WorldWideScience

Sample records for rationalization product shift

  1. Appraisal of and response to social conditions in the great gulf wilderness: relationships among perceived crowding, rationalization, product shift, satisfaction, and future behavioral intentions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudy M. Schuster; David Cole; Troy Hall; Jennifer Baker; Rebecca Oreskes

    2007-01-01

    Purposes were to describe on-site social carrying capacity from the users' perspectives, provide management applications, and refi ne constructs of product shift and rationalization used by visitors as coping responses to crowding. Data were gathered using on-site exit surveys of hikers in the Great Gulf Wilderness and analyzed with descriptive statistics,...

  2. Product differentiation under bounded rationality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vermeulen, B.; Poutré, La J.A.; Kok, de A.G.; Pyka, A.; Handa, H.; Ishibuchi, H.; Ong, Y.-S.; Tan, K.-C.

    2015-01-01

    We study product differentiation equilibria and dynamics on the Salop circle under bounded rationality. Due to bounded rationality, firms tend to agglomerate in pairs. Upon adding a second tier of component suppliers, downstream assemblers may escape pairwise horizontal agglomeration. Moreover, we

  3. The motives and rationalizations of the European right-wing discourse on immigrants. Shifts in multiculturalism?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miriam Cihodariu

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Mainstream parties in Europe (especially the Western part of Europe that is currently dealing with an increased migration flux in comparison with the rest of the European countries seem to have intensified their concern with immigration in the last two decades (even more so since the 2008 financial crisis. Right-wing parties are the most radical in their anti-immigration discourse, and public displays of such argumentations reflect not only shifts in the public’s political sympathies post-crisis, but may also reflect shifts in the (still dominant paradigm of multiculturalism. This paper analyses some examples from various right-wing discourses (Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, to name a few and from political discourses on the nature and future of multiculturalism in order to understand the way political actors rationalize such positions. This analysis can help further understand not only how the rhetorics of political justifications and rationalizations work, but also to sketch some plausible future dynamics of migration in European context (the main target of the paper being the discourses towards Eastern-European immigrants and the possible shifts in multiculturalism as well.

  4. Shifting of wrapped phase maps in the frequency domain using a rational number

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gdeisat, Munther A; Abushakra, Ahmad; Qaddoura, Maen; Burton, David R; Lilley, Francis; Arevalillo-Herráez, Miguel

    2016-01-01

    The number of phase wraps in an image can be either reduced, or completely eliminated, by transforming the image into the frequency domain using a Fourier transform, and then shifting the spectrum towards the origin. After this, the spectrum is transformed back to the spatial domain using the inverse Fourier transform and finally the phase is extracted using the arctangent function. However, it is a common concern that the spectrum can be shifted only by an integer number, meaning that the phase wrap reduction is often not optimal. In this paper we propose an algorithm than enables the spectrum to be frequency shifted by a rational number. The principle of the proposed method is confirmed both by using an initial computer simulation and is subsequently validated experimentally on real fringe patterns. The technique may offer in some cases the prospects of removing the necessity for a phase unwrapping process altogether and/or speeding up the phase unwrapping process. This may be beneficial in terms of potential increases in signal recovery robustness and also for use in time-critical applications. (paper)

  5. Calculation of Complexity Costs – An Approach for Rationalizing a Product Program

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Christian Lindschou; Mortensen, Niels Henrik; Hvam, Lars

    2012-01-01

    This paper proposes an operational method for rationalizing a product program based on the calculation of complexity costs. The method takes its starting point in the calculation of complexity costs on a product program level. This is done throughout the value chain ranging from component invento...... of a product program. These findings represent an improved decision basis for the planning of reactive and proactive initiatives of rationalizing a product program.......This paper proposes an operational method for rationalizing a product program based on the calculation of complexity costs. The method takes its starting point in the calculation of complexity costs on a product program level. This is done throughout the value chain ranging from component...... inventories at the factory sites, all the way to the distribution of finished goods from distribution centers to the customers. The method proposes a step-wise approach including the analysis, quantification and allocation of product program complexity costs by the means of identifying of a number...

  6. Industry evolution, rational agents and the transition to sustainable electricity production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Safarzynska, Karolina, E-mail: ksafarzy@wu.ac.at [Institute for the Environment and Regional Development, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Nordbergstrasse 15 (UZA4, 4B), A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. van den, E-mail: jeroen.bergh@uab.es [ICREA, Barcelona (Spain); Institute for Environmental Science and Technology and Department of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici Cn-Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Spain); Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, and the Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam (Netherlands); Fellow of Tinbergen Institute and NAKE (Netherlands)

    2011-10-15

    Guiding a transition to low carbon electricity requires a good understanding of the substitution of old by new technologies in the electricity industry. With the aim of explaining historical change from coal to gas in the British electricity industry, we develop a formal model of technological change, where energy technologies diffuse through the construction of new power plants. We considered two model versions: with rational and boundedly rational investors. In each model version, we look at the causal relations between price and output setting mechanisms, fuel and labour use, and investment decisions for different institutional arrangements. We quantify model parameters on data for the United Kingdom. We find that the version of the model with rational investors is capable of replicating well core features of UK electricity history. This includes a rapid diffusion of gas in electricity production, the evolution of the average size of newly installed plants, and a high percentage of electricity sales covered by (forward) contracts-for-difference. In this model setting, nuclear and renewable energies have no chance to diffuse on the market. In the version of the model with boundedly rational investors, nuclear power typically dominates electricity production. We discuss implications of our modelling results for making a transition to low carbon electricity in the future. - Highlights: > We propose a model of a transition from coal to gas in electricity production. > Energy technologies diffuse through the construction of new power plants. > We considered two model versions: with rational and boundedly rational investors. > We quantify model parameters on data for the UK for the period 1990-2002. > We draw policy conclusions for guiding a transition to low carbon electricity.

  7. Industry evolution, rational agents and the transition to sustainable electricity production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Safarzynska, Karolina; Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. van den

    2011-01-01

    Guiding a transition to low carbon electricity requires a good understanding of the substitution of old by new technologies in the electricity industry. With the aim of explaining historical change from coal to gas in the British electricity industry, we develop a formal model of technological change, where energy technologies diffuse through the construction of new power plants. We considered two model versions: with rational and boundedly rational investors. In each model version, we look at the causal relations between price and output setting mechanisms, fuel and labour use, and investment decisions for different institutional arrangements. We quantify model parameters on data for the United Kingdom. We find that the version of the model with rational investors is capable of replicating well core features of UK electricity history. This includes a rapid diffusion of gas in electricity production, the evolution of the average size of newly installed plants, and a high percentage of electricity sales covered by (forward) contracts-for-difference. In this model setting, nuclear and renewable energies have no chance to diffuse on the market. In the version of the model with boundedly rational investors, nuclear power typically dominates electricity production. We discuss implications of our modelling results for making a transition to low carbon electricity in the future. - Highlights: → We propose a model of a transition from coal to gas in electricity production. → Energy technologies diffuse through the construction of new power plants. → We considered two model versions: with rational and boundedly rational investors. → We quantify model parameters on data for the UK for the period 1990-2002. → We draw policy conclusions for guiding a transition to low carbon electricity.

  8. Production and Energy Partition of Lactating Dairy Goats Fed Rations Containing Date Fruit Waste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Yuniarti

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Dates fruit waste (DFW is a by-product of dates juice industry that contains high energy. So, it is suitable for an energy source in dairy goat ration. This study was conducted to observe the effect of DFW utilization in the ration on energy partition and productivity of lactating dairy goats. The experimental design was randomized block design using 9 primiparous lactating dairy goats. There were three types of ration as treatments used in this study, i.e. R0= 35% forage + 65% concentrate, R1= 35% forage + 55% concentrate + 10% DFW, and R2= 35% forage + 45% concentrate + 20% DFW. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and polynomial orthogonal test. The evaluated variables were dry matter intake (DMI, energy partition including energy intake, digestible and metabolizable energy, fecal and urine energy, energy in methane gas, and energy in milk, milk production and quality. The results showed that the linear decreased of DMI, energy intake, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, and urine energy with the increased of DFW level in the rations. The use of 10% DFW (R1 showed the lowest energy loss through feces and methane gas of all treatments about 1089.57 kcal/head/d and 2.36 kcal/head/d, respectively. The use of DFW did not affect energy retention in milk. The utilization of DFW in ration did not significantly prevent the decline of milk production and milk quality. It can be concluded that DFW can be used as an alternative feed for the lactating dairy goat up to 10% in the ration.

  9. Complex and rational use fish raw material at production of the fish products

    OpenAIRE

    Saltanova, N.; Saltanov, D.

    2011-01-01

    There was developed resource saving technology of herring preserves, which allows to rationally use raw, to cut lasting of the technological process, to lower the production costs and rise the economical effectiveness of production. There were defined the optimal conditions of getting broths of herring wastes. There were developed the recipes of fills at the base of broth from collagen-containing wastes of herring with the addition of vegetable raw.

  10. Rational Decision Making as Performative Praxis: Explaining Rationality's Éternel Retour

    OpenAIRE

    Cabantous, L.; Gond, J-P.

    2011-01-01

    Organizational theorists built their knowledge of decision making through a progressive critique of rational choice theory. Their positioning towards rationality, however, is at odds with the observation of rationality persistence in organizational life. This paper addresses this paradox. It proposes a new perspective on rationality that allows the theorizing of the production of rational decisions by organizations. To account for rationality's éternel retour, we approach rational decision ma...

  11. Junk Food, Health and Productivity: Taste, Price, Risk and Rationality

    OpenAIRE

    Levy, Amnon

    2006-01-01

    Junk-food consumption, health and productivity are analyzed within an expectedlifetime- utility-maximizing framework in which the probability of living and productivity rise with health and health deteriorate with the consumption of junkfood. So long that the junk food’s relative taste-price differential is positive, the rational diet deviates from the physiologically optimal and renders the levels of health and productivity lower than the maximal. Taxing junk-food can eliminate this discrepa...

  12. Evaluation of the Environmental Performance and rationing of Water Consumption in Industrial Production of Beverages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana Miranda Cavalcante

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Amazon region, with a high hydric potential, has attracted companies that require significant volumes of water; therefore, control instruments are necessary to monitor this trend. In this study, the degree of rationing of water use by beverage industries in Para state and the behavior of the sector are discussed. The subjects’ variables were classified according to four study dimensions (environmental management, water management, wastewater management, and advanced measures for rationing that compose the rationing level of water industrial management. The independent variables were associated by size, industry type, packaging used, water availability and the economic value of water. The data show that beverage production has a significant water footprint, higher than 15,250 m3/day, and that small industries have the highest relative consumptions (more than 7 L of water/beverage L. In general, the sector does not ration significant quantities of water; a better result was obtained for water management. However, some more efficient measures could be adopted, especially with regard to water reuse in cooling towers. Analysis of the variables shows that the rationing level is directly dependent on the size of the industry and on the type of product. Consumption tends to be lavish. In response to this situation, public policies should be prioritized to determine the water footprint of products and environmental cost should be considered in the overall cost of production.

  13. Local Choices: Rationality and the Contextuality of Decision-Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlaev, Ivo

    2018-01-01

    Rational explanation is ubiquitous in psychology and social sciences, ranging from rational analysis, expectancy-value theories, ideal observer models, mental logic to probabilistic frameworks, rational choice theory, and informal “folk psychological” explanation. However, rational explanation appears to be challenged by apparently systematic irrationality observed in psychological experiments, especially in the field of judgement and decision-making (JDM). Here, it is proposed that the experimental results require not that rational explanation should be rejected, but that rational explanation is local, i.e., within a context. Thus, rational models need to be supplemented with a theory of contextual shifts. We review evidence in JDM that patterns of choices are often consistent within contexts, but unstable between contexts. We also demonstrate that for a limited, though reasonably broad, class of decision-making domains, recent theoretical models can be viewed as providing theories of contextual shifts. It is argued that one particular significant source of global inconsistency arises from a cognitive inability to represent absolute magnitudes, whether for perceptual variables, utilities, payoffs, or probabilities. This overall argument provides a fresh perspective on the scope and limits of human rationality. PMID:29301289

  14. Local Choices: Rationality and the Contextuality of Decision-Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlaev, Ivo

    2018-01-02

    Rational explanation is ubiquitous in psychology and social sciences, ranging from rational analysis, expectancy-value theories, ideal observer models, mental logic to probabilistic frameworks, rational choice theory, and informal "folk psychological" explanation. However, rational explanation appears to be challenged by apparently systematic irrationality observed in psychological experiments, especially in the field of judgement and decision-making (JDM). Here, it is proposed that the experimental results require not that rational explanation should be rejected, but that rational explanation is local , i.e., within a context. Thus, rational models need to be supplemented with a theory of contextual shifts. We review evidence in JDM that patterns of choices are often consistent within contexts, but unstable between contexts. We also demonstrate that for a limited, though reasonably broad, class of decision-making domains, recent theoretical models can be viewed as providing theories of contextual shifts. It is argued that one particular significant source of global inconsistency arises from a cognitive inability to represent absolute magnitudes, whether for perceptual variables, utilities, payoffs, or probabilities. This overall argument provides a fresh perspective on the scope and limits of human rationality.

