haoyuan

2018-01-01

A-shaped and steel tube structures have been widely applied when designing 500kV substation frame in China. While, compared with steel tube, angle steels have an advantage of easy-transporting, especially in oversea projects. However, researches on substation frame with angle steel were not enough. In order to find out the best root span of 500kV substation frame under similar engineering conditions, using the overseas project substation frame as an example, the substation frames with different root span have been detailed calculated, to find the best root span according to the cost of it. When the height of column is about 30m, the root suggestion value is 6.1m×3.1m. And then, the buckling analysis of the overall structure has been carried out by ANSYS, to find out that the weak part of the structure is in the middle of it. The structural adjustment is carried out for the weak part, including adjusting the web members and the chord members, to obtain a higher bearing capacity of the structure.

Produce yellow-poplar furniture dimension at minimum cost by using YELLOPOP

Science.gov (United States)

David G. Marten; David G. Marten

1986-01-01

Describes a computer program called YELLOPOP that determines the least-cost combination of lumber grades required to produce a given cutting order of furniture dimension parts. If the least-cost mix is not available, YELLOPOP can be used to determine the next best alternative. The steps involved in using the program are also described.

Do low-income Cypriots experience food stress? The cost of a healthy food basket relative to guaranteed minimum income in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrysostomou, Stavri; Andreou, Sofia

2017-04-01

The aim of the present study was to assess the cost, acceptability and affordability of the healthy food basket (HFB) among low-income families in Cyprus. HFBs were constructed based on the National Guidelines for Nutrition and Exercise for six different types of households. Acceptability was tested through focus groups. Affordability was defined as the cost of the HFB as a percentage of the guaranteed minimum income (GMI). The value of the GMI is set to be equal to €480 for a single individual and increases with the size of the recipient unit in accordance with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalence scales. The Ministry of Labour estimates that, on average, nearly 50% of the GMI is required for food. The total monthly budget for HFB is 0.80, 1.11, 1.27, 1.28, 1.44 and 1.48 times higher than the GMI budget for food among different types of households in Cyprus (a single woman, a single man, a couple, a single woman with two children, a single man with two children and a couple with two children, respectively). In particular, a family with two children on GMI would need to spend a large proportion of their income on the HFB (71.68%). The GMI scheme appears not to consider the cost of healthy food, and thus, families on welfare payments in Cyprus are at a high risk of experiencing food stress. Therefore, additional research is required to measure the cost of the six HFBs in various settings. © 2016 Dietitians Association of Australia.

Realistic minimum accident source terms - Evaluation, application, and risk acceptance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angelo, P. L.

2009-01-01

The evaluation, application, and risk acceptance for realistic minimum accident source terms can represent a complex and arduous undertaking. This effort poses a very high impact to design, construction cost, operations and maintenance, and integrated safety over the expected facility lifetime. At the 2005 Nuclear Criticality Safety Division (NCSD) Meeting in Knoxville Tenn., two papers were presented mat summarized the Y-12 effort that reduced the number of criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) detectors originally designed for the new Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) from 258 to an eventual as-built number of 60. Part of that effort relied on determining a realistic minimum accident source term specific to the facility. Since that time, the rationale for an alternate minimum accident has been strengthened by an evaluation process that incorporates realism. A recent update to the HEUMF CAAS technical basis highlights the concepts presented here. (authors)

A Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development

Science.gov (United States)

Heckhausen, Jutta; Wrosch, Carsten; Schulz, Richard

2010-01-01

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

The use of passwords to introduce theconcepts of spanning set and span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Cárcamo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a proposal for teaching linear algebra based on heuristic of emergent models and mathematical modelling. This proposal begins with a problematic situation  related  to  the  creation  and  use  of  secure  passwords,  which  leads  first-year  students  of  engineering  toward  the  construction  of  the  concepts  of  spanning  set  and  span. The  proposal  is  designed  from  the  results  of  the  two  cycles  of  experimentation  teaching, design-based  research,  which  give  evidence  that  allows  students  to  progress  from  a  situation in a real context to the concepts of linear algebra. This proposal, previously adapted, could have similar results when applied to another group of students.

Stochastic cost estimating in repository life-cycle cost analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzemos, S.; Dippold, D.

1986-01-01

The conceptual development, the design, and the final construction and operation of a nuclear repository span many decades. Given this lengthy time frame, it is quite challenging to obtain a good approximation of the repository life-cycle cost. One can deal with this challenge by using an analytic method, the method of moments, to explicitly assess the uncertainty of the estimate. A series expansion is used to approximate the uncertainty distribution of the cost estimate. In this paper, the moment methodology is derived and is illustrated through a numerical example. The range of validity of the approximation is discussed. The method of moments is compared to the traditional stochastic cost estimating methods and found to provide more and better information on cost uncertainty. The tow methods converge to identical results as the number of convolved variables increases and approaches the range where the central limit theorem is valid

Dutch elm disease control: performance and costs

Science.gov (United States)

William N., Jr. Cannon; David P. Worley

1980-01-01

Municipal programs to suppress Dutch elm disease have had highly variable results. Performance as measured by tree mortality was unrelated to control strategies. Costs for control programs were 37 to 76 percent less than costs without control programs in the 15-year time-span of the study. Only those municipalities that conducted a high-performance program could be...

EU Regulation of E-Commercspan>e A Commentary

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lodder, A.R.; Murray, A.D.

2017-01-01

For the last twenty years the European Union has been extremely active in the field of e-commercspan>e. This important new book addresses the key pieces of EU legislation in the field of e-commercspan>e, including the E-Commercspan>e Directive, the Services Directive, the Consumer Directive, the General Data

Tool Wear and Life Span Variations in Cold Forming Operations and Their Implications in Microforming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders E. W. Jarfors

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The current paper aims to review tooling life span, failure modes and models in cold microforming processes. As there is nearly no information available on tool-life for microforming the starting point was conventional cold forming. In cold forming common failures are (1 over stressing of the tool; (2 abrasive wear; (3 galling or adhesive wear, and (4 fatigue failure. The large variation in tool life observed in production and how to predict this was reviewed as this is important to the viability of microforming based on that the tooling cost takes a higher portion of the part cost. Anisotropic properties of the tool materials affect tool life span and depend on both the as-received and in-service conditions. It was concluded that preconditioning of the tool surface, and coating are important to control wear and fatigue. Properly managed, the detrimental effects from surface particles can be reduced. Under high stress low-cycle fatigue conditions, fatigue failure form internal microstructures and inclusions are common. To improve abrasive wear resistance larger carbides are commonly the solution which will have a negative impact on tooling life as these tend to be the root cause of fatigue failures. This has significant impact on cold microforming.

The Minimum Cost of a Nutritious Diet Study: Building an evidence-base for the prevention of undernutrition in Afghanistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qarizada, Ahmad Nawid

2014-01-01

Full text: Background: In Afghanistan, mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world. Mean life expectancy is 62 years, U5MR is 97 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the MMR is 327 deaths per 100,000 live births while 33% of the population is food insecure. Undernutrition is alarmingly high in children under-five with global acute malnutrition rates of 8.7%, stunting 60.5% and underweight 37.7% , , and 72% are iodine and iron deficient. As part of their prevention efforts, WFP and the MOPH carried out a Cost of Diet study (CoD) in Afghanistan in late-2012. Cost of Diet Study The CoD assesses a household’s food and nutrition security based on economic constraints in accessing their nutrient requirements, especially for the most vulnerable, such as children U2 years. Objectives: 1. How important is access to nutritious food to overcome undernutrition in different areas of Afghanistan? 2. Is a nutritious diet available and affordable to the local populations? Methodology: The CoD tool used linear optimization to generate following output from market surveys and secondary household data: • A diet and the corresponding food baskets meet all nutritional requirements of a typical family, including a child U2 years, and its costs. Any other diet would be more expensive and/or would not meet their nutritional requirements. The tool calculated minimum cost of nutritious diet (MCNUT) in four livelihood zones (LHZ) of Afghanistan. Results: The MCNUT is the baseline nutritious diet. When compared to household income, it shows the number of households who cannot afford to meet their nutrient needs. The MCNUT calculates cheapest combination of food items and quantities to ensure all energy and nutrient requirements are met. It is theoretical and sometimes unrealistic. The Locally Adapted, Cost Optimised Diet (LACON), obtained using questionnaires and focus group discussions, provides a more realistic diet based on dietary preferences. Findings showed that approximately

Diferença entre span verbal e visual nos gêneros: estudo piloto Difference between verbal and visual span in genders: pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Cristina Pedrassa Sagrilo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar a memória de trabalho analisando a capacidade de retenção de estímulos auditivos (span verbal e visuais (span visual e estabelecer a relação com o gênero (masculino e feminino. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 20 crianças entre seis anos e cinco meses e sete anos, sendo 10 sujeitos do sexo masculino e 10 sujeitos do sexo feminino. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos às provas de avaliação do span verbal e visual em ordem direta e inversa. RESULTADOS: apenas na prova de palavras dissílabas com fonologia semelhante e semântica diferente do span verbal, houve variância significante entre os gêneros. As crianças do sexo feminino apresentaram melhor desempenho em relação ao outro gênero, bem como maior capacidade de retenção de palavras dissílabas com fonologia e semântica diferentes. No span visual (ordem direta e inversa as crianças do sexo masculino obtiveram melhor desempenho, apesar de não ter diferenças significantes. Em relação à idade não houve diferença de retenção de estímulos. CONCLUSÃO: as crianças do sexo feminino, neste estudo, apresentaram tendência à melhor desempenho do span verbal e as crianças do sexo masculino tendência a melhor desempenho no span visual. No entanto, o estudo é limitado devido ao reduzido número de participantes na amostra.PURPOSE: to evaluate the working memory analyzing the retention ability of auditory stimuli (verbal span and visual stimuli (visual span, and to establish its relation to gender (male and female. METHOD: 20 subjects - 10 female children and 10 male children - from six and five months to seven years old took part in this study. All subjects were submitted to evaluation tests for both verbal and visual spans in direct and inverse orders. RESULTS: there was a significant variance between genders only in the test involving disyllabic words with phonology similar to and semantics different from verbal span. Female children showed a better

Cost-efficient scheduling of FAST observations

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qi; Zhao, Laiping; Yu, Ce; Xiao, Jian; Sun, Jizhou; Zhu, Ming; Zhong, Yi

2018-03-01

A cost-efficient schedule for the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) requires to maximize the number of observable proposals and the overall scientific priority, and minimize the overall slew-cost generated by telescope shifting, while taking into account the constraints including the astronomical objects visibility, user-defined observable times, avoiding Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). In this contribution, first we solve the problem of maximizing the number of observable proposals and scientific priority by modeling it as a Minimum Cost Maximum Flow (MCMF) problem. The optimal schedule can be found by any MCMF solution algorithm. Then, for minimizing the slew-cost of the generated schedule, we devise a maximally-matchable edges detection-based method to reduce the problem size, and propose a backtracking algorithm to find the perfect matching with minimum slew-cost. Experiments on a real dataset from NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) show that, the proposed scheduler can increase the usage of available times with high scientific priority and reduce the slew-cost significantly in a very short time.

Size does matter - span of control in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm-Petersen, Christina; Østergaard, Sussanne; Andersen, Per Bo Noergaard

2017-04-10

Purpose Centralization, mergers and cost reductions have generally led to increasing levels of span of control (SOC), and thus potentially to lower leadership capacity. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a large SOC impacts hospital staff and their leaders. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a qualitative explorative case study of three large inpatient wards. Findings The study finds that the nursing staff and their frontline leaders experience challenges in regard to visibility and role of the leader, e.g., in creating overview, coordination, setting-up clear goals, following up and being in touch. However, large wards also provide flexibility and development possibilities. Practical implications The authors discuss the implications of these findings for decision makers in deciding future SOC and for future SOC research. Originality/value Only few studies have qualitatively explored the consequences of large SOC in hospitals.

The European legal framework regarding e-commercspan>e

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaub, M.Y.

2004-01-01

The year 2000 is a memorable year in the history of e-commercspan>e. This is the year of the so-called 'dot.com shake-out'. The year 2000 is also the year the European Union issued its e-commercspan>e directive. The directive means to regulate but also facilitate e-commercspan>e in the internal market, by laying

The Vital Minimum Amount of Drinking Water Required in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrés Martínez Moscoso

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In 2017, the government of Ecuador established the minimum quantity of water required to be provided for free by drinking water utilities. Ecuador recognized the access to water as a fundamental human right because it guarantees the good living, known as “Sumak kawsay”, an indigenous Andean concept, in the Ecuadorian Constitution. This represents a novel approach to water rights in the world, as it is the first attempt to establish a minimum quantity of water under a constitutional guarantee by legislation, rather than regulation or judicial decision. However, this novel legislative approach raises the question of how this minimum amount of free water will impact the most vulnerable members of the Ecuadorian community. This paper provides the results of the first comprehensive research of the minimum required water provision in Ecuador. In order to measure the impact on the income of households, we built a methodology integrating: doctrinaire analyses, normative studies, and economic analyses. According to the Ecuadorian legislation, over-consumption of raw water generates additional costs that must be paid by water companies to the central government. In that regard, there is an inevitable relationship between the efficiency of the service and those additional costs. Efficiency, on this case, is the capacity of water companies (public or private to provide water services at an adequate price, observing the following parameters: quantity, quality and sufficiency. Our research found that with this legislation in three Ecuadorian local governments (Cuenca, Gualaceo and Suscal, the most vulnerable households (i.e., low-income and/or indigenous households will be affected the most. This means that and those families will spend the most part of their income on water services otherwise they would have to reduce their water consumption.

General Slowing and Education Mediate Task Switching Performance Across the Life-Span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Moretti

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study considered the potential role of both protective factors (cognitive reserve, CR and adverse ones (general slowing in modulating cognitive flexibility in the adult life-span.Method: Ninety-eight individuals performed a task-switching (TS paradigm in which we adopted a manipulation concerning the timing between the cue and the target. Working memory demands were minimized by using transparent cues. Additionally, indices of cognitive integrity, depression, processing speed and different CR dimensions were collected and used in linear models accounting for TS performance under the different time constraints.Results: The main results showed similar mixing costs and higher switching costs in older adults, with an overall age-dependent effect of general slowing on these costs. The link between processing speed and TS performance was attenuated when participants had more time to prepare. Among the different CR indices, formal education only was associated with reduced switch costs under time pressure.Discussion: Even though CR is often operationalized as a unitary construct, the present research confirms the benefits of using tools designed to distinguish between different CR dimensions. Furthermore, our results provide empirical support to the assumption that processing speed influence on executive performance depends on time constraints. Finally, it is suggested that whether age differences appear in terms of switch or mixing costs depends on working memory demands (which were low in our tasks with transparent cues.

Aerodynamic Comparison of Hyper-Elliptic Cambered Span (HECS) Wings with Conventional Configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Lazos, Barry S.; Visser, Kenneth D.

2006-01-01

An experimental study was conducted to examine the aerodynamic and flow field characteristics of hyper-elliptic cambered span (HECS) wings and compare results with more conventional configurations used for induced drag reduction. Previous preliminary studies, indicating improved L/D characteristics when compared to an elliptical planform prompted this more detailed experimental investigation. Balance data were acquired on a series of swept and un-swept HECS wings, a baseline elliptic planform, two winglet designs and a raked tip configuration. Seven-hole probe wake surveys were also conducted downstream of a number of the configurations. Wind tunnel results indicated aerodynamic performance levels of all but one of the HECS wings exceeded that of the other configurations. The flow field data surveys indicate the HECS configurations displaced the tip vortex farther outboard of the wing than the Baseline configuration. Minimum drag was observed on the raked tip configuration and it was noted that the winglet wake lacked the cohesive vortex structure present in the wakes of the other configurations.

Evaluating the efficiency of shortcut span protection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Dittmann, Lars; Berger, Michael Stübert

2010-01-01

This paper presents a comparison of various recovery methods in terms of capacity efficiency with the underlying aim of reducing control plane load. In particular, a method where recovery requests are bundled towards the destination (Shortcut Span Protection) is evaluated can compared against tra...... traditional recovery methods. The optimization model is presented and our simulation results show that Shortcut Span Protection uses more capacity than the unbundled related methods, but this is compensated by easier control and management of the recovery actions.......This paper presents a comparison of various recovery methods in terms of capacity efficiency with the underlying aim of reducing control plane load. In particular, a method where recovery requests are bundled towards the destination (Shortcut Span Protection) is evaluated can compared against...

On the cardinality of smallest spanning sets of rings | Boudi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Let R = (R, +, ·) be a ring. Then Z ⊆ R is called spanning if the R-module generated by Z is equal to the ring R. A spanning set Z ⊆ R is called smallest if there is no spanning set of smaller cardinality than Z. It will be shown that the cardinality of a smallest spanning set of a ring R is not always decidable. In particular, a ring R ...

Mitigating the Impact of Nurse Manager Large Spans of Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Brenda Baird; Dearmon, Valorie; Graves, Rebecca

Nurse managers are instrumental in achievement of organizational and unit performance goals. Greater spans of control for managers are associated with decreased satisfaction and performance. An interprofessional team measured one organization's nurse manager span of control, providing administrative assistant support and transformational leadership development to nurse managers with the largest spans of control. Nurse manager satisfaction and transformational leadership competency significantly improved following the implementation of large span of control mitigation strategies.

Visual working memory span in adults with cochlear implants: Some preliminary findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron C. Moberly

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Neurocognitive functions, specifically verbal working memory (WM, contribute to speech recognition in postlingual adults with cochlear implants (CIs and normal-hearing (NH listener shearing degraded speech. Three hypotheses were tested: (1 WM accuracy as assessed using three visual span measures — digits, objects, and symbols — would correlate with recognition scores for spectrally degraded speech (through a CI or when noise-vocoded; (2 WM accuracy would be best for digit span, intermediate for object span, and lowest for symbol span, due to the increasing cognitive demands across these tasks. Likewise, response times, relating to processing demands, would be shortest for digit span, intermediate for object span, and longest for symbol span; (3 CI users would demonstrate poorer and slower performance than NH peers on WM tasks, as a result of less efficient verbally mediated encoding strategies associated with a period of prolonged auditory deprivation. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 30 postlingually deaf adults with CIs and 34 NH controls. Participants were tested for sentence recognition in quiet (CI users or after noise-vocoding (NH peers, along with WM using visual measures of digit span, object span, and symbol span. Results: Of the three measures of WM, digit span scores alone correlated with sentence recognition for CI users; no correlations were found using these three measures for NH peers. As predicted, WM accuracy (and response times were best (and fastest for digit span, intermediate for object span, and worst (and slowest for symbol span. CI users and NH peers demonstrated equivalent WM accuracy and response time for digit span and object span, and similar response times for symbol span, but contrary to our original predictions, CI users demonstrated better accuracy on symbol span than NH peers. Conclusions: Verbal WM assessed using visual tasks relates weakly to sentence recognition for degraded speech. CI users

Reducing poverty and inequality through tax-benefit reform and the minimum wage: the UK as a case-study

OpenAIRE

Atkinson, AB; Leventi, C; Nolan, B; Sutherland, H; Tasseva, I

2017-01-01

Atkinson’s book Inequality: What Can Be Done? (Harvard University Press, 2015) sets out a range of concrete proposals aimed at reducing income inequality, which cover a very broad span but include major changes to the income tax and social transfers system and the minimum wage. These are framed with specific reference to the UK but have much broader relevance in demonstrating how substantial the impact on inequality of such measures could be. This paper assesses the first-round effects of the...

Minimum airflow reset of single-duct VAV terminal boxes

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Young-Hum

Single duct Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems are currently the most widely used type of HVAC system in the United States. When installing such a system, it is critical to determine the minimum airflow set point of the terminal box, as an optimally selected set point will improve the level of thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) while at the same time lower overall energy costs. In principle, this minimum rate should be calculated according to the minimum ventilation requirement based on ASHRAE standard 62.1 and maximum heating load of the zone. Several factors must be carefully considered when calculating this minimum rate. Terminal boxes with conventional control sequences may result in occupant discomfort and energy waste. If the minimum rate of airflow is set too high, the AHUs will consume excess fan power, and the terminal boxes may cause significant simultaneous room heating and cooling. At the same time, a rate that is too low will result in poor air circulation and indoor air quality in the air-conditioned space. Currently, many scholars are investigating how to change the algorithm of the advanced VAV terminal box controller without retrofitting. Some of these controllers have been found to effectively improve thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency. However, minimum airflow set points have not yet been identified, nor has controller performance been verified in confirmed studies. In this study, control algorithms were developed that automatically identify and reset terminal box minimum airflow set points, thereby improving indoor air quality and thermal comfort levels, and reducing the overall rate of energy consumption. A theoretical analysis of the optimal minimum airflow and discharge air temperature was performed to identify the potential energy benefits of resetting the terminal box minimum airflow set points. Applicable control algorithms for calculating the ideal values for the minimum airflow reset were developed and

The composite complex span: French validation of a short working memory task.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonthier, Corentin; Thomassin, Noémylle; Roulin, Jean-Luc

2016-03-01

Most studies in individual differences in the field of working memory research use complex span tasks to measure working memory capacity. Various complex span tasks based on different materials have been developed, and these tasks have proven both reliable and valid; several complex span tasks are often combined to provide a domain-general estimate of working memory capacity with even better psychometric properties. The present work sought to address two issues. Firstly, having participants perform several full-length complex span tasks in succession makes for a long and tedious procedure. Secondly, few complex span tasks have been translated and validated in French. We constructed a French working memory task labeled the Composite Complex Span (CCS). The CCS includes shortened versions of three classic complex span tasks: the reading span, symmetry span, and operation span. We assessed the psychometric properties of the CCS, including test-retest reliability and convergent validity, with Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and with an alpha span task; the CCS demonstrated satisfying qualities in a sample of 1,093 participants. This work provides evidence that shorter versions of classic complex span tasks can yield valid working memory estimates. The materials and normative data for the CCS are also included.

Visual-Attentional Span and Lexical ­Decision in Skilled Adult Readers

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Virginia M.; Dawson, Georgia

2014-01-01

The goal of the study was to examine the association between visual-attentional span and lexical decision in skilled adult readers. In the span tasks, an array of letters was presented briefly and recognition or production of a single cued letter (partial span) or production of all letters (whole span) was required. Independently of letter…

Examining the locus of age effects on complex span tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Jennifer; Hartman, Marilyn

2003-09-01

To investigate the locus of age effects on complex span tasks, the authors evaluated the contributions of working memory functions and processing speed. Age differences were found in measures of storage capacity, language processing speed, and lower level speed. Statistically controlling for each of these in hierarchical regressions substantially reduced, but did not eliminate, the complex span age effect. Accounting for lower level speed and storage, however, removed essentially the entire age effect, suggesting that both functions play important and independent roles. Additional evidence for the role of storage capacity was the absence of complex span age differences with span size calibrated to individual word span performance. Explanations for age differences based on inhibition and concurrent task performamce were not supported.

Design of permanent magnet synchronous motor within minimum cost

OpenAIRE

Півняк, Геннадій Григорович; Бешта, Олександр Степанович; Фурса, Сергій Григорійович; Neuberger, Nikolaus; Nolle, N.

2010-01-01

The article describes design and simulation experience of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The design goal is to develop PMSM of the least possible cost. For that purpose the standard induction motor stator was applied as a basic solution and permanent magnets were installed in rotor. Simulation results are presented, the dependence of efficiency and total loss on magnet material mass are obtained. The optimal value of permanent magnets is estimated for the given electric motor frame.

A multiple ship routing and speed optimization problem under time, cost and environmental objectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wen, M.; Pacino, Dario; Kontovas, C.A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a multiple ship routing and speed optimization problem under time, cost and environmental objectives. A branch and price algorithm as well as a constraint programming model are developed that consider (a) fuel consumption as a function of payload, (b......) fuel price as an explicit input, (c) freight rate as an input, and (d) in-transit cargo inventory costs. The alternative objective functions are minimum total trip duration, minimum total cost and minimum emissions. Computational experience with the algorithm is reported on a variety of scenarios....

Mapping the developmental constraints on working memory span performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M; Jarrold, Christopher; Baddeley, Alan D; Gunn, Deborah M; Leigh, Eleanor

2005-07-01

This study investigated the constraints underlying developmental improvements in complex working memory span performance among 120 children of between 6 and 10 years of age. Independent measures of processing efficiency, storage capacity, rehearsal speed, and basic speed of processing were assessed to determine their contribution to age-related variance in complex span. Results showed that developmental improvements in complex span were driven by 2 age-related but separable factors: 1 associated with general speed of processing and 1 associated with storage ability. In addition, there was an age-related contribution shared between working memory, processing speed, and storage ability that was important for higher level cognition. These results pose a challenge for models of complex span performance that emphasize the importance of processing speed alone.

Performance, Career Dynamics, and Span of Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smeets, Valerie Anne Rolande; Waldman, Michael; Warzynski, Frederic Michel Patrick

that higher ability managers should supervise more subordinates, or equivalently, have a larger span of control. And although some of this theory’s predictions have been empirically investigated, there has been little systematic investigation of the theory’s predictions concerning span of control....... In this paper we first extend the theoretical literature on the scale-of-operations effect to allow firms’ beliefs concerning a manager’s ability to evolve over the manager’s career, where much of our focus is the determinants of span of control. We then empirically investigate testable predictions from......There is an extensive theoretical literature based on what is called the scale-of-operations effect, i.e., the idea that the return to managerial ability is higher the more resources the manager influences with his or her decisions. This idea leads to various testable predictions including...

Minimum cost research when defining a very high efficiency air filtering installation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billard, F.; Seau, C.

1974-01-01

Economic criteria importance when establishing filtering projects is shown. In a first part, an optimization method of costs is studied. In the existing installations, it is necessary to study the operating costs, and eventually introduce changes in order to improve profitability. In the second part it is indicated how the Marcoule Center has solved this problem [fr

Geminal-spanning orbitals make explicitly correlated reduced-scaling coupled-cluster methods robust, yet simple

Science.gov (United States)

Pavošević, Fabijan; Neese, Frank; Valeev, Edward F.

2014-08-01

We present a production implementation of reduced-scaling explicitly correlated (F12) coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) method based on pair-natural orbitals (PNOs). A key feature is the reformulation of the explicitly correlated terms using geminal-spanning orbitals that greatly reduce the truncation errors of the F12 contribution. For the standard S66 benchmark of weak intermolecular interactions, the cc-pVDZ-F12 PNO CCSD F12 interaction energies reproduce the complete basis set CCSD limit with mean absolute error cost compared to the conventional CCSD F12.

Developmental Dyslexia: The Visual Attention Span Deficit Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Bosse, Marie-Line; Tainturier, Marie Josephe; Valdois, Sylviane

2007-01-01

The visual attention (VA) span is defined as the amount of distinct visual elements which can be processed in parallel in a multi-element array. Both recent empirical data and theoretical accounts suggest that a VA span deficit might contribute to developmental dyslexia, independently of a phonological disorder. In this study, this hypothesis was…

Do Minimum Wages Fight Poverty?

OpenAIRE

David Neumark; William Wascher

1997-01-01

The primary goal of a national minimum wage floor is to raise the incomes of poor or near-poor families with members in the work force. However, estimates of employment effects of minimum wages tell us little about whether minimum wages are can achieve this goal; even if the disemployment effects of minimum wages are modest, minimum wage increases could result in net income losses for poor families. We present evidence on the effects of minimum wages on family incomes from matched March CPS s...

Policy for equipment’s leasing period extension with minimum cost of maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Lestari, C.; Kurniati, N.

2018-04-01

The cost structure for equipment investment including purchase cost and maintenance cost is getting more expensive. The company considers to lease the equipment instead of purchase it under a contractual agreement. Offering to extend the lease period, following to the base lease period, will provide more benefits for both the lessor (owner) and the lessee (user). Whenever the lease period extension offered at the beginning of the contract, there are some risks in finance e.g. uncertainty of the equipment performance and lessor responsibility. Therefore, this research attempts to model the optimal maintenance policy for lease period extension offered at the end of the contract. Minimal repair is performed to rectify a failed equipment, while imperfect preventive maintenance is conducted to improve the operational state of the equipment when reaches a certain control limit to avoid failures. The mathematical model is constructed to determine the optimal control limit, the number and degree of preventive maintenance, and the multiplication number of the lease period extension. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the influences of the optimal length of the extended lease and the maintenance policy to minimize the maintenance cost.

Dual boundary spanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li-Ying, Jason

2016-01-01

The extant literature runs short in understanding openness of innovation regarding and the different pathways along which internal and external knowledge resources can be combined. This study proposes a unique typology for outside-in innovations based on two distinct ways of boundary spanning......: whether an innovation idea is created internally or externally and whether an innovation process relies on external knowledge resources. This yields four possible types of innovation, which represent the nuanced variation of outside-in innovations. Using historical data from Canada for 1945...

Nonlinear dimension reduction and clustering by Minimum Curvilinearity unfold neuropathic pain and tissue embryological classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannistraci, Carlo Vittorio; Ravasi, Timothy; Montevecchi, Franco Maria; Ideker, Trey; Alessio, Massimo

2010-09-15

Nonlinear small datasets, which are characterized by low numbers of samples and very high numbers of measures, occur frequently in computational biology, and pose problems in their investigation. Unsupervised hybrid-two-phase (H2P) procedures-specifically dimension reduction (DR), coupled with clustering-provide valuable assistance, not only for unsupervised data classification, but also for visualization of the patterns hidden in high-dimensional feature space. 'Minimum Curvilinearity' (MC) is a principle that-for small datasets-suggests the approximation of curvilinear sample distances in the feature space by pair-wise distances over their minimum spanning tree (MST), and thus avoids the introduction of any tuning parameter. MC is used to design two novel forms of nonlinear machine learning (NML): Minimum Curvilinear embedding (MCE) for DR, and Minimum Curvilinear affinity propagation (MCAP) for clustering. Compared with several other unsupervised and supervised algorithms, MCE and MCAP, whether individually or combined in H2P, overcome the limits of classical approaches. High performance was attained in the visualization and classification of: (i) pain patients (proteomic measurements) in peripheral neuropathy; (ii) human organ tissues (genomic transcription factor measurements) on the basis of their embryological origin. MC provides a valuable framework to estimate nonlinear distances in small datasets. Its extension to large datasets is prefigured for novel NMLs. Classification of neuropathic pain by proteomic profiles offers new insights for future molecular and systems biology characterization of pain. Improvements in tissue embryological classification refine results obtained in an earlier study, and suggest a possible reinterpretation of skin attribution as mesodermal. https://sites.google.com/site/carlovittoriocannistraci/home.

Determination of cost effective waste management system receipt rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKee, R.W.; Huber, H.D.

1991-01-01

A comprehensive logistics and cost analysis has been carried out to determine if there are potential benefits to the high-level waste management system for receipt rates other than the current 3,000 MTU/yr design-basis receipt rate. The scope of the analysis includes both a Repository-Only System and a Storage-Only or Basic MRS System. To allow for current uncertainties in facility startup scheduling, cases considering repository startup dates of 2010 and 2015 and MRS startup dates of 1998 and three years prior to the repository have been evaluated. Receipt rates ranging from 1,500 to 6,000 MTU/yr have been considered for both the MRS and the repository. Higher receipt rates appear to be economically justified for both the repository and an MRS. For a repository-only system, minimum costs are found at a repository receipt rate of 6,000 MTU/yr. When a storage-only MRS is included in the system, minimum system costs are also achieved at a repository receipt rate of 6,000 MTU/yr. However, the MRS receipt rate for minimum system costs depends on the MRS startup date and ranges from 3,500 to 6,000 MTU/yr. With a 1998 MRS and a 2010 repository, the added cost of providing the MRS is offset by at-reactor storage cost reductions and the total system cost of $10.0 billion is virtually the same as for the repository-only system

Exploring boundary-spanning practices among creativity managers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Kragh, Hanne

2015-01-01

Purpose – External inputs are critical for organisational creativity. In order to bridge different thought worlds and cross-organisational barriers, managers must initiate and motivate boundary spanning processes. The purpose of this paper is to explore how boundary spanners manage creativity...... and observation. Findings – Three meta-practices used by managers to manage boundary-spanning creative projects are presented: defining the creative space, making space for creativity and acting in the creative space. These practices are detailed in seven case studies of creative projects. Research limitations...

A Distributed Spanning Tree Algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Karl Erik; Jørgensen, Ulla Lundin; Nielsen, Sven Hauge

We present a distributed algorithm for constructing a spanning tree for connected undirected graphs. Nodes correspond to processors and edges correspond to two-way channels. Each processor has initially a distinct identity and all processors perform the same algorithm. Computation as well...

ANN Surface Roughness Optimization of AZ61 Magnesium Alloy Finish Turning: Minimum Machining Times at Prime Machining Costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adel Taha Abbas

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Magnesium alloys are widely used in aerospace vehicles and modern cars, due to their rapid machinability at high cutting speeds. A novel Edgeworth–Pareto optimization of an artificial neural network (ANN is presented in this paper for surface roughness (Ra prediction of one component in computer numerical control (CNC turning over minimal machining time (Tm and at prime machining costs (C. An ANN is built in the Matlab programming environment, based on a 4-12-3 multi-layer perceptron (MLP, to predict Ra, Tm, and C, in relation to cutting speed, vc, depth of cut, ap, and feed per revolution, fr. For the first time, a profile of an AZ61 alloy workpiece after finish turning is constructed using an ANN for the range of experimental values vc, ap, and fr. The global minimum length of a three-dimensional estimation vector was defined with the following coordinates: Ra = 0.087 μm, Tm = 0.358 min/cm3, C = $8.2973. Likewise, the corresponding finish-turning parameters were also estimated: cutting speed vc = 250 m/min, cutting depth ap = 1.0 mm, and feed per revolution fr = 0.08 mm/rev. The ANN model achieved a reliable prediction accuracy of ±1.35% for surface roughness.

Controlling the spotlight of attention: visual span size and flexibility in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Elahipanah, Ava; Christensen, Bruce K; Reingold, Eyal M

2011-10-01

The current study investigated the size and flexible control of visual span among patients with schizophrenia during visual search performance. Visual span is the region of the visual field from which one extracts information during a single eye fixation, and a larger visual span size is linked to more efficient search performance. Therefore, a reduced visual span may explain patients' impaired performance on search tasks. The gaze-contingent moving window paradigm was used to estimate the visual span size of patients and healthy participants while they performed two different search tasks. In addition, changes in visual span size were measured as a function of two manipulations of task difficulty: target-distractor similarity and stimulus familiarity. Patients with schizophrenia searched more slowly across both tasks and conditions. Patients also demonstrated smaller visual span sizes on the easier search condition in each task. Moreover, healthy controls' visual span size increased as target discriminability or distractor familiarity increased. This modulation of visual span size, however, was reduced or not observed among patients. The implications of the present findings, with regard to previously reported visual search deficits, and other functional and structural abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Life Span Exercise Among Elite Intercollegiate Student Athletes

OpenAIRE

Sorenson, Shawn C.; Romano, Russell; Azen, Stanley P.; Schroeder, E. Todd; Salem, George J.

2015-01-01

Background: Despite prominent public attention, data on life span health and exercise outcomes among elite, competitive athletes are sparse and do not reflect the diversity of modern athletes. Hypothesis: Life span exercise behavior differs between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes and a nonathlete control group. Sustained exercise is associated with improved cardiopulmonary health outcomes. Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiology study. Level of...

A distributed spanning tree algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Karl Erik; Jørgensen, Ulla Lundin; Nielsen, Svend Hauge

1988-01-01

We present a distributed algorithm for constructing a spanning tree for connected undirected graphs. Nodes correspond to processors and edges correspond to two way channels. Each processor has initially a distinct identity and all processors perform the same algorithm. Computation as well as comm...

Minimum Financial Outlays for Purchasing Alcohol Brands in the U.S

Science.gov (United States)

Albers, Alison Burke; DeJong, William; Naimi, Timothy S.; Siegel, Michael; Shoaff, Jessica Ruhlman; Jernigan, David H.

2012-01-01

Background Low alcohol prices are a potent risk factor for excessive drinking, underage drinking, and adverse alcohol-attributable outcomes. Presently, there is little reported information on alcohol prices in the U.S., in particular as it relates to the costs of potentially beneficial amounts of alcohol. Purpose To determine the minimum financial outlay necessary to purchase individual brands of alcohol using online alcohol price data from January through March 2012. Methods The smallest container size and the minimum price at which that size beverage could be purchased in the U.S. in 2012 were determined for 898 brands of alcohol, across 17 different alcoholic beverage types. The analyses were conducted in March 2012. Results The majority of alcoholic beverage categories contain brands that can be purchased in the U.S. for very low minimum financial outlays. Conclusions In the U.S., a wide variety of alcohol brands, across many types of alcohol, are available at very low prices. Given that both alcohol use and abuse are responsive to price, particularly among adolescents, the prevalence of low alcohol prices is concerning. Surveillance of alcohol prices and minimum pricing policies should be considered in the U.S. as part of a public health strategy to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. PMID:23253652

Ancestral telomere shortening: a countdown that will increase mean life span?

Science.gov (United States)

Hertzog, Radu G

2006-01-01

Like cells, all mammals have a limited life span. Among cells there are a few exceptions (e.g., immortal cells), among mammals not, even if some of them live longer. Many in vitro and in vivo studies support the consensus that telomere length is strongly correlated with life span. At the somatic cellular level, long telomeres have been associated with longer life span. A different situation can be seen in immortal cells, such as cancer, germ and stem cells, where telomeres are maintained by telomerase, a specialized reverse transcriptase that is involved in synthesis of telomeres. Irrespective of telomere length, if telomerase is active, telomeres can be maintained at a sufficient length to ensure cell survival. To the contrary, telomeres shorten progressively with each cell division and when a critical telomere length (Hayflick limit) is reached, the cells undergo senescence and subsequently apoptosis. In mammals, those with the longest telomeres (e.g., mice) have the shortest life span. Furthermore, the shorter the mean telomere length, the longer the mean life span, as observed in humans (10-14 kpb) and bowhead-whales (undetermined telomere length), which have the longest mean life span among mammals. Over the past centuries, human average life span has increased. The hypothesis presented here suggests that this continual increase in the mean life span could be due to a decrease of mean telomere length over the last hundreds years. Actually, the life span is not directly influenced by length of telomeres, but rather by telomere length - dependent gene expression pattern. According to Greider, "rather than average telomere length, it is the shortest telomere length that makes the biggest difference to a cell". In the context of fast-growing global elderly population due to increase in life expectancy, it also seem to be an age related increase in cancer incidence. Nevertheless, extending healthy life span could depend on how good cells achieve, during the

Rising above the Minimum Wage.

Science.gov (United States)

Even, William; Macpherson, David

An in-depth analysis was made of how quickly most people move up the wage scale from minimum wage, what factors influence their progress, and how minimum wage increases affect wage growth above the minimum. Very few workers remain at the minimum wage over the long run, according to this study of data drawn from the 1977-78 May Current Population…

The Need for Higher Minimum Staffing Standards in U.S. Nursing Homes

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Charlene; Schnelle, John F.; McGregor, Margaret; Simmons, Sandra F.

2016-01-01

Many U.S. nursing homes have serious quality problems, in part, because of inadequate levels of nurse staffing. This commentary focuses on two issues. First, there is a need for higher minimum nurse staffing standards for U.S. nursing homes based on multiple research studies showing a positive relationship between nursing home quality and staffing and the benefits of implementing higher minimum staffing standards. Studies have identified the minimum staffing levels necessary to provide care consistent with the federal regulations, but many U.S. facilities have dangerously low staffing. Second, the barriers to staffing reform are discussed. These include economic concerns about costs and a focus on financial incentives. The enforcement of existing staffing standards has been weak, and strong nursing home industry political opposition has limited efforts to establish higher standards. Researchers should study the ways to improve staffing standards and new payment, regulatory, and political strategies to improve nursing home staffing and quality. PMID:27103819

Vision in Flies: Measuring the Attention Span.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Koenig

Full Text Available A visual stimulus at a particular location of the visual field may elicit a behavior while at the same time equally salient stimuli in other parts do not. This property of visual systems is known as selective visual attention (SVA. The animal is said to have a focus of attention (FoA which it has shifted to a particular location. Visual attention normally involves an attention span at the location to which the FoA has been shifted. Here the attention span is measured in Drosophila. The fly is tethered and hence has its eyes fixed in space. It can shift its FoA internally. This shift is revealed using two simultaneous test stimuli with characteristic responses at their particular locations. In tethered flight a wild type fly keeps its FoA at a certain location for up to 4s. Flies with a mutation in the radish gene, that has been suggested to be involved in attention-like mechanisms, display a reduced attention span of only 1s.

Vision in Flies: Measuring the Attention Span.

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Sebastian; Wolf, Reinhard; Heisenberg, Martin

2016-01-01

A visual stimulus at a particular location of the visual field may elicit a behavior while at the same time equally salient stimuli in other parts do not. This property of visual systems is known as selective visual attention (SVA). The animal is said to have a focus of attention (FoA) which it has shifted to a particular location. Visual attention normally involves an attention span at the location to which the FoA has been shifted. Here the attention span is measured in Drosophila. The fly is tethered and hence has its eyes fixed in space. It can shift its FoA internally. This shift is revealed using two simultaneous test stimuli with characteristic responses at their particular locations. In tethered flight a wild type fly keeps its FoA at a certain location for up to 4s. Flies with a mutation in the radish gene, that has been suggested to be involved in attention-like mechanisms, display a reduced attention span of only 1s.

Minimum Additive Waste Stabilization (MAWS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-02-01

In the Minimum Additive Waste Stabilization(MAWS) concept, actual waste streams are utilized as additive resources for vitrification, which may contain the basic components (glass formers and fluxes) for making a suitable glass or glassy slag. If too much glass former is present, then the melt viscosity or temperature will be too high for processing; while if there is too much flux, then the durability may suffer. Therefore, there are optimum combinations of these two important classes of constituents depending on the criteria required. The challenge is to combine these resources in such a way that minimizes the use of non-waste additives yet yields a processable and durable final waste form for disposal. The benefit to this approach is that the volume of the final waste form is minimized (waste loading maximized) since little or no additives are used and vitrification itself results in volume reduction through evaporation of water, combustion of organics, and compaction of the solids into a non-porous glass. This implies a significant reduction in disposal costs due to volume reduction alone, and minimizes future risks/costs due to the long term durability and leach resistance of glass. This is accomplished by using integrated systems that are both cost-effective and produce an environmentally sound waste form for disposal. individual component technologies may include: vitrification; thermal destruction; soil washing; gas scrubbing/filtration; and, ion-exchange wastewater treatment. The particular combination of technologies will depend on the waste streams to be treated. At the heart of MAWS is vitrification technology, which incorporates all primary and secondary waste streams into a final, long-term, stabilized glass wasteform. The integrated technology approach, and view of waste streams as resources, is innovative yet practical to cost effectively treat a broad range of DOE mixed and low-level wastes

Increasing Endurance by Building Fluency: Precision Teaching Attention Span.

Science.gov (United States)

Binder, Carl; And Others

1990-01-01

Precision teaching techniques can be used to chart students' attention span or endurance. Individual differences in attention span can then be better understood and dealt with effectively. The effects of performance duration on performance level, on error rates, and on learning rates are discussed. Implications for classroom practice are noted.…

The minimum price required by investors in IPOs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Jeribi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With regard to purchasing Tunisian IPOs shares, the current paper aims at considering two types of investors: a non-institutional investor and an institutional one. Each is concerned with placing a purchase order at the offer price during the subscription period. In line with the literature on IPOs, we attempted to determine the minimum price required by an investor allowing for recovering the initial investment, information costs, transaction costs, and the offsetting of shortfall. We expect that the initial return of an IPO share in the Tunisian market is positively related to the following factors: the number of non-institutional investors participating during the subscription period, the subscription ratio of institutional investors, the expected rate of return by investors, the gap between the closing date of the subscription period and the day following the announcement of the subscription result, the gap between the announcement of the subscription result and the first listing day, the number of trading days, the cost of information and the transaction costs. However, it is negatively related to other determinants, such as the discount level, the number of shares allocated for a non-institutional investor and the number of offered shares, which are allocated to non-institutional investors.

Life span extension and neuronal cell protection by Drosophila nicotinamidase.

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F A; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-10-10

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone deacetylases. In Caenorhabditis elegans, knockdown of a pnc1 homolog was shown recently to shorten the worm life span, whereas its overexpression increased survival under conditions of oxidative stress. The function and regulation of nicotinamidases in higher organisms has not been determined. Here, we report the identification and biochemical characterization of the Drosophila nicotinamidase, D-NAAM, and demonstrate that its overexpression significantly increases median and maximal fly life span. The life span extension was reversed in Sir2 mutant flies, suggesting Sir2 dependence. Testing for physiological effectors of D-NAAM in Drosophila S2 cells, we identified oxidative stress as a primary regulator, both at the transcription level and protein activity. In contrast to the yeast model, stress factors such as high osmolarity and heat shock, calorie restriction, or inhibitors of TOR and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways do not appear to regulate D-NAAM in S2 cells. Interestingly, the expression of D-NAAM in human neuronal cells conferred protection from oxidative stress-induced cell death in a sirtuin-dependent manner. Together, our findings establish a life span extending the ability of nicotinamidase in flies and offer a role for nicotinamide-modulating genes in oxidative stress regulated pathways influencing longevity and neuronal cell survival.

Proportionate Minimum Error Entropy Algorithm for Sparse System Identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zongze Wu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Sparse system identification has received a great deal of attention due to its broad applicability. The proportionate normalized least mean square (PNLMS algorithm, as a popular tool, achieves excellent performance for sparse system identification. In previous studies, most of the cost functions used in proportionate-type sparse adaptive algorithms are based on the mean square error (MSE criterion, which is optimal only when the measurement noise is Gaussian. However, this condition does not hold in most real-world environments. In this work, we use the minimum error entropy (MEE criterion, an alternative to the conventional MSE criterion, to develop the proportionate minimum error entropy (PMEE algorithm for sparse system identification, which may achieve much better performance than the MSE based methods especially in heavy-tailed non-Gaussian situations. Moreover, we analyze the convergence of the proposed algorithm and derive a sufficient condition that ensures the mean square convergence. Simulation results confirm the excellent performance of the new algorithm.

Nonlinear dimension reduction and clustering by Minimum Curvilinearity unfold neuropathic pain and tissue embryological classes

KAUST Repository

Cannistraci, Carlo

2010-09-01

Motivation: Nonlinear small datasets, which are characterized by low numbers of samples and very high numbers of measures, occur frequently in computational biology, and pose problems in their investigation. Unsupervised hybrid-two-phase (H2P) procedures-specifically dimension reduction (DR), coupled with clustering-provide valuable assistance, not only for unsupervised data classification, but also for visualization of the patterns hidden in high-dimensional feature space. Methods: \\'Minimum Curvilinearity\\' (MC) is a principle that-for small datasets-suggests the approximation of curvilinear sample distances in the feature space by pair-wise distances over their minimum spanning tree (MST), and thus avoids the introduction of any tuning parameter. MC is used to design two novel forms of nonlinear machine learning (NML): Minimum Curvilinear embedding (MCE) for DR, and Minimum Curvilinear affinity propagation (MCAP) for clustering. Results: Compared with several other unsupervised and supervised algorithms, MCE and MCAP, whether individually or combined in H2P, overcome the limits of classical approaches. High performance was attained in the visualization and classification of: (i) pain patients (proteomic measurements) in peripheral neuropathy; (ii) human organ tissues (genomic transcription factor measurements) on the basis of their embryological origin. Conclusion: MC provides a valuable framework to estimate nonlinear distances in small datasets. Its extension to large datasets is prefigured for novel NMLs. Classification of neuropathic pain by proteomic profiles offers new insights for future molecular and systems biology characterization of pain. Improvements in tissue embryological classification refine results obtained in an earlier study, and suggest a possible reinterpretation of skin attribution as mesodermal. © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University Press.

Power, Governance and Boundary Spanning Leadership in Public Sector Organisations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmholdt, Claus Westergård; Fogsgaard, Morten

2015-01-01

the fact that analysis of boundary spanning leadership and power relations is an essential, significant, and critical tool in questioning different forms of management in public sector organizations. The aim of the workshop is to investigate, elucidate and discuss management across organizational units...... on the practice that evolves on the boundaries that span occupational groups, departments and organizations. The workshop takes it’s starting point in an interdisciplinary Scandinavian research project which deals with the question of how power processes can promote, or hinder, boundary spanning leadership...

Employment effects of minimum wages

OpenAIRE

Neumark, David

2014-01-01

The potential benefits of higher minimum wages come from the higher wages for affected workers, some of whom are in low-income families. The potential downside is that a higher minimum wage may discourage employers from using the low-wage, low-skill workers that minimum wages are intended to help. Research findings are not unanimous, but evidence from many countries suggests that minimum wages reduce the jobs available to low-skill workers.

The Life Span Dwelling

OpenAIRE

Hans-Peter Hebensperger-Hüther; Gabriele Franger-Huhle

2014-01-01

The paper presents the findings from a survey of 10 different experimental housing projects in Bavaria. In 2005 students of architecture and students of social work at the University of Applied Science in Coburg approached the topic of “Life Span Dwelling” using interdisciplinary research methods. The scope of the research ranges from urban planning concepts to common spaces in the different neighborhoods, documenting user satisfaction with the individual unit and feasibility of rooms offered...

Life span of animals under acute and chronic irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapol'skaya, N.A.; Fedorova, A.V.; Borisova, V.V.

1978-01-01

The study has been designed to see to what extent a single and long-term external and internal irradiations shorten the life span of animals. LDsub(50/30) for certain radionuclides whose absorbed doses show different spatiotemporal distributions are considered. It has been found that as far as the average life span is concerned, 137 Cs and 90 Sr have approximately the same effect whether they enter the body on a single occasion or repeatedly. With chronic total-body external gamma-irradiation, the decrease in life span is 5 times smaller than than with single-occasion irradiation. The main reason for the observed differences are found to be differences in the rates with which the absorbed doses are formed

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

OpenAIRE

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V. S.; Priezzhev, V. B.

2012-01-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of $k$ paths ($k$ is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, $k$ loop--erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped in a fashion a $k$--leg watermelon. For large distance $r$ between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as $r^{-\

Cost minimization of generation, storage, and new loads, comparing costs with and without externalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Noel, Lance Douglas; Brodie, Joseph; Kempton, Willett

2017-01-01

G) technology, and building heat) are modeled within the PJM Interconnection. The corresponding electric systems are then operated and constrained to meet the load every hour over four years. The total cost of each energy system is calculated, both with and without externalities, to find the least...... cost energy systems. Using today’s costs of conventional and renewable electricity and without adding any externalities, the cost-minimum system includes no renewable generation, but does include EVs. When externalities are included, however, the most cost-effective to system covers 50% of the electric...... load with renewable energy and runs reliably without need for either new conventional generation or purpose-built storage. The three novel energy policy implications of this research are: (1) using today’s cost of renewable electricity and estimates of externalities, it is cost effective to implement...

Determination of cost effective waste management system receipt rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKee, R.W.; Huber, H.D.

1991-01-01

A comprehensive logistics and cost analysis has been carried out to determine if there are potential benefits to the high-level waste management system for receipt rates other than the current 3000 MTU/yr design-basis. The analysis includes both a Repository-Only System and a Storage-Only System. Repository startup dates of 2010 and 2015 and MRS startup dates of 1988 and three years prior to the repository have been evaluated. Receipt rates ranging from 1,500 to 6, 000 MTU/yr have been considered. Higher receipt rates appear to be economically justified, for either system, minimum costs are found at a repository receipt rate of 6000 MTU/yr. However, the MRS receipt rate for minimum system costs depends on the MRS startup date. With a 1988 MRS and a 2010 repository, the added cost of providing the MRS is offset by at-reactor storage cost reductions and the total system cost of $10.0 billion is virtually the same as for the repository- only system. 9 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs

Concepts of increasing productivity and reducing the processing cost of machine parts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. С. Кленов

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The basic conditions to reduce the cost of processing technology and improve productivity through the use of modern cutting tools produced by leading foreign firms producing tools have been appraised from theory in the work. Theoretically, it has been found that an increase in the cost of processing varies according to extremum dependence, passing the minimum point. It is possible to reduce the minimum processing cost due to the increase of productivity using cutting edge tools, characterized by a high capacity for work in high cutting temperatures. The criterion showing the technological price cost minimum is the ratio of the expenditures on workers’ wages to the expenditures on the cutting tools, it being quite specific for various processing conditions. To analyze the possibilities of practical use of the proposed criterion, a complex of experimental researches of the technological prime cost and productivity of the processing with hard alloy cutting tools with wear-resistant coatings produced by the company «Iscar» has been carried out. It has been established that their use makes it possible by more than one half to reduce the labour consumption and overall costs as compared to the hard alloy cutting tools traditionally used in home industry. It has been shown that this effect is achieved by increasing the cutting speed and feed due to increased wear resistance and heat resistance of the «Iscar» company tools. It was established that it is much more possible to achieve low processing cost at milling than at turning. It was stated with regard to all major expenditures including the workers' wages, the cost of the cutting tools, equipment and other costs, allowing more correctly estimate the cost-effectiveness of mechanical processing. Experiments confirmed that the main condition for reducing the processing cost to its minimum value is to increase the processing performance through the use of a heat-resistant and wear-resistant cutting

Life Span and Resiliency Theory: A Critical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexa Smith-Osborne

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Theories of life span development describe human growth and change over the life cycle (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2006. Major types of developmental theories include biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, and social learning, cognitive, moral, and spiritual, and those influenced by systems, empowerment, and conflict theory. Life span development theories commonly focus on ontogenesis and sequential mastery of skills, tasks, and abilities. Social work scholars have pointed out that a limitation of life span and other developmental theory is lack of attention to resilience (Greene, 2007; Robbins et al., 1998. The concept of resilience was developed to “describe relative resistance to psychosocial risk experiences” (Rutter, 1999b, p. 119. Longitudinal studies focused on typical and atypical child development informed theory formulation in developmental psychopathology (Garmezy & Rutter, 1983; Luthar, Cichetti,& Becker, 2000 and in an evolving resilience model (Richardson, 2002; Werner & Smith, 1992. Research on resilience has found a positive relationship between a number of individual traits and contextual variables and resistance to a variety of risk factors among children and adolescents. More recently, resilience research has examined the operation of these same factors in the young adult, middle-age, and elder life stages. This article examines the historical and conceptual progression of the two developmental theories—life span and resiliency—and discusses their application to social work practice and education in human behavior in the social environment.

ANN Surface Roughness Optimization of AZ61 Magnesium Alloy Finish Turning: Minimum Machining Times at Prime Machining Costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, Adel Taha; Pimenov, Danil Yurievich; Erdakov, Ivan Nikolaevich; Taha, Mohamed Adel; Soliman, Mahmoud Sayed; El Rayes, Magdy Mostafa

2018-05-16

Magnesium alloys are widely used in aerospace vehicles and modern cars, due to their rapid machinability at high cutting speeds. A novel Edgeworth⁻Pareto optimization of an artificial neural network (ANN) is presented in this paper for surface roughness ( Ra ) prediction of one component in computer numerical control (CNC) turning over minimal machining time ( T m ) and at prime machining costs ( C ). An ANN is built in the Matlab programming environment, based on a 4-12-3 multi-layer perceptron (MLP), to predict Ra , T m , and C , in relation to cutting speed, v c , depth of cut, a p , and feed per revolution, f r . For the first time, a profile of an AZ61 alloy workpiece after finish turning is constructed using an ANN for the range of experimental values v c , a p , and f r . The global minimum length of a three-dimensional estimation vector was defined with the following coordinates: Ra = 0.087 μm, T m = 0.358 min/cm³, C = $8.2973. Likewise, the corresponding finish-turning parameters were also estimated: cutting speed v c = 250 m/min, cutting depth a p = 1.0 mm, and feed per revolution f r = 0.08 mm/rev. The ANN model achieved a reliable prediction accuracy of ±1.35% for surface roughness.

Site specific optimization of wind turbines energy cost: Iterative approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rezaei Mirghaed, Mohammad; Roshandel, Ramin

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Optimization model of wind turbine parameters plus rectangular farm layout is developed. • Results show that levelized cost for single turbine fluctuates between 46.6 and 54.5 $/MW h. • Modeling results for two specific farms reported optimal sizing and farm layout. • Results show that levelized cost of the wind farms fluctuates between 45.8 and 67.2 $/MW h. - Abstract: The present study was aimed at developing a model to optimize the sizing parameters and farm layout of wind turbines according to the wind resource and economic aspects. The proposed model, including aerodynamic, economic and optimization sub-models, is used to achieve minimum levelized cost of electricity. The blade element momentum theory is utilized for aerodynamic modeling of pitch-regulated horizontal axis wind turbines. Also, a comprehensive cost model including capital costs of all turbine components is considered. An iterative approach is used to develop the optimization model. The modeling results are presented for three potential regions in Iran: Khaf, Ahar and Manjil. The optimum configurations and sizing for a single turbine with minimum levelized cost of electricity are presented. The optimal cost of energy for one turbine is calculated about 46.7, 54.5 and 46.6 dollars per MW h in the studied sites, respectively. In addition, optimal size of turbines, annual electricity production, capital cost, and wind farm layout for two different rectangular and square shaped farms in the proposed areas have been recognized. According to the results, optimal system configuration corresponds to minimum levelized cost of electricity about 45.8 to 67.2 dollars per MW h in the studied wind farms

The optimum spanning catenary cable

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, C. Y.

2015-03-01

A heavy cable spans two points in space. There exists an optimum cable length such that the maximum tension is minimized. If the two end points are at the same level, the optimum length is 1.258 times the distance between the ends. The optimum lengths for end points of different heights are also found.

Van Kampen Colimits as Bicolimits in Span

Science.gov (United States)

Heindel, Tobias; Sobociński, Paweł

The exactness properties of coproducts in extensive categories and pushouts along monos in adhesive categories have found various applications in theoretical computer science, e.g. in program semantics, data type theory and rewriting. We show that these properties can be understood as a single universal property in the associated bicategory of spans. To this end, we first provide a general notion of Van Kampen cocone that specialises to the above colimits. The main result states that Van Kampen cocones can be characterised as exactly those diagrams in ℂ that induce bicolimit diagrams in the bicategory of spans mathcal{S}pan_{mathbb{C}}, provided that ℂ has pullbacks and enough colimits.

Spanning organizational boundaries to manage creative processes:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Kragh, Hanne; Lettl, Christopher

2013-01-01

In order to continue to be innovative in the current fast-paced and competitive environment, organizations are increasingly dependent on creative inputs developed outside their boundaries. The paper addresses the boundary spanning activities that managers undertake to a) select and mobilize...... creative talent, b) create shared identity, and c) combine and integrate knowledge in innovation projects involving external actors. We study boundary spanning activities in two creative projects in the LEGO group. One involves identifying and integrating deep, specialized knowledge, the other focuses...... actors, and how knowledge is integrated across organizational boundaries. We discuss implications of our findings for managers and researchers in a business-to-business context...

Information and the Cost of Capital: An Ex Ante Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; de la Rosa, Leonidas Enrique; Feltham, Gerald A.

2010-01-01

Recent articles have demonstrated that increased public disclosure can decrease firms' cost of capital. The focus has been on the impact of information on the cost of capital subsequent to the release of the information (the ex post cost of capital). We show that the reduction in the ex post cost...... investors may actually benefit from a higher ex post cost of capital....... of capital is offset by an equal increase in the cost of capital for the period leading up to the release of the information (the preposterior cost of capital). Thus, within the class of models framing the recent discussion, there is no impact on the ex ante cost of capital covering the full time span...

Minimum Wages and Poverty

OpenAIRE

Fields, Gary S.; Kanbur, Ravi

2005-01-01

Textbook analysis tells us that in a competitive labor market, the introduction of a minimum wage above the competitive equilibrium wage will cause unemployment. This paper makes two contributions to the basic theory of the minimum wage. First, we analyze the effects of a higher minimum wage in terms of poverty rather than in terms of unemployment. Second, we extend the standard textbook model to allow for incomesharing between the employed and the unemployed. We find that there are situation...

Lower Bounds for Howard's Algorithm for Finding Minimum Mean-Cost Cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Thomas Dueholm; Zwick, Uri

2010-01-01

Mean-Cost cycles (MMCC). Experimental studies suggest that Howard’s algorithm works extremely well in this context. The theoretical complexity of Howard’s algorithm for finding MMCCs is a mystery. No polynomial time bound is known on its running time. Prior to this work, there were only linear lower...

Implementation of the cost-optimal methodology according to the EPBD recast

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wittchen, Kim Bjarne; Thomsen, Kirsten Engelund

2012-01-01

The EPBD recast states that Member States (MS) must ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings are set “with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels”. The costoptimal level must be calculated in accordance with a comparative methodology.......The EPBD recast states that Member States (MS) must ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings are set “with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels”. The costoptimal level must be calculated in accordance with a comparative methodology....

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

Science.gov (United States)

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V. S.; Priezzhev, V. B.

2013-05-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r-ν log r with ν = (k2 - 1) / 2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k (1 + 1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν˜ =k2 / 2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems.

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorsky, A. [ITEP, B. Cheryomushkinskaya 25, 117218 Moscow (Russian Federation); Nechaev, S., E-mail: nechaev@lptms.u-psud.fr [LPTMS, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex (France); P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Poghosyan, V.S. [Institute for Informatics and Automation Problems NAS of Armenia, 375044 Yerevan (Armenia); Priezzhev, V.B. [Bogolubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation)

2013-05-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r{sup −ν}logr with ν=(k{sup 2}−1)/2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k(1+1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν{sup -tilde=}k{sup 2}/2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems.

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V.S.; Priezzhev, V.B.