  15. Increasing Product Confidence-Shifting Paradigms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Marla; Kashyap, Vishal; Cheung, Mee-Shew

    2015-01-01

    Leaders in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and food industries expressed a unilateral concern over product confidence throughout the total product lifecycle, an unsettling fact for these leaders to manage given that their products affect the lives of millions of people each year. Fueled by the heparin incident of intentional adulteration in 2008, initial efforts for increasing product confidence were focused on improving the confidence of incoming materials, with a belief that supplier performance must be the root cause. As in the heparin case, concern over supplier performance extended deep into the supply chain to include suppliers of the suppliers-which is often a blind spot for pharmaceutical, device, and food manufacturers. Resolved to address the perceived lack of supplier performance, these U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated industries began to adopt the supplier relationship management strategy, developed by the automotive industry, that emphasizes "management" of suppliers for the betterment of the manufacturers. Current product and supplier management strategies, however, have not led to a significant improvement in product confidence. As a result of the enduring concern by industry leaders over the lack of product confidence, Xavier University launched the Integrity of Supply Initiative in 2012 with a team of industry leaders and FDA officials. Through a methodical research approach, data generated by the pharmaceutical, medical device, and food manufacturers surprisingly pointed to themselves as a source of the lack of product confidence, and revealed that manufacturers either unknowingly increase the potential for error or can control/prevent many aspects of product confidence failure. It is only through this paradigm shift that manufacturers can work collaboratively with their suppliers as equal partners, instead of viewing their suppliers as "lesser" entities needing to be controlled. The basis of this shift provides manufacturers

  16. Rational synthetic pathway refactoring of natural products biosynthesis in actinobacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Gao-Yi; Liu, Tiangang

    2017-01-01

    Natural products (NPs) and their derivatives are widely used as frontline treatments for many diseases. Actinobacteria spp. are used to produce most of NP antibiotics and have also been intensively investigated for NP production, derivatization, and discovery. However, due to the complicated transcriptional and metabolic regulation of NP biosynthesis in Actinobacteria, especially in the cases of genome mining and heterologous expression, it is often difficult to rationally and systematically engineer synthetic pathways to maximize biosynthetic efficiency. With the emergence of new tools and methods in metabolic engineering, the synthetic pathways of many chemicals, such as fatty acids and biofuels, in model organisms (e.g. Escherichia coli ), have been refactored to realize precise and flexible control of production. These studies also offer a promising approach for synthetic pathway refactoring in Actinobacteria. In this review, the great potential of Actinobacteria as a microbial cell factory for biosynthesis of NPs is discussed. To this end, recent progress in metabolic engineering of NP synthetic pathways in Actinobacteria are summarized and strategies and perspectives to rationally and systematically refactor synthetic pathways in Actinobacteria are highlighted. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Milk Production, Physiological Condition and Performance of Etawa Crossbreed Goats Feed by Ration Supplemented with Mangosteen Peel Flour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzarnisa; Rachmadi, D.; Azhar, A.; Fakhrur Riza, R.; Hidayati, A.

    2018-02-01

    Study on the effect of the addition of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) peel flour on physiological condition and performance of Etawa crossbreed goats was done. This was to grant the use of mangosteen peel flour that rich of antioxidants and has variety good benefits for health as feed additive for cattle. This study used a Complete Randomized Block Design consisting of 4 treatment groups and 4 replications each. Subjects were 16 female Etawa crossbreed goats randomly designed into treatments group based on lactation periods. Subjects were feed with traditional rations (control, A), traditional rations and 2.5% mangosteen peel flour (B), tradition rations and 5% mangosteen peel flour (C), and traditional rations and 7,5 % mangosteen peel flour (D). Data on performance (milk production) and physiological condition (respiratory frequency, rectal temperature, and heart rate) obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the addition of mangosteen peel flour as food additive in the rations resulted in variations in the milk production, physiological condition (rectal temperature, heart rate and respiration frequency) and performances (daily weigh gain, food consumption, ration conversion and breast volume) of Etawa crossbreed goats, but significant effect was only observed in the respiration frequency. The addition of 2.5% mangosteen peel flour in the ration caused the best, expected effects on milk production physiological condition and performance of Etawa crossbreed goats.

  18. Shift work parameters and disruption of diurnal cortisol production in female hospital employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Eleanor Wai Man; Aronson, Kristan J; Leung, Michael; Day, Andrew; Tranmer, Joan

    2016-01-01

    Shift work is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Disruption of cortisol production is a potential underlying mechanism. This study explored the associations of diurnal quantity and pattern of cortisol production in relation to (1) current shift work status (exclusive day versus rotating days and nights), (2) years of past shift work and (3) parameters of rotating shift work (timing, length and intensity). Female hospital employees (160 day workers and 168 rotating shift workers) from southeastern Ontario, Canada, participated in a cross-sectional study. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire and measures of body height, weight, and waist circumference were taken. Midstream urine samples were collected over two separate 24-hour periods to measure creatinine-adjusted cortisol. Total diurnal cortisol production and pattern were described with two measures of the area under the curve. The effect of shift work on cortisol was modeled using multivariable linear regression analyses. Cortisol production in day workers and shift workers on their day shift were similar; however, shift workers on the night shift had flatter diurnal cortisol curves and produced less cortisol. This suggests that night work is associated with an acute attenuation of cortisol production.

  19. Effects of extended work shifts and shift work on patient safety, productivity, and employee health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Simone M

    2009-12-01

    It is estimated 1.3 million health care errors occur each year and of those errors 48,000 to 98,000 result in the deaths of patients (Barger et al., 2006). Errors occur for a variety of reasons, including the effects of extended work hours and shift work. The need for around-the-clock staff coverage has resulted in creative ways to maintain quality patient care, keep health care errors or adverse events to a minimum, and still meet the needs of the organization. One way organizations have attempted to alleviate staff shortages is to create extended work shifts. Instead of the standard 8-hour shift, workers are now working 10, 12, 16, or more hours to provide continuous patient care. Although literature does support these staffing patterns, it cannot be denied that shifts beyond the traditional 8 hours increase staff fatigue, health care errors, and adverse events and outcomes and decrease alertness and productivity. This article includes a review of current literature on shift work, the definition of shift work, error rates and adverse outcomes related to shift work, health effects on shift workers, shift work effects on older workers, recommended optimal shift length, positive and negative effects of shift work on the shift worker, hazards associated with driving after extended shifts, and implications for occupational health nurses. Copyright 2009, SLACK Incorporated.

  20. Changes in forest productivity across Alaska consistent with biome shift.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Pieter S A; Juday, Glenn P; Alix, Claire; Barber, Valerie A; Winslow, Stephen E; Sousa, Emily E; Heiser, Patricia; Herriges, James D; Goetz, Scott J

    2011-04-01

    Global vegetation models predict that boreal forests are particularly sensitive to a biome shift during the 21st century. This shift would manifest itself first at the biome's margins, with evergreen forest expanding into current tundra while being replaced by grasslands or temperate forest at the biome's southern edge. We evaluated changes in forest productivity since 1982 across boreal Alaska by linking satellite estimates of primary productivity and a large tree-ring data set. Trends in both records show consistent growth increases at the boreal-tundra ecotones that contrast with drought-induced productivity declines throughout interior Alaska. These patterns support the hypothesized effects of an initiating biome shift. Ultimately, tree dispersal rates, habitat availability and the rate of future climate change, and how it changes disturbance regimes, are expected to determine where the boreal biome will undergo a gradual geographic range shift, and where a more rapid decline. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

  1. Occupational musculoskeletal and mental health: Significance of rationalization and opportunities to create sustainable production systems - A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westgaard, R H; Winkel, J

    2011-01-01

    This literature review aims to identify occupational musculoskeletal and mental health effects of production system rationalization as well as organizational-level measures that may improve health outcome ("modifiers" in this review). A short review of the effect of ergonomic interventions is included as background and rationalization is discussed as a theoretical concept. Indicator variables for occupational musculoskeletal and mental health and related risk factors are presented. Variables with a generalized format were allowed in the literature searches (e.g., job satisfaction and absenteeism were accepted as risk factor and health indicator, respectively), suitable for the research fields of work sociology, organization science, human resource management (HRM) and economics research. One hundred and sixty-two studies of rationalization effects on health and risk factors and 72 organization-level modifier results were accepted into the final database. Entries were sorted by rationalization strategy and work life sector, and trends in outcome (positive, mixed, no effect, or negative effect on health and risk factors) were determined. Rationalizations have a dominant negative effect on health and risk factors (57% negative, 19% positive); the most negative effects were found for downsizing and restructuring rationalizations in general (71 studies negative, 13 positive) and for the health care sector in particular (36 studies negative, 2 positive). The rationalization strategy High Performance Work System (HPWS) was associated with the highest fraction positive outcome studies (6 of 10 studies). Other rationalization strategies (lean practices, parallel vs. serial production and mechanization level) reported intermediate results, in part dependent on work life sector, but also on the year when studies were carried out. Worker participation, resonant management style, information, support, group autonomy and procedural justice were modifiers with favourable

  2. Machiavellianism, Discussion Time, and Group Shift

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamm, Helmut; Myers, David G.

    1976-01-01

    Social-emotional and rational-cognitive explanations of group risky shift on choice dilemmas (hypothetical life situations) were evaluated by comparing shift in groups of low Mach (emotional) and high Mach (non-emotional) subjects. Effects of Machiavellian beliefs on social functioning are examined. Group composition was not observed to affect…

  3. From Product to Service Design: A Thinking Paradigm Shift

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliana Rodriguez

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Society, industry and the economy are all experiencing changes caused by a shift from products to services. While a “problem-solving” approach is commonly used for the development of products, new design approaches are needed as the primary unit of exchange moves from goods to services.  This research argues that a fundamental transformation in the design world is taking place, manifested in a thinking paradigm shift from problem solving (designing products towards systems thinking (designing services. This paper draws on design literature to identify concepts of systems thinking and problem solving to help understand core elements in the shift from product to service design. It also reports on a series of semi-structured interviews with designers working in five design consultancies that have moved from product design to services design. The results show a change in the way designers think and approach projects when facing the challenges of designing services, confirming a movement from problem solving to systems thinking. However, systems thinking is not replacing problem solving but complementing it. The results also indicate that the growing complexity of the issues designers deal with influences the adoption of systems thinking in responding to service design challenges, as well as current changes in people’s ideas about sustainability and  society.

  4. Voluntary Certification of Agricultural Products in Competitive Markets: The Consideration of Boundedly Rational Consumers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xujin Pu

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Market competition creates strategic incentives for firms to communicate private information about their own product quality through certification. Although voluntary certification has recently gained importance in the agricultural industry, information asymmetry is not always completely addressed. This study analyzes how the relative proportion of boundedly rational consumers in the market influences the effectiveness of voluntary certification mechanisms by using a duopoly game model of high- and low-quality firms. The presented results show that a change in the proportion of boundedly rational consumers leads to different certification behaviors and a different market equilibrium. We also find that the existence of boundedly rational consumers is an important factor in the failure of voluntary certification. Indeed, when the relative proportion of such consumers is very high, voluntary certification is ineffective at improving market efficiency.

  5. Do sustainability experienced travellers prefer a more rational communication of the sustainability of a tourism product?

    OpenAIRE

    Wehrli, Roger; Priskin, Julianna; Schaffner, Dorothea; Schwarz, Juerg; Stettler, Juerg

    2013-01-01

    This study examines empirically in four countries which communication style (emotional or rational) is most appropriate to address sustainability experienced travellers. There are only small differences compared to the average tourist. Rational communication elements which explain the sustainability of the product become more important for this specific customer group. However, most emotional communication elements are still more important in most countries, indicating that experienced touris...

  6. 12-hour-shift plant schedule improves operator productivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gould, S.

    1989-01-01

    Twelve-hour scheduling has been a mainstay of the petrochemical industry, is common in the papermill industry, and is relatively new to the nuclear utility industry. A review of industry experiences, research, and a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) study of the 12-hour shift (NUREG/CR-4248) demonstrate that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The primary advantages are greater job satisfaction, fewer errors, and the better communications inherent in two shift turnovers versus three. Several companies that implemented the 12-hour shift found an increase in employee morale, no adverse effect on worker health, and no decline in safety. They experienced greater productivity, fewer operator errors, and better communication

  7. Profitability increase of alcohol distilleries by the rational use of sub-products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haandel, Adrianus C. van; Catunda, Paula F.C. [Paraiba Univ., Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil

    1994-12-31

    Industrial alcohol production in Brazil is based on fermentation of sugar cane juice. After concentration and distillation, azeotropic alcohol is obtained along with four side streams. The profitability of alcohol distilleries could be improved by a more rational use of side stream products. An alternative for improved energy production is to abandon alcohol fermentation and apply anaerobic digestion directly to vegetal energy source. In that case the useful energy production is much higher and can be obtained using much simpler equipment. More importantly, the source for energy production would no longer be restricted to sugar cane, but other crops, notably those produced in the drier hinterland of Northeast Brazil could also de used for this purpose. 3 figs., 1 tab.

  8. Profitability increase of alcohol distilleries by the rational use of sub-products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haandel, Adrianus C. van; Catunda, Paula F.C. [Paraiba Univ., Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil

    1993-12-31

    Industrial alcohol production in Brazil is based on fermentation of sugar cane juice. After concentration and distillation, azeotropic alcohol is obtained along with four side streams. The profitability of alcohol distilleries could be improved by a more rational use of side stream products. An alternative for improved energy production is to abandon alcohol fermentation and apply anaerobic digestion directly to vegetal energy source. In that case the useful energy production is much higher and can be obtained using much simpler equipment. More importantly, the source for energy production would no longer be restricted to sugar cane, but other crops, notably those produced in the drier hinterland of Northeast Brazil could also de used for this purpose. 3 figs., 1 tab.

  9. Rational modular design of metabolic network for efficient production of plant polyphenol pinosylvin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Junjun; Zhang, Xia; Zhu, Yingjie; Tan, Qinyu; He, Jiacheng; Dong, Mingsheng

    2017-05-03

    Efficient biosynthesis of the plant polyphenol pinosylvin, which has numerous applications in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, is necessary to make biological production economically viable. To this end, an efficient Escherichia coli platform for pinosylvin production was developed via a rational modular design approach. Initially, different candidate pathway enzymes were screened to construct de novo pinosylvin pathway directly from D-glucose. A comparative analysis of pathway intermediate pools identified that this initial construct led to the intermediate cinnamic acid accumulation. The pinosylvin synthetic pathway was then divided into two new modules separated at cinnamic acid. Combinatorial optimization of transcriptional and translational levels of these two modules resulted in a 16-fold increase in pinosylvin titer. To further improve the concentration of the limiting precursor malonyl-CoA, the malonyl-CoA synthesis module based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference was assembled and optimized with other two modules. The final pinosylvin titer was improved to 281 mg/L, which was the highest pinosylvin titer even directly from D-glucose without any additional precursor supplementation. The rational modular design approach described here could bolster our capabilities in synthetic biology for value-added chemical production.

  10. Psychology and the Rationality of Emotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clore, Gerald L

    2011-04-01

    Questions addressed by recent psychological research on emotion include questions about how thought shapes emotion and how emotion, in turn, shapes thought. Research on emotion and cognition paints a somewhat different picture than that seen in traditional discussions of passion and reason. This article reviews several aspects of this research, concentrating specifically on three views of rationality: Rationality as Process, Rationality as Product, and Rationality as Outcome.

  11. Psychology and the Rationality of Emotion*

    OpenAIRE

    Clore, Gerald L.

    2011-01-01

    Questions addressed by recent psychological research on emotion include questions about how thought shapes emotion and how emotion, in turn, shapes thought. Research on emotion and cognition paints a somewhat different picture than that seen in traditional discussions of passion and reason. This article reviews several aspects of this research, concentrating specifically on three views of rationality: Rationality as Process, Rationality as Product, and Rationality as Outcome.

  12. Increased and mistimed sex hormone production in night shift workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papantoniou, Kyriaki; Pozo, Oscar J; Espinosa, Ana; Marcos, Josep; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Basagaña, Xavier; Juanola Pagès, Elena; Mirabent, Joan; Martín, Jordi; Such Faro, Patricia; Gascó Aparici, Amparo; Middleton, Benita; Skene, Debra J; Kogevinas, Manolis

    2015-05-01

    Night shift work has been associated with an increased risk for breast and prostate cancer. The effect of circadian disruption on sex steroid production is a possible underlying mechanism, underinvestigated in humans. We have assessed daily rhythms of sex hormones and melatonin in night and day shift workers of both sexes. We recruited 75 night and 42 day workers, ages 22 to 64 years, in different working settings. Participants collected urine samples from all voids over 24 hours on a working day. Urinary concentrations of 16 sex steroid hormones and metabolites (estrogens, progestagens, and androgens) and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin were measured in all samples. Mean levels and peak time of total and individual metabolite production were compared between night and day workers. Night workers had higher levels of total progestagens [geometric mean ratio (GMR) 1.65; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.17-2.32] and androgens (GMR: 1.44; 95% CI, 1.03-2.00), compared with day workers, after adjusting for potential confounders. The increased sex hormone levels among night shift workers were not related to the observed suppression of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin. Peak time of androgens was significantly later among night workers, compared with day workers (testosterone: 12:14 hours; 10:06-14:48 vs. 08:35 hours; 06:52-10:46). We found increased levels of progestagens and androgens as well as delayed peak androgen production in night shift workers compared with day workers. The increase and mistiming of sex hormone production may explain part of the increased risk for hormone-related cancers observed in night shift workers. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.

  13. Psychology and the Rationality of Emotion*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clore, Gerald L.

    2014-01-01

    Questions addressed by recent psychological research on emotion include questions about how thought shapes emotion and how emotion, in turn, shapes thought. Research on emotion and cognition paints a somewhat different picture than that seen in traditional discussions of passion and reason. This article reviews several aspects of this research, concentrating specifically on three views of rationality: Rationality as Process, Rationality as Product, and Rationality as Outcome. PMID:25125770

  14. [Rationalities of knowledge production: on transformations of objects, technologies and information in biomedicine and the life sciences].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Norbert W

    2009-09-01

    Since decades, scientific change has been interpreted in the light of paradigm shifts and scientific revolutions. The Kuhnian interpretation of scientific change however is now more and more confronted with non-disciplinary thinking in both, science and studies on science. This paper explores how research in biomedicine and the life sciences can be characterized by different rationalities, sometimes converging, sometimes contradictory, all present at the same time with varying ways of influence, impact, and visibility. In general, the rationality of objects is generated by fitting new objects and findings into a new experimental context. The rationality of hypotheses is a move towards the construction of novel explanatory tools and models. This is often inseparable meshing with the third, the technological rationality, in which a technology-driven, self-supporting and sometimes self-referential refinement of methods and technologies comes along with an extension into other fields. During the second and the third phase, the new and emerging fields tend to expand their explanatory reach not only across disciplinary boundaries but also into the social sphere, creating what has been characterized as "exceptionalism" (e.g. genetic exceptionalism or neuro-exceptionalism). Finally, recent biomedicine and life-sciences reach a level in which experimental work becomes more and more data-driven because the technologically constructed experimental systems generate a plethora of findings (data) which at some point start to blur the original hypotheses. For the rationality of information the materiality of research practices becomes secondary and research objects are more and more getting out of sight. Finally, the credibility of science as a practice becomes more and more dependent on consensus about the applicability and relevance of its results. The rationality of interest (and accountability) has become more and more characteristic for a research process which is no longer

  15. Effective Entrepreneurial Choice: The Role of Rationality and Non-Rationality in Three Entrepreneurs Success Stories

    OpenAIRE

    Chong, Anne Michele, Siang Yoon

    2007-01-01

    Good entrepreneurship is important for economic growth and productivity in any modern economy. The purpose of this dissertation is to research how good entrepreneurial decisions are made. In theory, optimal or rational decision making means choosing the best alternative in response to the problem. However, in reality, people do not act rationally because they often cannot make rational choices. The reason is that people do not have enough brain power, time or resources to process the compl...

  16. Sums and products of sets and estimates of rational trigonometric sums in fields of prime order

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garaev, Mubaris Z [National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Mathematics (Mexico)

    2010-11-16

    This paper is a survey of main results on the problem of sums and products of sets in fields of prime order and their applications to estimates of rational trigonometric sums. Bibliography: 85 titles.

  17. Feeding of Total Mixed Ration on the Productivity of Friesian Holstein Cross-Grade Cattle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunarso; Christiyanto, M.; Nuswantara, L. K.

    2018-02-01

    An experiment was conducted to evaluate feeding of total mixed ration (TMR) on the productivity of Friesian Holstein (FH) male cross-grade cattle at Semarang Municipality. TMR was a ration formulated with agricultural and agro-industrial by-product (no grass and/or green forage were used) to fulfilled the nutrient requirement of beef cattle. Total mixed ration were formulated on iso-energy of 66% of total digestible nutrients (TDN) and different level of crude protein (CP) content of 11%, 12%, 13%, and 14%. Twenty (20) heads of FH male cross-grade cattle with initial body weight of 292.40+33.06 kg were used in this experiment, and were arranged into 5 treatments T0, T1, T2, T3, and T4), and 4 replications. Data collected were analysed statistically using analyses of variance (Anova) based on the completely randomized design (CRD), then followed by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) for different among treatments. Results of the experiment showed significantly different effect (P0.05) on feed conversion ratio (FCR), and feed efficiency. Others parameter showed that there were no significantly different (P>0.05) effect on the dry matter and organic matter digestibility in vitro, rumen ammonia concentration, and volatile fatty acid’s rumen concentration. It was concluded that feeding TMR was potentially prospected for fattening of beef cattle, particularly as feeding strategy when there was no grass and/or green forage anymore.

  18. Radioactive cesium content in selected food products. Pt. 2. Radioactive cesium in daily food rations of selected population groups

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skibniewska, K.; Smoczynski, S.S.; Wisniewska, I.

    1993-01-01

    The content of radioactive cesium isotopes emitting beta radiation was studied in daily food rations analysed in diets of working-class and non-working-class families from food products from the regions of Olsztyn, Poznan, Lublin, Warsaw and Wroclaw in 1987 and 1988. In 1987 the highest level of radioactive cesium was found in the food rations in Olsztyn, and lowest in the rations in Poznan (3.32 and 0.65 Bq/kg respectively). In 1988 higher radiocesium content was found in rations composed according to the data on the diet consumed daily in non-working-class families. In that case the highest content was in the daily food rations composed in Warsaw - 2.35 Bq/kg and lowest in Poznan - 1.19 Bq/kg in the daily food rations of working-class families about one half of that value was found. The calculated means values of both analysed rations were: 1.35 for Olsztyn, 0.89 for Poznan, and 1.86 Bq/kg for Warsaw. The calculated mean value of the contamination with radioactive cesium was in 1988 0.93 Bq/kg for the rations in working-class families (in 1987 it was 1.80 Bq/kg). (author). 15 refs, 1 tab

  19. The kinetics of steam-carbon dioxide conversion, rational ways and production catalysts of process gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khamroev, F.B.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the present work is to study the kinetics of steam-carbon dioxide conversion, rational ways and production catalysts of process gas. The experimental equation of steam-carbon methane conversion, heat stability increasing and catalyst efficiency, decreasing of hydrodynamical resistance of catalyst layer were determined.

  20. Increasing off-service resident productivity while on their emergency department rotation using shift cards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakravarthy, Bharath; Posadas, Emerson; Ibrahim, Deena; McArthur, Kurt; Osborn, Megan; Hoonpongsimanont, Wirachin; Wong, Andrew; Lotfipour, Shahram

    2015-04-01

    Differences in productivity between off-service residents rotating in the emergency department (ED) and their emergency medicine (EM) resident counterparts have never been directly quantified. We sought to quantify the difference between off-service residents rotating in the ED and their EM resident counterparts. We also sought to find whether shift cards could be used to increase the productivity of off-service residents rotating in the ED. This is a prospective cohort study conducted at an urban, tertiary, Level I trauma center. We implemented the use of shift cards for off-service residents during their EM rotation. Completion of the shift card involved recording patients seen and their dispositions, procedures done, and documenting a learned bedside teaching point from their shift that day. Productivity was measured in terms of patients seen per hour (PPH) and relative value units per hour (RVU/h). Off-service residents showed a productivity of 0.529 PPH (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.493-0.566) and 1.40 RVU/h (95% CI 1.28-1.53) prior to implementation of shift cards. With the introduction of shift cards, productivity increased to 0.623 PPH (95% CI 0.584-0.663, p = 0.001) and 1.77 RVU/h (95% CI 1.64-1.91, p = 0.001). In comparison, first year EM resident productivity was 0.970 PPH (95% CI 0.918-1.02) and 3.01 RVU/h (95% CI 2.83-3.19). Shift cards can be used to foster motivation for off-service residents rotating in the ED, and is a simple and cost-effective method to improve system-based practices and utilization of resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. A more rational approach to new-product development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonabeau, Eric; Bodick, Neil; Armstrong, Robert W

    2008-03-01

    Companies often treat new-product development as a monolithic process, but it can be more rationally divided into two parts: an early stage that focuses on evaluating prospects and eliminating bad bets, and a late stage that maximizes the remaining candidates' market potential. Recognizing the value of this approach, Eli Lilly designed and piloted Chorus, an autonomous unit dedicated solely to the early stage. This article demonstrates how segmenting development in this way can speed it up and make it more cost-effective. Two classes of decision-making errors can impede NPD, the authors say. First, managers often ignore evidence challenging their assumptions that projects will succeed. As a result, many projects go forward despite multiple red flags; some even reach the market, only to fail dramatically after their introduction. Second, companies sometimes terminate projects prematurely because people fail to conduct the right experiments to reveal products' potential. Most companies promote both kinds of errors by focusing disproportionately on late-stage development; they lack the early, truth-seeking functions that would head such errors off. In segmented NPD, however, the early-stage organization maintains loyalty to the experiment rather than the product, whereas the late-stage organization pursues commercial success. Chorus has significantly improved NPD efficiency and productivity at Lilly. Although the unit absorbs just one-tenth of Lilly's investment in early-stage development, it delivers a substantially greater fraction of the molecules slated for late Phase II trials--at almost twice the speed and less than a third of the cost of the standard process, sometimes shaving as much as two years off the usual development time.

  2. The rational expectations equilibrium inventory model theory and applications

    CERN Document Server

    1989-01-01

    This volume consists of six essays that develop and/or apply "rational expectations equilibrium inventory models" to study the time series behavior of production, sales, prices, and inventories at the industry level. By "rational expectations equilibrium inventory model" I mean the extension of the inventory model of Holt, Modigliani, Muth, and Simon (1960) to account for: (i) discounting, (ii) infinite horizon planning, (iii) observed and unobserved by the "econometrician" stochastic shocks in the production, factor adjustment, storage, and backorders management processes of firms, as well as in the demand they face for their products; and (iv) rational expectations. As is well known according to the Holt et al. model firms hold inventories in order to: (a) smooth production, (b) smooth production changes, and (c) avoid stockouts. Following the work of Zabel (1972), Maccini (1976), Reagan (1982), and Reagan and Weitzman (1982), Blinder (1982) laid the foundations of the rational expectations equilibrium inve...

  3. Increased and Mistimed Sex Hormone Production in Night Shift Workers

    OpenAIRE

    Papantoniou, K; Pozo, OJ; Espinosa, A; Marcos, J; Castano-Vinyals, G; Basagana, X; Juanola Pages, E; Mirabent, J; Martin, J; Such Faro, P; Gasco Aparici, A; Middleton, B; Skene, DJ; Kogevinas, M

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Night shift work has been associated with an increased risk for breast and prostate cancer. The effect of circadian disruption on sex steroid production is a possible underlying mechanism, underinvestigated in humans. We have assessed daily rhythms of sex hormones and melatonin in night and day shift workers of both sexes. METHODS: We recruited 75 night and 42 day workers, ages 22 to 64 years, in different working settings. Participants collected urine samples from all voids over ...

  4. On Triple Product and Rational Solutions of Yang—Baxter Equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Chun-Hong; Jia Xiao-Yu; Li Min-Li; Wu Ke; Zhao Wei-Zhong

    2014-01-01

    The Yang—Baxter equation is reinvestigated in the framework of triple system. By requiring the rational R matrix of the Yang—Baxter equation satisfying the generalized Filippov condition, we derive a relation with respect to the rational R matrix. Moreover the case of the super Yang—Baxter equation is also investigated. (general)

  5. The performance effects of combining rationality and intuition in making early new product idea evaluation decisions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eling, K.; Langerak, F.; Griffin, A.

    New product idea evaluation decisions made by individual development team members during their idea generation activities allow for and may also benefit from the use of both rational and intuitive approaches to decision-making. Unfortunately, empirical research on whether at all and, if yes, in

  6. Rational Clinical Use of Blood and Blood products – A summary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D Ghartimagar

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Blood transfusion is an essential therapeutic intervention. The main role of the blood centre is to provide safe and timely blood and blood component(s to the patients that will improve the physiological status of the patient. Various blood components can be harvested from a single donation of whole blood. The blood centre ensures that there is an adequate inventory of all blood types and blood components to meet the needs of the patients. The blood centre does donor selection, blood collection, component preparation, screening for transfusion – transmitted infections and blood processing. Serologically compatible blood and components are provided to the patients after meticulous pre-transfusion testing as per the standard protocol. Rational use of blood and blood products means right product is used with the right dose on right time for the right reason.