2013-01-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r −ν logr with ν=(k 2 −1)/2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k(1+1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν -tilde= k 2 /2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems

The minimum attention plant inherent safety through LWR simplification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turk, R.S.; Matzie, R.A.

1987-01-01

The Minimum Attention Plant (MAP) is a unique small LWR that achieves greater inherent safety, improved operability, and reduced costs through design simplification. The MAP is a self-pressurized, indirect-cycle light water reactor with full natural circulation primary coolant flow and multiple once-through steam generators located within the reactor vessel. A fundamental tenent of the MAP design is its complete reliance on existing LWR technology. This reliance on conventional technology provides an extensive experience base which gives confidence in judging the safety and performance aspects of the design

75 FR 6151 - Minimum Capital

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-08

... capital and reserve requirements to be issued by order or regulation with respect to a product or activity... minimum capital requirements. Section 1362(a) establishes a minimum capital level for the Enterprises... entities required under this section.\\6\\ \\3\\ The Bank Act's current minimum capital requirements apply to...

A Pareto-Improving Minimum Wage

OpenAIRE

Eliav Danziger; Leif Danziger

2014-01-01

This paper shows that a graduated minimum wage, in contrast to a constant minimum wage, can provide a strict Pareto improvement over what can be achieved with an optimal income tax. The reason is that a graduated minimum wage requires high-productivity workers to work more to earn the same income as low-productivity workers, which makes it more difficult for the former to mimic the latter. In effect, a graduated minimum wage allows the low-productivity workers to benefit from second-degree pr...

Is the superior verbal memory span of Mandarin speakers due to faster rehearsal?

Science.gov (United States)

Mattys, Sven L; Baddeley, Alan; Trenkic, Danijela

2018-04-01

It is well established that digit span in native Chinese speakers is atypically high. This is commonly attributed to a capacity for more rapid subvocal rehearsal for that group. We explored this hypothesis by testing a group of English-speaking native Mandarin speakers on digit span and word span in both Mandarin and English, together with a measure of speed of articulation for each. When compared to the performance of native English speakers, the Mandarin group proved to be superior on both digit and word spans while predictably having lower spans in English. This suggests that the Mandarin advantage is not limited to digits. Speed of rehearsal correlated with span performance across materials. However, this correlation was more pronounced for English speakers than for any of the Chinese measures. Further analysis suggested that speed of rehearsal did not provide an adequate account of differences between Mandarin and English spans or for the advantage of digits over words. Possible alternative explanations are discussed.

Exploratory and problem-solving consumer behavior across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesser, J A; Kunkel, S R

1991-09-01

Different cognitive functioning, social, and personality changes appear to occur systematically during the adult life span. This article synthesizes research on life span changes in order to develop age-specific models of shopping behavior. The models are tested within a naturalistic field study of shoppers.

Life Span Extension and Neuronal Cell Protection by Drosophila Nicotinamidase*S⃞

OpenAIRE

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S.; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F. A.; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D. Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-01-01

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone ...

Individual differences in personality change across the adult life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwaba, Ted; Bleidorn, Wiebke

2018-06-01

A precise and comprehensive description of personality continuity and change across the life span is the bedrock upon which theories of personality development are built. Little research has quantified the degree to which individuals deviate from mean-level developmental trends. In this study, we addressed this gap by examining individual differences in personality trait change across the life span. Data came from a nationally representative sample of 9,636 Dutch participants who provided Big Five self-reports at five assessment waves across 7 years. We divided our sample into 14 age groups (ages 16-84 at initial measurement) and estimated latent growth curve models to describe individual differences in personality change across the study period for each trait and age group. Across the adult life span, individual differences in personality change were small but significant until old age. For Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, individual differences in change were most pronounced in emerging adulthood and decreased throughout midlife and old age. For Emotional Stability, individual differences in change were relatively consistent across the life span. These results inform theories of life span development and provide future directions for research on the causes and conditions of personality change. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Facilitating conditions for boundary-spanning behavior in governance networks

OpenAIRE

Meerkerk, Ingmar; Edelenbos, Jurian

2017-01-01

textabstractThis article examines the impact of two facilitating conditions for boundary-spanning behaviour in urban governance networks. While research on boundary spanning is growing, there is little attention for antecedents. Combining governance network literature on project management and organizational literature on facilitative and servant leadership, we examine two potential conditions: a facilitative project management style and executive support. We conducted survey research among p...

Minimum critical mass systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dam, H. van; Leege, P.F.A. de

1987-01-01

An analysis is presented of thermal systems with minimum critical mass, based on the use of materials with optimum neutron moderating and reflecting properties. The optimum fissile material distributions in the systems are obtained by calculations with standard computer codes, extended with a routine for flat fuel importance search. It is shown that in the minimum critical mass configuration a considerable part of the fuel is positioned in the reflector region. For 239 Pu a minimum critical mass of 87 g is found, which is the lowest value reported hitherto. (author)

How much should we weigh for a long and healthy life span?The need to reconcile caloric restriction versus longevity with body mass index versus mortality data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonello eLorenzini

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Total caloric restriction (CR without malnutrition is a well-established experimental approach to extend life span in laboratory animals. Although CR in humans is capable of shifting several endocrinological parameters it is not clear where the minimum inflection point of the U shaped curve linking body mass index (BMI with all-cause mortality lies. The exact trend of this curve, when used for planning preventive strategies for public health is of extreme importance. Normal BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9; many epidemiological studies show an inverse relationship between mortality and BMI inside the normal BMI range. Other studies show that the lowest mortality in the entire range of BMI is obtained in the overweight range (25 to 29.9. Reconciling the extension of life span in laboratory animals by experimental CR with the BMI-mortality curve of human epidemiology is not trivial. In fact, one interpretation is that the CR data are identifying a known: excess fat is deleterious for health; although a second interpretation may be that: additional leanness from a normal body weight may add health and life span delaying the process of aging. This short review hope to start a discussion aimed at finding the widest consensus on which weight range should be consider the healthiest for our species, contributing in this way to the picture of what is the correct life style for a long and healthy life span.

Minimal spanning trees, filaments and galaxy clustering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrow, J.D.; Sonoda, D.H.

1985-01-01

A graph theoretical technique for assessing intrinsic patterns in point data sets is described. A unique construction, the minimal spanning tree, can be associated with any point data set given all the inter-point separations. This construction enables the skeletal pattern of galaxy clustering to be singled out in quantitative fashion and differs from other statistics applied to these data sets. This technique is described and applied to two- and three-dimensional distributions of galaxies and also to comparable random samples and numerical simulations. The observed CfA and Zwicky data exhibit characteristic distributions of edge-lengths in their minimal spanning trees which are distinct from those found in random samples. (author)

Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Löckenhoff, Corinna E

2012-09-01

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen's Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.

Multi-objective optimization approach for cost management during product design at the conceptual phase

Science.gov (United States)

Durga Prasad, K. G.; Venkata Subbaiah, K.; Narayana Rao, K.

2014-03-01

The effective cost management during the conceptual design phase of a product is essential to develop a product with minimum cost and desired quality. The integration of the methodologies of quality function deployment (QFD), value engineering (VE) and target costing (TC) could be applied to the continuous improvement of any product during product development. To optimize customer satisfaction and total cost of a product, a mathematical model is established in this paper. This model integrates QFD, VE and TC under multi-objective optimization frame work. A case study on domestic refrigerator is presented to show the performance of the proposed model. Goal programming is adopted to attain the goals of maximum customer satisfaction and minimum cost of the product.

Developmental Regulation across the Life Span: Toward a New Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, Claudia M.; Heckhausen, Jutta; Wrosch, Carsten

2013-01-01

How can individuals regulate their own development to live happy, healthy, and productive lives? Major theories of developmental regulation across the life span have been proposed (e.g., dual-process model of assimilation and accommodation; motivational theory of life-span development; model of selection, optimization, and compensation), but they…

Cost and primary energy efficiency of small-scale district heating systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Truong, Nguyen Le; Gustavsson, Leif

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We analyzed minimum-cost options for small-scale DHSs under different contexts. • District heat production cost increases with reduced DHS scales. • Fewer technical options are suitable for small-scale DHSs. • Systems with combined technologies are less sensitive to changes in fuel prices. - Abstract: Efficient district heat production systems (DHSs) can contribute to achieving environmental targets and energy security for countries that have demands for space and water heating. The optimal options for a DHS vary with the environmental and social-political contexts and the scale of district heat production, which further depends on the size of the community served and the local climatic conditions. In this study, we design a small-scale, minimum-cost DHS that produces approximately 100 GWh heat per year and estimate the yearly production cost and primary energy use of this system. We consider conventional technologies, such as heat-only boilers, electric heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP) units, as well as emerging technologies, such as biomass-based organic Rankine cycle (BORC) and solar water heating (SWH). We explore how different environmental and social-political situations influence the design of a minimum-cost DHS and consider both proven and potential technologies for small-scale applications. Our calculations are based on the real heat load duration curve for a town in southern Sweden. We find that the district heat production cost increases and that the potential for cogeneration decreases with smaller district heat production systems. Although the selection of technologies for a minimum-cost DHS depends on environmental and social-political contexts, fewer technical options are suitable for small-scale systems. Emerging technologies such as CHP-BORC and SWH improve the efficiency of primary energy use for heat production, but these technologies are more costly than conventional heat-only boilers. However, systems with

5 CFR 551.301 - Minimum wage.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Minimum wage. 551.301 Section 551.301... FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Minimum Wage Provisions Basic Provision § 551.301 Minimum wage. (a)(1) Except... employees wages at rates not less than the minimum wage specified in section 6(a)(1) of the Act for all...

Increased Life Span due to Calorie Restriction in Respiratory-Deficient Yeast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2005-11-01

Full Text Available A model for replicative life span extension by calorie restriction (CR in yeast has been proposed whereby reduced glucose in the growth medium leads to activation of the NAD-dependent histone deacetylase Sir2. One mechanism proposed for this putative activation of Sir2 is that CR enhances the rate of respiration, in turn leading to altered levels of NAD or NADH, and ultimately resulting in enhanced Sir2 activity. An alternative mechanism has been proposed in which CR decreases levels of the Sir2 inhibitor nicotinamide through increased expression of the gene coding for nicotinamidase, PNC1. We have previously reported that life span extension by CR is not dependent on Sir2 in the long-lived BY4742 strain background. Here we have determined the requirement for respiration and the effect of nicotinamide levels on life span extension by CR. We find that CR confers robust life span extension in respiratory-deficient cells independent of strain background, and moreover, suppresses the premature mortality associated with loss of mitochondrial DNA in the short-lived PSY316 strain. Addition of nicotinamide to the medium dramatically shortens the life span of wild type cells, due to inhibition of Sir2. However, even in cells lacking both Sir2 and the replication fork block protein Fob1, nicotinamide partially prevents life span extension by CR. These findings (1 demonstrate that respiration is not required for the longevity benefits of CR in yeast, (2 show that nicotinamide inhibits life span extension by CR through a Sir2-independent mechanism, and (3 suggest that CR acts through a conserved, Sir2-independent mechanism in both PSY316 and BY4742.

Increased life span due to calorie restriction in respiratory-deficient yeast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matt Kaeberlein

2005-11-01

Full Text Available A model for replicative life span extension by calorie restriction (CR in yeast has been proposed whereby reduced glucose in the growth medium leads to activation of the NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase Sir2. One mechanism proposed for this putative activation of Sir2 is that CR enhances the rate of respiration, in turn leading to altered levels of NAD+ or NADH, and ultimately resulting in enhanced Sir2 activity. An alternative mechanism has been proposed in which CR decreases levels of the Sir2 inhibitor nicotinamide through increased expression of the gene coding for nicotinamidase, PNC1. We have previously reported that life span extension by CR is not dependent on Sir2 in the long-lived BY4742 strain background. Here we have determined the requirement for respiration and the effect of nicotinamide levels on life span extension by CR. We find that CR confers robust life span extension in respiratory-deficient cells independent of strain background, and moreover, suppresses the premature mortality associated with loss of mitochondrial DNA in the short-lived PSY316 strain. Addition of nicotinamide to the medium dramatically shortens the life span of wild type cells, due to inhibition of Sir2. However, even in cells lacking both Sir2 and the replication fork block protein Fob1, nicotinamide partially prevents life span extension by CR. These findings (1 demonstrate that respiration is not required for the longevity benefits of CR in yeast, (2 show that nicotinamide inhibits life span extension by CR through a Sir2-independent mechanism, and (3 suggest that CR acts through a conserved, Sir2-independent mechanism in both PSY316 and BY4742.

Analysis of Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards for Residential General Service Lighting in Chile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Letschert, Virginie E.; McNeil, Michael A.; Leiva Ibanez, Francisco Humberto; Ruiz, Ana Maria; Pavon, Mariana; Hall, Stephen

2011-06-01

Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS) have been chosen as part of Chile's national energy efficiency action plan. As a first MEPS, the Ministry of Energy has decided to focus on a regulation for lighting that would ban the sale of inefficient bulbs, effectively phasing out the use of incandescent lamps. Following major economies such as the US (EISA, 2007) , the EU (Ecodesign, 2009) and Australia (AS/NZS, 2008) who planned a phase out based on minimum efficacy requirements, the Ministry of Energy has undertaken the impact analysis of a MEPS on the residential lighting sector. Fundacion Chile (FC) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) collaborated with the Ministry of Energy and the National Energy Efficiency Program (Programa Pais de Eficiencia Energetica, or PPEE) in order to produce a techno-economic analysis of this future policy measure. LBNL has developed for CLASP (CLASP, 2007) a spreadsheet tool called the Policy Analysis Modeling System (PAMS) that allows for evaluation of costs and benefits at the consumer level but also a wide range of impacts at the national level, such as energy savings, net present value of savings, greenhouse gas (CO2) emission reductions and avoided capacity generation due to a specific policy. Because historically Chile has followed European schemes in energy efficiency programs (test procedures, labelling program definitions), we take the Ecodesign commission regulation No 244/2009 as a starting point when defining our phase out program, which means a tiered phase out based on minimum efficacy per lumen category. The following data were collected in order to perform the techno-economic analysis: (1) Retail prices, efficiency and wattage category in the current market, (2) Usage data (hours of lamp use per day), and (3) Stock data, penetration of efficient lamps in the market. Using these data, PAMS calculates the costs and benefits of efficiency standards from two distinct but related perspectives: (1) The

Boundary Spanning in Higher Education: How Universities Can Enable Success

Science.gov (United States)

Skolaski, Jennifer Pauline

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to better understand the identity and work of academic and extension staff who have boundary spanning responsibilities. The results will help universities, especially public land-grant universities with an outreach mission, to create stronger policies and systems to support boundary spanning staff members…

A pluggable service platform architecture for e-commercspan>e

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aulkemeier, Fabian; Paramartha, Mohammad Anggasta; Iacob, Maria Eugenia; van Hillegersberg, Jos

2016-01-01

In the beginning of the e-commercspan>e era, retailers mostly adopted vertically integrated solutions to control the entire e-commercspan>e value chain. However, they began to realize that to achieve agility, a better approach would be to focus on certain core capabilities and then create a partner ecosystem

Implications of e-commercspan>e for banking and finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heng, Michael S.H.

2001-01-01

The aim of the paper is to show that e-commercspan>e holds the potential totransform banking and financial systems. There are three aspects in which e-commercecan affect banking and finance. First, banks and financial firms can use thetechnology and business practice of e-commercspan>e to market their

Optimizing Teleportation Cost in Distributed Quantum Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Zomorodi-Moghadam, Mariam; Houshmand, Mahboobeh; Houshmand, Monireh

2018-03-01

The presented work provides a procedure for optimizing the communication cost of a distributed quantum circuit (DQC) in terms of the number of qubit teleportations. Because of technology limitations which do not allow large quantum computers to work as a single processing element, distributed quantum computation is an appropriate solution to overcome this difficulty. Previous studies have applied ad-hoc solutions to distribute a quantum system for special cases and applications. In this study, a general approach is proposed to optimize the number of teleportations for a DQC consisting of two spatially separated and long-distance quantum subsystems. To this end, different configurations of locations for executing gates whose qubits are in distinct subsystems are considered and for each of these configurations, the proposed algorithm is run to find the minimum number of required teleportations. Finally, the configuration which leads to the minimum number of teleportations is reported. The proposed method can be used as an automated procedure to find the configuration with the optimal communication cost for the DQC. This cost can be used as a basic measure of the communication cost for future works in the distributed quantum circuits.

20 CFR 225.43 - PIA's subject to cost-of-living increases.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false PIA's subject to cost-of-living increases... RETIREMENT ACT PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNT DETERMINATIONS Cost-of-Living Increases § 225.43 PIA's subject to cost-of-living increases. The Retirement Tier I, Overall Minimum, Survivor Tier I, Employee RIB and RLS...

The Role of Covert Retrieval in Working Memory Span Tasks: Evidence from Delayed Recall Tests

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, David P.

2008-01-01

The current study examined delayed recall of items that had been processed during simple and complex span tasks. Three experiments were reported showing that despite more items being recalled initially from a simple span task (i.e., word span) than a complex span task (i.e., operation span), on a delayed recall test more items were recalled that…

Paternal smoking habits affect the reproductive life span of daughters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fukuda, Misao; Fukuda, Kiyomi; Shimizu, Takashi

2011-01-01

The present study assessed whether the smoking habits of fathers around the time of conception affected the period in which daughters experienced menstrual cycles (i.e., the reproductive life span). The study revealed that the smoking habits of the farther shortened the daughters' reproductive life...... span compared with daughters whose fathers did not smoke....

On the number of spanning trees in random regular graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greenhill, Catherine; Kwan, Matthew; Wind, David Kofoed

2014-01-01

Let d >= 3 be a fixed integer. We give an asympotic formula for the expected number of spanning trees in a uniformly random d-regular graph with n vertices. (The asymptotics are as n -> infinity, restricted to even n if d is odd.) We also obtain the asymptotic distribution of the number of spanning...

Coupling a Federal Minimum Wage Hike with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Romich

2018-02-01

Full Text Available For more than a century, advocates have promoted minimum wage laws to protect workers and their families from poverty. Opponents counter that the policy has, at best, small poverty-reducing effects. We summarize the evidence and describe three factors that might dampen the policy’s effects on poverty: imperfect targeting, heterogeneous labor market effects, and interactions with income support programs. To boost the poverty-reducing effects of the minimum wage, we propose increasing the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour and temporarily expanding an existing employer tax credit. This is a cost-saving proposal because it relies on regulation and creates no new administrative functions. We recommend using those savings to “make work pay” and improve upward mobility for low-income workers through lower marginal tax rates.

Time-varying span efficiency through the wingbeat of desert locusts.

Science.gov (United States)

Henningsson, Per; Bomphrey, Richard J

2012-06-07

The flight performance of animals depends greatly on the efficacy with which they generate aerodynamic forces. Accordingly, maximum range, load-lifting capacity and peak accelerations during manoeuvres are all constrained by the efficiency of momentum transfer to the wake. Here, we use high-speed particle image velocimetry (1 kHz) to record flow velocities in the near wake of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria, Forskål). We use the measured flow fields to calculate time-varying span efficiency throughout the wing stroke cycle. The locusts are found to operate at a maximum span efficiency of 79 per cent, typically at a plateau of about 60 per cent for the majority of the downstroke, but at lower values during the upstroke. Moreover, the calculated span efficiencies are highest when the largest lift forces are being generated (90% of the total lift is generated during the plateau of span efficiency) suggesting that the combination of wing kinematics and morphology in locust flight perform most efficiently when doing the most work.

Life Span Extension and Neuronal Cell Protection by Drosophila Nicotinamidase*S⃞

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S.; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F. A.; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D. Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-01-01

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone deacetylases. In Caenorhabditis elegans, knockdown of a pnc1 homolog was shown recently to shorten the worm life span, whereas its overexpression increased survival under conditions of oxidative stress. The function and regulation of nicotinamidases in higher organisms has not been determined. Here, we report the identification and biochemical characterization of the Drosophila nicotinamidase, D-NAAM, and demonstrate that its overexpression significantly increases median and maximal fly life span. The life span extension was reversed in Sir2 mutant flies, suggesting Sir2 dependence. Testing for physiological effectors of D-NAAM in Drosophila S2 cells, we identified oxidative stress as a primary regulator, both at the transcription level and protein activity. In contrast to the yeast model, stress factors such as high osmolarity and heat shock, calorie restriction, or inhibitors of TOR and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways do not appear to regulate D-NAAM in S2 cells. Interestingly, the expression of D-NAAM in human neuronal cells conferred protection from oxidative stress-induced cell death in a sirtuin-dependent manner. Together, our findings establish a life span extending the ability of nicotinamidase in flies and offer a role for nicotinamide-modulating genes in oxidative stress regulated pathways influencing longevity and neuronal cell survival. PMID:18678867

Reliability and validity of Web-SPAN, a web-based method for assessing weight status, diet and physical activity in youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Storey, K E; McCargar, L J

2012-02-01

Web-based surveys are becoming increasing popular. The present study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition (Web-SPAN) for self-report of height and weight, diet and physical activity by youth. School children aged 11-15years (grades 7-9; n=459) participated in the school-based research (boys, n=225; girls, n=233; mean age, 12.8years). Students completed Web-SPAN (self-administered) twice and participated in on-site school assessments [height, weight, 3-day food/pedometer record, Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C), shuttle run]. Intraclass (ICC) and Pearson's correlation coefficients and paired samples t-tests were used to assess the test-retest reliability of Web-SPAN and to compare Web-SPAN with the on-site assessments. Test-retest reliability for height (ICC=0.90), weight (ICC=0.98) and the PAQ-C (ICC=0.79) were highly correlated, whereas correlations for nutrients were not as strong (ICC=0.37-0.64). There were no differences between Web-SPAN times 1 and 2 for height and weight, although there were differences for the PAQ-C and most nutrients. Web-SPAN was strongly correlated with the on-site assessments, including height (ICC=0.88), weight (ICC=0.93) and the PAQ-C (ICC=0.70). Mean differences for height and the PAQ-C were not significant, whereas mean differences for weight were significant resulting in an underestimation of being overweight/obesity prevalence (84% agreement). Correlations for nutrients were in the range 0.24-0.40; mean differences were small but generally significantly different. Correlations were weak between the web-based PAQ-C and 3-day pedometer record (r=0.28) and 20-m shuttle run (r=0.28). Web-SPAN is a time- and cost-effective method that can be used to assess the diet and physical activity status of youth in large cross-sectional studies and to assess group trends (weight status). © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2011 The

SPAN: A Network Providing Integrated, End-to-End, Sensor-to-Database Solutions for Environmental Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Benzel, T.; Cho, Y. H.; Deschon, A.; Gullapalli, S.; Silva, F.

2009-12-01

In recent years, advances in sensor network technology have shown great promise to revolutionize environmental data collection. Still, wide spread adoption of these systems by domain experts has been lacking, and these have remained the purview of the engineers who design them. While there are many data logging options for basic data collection in the field currently, scientists are often required to visit the deployment sites to retrieve their data and manually import it into spreadsheets. Some advanced commercial software systems do allow scientists to collect data remotely, but most of these systems only allow point-to-point access, and require proprietary hardware. Furthermore, these commercial solutions preclude the use of sensors from other manufacturers or integration with internet based database repositories and compute engines. Therefore, scientists often must download and manually reformat their data before uploading it to the repositories if they wish to share their data. We present an open-source, low-cost, extensible, turnkey solution called Sensor Processing and Acquisition Network (SPAN) which provides a robust and flexible sensor network service. At the deployment site, SPAN leverages low-power generic embedded processors to integrate variety of commercially available sensor hardware to the network of environmental observation systems. By bringing intelligence close to the sensed phenomena, we can remotely control configuration and re-use, establish rules to trigger sensor activity, manage power requirements, and control the two-way flow of sensed data as well as control information to the sensors. Key features of our design include (1) adoption of a hardware agnostic architecture: our solutions are compatible with several programmable platforms, sensor systems, communication devices and protocols. (2) information standardization: our system supports several popular communication protocols and data formats, and (3) extensible data support: our

Spanning the Home/Work Creative Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Lee N.; Davis, Jerome; Hoisl, Karin

the employee brings to work. Based on Woodman et al.’s (1993) “interactionist perspective” on organizational creativity, supplemented by literature on search and knowledge re/combination, we explore whether and how leisure time activities can span the creative space between the employee’s home and workplace...

Life-Cycle Monitoring of Long-Span PSC Box Girder Bridges through Distributed Sensor Network: Strategies, Methods, and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheheng Chen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Structural health monitoring (SHM has attracted much attention in recent years, which enables early warnings of structural failure, condition assessments, and rational maintenance/repair strategies. In the context of bridges, many long-span steel bridges in China have been installed with the SHM systems; however, the applications of the SHM in prestressed concrete (PSC bridges are still rather limited. On the other hand, the PSC box girder bridges are extensively used in highway and railway systems and premature damage of these bridges is often reported, resulting in considerable maintenance and/or replacement costs. First, this paper presents a state-of-art review on the SHM of long-span PSC bridges. Monitoring strategies, methods, and previous applications for these bridges are summarized and discussed. In order to well capture the behavior of the bridge during its whole life and to maximize the use of sensors, a life-cycle monitoring strategy is proposed, in which the sensor layout is determined according to requirements for construction monitoring, completion test, and in-service monitoring. A case study is made on a three-span PSC box girder bridge in China. The system configuration, sensor layout, and data communications, and so forth, are presented. The up-to-date monitored structural responses are analyzed and compared with the design values.

Optimization of administrative management costs

OpenAIRE

Podolchak, N.; Chepil, B.

2015-01-01

It is important to determine the optimal level of administrative costs in order to achieve main targets of any enterprise, to perform definite tasks, to implement these tasks and not to worsen condition and motivation of the workers. Also it is essential to remember about strategic goals in the area of HR on the long run. The refore, the main idea in using optimization model for assessing the effectiveness of management costs will be to find the minimum level of expenses within the given l...

Dynamic modeling of cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination, Kazakhstan.

Science.gov (United States)

Freiesleben de Blasio, Birgitte; Flem, Elmira; Latipov, Renat; Kuatbaeva, Ajnagul; Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø

2014-01-01

The government of Kazakhstan, a middle-income country in Central Asia, is considering the introduction of rotavirus vaccination into its national immunization program. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis of rotavirus vaccination spanning 20 years by using a synthesis of dynamic transmission models accounting for herd protection. We found that a vaccination program with 90% coverage would prevent ≈880 rotavirus deaths and save an average of 54,784 life-years for children vaccine cost at vaccination program costs would be entirely offset. To further evaluate efficacy of a vaccine program, benefits of indirect protection conferred by vaccination warrant further study.

Emotional Egocentricity Bias across the life-span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federica eRiva

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In our daily lives, we often have to quickly estimate the emotions of our conspecifics in order to have successful social interactions. While this estimation process seems quite easy when we are ourselves in a neutral or equivalent emotional state, it has recently been shown that in case of incongruent emotional states between ourselves and the others, our judgments can be biased. This phenomenon, introduced to the literature with the term Emotional Egocentricity Bias (EEB, has been found to occur in young adults and, to a greater extent, in children. However, how EEB changes across the life-span from adolescence to old age has been largely unexplored. In this study, we recruited 114 female participants subdivided in four cohorts (adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, older adults to examine EEB age-related changes. Participants were administered with a paradigm which, by making use of visuo-tactile stimulation that elicits conflicting feelings in paired participants, allows the valid and reliable exploration of EEB. Results highlighted a U-shaped relation between age and EEB, revealing higher emotional egocentricity in adolescents and older adults compared to young and middle-aged adults. These results are in line with the neuroscientific literature which has recently shown that overcoming EEB is associated with a greater activation of a portion of the parietal lobe, namely the right Supramarginal Gyrus (rSMG. This is an area that reaches full maturation only by the end of adolescence, and displays an early decay in older age. Thus, the age-related changes of the EEB could be possibly due to the life-span development of the rSMG. This study is the first one to show the quadratic relation between age and the EEB and set a milestone for further research exploring the neural correlates of the life-span development of the EEB. Future studies are needed in order to generalize these results to the male population and to explore gender

What is the Minimum EROI that a Sustainable Society Must Have?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J.R. Murphy

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Economic production and, more generally, most global societies, are overwhelmingly dependant upon depleting supplies of fossil fuels. There is considerable concern amongst resource scientists, if not most economists, as to whether market signals or cost benefit analysis based on today’s prices are sufficient to guide our decisions about our energy future. These suspicions and concerns were escalated during the oil price increase from 2005 – 2008 and the subsequent but probably related market collapse of 2008. We believe that Energy Return On Investment (EROI analysis provides a useful approach for examining disadvantages and advantages of different fuels and also offers the possibility to look into the future in ways that markets seem unable to do. The goal of this paper is to review the application of EROI theory to both natural and economic realms, and to assess preliminarily the minimum EROI that a society must attain from its energy exploitation to support continued economic activity and social function. In doing so we calculate herein a basic first attempt at the minimum EROI for current society and some of the consequences when that minimum is approached. The theory of the minimum EROI discussed here, which describes the somewhat obvious but nonetheless important idea that for any being or system to survive or grow it must gain substantially more energy than it uses in obtaining that energy, may be especially important. Thus any particular being or system must abide by a “Law of Minimum EROI”, which we calculate for both oil and corn-based ethanol as about 3:1 at the mine-mouth/farm-gate. Since most biofuels have EROI’s of less than 3:1 they must be subsidized by fossil fuels to be useful.

Interorganizational Boundary Spanning in Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søderberg, Anne-Marie; Romani, Laurence

, and which skills and competencies they draw on in their efforts to deal with emerging cross-cultural issues in a way that paves ground for developing a shared understanding and common platform for the client and vendor representatives. A framework of boundary spanning leadership practices is adapted...... to virtuality and cultural diversity. This paper, which draws on a case study of collaborative work in a global software development project, focuses on key boundary spanners in an Indian vendor company, who are responsible for developing trustful and sustainable client relations and coordinating complex...... projects across multiple cultures, languages, organisational boundaries, time zones and geographical distances. It looks into how these vendor managers get prepared for their complex boundary spanning work, which cross-cultural challenges they experience in their collaboration with Western clients...

Uncertainty in relative cost investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunn, D.; Viahos, K.