  7. Forest production responses to irrigation and fertilization are not explained by shifts in allocation

    Science.gov (United States)

    David R. Coyle; Mark D. Coleman

    2005-01-01

    Production increases in intensively managed forests have been obtained by improving resource availability through water and nutrient amendments. Increased stem production has been attributed to shifts in growth from roots to shoot, and such shifts would have important implications for below ground carbon sequestration. We examined above and below ground growth and...

  8. Performance, Carcass Production, and Meat Quality of Sumba Ongole Bulls Fed Ration Containing Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. M. Yantika

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to study performance, carcass production, meat quality, and economic feasibility of male Sumba Ongole cattle fed ration supplemented with velvet bean (M. pruriens. The research was designed in a completely randomized block design using 16 cattle with average body weight of 488+37.08 kg. The treatments were: T0= 15% straw + 85% concentrate; T1= T0 + 12% of velvet bean flour supplement; T2= T0 + 16% of velvet bean tempeh supplement; and T3= T0 + 200 mg/head/d of ractopamine hydrocloride. Data were analyzed by using analysis of variance with orthogonal contrast. The observed variables included feed consumption, average daily body weight gain (ADG, feed efficiency (FE, income over feed cost (IOFC, hot carcass weight (HCW, carcass percentage, subcutaneous fat thickness, meat pH, tenderness, cooking loss, and water holding capacity (WHC. The result revealed that the addition of 12% velvet bean flour into the rations increased dry matter consumption (P<0.05, but did not affect ADG, FE, IOFC, carcass production, and meat quality. The addition of 12% velvet bean flour produced the lowest cooking loss (P<0.05. The addition of 16% velvet bean tempeh into the rations significantly increased (P<0.05 dry matter consumption, however reduced (P<0.05 ADG, FE, and IOFC compared to control treatment. It is concluded that velvet bean flour at the level of 12% can be used as an alternative feed supplement in the ration of Sumba Ongole cattle and can replace the use of synthetic ß-agonist.

  9. Milk production is unaffected by replacing barley or sodium hydroxide wheat with maize cob silage in rations for dairy cows

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hymøller, Lone; Hellwing, Anne Louise Frydendahl; Lund, Peter

    2014-01-01

    . The energy-corrected milk yield was unaffected by treatment. The fat content of the milk on the MCS ration was not different from the SHW ration, whereas it was higher on the barley ration. The protein content of the milk decreased when MCS was used in the ration compared with barley and SHW. From ruminal......Starch is an important energy-providing nutrient for dairy cows that is most commonly provided from cereal grains. However, ruminal fermentation of large amounts of easily degradable starch leads to excessive production and accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA). VFA not only play a vital role...... in the energy metabolism of dairy cows but are also the main cause of ruminal acidosis and depressed feed intake. The aim of the present study was to compare maize cob silage (MCS) as an energy supplement in rations for dairy cows with highly rumen-digestible rolled barley and with sodium hydroxide wheat (SHW...

  10. Microbial and sponge loops modify fish production in phase-shifting coral reefs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silveira, Cynthia B; Silva-Lima, Arthur W; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B; Marques, Jomar S M; Almeida, Marcelo G; Thompson, Cristiane C; Rezende, Carlos E; Paranhos, Rodolfo; Moura, Rodrigo L; Salomon, Paulo S; Thompson, Fabiano L

    2015-10-01

    Shifts from coral to algae dominance of corals reefs have been correlated to fish biomass loss and increased microbial metabolism. Here we investigated reef benthic and planktonic primary production, benthic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release and bacterial growth efficiency in the Abrolhos Bank, South Atlantic. Benthic DOC release rates are higher while water column bacterial growth efficiency is lower at impacted reefs. A trophic model based on the benthic and planktonic primary production was able to predict the observed relative fish biomass in healthy reefs. In contrast, in impacted reefs, the observed omnivorous fish biomass is higher, while that of the herbivorous/coralivorous fish is lower than predicted by the primary production-based model. Incorporating recycling of benthic-derived carbon in the model through microbial and sponge loops explains the difference and predicts the relative fish biomass in both reef types. Increased benthic carbon release rates and bacterial carbon metabolism, but decreased bacterial growth efficiency could lead to carbon losses through respiration and account for the uncoupling of benthic and fish production in phase-shifting reefs. Carbon recycling by microbial and sponge loops seems to promote an increase of small-bodied fish productivity in phase-shifting coral reefs. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan. Contingency gasoline rationing regulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-02-01

    The Economic Regulatory Administration issues final rules with respect to standby gasoline rationing. The plan is designed for and would be used only in the event of a severe gasoline shortage. The plan provides that eligibility for ration allotments will be primarily on the basis of motor vehicle registrations. DOE will mail government ration checks to the parties named in a national vehicle registration file to be maintained by DOE. Ration recipients may cash these checks for ration coupons at various designated coupon issuance points. Retail outlets and other suppliers will be required to redeem the ration coupons received in exchange for gasoline sold. Supplemental gas will be given to high-priority activities. A ration banking system will be established with two separate and distinct of ration accounts: retail outlets and other suppliers will open redemption accounts for the deposit of redeemed ration rights; and individuals or firms may open ration rights accounts, which will operate in much the same manner as monetary checking accounts. A white market will be permitted for the sale of transfer of ration rights. A percentage of the total ration rights to be issued will be reserved for distribution to the states as a State Ration Reserve, to be used by the states primarily for the relief of hardship. A National Ration Reserave will also be established. All sections of the Standby Gasoline Rationing Regulations are analyzed. (MCW)

  12. Context and scale: Distinctions for improving debates about physician "rationing".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilburt, Jon C; Sulmasy, Daniel P

    2017-08-29

    Important discussions about limiting care based on professional judgment often devolve into heated debates over the place of physicians in bedside rationing. Politics, loaded rhetoric, and ideological caricature from both sides of the rationing debate obscure precise points of disagreement and consensus, and hinder critical dialogue around the obligations and boundaries of professional practice. We propose a way forward by reframing the rationing conversation, distinguishing between the scale of the decision (macro vs. micro) and its context (ordinary allocation vs. extraordinary re-allocation) avoiding the word "rationing." We propose to shift the terminology, using specific, descriptive words to defuse conflict and re-focus the debate towards substantive issues. These distinctions can clarify the real ethical differences at stake and facilitate a more constructive conversation about the clinical and social responsibilities of physicians to use resources ethically at the bedside and their role in allocating medical resources at a societal level.

  13. Rationalization with ruled surfaces in architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steenstrup, Kasper Hornbak

    This thesis addresses the problems of rationalizing and segmenting large scale 3D models, and how to handle difficult production constraints in this area. The design choices when constructing large scale architecture are influenced by the budget. Therefore I strive to minimize the amount of time...... and material needed for production. This makes advanced free form architecture viable for low cost projects, allowing the architects to realize their designs. By pre-cutting building blocks using hot wire robots, the amount of milling necessary can be reduced drastically. I do this by rationalizing...

  14. Rational solitons in the parity-time-symmetric nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Min; Xu Tao; Meng Dexin

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, via the generalized Darboux transformation, rational soliton solutions are derived for the parity-time-symmetric nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) model with the defocusing-type nonlinearity. We find that the first-order solution can exhibit the elastic interactions of rational antidark-antidark, dark-antidark, and antidark-dark soliton pairs on a continuous wave background, but there is no phase shift for the interacting solitons. Also, we discuss the degenerate case in which only one rational dark or antidark soliton survives. Moreover, we reveal that the second-order rational solution displays the interactions between two solitons with combined-peak-valley structures in the near-field regions, but each interacting soliton vanishes or evolves into a rational dark or antidark soliton as |z| → ∞. In addition, we numerically examine the stability of the first- and second-order rational soliton solutions. (author)

  15. Rationality, Theory Acceptance and Decision Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Nicolas Kaufmann

    1998-06-01

    Full Text Available Following Kuhn's main thesis according to which theory revision and acceptance is always paradigm relative, I propose to outline some possible consequences of such a view. First, asking the question in what sense Bayesian decision theory could serve as the appropriate (normative theory of rationality examined from the point of view of the epistemology of theory acceptance, I argue that Bayesianism leads to a narrow conception of theory acceptance. Second, regarding the different types of theory revision, i.e. expansion, contraction, replacement and residuals shifts, I extract from Kuhn's view a series of indications showing that theory replacement cannot be rationalized within the framework of Bayesian decision theory, not even within a more sophisticated version of that model. Third, and finally, I will point to the need for a more comprehensive model of rationality than the Bayesian expected utility maximization model, the need for a model which could better deal with the different aspects of theory replacement. I will show that Kuhn's distinction between normal and revolutionary science gives us several hints for a more adequate theory of rationality in science. I will also show that Kuhn is not in a position to fully articulate his main ideas and that he well be confronted with a serious problem concerning collective choice of a paradigm.

  16. Rationality of limited rationality : some aggregate implications

    OpenAIRE

    Uri M. Possen; Mikko Puhakka

    1994-01-01

    In this paper we let economic agents choose whether to become fully rational or stay boundedly rational. Boundedly rational agents are less sophisticated in their information processing abilities. It is costly to acquire information needed to become fully rational, and thus not all agents are willing to incur those costs. We then explore the aggregate effects of endogenizing the decision whether the agent should or should not become fully rational in handling information. Since fully and boun...

  17. Relationship between the Methane Production and the CNCPS Carbohydrate Fractions of Rations with Various Concentrate/roughage Ratios Evaluated Using Incubation Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruilan Dong

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the trial was to study the relationship between the methane (CH4 production and the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS carbohydrate fractions of feeds for cattle and the suitability of CNCPS carbohydrate fractions as the dietary variables in modeling the CH4 production in rumen fermentation. Forty-five rations for cattle with the concentrate/roughage ratios of 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60, and 50:50 were formulated as feed samples. The Menke and Steingass’s gas test was used for the measurement of CH4 production. The feed samples were incubated for 48 h and the CH4 production was analyzed using gas chromatography. Statistical analysis indicated that the CH4 production (mL was closely correlated with the CNCPS carbohydrate fractions (g, i.e. CA (sugars; CB1 (starch and pectin; CB2 (available cell wall in a multiple linear pattern: CH4 = (89.16±14.93 CA+ (124.10±13.90 CB1+(30.58±11.72 CB2+(3.28±7.19, R2 = 0.81, p<0.0001, n = 45. Validation of the model using 10 rations indicated that the CH4 production of the rations for cattle could accurately be predicted based on the CNCPS carbohydrate fractions. The trial indicated that the CNCPS carbohydrate fractions CA, CB1 and CB2 were suitable dietary variables for predicting the CH4 production in rumen fermentation in vitro.

  18. Rational modification of Corynebacterium glutamicum dihydrodipicolinate reductase to switch the nucleotide-cofactor specificity for increasing l-lysine production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jian-Zhong; Yang, Han-Kun; Liu, Li-Ming; Wang, Ying-Yu; Zhang, Wei-Guo

    2018-03-25

    l-lysine is an important amino acid in animals and humans and NADPH is a vital cofactor for maximizing the efficiency of l-lysine fermentation. Dihydrodipicolinate reductase (DHDPR), an NAD(P)H-dependent enzyme, shows a variance in nucleotide-cofactor affinity in bacteria. In this study, we rationally engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum DHDPR (CgDHDPR) to switch its nucleotide-cofactor specificity resulting in an increase in final titer (from 82.6 to 117.3 g L -1 ), carbon yield (from 0.35 to 0.44 g [g glucose] -1 ) and productivity (from 2.07 to 2.93 g L -1  hr -1 ) of l-lysine in JL-6 ΔdapB::Ec-dapB C115G,G116C in fed-batch fermentation. To do this, we comparatively analyzed the characteristics of CgDHDPR and Escherichia coli DHDPR (EcDHDPR), indicating that hetero-expression of NADH-dependent EcDHDPR increased l-lysine production. Subsequently, we rationally modified the conserved structure of cofactor-binding motif, and results indicated that introducing the mutation K11A or R13A in CgDHDPR and introducing the mutation R16A or R39A in EcDHDPR modifies the nucleotide-cofactor affinity of DHDPR. Lastly, the effects of these mutated DHDPRs on l-lysine production were investigated. The highest increase (26.2%) in l-lysine production was observed for JL-6 ΔdapB::Ec-dapB C115G,G116C , followed by JL-6 Cg-dapB C37G,G38C (21.4%) and JL-6 ΔdapB::Ec-dapB C46G,G47C (15.2%). This is the first report of a rational modification of DHDPR that enhances the l-lysine production and yield through the modulation of nucleotide-cofactor specificity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. On the analysis of the thermal line shift and thermal line width of ions in solids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walsh, Brian M., E-mail: brian.m.walsh@nasa.gov [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681 (United States); Di Bartolo, Baldassare, E-mail: baldassare.dibartolo@bc.edu [Boston College, Department of Physics, Chestnut Hill, MA 23667 (United States)

    2015-02-15

    A method of analysis for the thermally induced line shift and line width of spectral lines regarding the Raman process of ions in solids utilizing rational approximations for the Debye functions is presented. The {sup 2}E level unsplit R-line in V{sup 2+}:MgO is used as an example to illustrate the utility of the methods discussed here in providing a new analytical tool for researchers. - Highlights: • We use rational approximations for Debye functions. • We discuss limits and ranges of applicability of the rational approximations. • We formulate expressions for thermal shift and thermal linewidth for Raman processes using the rational approximations of the Debye functions. • We present an application of the methods to analyze the temperature dependent linewidth and lineshift in V2+:MgO.