1989-01-01

One of the consequences of the privatization of the Central Electricity Generating Board has been a weakening of the economic case for nuclear generation over coal. Nuclear has higher capital, but lower operating costs than coal and is therefore favoured in capital budgeting by discounting at lower rates of return. In the Sizewell case (in 1987), discounting at the public sector rate of 5 per cent favoured nuclear. However, the private sector will require higher rates of return, thus rendering nuclear less attractive. Hence the imposition by the government of a diversity constraint on the privatized industry to ensure that contracts are made for a minimum fraction of non-fossil (essentially nuclear) energy. An electricity capacity planning model was developed to estimate the costs of imposing various non-fossil energy constraints on the planning decision of a privatized electricity supply industry, as a function of various discount rates. Using a large-scale linear programming technique, the model optimizes over a 50 year horizon the schedule of installation, and mix of generating capacity, both with and without a minimum non-fossil constraint. The conclusion is that the opportunity cost of diversity may be a complex joint substation of more than one type of plant (eg coal and gas) depending on the discount rate. (author)

The Steiner ratio for points on a triangular lattice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PO de Wet

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The study of spanning trees and Steiner trees arises naturally in applications, such as in the design of integrated circuit boards, communication networks, power networks and pipelines of minimum cost. In such applications the Steiner ratio is an indication of how badly a minimum spanning tree performs compared to a Steiner minimal tree. In this paper a short proof is presented for the Steiner ratio for points on a triangular lattice in the Euclidean plane. A Steiner tree in two dimensions is "lifted" to become a rectilinear tree in three dimensions, where it is altered. The rectilinear tree is then projected back into the plane and the result readily follows. A short note at the end of the paper compares our three-dimensional rectilinear trees to "impossible objects" such as Escher's "Waterfall."

[Will inpatient care still be financeable? Effects of the minimum wage to operators].

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Dirk

2010-11-01

Due to demographic and social developments nursing service will continueto be a growth industry in the long run. The requirement for this is the political volition of a sufficient funding. A minimum wage in nursing service tends to increase prices of the offered services. Stated justifications for a minimum wage are wage dumping protection (inter alia against the background of the upcoming opening of the single market in 2011) as well as raising rivals' costs. Protection is focused on the 266,000 non-skilled workers in basic care owing to the strong tightening of the labour market for caregivers. Operative minimum wages will lead to adjustments by optimising operations, intensification of work, and rationalisation of workflow by increased employment of capital as well as technical substitution of relatively expensive non-skilled workers. In addition there will be increased pressure on prices for nursing services and private co-payments. There will be an increased supply and demand for illegal services. Suppliers who had been tied to collective contracts so far will achieve a relative advantage in competition.

Estimation of Height from Arm Span in 6-11 Years Children in Odisha, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snigdha Prava Mishra

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Standing height is an important anthropometric parameter to track longitudinal growth, to estimate body fatness and to calculate energy requirement. Measurement of height may be difficult in children who cannot stand. Aim: To establish regression equation for estimation of height from arm span in children. To check comparative relevancy of this equation with fixed height-to-arm span ratio (HAR for estimation of height. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 6-11 years school children (n=1465, Boys=774, Girls=691 in state of Odisha, India. Height was measured by portable stadiometer and arm span was measured by fiberglass measuring tape to nearest 0.1 cm. Pearson correlation and regression analysis was carried out between height and arm span data. p<0.05 (two tail was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean height and arm span in boys (124.16±8.74 cm and 125.57±10.43 cm respectively was significantly more (p<0.001 than height and arm span in girls (121.18±10.37 cm and 121.50±11.68 cm respectively. Mean HAR was 0.9942±0.0279. Correlation between height and arm span in boys was r = 0.94 (p<0.001 and in girls was r = 0.96 (p<0.001. Overall correlation coefficient was r = 0.95 (p<0.001. Regression equation for estimation of height from arm span was established: Height (cm = 0.8192 * arm span (cm + 21.46. Conclusion: Height in children of 6-11 years showed strong positive correlation with arm span. Regression equation established from this study can be used to estimate height from arm span. This estimation is more reliable than estimation of height from HAR.

Minimum income protection in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Peijpe, T.

2009-01-01

This article offers an overview of the Dutch legal system of minimum income protection through collective bargaining, social security, and statutory minimum wages. In addition to collective agreements, the Dutch statutory minimum wage offers income protection to a small number of workers. Its

Chapter 17. Engineering cost analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Higbee, Charles V.

1998-01-01

In the early 1970s, life cycle costing (LCC) was adopted by the federal government. LCC is a method of evaluating all the costs associated with acquisition, construction and operation of a project. LCC was designed to minimize costs of major projects, not only in consideration of acquisition and construction, but especially to emphasize the reduction of operation and maintenance costs during the project life. Authors of engineering economics texts have been very reluctant and painfully slow to explain and deal with LCC. Many authors devote less than one page to the subject. The reason for this is that LCC has several major drawbacks. The first of these is that costs over the life of the project must be estimated based on some forecast, and forecasts have proven to be highly variable and frequently inaccurate. The second problem with LCC is that some life span must be selected over which to evaluate the project, and many projects, especially renewable energy projects, are expected to have an unlimited life (they are expected to live for ever). The longer the life cycle, the more inaccurate annual costs become because of the inability to forecast accurately.

The Influence of Dietary Fat Source on Life Span in Calorie Restricted Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Domínguez, José A; Ramsey, Jon J; Tran, Dianna; Imai, Denise M; Koehne, Amanda; Laing, Steven T; Griffey, Stephen M; Kim, Kyoungmi; Taylor, Sandra L; Hagopian, Kevork; Villalba, José M; López-Lluch, Guillermo; Navas, Plácido; McDonald, Roger B

2015-10-01

Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition extends life span in several animal models. It has been proposed that a decrease in the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and especially n-3 fatty acids, in membrane phospholipids may contribute to life span extension with CR. Phospholipid PUFAs are sensitive to dietary fatty acid composition, and thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of dietary lipids on life span in CR mice. C57BL/6J mice were assigned to four groups (a 5% CR control group and three 40% CR groups) and fed diets with soybean oil (high in n-6 PUFAs), fish oil (high in n-3 PUFAs), or lard (high in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids) as the primary lipid source. Life span was increased (p Life span was also increased (p life span in mice on CR, and suggest that a diet containing a low proportion of PUFAs and high proportion of monounsaturated and saturated fats may maximize life span in animals maintained on CR. © 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.

The Preventive Control of a Dengue Disease Using Pontryagin Minimum Principal

Science.gov (United States)

Ratna Sari, Eminugroho; Insani, Nur; Lestari, Dwi

2017-06-01

Behaviour analysis for host-vector model without control of dengue disease is based on the value of basic reproduction number obtained using next generation matrices. Furthermore, the model is further developed involving a preventive control to minimize the contact between host and vector. The purpose is to obtain an optimal preventive strategy with minimal cost. The Pontryagin Minimum Principal is used to find the optimal control analytically. The derived optimality model is then solved numerically to investigate control effort to reduce infected class.

The relationship between short-term memory and working memory: complex span made simple?

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M; Jarrold, Christopher; Baddeley, Alan D; Gunn, Deborah M

2005-01-01

This experiment addresses the question of what makes a working memory measure a good predictor of higher-level abilities. Verbal and visuospatial processing episodes were interleaved with distinct verbal and visuospatial storage episodes to form four complex span tasks. Although these measures were reliable predictors of reading and mathematics ability in children, they were no more predictive of these abilities than corresponding simple span tasks involving storage alone. However, when individual differences in storage ability and processing capacity were controlled for, residual variance in complex span performance was related to academic ability in some cases. These findings indicate that complex span tasks are multiply determined, and that differences in task structure can dramatically influence the relative importance of these multiple constraints and the predictive power of a complex span measure.

Finding Minimum-Power Broadcast Trees for Wireless Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Arabshahi, Payman; Gray, Andrew; Das, Arindam; El-Sharkawi, Mohamed; Marks, Robert, II

2004-01-01

Some algorithms have been devised for use in a method of constructing tree graphs that represent connections among the nodes of a wireless communication network. These algorithms provide for determining the viability of any given candidate connection tree and for generating an initial set of viable trees that can be used in any of a variety of search algorithms (e.g., a genetic algorithm) to find a tree that enables the network to broadcast from a source node to all other nodes while consuming the minimum amount of total power. The method yields solutions better than those of a prior algorithm known as the broadcast incremental power algorithm, albeit at a slightly greater computational cost.

Cost and Potential of Monolithic CIGS Photovoltaic Modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horowitz, Kelsey; Woodhouse, Michael

2015-06-17

A bottom-up cost analysis of monolithic, glass-glass Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) modules is presented, illuminating current cost drivers for this technology and possible pathways to reduced cost. At 14% module efficiency, for the case of U.S. manufacturing, a manufacturing cost of $0.56/WDC and a minimum sustainable price of $0.72/WDC were calculated. Potential for reduction in manufacturing costs to below $0.40/WDC in the long-term may be possible if module efficiency can be increased without significant increase in $/m2 costs. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in Phoenix, AZ under different conditions is assessed and compared to standard c-Si.

Robustness of mission plans for unmanned aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Niendorf, Moritz

This thesis studies the robustness of optimal mission plans for unmanned aircraft. Mission planning typically involves tactical planning and path planning. Tactical planning refers to task scheduling and in multi aircraft scenarios also includes establishing a communication topology. Path planning refers to computing a feasible and collision-free trajectory. For a prototypical mission planning problem, the traveling salesman problem on a weighted graph, the robustness of an optimal tour is analyzed with respect to changes to the edge costs. Specifically, the stability region of an optimal tour is obtained, i.e., the set of all edge cost perturbations for which that tour is optimal. The exact stability region of solutions to variants of the traveling salesman problems is obtained from a linear programming relaxation of an auxiliary problem. Edge cost tolerances and edge criticalities are derived from the stability region. For Euclidean traveling salesman problems, robustness with respect to perturbations to vertex locations is considered and safe radii and vertex criticalities are introduced. For weighted-sum multi-objective problems, stability regions with respect to changes in the objectives, weights, and simultaneous changes are given. Most critical weight perturbations are derived. Computing exact stability regions is intractable for large instances. Therefore, tractable approximations are desirable. The stability region of solutions to relaxations of the traveling salesman problem give under approximations and sets of tours give over approximations. The application of these results to the two-neighborhood and the minimum 1-tree relaxation are discussed. Bounds on edge cost tolerances and approximate criticalities are obtainable likewise. A minimum spanning tree is an optimal communication topology for minimizing the cumulative transmission power in multi aircraft missions. The stability region of a minimum spanning tree is given and tolerances, stability balls

Low cost valves motorization using micro controller; Motorizacion de valvulas de bajo coste mediante microcontrolador

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menendez, A.; Leal, M. A.; Dominguez Ademe, G.; Yaglian, E.

2004-07-01

This article describes a new solution for valves motorization with the objective to obtain a minimum cost and a minimum size. With it, it is proposed to facilitate the complex applications of automation in the hydraulic sector, with multiple volume and pressure controls, like the one made on Integrated Digital Control of Desalting Water Plants. The design presented here consists basically of an original mechanical connection that allows to use standard market valves and moto-gearboxes and a simplified electronic controller based on a micro controller with an elaborated software that allows to control the mother either in ON/Off (open/close) applications or in incremental applications of Regulation. (Author)

The visual attention span deficit in dyslexia is visual and not verbal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lobier, Muriel; Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Valdois, Sylviane

2012-06-01

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis of dyslexia posits that letter string deficits are a consequence of impaired visual processing. Alternatively, some have interpreted this deficit as resulting from a visual-to-phonology code mapping impairment. This study aims to disambiguate between the two interpretations by investigating performance in a non-verbal character string visual categorization task with verbal and non-verbal stimuli. Results show that VA span ability predicts performance for the non-verbal visual processing task in normal reading children. Furthermore, VA span impaired dyslexic children are also impaired for the categorization task independently of stimuli type. This supports the hypothesis that the underlying impairment responsible for the VA span deficit is visual, not verbal. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

The effects of age on processing and storage in working memory span tasks and reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Paul J

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Declines in verbal working memory span task performance have been associated with deficits in the language processing abilities of healthy older adults, but it is unclear how storage and processing contribute to this relationship. Moreover, recent studies of the psychometric properties of span measures in the general cognitive literature highlight the need for a critical reassessment of age-related differences in working memory task performance. Forty-two young (Mage = 19.45 years) and 42 older participants (Mage = 73.00 years) completed a series of neuropsychological screening measures, four memory span tasks (one-syllable word span, three-syllable word span, reading span, and sentence span), and a measure of reading comprehension. Each span measure was completed under self-paced and timed encoding conditions. A 2 (age) × 2 (task type) × 2 (encoding conditions) mixed-model design was used. (1) Age effects were reliable for both simple and complex span task performance; (2) limiting the available encoding time yielded lower recall scores across tasks and exacerbated age differences in simple span performance; and (3) both encoding condition and age affected the relationship between each of the span measures and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Declines in both storage and processing abilities contributed to age differences in span task performance and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Although older people appear to benefit from task administration protocols that promote successful memory encoding, researchers should be aware of the potential risks to validity posed by such accommodations.

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

McClelland, Megan M.; Acock, Alan C.; Piccinin, Andrea; Rhea, Sally Ann; Stallings, Michael C.

2013-01-01

This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence…

Tracking the trajectory of shame, guilt, and pride across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Ulrich; Robins, Richard W; Soto, Christopher J

2010-12-01

The authors examined age differences in shame, guilt, and 2 forms of pride (authentic and hubristic) from age 13 years to age 89 years, using cross-sectional data from 2,611 individuals. Shame decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a nadir around age 50 years, and then increased in old age. Guilt increased from adolescence into old age, reaching a plateau at about age 70 years. Authentic pride increased from adolescence into old age, whereas hubristic pride decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a minimum around age 65 years, and then increased in old age. On average, women reported experiencing more shame and guilt; Blacks reported experiencing less shame and Asians more hubristic pride than other ethnicities. Across the life span, shame and hubristic pride tended to be negatively related to psychological well-being, and shame-free guilt and authentic pride showed positive relations with well-being. Overall, the findings support the maturity principle of personality development and suggest that as people age they become more prone to experiencing psychologically adaptive self-conscious emotions, such as guilt and authentic pride, and less prone to experiencing psychologically maladaptive ones, such as shame and hubristic pride. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Cost and code study of underground building: a report to the Minnesota Energy Agency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sterling, R L

1979-11-01

The rapidly intensifying interest in the possible energy savings and environmental and land-use benefits associated with underground buildings has led increasing numbers of people to question restrictions that existing building codes place on underground construction and to make cost comparisons between underground structures and more-conventional buildings. Information in this report on earth-sheltered houses covers public policy issues (building code restrictions, taxation, insurance) and residential construction costs (cost breakdowns, general factors affecting costs, and life-cycle costs). The report also deals with regulatory and insurance issues (building codes, fire protection, insurance provisions) and construction costs for large underground buildings. The report recommends that: (1) the Minnesota Energy Agency consult with the Building Code Division of the Department of Administration on HUD Minimum Property Standards to examine the possibility of modifying several building-code requirements that affect earth-sheltered housing design; (2) HUD Minimum Property Standards be brought into line with the major building codes on the question of optional mechanical ventilation in houses; (3) model ordinances concerning setbacks, basement house provisions, and minimum square footage provisions to be drafted; (4) legal questions concerning the separation of ownership of the surface from that subsurface space be resolved; (5) questions concerning taxation of mined space be resolved; and (6) a life-cost inventory of underground residences and buildings in Minnesota be compiled.

Optimization of solar cell contacts by system cost-per-watt minimization

Science.gov (United States)

Redfield, D.

1977-01-01

New, and considerably altered, optimum dimensions for solar-cell metallization patterns are found using the recently developed procedure whose optimization criterion is the minimum cost-per-watt effect on the entire photovoltaic system. It is also found that the optimum shadow fraction by the fine grid is independent of metal cost and resistivity as well as cell size. The optimum thickness of the fine grid metal depends on all these factors, and in familiar cases it should be appreciably greater than that found by less complete analyses. The optimum bus bar thickness is much greater than those generally used. The cost-per-watt penalty due to the need for increased amounts of metal per unit area on larger cells is determined quantitatively and thereby provides a criterion for the minimum benefits that must be obtained in other process steps to make larger cells cost effective.

Spanning k-ended trees of 3-regular connected graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamed Ghasemian Zoeram

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A vertex of degree one is called an end-vertex and the set of end-vertices of G is denoted by End(G. For a positive integer k, a tree T be called k-ended tree if $|End(T| \\leq k$. In this paper, we obtain sufficient conditions for spanning k-trees of 3-regular connected graphs. We give a construction sequence of graphs satisfying the condition. At the end, we present a conjecture about spanning k-ended trees of 3-regular connected graphs.

25 CFR 47.9 - What are the minimum requirements for the local educational financial plan?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... EDUCATION UNIFORM DIRECT FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR BUREAU-OPERATED SCHOOLS § 47.9 What are the minimum..., including each program funded through the Indian School Equalization Program; (2) A budget showing the costs...) Certification by the chairman of the school board that the plan has been ratified in an action of record by the...

Investigating the minimum achievable variance in a Monte Carlo criticality calculation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christoforou, Stavros; Eduard Hoogenboom, J. [Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands)

2008-07-01

The sources of variance in a Monte Carlo criticality calculation are identified and their contributions analyzed. A zero-variance configuration is initially simulated using analytically calculated adjoint functions for biasing. From there, the various sources are analyzed. It is shown that the minimum threshold comes from the fact that the fission source is approximated. In addition, the merits of a simple variance reduction method, such as implicit capture, are shown when compared to an analog simulation. Finally, it is shown that when non-exact adjoint functions are used for biasing, the variance reduction is rather insensitive to the quality of the adjoints, suggesting that the generation of the adjoints should have as low CPU cost as possible, in order to o et the CPU cost in the implementation of the biasing of a simulation. (authors)

Structure-borne low-frequency noise from multi-span bridges: A prediction method and spatial distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Song, X. D.; Wu, D. J.; Li, Q.; Botteldooren, D.

2016-04-01

Structure-borne noise from railway bridges at far-field points is an important indicator in environmental noise assessment. However, studies that predict structure-borne noise tend to model only single-span bridges, thus ignoring the sound pressure radiating from adjacent spans. To simulate the noise radiating from multi-span bridges induced by moving vehicles, the vibrations of a multi-span bridge are first obtained from a three-dimensional (3D) vehicle-track-bridge dynamic interaction simulation using the mode superposition method. A procedure based on the 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) boundary element method (BEM) is then presented to promote the efficiency of acoustical computation compared with the 3D BEM. The simulated results obtained from both the single-span and multi-span bridge models are compared with the measured results. The sound predictions calculated from the single-span model are accurate only for a minority of near-field points. In contrast, the sound pressures calculated from the multi-span bridge model match the measured results in both the time and frequency domains for all of the near-field and far-field points. The number of bridge spans required in the noise simulation is then recommended related to the distance between the track center and the field points of interest. The spatial distribution of multi-span structure-borne noise is also studied. The variation in sound pressure levels is insignificant along the length of the bridge, which validates the finding that the sound test section can be selected at an arbitrary plane perpendicular to the multi-span bridge.

process setting models for the minimization of costs defectives

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr Obe

determine the mean setting so as to minimise the total loss through under-limit complaints and loss of sales and goodwill as well as over-limit losses through excess materials and rework costs. Models are developed for the two types of setting of the mean so that the minimum costs of losses are achieved. Also, a model is ...

The effects of repeat testing, malingering, and traumatic brain injury on visuospatial memory span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L Woods

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Spatial span tests such as the Corsi Block Test (CBT and the spatial span test of the Wechsler Memory Scale are widely used to assess deficits in spatial working memory. We conducted three experiments to evaluate the test-retest reliability and clinical sensitivity of a new computerized spatial span test (C-SST that incorporates psychophysical methods to improve the precision of spatial span measurement. In Experiment 1, we analyzed C-SST test-retest reliability in 49 participants who underwent three test sessions at weekly intervals. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC were higher for a psychophysically derived mean span (MnS metric (0.83 than for the maximal span and total correct metrics used in traditional spatial-span tests. Response times (ReTs also showed high ICCs (0.93 that correlated negatively with MnS scores and correlated positively with response-time latencies from other tests of processing speed. Learning effects were insignificant. Experiment 2 examined the performance of Experiment 1 participants when instructed to feign symptoms of traumatic brain injury: 57% showed abnormal MnS z-scores. A MnS z-score cutoff of 3.0 correctly classified 36% of simulated malingerers and 91% of the subgroup of 11 control participants with abnormal spans. Malingerers also made more substitution errors than control participants with abnormal spans (sensitivity = 43%, specificity = 91%. In addition, malingerers showed no evidence of ReT slowing, in contrast to significant abnormalities seen on other malingered tests of processing speed. As a result, differences between ReT z-scores and z-scores on other processing speed tests showed very high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing malingering and control participants with either normal or abnormal spans. Experiment 3 examined C-SST performance in a group of patients with predominantly mild traumatic brain injury (TBI: neither MnS nor ReT z-scores showed significant group

A Virtual Tool for Minimum Cost Design of a Wind Turbine Tower with Ring Stiffeners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatih Karpat

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Currently, renewable energy resources are becoming more important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. Researchers have focused on all components of wind turbines to increase reliability and minimize cost. In this paper, a procedure including a cost analysis method and a particle swarm optimization algorithm has been presented to efficiently design low cost steel wind turbine towers. A virtual tool is developed in MATLAB for the cost optimization of wind turbine steel towers with ring stiffeners using a particle swarm optimization algorithm. A wind turbine tower optimization problem in the literature is solved using the developed computer program. In the optimization procedure the optimization results match very well with the optimization results obtained previously. The wall thickness of the shell segments and the dimensions of the ring stiffeners are selected as the design variables, and the limits of the local buckling for the flat ring stiffeners, the local shell buckling limit, the panel ring buckling limit and the limitation of the frequency are considered the design constraints. Numerical examples are presented to understand the impacts of the design variables on the total cost of the wind turbine tower.

Spanning Tree Based Attribute Clustering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeng, Yifeng; Jorge, Cordero Hernandez

2009-01-01

Attribute clustering has been previously employed to detect statistical dependence between subsets of variables. We propose a novel attribute clustering algorithm motivated by research of complex networks, called the Star Discovery algorithm. The algorithm partitions and indirectly discards...... inconsistent edges from a maximum spanning tree by starting appropriate initial modes, therefore generating stable clusters. It discovers sound clusters through simple graph operations and achieves significant computational savings. We compare the Star Discovery algorithm against earlier attribute clustering...

Paternal smoking habits affect the reproductive life span of daughters.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuda, Misao; Fukuda, Kiyomi; Shimizu, Takashi; Nobunaga, Miho; Andersen, Elisabeth Wreford; Byskov, Anne Grete; Andersen, Claus Yding

2011-06-30

The present study assessed whether the smoking habits of fathers around the time of conception affected the period in which daughters experienced menstrual cycles (i.e., the reproductive life span). The study revealed that the smoking habits of the farther shortened the daughters' reproductive life span compared with daughters whose fathers did not smoke. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Free span burial inspection pig. Phase B

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-04-01

This report deals with design and construction of a pipeline pig for on-line internal inspection of offshore trenched gas pipelines for pipeline burial, free spans, exposures and loss of concrete weight coating. The measuring principle uses detection of the natural gamma radiation emitted by sea bed formations and the concrete coating of the pipe to map pipeline condition. The gamma ray flux penetrating to the internal side of the pipeline is an effect of the outside conditions. The measuring principle was confirmed in a occasionally present in the gas, blurred seriously sensor signals of the previous instrumentation. The continued project activities have been divided in two phases. Phase A comprised design and construction of a detector system, which could identify and quantify radioactive components from decay of radon-222. During Phase A a new gamma detector was tested in full scale exposed to radon-222. New data analysis procedures for the correction for the influence of radon-222 inside the pipeline, where developed and its utility successfully demonstrated. During Phase B the new detector was mounted in a pipeline pig constructed for inspection of 30-inch gas pipelines. Working conditions were demonstrated in three runs through the southern route of the DONG owned 30-inch gas pipelines crossing the Danish strait named the Great Belt. The FSB-technology found 88% of the free spans identified with the latest acoustic survey. The FSB-technology found in addition 22 free spans that were termed ''invisible'', because they were not identified by the most recent acoustic survey. It is believed that ''invisible free spans'' are either real free spans or locations, where the pipeline has no or very little support from deposits in the pipeline trench. The FSB-survey confirmed all exposed sections longer than 20 metres found by the acoustic survey in the first 21 kilometre of the pipeline. However, the FSB-survey underestimated

Understanding the Minimum Wage: Issues and Answers.

Science.gov (United States)

Employment Policies Inst. Foundation, Washington, DC.

This booklet, which is designed to clarify facts regarding the minimum wage's impact on marketplace economics, contains a total of 31 questions and answers pertaining to the following topics: relationship between minimum wages and poverty; impacts of changes in the minimum wage on welfare reform; and possible effects of changes in the minimum wage…

Youth minimum wages and youth employment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marimpi, Maria; Koning, Pierre

2018-01-01

This paper performs a cross-country level analysis on the impact of the level of specific youth minimum wages on the labor market performance of young individuals. We use information on the use and level of youth minimum wages, as compared to the level of adult minimum wages as well as to the median

Enhancing reading performance through action video games: the role of visual attention span.

Science.gov (United States)

Antzaka, A; Lallier, M; Meyer, S; Diard, J; Carreiras, M; Valdois, S

2017-11-06

Recent studies reported that Action Video Game-AVG training improves not only certain attentional components, but also reading fluency in children with dyslexia. We aimed to investigate the shared attentional components of AVG playing and reading, by studying whether the Visual Attention (VA) span, a component of visual attention that has previously been linked to both reading development and dyslexia, is improved in frequent players of AVGs. Thirty-six French fluent adult readers, matched on chronological age and text reading proficiency, composed two groups: frequent AVG players and non-players. Participants performed behavioural tasks measuring the VA span, and a challenging reading task (reading of briefly presented pseudo-words). AVG players performed better on both tasks and performance on these tasks was correlated. These results further support the transfer of the attentional benefits of playing AVGs to reading, and indicate that the VA span could be a core component mediating this transfer. The correlation between VA span and pseudo-word reading also supports the involvement of VA span even in adult reading. Future studies could combine VA span training with defining features of AVGs, in order to build a new generation of remediation software.

Digit Span as a measure of everyday attention: a study of ecological validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Groth-Marnat, Gary; Baker, Sonya

2003-12-01

This study investigated the effectiveness of the WAIS-III Digit Span subtest to predict the everyday attention of 75 participants with heterogeneous neurological conditions who were administered the Digit Span subtest as well as the ecologically valid Test of Everyday Attention. In addition, the more visually oriented Picture Completion subtest along with the verbally loaded National Adult Reading Test were administered. Analysis indicated that, although Digit Span was a weak but statistically significant predictor of attentional ability (accounting for 12.7% of the unique variance). Picture Completion was a somewhat stronger predictor (accounting for 19% of the unique variance). The weak association of Digit Span and the Test of Everyday Attention, along with the finding that Picture Completion was a better predictor of performance on the Test of Everyday Attention, question the clinical utility of using Digit Span as a measure of everyday attention.

Discretization of space and time: determining the values of minimum length and minimum time

OpenAIRE

Roatta , Luca

2017-01-01

Assuming that space and time can only have discrete values, we obtain the expression of the minimum length and the minimum time interval. These values are found to be exactly coincident with the Planck's length and the Planck's time but for the presence of h instead of ħ .

Minimum wage development in the Russian Federation

OpenAIRE

Bolsheva, Anna

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of the minimum wage policy at the national level in Russia and its impact on living standards in the country. The analysis showed that the national minimum wage in Russia does not serve its original purpose of protecting the lowest wage earners and has no substantial effect on poverty reduction. The national subsistence minimum is too low and cannot be considered an adequate criterion for the setting of the minimum wage. The minimum wage d...

10 CFR 719.34 - What is the treatment for travel costs?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What is the treatment for travel costs? 719.34 Section 719.34 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CONTRACTOR LEGAL MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS Reimbursement of Costs Subject to This Part § 719.34 What is the treatment for travel costs? Travel and related expenses must at a minimum comply with the restrictions set fort...

Fatigue life assessment of free spanning pipelines containing corrosion defects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopes, Rita de Kassia D.; Campello, Georga C.; Matt, Cyntia G. da Costa; Benjamin, Adilson C.; Franciss, Ricardo [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

2009-12-19

The free spanning pipelines assessment is a highlighted issue to be considered during the project and maintenance of the submarine pipelines. It is required to evaluate the fatigue life and the maximum stress due to VIV (Vortex Induced Vibration) as well as wave forces when applicable in case of shallow water. The code DNV-RP-F105 (2006) presents a methodology to calculate the fatigue life for free spanning pipelines. Such methodology however considers the pipe with no kind of defects. Nevertheless, sometimes corrosion defects are detected in periodic inspections and therefore their effects need to be taken into account in the fatigue life evaluation. The purpose of this paper thus is to present a procedure to assess the influence of the corrosion defects in the fatigue life of free spanning pipelines. Some FE analyses were performed to determine the stress concentrate factor (SCF) of the corrosion defects, which were used as input in the methodology presented in the code DNV-RP-F105 (2006). Curves of damage and so lifetime have been generated as function of the span length and water depth. As a practical application, this methodology was applied to a sub sea pipeline with several corrosion defects, localized in shallow water offshore Brazil. (author)

Skilled deaf readers have an enhanced perceptual span in reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Bélanger, Nathalie N; Slattery, Timothy J; Mayberry, Rachel I; Rayner, Keith

2012-07-01

Recent evidence suggests that, compared with hearing people, deaf people have enhanced visual attention to simple stimuli viewed in the parafovea and periphery. Although a large part of reading involves processing the fixated words in foveal vision, readers also utilize information in parafoveal vision to preprocess upcoming words and decide where to look next. In the study reported here, we investigated whether auditory deprivation affects low-level visual processing during reading by comparing the perceptual span of deaf signers who were skilled and less-skilled readers with the perceptual span of skilled hearing readers. Compared with hearing readers, the two groups of deaf readers had a larger perceptual span than would be expected given their reading ability. These results provide the first evidence that deaf readers' enhanced attentional allocation to the parafovea is used during complex cognitive tasks, such as reading.