  20. Decision Making under Ecological Regime Shift: An Experimental Economic Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Kawata, Yukichika

    2011-01-01

    Environmental economics postulates the assumption of homo economicus and presumes that externality occurs as a result of the rational economic activities of economic agents. This paper examines this assumption using an experimental economic approach in the context of regime shift, which has been receiving increasing attention. We observe that when externality does not exist, economic agents (subjects of experimemt) act economically rationally, but when externality exists, economic agents avoi...

  1. Fiber sources for complete calf starter rations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdock, F R; Wallenius, R W

    1980-11-01

    Complete calf starter rations containing either 1) alfalfa hay, 2) cottonseed hulls, or 3) alfalfa-beet pulp as sources of fiber were fed to Holstein heifer calves at two locations on a limited milk program from 3 days to 12 wk of age. Rations were isonitrogenous and similar in content of crude fiber and acid detergent fiber. Although growth and development were normal on all rations, calves fed the cottonseed hull ration consumed more starter and gained more body weight than calves fed the other sources of fiber. The similarity of feed efficiencies, rumen pH, and molar ratios of volatile fatty acids between rations indicated no appreciable differences in rumen development or function. The growth response of calves fed the cottonseed hull ration appeared to be a result of better ration acceptability for which no reason was evident. Calves raised at Puyallup gained more body weight than calves at Pullman, and these gains were made more efficiently. These location effects may be related to seasonal differences and greater demands for production of body heat. Although the incidence of scours was less for calves fed alfalfa hay starter, the incidence and severity of bloat were higher for that ration.

  2. Consumers' evaluations of ecological packaging - rational and emotional approaches

    OpenAIRE

    Koenig-Lewis, Nicole; Palmer, Adrian; Dermody, Janine; Urbye, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    Ecological marketing claims have been criticized for confusing or misleading buyers, leading to calls for more rationality in promoting and evaluating ‘green’ products. However, emotions are important drivers influencing pro-environmental purchase decisions. This study investigates consumers' emotional and rational evaluations of pro-environmental packaging. A conceptual model incorporates individuals' general environmental concerns, their rational beliefs about environmental effects of produ...

  3. Two-step phase retrieval algorithm based on the quotient of inner products of phase-shifting interferograms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niu, Wenhu; Zhong, Liyun; Sun, Peng; Zhang, Wangping; Lu, Xiaoxu

    2015-01-01

    Based on the quotient of inner products, a simple and rapid algorithm is proposed to retrieve the measured phase from two-frame phase-shifting interferograms with unknown phase shifts. Firstly, we filtered the background of interferograms by a Gaussian high-pass filter. Secondly, we calculated the inner products of the background-filtered interferograms. Thirdly, we extracted the phase shifts by the quotient of the inner products then calculated the measured phase by an arctangent function. Finally, we tested the performance of the proposed algorithm by the simulation calculation and the experimental research for a vortex phase plate. Both the simulation calculation and the experimental result showed that the phase shifts and the measured phase with high accuracy can be obtained by the proposed algorithm rapidly and conveniently. (paper)

  4. Opportunistic Market-Driven Regional Shifts of Cropping Practices Reduce Food Production Capacity of China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Wenping; Liu, Shuguang; Liu, Wei; Zhao, Shuqing; Dong, Wenjie; Tao, Fulu; Chen, Min; Lin, Hui

    2018-04-01

    China is facing the challenge of feeding a growing population with the declining cropland and increasing shortage of water resources under the changing climate. This study identified that the opportunistic profit-driven shifts of planting areas and crop species composition have strongly reduced the food production capacity of China. First, the regional cultivation patterns of major crops in China have substantially shifted during the past five decades. Southeast and South China, the regions with abundant water resources and fewer natural disasters, have lost large planting areas of cropland in order to pursue industry and commerce. Meanwhile, Northeast and Northwest China, the regions with low water resources and frequent natural disasters, have witnessed increases in planting areas. These macroshifts have reduced the national food production by 1.02% per year. The lost grain production would have been enough to feed 13 million people. Second, the spatial shifts have been accompanied by major changes in crop species composition, with substantial increases in planting area and production of maize, due to its low water consumption and high economic returns. Consequently, the stockpile of maize in China has accounted for more than half of global stockpile, and the stock to use ratio of maize in China has exceeded the reliable level. Market-driven regional shifts of cropping practices have resulted in larger irrigation requirements and aggravated environmental stresses. Our results highlighted the need for Chinese food policies to consider the spatial shifts in cultivation, and the planting crop compositions limited by regional water resources and climate change.

  5. Rationalization of water consumption in paper industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Žarković Darja

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this paper was to consider the possibilities of economical paper production with rationalization of water consumption. In accordance with the principles of viable development. The pulp & paper industry has had to face global market needs and strict regulation concerning the environment. The basic motive was to provide consistent and high product quality, which is competitive on the market. The pulp & paper industry is one of the largest consumers and pollutants of natural resources. In that light, the rationalization of raw material, water, energy and chemicals consumption with minimization of environmental impact is essential. The European directive on environmental protection obliges producers of pulp & paper to decrease the volume of wastewater and to increase the efficiency treatment. Pulp and paper industry in Serbia and Montenegro will also be faced with the demands for environmental protection. Numerous examples of water consumption rationalization and improvement of water quality in the pulp & paper industry could be found in different literature sources. It is necessary to increase water system closure and implement up-to-date treatment methods. The possibilities for water consumption rationalization, in a real system the paperboard mill UMKA, were examined.

  6. Investigating Cortisol Production and Pattern as Mediators in the Relationship Between Shift Work and Cardiometabolic Risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritonja, Jennifer; Aronson, Kristan J; Day, Andrew G; Korsiak, Jill; Tranmer, Joan

    2018-05-01

    Shift work is a risk factor for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Although the biological pathways are still unclear, it is hypothesized that cortisol disruption during night work is an intermediate. The objective of this study is to determine whether total cortisol production and cortisol pattern mediate the relationship between current shift work and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) among female hospital employees. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 326 female employees (166 rotating shift workers, 160 day workers), recruited from a hospital in Southeastern Ontario, Canada, during 2011 to 2014. Participants completed a baseline interview, questionnaire, and clinical exam. Urine samples were collected over two 24-hour periods and used to analyze creatinine-adjusted cortisol, which was then used to calculate total cortisol production (AUC G ), and pattern (AUC I ). Mediation analysis was performed to test the mediating effect of cortisol in the relationship between shift work and a continuous CMR score. Current shift work is associated with a 0.52 higher CMR score (95% CI: 0.15, 0.89), a lower cortisol output (AUC G ), and a flatter pattern (AUC I ) over a 2-day period. AUC G is a partial mediator in the relationship between shift work and CMR, whereas AUC I is not. AUC G is also associated with CMR while controlling for shift work, suggesting that lower total cortisol production is also linked to CMR in non-shift workers. Total cortisol production is a partial mediator in the relationship between rotating shift work and CMR among female hospital employees, whereas cortisol pattern is not a mediator. Copyright © 2018 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Rationalization: A Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedrini, D. T.; Pedrini, Bonnie C.

    Rationalization was studied by Sigmund Freud and was specifically labeled by Ernest Jones. Rationalization ought to be differentiated from rational, rationality, logical analysis, etc. On the one hand, rationalization is considered a defense mechanism, on the other hand, rationality is not. Haan has done much work with self-report inventories and…

  8. Evaluation of optimum roughage to concentrate ratio in maize stover based complete rations for efficient microbial biomass production using in vitro gas production technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Y Ramana; Kumari, N Nalini; Monika, T; Sridhar, K

    2016-06-01

    A study was undertaken to evaluate the optimum roughage to concentrate ratio in maize stover (MS) based complete diets for efficient microbial biomass production (EMBP) using in vitro gas production technique. MS based complete diets with roughage to concentrate ratio of 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 30:70 were formulated, and 200 mg of oven-dried sample was incubated in water bath at 39°C along with media (rumen liquor [RL] - buffer) in in vitro gas syringes to evaluate the gas production. The gas produced was recorded at 8 and 24 h of incubation. In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), metabolizable energy (ME), truly digestible organic matter (TDOM), partitioning factor (PF), and EMBP were calculated using appropriate formulae. Ammonia nitrogen and total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs) production were analyzed in RL fluid-media mixture after 24 h of incubation. In vitro gas production (ml) at 24 h incubation, IVOMD, ME, TDOM, TVFA concentration, and ammonia nitrogen production were increased (p<0.01) in proportion to the increase in the level of concentrate in the diet. Significantly (p<0.01) higher PF and EMBP was noticed in total mixed ration with roughage to concentrate ratio of 60:40 and 50:50 followed by 70:30 and 40:60. Based on the results, it was concluded that the MS can be included in complete rations for ruminants at the level of 50-60% for better microbial biomass synthesis which in turn influences the performance of growing sheep.

  9. Benthic-planktonic coupling, regime shifts, and whole-lake primary production in shallow lakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genkai-Kato, Motomi; Vadeboncoeur, Yvonne; Liboriussen, Lone; Jeppesen, Erik

    2012-03-01

    Alternative stable states in shallow lakes are typically characterized by submerged macrophyte (clear-water state) or phytoplankton (turbid state) dominance. However, a clear-water state may occur in eutrophic lakes even when macrophytes are absent. To test whether sediment algae could cause a regime shift in the absence of macrophytes, we developed a model of benthic (periphyton) and planktonic (phytoplankton) primary production using parameters derived from a shallow macrophyte-free lake that shifted from a turbid to a clear-water state following fish removal (biomanipulation). The model includes a negative feedback effect of periphyton on phosphorus (P) release from sediments. This in turn induces a positive feedback between phytoplankton production and P release. Scenarios incorporating a gradient of external P loading rates revealed that (1) periphyton and phytoplankton both contributed substantially to whole-lake production over a broad range of external P loading in a clear-water state; (2) during the clear-water state, the loss of benthic production was gradually replaced by phytoplankton production, leaving whole-lake production largely unchanged; (3) the responses of lakes to biomanipulation and increased external P loading were both dependent on lake morphometry; and (4) the capacity of periphyton to buffer the effects of increased external P loading and maintain a clear-water state was highly sensitive to relationships between light availability at the sediment surface and the of P release. Our model suggests a mechanism for the persistence of alternative states in shallow macrophyte-free lakes and demonstrates that regime shifts may trigger profound changes in ecosystem structure and function.

  10. Exact complex integrals in two dimensions for shifted harmonic ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We use rationalization method to study two-dimensional complex dynamical systems (shifted harmonic oscillator in complex plane) on the extended comples phase space (ECPS). The role and scope of the derived invatiants in the context of various physical problems are high-lighted.

  11. Advances of zeolite based membrane for hydrogen production via water gas shift reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makertihartha, I. G. B. N.; Zunita, M.; Rizki, Z.; Dharmawijaya, P. T.

    2017-07-01

    Hydrogen is considered as a promising energy vector which can be obtained from various renewable sources. However, an efficient hydrogen production technology is still challenging. One technology to produce hydrogen with very high capacity with low cost is through water gas shift (WGS) reaction. Water gas shift reaction is an equilibrium reaction that produces hydrogen from syngas mixture by the introduction of steam. Conventional WGS reaction employs two or more reactors in series with inter-cooling to maximize conversion for a given volume of catalyst. Membrane reactor as new technology can cope several drawbacks of conventional reactor by removing reaction product and the reaction will favour towards product formation. Zeolite has properties namely high temperature, chemical resistant, and low price makes it suitable for membrane reactor applications. Moreover, it has been employed for years as hydrogen selective layer. This review paper is focusing on the development of membrane reactor for efficient water gas shift reaction to produce high purity hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Development of membrane reactor is discussed further related to its modification towards efficient reaction and separation from WGS reaction mixture. Moreover, zeolite framework suitable for WGS membrane reactor will be discussed more deeply.

  12. ALTERNATIVES, FRAMES, AND RELATIVE PRICES - A BROADER VIEW OF RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    LINDENBERG, S; FREY, BS

    One important consequence of the increasing convergence between sociology and economics is that sociologists make increasingly more use of rational choice theories for the explanation of social action. This shift opens up the possibility that sociologists make use of what must be considered to be

  13. In the Net of Economic Rationalism: Adult Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zepke, Nick

    2001-01-01

    In the last decade, consensus around equality and efficiency in New Zealand adult education shifted to a focus on autonomy and accountability, economic rationalism, and vocational skills. Adult educators seeking change should emphasize participative democracy, connectedness, and valuing and advancing groups with diverse identities and interests.…

  14. Zeolite Membrane Reactor for Water Gas Shift Reaction for Hydrogen Production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Jerry Y.S. [Arizona State Univ., Mesa, AZ (United States)

    2013-01-29

    Gasification of biomass or heavy feedstock to produce hydrogen fuel gas using current technology is costly and energy-intensive. The technology includes water gas shift reaction in two or more reactor stages with inter-cooling to maximize conversion for a given catalyst volume. This project is focused on developing a membrane reactor for efficient conversion of water gas shift reaction to produce a hydrogen stream as a fuel and a carbon dioxide stream suitable for sequestration. The project was focused on synthesizing stable, hydrogen perm-selective MFI zeolite membranes for high temperature hydrogen separation; fabricating tubular MFI zeolite membrane reactor and stable water gas shift catalyst for membrane reactor applications, and identifying experimental conditions for water gas shift reaction in the zeolite membrane reactor that will produce a high purity hydrogen stream. The project has improved understanding of zeolite membrane synthesis, high temperature gas diffusion and separation mechanisms for zeolite membranes, synthesis and properties of sulfur resistant catalysts, fabrication and structure optimization of membrane supports, and fundamentals of coupling reaction with separation in zeolite membrane reactor for water gas shift reaction. Through the fundamental study, the research teams have developed MFI zeolite membranes with good perm-selectivity for hydrogen over carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water vapor, and high stability for operation in syngas mixture containing 500 part per million hydrogen sulfide at high temperatures around 500°C. The research teams also developed a sulfur resistant catalyst for water gas shift reaction. Modeling and experimental studies on the zeolite membrane reactor for water gas shift reaction have demonstrated the effective use of the zeolite membrane reactor for production of high purity hydrogen stream.