Minimum emittance of three-bend achromats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiaoyu; Xu Gang

2012-01-01

The calculation of the minimum emittance of three-bend achromats (TBAs) made by Mathematical software can ignore the actual magnets lattice in the matching condition of dispersion function in phase space. The minimum scaling factors of two kinds of widely used TBA lattices are obtained. Then the relationship between the lengths and the radii of the three dipoles in TBA is obtained and so is the minimum scaling factor, when the TBA lattice achieves its minimum emittance. The procedure of analysis and the results can be widely used in achromats lattices, because the calculation is not restricted by the actual lattice. (authors)

Sex differences in life span: Females homozygous for the X chromosome do not suffer the shorter life span predicted by the unguarded X hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Brengdahl, Martin; Kimber, Christopher M; Maguire-Baxter, Jack; Friberg, Urban

2018-03-01

Life span differs between the sexes in many species. Three hypotheses to explain this interesting pattern have been proposed, involving different drivers: sexual selection, asymmetrical inheritance of cytoplasmic genomes, and hemizygosity of the X(Z) chromosome (the unguarded X hypothesis). Of these, the unguarded X has received the least experimental attention. This hypothesis suggests that the heterogametic sex suffers a shortened life span because recessive deleterious alleles on its single X(Z) chromosome are expressed unconditionally. In Drosophila melanogaster, the X chromosome is unusually large (∼20% of the genome), providing a powerful model for evaluating theories involving the X. Here, we test the unguarded X hypothesis by forcing D. melanogaster females from a laboratory population to express recessive X-linked alleles to the same degree as males, using females exclusively made homozygous for the X chromosome. We find no evidence for reduced life span or egg-to-adult viability due to X homozygozity. In contrast, males and females homozygous for an autosome both suffer similar, significant reductions in those traits. The logic of the unguarded X hypothesis is indisputable, but our results suggest that the degree to which recessive deleterious X-linked alleles depress performance in the heterogametic sex appears too small to explain general sex differences in life span. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Robustification and Optimization in Repetitive Control For Minimum Phase and Non-Minimum Phase Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Prasitmeeboon, Pitcha

repetitive control FIR compensator. The aim is to reduce the final error level by using real time frequency response model updates to successively increase the cutoff frequency, each time creating the improved model needed to produce convergence zero error up to the higher cutoff. Non-minimum phase systems present a difficult design challenge to the sister field of Iterative Learning Control. The third topic investigates to what extent the same challenges appear in RC. One challenge is that the intrinsic non-minimum phase zero mapped from continuous time is close to the pole of repetitive controller at +1 creating behavior similar to pole-zero cancellation. The near pole-zero cancellation causes slow learning at DC and low frequencies. The Min-Max cost function over the learning rate is presented. The Min-Max can be reformulated as a Quadratically Constrained Linear Programming problem. This approach is shown to be an RC design approach that addresses the main challenge of non-minimum phase systems to have a reasonable learning rate at DC. Although it was illustrated that using the Min-Max objective improves learning at DC and low frequencies compared to other designs, the method requires model accuracy at high frequencies. In the real world, models usually have error at high frequencies. The fourth topic addresses how one can merge the quadratic penalty to the Min-Max cost function to increase robustness at high frequencies. The topic also considers limiting the Min-Max optimization to some frequencies interval and applying an FIR zero-phase low-pass filter to cutoff the learning for frequencies above that interval.

A cost-efficient method to optimize package size in emerging markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gamez-Alban, H.M.; Soto-Cardona, O.C.; Mejia Argueta, C.; Sarmiento, A.T.

2015-01-01

Packaging links the entire supply chain and coordinates all participants in the process to give a flexible and effective response to customer needs in order to maximize satisfaction at optimal cost. This research proposes an optimization model to define the minimum total cost combination of outer

Suture spanning augmentation of single-row rotator cuff repair: a biomechanical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Early, Nicholas A; Elias, John J; Lippitt, Steven B; Filipkowski, Danielle E; Pedowitz, Robert A; Ciccone, William J

2017-02-01

This in vitro study evaluated the biomechanical benefit of adding spanning sutures to single-row rotator cuff repair. Mechanical testing was performed to evaluate 9 pairs of cadaveric shoulders with complete rotator cuff repairs, with a single-row technique used on one side and the suture spanning technique on the other. The spanning technique included sutures from 2 lateral anchors securing tendon near the musculotendinous junction, spanning the same anchor placement from single-row repair. The supraspinatus muscle was loaded to 100 N at 0.25 Hz for 100 cycles, followed by a ramp to failure. Markers and a video tracking system measured anterior and posterior gap formation across the repair at 25-cycle intervals. The force at which the stiffness decreased by 50% and 75% was determined. Data were compared using paired t-tests. One single-row repair failed at row repairs than for the suture spanning technique. The difference was statistically significant at all cycles for the posterior gap formation (P ≤ .02). The trends were not significant for the anterior gap (P ≥ .13). The loads at which the stiffness decreased by 50% and 75% did not differ significantly between the 2 types of repair (P ≥ .10). The suture spanning technique primarily improved posterior gap formation. Decreased posterior gap formation could reduce failure rates for rotator cuff repair. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Observed Minimum Illuminance Threshold for Night Market Vendors in Kenya who use LED Lamps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnstone, Peter; Jacobson, Arne; Mills, Evan; Radecsky, Kristen

2009-03-21

Creation of light for work, socializing, and general illumination is a fundamental application of technology around the world. For those who lack access to electricity, an emerging and diverse range of LED based lighting products hold promise for replacing and/or augmenting their current fuel-based lighting sources that are costly and dirty. Along with analysis of environmental factors, economic models for total cost-ofownership of LED lighting products are an important tool for studying the impacts of these products as they emerge in markets of developing countries. One important metric in those models is the minimum illuminance demanded by end-users for a given task before recharging the lamp or replacing batteries. It impacts the lighting service cost per unit time if charging is done with purchased electricity, batteries, or charging services. The concept is illustrated in figure 1: LED lighting products are generally brightest immediately after the battery is charged or replaced and the illuminance degrades as the battery is discharged. When a minimum threshold level of illuminance is reached, the operational time for the battery charge cycle is over. The cost to recharge depends on the method utilized; these include charging at a shop at a fixed price per charge, charging on personal grid connections, using solar chargers, and purchasing dry cell batteries. This Research Note reports on the observed"charge-triggering" illuminance level threshold for night market vendors who use LED lighting products to provide general and task oriented illumination. All the study participants charged with AC power, either at a fixed-price charge shop or with electricity at their home.

Flutter suppression and stability analysis for a variable-span wing via morphing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wencheng; Jin, Dongping

2018-01-01

A morphing wing can enhance aerodynamic characteristics and control authority as an alternative to using ailerons. To use morphing technology for flutter suppression, the dynamical behavior and stability of a variable-span wing subjected to the supersonic aerodynamic loads are investigated numerically in this paper. An axially moving cantilever plate is employed to model the variable-span wing, in which the governing equations of motion are established via the Kane method and piston theory. A morphing strategy based on axially moving rates is proposed to suppress the flutter that occurs beyond the critical span length, and the flutter stability is verified by Floquet theory. Furthermore, the transient stability during the morphing motion is analyzed and the upper bound of the morphing rate is obtained. The simulation results indicate that the proposed morphing law, which is varying periodically with a proper amplitude, could accomplish the flutter suppression. Further, the upper bound of the morphing speed decreases rapidly once the span length is close to its critical span length.

Modelling ecosystem service flows under uncertainty with stochiastic SPAN

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Gary W.; Snapp, Robert R.; Villa, Ferdinando; Bagstad, Kenneth J.

2012-01-01

Ecosystem service models are increasingly in demand for decision making. However, the data required to run these models are often patchy, missing, outdated, or untrustworthy. Further, communication of data and model uncertainty to decision makers is often either absent or unintuitive. In this work, we introduce a systematic approach to addressing both the data gap and the difficulty in communicating uncertainty through a stochastic adaptation of the Service Path Attribution Networks (SPAN) framework. The SPAN formalism assesses ecosystem services through a set of up to 16 maps, which characterize the services in a study area in terms of flow pathways between ecosystems and human beneficiaries. Although the SPAN algorithms were originally defined deterministically, we present them here in a stochastic framework which combines probabilistic input data with a stochastic transport model in order to generate probabilistic spatial outputs. This enables a novel feature among ecosystem service models: the ability to spatially visualize uncertainty in the model results. The stochastic SPAN model can analyze areas where data limitations are prohibitive for deterministic models. Greater uncertainty in the model inputs (including missing data) should lead to greater uncertainty expressed in the model’s output distributions. By using Bayesian belief networks to fill data gaps and expert-provided trust assignments to augment untrustworthy or outdated information, we can account for uncertainty in input data, producing a model that is still able to run and provide information where strictly deterministic models could not. Taken together, these attributes enable more robust and intuitive modelling of ecosystem services under uncertainty.

30 CFR 57.19021 - Minimum rope strength.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.001L) For rope lengths 3,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×4.0. (b) Friction drum ropes. For rope lengths less than 4,000 feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.0005L) For rope lengths 4,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×5.0. (c) Tail...

30 CFR 56.19021 - Minimum rope strength.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0-0.001L) For rope lengths 3,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×4.0 (b) Friction drum ropes. For rope lengths less than 4,000 feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0-0.0005L) For rope lengths 4,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×5.0 (c) Tail ropes...

Economic consequence of local control with radiotherapy: Cost analysis of internal mammary and medial supraclavicular lymph node radiotherapy in breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lievens, Yolande; Kesteloot, Katrien; Bogaert, Walter van den

2005-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the financial implications of radiotherapy (RT) to the internal mammary and medial supraclavicular lymph node chain (IM-MS) in postoperative breast cancer. Methods and Materials: A cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis were performed, using Markov models, comparing the early and delayed costs and effects of IM-MS during a 20-year time span from a societal viewpoint. The outcome estimates were based on Level I evidence from postoperative RT literature and the cost estimates on the standard practice of the Leuven University Hospitals, with the RT costs derived from an activity-based costing program developed in the department. Results: On the basis of the assumptions of the model and seen during a 20-year time span, primary treatment including IM-MS RT results in a cost savings (approximately EURO 10,000) compared with a strategy without RT. Because IM-MS RT also results in better clinical effectiveness and greater quality of life, the treatment with IM-MS dominates the approach without IM-MS. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these results in all tested circumstances. Although threshold values were found for the cost of IM-MS, the cost at relapse, and the quality of life after treatment, these were substantially different from the baseline estimates, indicating that it is very unlikely that omitting IM-MS would become superior. Conclusion: This ex-ante cost evaluation of IM-MS RT showed that the upfront costs of locoregional RT are easily compensated for by avoiding the costs of treating locoregional and distant relapse at a later stage. The cost-sparing effect of RT should, however, be evaluated for a sufficiently long time span and is most specifically found in tumors with a rather slow natural history and a multitude of available systemic treatments at relapse, such as breast cancer

Data Sets Replicas Placements Strategy from Cost-Effective View in the Cloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuguo Wu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Replication technology is commonly used to improve data availability and reduce data access latency in the cloud storage system by providing users with different replicas of the same service. Most current approaches largely focus on system performance improvement, neglecting management cost in deciding replicas number and their store places, which cause great financial burden for cloud users because the cost for replicas storage and consistency maintenance may lead to high overhead with the number of new replicas increased in a pay-as-you-go paradigm. In this paper, towards achieving the approximate minimum data sets management cost benchmark in a practical manner, we propose a replicas placements strategy from cost-effective view with the premise that system performance meets requirements. Firstly, we design data sets management cost models, including storage cost and transfer cost. Secondly, we use the access frequency and the average response time to decide which data set should be replicated. Then, the method of calculating replicas’ number and their store places with minimum management cost is proposed based on location problem graph. Both the theoretical analysis and simulations have shown that the proposed strategy offers the benefits of lower management cost with fewer replicas.

Octave-Spanning Mid-IR Supercontinuum Generation with Ultrafast Cascaded Nonlinearities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Binbin; Guo, Hairun; Liu, Xing

2014-01-01

An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation.......An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation....

Energy-efficient induction motors designing with application of a modified criterion of reduced costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.S. Petrushin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The paper introduces a modified criterion of reduced costs that employs coefficients of operation significance and priority of ohmic loss accounting to allow matching maximum efficiency with minimum reduced costs. Impact of the inflation factor on the criterion of reduced costs is analyzed.

Optimal cost for strengthening or destroying a given network

Science.gov (United States)

Patron, Amikam; Cohen, Reuven; Li, Daqing; Havlin, Shlomo

2017-05-01

Strengthening or destroying a network is a very important issue in designing resilient networks or in planning attacks against networks, including planning strategies to immunize a network against diseases, viruses, etc. Here we develop a method for strengthening or destroying a random network with a minimum cost. We assume a correlation between the cost required to strengthen or destroy a node and the degree of the node. Accordingly, we define a cost function c (k ) , which is the cost of strengthening or destroying a node with degree k . Using the degrees k in a network and the cost function c (k ) , we develop a method for defining a list of priorities of degrees and for choosing the right group of degrees to be strengthened or destroyed that minimizes the total price of strengthening or destroying the entire network. We find that the list of priorities of degrees is universal and independent of the network's degree distribution, for all kinds of random networks. The list of priorities is the same for both strengthening a network and for destroying a network with minimum cost. However, in spite of this similarity, there is a difference between their pc, the critical fraction of nodes that has to be functional to guarantee the existence of a giant component in the network.

30 CFR 77.1431 - Minimum rope strength.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.001L) For rope lengths 3,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×4.0 (b) Friction drum ropes. For rope lengths less than 4,000 feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.0005L) For rope lengths 4,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×5.0 (c) Tail ropes...

Natural ventilation of large multi-span greenhouses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de T.

1990-01-01

In this thesis the ventilation of large multi-span greenhouses caused by wind and temperature effects is studied. Quantification of the ventilation is important to improve the control of the greenhouse climate.

Knowledge of the flow characteristics of the one-side-mounted windows of

Leaf life span plasticity in tropical seedlings grown under contrasting light regimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Gregoire

2006-02-01

The phenotypic plasticity of leaf life span in response to low resource conditions has a potentially large impact on the plant carbon budget, notably in evergreen species not subject to seasonal leaf shedding, but has rarely been well documented. This study evaluates the plasticity of leaf longevity, in terms of its quantitative importance to the plant carbon balance under limiting light. Seedlings of four tropical tree species with contrasting light requirements (Alstonia scholaris, Hevea brasiliensis, Durio zibethinus and Lansium domesticum) were grown under three light regimes (full sunlight, 45 % sunlight and 12 % sunlight). Their leaf dynamics were monitored over 18 months. All species showed a considerable level of plasticity with regard to leaf life span: over the range of light levels explored, the ratio of the range to the mean value of life span varied from 29 %, for the least plastic species, to 84 %, for the most. The common trend was for leaf life span to increase with decreasing light intensity. The plasticity apparent in leaf life span was similar in magnitude to the plasticity observed in specific leaf area and photosynthetic rate, implying that it has a significant impact on carbon gain efficiency when plants acclimate to different light regimes. In all species, median survival time was negatively correlated with leaf photosynthetic capacity (or its proxy, the nitrogen content per unit area) and leaf emergence rate. Longer leaf life spans under low light are likely to be a consequence of slower ageing as a result of a slower photosynthetic metabolism.

Combining loss and cost objectives in daily hydro-thermal economic scheduling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Hawary, M.E.; Ravindranath, K.M.

1991-01-01

A formulation of optimal hydro-thermal power flow in electric power systems combining the minimum loss objective with the more conventional minimum fuel cost objective is considered. The implementation is based on a Newton's iterative procedure, with special initial guess and sparsity-based matrix manipulations to obtain improved convergence properties. The strategies are developed using three standard test systems. This paper discusses the question of assigning an equivalent cost to the loss objective component and compare results obtained using two proposed mechanisms. The first is based on results of conventional dispatch using Kron's loss formula and the second uses the bus incremental costs involved in the OPF solution. The effects of varying the relative weights assigned to each objective component on pertinent system variables such as active and reactive power generations as well as voltages are explored

Time and resource limits on working memory: cross-age consistency in counting span performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ransdell, Sarah; Hecht, Steven

2003-12-01

This longitudinal study separated resource demand effects from those of retention interval in a counting span task among 100 children tested in grade 2 and again in grades 3 and 4. A last card large counting span condition had an equivalent memory load to a last card small, but the last card large required holding the count over a longer retention interval. In all three waves of assessment, the last card large condition was found to be less accurate than the last card small. A model predicting reading comprehension showed that age was a significant predictor when entered first accounting for 26% of the variance, but counting span accounted for a further 22% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 accounted for significant unique variance at Wave 2 and at Wave 3. Results were similar for math calculation with age accounting for 31% of the variance and counting span accounting for a further 34% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 explained unique variance in math at Wave 2 and at Wave 3.

A Phosphate Minimum in the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) off Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Paulmier, A.; Giraud, M.; Sudre, J.; Jonca, J.; Leon, V.; Moron, O.; Dewitte, B.; Lavik, G.; Grasse, P.; Frank, M.; Stramma, L.; Garcon, V.

2016-02-01

The Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) off Peru is known to be associated with the advection of Equatorial SubSurface Waters (ESSW), rich in nutrients and poor in oxygen, through the Peru-Chile UnderCurrent (PCUC), but this circulation remains to be refined within the OMZ. During the Pelágico cruise in November-December 2010, measurements of phosphate revealed the presence of a phosphate minimum (Pmin) in various hydrographic stations, which could not be explained so far and could be associated with a specific water mass. This Pmin, localized at a relatively constant layer ( 20minimum with a mean vertical phosphate decrease of 0.6 µM but highly variable between 0.1 and 2.2 µM. In average, these Pmin are associated with a predominant mixing of SubTropical Under- and Surface Waters (STUW and STSW: 20 and 40%, respectively) within ESSW ( 25%), complemented evenly by overlying (ESW, TSW: 8%) and underlying waters (AAIW, SPDW: 7%). The hypotheses and mechanisms leading to the Pmin formation in the OMZ are further explored and discussed, considering the physical regional contribution associated with various circulation pathways ventilating the OMZ and the local biogeochemical contribution including the potential diazotrophic activity.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Zoubrinetzky

Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants’ VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition. PMID:26950210

Least cost planning for CO2-reduction strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifritz, W.

1990-01-01

A first recommendation for the determination of the minimum costs for a carbon-dioxide reduction strategy is presented. For this, the tabulation of so-called, 'CO 2 -ranking-lists', containing the relationship between the costs of a distinct measure to avoid the emission of certain amount of CO 2 (in dollar/t CO 2 ) versus its potential (in t CO 2 /yr), is indispensable. Some basic aspects of this approach are discussed and a first guess of the costs of some measures to avoid CO 2 -emissions into the atmosphere is presented. (orig.) [de

Wind turbine cost of electricity and capacity factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavallo, A.J.

1995-01-01

Wind turbines are currently designed to minimize the cost of electricity at the wind turbine (the busbar cost) in a given wind regime, ignoring constraints on the capacitor factor (the ratio of the average power output to the maximum power output). The trade-off between these two quantities can be examined in a straightforward fashion; it is found that the capacitor factor can be increased by a factor of 1.3 above its value at the cost minimum for a 10 percent increase in the cost of electricity. This has important implications for the large scale integration of wind electricity on utility grids where the cost of transmission and storage may be a significant fraction of the cost of delivered electricity. (Author)

Cost benefit analysis for optimization of radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindell, B.

1984-01-01

ICRP recommends three basic principles for radiation protection. One is the justification of the source. Any use of radiation should be justified with regard to its benefit. The second is the optimization of radiation protection, i.e. all radiation exposure should be kept as low as resonably achievable. And the third principle is that there should be a limit for the radiation dose that any individual receives. Cost benefit assessment or cost benefit analysis is one tool to achieve the optimization, but the optimization is not identical with cost benefit analysis. Basically, in principle, the cost benefit analysis for the optimization of radiation protection is to find the minimum sum of the cost of protection and some cost of detriment. (Mori, K.)

Comparison between BIDE, PrefixSpan, and TRuleGrowth for Mining of Indonesian Text

Science.gov (United States)

Sa'adillah Maylawati, Dian; Irfan, Mohamad; Budiawan Zulfikar, Wildan

2017-01-01

Mining proscess for Indonesian language still be an interesting research. Multiple of words representation was claimed can keep the meaning of text better than bag of words. In this paper, we compare several sequential pattern algortihm, among others BIDE (BIDirectional Extention), PrefixSpan, and TRuleGrowth. All of those algorithm produce frequent word sequence to keep the meaning of text. However, the experiment result, with 14.006 of Indonesian tweet from Twitter, shows that BIDE can produce more efficient frequent word sequence than PrefixSpan and TRuleGrowth without missing the meaning of text. Then, the average of time process of PrefixSpan is faster than BIDE and TRuleGrowth. In the other hand, PrefixSpan and TRuleGrowth is more efficient in using memory than BIDE.

Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Abnormal Attention Span of Elementary School-Age Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Segal-Triwitz, Yael; Kirchen, Louisa M; Shani Sherman, Tal; Levav, Miriam; Schonherz-Pine, Yael; Kushnir, Jonathan; Ariel, Raya; Gothelf, Doron

2016-01-01

To determine teacher and parental perception of minimal expected sustained attention span during various daily tasks among elementary school children. 54 parents and 47 teachers completed the attention span questionnaire (AtSQ) that was developed for this study. The AtSQ consists of 15 academic and leisure tasks that require a child's sustained attention. The study focused on third and fourth graders in Israel. There was a high degree of variability among teachers and parents in their responses to the AtSQ. The expected attention span of children as judged by parents was higher and more varied compared to teachers, and higher for girls than for boys. Our results indicate poor agreement in cutoff values for sustained attention span between teachers and parents and within each group.

Aeroelastic stability of full-span tiltrotor aircraft model in forward flight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiquan LI

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The existing full-span models of the tiltrotor aircraft adopted the rigid blade model without considering the coupling relationship among the elastic blade, wing and fuselage. To overcome the limitations of the existing full-span models and improve the precision of aeroelastic analysis of tiltrotor aircraft in forward flight, the aeroelastic stability analysis model of full-span tiltrotor aircraft in forward flight has been presented in this paper by considering the coupling among elastic blade, wing, fuselage and various components. The analytical model is validated by comparing with the calculation results and experimental data in the existing references. The influence of some structural parameters, such as the fuselage degrees of freedom, relative displacement between the hub center and the gravity center, and nacelle length, on the system stability is also investigated. The results show that the fuselage degrees of freedom decrease the critical stability velocity of tiltrotor aircraft, and the variation of the structural parameters has great influence on the system stability, and the instability form of system can change between the anti-symmetric and symmetric wing motions of vertical and chordwise bending. Keywords: Aeroelastic stability, Forward flight, Full-span model, Modal analysis, Tiltrotor aircraft

Young Skilled Deaf Readers Have an Enhanced Perceptual Span in Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Bélanger, Nathalie N; Lee, Michelle; Schotter, Elizabeth R

2017-04-27

Recently, Bélanger, Slattery, Mayberry and Rayner (2012) showed, using the moving window paradigm, that profoundly deaf adults have a wider perceptual span during reading relative to hearing adults matched on reading level. This difference might be related to the fact that deaf adults allocate more visual attention to simple stimuli in the parafovea (Bavelier, Dye & Hauser, 2006). Importantly, this reorganization of visual attention in deaf individuals is already manifesting in deaf children (Dye, Hauser & Bavelier, 2009). This leads to questions about the time course of the emergence of an enhanced perceptual span (which is under attentional control; Rayner, 2014; Miellet, O'Donnell, & Sereno, 2009) in young deaf readers. The present research addressed this question by comparing the perceptual spans of young deaf readers (age 7-15) and young hearing children (age 7-15). Young deaf readers, like deaf adults, were found to have a wider perceptual span relative to their hearing peers matched on reading level, suggesting that strong and early reorganization of visual attention in deaf individuals goes beyond the processing of simple visual stimuli and emerges into more cognitively complex tasks, such as reading.

[The evolution of plant life span: facts and hypotheses].

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

There are two different views on the evolution of life forms in Cormophyta: from woody plants to herbaceous ones or in opposite direction - from herbs to trees. In accordance with these views it is supposed that life span in plants changed in the course of evolution from many years (perennials) to few years (annuals, biennials), or went in reverse - from few years to many years. The author discusses the problems of senescence and longevity in Cormophyta in the context of various hypotheses of ageing (programmed death theory, mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, disposable soma, genes of ageing, genes of longevity). Special attention is given to bio-morphological aspects of longevity and cases of non-ageing plants ("negative senescence", "potential immortality"). It is proposed to distinguish seven models of simple ontogenesis in Cormophyta that can exemplify the diversity of mechanisms of ageing and longevity. The evolution of life span in plants is considered as an indirect result of natural selection of other characteristics of organisms or as a consequence of fixation of modifications (episelectional evolution). It seems that short life span could emerge several times during evolution of one group of plants, thus favoring its adaptive radiation.

Low doze γ-irradiation influence on drosophila life span in different genetics background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moskalev, A.

2007-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The main goal of this work was to study in Drosophila melanogaster the contribution of DNA damage sensing and repair, apoptosis and heat shock defence into life span and physical activity alteration after gamma-irradiation at low doze rate. In our experiments, the strains were exposed to chronic gamma-irradiation from a 226Ra source (50 R/h) at doze rate 0.17 cGy/h at pre-imago development stages only. The absorbed radiation dose per generation (from embryo to imago, 12 days) was 60 cGy. Life span estimation was prepared in adult males and females separately. We compared the life span of apoptotic (p53, DIAP-1, dApaf-1, Dcp-1, reaper, grim and hid), heat shock defence (HSP70, HSP23, HSF), DNA damage sensing (ATR) and repair (XPF, XPC, PCNA, DSB repair helicase homologs) mutants after chronic irradiation with the control. On the basis of our investigation we have concluded: 1) Low doze irradiation alter the life span depending on genetic background (mutant alleles, heterozygosity level and sex); 2) Age dynamics of physical activity positively correlates with the life span; 3) Longevity potential forms at early development stages; 4) DNA damage sensing, DNA repair, heat shock defence and apoptosis as aging preventing mechanisms play crucial role in radiation-induced life span hormesis.

Diferença entre span verbal e visual nos gêneros: estudo piloto

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Cristina Pedrassa Sagrilo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar a memória de trabalho analisando a capacidade de retenção de estímulos auditivos (span verbal e visuais (span visual e estabelecer a relação com o gênero (masculino e feminino. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 20 crianças entre seis anos e cinco meses e sete anos, sendo 10 sujeitos do sexo masculino e 10 sujeitos do sexo feminino. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos às provas de avaliação do span verbal e visual em ordem direta e inversa. RESULTADOS: apenas na prova de palavras dissílabas com fonologia semelhante e semântica diferente do span verbal, houve variância significante entre os gêneros. As crianças do sexo feminino apresentaram melhor desempenho em relação ao outro gênero, bem como maior capacidade de retenção de palavras dissílabas com fonologia e semântica diferentes. No span visual (ordem direta e inversa as crianças do sexo masculino obtiveram melhor desempenho, apesar de não ter diferenças significantes. Em relação à idade não houve diferença de retenção de estímulos. CONCLUSÃO: as crianças do sexo feminino, neste estudo, apresentaram tendência à melhor desempenho do span verbal e as crianças do sexo masculino tendência a melhor desempenho no span visual. No entanto, o estudo é limitado devido ao reduzido número de participantes na amostra.

Methodology for logistic planning of forest roads for harvesting Eucalyptus globulus Labill. using optimization tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leal Robert, Orlando; Lopez, Cesar Amilcar

2011-01-01

Using an un capacitated and non directed network model, we propose a methodology for the preliminary design of second order forests roads to extract products from Eucalyptus globulus plantations using an aerial cable system to minimize road network construction costs. The model takes into account topographical conditions and road construction costs related to the terrain slope. In order to solve the problem the Dijstrak algorithm was used, in which the minimum cost of the shortest paths that connect all the stockyards are defined. In addition, the Kruskal algorithm was used to obtain the minimum spanning tree. Finally, the network was connected to an open road for the timber to be taken to consumption centers. In order to develop the algorithms mentioned above, an application on Mat lab was designed, which gave an easier handling of the cartography data obtained from these algorithms.

Span Restoration in Optical Networks with Limited Wavelength Conversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Buron, Jakob Due; Andriolli, N

2007-01-01

Next generation optical networks provide functionalities to dynamically provision and recover connections, while emerging technologies allow for the conversion between wavelengths. These devices are however expensive and hence it is likely that only few are deployed throughout the network...... converter-saving wavelength assignment in GMPLS networks. The converter saving property of the Suggested Vector is particularly desirable in span restoration, where the pre-failure path stubs have to be merged to the restoration path at the failure-adjacent nodes. In order to avoid wavelength conversion....... Furthermore, we describe different scenarios to extend the suggested vector wavelength assignment scheme to multi-domain networks with focus on span restoration....

Qualitative Exploration of Acculturation and Life-Span Issues of Elderly Asian Americans

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jee Hyang; Heo, Nanseol; Lu, Junfei; Portman, Tarrell Awe Agahe

2013-01-01

Awareness of aging issues across diverse populations begins the journey toward counselors becoming culturally competent across client life spans. Understanding the life-span experiences of cultural groups is important for helping professionals. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the qualitative experiences of Asian American…

Experimental investigation of span length for flexural test of fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhil Mehndiratta

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Testing and evaluation of mechanical properties for FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer composite parts play a significant role to qualify it for the end use. Among the mechanical properties, the flexural strength is significant and vital as it may vary with specimen depth, temperature and the test span length. The flexural strength varies for different materials with varying the test span length hence the current work aims to find an optimum span length to test flexural strength for the specimens made of Glass (7781, EC9756 and Carbon (HTA7, G801 prepreg materials. Experiments are conducted as per the ASTM Standard D 790 for flexural test by varying the span lengths to understand the behavior of the flexural strength and flexural modulus. The experimental data were compared with those obtained from the finite element program software Altair Hyper works 14.0. The results indicate that flexural modulus increases with the span length to a point and then it decreases. Thereby, an optimum span length can be obtained for testing flexural strength, which will be useful to the designers and the composite manufacturers to accomplish better standard testing procedures.

A Wide Span Tractor concept developed for efficient and environmental friendly farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Hans Henrik; Grøn Sørensen, Claus; Oudshoorn, Frank W

2013-01-01

agricultural machines a new Wide Span (WS) tractor concept has been designed and a prototype tractor with a span of 9.6 m (wheel centre to wheel centre) has been built. It is designed to optimise the Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) system that is already in place on the vegetable farm where it is being tested....... The tractor is designed to carry out all operations during vegetable production including harvest. Using the tractor means that less than 10% of the field area is affected by compaction due to field traffic. The economical and environmental effects of such a wide span CTF growing system will be assessed....

On the cost/delay tradeoff of wireless delay tolerant geographic routing

OpenAIRE

Tasiopoulos, Argyrios; Tsiaras, Christos; Toumpis, Stavros

2012-01-01

In Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), there is a fundamental tradeoff between the aggregate transport cost of a packet and the delay in its delivery. We study this tradeoff in the context of geographical routing in wireless DTNs.We ?rst specify the optimal cost/delay tradeoff, i.e., the tradeoff under optimal network operation, using a dynamic network construction termed the Cost/Delay Evolving Graph (C/DEG) and the Optimal Cost/Delay Curve (OC/DC), a function that gives the minimum possible agg...

12 CFR 564.4 - Minimum appraisal standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Minimum appraisal standards. 564.4 Section 564.4 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY APPRAISALS § 564.4 Minimum appraisal standards. For federally related transactions, all appraisals shall, at a minimum: (a...

The minimum wage in the Czech enterprises

OpenAIRE

Eva Lajtkepová

2010-01-01

Although the statutory minimum wage is not a new category, in the Czech Republic we encounter the definition and regulation of a minimum wage for the first time in the 1990 amendment to Act No. 65/1965 Coll., the Labour Code. The specific amount of the minimum wage and the conditions of its operation were then subsequently determined by government regulation in February 1991. Since that time, the value of minimum wage has been adjusted fifteenth times (the last increase was in January 2007). ...

Minimum Wages and Regional Disparity: An analysis on the evolution of price-adjusted minimum wages and their effects on firm profitability (Japanese)

OpenAIRE

MORIKAWA Masayuki

2013-01-01

This paper, using prefecture level panel data, empirically analyzes 1) the recent evolution of price-adjusted regional minimum wages and 2) the effects of minimum wages on firm profitability. As a result of rapid increases in minimum wages in the metropolitan areas since 2007, the regional disparity of nominal minimum wages has been widening. However, the disparity of price-adjusted minimum wages has been shrinking. According to the analysis of the effects of minimum wages on profitability us...

Wavelength-Converter Saving Span Restoration in GMPLS Controlled WDM Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Buron, Jakob Due; Andriolli, N.

2006-01-01

We present two label preference schemes to reduce wavelength-conversion during restoration path setup in GMPLS controlled optical networks exploiting span restoration. The amount of required wavelength-conversions can be reduced up to 34 percent.......We present two label preference schemes to reduce wavelength-conversion during restoration path setup in GMPLS controlled optical networks exploiting span restoration. The amount of required wavelength-conversions can be reduced up to 34 percent....

Testing for Spanning with Futrures Contracts and Nontraded Assets : A General Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijman, T.E.; de Roon, F.A.; Werker, B.J.M.

1996-01-01

This paper generalizes the notion of mean-variance spanning as de- ned in the seminal paper of Huberman & Kandel (1987) in three di- mensions.It is shown how regression techniques can be used to test for spanning for more general classes of utility functions, in case some as- sets are nontraded, and

41 CFR 50-201.1101 - Minimum wages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Minimum wages. 50-201... Contracts PUBLIC CONTRACTS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 201-GENERAL REGULATIONS § 50-201.1101 Minimum wages. Determinations of prevailing minimum wages or changes therein will be published in the Federal Register by the...

Herbal supplement extends life span under some environmental conditions and boosts stress resistance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryant Villeponteau

Full Text Available Genetic studies indicate that aging is modulated by a great number of genetic pathways. We have used Drosophila longevity and stress assays to test a multipath intervention strategy. To carry out this strategy, we supplemented the flies with herbal extracts (SC100 that are predicted to modulate the expression of many genes involved in aging and stress resistance, such as mTOR, NOS, NF-KappaB, and VEGF. When flies were housed in large cages with SC100 added, daily mortality rates of both male and female flies were greatly diminished in mid to late life. Surprisingly, SC100 also stabilized midlife mortality rate increases so as to extend the maximum life span substantially beyond the limits previously reported for D. melanogaster. Under these conditions, SC100 also promoted robust resistance to partial starvation stress and to heat stress. Fertility was the same initially in both treated and control flies, but it became significantly higher in treated flies at older ages as the fertility of control flies declined. Mean and maximum life spans of flies in vials at the same test site were also extended by SC100, but the life spans were short in absolute terms. In contrast, at an independent test site where stress was minimized, the flies exhibited much longer mean life spans, but the survival curves became highly rectangular and the effects of SC100 on both mean and maximum life spans declined greatly or were abolished. The data indicate that SC100 is a novel herbal mix with striking effects on enhancing Drosophila stress resistance and life span in some environments, while minimizing mid to late life mortality rates. They also show that the environment and other factors can have transformative effects on both the length and distribution of survivorship, and on the ability of SC100 to extend the life span.

Recognition memory span in autopsy-confirmed Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, David P; Heindel, William C; Hamilton, Joanne M; Vincent Filoteo, J; Cidambi, Varun; Hansen, Lawrence A; Masliah, Eliezer; Galasko, Douglas

2015-08-01

Evidence from patients with amnesia suggests that recognition memory span tasks engage both long-term memory (i.e., secondary memory) processes mediated by the diencephalic-medial temporal lobe memory system and working memory processes mediated by fronto-striatal systems. Thus, the recognition memory span task may be particularly effective for detecting memory deficits in disorders that disrupt both memory systems. The presence of unique pathology in fronto-striatal circuits in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) compared to AD suggests that performance on the recognition memory span task might be differentially affected in the two disorders even though they have quantitatively similar deficits in secondary memory. In the present study, patients with autopsy-confirmed DLB or AD, and Normal Control (NC) participants, were tested on separate recognition memory span tasks that required them to retain increasing amounts of verbal, spatial, or visual object (i.e., faces) information across trials. Results showed that recognition memory spans for verbal and spatial stimuli, but not face stimuli, were lower in patients with DLB than in those with AD, and more impaired relative to NC performance. This was despite similar deficits in the two patient groups on independent measures of secondary memory such as the total number of words recalled from long-term storage on the Buschke Selective Reminding Test. The disproportionate vulnerability of recognition memory span task performance in DLB compared to AD may be due to greater fronto-striatal involvement in DLB and a corresponding decrement in cooperative interaction between working memory and secondary memory processes. Assessment of recognition memory span may contribute to the ability to distinguish between DLB and AD relatively early in the course of disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Costs of health. Costs-effectiveness in case of lifestyle changes].

Science.gov (United States)

Apor, Péter

2010-05-09

Economical burden for the individuals and for the national budgets of chronic cardio-vasculo-metabolic diseases is high and is rapidly increasing. Costs of treatments and prevention are very different in countries of diverse culture, ethnicity, social-economical situations, but prevention with healthy foods and with adequate physical activity are cheaper than medicines anywhere in the world. A great couple of studies approved cost-effectiveness of interventions directed to the change of life style factors. Cheaper is to influence the whole, yet healthy population, but interventions on people with high risk are more target-specific and usually more expensive. Enhanced physical activity (minimum 30 minutes five times per week with low-medium intensity, plus resistance exercises for maintain the muscle mass and force, plus stretching and calisthenics to maintain joints motility) can be promoted by few hundred-few ten hundred euros or dollars. Price of gain in Quality/Disability-Adjusted Life Years expressed as Incremental Cost Effectiveness/Utility Ratio is known, estimated or modelled, and offers a good value of money.

Minimum Wage Laws and the Distribution of Employment.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Kevin

The desirability of raising the minimum wage long revolved around just one question: the effect of higher minimum wages on the overall level of employment. An even more critical effect of the minimum wage rests on the composition of employment--who gets the minimum wage job. An examination of employment in eating and drinking establishments…

29 CFR 505.3 - Prevailing minimum compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Prevailing minimum compensation. 505.3 Section 505.3 Labor... HUMANITIES § 505.3 Prevailing minimum compensation. (a)(1) In the absence of an alternative determination...)(2) of this section, the prevailing minimum compensation required to be paid under the Act to the...

High-Reynolds Number Active Blowing Semi-Span Force Measurement System Development

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Keith C.; Rhew, Ray D.; Acheson, Michael J.; Jones, Gregory S.; Milholen, William E.; Goodliff, Scott L.

2012-01-01

Recent wind-tunnel tests at the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility utilized high-pressure bellows to route air to the model for evaluating aircraft circulation control. The introduction of these bellows within the Sidewall Model Support System significantly impacted the performance of the external sidewall mounted semi-span balance. As a result of this impact on the semi-span balance measurement performance, it became apparent that a new capability needed to be built into the National Transonic Facility s infrastructure to allow for performing pressure tare calibrations on the balance in order to properly characterize its performance under the influence of static bellows pressure tare loads and bellows thermal effects. The objective of this study was to design both mechanical calibration hardware and an experimental calibration design that can be employed at the facility in order to efficiently and precisely perform the necessary loadings in order to characterize the semi-span balance under the influence of multiple calibration factors (balance forces/moments and bellows pressure/temperature). Using statistical design of experiments, an experimental design was developed allowing for strategically characterizing the behavior of the semi-span balance for use in circulation control and propulsion-type flow control testing at the National Transonic Facility.

Restoring speech perception with cochlear implants by spanning defective electrode contacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Frijns, Johan H M; Snel-Bongers, Jorien; Vellinga, Dirk; Schrage, Erik; Vanpoucke, Filiep J; Briaire, Jeroen J

2013-04-01

Even with six defective contacts, spanning can largely restore speech perception with the HiRes 120 speech processing strategy to the level supported by an intact electrode array. Moreover, the sound quality is not degraded. Previous studies have demonstrated reduced speech perception scores (SPS) with defective contacts in HiRes 120. This study investigated whether replacing defective contacts by spanning, i.e. current steering on non-adjacent contacts, is able to restore speech recognition to the level supported by an intact electrode array. Ten adult cochlear implant recipients (HiRes90K, HiFocus1J) with experience with HiRes 120 participated in this study. Three different defective electrode arrays were simulated (six separate defective contacts, three pairs or two triplets). The participants received three take-home strategies and were asked to evaluate the sound quality in five predefined listening conditions. After 3 weeks, SPS were evaluated with monosyllabic words in quiet and in speech-shaped background noise. The participants rated the sound quality equal for all take-home strategies. SPS with background noise were equal for all conditions tested. However, SPS in quiet (85% phonemes correct on average with the full array) decreased significantly with increasing spanning distance, with a 3% decrease for each spanned contact.

Developments and Prospects of Long-Span High-Speed Railway Bridge Technologies in China

OpenAIRE

Shunquan Qin; Zongyu Gao

2017-01-01

With the rapid developments of the high-speed railway in China, a great number of long-span bridges have been constructed in order to cross rivers and gorges. At present, the longest main span of a constructed high-speed railway bridge is only 630 m. The main span of Hutong Yangtze River Bridge and of Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge, which are under construction, will be much longer, at 1092 m each. In order to overcome the technical issues that originate from the extremely large dead loading...

Orion: a glimpse of hope in life span extension?

Science.gov (United States)

Muradian, K; Bondar, V; Bezrukov, V; Zhukovsky, O; Polyakov, V; Utko, N

2010-01-01

Orion is a multicomponent drug based on derivatives of taurocholic acid and several other compounds. Application of Orion into the feeding medium of Drosophila melanogaster resulted in increased life span and survival at stressful conditions. Two paradoxical features of the drug should be stressed: The "age-threshold" (life span extension was observed only when the drug was applied starting from the second half of life) and induction of "centenarian" flies (older 100 days). Orion enhanced survival at heat shock (38 degrees C) and acidic (pH = 1.6) or alkaline (pH = 11.8) feeding mediums, but not at oxidative stresses modeled by 100% oxygen or application of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)).

Post-Tensioned Concrete Long-Span Slabs in Projects of Modern Building Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Szydlowski, Rafal; Labuzek, Barbara

2017-10-01

Nowadays, design of modern an architectural building structures requires the use of slender and free from numerous supports slabs. The most suitable solution for above requirements are the post-tensioned slabs with unbounded tendons. Slabs prestressed by unbounded tendons are successfully used worldwide for several decades. During that time many recommendations dealing with the forming of geometry and prestressing, dimensioning and erection technology were issued. During the recent years prestressed slabs characterized by span and slenderness substantially exceeding recommended limitations were designed and erected with success in Poland. During the slabs erection and in two years of their using, the deflection of three oversized slabs were monitoring. In spite of designed the slabs significantly larger and slenderer than the recommended maximum value of span and span to depth ratio, the deflection of the slabs is definitely far from the limit value. The paper shows the geometry, characteristic and deflection of erected slabs and conclusion. Description of a very large span slab (21.3m), that was designed regarded to the information obtained from the previous realisation, is presented in this paper.

Front-line managers as boundary spanners: effects of span and time on nurse supervision satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Raquel M; O'Brien-Pallas, Linda; Doran, Diane; Streiner, David; Ferguson-Paré, Mary; Duffield, Christine

2011-07-01

To examine the influence of nurse manager span (number of direct report staff), time in staff contact, transformational leadership practices and operational hours on nurse supervision satisfaction. Increasing role complexity has intensified the boundary spanning functions of managers. Because work demands and scope vary by management position, time in staff contact rather than span may better explain managers' capacity to support staff. A descriptive, correlational design was used to collect cross-sectional survey and prospective work log and administrative data from a convenience sample of 558 nurses in 51 clinical areas and 31 front-line nurse managers from four acute care hospitals in 2007-2008. Data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. Span, but not time in staff contact, interacted with leadership and operational hours to explain supervision satisfaction. With compressed operational hours, supervision satisfaction was lower with highly transformational leadership in combination with wider spans. With extended operational hours, supervision satisfaction was higher with highly transformational leadership, and this effect was more pronounced under wider spans. Operational hours, which influence the manager's daily span (average number of direct report staff working per weekday), should be factored into the design of front-line management positions. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Reference costs for power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-12-01

. Two hypotheses are considered in terms of CO 2 costs over the life span of the oil- and coal-fired power plants: 4 euro/t CO 2 and 20 euro/t CO 2 . The hypothesis of 4 euro/t CO 2 can be considered as very low - it will be significantly more expensive in 2015 and beyond (post-Kyoto period). The choice of a discount rate respectively lower or higher than the baseline hypothesis of 8% will increase, or decrease, the competitiveness of nuclear-based power production compared to fossil- fuel methods of power production because the investment load, which is higher for nuclear than for the other methods, decreases or, conversely, increases. The 8% discount rate adopted here was the rate used by the French Planning Office and is compatible with the profitability requirements currently noted in the electricity sector. The different variants do not bring into question the order of competitiveness of the production methods. 3. Plant operating on a half-time basis (less than 5000 hours/year): Considering the size of the initial investment, a nuclear power plant's competitiveness requires that it operate all year round. Should the nuclear power plant be operational for a shorter duration, then its competitiveness fades in favour of gas-fired power plants. More specifically, gas is more competitive than nuclear power (excluding externalities) for operating periods of less than 5000 hours. - 4. Plant operating on a minimum basis (less than 3000 hours/year): For short periods, the gas turbine is more competitive than the oil-fired turbine. The oil-fired turbine, however, is competitive for durations of less than 250 hours

Looking for an Explanation for the Low Sign Span. Is Order Involved?

Science.gov (United States)

Gozzi, Marta; Geraci, Carlo; Cecchetto, Carlo; Perugini, Marco; Papagno, Costanza

2011-01-01

Although signed and speech-based languages have a similar internal organization of verbal short-term memory, sign span is lower than word span. We investigated whether this is due to the fact that signs are not suited for serial recall, as proposed by Bavelier, Newport, Hall, Supalla, and Boutla (2008. Ordered short-term memory differs in signers…

Linking and Cutting Spanning Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís M. S. Russo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We consider the problem of uniformly generating a spanning tree for an undirected connected graph. This process is useful for computing statistics, namely for phylogenetic trees. We describe a Markov chain for producing these trees. For cycle graphs, we prove that this approach significantly outperforms existing algorithms. For general graphs, experimental results show that the chain converges quickly. This yields an efficient algorithm due to the use of proper fast data structures. To obtain the mixing time of the chain we describe a coupling, which we analyze for cycle graphs and simulate for other graphs.

Analytical investigation of bidirectional ductile diaphragms in multi-span bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Xiaone; Bruneau, Michel

2018-04-01

In the AASHTO Guide Specifications for Seismic Bridge Design Provisions, ductile diaphragms are identified as Permissible Earthquake-Resisting Elements (EREs), designed to help resist seismic loads applied in the transverse direction of bridges. When adding longitudinal ductile diaphragms, a bidirectional ductile diaphragm system is created that can address seismic excitations acting along both the bridge's longitudinal and transverse axes. This paper investigates bidirectional ductile diaphragms with Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) in straight multi-span bridge with simply supported floating spans. The flexibility of the substructures in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the bridge is considered. Design procedures for the bidirectional ductile diaphragms are first proposed. An analytical model of the example bridge with bidirectional ductile diaphragms, designed based on the proposed methodology, is then built in SAP2000. Pushover and nonlinear time history analyses are performed on the bridge model, and corresponding results are presented. The effect of changing the longitudinal stiffness of the bidirectional ductile diaphragms in the end spans connecting to the abutment is also investigated, in order to better understand the impact on the bridge's dynamic performance.

Characterisation of minimal-span plane Couette turbulence with pressure gradients

Science.gov (United States)

Sekimoto, Atsushi; Atkinson, Callum; Soria, Julio

2018-04-01

The turbulence statistics and dynamics in the spanwise-minimal plane Couette flow with pressure gradients, so-called, Couette-Poiseuille (C-P) flow, are investigated using direct numerical simulation. The large-scale motion is limited in the spanwise box dimension as in the minimal-span channel turbulence of Flores & Jiménez (Phys. Fluids, vol. 22, 2010, 071704). The effect of the top wall, where normal pressure-driven Poiseuille flow is realised, is distinguished from the events on the bottom wall, where the pressure gradient results in mild or almost-zero wall-shear stress. A proper scaling of turbulence statistics in minimal-span C-P flows is presented. Also the ‘shear-less’ wall-bounded turbulence, where the Corrsin shear parameter is very weak compared to normal wall-bounded turbulence, represents local separation, which is also observed as spanwise streaks of reversed flow in full-size plane C-P turbulence. The local separation is a multi-scale event, which grows up to the order of the channel height even in the minimal-span geometry.

Do Some Workers Have Minimum Wage Careers?

Science.gov (United States)

Carrington, William J.; Fallick, Bruce C.

2001-01-01

Most workers who begin their careers in minimum-wage jobs eventually gain more experience and move on to higher paying jobs. However, more than 8% of workers spend at least half of their first 10 working years in minimum wage jobs. Those more likely to have minimum wage careers are less educated, minorities, women with young children, and those…

Does the Minimum Wage Affect Welfare Caseloads?

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Marianne E.; Spetz, Joanne; Millar, Jane

2005-01-01

Although minimum wages are advocated as a policy that will help the poor, few studies have examined their effect on poor families. This paper uses variation in minimum wages across states and over time to estimate the impact of minimum wage legislation on welfare caseloads. We find that the elasticity of the welfare caseload with respect to the…

29 CFR 4.159 - General minimum wage.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true General minimum wage. 4.159 Section 4.159 Labor Office of... General minimum wage. The Act, in section 2(b)(1), provides generally that no contractor or subcontractor... a contract less than the minimum wage specified under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards...

Short-term memory predictions across the lifespan: monitoring span before and after conducting a task.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertrand, Julie Marilyne; Moulin, Chris John Anthony; Souchay, Céline

2017-05-01

Our objective was to explore metamemory in short-term memory across the lifespan. Five age groups participated in this study: 3 groups of children (4-13 years old), and younger and older adults. We used a three-phase task: prediction-span-postdiction. For prediction and postdiction phases, participants reported with a Yes/No response if they could recall in order a series of images. For the span task, they had to actually recall such series. From 4 years old, children have some ability to monitor their short-term memory and are able to adjust their prediction after experiencing the task. However, accuracy still improves significantly until adolescence. Although the older adults had a lower span, they were as accurate as young adults in their evaluation, suggesting that metamemory is unimpaired for short-term memory tasks in older adults. •We investigate metamemory for short-term memory tasks across the lifespan. •We find younger children cannot accurately predict their span length. •Older adults are accurate in predicting their span length. •People's metamemory accuracy was related to their short-term memory span.

The visual attention span deficit in Chinese children with reading fluency difficulty.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Liu, Menglian; Liu, Hanlong; Huang, Chen

2018-02-01

With reading development, some children fail to learn to read fluently. However, reading fluency difficulty (RFD) has not been fully investigated. The present study explored the underlying mechanism of RFD from the aspect of visual attention span. Fourteen Chinese children with RFD and fourteen age-matched normal readers participated. The visual 1-back task was adopted to examine visual attention span. Reaction time and accuracy were recorded, and relevant d-prime (d') scores were computed. Results showed that children with RFD exhibited lower accuracy and lower d' values than the controls did in the visual 1-back task, revealing a visual attention span deficit. Further analyses on d' values revealed that the attention distribution seemed to exhibit an inverted U-shaped pattern without lateralization for normal readers, but a W-shaped pattern with a rightward bias for children with RFD, which was discussed based on between-group variation in reading strategies. Results of the correlation analyses showed that visual attention span was associated with reading fluency at the sentence level for normal readers, but was related to reading fluency at the single-character level for children with RFD. The different patterns in correlations between groups revealed that visual attention span might be affected by the variation in reading strategies. The current findings extend previous data from alphabetic languages to Chinese, a logographic language with a particularly deep orthography, and have implications for reading-dysfluency remediation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Minimizing activated carbons production cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stavropoulos, G.G.; Zabaniotou, A.A.

2009-01-01

A detailed economic evaluation of activated carbons production process from various raw materials is undertaken using the conventional economic indices (ROI, POT, and NPV). The fundamental factors that affect production cost were taken into account. It is concluded that for an attractive investment in activated carbons production one should select the raw material with the highest product yield, adopt a chemical activation production scheme and should base product price on product-surface area (or more generally on product adsorption capacity for the adsorbate in consideration). A raw material that well meets the above-mentioned criteria is petroleum coke but others are also promising (charcoals, and carbon black). Production cost then can be optimized by determining its minimum value of cost that results from the intercept between the curves of plant capacity and raw material cost - if any. Taking into account the complexity of such a techno-economic analysis, a useful suggestion could be to start the evaluations from a plant capacity corresponding to the break-even point, i. e. the capacity at which income equals production cost. (author)

Putting strategy to work: Tools for cost and quality management in the 1990s

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-12-01

Utilities face challenges in implementing cost and quality management approaches that will bring bottom-line results in all operational areas. This report identifies successful implementations of approaches that improve productivity and asset utilization and also achieve cost and quality management objectives. It provides insight and direction based on real-life management experience spanning the past decade. This document, Volume 3, Cost and Quality Guidebook, defines the 17 approaches most often used in cost and quality improvement efforts by the nation's leading companies. This volume includes survey results, case studies pertinent to each approach, a literature reference list, and a list of contacts

Analysis of protection spanning-tree protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Б.Я. Корнієнко

2007-01-01

Full Text Available  Extraordinary sweeping  of  IT – development  causes vulnerabilities and, thereafter, attacks that use these vulnerabilities. That is why one must post factum or even in advance speed up invention of new information  security systems as well as develop the old ones. The matter of article concerns Spanning-Tree Protocol  – the vivid example of the case, when the cure of the vulnerability creates dozen of new "weak spots".

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi, E-mail: emmanueladdai41@yahoo.com; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-04-15

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Cost-effectiveness of alternative changes to a national blood collection service.

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, S; De Corte, K; Cairns, J A; Zia Sadique, M; Hawkins, N; Pennington, M; Cho, G; Roberts, D J; Miflin, G; Grieve, R

2018-05-16

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of changing opening times, introducing a donor health report and reducing the minimum inter-donation interval for donors attending static centres. Evidence is required about the effect of changes to the blood collection service on costs and the frequency of donation. This study estimated the effect of changes to the blood collection service in England on the annual number of whole-blood donations by current donors. We used donors' responses to a stated preference survey, donor registry data on donation frequency and deferral rates from the INTERVAL trial. Costs measured were those anticipated to differ between strategies. We reported the cost per additional unit of blood collected for each strategy versus current practice. Strategies with a cost per additional unit of whole blood less than £30 (an estimate of the current cost of collection) were judged likely to be cost-effective. In static donor centres, extending opening times to evenings and weekends provided an additional unit of whole blood at a cost of £23 and £29, respectively. Introducing a health report cost £130 per additional unit of blood collected. Although the strategy of reducing the minimum inter-donation interval had the lowest cost per additional unit of blood collected (£10), this increased the rate of deferrals due to low haemoglobin (Hb). The introduction of a donor health report is unlikely to provide a sufficient increase in donation frequency to justify the additional costs. A more cost-effective change is to extend opening hours for blood collection at static centres. © 2018 The Authors. Transfusion Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Blood Transfusion Society.

Evaluating the life cycle environmental impact of short span bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Guangli; Pettersson, Lars; Karoumi, Raid

2016-01-01

impact of the construction sector. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for assessing the environmental impact of products and systems, but its application in bridges is scarce. In Swede, most of the bridges are short spans and the type of concrete slab-frame bridge (CFB) accounts...... for a large share. Soil steel composite bridge (SSCB) is a functional equivalent solution for CFB. In order to mitigate the environmental burdens of short span bridges, this paper performed a comparative LCA study between these two types of bridge. The results indicate that the initial material consumption...

New Minimum Wage Research: A Symposium.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrenberg, Ronald G.; And Others

1992-01-01

Includes "Introduction" (Ehrenberg); "Effect of the Minimum Wage [MW] on the Fast-Food Industry" (Katz, Krueger); "Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure Effects of the Federal MW" (Card); "Do MWs Reduce Employment?" (Card); "Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages" (Neumark,…

The Minimum Impact House : Applications of the Frankfurt Prototype for sustainable building in Cities of the European Rhine Region

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drexler, H.; Jauslin, D.; Curiel, F.

2010-01-01

The Minimum Impact House in Frankfurt am Main is a sustainable solution for low cost living within city centers - a prototype typology with minimal footprint, built on a leftover urban space. The planning process itself became part of a scientific study. The ecological advantages of building in the

Cross-language modulation of visual attention span: An Arabic-French-Spanish comparison in adult skilled readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faris Haroon Rasheed Awadh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages --French, Spanish and Arabic-- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were adult skilled readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented 5 consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T. All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that the VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between visual attention span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Awadh, Faris H R; Phénix, Thierry; Antzaka, Alexia; Lallier, Marie; Carreiras, Manuel; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages -French, Spanish, and Arabic- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

Cost-optimal levels for energy performance requirements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Kirsten Engelund; Aggerholm, Søren; Kluttig-Erhorn, Heike

2011-01-01

The CA conducted a study on experiences and challenges for setting cost optimal levels for energy performance requirements. The results were used as input by the EU Commission in their work of establishing the Regulation on a comparative methodology framework for calculating cost optimal levels...... of minimum energy performance requirements. In addition to the summary report released in August 2011, the full detailed report on this study is now also made available, just as the EC is about to publish its proposed Regulation for MS to apply in their process to update national building requirements....

Teaching the Minimum Wage in Econ 101 in Light of the New Economics of the Minimum Wage.

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Alan B.

2001-01-01

Argues that the recent controversy over the effect of the minimum wage on employment offers an opportunity for teaching introductory economics. Examines eight textbooks to determine topic coverage but finds little consensus. Describes how minimum wage effects should be taught. (RLH)

evaluation of total annual costs of heat exchanger networks using

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

after solving the first problem using RPA based heat integration gave a minimum total annual cost (TAC) of $237, ... mathematical programming and non-RPA based Hint software. ... The concept of pinch analysis evolved over the years.

Permanent magnet design for magnetic heat pumps using total cost minimization

Science.gov (United States)

Teyber, R.; Trevizoli, P. V.; Christiaanse, T. V.; Govindappa, P.; Niknia, I.; Rowe, A.

2017-11-01

The active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is an attractive technology for efficient heat pumps and cooling systems. The costs associated with a permanent magnet for near room temperature applications are a central issue which must be solved for broad market implementation. To address this problem, we present a permanent magnet topology optimization to minimize the total cost of cooling using a thermoeconomic cost-rate balance coupled with an AMR model. A genetic algorithm identifies cost-minimizing magnet topologies. For a fixed temperature span of 15 K and 4.2 kg of gadolinium, the optimal magnet configuration provides 3.3 kW of cooling power with a second law efficiency (ηII) of 0.33 using 16.3 kg of permanent magnet material.

Effect of patient's life expectancy on the cost-effectiveness of treatment for ocular hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Kymes, Steven M; Plotzke, Michael R; Kass, Michael A; Boland, Michael V; Gordon, Mae O

2010-05-01

To assess the influence of expected life span on the cost-effectiveness of treating ocular hypertension to prevent primary open-angle glaucoma. We used a Markov simulation model to estimate the cost and benefit of ocular hypertension treatment over a person's remaining life. We examined the influence of age on the cost-effectiveness decision in 2 ways: (1) by evaluating specific age cohorts to assess the influence of age at the initiation of treatment; and (2) by evaluating the influence of a specific life span. At a willingness to pay $50,000/quality-adjusted life year to $100,000/quality-adjusted life year, treatment of people with a 2% or greater annual risk of developing glaucoma was cost-effective for people aged 45 years with a life expectancy of at least 18 remaining years. However, to be cost-effective, a person aged 55 years must have a life expectancy of 21 remaining years and someone aged 65 years must have a life expectancy of 23 remaining years. A person with ocular hypertension must have a life expectancy of at least 18 remaining years to justify treatment at a threshold of a 2% or greater annual risk of developing glaucoma. Persons at higher levels of risk require a life expectancy of 7 to 10 additional years to justify treatment.

Electrical performance of conducting polymer (SPAN) grown on GaAs with different substrate orientations

Science.gov (United States)

Jameel, D. A.; Aziz, M.; Felix, J. F.; Al Saqri, N.; Taylor, D.; Albalawi, H.; Alghamdi, H.; Al Mashary, F.; Henini, M.

2016-11-01

This article reports the effect of n-type GaAs substrate orientation, namely (100), (311)A and (311)B, on the electrical properties of sulfonated polyaniline (SPAN)/GaAs heterojunction devices. In addition, the inhomogeneity of the interface between various GaAs substrates and SPAN is investigated in terms of barrier height and ideality factor by performing I-V measurements at different temperatures (20-420 K). The I-V results indicate that the value of the rectification ratio (IF/IR) at 0.5 V is higher for SPAN/(311)B GaAs samples than for SPAN/(100) GaAs and SPAN/(311)A GaAs samples. Moreover, the barrier height decreases and the ideality factor increases with decreasing temperature for all three heterostructure devices. The high value of mean barrier Φbarb of SPAN/(311)B (calculated from the plots of Φb 0 as a function of 1/2kT) confirms that the GaAs substrate orientation results in an increase of barrier homogeneities. Furthermore, the C-V characteristics were obtained at room temperature. The C-V measurements showed that the carrier distributions at the interface and away from the interface in high index (311) GaAs orientations are more uniform and have better barrier homogeneity than those grown on the conventional (100) GaAs substrates.

DIRECT SELECTION ON LIFE-SPAN IN DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ZWAAN, B; BIJLSMA, R; HOEKSTRA, RE

An important issue in the study of the evolution of aging in Drosophila melanogaster is whether decreased early fecundity is inextricably coupled with increased life span in selection experiments on age at reproduction. Here, this problem has been tackled using an experimental design in which

30 CFR 75.1431 - Minimum rope strength.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., including rotation resistant). For rope lengths less than 3,000 feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.001L) For rope lengths 3,000 feet or greater: Minimum Value=Static Load×4.0 (b) Friction drum ropes. For rope lengths less than 4,000 feet: Minimum Value=Static Load×(7.0−0.0005L) For rope lengths 4,000 feet...