  15. Evaluation of optimum roughage to concentrate ratio in maize stover based complete rations for efficient microbial biomass production using in vitro gas production technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Ramana Reddy

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Aim: A study was undertaken to evaluate the optimum roughage to concentrate ratio in maize stover (MS based complete diets for efficient microbial biomass production (EMBP using in vitro gas production technique. Materials and Methods: MS based complete diets with roughage to concentrate ratio of 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 30:70 were formulated, and 200 mg of oven-dried sample was incubated in water bath at 39°C along with media (rumen liquor [RL] - buffer in in vitro gas syringes to evaluate the gas production. The gas produced was recorded at 8 and 24 h of inc ubation. In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD, metabolizable energy (ME, truly digestible organic matter (TDOM, partitioning factor (PF, and EMBP were calculated using appropriate formulae. Ammonia nitrogen and total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs production were analyzed in RL fluid-media mixture after 24 h of incubation. Results: In vitro gas production (ml at 24 h incubation, IVOMD, ME, TDOM, TVFA concentration, and ammonia nitrogen production were increased (p<0.01 in proportion to the increase in the level of concentrate in the diet. Significantly (p<0.01 higher PF and EMBP was noticed in total mixed ration with roughage to concentrate ratio of 60:40 and 50:50 followed by 70:30 and 40:60. Conclusion: Based on the results, it was concluded that the MS can be included in complete rations for ruminants at the level of 50-60% for better microbial biomass synthesis which in turn influences the performance of growing sheep.

  16. Prelude to rational scale-up of penicillin production: a scale-down study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guan; Chu, Ju; Noorman, Henk; Xia, Jianye; Tang, Wenjun; Zhuang, Yingping; Zhang, Siliang

    2014-03-01

    Penicillin is one of the best known pharmaceuticals and is also an important member of the β-lactam antibiotics. Over the years, ambitious yields, titers, productivities, and low costs in the production of the β-lactam antibiotics have been stepwise realized through successive rounds of strain improvement and process optimization. Penicillium chrysogenum was proven to be an ideal cell factory for the production of penicillin, and successful approaches were exploited to elevate the production titer. However, the industrial production of penicillin faces the serious challenge that environmental gradients, which are caused by insufficient mixing and mass transfer limitations, exert a considerably negative impact on the ultimate productivity and yield. Scale-down studies regarding diverse environmental gradients have been carried out on bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi as well as animal cells. In accordance, a variety of scale-down devices combined with fast sampling and quenching protocols have been established to acquire the true snapshots of the perturbed cellular conditions. The perturbed metabolome information stemming from scale-down studies contributed to the comprehension of the production process and the identification of improvement approaches. However, little is known about the influence of the flow field and the mechanisms of intracellular metabolism. Consequently, it is still rather difficult to realize a fully rational scale-up. In the future, developing a computer framework to simulate the flow field of the large-scale fermenters is highly recommended. Furthermore, a metabolically structured kinetic model directly related to the production of penicillin will be further coupled to the fluid flow dynamics. A mathematical model including the information from both computational fluid dynamics and chemical reaction dynamics will then be established for the prediction of detailed information over the entire period of the fermentation process and

  17. L-Cysteine Production in Escherichia coli Based on Rational Metabolic Engineering and Modular Strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Han; Fang, Guochen; Wu, Hui; Li, Zhimin; Ye, Qin

    2018-05-01

    L-cysteine is an amino acid with important physiological functions and has a wide range of applications in medicine, food, animal feed, and cosmetics industry. In this study, the L-cysteine synthesis in Escherichia coliEscherichia coli is divided into four modules: the transport module, sulfur module, precursor module, and degradation module. The engineered strain LH03 (overexpression of the feedback-insensitive cysE and the exporter ydeD in JM109) accumulated 45.8 mg L -1 of L-cysteine in 48 hr with yield of 0.4% g/g glucose. Further modifications of strains and culture conditions which based on the rational metabolic engineering and modular strategy improved the L-cysteine biosynthesis significantly. The engineered strain LH06 (with additional overexpression of serA, serC, and serB and double mutant of tnaA and sdaA in LH03) produced 620.9 mg L -1 of L-cysteine with yield of 6.0% g/g glucose, which increased the production by 12 times and the yield by 14 times more than those of LH03 in the original condition. In fed-batch fermentation performed in a 5-L reactor, the concentration of L-cysteine achieved 5.1 g L -1 in 32 hr. This work demonstrates that the combination of rational metabolic engineering and module strategy is a promising approach for increasing the L-cysteine production in E. coli. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. Rationalization of Product Selectivities in Asymmetric Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons Reactions by Use of a New Method for Transition-State Modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Norrby, Per-Ola; Brandt, Peter; Rein, Tobias

    1999-01-01

    A new method for creating a transition-state force field, based on quantum chemical normal-mode analysis, is described. The force field was used to rationalize the experimentally observed product selectivities in asymmetric Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reactions between some chiral phosphonates and ch...

  19. Brewer's Grain from Cameroon Brewery in Breeder Chicken Rations : Effect on Productive and Reproductive Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mafeni, MJ.

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to evaluate the effect of brewer's dried grain (BDG on the productive and reproductive traits in breeder chickens, 120 laying hens and 12 cocks of ISA commercial breed were subjected to dietary treatments containing 0, 10, 20, and 30 % levels of BDG. Feed and water were provided ad libitum over the 5-months experimental period. Reproductive and productive traits such as egg production, egg weight, albumen height, shell weight, semen quantity fertility and hatchability of fertile eggs were measured. Results indicated that when BDG was fed at the 30 % level in the ration, the hen-day egg production (50.6 % was significantly (P of inclusion. There was a significant (P 0.05 was noticed between treatments for ratio of shell weight to egg weight, albumen height, semen quantity and fertility. The results suggest that although the 30 % level of BDG can be tolerated, the 20 %, level of BDG inclusion is more appropriate for breeder birds.

  20. Rationality in Society

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Flache, Andreas; Dijkstra, Jacob; Wright, James D.

    2015-01-01

    Contemporary theories of rational behavior in human society augment the orthodox model of rationality both by adding various forms of bounded rationality and relaxing the assumptions of self-interest and materialistic preferences. This entry discusses how these extensions of the theory of rational

  1. A Rational Approach to Rational Suicide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richman, Joseph

    1992-01-01

    Describes suicide as reaction to internal and external sources of stress and the impact of life events. Notes that, in the elderly, these situations are prevalent in many who are not suicidal. Contends that much more is written about rational suicide than its alternative (rational nonsuicide). Reviews reasons for this and suggests rational…

  2. Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arbuthnott, Devin; Fedina, Tatyana Y; Pletcher, Scott D; Promislow, Daniel E L

    2017-01-17

    According to rational choice theory, beneficial preferences should lead individuals to sort available options into linear, transitive hierarchies, although the extent to which non-human animals behave rationally is unclear. Here we demonstrate that mate choice in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster results in the linear sorting of a set of diverse isogenic female lines, unambiguously demonstrating the hallmark of rational behaviour, transitivity. These rational choices are associated with direct benefits, enabling males to maximize offspring production. Furthermore, we demonstrate that female behaviours and cues act redundantly in mate detection and assessment, as rational mate choice largely persists when visual or chemical sensory modalities are impaired, but not when both are impaired. Transitivity in mate choice demonstrates that the quality of potential mates varies significantly among genotypes, and that males and females behave in such a way as to facilitate adaptive mate choice.

  3. Is there a place for psychology in the framework of rational choice theory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mladenović Ivan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss psychological aspect of rational choice theory. The standard version of rational choice rests on a kind of psychology, since it operates with mental states. In standard davidsonian version it is claimed that we explain rational actions by stating proper desires and beliefs that caused the action. We will explore two challenges to the standard version that might be called cultural and naturalistic versions of rational choice. Satz and Ferejohn (1994 challenged standard version by stating that we can provide rational-choice explanations without relying too much on psychological assumptions. They argued in favor of moderate externalism, which should replace thin desire-belief model with thick structuralist conception. According to their model moderate externalism is compatible with realism about psychological states, while at the same time those states need not figure in the best rational choice explanations of actions. The focus of rational choice explanations therefore shifts to non-individual and non-psychological entities, such as firms in explaining economic behavior, parties in explaining functioning of democracy, etc. Although there is a place for psychological states within a moderate externalism, those states are not causally relevant. On Pettit’s account desires and beliefs figure in rational choice explanations merely as “standby causes”. They explain resilience of certain behavior, not its actual cause. Quite contrary to standard rational choice theory, the programming model (Pettit, 2002 defines the neurophysiological level as more basic in explaining behavior. This means that higher-level psychological states are causally relevant for certain behavior only if certain lower-level neurophysiological producer obtains. In this paper standard rational choice theory will be defended against culturalist and naturalist criticism.

  4. Rational choice in field archaelology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cătălin Pavel

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available In the present article I attempt to apply advances in the study of instrumental and epistemic rationality to field archaeology in order to gain insights into the ways archaeologists reason. The cognitive processes, particularly processes of decision making, that enable archaeologists to conduct the excavation in the trench have not been adequately studied so far. I take my cues from two different bodies of theory. I first inquire into the potential that rational choice theory (RCT may have in modeling archaeological behaviour, and I define subjective expected utility, which archaeologists attempt to maximize, in terms of knowledge acquisition and social gain. Following Elster’s criticism of RCT, I conclude that RCT’s standards for rational action do not correspond with those ostensibly used in field archaeology, but that instrumental rationality has a prominent role in the “archaeological experiment”. I further explore if models proposed as reaction to RCT may account for archaeological decision making. I focus on fast and frugal heuristics, and search for archaeological illustrations for some of the cognitive biases that are better documented in psychological literature. I document confirmation and congruence biases, the endowment effect, observer-expectancy bias, illusory correlation, clustering illusion, sunk cost bias, and anchoring, among others and I propose that some of these biases are used as cognitive tools by archaeologists at work and retain epistemic value. However, I find formal logic to be secondary in the development of archaeological reasoning, with default logic and defeasible logic being used instead. I emphasize scientific knowledge as an actively negotiated social product of human inquiry, and conclude that to describe rationality in field archaeology a bounded rationality model is the most promising avenue of investigation.

  5. The invisible hand and the rational agent are behind bubbles and crashes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galam, Serge

    2016-01-01

    The 2000 dot-com crash and the 2008 subprime crisis have fueled the belief that the two classical paradigms of economics, the invisible hand and the rational agent, are not well appropriate to describe market dynamics and should be abandoned at the benefit of alternative new theoretical concepts. At odd with such a view, using a simple model of choice dynamics from sociophysics, the invisible hand and the rational agent paradigms are given a new legitimacy. Indeed, it is sufficient to introduce the holding of a few intermediate mini market aggregations by agents sharing their own private information, to recenter the invisible hand and the rational agent at the heart of market self regulation. An elasticity is discovered in the market efficiency mechanism due to the existence of an agent collective anticipation. This elasticity is shown to create spontaneous bubbles, which are rationally founded. At the same time, crashes occur at once when the limit of elasticity is reached. Plasticity can also be achieved through a combination of a crash with a sudden shift of the collective anticipation. Although the findings disclose a path to put an end to the bubble-crash phenomena, it is argued to be rationally not feasible. Bubbles and crashes are thus an intrinsic internal part of classical economics.

  6. Studies regarding the influence of different straw-based ration types on fermentation and production of volatile fatty acids in the rumen of lactating cows. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muenchow, H.; Bergner, H.

    1977-01-01

    Lactating cows fed different types of ration were used to test a combined in-vitro/in-vivo technique for determining the rate of VFA-production. Both under N 2 - and CO 2 -atmosphere the applied in-vitro technique allowed to obtain fermentation results agreeing with the corresponding in-vivo results. The VFA-production was found to depend on the time of rumen juice extraction; it reached its peak 3 hours feed intake. The time-conditioned variations revealed a good agreement between the results obtained before morning and evening feedings, respectively. The rumen juice volume necessary for calculating the daily VFA production rate was recorded using the water-soluble complex of 51 Cr-ethylene diaminetetra acetate (EDTA). The results demonstrate that the measured values are of good reproducibility. Rumen juice volumes of 81.7 +- 6 l (ration type: straw pellets + concentrates) and 81.7 +- 4 l (ration type: fodder beet + dried green forage + concentrates) were recorded for the two groups of 10 experimental cows each, given restricted amounts of water and feed. Replication trials conducted 14 days later gave values of 70.7 +- 4 and 81.7 +- 2 l, respectively. (author)

  7. On rationally supported surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gravesen, Jens; Juttler, B.; Sir, Z.

    2008-01-01

    We analyze the class of surfaces which are equipped with rational support functions. Any rational support function can be decomposed into a symmetric (even) and an antisymmetric (odd) part. We analyze certain geometric properties of surfaces with odd and even rational support functions....... In particular it is shown that odd rational support functions correspond to those rational surfaces which can be equipped with a linear field of normal vectors, which were discussed by Sampoli et al. (Sampoli, M.L., Peternell, M., Juttler, B., 2006. Rational surfaces with linear normals and their convolutions...... with rational surfaces. Comput. Aided Geom. Design 23, 179-192). As shown recently, this class of surfaces includes non-developable quadratic triangular Bezier surface patches (Lavicka, M., Bastl, B., 2007. Rational hypersurfaces with rational convolutions. Comput. Aided Geom. Design 24, 410426; Peternell, M...

  8. Hierarchy of rational order families of chaotic maps with an invariant ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We introduce an interesting hierarchy of rational order chaotic maps that possess an invariant measure. In contrast to the previously introduced hierarchy of chaotic maps [1–5], with merely entropy production, the rational order chaotic maps can simultaneously produce and consume entropy. We compute the ...

  9. Pragmatics & rationality.

    OpenAIRE

    Allott, N. E.

    2007-01-01

    This thesis is about the reconciliation of realistic views of rationality with inferential-intentional theories of communication. Grice (1957 1975) argued that working out what a speaker meant by an utterance is a matter of inferring the speaker's intentions on the presumption that she is acting rationally. This is abductive inference: inference to the best explanation for the utterance. Thus an utterance both rationalises and causes the interpretation the hearer constructs. Human rationality...

  10. Shift work and mental health sickness absence : A 10-year observational cohort study among male production workers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Norder, Giny; Roelen, Corne A. M.; Bultmann, Ute; van der Klink, Jac J. L.

    Objectives Epidemiological studies investigating mental-health-related sickness absence (SA) among shift workers are lacking. This 10-year observational study investigated the risk of mental health SA among shift compared with day workers. Methods The data of 5826 male production workers were used

  11. Application of Absorption Modeling in Rational Design of Drug Product Under Quality-by-Design Paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesisoglou, Filippos; Mitra, Amitava

    2015-09-01

    Physiologically based absorption models can be an important tool in understanding product performance and hence implementation of Quality by Design (QbD) in drug product development. In this report, we show several case studies to demonstrate the potential application of absorption modeling in rational design of drug product under the QbD paradigm. The examples include application of absorption modeling—(1) prior to first-in-human studies to guide development of a formulation with minimal sensitivity to higher gastric pH and hence reduced interaction when co-administered with PPIs and/or H2RAs, (2) design of a controlled release formulation with optimal release rate to meet trough plasma concentrations and enable QD dosing, (3) understanding the impact of API particle size distribution on tablet bioavailability and guide formulation design in late-stage development, (4) assess impact of API phase change on product performance to guide specification setting, and (5) investigate the effect of dissolution rate changes on formulation bioperformance and enable appropriate specification setting. These case studies are meant to highlight the utility of physiologically based absorption modeling in gaining a thorough understanding of the product performance and the critical factors impacting performance to drive design of a robust drug product that would deliver the optimal benefit to the patients.

  12. Baseline rationing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Moreno-Ternero, Juan D.; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave

    The standard problem of adjudicating conflicting claims describes a situation in which a given amount of a divisible good has to be allocated among agents who hold claims against it exceeding the available amount. This paper considers more general rationing problems in which, in addition to claims...... to international protocols for the reduction of greenhouse emissions, or water distribution in drought periods. We define a family of allocation methods for such general rationing problems - called baseline rationing rules - and provide an axiomatic characterization for it. Any baseline rationing rule within...... the family is associated with a standard rule and we show that if the latter obeys some properties reflecting principles of impartiality, priority and solidarity, the former obeys them too....

  13. Rationing with baselines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Moreno-Ternero, Juan D.; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a new operator for general rationing problems in which, besides conflicting claims, individual baselines play an important role in the rationing process. The operator builds onto ideas of composition, which are not only frequent in rationing, but also in related problems...... such as bargaining, choice, and queuing. We characterize the operator and show how it preserves some standard axioms in the literature on rationing. We also relate it to recent contributions in such literature....

  14. The Effect of Soy Sauce Waste in Ration on Performance of Mojosari Duck

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. A. A. Larasati

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of study was to determined the effect of soy sauce waste in ration in the ration on the performance of Mojosari duck. The materials used were 240 of Mojosari which are 20 weeks olds with average body weight 1,385.0 ± 130.85 grams (CV = 9.44%. Feed ingredients used were, rice bran, soybean meal, yellow corn, fish meal, pollard and premix. The design that used was Completely Randomized Design (CRD with 4 treatments and 6 replications.The treatment applied soy sauce waste at level 5, 7,5 and 10%. The parameters observed were consumption, egg production, feed conversion. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance with F test. The results showed that soy sauce waste did not effected on performance (consumption of ration, egg production, ration conversion of Mojosari duck. The conclusion of this research is soy sauce waste be used as feed stuff of Mojosari duck ration until level 10%.

  15. Feeling food: The rationality of perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beekman, V.

    2006-01-01

    Regulatory bodies tend to treat people¿s emotional responses towards foods as a nuisance for rational opinion-formation and decision-making. This position is thought to be supported by such evidence as: (1) people showing negative emotional responses to the idea of eating meat products from

  16. Matrix factorisations for rational boundary conditions by defect fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behr, Nicolas; Fredenhagen, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    A large class of two-dimensional N=(2,2) superconformal field theories can be understood as IR fixed-points of Landau-Ginzburg models. In particular, there are rational conformal field theories that also have a Landau-Ginzburg description. To understand better the relation between the structures in the rational conformal field theory and in the Landau-Ginzburg theory, we investigate how rational B-type boundary conditions are realised as matrix factorisations in the SU(3)/U(2) Grassmannian Kazama-Suzuki model. As a tool to generate the matrix factorisations we make use of a particular interface between the Kazama-Suzuki model and products of minimal models, whose fusion can be realised as a simple functor on ring modules. This allows us to formulate a proposal for all matrix factorisations corresponding to rational boundary conditions in the SU(3)/U(2) model.

  17. Rasmussen's legacy and the long arm of rational choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dekker, Sidney W A

    2017-03-01

    Rational choice theory says that operators and others make decisions by systematically and consciously weighing all possible outcomes along all relevant criteria. This paper first traces the long historical arm of rational choice thinking in the West to Judeo-Christian thinking, Calvin and Weber. It then presents a case study that illustrates the consequences of the ethic of rational choice and individual responsibility. It subsequently examines and contextualizes Rasmussen's legacy of pushing back against the long historical arm of rational choice, showing that bad outcomes are not the result of human immoral choice, but the product of normal interactions between people and systems. If we don't understand why people did what they did, Rasmussen suggested, it is not because people behaved inexplicably, but because we took the wrong perspective. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Matrix factorisations for rational boundary conditions by defect fusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Behr, Nicolas [Department of Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University,Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS (United Kingdom); Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences,Edinburgh (United Kingdom); Fredenhagen, Stefan [Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut,D-14424 Golm (Germany)

    2015-05-11

    A large class of two-dimensional N=(2,2) superconformal field theories can be understood as IR fixed-points of Landau-Ginzburg models. In particular, there are rational conformal field theories that also have a Landau-Ginzburg description. To understand better the relation between the structures in the rational conformal field theory and in the Landau-Ginzburg theory, we investigate how rational B-type boundary conditions are realised as matrix factorisations in the SU(3)/U(2) Grassmannian Kazama-Suzuki model. As a tool to generate the matrix factorisations we make use of a particular interface between the Kazama-Suzuki model and products of minimal models, whose fusion can be realised as a simple functor on ring modules. This allows us to formulate a proposal for all matrix factorisations corresponding to rational boundary conditions in the SU(3)/U(2) model.

  19. Rational Homological Stability for Automorphisms of Manifolds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grey, Matthias

    In this thesis we prove rational homological stability for the classifying spaces of the homotopy automorphisms and block di↵eomorphisms of iterated connected sums of products of spheres of a certain connectivity.The results in particular apply to the manifolds       Npg,q  = (#g(Sp x Sq)) - int...... with coefficients in the homology of the universal covering, which is studied using rational homology theory. The result for the block di↵eomorphisms is deduced from the homological stability for the homotopy automorphisms upon using Surgery theory. Themain theorems of this thesis extend the homological stability...

  20. Inaugurating Rationalization: Three Field Studies Find Increased Rationalization When Anticipated Realities Become Current.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurin, Kristin

    2018-04-01

    People will often rationalize the status quo, reconstruing it in an exaggeratedly positive light. They will even rationalize the status quo they anticipate, emphasizing the upsides and minimizing the downsides of sociopolitical realities they expect to take effect. Drawing on recent findings on the psychological triggers of rationalization, I present results from three field studies, one of which was preregistered, testing the hypothesis that an anticipated reality becoming current triggers an observable boost in people's rationalizations. San Franciscans rationalized a ban on plastic water bottles, Ontarians rationalized a targeted smoking ban, and Americans rationalized the presidency of Donald Trump, more in the days immediately after these realities became current compared with the days immediately before. Additional findings show evidence for a mechanism underlying these behaviors and rule out alternative accounts. These findings carry implications for scholarship on rationalization, for understanding protest behavior, and for policymakers.

  1. Realization theory for rational systems: Minimal rational realizations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Nemcová (Jana); J.H. van Schuppen (Jan)

    2010-01-01

    htmlabstractThe study of realizations of response maps is a topic of control and system theory. Realization theory is used in system identification and control synthesis. A minimal rational realization of a given response map p is a rational realization of p such that the dimension of its state

  2. Many faces of rationality: Implications of the great rationality debate for clinical decision‐making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elqayam, Shira

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Given that more than 30% of healthcare costs are wasted on inappropriate care, suboptimal care is increasingly connected to the quality of medical decisions. It has been argued that personal decisions are the leading cause of death, and 80% of healthcare expenditures result from physicians' decisions. Therefore, improving healthcare necessitates improving medical decisions, ie, making decisions (more) rational. Drawing on writings from The Great Rationality Debate from the fields of philosophy, economics, and psychology, we identify core ingredients of rationality commonly encountered across various theoretical models. Rationality is typically classified under umbrella of normative (addressing the question how people “should” or “ought to” make their decisions) and descriptive theories of decision‐making (which portray how people actually make their decisions). Normative theories of rational thought of relevance to medicine include epistemic theories that direct practice of evidence‐based medicine and expected utility theory, which provides the basis for widely used clinical decision analyses. Descriptive theories of rationality of direct relevance to medical decision‐making include bounded rationality, argumentative theory of reasoning, adaptive rationality, dual processing model of rationality, regret‐based rationality, pragmatic/substantive rationality, and meta‐rationality. For the first time, we provide a review of wide range of theories and models of rationality. We showed that what is “rational” behaviour under one rationality theory may be irrational under the other theory. We also showed that context is of paramount importance to rationality and that no one model of rationality can possibly fit all contexts. We suggest that in context‐poor situations, such as policy decision‐making, normative theories based on expected utility informed by best research evidence may provide the optimal approach to medical decision

  3. Rational design of tetraphenylethylene-based luminescent down-shifting molecules: photophysical studies and photovoltaic applications in a CdTe solar cell from small to large units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yilin; Li, Zhipeng; Ablekim, Tursunjan; Ren, Tianhui; Dong, Wen-Ji

    2014-12-21

    A rational design strategy of novel fluorophores for luminescent down-shifting (LDS) application was proposed and tested in this paper. Three new fluorophores (1a-c) with specific intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics were synthesized as LDS molecules for increasing the output short circuit current density (Jsc) of a CdTe solar cell. Photophysical studies of their solution and solid states, and photovoltaic measurements of their PMMA solid films applied on a CdTe solar cell suggested that the specific spectroscopic properties and Jsc enhancement effects of these molecules were highly related to their chemical structures. The Jsc enhancement effects of these fluorophores were measured on both a CdTe small cell and a large panel. An increase in the output Jsc by as high as 5.69% for a small cell and 8.88% for a large panel was observed. Compared to a traditional LDS molecule, Y083, these fluorophores exhibited more superior capabilities of LDS.

  4. Many faces of rationality: Implications of the great rationality debate for clinical decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djulbegovic, Benjamin; Elqayam, Shira

    2017-10-01

    Given that more than 30% of healthcare costs are wasted on inappropriate care, suboptimal care is increasingly connected to the quality of medical decisions. It has been argued that personal decisions are the leading cause of death, and 80% of healthcare expenditures result from physicians' decisions. Therefore, improving healthcare necessitates improving medical decisions, ie, making decisions (more) rational. Drawing on writings from The Great Rationality Debate from the fields of philosophy, economics, and psychology, we identify core ingredients of rationality commonly encountered across various theoretical models. Rationality is typically classified under umbrella of normative (addressing the question how people "should" or "ought to" make their decisions) and descriptive theories of decision-making (which portray how people actually make their decisions). Normative theories of rational thought of relevance to medicine include epistemic theories that direct practice of evidence-based medicine and expected utility theory, which provides the basis for widely used clinical decision analyses. Descriptive theories of rationality of direct relevance to medical decision-making include bounded rationality, argumentative theory of reasoning, adaptive rationality, dual processing model of rationality, regret-based rationality, pragmatic/substantive rationality, and meta-rationality. For the first time, we provide a review of wide range of theories and models of rationality. We showed that what is "rational" behaviour under one rationality theory may be irrational under the other theory. We also showed that context is of paramount importance to rationality and that no one model of rationality can possibly fit all contexts. We suggest that in context-poor situations, such as policy decision-making, normative theories based on expected utility informed by best research evidence may provide the optimal approach to medical decision-making, whereas in the context

  5. Rationality District Policy Proliferation and Villages in Town Bandar Lampung

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Novita Tresiana

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This study is based on the premise that regional growth is a product of public policy, as the government attempts to solve public problems. Within the framework of rationality, then the expansion policy should be the result of rational choice, including the selection of alternatives for the achievement of objectives, contain a fundamental value and appropriate to achieve the end result (outcome is desired. The purpose of this paper is: to describe the process of policy-making division and rationality that are used to describe the actors in the division policy. The method used is qualitative. This paper raised the research findings that the process of defining the division policy, not the solutif effort the problem for substantive society and rationality that are used in the determination of policy, dominated model of rationality dustbin, as a structural response to the interests of elite (political, transactional, not a system response (legislative and executive to address the factual issues relating to the welfare of society.

  6. Computational study of hydrogen shifts and ring-opening mechanisms in α-pinene ozonolysis products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kurtén, Theo; Rissanen, Matti P.; Mackeprang, Kasper

    2015-01-01

    , sterically unhindered) H-shifts of all four peroxy radicals formed in the ozonolysis of α-pinene using density functional (ωB97XD) and coupled cluster [CCSD(T)-F12] theory. In contrast to the related but chemically simpler cyclohexene ozonolysis system, none of the calculated H-shifts have rate constants...... products in the α-pinene ozonolysis system, additional ring-opening reaction mechanisms breaking the cyclobutyl ring are therefore needed. We further investigate possible uni- and bimolecular pathways for opening the cyclobutyl ring in the α-pinene ozonolysis system....