Dynamic Modeling of Cost-effectiveness of Rotavirus Vaccination, Kazakhstan

Science.gov (United States)

Flem, Elmira; Latipov, Renat; Kuatbaeva, Ajnagul; Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø

2014-01-01

The government of Kazakhstan, a middle-income country in Central Asia, is considering the introduction of rotavirus vaccination into its national immunization program. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis of rotavirus vaccination spanning 20 years by using a synthesis of dynamic transmission models accounting for herd protection. We found that a vaccination program with 90% coverage would prevent ≈880 rotavirus deaths and save an average of 54,784 life-years for children <5 years of age. Indirect protection accounted for 40% and 60% reduction in severe and mild rotavirus gastroenteritis, respectively. Cost per life year gained was US $18,044 from a societal perspective and US $23,892 from a health care perspective. Comparing the 2 key parameters of cost-effectiveness, mortality rates and vaccine cost at costs would be entirely offset. To further evaluate efficacy of a vaccine program, benefits of indirect protection conferred by vaccination warrant further study. PMID:24378188

Structural covariance networks across the life span, from 6 to 94 years of age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth DuPre

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Structural covariance examines covariation of gray matter morphology between brain regions and across individuals. Despite significant interest in the influence of age on structural covariance patterns, no study to date has provided a complete life span perspective—bridging childhood with early, middle, and late adulthood—on the development of structural covariance networks. Here, we investigate the life span trajectories of structural covariance in six canonical neurocognitive networks: default, dorsal attention, frontoparietal control, somatomotor, ventral attention, and visual. By combining data from five open-access data sources, we examine the structural covariance trajectories of these networks from 6 to 94 years of age in a sample of 1,580 participants. Using partial least squares, we show that structural covariance patterns across the life span exhibit two significant, age-dependent trends. The first trend is a stable pattern whose integrity declines over the life span. The second trend is an inverted-U that differentiates young adulthood from other age groups. Hub regions, including posterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, appear particularly influential in the expression of this second age-dependent trend. Overall, our results suggest that structural covariance provides a reliable definition of neurocognitive networks across the life span and reveal both shared and network-specific trajectories. The importance of life span perspectives is increasingly apparent in understanding normative interactions of large-scale neurocognitive networks. Although recent work has made significant strides in understanding the functional and structural connectivity of these networks, there has been comparatively little attention to life span trajectories of structural covariance networks. In this study we examine patterns of structural covariance across the life span for six neurocognitive networks. Our results suggest that networks exhibit

Modular NanoSat Launcher Design for Lowest Mission Cost, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — As minimum cost will be required for a dedicated NanoSat Launch Vehicle, a series and parallel staged, highly modular vehicle architecture is proposed for design...

Processing Efficiency in Preschoolers' Memory Span: Individual Differences Related to Age and Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Visu-Petra, Laura; Miclea, Mircea; Cheie, Lavinia; Benga, Oana

2009-01-01

In self-paced auditory memory span tasks, the microanalysis of response timing measures represents a developmentally sensitive measure, providing insights into the development of distinct processing rates during recall performance. The current study first examined the effects of age and trait anxiety on span accuracy (effectiveness) and response…

U.S. War Costs: Two Parts Temporary, One Part Permanent.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Ryan D

2014-05-01

Military spending, fatalities, and the destruction of capital, all of which are immediately felt and are often large, are the most overt costs of war. They are also relatively short-lived. But the costs of war borne by combatants and their caretakers, which includes families, communities, and the modern welfare state, tend instead to be lifelong. In this paper I show that a significant component of the budgetary costs associated with U.S. wars is long-lived. One third to one half of the total present value of historical war costs are benefits distributed over the remaining life spans of veterans and their dependents. Even thirty years after the end of hostilities, typically half of all benefits remain to be paid. Estimates of the costs of injuries and deaths suggest that the private burden of war borne by survivors, namely the uncompensated costs of service-related injuries, are also large and long-lived.

U.S. War Costs: Two Parts Temporary, One Part Permanent

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Ryan D.

2014-01-01

Military spending, fatalities, and the destruction of capital, all of which are immediately felt and are often large, are the most overt costs of war. They are also relatively short-lived. But the costs of war borne by combatants and their caretakers, which includes families, communities, and the modern welfare state, tend instead to be lifelong. In this paper I show that a significant component of the budgetary costs associated with U.S. wars is long-lived. One third to one half of the total present value of historical war costs are benefits distributed over the remaining life spans of veterans and their dependents. Even thirty years after the end of hostilities, typically half of all benefits remain to be paid. Estimates of the costs of injuries and deaths suggest that the private burden of war borne by survivors, namely the uncompensated costs of service-related injuries, are also large and long-lived. PMID:25221367

'Localised creativity: a life span perspective'

OpenAIRE

Worth, Piers J.

2000-01-01

This thesis is based around a biographic study of the lives of 40 individuals (24 men and 16 women) with a reputation for creative work in a localised context (such as an organisation). The study examines life span development patterns from birth to middle age (45 - 60 years of age) with data gained by biographic interview and thematic analysis. Participants selected for this study are creative in that they have a reputation for producing new, novel and useful or appropriate contributions in ...

Blended Design Approach of Long Span Structure and Malay Traditional Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Sundari, Titin

2017-12-01

The growing population in the world is so fast, which is followed by the increasing need of some new and large activities. Architects face the problem on how to facilitate buildings with various activities such as for large meeting, conference, indoors gymnasium and sports, and many others. The long span structure of building is one of the solutions to solve that problem. Generally, large buildings which implemented this structure will look as a technological, modern and futuristic ones or even neo futuristic performance. But on the other hand, many people still want to enjoy the specific and unique senses of local traditional architecture. So is the Malay people who want an easy pleasant large facilities which can be fulfilled by implementing modern long span building structure technology. In the same time, their unique sense of Malay traditional architecture can still be maintained. To overcome this double problems of design, it needs a blended design approach of long span structure and Malay Traditional Architecture.

Seismic Performance of Multi-Span RC Railway Bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georgakis, Christos; Barrau, Xavier

2008-01-01

Presently, there is no clear method for determining the optimal railway bridge design for a particular ground type and expected seismic intensity. Four main types of RC bridge dominate the current multi-span railway bridge design trends – the Simply Supported Beam, Continuous Box-Girder (CBG), CBG...

Spanning the Creative Space between Home and Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Lee N.; Hoisl, Karin; Davis, Jerome

the employee brings to work. Based on Woodman et al.’s (1993) “interactionist perspective” on organizational creativity, supplemented by literature on search and knowledge/combination, we explore whether leisure time activities can span the creative space between the employee’s home and workplace – given...

Shield cost minimization using SWAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watkins, E.F.; Annese, C.E.; Greenspan, E.

1993-01-01

The common approach to the search for minimum cost shield designs is open-quotes trial-and-errorclose quotes; it proceeds as follows: 1. Based on prior experience and intuition, divide the shield into zones and assume their composition. 2. Solve the transport equation and calculate the relevant performance characteristics. 3. Change the composition or the geometry of one or a few of the zones and repeat step 2. 4. Repeat step 3 many times until the shield design appears to be optimal. 5. Select a different set of constituents and repeat steps 2,3, and 4. 6. Repeate step 5 a few or many times until the designer can point to the most cost-effective design

Individual differences in memory span: the contribution of rehearsal, access to lexical memory, and output speed.

Science.gov (United States)

Tehan, G; Lalor, D M

2000-11-01

Rehearsal speed has traditionally been seen to be the prime determinant of individual differences in memory span. Recent studies, in the main using young children as the subject population, have suggested other contributors to span performance, notably contributions from long-term memory and forgetting and retrieval processes occurring during recall. In the current research we explore individual differences in span with respect to measures of rehearsal, output time, and access to lexical memory. We replicate standard short-term phenomena; we show that the variables that influence children's span performance influence adult performance in the same way; and we show that lexical memory access appears to be a more potent source of individual differences in span than either rehearsal speed or output factors.

Phonological similarity effect in complex span task.

Science.gov (United States)

Camos, Valérie; Mora, Gérôme; Barrouillet, Pierre

2013-01-01

The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that two systems are involved in verbal working memory; one is specifically dedicated to the maintenance of phonological representations through verbal rehearsal while the other would maintain multimodal representations through attentional refreshing. This theoretical framework predicts that phonologically related phenomena such as the phonological similarity effect (PSE) should occur when the domain-specific system is involved in maintenance, but should disappear when concurrent articulation hinders its use. Impeding maintenance in the domain-general system by a concurrent attentional demand should impair recall performance without affecting PSE. In three experiments, we manipulated the concurrent articulation and the attentional demand induced by the processing component of complex span tasks in which participants had to maintain lists of either similar or dissimilar words. Confirming our predictions, PSE affected recall performance in complex span tasks. Although both the attentional demand and the articulatory requirement of the concurrent task impaired recall, only the induction of an articulatory suppression during maintenance made the PSE disappear. These results suggest a duality in the systems devoted to verbal maintenance in the short term, constraining models of working memory.

The Problem of Predecessors on Spanning Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Poghosyan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the equiprobable distribution of spanning trees on the square lattice. All bonds of each tree can be oriented uniquely with respect to an arbitrary chosen site called the root. The problem of predecessors is to find the probability that a path along the oriented bonds passes sequentially fixed sites i and j. The conformal field theory for the Potts model predicts the fractal dimension of the path to be 5/4. Using this result, we show that the probability in the predecessors problem for two sites separated by large distance r decreases as P(r ∼ r −3/4. If sites i and j are nearest neighbors on the square lattice, the probability P(1 = 5/16 can be found from the analytical theory developed for the sandpile model. The known equivalence between the loop erased random walk (LERW and the directed path on the spanning tree states that P(1 is the probability for the LERW started at i to reach the neighboring site j. By analogy with the self-avoiding walk, P(1 can be called the return probability. Extensive Monte-Carlo simulations confirm the theoretical predictions.

Detection of suboptimal effort with symbol span: development of a new embedded index.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, J Christopher; Caron, Joshua E; Baughman, Brandon C; Sawyer, R John

2012-03-01

Developing embedded indicators of suboptimal effort on objective neurocognitive testing is essential for detecting increasingly sophisticated forms of symptom feigning. The current study explored whether Symbol Span, a novel Wechsler Memory Scale-fourth edition measure of supraspan visual attention, could be used to discriminate adequate effort from suboptimal effort. Archival data were collected from 136 veterans classified into Poor Effort (n = 42) and Good Effort (n = 94) groups based on symptom validity test (SVT) performance. The Poor Effort group had significantly lower raw scores (p Span test. A raw score cutoff of Span can effectively differentiate veterans with multiple failures on established free-standing and embedded SVTs.

30 CFR 281.30 - Minimum royalty.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Minimum royalty. 281.30 Section 281.30 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE LEASING OF MINERALS OTHER THAN OIL, GAS, AND SULPHUR IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Financial Considerations § 281.30 Minimum royalty...

Improving boiler unit performance using an optimum robust minimum-order observer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moradi, Hamed; Bakhtiari-Nejad, Firooz

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → Multivariable model of a boiler unit with uncertainty. → Design of a robust minimum-order observer. → Developing an optimal functional code in MATLAB environment. → Finding optimum region of observer-based controller poles. → Guarantee of robust performance in the presence of parametric uncertainties. - Abstract: To achieve a good performance of the utility boiler, dynamic variables such as drum pressure, steam temperature and water level of drum must be controlled. In this paper, a linear time invariant (LTI) model of a boiler system is considered in which the input variables are feed-water and fuel mass rates. Due to the inaccessibility of some state variables of boiler system, a minimum-order observer is designed based on Luenberger's model to gain an estimate state x-tilde of the true state x. Low cost of design and high accuracy of states estimation are the main advantages of the minimum-order observer; in comparison with previous designed full-order observers. By applying the observer on the closed-loop system, a regulator system is designed. Using an optimal functional code developed in MATLAB environment, desired observer poles are found such that suitable time response specifications of the boiler system are achieved and the gain and phase margin values are adjusted in an acceptable range. However, the real dynamic model may associate with parametric uncertainties. In that case, optimum region of poles of observer-based controller are found such that the robust performance of the boiler system against model uncertainties is guaranteed.

Friendship in childhood and adulthood: lessons across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, A M; de Vries, B; Lansford, J E

2000-01-01

Friendship occupies an important place in the growing body of literature in child development and gerontological research. As such, it may be useful for researchers from both fields to consider what can be learned from work carried out in each tradition. Therefore, we present a selected review of topics in friendship research across the life span. Through discussion of the value of friendship, the development of friendship, challenges to friendship, the gendered nature of friendship, and the connection between friends and family, points of commonality and contrast are identified. We conclude by presenting possible avenues for future investigation for researchers interested in friendship at any point in the life span.

Minimization of Food Cost on 2000-Calorie Diabetic Diet

Science.gov (United States)

Urrutia, J. D.; Mercado, J.; Tampis, R. L.

2017-03-01

This study focuses on minimization of food cost that satisfies the daily nutrients required based on 2000-calorie diet for a diabetic person. This paper attempts to provide a food combination that satisfies the daily nutrient requirements of a diabetic person and its lowest possible dietary food cost. A linear programming diet model is used to determine the cheapest combination of food items that satisfy the recommended daily nutritional requirements of the diabetic persons. According to the findings, a 50 year old and above diabetic male need to spend a minimum of 72.22 pesos for foods that satisfy the daily nutrients they need. In order to attain the minimum spending, the foods must consist of 60.49 grams of anchovy, 91.24 grams of carrot, 121.92 grams of durian, 121.41 grams of chicken egg, 70.82 grams of pork (lean), and 369.70 grams of rice (well-milled). For a 50 year old and above diabetic female, the minimum spending is 64.65 pesos per day and the food must consist of 75.87 grams of anchovy, 43.38 grams of carrot, 160.46 grams of durian, 69.66 grams of chicken egg, 23.16 grams of pork (lean) and 416.19 grams of rice (well-milled).

State cigarette minimum price laws - United States, 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-09

Cigarette price increases reduce the demand for cigarettes and thereby reduce smoking prevalence, cigarette consumption, and youth initiation of smoking. Excise tax increases are the most effective government intervention to increase the price of cigarettes, but cigarette manufacturers use trade discounts, coupons, and other promotions to counteract the effects of these tax increases and appeal to price-sensitive smokers. State cigarette minimum price laws, initiated by states in the 1940s and 1950s to protect tobacco retailers from predatory business practices, typically require a minimum percentage markup to be added to the wholesale and/or retail price. If a statute prohibits trade discounts from the minimum price calculation, these laws have the potential to counteract discounting by cigarette manufacturers. To assess the status of cigarette minimum price laws in the United States, CDC surveyed state statutes and identified those states with minimum price laws in effect as of December 31, 2009. This report summarizes the results of that survey, which determined that 25 states had minimum price laws for cigarettes (median wholesale markup: 4.00%; median retail markup: 8.00%), and seven of those states also expressly prohibited the use of trade discounts in the minimum retail price calculation. Minimum price laws can help prevent trade discounting from eroding the positive effects of state excise tax increases and higher cigarette prices on public health.

Proactive and coactive interference in age-related performance in a recognition-based operation span task.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeintl, Melanie; Kliegel, Matthias

2010-01-01

Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

How long will my mouse live? Machine learning approaches for prediction of mouse life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Swindell, William R; Harper, James M; Miller, Richard A

2008-09-01

Prediction of individual life span based on characteristics evaluated at middle-age represents a challenging objective for aging research. In this study, we used machine learning algorithms to construct models that predict life span in a stock of genetically heterogeneous mice. Life-span prediction accuracy of 22 algorithms was evaluated using a cross-validation approach, in which models were trained and tested with distinct subsets of data. Using a combination of body weight and T-cell subset measures evaluated before 2 years of age, we show that the life-span quartile to which an individual mouse belongs can be predicted with an accuracy of 35.3% (+/-0.10%). This result provides a new benchmark for the development of life-span-predictive models, but improvement can be expected through identification of new predictor variables and development of computational approaches. Future work in this direction can provide tools for aging research and will shed light on associations between phenotypic traits and longevity.

The Life Span of the BD-PND Bubble Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanhavere, F.; Loos, M.; Thierens, H.

1999-01-01

BD-PND bubble detectors from Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) were used to conduct a study of the life span of these detectors. The manufacturer guarantees an optimum detector performance for three months after receipt. Nevertheless, it is important to know the evolution of their characteristics with time, also after those three months. On a standard set-up with a 252 Cf source the bubble detectors were irradiated until they reached the end of their life span. During this period, the evolution in sensitivity was monitored. The temperature compensating system seems to be the limiting factor with time for the use of the BTI bubble detectors. The change in temperature dependence with age was determined. The same parameters were also checked with several batches of detectors that were used in practice. (author)

Robustness Analysis of Big Span Glulam Truss Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajčié, V.; čizmar, D.; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2010-01-01

(Eurocode 0 &1, Probabilistic model code etc.) Based on a project of big span glulam truss structure, build in Croatia few years ago, a probabilistic model is made with four failure elements. Reliability analysis of components is conducted and based on this a robustness analysis is preformed. It can...

Hard-Rock Stability Analysis for Span Design in Entry-Type Excavations with Learning Classifiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esperanza García-Gonzalo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The mining industry relies heavily on empirical analysis for design and prediction. An empirical design method, called the critical span graph, was developed specifically for rock stability analysis in entry-type excavations, based on an extensive case-history database of cut and fill mining in Canada. This empirical span design chart plots the critical span against rock mass rating for the observed case histories and has been accepted by many mining operations for the initial span design of cut and fill stopes. Different types of analysis have been used to classify the observed cases into stable, potentially unstable and unstable groups. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new method for defining rock stability areas of the critical span graph, which applies machine learning classifiers (support vector machine and extreme learning machine. The results show a reasonable correlation with previous guidelines. These machine learning methods are good tools for developing empirical methods, since they make no assumptions about the regression function. With this software, it is easy to add new field observations to a previous database, improving prediction output with the addition of data that consider the local conditions for each mine.

Hard-Rock Stability Analysis for Span Design in Entry-Type Excavations with Learning Classifiers.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Gonzalo, Esperanza; Fernández-Muñiz, Zulima; García Nieto, Paulino José; Bernardo Sánchez, Antonio; Menéndez Fernández, Marta

2016-06-29

The mining industry relies heavily on empirical analysis for design and prediction. An empirical design method, called the critical span graph, was developed specifically for rock stability analysis in entry-type excavations, based on an extensive case-history database of cut and fill mining in Canada. This empirical span design chart plots the critical span against rock mass rating for the observed case histories and has been accepted by many mining operations for the initial span design of cut and fill stopes. Different types of analysis have been used to classify the observed cases into stable, potentially unstable and unstable groups. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new method for defining rock stability areas of the critical span graph, which applies machine learning classifiers (support vector machine and extreme learning machine). The results show a reasonable correlation with previous guidelines. These machine learning methods are good tools for developing empirical methods, since they make no assumptions about the regression function. With this software, it is easy to add new field observations to a previous database, improving prediction output with the addition of data that consider the local conditions for each mine.

E-commercspan>e in China and Germany: a Sino-German comparative analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Purnhagen, K.

2012-01-01

The ways to approach the regulation of e-commercspan>e markets are in the focus of discussion both in China and Germany. While a general need for regulation is undisputed in both countries, the scope, means and aims regulation differ. The Chinese e-commercspan>e regulation is based on strong governmental

Application of customer-interruption costs for optimum distribution planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mok, Y.L.; Chung, T.S.

1996-01-01

We present a new methodology for obtaining optimum values of the integrated cost of utility investment with customer interruption in distribution planning for electric power systems by determining the reliability cost and worth of the distribution system. Reliability cost refers to investment cost of the utility in achieving a defined level of reliability. Reliability worth is the benefit gained by the utility customer from an increase of reliability. A computer program has been developed to determine comparative reliability indices for a typical distribution network. With the average interruption cost, outage duration, average disconnected load, cost data for distribution equipment, etc. being known, the relation between reliability cost, reliability worth and reliability at the specified load point are obtained. The optimum reliability of the distribution system is then determined from the minimum cost to the utility with customer interruption. The applicability of this approach is demonstrated by several practical networks. (Author)

The eye-voice span during reading aloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jochen eLaubrock

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Although eye movements during reading are modulated by cognitive processing demands, they also reflect visual sampling of the input, and possibly preparation of output for speech or the inner voice. By simultaneously recording eye movements and the voice during reading aloud, we obtained an output measure that constrains the length of time spent on cognitive processing. Here we investigate the dynamics of the eye-voice span (EVS, the distance between eye and voice. We show that the EVS is regulated immediately during fixation of a word by either increasing fixation duration or programming a regressive eye movement against the reading direction. EVS size at the beginning of a fixation was positively correlated with the likelihood of regressions and refixations. Regression probability was further increased if the EVS was still large at the end of a fixation: if adjustment of fixation duration did not sufficiently reduce the EVS during a fixation, then a regression rather than a refixation followed with high probability. We further show that the EVS can help understand cognitive influences on fixation duration during reading: in mixed model analyses, the EVS was a stronger predictor of fixation durations than either word frequency or word length. The EVS modulated the influence of several other predictors on single fixation durations. For example, word-N frequency effects were larger with a large EVS, especially when word N-1 frequency was low. Finally, a comparison of single fixation durations during oral and silent reading showed that reading is governed by similar principles in both reading modes, although EVS maintenance and articulatory processing also cause some differences. In summary, the eye-voice span is regulated by adjusting fixation duration and/or by programming a regressive eye movement when the eye-voice span gets too large. Overall, the EVS appears to be directly related to updating of the working memory buffer during reading.

Blocking Reduction of Span Restoration Requests in GMPLS Controlled WDM Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buron, Jakob Due; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Andriolli, N.

2006-01-01

The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load.......The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load....

Boundary Spanning in Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søderberg, Anne-Marie; Romani, Laurence

imbalances of power, exacerbated in the case of an Indian vendor and a European client, need to be taken into account. The paper thus contributes with a more context sensitive understanding of inter-organizational boundary work. Taking the vendor perspective also leads to problematization of common...... of Indian IT vendor managers who are responsible for developing client relations and coordinating complex global development projects. The authors revise a framework of boundary spanning leadership practices to adapt it to an offshore outsourcing context. The empirical investigation highlights how...

9 CFR 147.51 - Authorized laboratory minimum requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authorized laboratory minimum requirements. 147.51 Section 147.51 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE... Authorized Laboratories and Approved Tests § 147.51 Authorized laboratory minimum requirements. These minimum...

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-04-15

The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness of preventive interventions to reduce alcohol consumption in Denmark.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Astrid Ledgaard Holm

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of many diseases and injuries, and the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study estimated that 6% of the burden of disease in Denmark is due to alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption thus places a considerable economic burden on society. METHODS: We analysed the cost-effectiveness of six interventions aimed at preventing alcohol abuse in the adult Danish population: 30% increased taxation, increased minimum legal drinking age, advertisement bans, limited hours of retail sales, and brief and longer individual interventions. Potential health effects were evaluated as changes in incidence, prevalence and mortality of alcohol-related diseases and injuries. Net costs were calculated as the sum of intervention costs and cost offsets related to treatment of alcohol-related outcomes, based on health care costs from Danish national registers. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated by calculating incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs for each intervention. We also created an intervention pathway to determine the optimal sequence of interventions and their combined effects. RESULTS: Three of the analysed interventions (advertising bans, limited hours of retail sales and taxation were cost-saving, and the remaining three interventions were all cost-effective. Net costs varied from € -17 million per year for advertisement ban to € 8 million for longer individual intervention. Effectiveness varied from 115 disability-adjusted life years (DALY per year for minimum legal drinking age to 2,900 DALY for advertisement ban. The total annual effect if all interventions were implemented would be 7,300 DALY, with a net cost of € -30 million. CONCLUSION: Our results show that interventions targeting the whole population were more effective than individual-focused interventions. A ban on alcohol advertising, limited hours of retail sale and increased taxation had the highest probability of being cost

Cost-effectiveness of preventive interventions to reduce alcohol consumption in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Astrid Ledgaard; Veerman, Lennert; Cobiac, Linda; Ekholm, Ola; Diderichsen, Finn

2014-01-01

Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of many diseases and injuries, and the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study estimated that 6% of the burden of disease in Denmark is due to alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption thus places a considerable economic burden on society. We analysed the cost-effectiveness of six interventions aimed at preventing alcohol abuse in the adult Danish population: 30% increased taxation, increased minimum legal drinking age, advertisement bans, limited hours of retail sales, and brief and longer individual interventions. Potential health effects were evaluated as changes in incidence, prevalence and mortality of alcohol-related diseases and injuries. Net costs were calculated as the sum of intervention costs and cost offsets related to treatment of alcohol-related outcomes, based on health care costs from Danish national registers. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated by calculating incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each intervention. We also created an intervention pathway to determine the optimal sequence of interventions and their combined effects. Three of the analysed interventions (advertising bans, limited hours of retail sales and taxation) were cost-saving, and the remaining three interventions were all cost-effective. Net costs varied from € -17 million per year for advertisement ban to € 8 million for longer individual intervention. Effectiveness varied from 115 disability-adjusted life years (DALY) per year for minimum legal drinking age to 2,900 DALY for advertisement ban. The total annual effect if all interventions were implemented would be 7,300 DALY, with a net cost of € -30 million. Our results show that interventions targeting the whole population were more effective than individual-focused interventions. A ban on alcohol advertising, limited hours of retail sale and increased taxation had the highest probability of being cost-saving and should thus be first priority for implementation.

Selection of economic cross-section of precast reinforced concrete purlins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goleš Danica

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The selection of the cross section of precast reinforced concrete (RC purlins is performed in the function of their span and load, while the spacing of these elements is chosen according to the bearing capacity and deformability of the roof cover. This paper presents an analysis of the consumption and price of the materials for the production of precast RC purlins of 6.0 m span for different spacing, shapes and dimensions of the cross section, aiming to achieve the minimum total cost of materials for production of the purlins of a two-bay hall, with meeting the requirements of resistance, service-ability and durability.

Effect of practice and span length on the dual-task coordination executive test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylwan R.P.

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The measure "mu", proposed as an index of the ability to coordinate concurrent box-crossing (BC and digit-span (DS tasks in the dual task (DT, should reflect the capacity of the executive component of the working memory system. We investigated the effect of practice in BC and of a change in the digit span on mu by adding previous practice trials in BC and diminishing, maintaining or increasing the digit sequence length. The mu behavior was evaluated throughout three trials of the test. Reported strategies in digit tasks were also analyzed. Subjects with diminished span showed the best performance in DT due to a stable performance in DS and BC in the single- and dual-task conditions. These subjects also showed a more stable performance throughout trials. Subjects with diminished span tended to employ effortless strategies, whereas subjects with increased span employed effort-requiring strategies and showed the lowest means of mu. Subjects with initial practice trials showed the best performance in BC and the most differentiated performance between the single- and dual-task conditions in BC. The correlation coefficient between the mu values obtained in the first and second trials was 0.814 for subjects with diminished span and practice trials in BC. It seems that the within-session practice in BC and the performance variability in DS affect the reliability of the index mu. To control these factors we propose the introduction of previous practice trials in BC and a modification of the current method to determine the digit sequence length. This proposal should contribute to the development of a more reliable method to evaluate the executive capacity of coordination in the dual-task paradigm.

E-commercspan>e in the banking sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stroeken, J.H.M.; Munck, S.G.E. de; Hawkins, R.

2001-01-01

Het doel van de studie is het verschaffen van inzicht in de effecten van e-commercspan>e in de Nederlandse banksector. Elektronische transactie omgevingen als zodanig zijn niet nieuw voor banken, en financiële dienstverlening heeft altijd al te maken gehad met intermediëring door elektronische netwerken.

Damage detection in multi-span beams based on the analysis of frequency changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillich, G R; Ntakpe, J L; Praisach, Z I; Mimis, M C; Abdel Wahab, M

2017-01-01

Crack identification in multi-span beams is performed to determine whether the structure is healthy or not. Among all crack identification methods, these based on measured natural frequency changes present the advantage of simplicity and easy to use in practical engineering. To accurately identify the cracks characteristics for multi-span beam structure, a mathematical model is established, which can predict frequency changes for any boundary conditions, the intermediate supports being hinges. This relation is based on the modal strain energy concept. Since frequency changes are relative small, to obtain natural frequencies with high resolution, a signal processing algorithm based on superposing of numerous spectra is also proposed, which overcomes the disadvantage of Fast Fourier Transform in the aspect of frequency resolution. Based on above-mentioned mathematical model and signal processing algorithm, the method of identifying cracks on multi-span beams is presented. To verify the accuracy of this identification method, experimental examples are conducted on a two-span structure. The results demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper can accurately identify the crack position and depth. (paper)

Post-tensioning and splicing of precast/prestressed bridge beams to extend spans

Science.gov (United States)

Collett, Brandon S.; Saliba, Joseph E.

2002-06-01

This paper explores the status and techniques of post-tensioning and splicing precast concrete I-beams in bridge applications. It will look at the current practices that have been used in the United States and comment on the advantages of these techniques. Representative projects are presented to demonstrate the application and success of specific methods used. To demonstrate the benefits of using post-tensioning and splicing to extend spans, multiple analysis of simple span post-tensioned I-beams were performed varying such characteristics as beam spacing, beam sections, beam depth and concrete strength. Tables were then developed to compare the maximum span length of a prestressed I-beam versus a one segment or a spliced three segment post-tensioned I-beam. The lateral stability of the beam during fabrication, transportation and erection is also examined and discussed. These tables are intended to aid designers and owners in preliminary project studies to determine if post-tensioning can be beneficial to their situation. AASHTO Standard Specifications(2) will be used as basic guidelines and specifications. In many cases, post-tensioning was found to extend the maximum span length of a typical 72-inch precast I-beam more than 40 feet over conventional prestress.

Minimum Price Guarantees In a Consumer Search Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.C.W. Janssen (Maarten); A. Parakhonyak (Alexei)

2009-01-01

textabstractThis paper is the first to examine the effect of minimum price guarantees in a sequential search model. Minimum price guarantees are not advertised and only known to consumers when they come to the shop. We show that in such an environment, minimum price guarantees increase the value of

STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL AND VERY SMALL SPAN WINGS, USED ON SHIPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beazit ALI

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This scientific work presents the way in which the small, and very small span wings can be obtainedstarting from the great span wings and using the two scales of the similarity theory. Basing on two scales modelit can transcribe from model at nature the coefficients x c , y c and lengthening λ of Gottingen - 612 profile.

Wage inequality, minimum wage effects and spillovers

OpenAIRE

Stewart, Mark B.

2011-01-01

This paper investigates possible spillover effects of the UK minimum wage. The halt in the growth in inequality in the lower half of the wage distribution (as measured by the 50:10 percentile ratio) since the mid-1990s, in contrast to the continued inequality growth in the upper half of the distribution, suggests the possibility of a minimum wage effect and spillover effects on wages above the minimum. This paper analyses individual wage changes, using both a difference-in-differences estimat...

Symmetric Electrode Spanning Narrows the Excitation Patterns of Partial Tripolar Stimuli in Cochlear Implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Xin; Wu, Ching-Chih

2016-12-01

In cochlear implants (CIs), standard partial tripolar (pTP) mode reduces current spread by returning a fraction of the current to two adjacent flanking electrodes within the cochlea. Symmetric electrode spanning (i.e., separating both the apical and basal return electrodes from the main electrode by one electrode) has been shown to increase the pitch of pTP stimuli, when the ratio of intracochlear return current was fixed. To explain the pitch increase caused by symmetric spanning in pTP mode, this study measured the electrical potentials of both standard and symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli on a main electrode EL8 in five CI ears using electrical field imaging (EFI). In addition, the spatial profiles of evoked compound action potentials (ECAP) and the psychophysical forward masking (PFM) patterns were also measured for both stimuli. The EFI, ECAP, and PFM patterns of a given stimulus differed in shape details, reflecting the different levels of auditory processing and different ratios of intracochlear return current across the measurement methods. Compared to the standard pTP stimuli, the symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli significantly reduced the areas under the curves of the normalized EFI and PFM patterns, without shifting the pattern peaks and centroids (both around EL8). The more focused excitation patterns with symmetric spanning may have caused the previously reported pitch increase, due to an interaction between pitch and timbre perception. Being able to reduce the spread of excitation, pTP mode symmetric spanning is a promising stimulation strategy that may further increase spectral resolution and frequency selectivity with CIs.

DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF TWO-SPAN CONTINUOUS CONCRETE BRIDGES UNDER MOVING OF HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. H. Marinichenko

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The scientific work provides a comparison of the results of the movement of a high-speed passenger train across the bridge, obtained as a result of finite element modeling in the SAP2000 software package, and real tests of a double-span concrete railway bridge. Analysis of the rigid characteristics of flying structures. Methodology.The numerical method presented in this study shows valid results concerning the dynamic analysis of the behavior of bridges in conditions of high-speed train traffic. The factors influencing the dynamic behavior of bridges under moving loads, the influence of design parameters and rolling stock, as well as the interaction of the train and spans are determined. The system was used in the form of moving concentrated forces simulating the axes of the train. Findings. Maximum movements and accelerations were obtained as a result of the dynamic calculation for different speeds of the train and compared with practical tests. The correctness of the model of a span structure with regard to continuous ferroconcrete spans was verified. Originality. Within the framework of the work, the latest test results were used, including those with speeds calculated on the prospect of rail passenger traffic. For these tests, a model of a span structure was developed. Practical value. The results of the research can be used to plan the introduction of high-speed train traffic on existing and planned flying structures of reinforced concrete bridges. An approach to the design of span structures that will be effective when passing high-speed passenger trains is implemented.

USE OF MEMBRANE EMULSION SPAN 80 AND TOPO IN URANIUM EXTRACTION AND STRIPPING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kris Tri Basuki

2017-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT USE OF MEMBRANE EMULSION SPAN 80 AND TOPO IN URANIUM EXTRACTION AND STRIPPING. Membrane emulsion span 80 and TOPO used in uranium extraction and stripping has been done. The extraction was carried outby emulsion membrane H3PO4 in TOPO-Kerosene. The feed or external aqueous phase was uranium in  HNO3. The emulgator span-80 was used to obtain a stable emulsion membrane system. The influence factors were percentage of TOPO-Kerosene, time extraction,  molarity of external aqueous phase and  molarity of internal aqueous. After the emulsion membrane was formed, the extractionand stripping process was performed. The ratio volume feed : volume membrane phase equal to 1 : 1 and volume of 5 % TOPO-Kerosene : Volume 3 M H3PO4 equal 1 : 1 were used. The relative good yield were obtained at concentration of TOPO in Kerosene and 3 M H3PO4 was 5 %, molarity of internal aqueous phase equal to 1 M, molarity of external aqueous phase 3 M H3PO4 and time extraction equalto 10 minutes with the speed of emulsification was 8000 rpm. At this condition the extraction efficiency of uranium obtained was 97.8 %, the stripping efficiency 52.56 %, and the total efficiency was 53.80 %. Keywords: membrane emulsion, extraction, stripping, span 80, kerosene, uranium. ABSTRAK PENGGUNAAN MEMBRAN EMULSI SPAN 80 DAN TOPO UNTUK EKSTRASI DAN STRIPPING URANIUM. Telah dilakukan penelitian membran emulsi span 80 dan TOPO yang digunakan untuk ekstraksi uranium. Extraksi dengan membran emulsi H3PO4 dalam TOPO-Kerosen. Larutan umpan untuk fasa air eksternal adalah uranium dalam asam nitrat. Untuk memperoleh sistem emulsi yang stabil dipakai emulgator Span 80. Parameter yang berpengaruh adalah persen TOPO-Kerosene, molaritas fasa air internal H3PO4, molaritas fasa air eksternal HNO3 dan waktu ekstraksi. Setelah diperoleh membran emulsi, kemudian dilakukan proses ekstraksi dan stripping, dengan rasio volume umpan : volume membran sebesar 1 : 1; volume 5% TOPO-Kerose : volume 3M

Do randomized controlled trials discuss healthcare costs?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Michael Allan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Healthcare costs, particularly pharmaceutical costs, are a dominant issue for most healthcare organizations, but it is unclear if randomized controlled trials (RCTs routinely discuss costs. Our objective was to assess the frequency and factors associated with the inclusion of costs in RCTs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We randomly sampled 188 RCTs spanning three years (2003-2005 from six high impact journals. The sample size for RCTs was based on a calculation to estimate the inclusion of actual drug costs with a precision of +/-3%. Two reviewers independently extracted cost data and study characteristics. Frequencies were calculated and potential characteristics associated with the inclusion of costs were explored. Actual drug costs were included in 4.7% (9/188 of RCTs; any actual costs were included in 7.4% (14/188 of RCTs; and any mention of costs was included in 27.7% (52/188 of RCTs. As the amount of industry funding increased across RCTs, from non-profit to mixed to fully industry funded RCTs, there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of RCTs with any actual costs (Cochran-Armitage test, p = 0.005 and any mention of costs (Cochran-Armitage test, p = 0.02. Logistic regression analysis also indicated funding was associated with the inclusion of any actual cost (OR = 0.34, p = 0.009 or any mention of costs (OR = 0.63, p = 0.02. Journal, study conclusions, study location, primary author's country and product age were not associated with inclusion of cost information. CONCLUSION: While physicians are encouraged to consider costs when prescribing drugs for their patients, actual drug costs were provided in only 5% of RCTs and were not mentioned at all in 72% of RCTs. Industry funded trials were less likely to include cost information. No other factors were associated with the inclusion of cost information.

Do randomized controlled trials discuss healthcare costs?

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, G Michael; Korownyk, Christina; LaSalle, Kate; Vandermeer, Ben; Ma, Victoria; Klein, Douglas; Manca, Donna

2010-08-23

Healthcare costs, particularly pharmaceutical costs, are a dominant issue for most healthcare organizations, but it is unclear if randomized controlled trials (RCTs) routinely discuss costs. Our objective was to assess the frequency and factors associated with the inclusion of costs in RCTs. We randomly sampled 188 RCTs spanning three years (2003-2005) from six high impact journals. The sample size for RCTs was based on a calculation to estimate the inclusion of actual drug costs with a precision of +/-3%. Two reviewers independently extracted cost data and study characteristics. Frequencies were calculated and potential characteristics associated with the inclusion of costs were explored. Actual drug costs were included in 4.7% (9/188) of RCTs; any actual costs were included in 7.4% (14/188) of RCTs; and any mention of costs was included in 27.7% (52/188) of RCTs. As the amount of industry funding increased across RCTs, from non-profit to mixed to fully industry funded RCTs, there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of RCTs with any actual costs (Cochran-Armitage test, p = 0.005) and any mention of costs (Cochran-Armitage test, p = 0.02). Logistic regression analysis also indicated funding was associated with the inclusion of any actual cost (OR = 0.34, p = 0.009) or any mention of costs (OR = 0.63, p = 0.02). Journal, study conclusions, study location, primary author's country and product age were not associated with inclusion of cost information. While physicians are encouraged to consider costs when prescribing drugs for their patients, actual drug costs were provided in only 5% of RCTs and were not mentioned at all in 72% of RCTs. Industry funded trials were less likely to include cost information. No other factors were associated with the inclusion of cost information.

Minimum Variance Portfolios in the Brazilian Equity Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Rubesam

2013-03-01

Full Text Available We investigate minimum variance portfolios in the Brazilian equity market using different methods to estimate the covariance matrix, from the simple model of using the sample covariance to multivariate GARCH models. We compare the performance of the minimum variance portfolios to those of the following benchmarks: (i the IBOVESPA equity index, (ii an equally-weighted portfolio, (iii the maximum Sharpe ratio portfolio and (iv the maximum growth portfolio. Our results show that the minimum variance portfolio has higher returns with lower risk compared to the benchmarks. We also consider long-short 130/30 minimum variance portfolios and obtain similar results. The minimum variance portfolio invests in relatively few stocks with low βs measured with respect to the IBOVESPA index, being easily replicable by individual and institutional investors alike.

Chaos control in an economic model via minimum entropy strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salarieh, Hassan [Center of Excellence in Design, Robotics and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: salarieh@mech.sharif.edu; Alasty, Aria [Center of Excellence in Design, Robotics and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); National Research Institute for Science Policy (NRISP), Soheil Street, Shirazi Avenue, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: aalasti@sharif.edu

2009-04-30

In this paper, minimum entropy algorithm for controlling chaos, is applied to a Cournot duopoly with different constant marginal costs, as a discrete-time dynamical system which shows chaotic behavior. The ME control is implemented through delayed feedback. It is assumed that the equations of the dynamical system are not known, so the feedback gain cannot be obtained analytically from the system equations. In the ME method the feedback gain is obtained adaptively in such a way that the entropy of the system converges to zero, hence a fixed point of the system will be stabilized. Application of the proposed method with different economic control strategies is numerically investigated. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the ME method for controlling chaos in economic systems with unknown equations.

Computer Support for Conducting Supportability Trade-Offs in a Team Setting

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

with the ability of the product to be satisfactorily maintained throughout its intended useful life span with minimum expenditures of money and effort...during the pre-concept phase, thereby ensuring a reduction in cost due to reducing eventual retrofits, and a more supportable weapon system. Lauder ...It is shown that although large sums of money are expended on producing reliable components, these are vitiated if the end equipment is not exposed

Individual Differences in Digit Span, Susceptibility to Proactive Interference, and Aptitude/Achievement Test Scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Dempster, Frank N.; Cooney, John B.

1982-01-01

Individual differences in digit span, susceptibility to proactive interference, and various aptitude/achievement test scores were investigated in two experiments with college students. Results indicated that digit span was strongly correlated with aptitude/achievement scores, but did not indicate that susceptibility to proactive interference…

Several Families of Sequences with Low Correlation and Large Linear Span

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Fanxin; Zhang, Zhenyu

In DS-CDMA systems and DS-UWB radios, low correlation of spreading sequences can greatly help to minimize multiple access interference (MAI) and large linear span of spreading sequences can reduce their predictability. In this letter, new sequence sets with low correlation and large linear span are proposed. Based on the construction Trm1[Trnm(αbt+γiαdt)]r for generating p-ary sequences of period pn-1, where n=2m, d=upm±v, b=u±v, γi∈GF(pn), and p is an arbitrary prime number, several methods to choose the parameter d are provided. The obtained sequences with family size pn are of four-valued, five-valued, six-valued or seven-valued correlation and the maximum nontrivial correlation value is (u+v-1)pm-1. The simulation by a computer shows that the linear span of the new sequences is larger than that of the sequences with Niho-type and Welch-type decimations, and similar to that of [10].

Analysis of the effectiveness of various cross-sections in large-span post-tensioned ceilings

Science.gov (United States)

Bednarz, K.

2018-03-01

The correct construction of large span, slim post-tensioned concrete slabs is conditioned by an appropriate cross-section selection. It is generally accepted that the thinnest slab can be constructed using the full cross-section as the largest compression stress storage. However, completely different cross-sections may help to overcome large spans. The paper presents the results of the computational analysis of several types of cross-sections (full, with internal relieving inserts and ribbed) in the application to a post-tensioned slab with a span of 15.0m. Based on the results presented, appropriate conclusions were drawn.

The integrated business information system: using automation to monitor cost-effectiveness of park operations

Science.gov (United States)

Dick Stanley; Bruce Jackson

1995-01-01

The cost-effectiveness of park operations is often neglected because information is laborious to compile. The information, however, is critical if we are to derive maximum benefit from scarce resources. This paper describes an automated system for calculating cost-effectiveness ratios with minimum effort using data from existing data bases.

Exploration of malingering indices in the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition Digit Span subtest.

Science.gov (United States)

Reese, Caitlin S; Suhr, Julie A; Riddle, Tara L

2012-03-01

Prior research shows that Digit Span is a useful embedded measure of malingering. However, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (Wechsler, 2008) altered Digit Span in meaningful ways, necessitating another look at Digit Span as an embedded measure of malingering. Using a simulated malingerer design, we examined the predictive accuracy of existing Digit Span validity indices and explored whether patterns of performance utilizing the new version would provide additional evidence for malingering. Undergraduates with a history of mild head injury performed with best effort or simulated impaired cognition and were also compared with a large sample of non-head-injured controls. Previously established cutoffs for the age-corrected scaled score and Reliable Digit Span (RDS) performed similarly in the present samples. Patterns of RDS length using all three subscales of the new scale were different in malingerers when compared with both head-injured and non-head-injured controls. Two potential alternative RDS scores were introduced, which showed better sensitivity than the traditional RDS, while retaining specificity to malingering.

Fuel Cycle Cost Calculations for a 120,000 shp PWR for Ship Propulsion. RCN Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dekker, N.H.; Foggi, C.; Giacomazzi, G.

1972-02-01

A parametric study of the fuel cycle costs for a 120,000 SHP PWR for ship propulsion has been carried out. Variable parameters are: fuel pellet diameter, moderating ratio and refuelling scheme. Minimum fuel cycle costs can be obtained at moderating ratios of about 2.2. Both fuel cycle costs and reactor control requirements favour the two batch core. (author)

Structural covariance networks across the life span, from 6 to 94 years of age.

Science.gov (United States)

DuPre, Elizabeth; Spreng, R Nathan

2017-10-01

Structural covariance examines covariation of gray matter morphology between brain regions and across individuals. Despite significant interest in the influence of age on structural covariance patterns, no study to date has provided a complete life span perspective-bridging childhood with early, middle, and late adulthood-on the development of structural covariance networks. Here, we investigate the life span trajectories of structural covariance in six canonical neurocognitive networks: default, dorsal attention, frontoparietal control, somatomotor, ventral attention, and visual. By combining data from five open-access data sources, we examine the structural covariance trajectories of these networks from 6 to 94 years of age in a sample of 1,580 participants. Using partial least squares, we show that structural covariance patterns across the life span exhibit two significant, age-dependent trends. The first trend is a stable pattern whose integrity declines over the life span. The second trend is an inverted-U that differentiates young adulthood from other age groups. Hub regions, including posterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, appear particularly influential in the expression of this second age-dependent trend. Overall, our results suggest that structural covariance provides a reliable definition of neurocognitive networks across the life span and reveal both shared and network-specific trajectories.

Thermoeconomic cost analysis of CO_2 compression and purification unit in oxy-combustion power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Bo; Zhao, Haibo; Zheng, Chuguang

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Thermoeconomic cost analysis for CO_2 compression and purification unit is conducted. • Exergy cost and thermoeconomic cost occur in flash separation and mixing processes. • Unit exergy costs for flash separator and multi-stream heat exchanger are identical. • Multi-stage CO_2 compressor contributes to the minimum unit exergy cost. • Thermoeconomic performance for optimized CPU is enhanced. - Abstract: High CO_2 purity products can be obtained from oxy-combustion power plants through CO_2 compression and purification unit (CPU) based on phase separation method. To identify cost formation process and potential energy savings for CPU, detailed thermoeconomic cost analysis based on structure theory of thermoeconomics is applied to an optimized CPU (with double flash separators). It is found that the largest unit exergy cost occurs in the first separation process while the multi-stage CO_2 compressor contributes to the minimum unit exergy cost. In two flash separation processes, unit exergy costs for the flash separator and multi-stream heat exchanger are identical but their unit thermoeconomic costs are different once monetary cost for each device is considered. For cost inefficiency occurring in CPU, it mainly derives from large exergy costs and thermoeconomic costs in the flash separation and mixing processes. When compared with an unoptimized CPU, thermoeconomic performance for the optimized CPU is enhanced and the maximum reduction of 5.18% for thermoeconomic cost is attained. To achieve cost effective operation, measures should be taken to improve operations of the flash separation and mixing processes.

Cost-effectiveness optimization of a solar hot water heater with integrated storage system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamaruzzaman Sopian; Syahri, M.; Shahrir, A.; Mohd Yusof Othman; Baharuddin Yatim

2006-01-01

Solar processes are generally characterized by high first cost and low operating costs. Therefore, the basic economic problem is one of comparing an initial known investment with estimated future operating cost. This paper present the cost-benefit ratio of solar collector with integrated storage system. Evaluation of the annual cost (AC) and the annual energy gain (AEG) of the collector are performed and the ratio of AC/AEG or the cost benefit ratio is presented for difference combination of mass flow rate, solar collector length and channel depth. Using these cost-effectiveness curves, the user can select optimum design features, which correspond to minimum AC/AEG

Who Benefits from a Minimum Wage Increase?

OpenAIRE

John W. Lopresti; Kevin J. Mumford

2015-01-01

This paper addresses the question of how a minimum wage increase affects the wages of low-wage workers. Most studies assume that there is a simple mechanical increase in the wage for workers earning a wage between the old and the new minimum wage, with some studies allowing for spillovers to workers with wages just above this range. Rather than assume that the wages of these workers would have remained constant, this paper estimates how a minimum wage increase impacts a low-wage worker's wage...

Cost-constrained design point for the Reversed-Field Pinch Reactor (RFPR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagenson, R.L.; Krakowski, R.A.

1978-01-01

A broad spectrum of Reversed-Field Pinch Reactor (RFPR) operating modes are compared on an economics basis. An RFPR with superconducting coils and an air-core poloidal field transformer optimizes to give a minimum cost system when compared to normal-conducting coils and the iron-core transformer used in earlier designs. An interim design is described that exhibits a thermally stable, unrefueled, 21 s burn (burnup 50 percent) with an energy containment time equal to 200 times the Bohm time, which is consistent with present-day tokamak experiments. This design operates near the minimum energy state (THETA = B/sub THETA/(r/sub w/)/[B/sub z/] = 2.0 and F = B/sub z/(r/sub w/)/[B/sub z/] = 1.0 from the High Beta Model) of the RFP configuration. This cost-optimized design produces a reactor of 1.5-m minor radius and 12.8-m major radius, that generates 1000 MWe (net) with a recirculating power fraction of 0.15 at a direct capital cost of 970 $/kWe

The importance of adult life-span perspective in explaining variations in political ideology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sedek, Grzegorz; Kossowska, Malgorzata; Rydzewska, Klara

2014-06-01

As a comment on Hibbing et al.'s paper, we discuss the evolution of political and social views from more liberal to more conservative over the span of adulthood. We show that Hibbing et al.'s theoretical model creates a false prediction from this developmental perspective, as increased conservatism in the adult life-span trajectory is accompanied by the avoidance of negative bias.

ETS-4 is a transcriptional regulator of life span in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bargavi Thyagarajan

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Aging is a complex phenotype responsive to a plethora of environmental inputs; yet only a limited number of transcriptional regulators are known to influence life span. How the downstream expression programs mediated by these factors (or others are coordinated into common or distinct set of aging effectors is an addressable question in model organisms, such as C. elegans. Here, we establish the transcription factor ETS-4, an ortholog of vertebrate SPDEF, as a longevity determinant. Adult worms with ets-4 mutations had a significant extension of mean life span. Restoring ETS-4 activity in the intestine, but not neurons, of ets-4 mutant worms rescued life span to wild-type levels. Using RNAi, we demonstrated that ets-4 is required post-developmentally to regulate adult life span; thus uncoupling the role of ETS-4 in aging from potential functions in worm intestinal development. Seventy ETS-4-regulated genes, identified by gene expression profiling of two distinct ets-4 alleles and analyzed by bioinformatics, were enriched for known longevity effectors that function in lipid transport, lipid metabolism, and innate immunity. Putative target genes were enriched for ones that change expression during normal aging, the majority of which are controlled by the GATA factors. Also, some ETS-4-regulated genes function downstream of the FOXO factor, DAF-16 and the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway. However, epistasis and phenotypic analyses indicate that ets-4 functioned in parallel to the insulin/IGF-1 receptor, daf-2 and akt-1/2 kinases. Furthermore, ets-4 required daf-16 to modulate aging, suggesting overlap in function at the level of common targets that affect life span. In conclusion, ETS-4 is a new transcriptional regulator of aging, which shares transcriptional targets with GATA and FOXO factors, suggesting that overlapping pathways direct common sets of lifespan-related genes.

Cross Validation Through Two-Dimensional Solution Surface for Cost-Sensitive SVM.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Bin; Sheng, Victor S; Tay, Keng Yeow; Romano, Walter; Li, Shuo

2017-06-01

Model selection plays an important role in cost-sensitive SVM (CS-SVM). It has been proven that the global minimum cross validation (CV) error can be efficiently computed based on the solution path for one parameter learning problems. However, it is a challenge to obtain the global minimum CV error for CS-SVM based on one-dimensional solution path and traditional grid search, because CS-SVM is with two regularization parameters. In this paper, we propose a solution and error surfaces based CV approach (CV-SES). More specifically, we first compute a two-dimensional solution surface for CS-SVM based on a bi-parameter space partition algorithm, which can fit solutions of CS-SVM for all values of both regularization parameters. Then, we compute a two-dimensional validation error surface for each CV fold, which can fit validation errors of CS-SVM for all values of both regularization parameters. Finally, we obtain the CV error surface by superposing K validation error surfaces, which can find the global minimum CV error of CS-SVM. Experiments are conducted on seven datasets for cost sensitive learning and on four datasets for imbalanced learning. Experimental results not only show that our proposed CV-SES has a better generalization ability than CS-SVM with various hybrids between grid search and solution path methods, and than recent proposed cost-sensitive hinge loss SVM with three-dimensional grid search, but also show that CV-SES uses less running time.

The minimum wage in the Czech enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Lajtkepová

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Although the statutory minimum wage is not a new category, in the Czech Republic we encounter the definition and regulation of a minimum wage for the first time in the 1990 amendment to Act No. 65/1965 Coll., the Labour Code. The specific amount of the minimum wage and the conditions of its operation were then subsequently determined by government regulation in February 1991. Since that time, the value of minimum wage has been adjusted fifteenth times (the last increase was in January 2007. The aim of this article is to present selected results of two researches of acceptance of the statutory minimum wage by Czech enterprises. The first research makes use of the data collected by questionnaire research in 83 small and medium-sized enterprises in the South Moravia Region in 2005, the second one the data of 116 enterprises in the entire Czech Republic (in 2007. The data have been processed by means of the standard methods of descriptive statistics and of the appropriate methods of the statistical analyses (Spearman correlation coefficient of sequential correlation, Kendall coefficient, χ2 - independence test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and others.

How unprecedented a solar minimum was it?

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, C T; Jian, L K; Luhmann, J G

2013-05-01

The end of the last solar cycle was at least 3 years late, and to date, the new solar cycle has seen mainly weaker activity since the onset of the rising phase toward the new solar maximum. The newspapers now even report when auroras are seen in Norway. This paper is an update of our review paper written during the deepest part of the last solar minimum [1]. We update the records of solar activity and its consequent effects on the interplanetary fields and solar wind density. The arrival of solar minimum allows us to use two techniques that predict sunspot maximum from readings obtained at solar minimum. It is clear that the Sun is still behaving strangely compared to the last few solar minima even though we are well beyond the minimum phase of the cycle 23-24 transition.

The costs of turnover in nursing homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukamel, Dana B; Spector, William D; Limcangco, Rhona; Wang, Ying; Feng, Zhanlian; Mor, Vincent

2009-10-01

Turnover rates in nursing homes have been persistently high for decades, ranging upwards of 100%. To estimate the net costs associated with turnover of direct care staff in nursing homes. DATA AND SAMPLE: Nine hundred two nursing homes in California in 2005. Data included Medicaid cost reports, the Minimum Data Set, Medicare enrollment files, Census, and Area Resource File. We estimated total cost functions, which included in addition to exogenous outputs and wages, the facility turnover rate. Instrumental variable limited information maximum likelihood techniques were used for estimation to deal with the endogeneity of turnover and costs. The cost functions exhibited the expected behavior, with initially increasing and then decreasing returns to scale. The ordinary least square estimate did not show a significant association between costs and turnover. The instrumental variable estimate of turnover costs was negative and significant (P = 0.039). The marginal cost savings associated with a 10% point increase in turnover for an average facility was $167,063 or 2.9% of annual total costs. The net savings associated with turnover offer an explanation for the persistence of this phenomenon over the last decades, despite the many policy initiatives to reduce it. Future policy efforts need to recognize the complex relationship between turnover and costs.

Minimum Q Electrically Small Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, O. S.

2012-01-01

Theoretically, the minimum radiation quality factor Q of an isolated resonance can be achieved in a spherical electrically small antenna by combining TM1m and TE1m spherical modes, provided that the stored energy in the antenna spherical volume is totally suppressed. Using closed-form expressions...... for a multiarm spherical helix antenna confirm the theoretical predictions. For example, a 4-arm spherical helix antenna with a magnetic-coated perfectly electrically conducting core (ka=0.254) exhibits the Q of 0.66 times the Chu lower bound, or 1.25 times the minimum Q....

A closed solution for the collapse load of pressurized pipelines in free spans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bezerra, Luciano M. [Brasilia Univ., DF (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil; Murray, David W.; Xuejun Song [University of Alberta (Canada). Civil Engineering Dept.

2005-07-01

Submarine pipelines for oil exploitation, generally, are under internal pressure and compressive thermal loading. Due to rough see-bottom terrains, these pipelines may be supported only intermittently and span freely. The collapse of such pipelines may produce oil leakage to the environment. A common engineering practice for the determination of the collapse load of such pipelines is the use of finite element modeling. This paper presents an analytical method for the determination of the collapse load of pressurized pipelines extended over free spans. The formulation also takes into account the internal pressure and initial imperfection, generally present in these pipelines. Collapse load is determined from a deduced transcendental equation. Results of the presented formulation are compared with sophisticated finite element analyses. While sophisticated finite element analysis requires hours of computer processing, the present formulation takes practically no time to assess a good approximation for the collapse load of pressurized free span pipelines under compression. The present paper is not intended to substitute the more precise finite element analyses but to provide an easier, faster, and practical way to determine a first approximation of the collapse load of pressurized free span pipelines. (author)

Stochastic variational approach to minimum uncertainty states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Illuminati, F.; Viola, L. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Padova Univ. (Italy)

1995-05-21

We introduce a new variational characterization of Gaussian diffusion processes as minimum uncertainty states. We then define a variational method constrained by kinematics of diffusions and Schroedinger dynamics to seek states of local minimum uncertainty for general non-harmonic potentials. (author)

Optimal treatment cost allocation methods in pollution control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Wenying; Fang Dong; Xue Dazhi

1999-01-01

Total emission control is an effective pollution control strategy. However, Chinese application of total emission control lacks reasonable and fair methods for optimal treatment cost allocation, a critical issue in total emission control. The author considers four approaches to allocate treatment costs. The first approach is to set up a multiple-objective planning model and to solve the model using the shortest distance ideal point method. The second approach is to define degree of satisfaction for cost allocation results for each polluter and to establish a method based on this concept. The third is to apply bargaining and arbitration theory to develop a model. The fourth is to establish a cooperative N-person game model which can be solved using the Shapley value method, the core method, the Cost Gap Allocation method or the Minimum Costs-Remaining Savings method. These approaches are compared using a practicable case study

C. elegans VANG-1 modulates life span via insulin/IGF-1-like signaling.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian J Honnen

Full Text Available The planar cell polarity (PCP pathway is highly conserved from Drosophila to humans and a PCP-like pathway has recently been described in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The developmental function of this pathway is to coordinate the orientation of cells or structures within the plane of an epithelium or to organize cell-cell intercalation required for correct morphogenesis. Here, we describe a novel role of VANG-1, the only C. elegans ortholog of the conserved PCP component Strabismus/Van Gogh. We show that two alleles of vang-1 and depletion of the protein by RNAi cause an increase of mean life span up to 40%. Consistent with the longevity phenotype vang-1 animals also show enhanced resistance to thermal- and oxidative stress and decreased lipofuscin accumulation. In addition, vang-1 mutants show defects like reduced brood size, decreased ovulation rate and prolonged reproductive span, which are also related to gerontogenes. The germline, but not the intestine or neurons, seems to be the primary site of vang-1 function. Life span extension in vang-1 mutants depends on the insulin/IGF-1-like receptor DAF-2 and DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor. RNAi against the phase II detoxification transcription factor SKN-1/Nrf2 also reduced vang-1 life span that might be explained by gradual inhibition of insulin/IGF-1-like signaling in vang-1. This is the first time that a key player of the PCP pathway is shown to be involved in the insulin/IGF-1-like signaling dependent modulation of life span in C. elegans.

A Systematic Procedure for the Generation of Cost-Minimized Designs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Becker, Peter W.; Jarkler, Bjorn

1972-01-01

We present a procedure for the generation of cost-minimized designs of circuits and systems. Suppose a designer has decided upon the topology of his product. Also suppose he knows the cost and quality of the different grades of the N components required to implement the product. The designer...... then faces the following problem: How should he proceed to find the combination of grades that will give him the desired manufacturing yield at minimum product cost? We discuss the problem and suggest a policy by which the designer, with a reasonable computational effort, can find a set of ``good...

Contribution of Fuzzy Minimal Cost Flow Problem by Possibility Programming

OpenAIRE

S. Fanati Rashidi; A. A. Noora

2010-01-01

Using the concept of possibility proposed by zadeh, luhandjula ([4,8]) and buckley ([1]) have proposed the possibility programming. The formulation of buckley results in nonlinear programming problems. Negi [6]re-formulated the approach of Buckley by the use of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and reduced the problem into fuzzy linear programming problem. Shih and Lee ([7]) used the Negi approach to solve a minimum cost flow problem, whit fuzzy costs and the upper and lower bound. ...

Phosphate rock costs, prices and resources interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mew, M C

2016-01-15

This article gives the author's views and opinions as someone who has spent his working life analyzing the international phosphate sector as an independent consultant. His career spanned two price hike events in the mid-1970's and in 2008, both of which sparked considerable popular and academic interest concerning adequacy of phosphate rock resources, the impact of rising mining costs and the ability of mankind to feed future populations. An analysis of phosphate rock production costs derived from two major industry studies performed in 1983 and 2013 shows that in nominal terms, global average cash production costs increased by 27% to $38 per tonne fob mine in the 30 year period. In real terms, the global average cost of production has fallen. Despite the lack of upward pressure from increasing costs, phosphate rock market prices have shown two major spikes in the 30 years to 2013, with periods of less volatility in between. These price spike events can be seen to be related to the escalating investment cost required by new mine capacity, and as such can be expected to be repeated in future. As such, phosphate rock price volatility is likely to have more impact on food prices than rising phosphate rock production costs. However, as mining costs rise, recycling of P will also become increasingly driven by economics rather than legislation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A model for estimating pathogen variability in shellfish and predicting minimum depuration times.

Science.gov (United States)