  7. Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-06-01

    The final rules adopted by the President for a Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan are presented. The plan provides that eligibility for ration allotments will be determined primarily on the basis of motor vehicle registrations, taking into account historical differences in the use of gasoline among states. The regulations also provide authority for supplemental allotments to firms so that their allotment will equal a specified percentage of gasoline use during a base period. Priority classifications, i.e., agriculture, defense, etc., are established to assure adequate gasoline supplies for designated essential services. Ration rights must be provided by end-users to their suppliers for each gallon sold. DOE will regulate the distribution of gasoline at the wholesale level according to the transfer by suppliers of redeemed ration rights and the gasoline allocation regulations. Ration rights are transferable. A ration banking system is created to facilitate transfers of ration rights. Each state will be provided with a reserve of ration rights to provide for hardship needs and to alleviate inequities. (DC)

  8. FUNCTIONAL SUBCLONE PROFILING FOR PREDICTION OF TREATMENT-INDUCED INTRA-TUMOR POPULATION SHIFTS AND DISCOVERY OF RATIONAL DRUG COMBINATIONS IN HUMAN GLIOBLASTOMA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinartz, Roman; Wang, Shanshan; Kebir, Sied; Silver, Daniel J.; Wieland, Anja; Zheng, Tong; Küpper, Marius; Rauschenbach, Laurèl; Fimmers, Rolf; Shepherd, Timothy M.; Trageser, Daniel; Till, Andreas; Schäfer, Niklas; Glas, Martin; Hillmer, Axel M.; Cichon, Sven; Smith, Amy A.; Pietsch, Torsten; Liu, Ying; Reynolds, Brent A.; Yachnis, Anthony; Pincus, David W.; Simon, Matthias; Brüstle, Oliver; Steindler, Dennis A.; Scheffler, Björn

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Investigation of clonal heterogeneity may be key to understanding mechanisms of therapeutic failure in human cancer. However, little is known on the consequences of therapeutic intervention on the clonal composition of solid tumors. Experimental Design Here, we used 33 single cell-derived subclones generated from five clinical glioblastoma specimens for exploring intra- and inter-individual spectra of drug resistance profiles in vitro. In a personalized setting, we explored whether differences in pharmacological sensitivity among subclones could be employed to predict drug-dependent changes to the clonal composition of tumors. Results Subclones from individual tumors exhibited a remarkable heterogeneity of drug resistance to a library of potential anti-glioblastoma compounds. A more comprehensive intra-tumoral analysis revealed that stable genetic and phenotypic characteristics of co-existing subclones could be correlated with distinct drug sensitivity profiles. The data obtained from differential drug response analysis could be employed to predict clonal population shifts within the naïve parental tumor in vitro and in orthotopic xenografts. Furthermore, the value of pharmacological profiles could be shown for establishing rational strategies for individualized secondary lines of treatment. Conclusions Our data provide a previously unrecognized strategy for revealing functional consequences of intra-tumor heterogeneity by enabling predictive modeling of treatment-related subclone dynamics in human glioblastoma. PMID:27521447

  9. Shifts in climate suitability for wine production as a result of climate change in a temperate climate wine region of Romania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irimia, Liviu Mihai; Patriche, Cristian Valeriu; Quenol, Hervé; Sfîcă, Lucian; Foss, Chris

    2018-02-01

    Climate change is causing important shifts in the suitability of regions for wine production. Fine scale mapping of these shifts helps us to understand the evolution of vineyard climates, and to find solutions through viticultural adaptation. The aim of this study is to identify and map the structural and spatial shifts that occurred in the climatic suitability for wine production of the Cotnari wine growing region (Romania) between 1961 and 2013. Discontinuities in trends of temperature were identified, and the averages and trends of 13 climatic parameters for the 1961 to 1980 and 1981 to 2013 time periods were analysed. Using the averages of these climatic parameters, climate suitability for wine production was calculated at a resolution of 30 m and mapped for each time period, and the changes analysed. The results indicate shifts in the area's historic climatic profile, due to an increase of heliothermal resources and precipitation constancy. The area's climate suitability for wine production was modified by the loss of climate suitability for white table wines, sparkling wines and wine for distillates; shifts in suitability to higher altitudes by about 67 m, and a 48.6% decrease in the area suitable for quality white wines; and the occurrence of suitable climates for red wines at lower altitudes. The study showed that climate suitability for wine production has a multi-level spatial structure, with classes requiring a cooler climate being located at a higher altitude than those requiring a warmer climate. Climate change has therefore resulted in the shift of climate suitability classes for wine production to higher altitudes.

  10. Rational and Emotional Communication in Advertising in Women's Magazines in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Robinson Marin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This article investigated the incidence of rational and emotional arguments in messages from 5.536 advertisements of six women's magazines in Brazil (Claudia, Nova, Estilo, Marie Claire, Elle and Gloss, published between May / 2008 and August / 2009. The methodology was based on an exploratory study, supported on a scale of 14 items, by Resnik and Stern (1977, which recommend matching appeals to attitude toward the product, that is, use informative advertising, based on rational appeals for products in which the consumer attitude is predominantly cognitive. To assess the emotional content, we used the scale of eight items of Plutchik (1980, represented by the primary emotions - Anger, Fear, Sadness, Disgust, Surprise, Curiosity, Acceptance and Joy. Data analysis included the frequency of the two appeals in the general category (durables, non-durables and services, product, and correspondence analyzes were used to identify the prevalence of two types of arguments in selected magazines. The results show the concentration of ads on non-durable goods, followed by the category of services, that overcomes the advertisings on durables. The study also analyzes the incidence of emotional and rational arguments by product category and by magazine.

  11. Adolescent rationality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moshman, David

    2013-01-01

    Adolescents are commonly seen as irrational, a position supported to varying degrees by many developmentalists, who often appeal to recent research on adolescent brains. Careful review of relevant evidence, however, shows that (1) adults are less rational than is generally assumed, (2) adolescents (and adults) are categorically different from children with respect to the attainment of advanced levels of rationality and psychological functioning, and (3) adolescents and adults do not differ categorically from each other with respect to any rational competencies, irrational tendencies, brain structures, or neurological functioning. Development often continues in adolescence and beyond but categorical claims about adolescents as distinct from adults cannot be justified. A review of U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning intellectual freedom, reproductive freedom, and criminal responsibility shows ongoing ambivalence and confusion about the rationality of adolescents. Developmental theory and research suggest that adolescents should be conceptualized as young adults, not immature brains, with important implications for their roles, rights, and responsibilities.

  12. Role of Age-Related Shifts in Rumen Bacteria and Methanogens in Methane Production in Cattle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chong Liu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Rumen microbiota are essential for maintaining digestive and metabolic functions, producing methane as a byproduct. Dairy heifers produce large amounts of methane based on fermentation of digested organic matter, with adverse consequences for feed efficiency and the environment. It is therefore important to understand the influence of host age on the relationship between microbiota and methane production. This study explored the age effect on the relationship between microbial communities and enteric methane production in dairy cows and heifers using high-throughput sequencing. Methane production and volatile fatty acid concentrations were age-related. Heifers (9–10 months had lower methane production but higher methane production per dry matter intake (DMI. The acetate:propionate ratio decreased significantly with increasing age. Age-related microbiota changes in the rumen were reflected by a significant shift in bacterial taxa, but relatively stable archaeal taxa. Prevotella, Ruminococcus, Flavonifractor, Succinivibrio, and Methanobrevibacter were affected by age. This study revealed different associations between predominant bacterial phylotypes and Methanobrevibacter with increasing age. Prevotella was strongly correlated with Methanobrevibacter in heifers; howerver, in older cows (96–120 months this association was replaced by a correlation between Succinivibrio and Methanobrevibacter. This shift may account for the age-related difference in rumen fermentation and methane production per DMI.

  13. Love and rationality: on some possible rational effects of love

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo Ortiz-Millán

    Full Text Available In this paper I defend the idea that rather than disrupting rationality, as the common-sense conception has done it, love may actually help us to develop rational ways of thinking and acting. I make the case for romantic or erotic love, since this is the kind of love that is more frequently associated with irrationality in acting and thinking. I argue that this kind of love may make us develop epistemic and practical forms of rationality. Based on an analysis of its characteristic action tendencies, I argue that love may help us to develop an instrumental form of rationality in determining the best means to achieve the object of love. It may also narrow down the number of practical considerations that may help us to achieve our goals. Finally, love may generate rational ways of belief-formation by framing the parameters taken into account in perception and attention, and by bringing into light only a small portion of the epistemic information available. Love may make us perceive reality more acutely.

  14. MUSIC PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION AND THE SERVICE-GOOD SPECTRUM UNDER THE SWAY OF A SHIFT WITHIN A SHIFT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sílvia Helena Meyer Carvalho

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays music constitutes a phenomenon whose complexion entangles aspects simultaneously related to society, culture, art, business, and technology. Due to the combined influence of these aspects, music production-consumption acquires some unique features. Added to that, the swift evolution and growing influence of the economic-technological association have increasingly affected music as a sociocultural phenomenon, as an art form, and as a corporative business, increasing the complexity of an already convoluted context. Given the composite and dynamic constitution of the music field, the present approach departs from a multidisciplinary analysis, establishing a methodological groundwork that comprehends conceptual and qualitative research, elaborated through exploratory study. Under a standard economic perspective, music production-consumption belongs in the structure of the music supply chain, presenting a rather uncertain status between service and good. Apart from the economic understanding, however, music comprises a wide variety of manifestations, which do not suit conventional production-consumption processes. In order to cope with the inexorable duality of this paradoxical coexistence, this study proposes a model intended to contribute to the building of a comprehensive knowledge on music production and consumption. As this model departs from some specific flows of music production and consumption, it creates an array of patterns, pinpointing their situation within the service-good spectrum. In addition, it considers Digital Revolution and globalized communications as enablers that affect the foundations of traditional music, unbalance routine flows inside the supply chain of the music industry and cause music production-consumption relationships to shift their status from product-oriented to service-oriented.

  15. CONTRIBUTIONS TO RATIONAL APPROXIMATION,

    Science.gov (United States)

    Some of the key results of linear Chebyshev approximation theory are extended to generalized rational functions. Prominent among these is Haar’s...linear theorem which yields necessary and sufficient conditions for uniqueness. Some new results in the classic field of rational function Chebyshev...Furthermore a Weierstrass type theorem is proven for rational Chebyshev approximation. A characterization theorem for rational trigonometric Chebyshev approximation in terms of sign alternation is developed. (Author)

  16. Patterns of youth tobacco and polytobacco usage: The shift to alternative tobacco products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrell, Paul T; Naqvi, Syeda Mahrukh H; Plunk, Andrew D; Ji, Ming; Martins, Silvia S

    2017-11-01

    Despite significant declines in youth cigarette smoking, overall tobacco usage remains over 20% as non-cigarette tobacco product usage is increasingly common and polytobacco use (using 1+ tobacco product) remains steady. The present study was designed to identify patterns of youth tobacco use and examine associations with sociodemographic characteristics and tobacco dependence. The current analysis uses Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to examine the 6,958 tobacco users (n = 2,738 female) in the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2012 and 2013). We used as indicators past month use of tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, hookah, snus, pipes, bidis, and kreteks) and regressed resulting classes on sociodemographic characteristics and tobacco dependence. Nine classes emerged: cigarette smokers (33.4% of sample, also included small probabilities for use of cigars and e-cigarettes), cigar smokers (16.8%, nearly exclusive), smokeless tobacco users (12.3%, also included small probabilities for cigarettes, cigars, snus), hookah smokers (11.8%), tobacco smokers/chewers (10.7%, variety of primarily traditional tobacco products), tobacco/hookah smokers (7.2%), tobacco/snus/e-cig users (3.3%), e-cigarette users (2.9%,), and polytobacco users (1.7%, high probabilities for all products). Compared to cigarette smokers, tobacco/hookah smokers and hookah smokers were more likely to report Hispanic ethnicity. Polytobacco users were more likely to report dependence (AOR:2.77, 95% CI:[1.49-5.18]), whereas e-cigarette users were less likely (AOR:0.49, 95% CI:[0.24-0.97]). Findings are consistent with other research demonstrating shifts in adolescent tobacco product usage towards non-cigarette tobacco products. Continuous monitoring of these patterns is needed to help predict if this shift will ultimately result in improved public health.

  17. Rational points, rational curves, and entire holomorphic curves on projective varieties

    CERN Document Server

    Gasbarri, Carlo; Roth, Mike; Tschinkel, Yuri

    2015-01-01

    This volume contains papers from the Short Thematic Program on Rational Points, Rational Curves, and Entire Holomorphic Curves and Algebraic Varieties, held from June 3-28, 2013, at the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. The program was dedicated to the study of subtle interconnections between geometric and arithmetic properties of higher-dimensional algebraic varieties. The main areas of the program were, among others, proving density of rational points in Zariski or analytic topology on special varieties, understanding global geometric properties of rationally connected varieties, as well as connections between geometry and algebraic dynamics exploring new geometric techniques in Diophantine approximation.

  18. Rational Multiparty Computation

    OpenAIRE

    Wallrabenstein, John Ross

    2014-01-01

    The field of rational cryptography considers the design of cryptographic protocols in the presence of rational agents seeking to maximize local utility functions. This departs from the standard secure multiparty computation setting, where players are assumed to be either honest or malicious. ^ We detail the construction of both a two-party and a multiparty game theoretic framework for constructing rational cryptographic protocols. Our framework specifies the utility function assumptions neces...

  19. Rational Thinking and Reasonable Thinking in Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaeva E. A.

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The usual concept of space and time, based on Aristotle's principle of contemplation of the world and of the absoluteness of time, is a product of rational thinking. At the same time, in philosophy, rational thinking differs from reasonable thinking; the aim of logic is to distinguish finite forms from infinite forms. Agreeing that space and time are things of infinity in this work, we shall show that, with regard to these two things, it is necessary to apply reasonable thinking. Spaces with non-Euclidean geometry, for example Riemannian and Finslerian spaces, in particular, the space of the General Theory of the Relativity (four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian geometry and also the concept of multi-dimensional space-time are products of reasonable thinking. Consequently, modern physical experiment not dealing with daily occurrences (greater speeds than a low speed to the velocity of light, strong fields, singularities, etc. can be covered only by reasonable thinking.

  20. Rational Thinking and Reasonable Thinking in Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaeva E. A.

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The usual concept of space and time, based on Aristotle’s principle of contemplation of the world and of the absoluteness of time, is a product of rational thinking. At the same time, in philosophy, rational thinking differs from reasonable thinking; the aim of logic is to distinguish finite forms from infinite forms. Agreeing that space and time are things of infinity in this work, we shall show that, with regard to these two things, it is necessary to apply reasonable thinking. Spaces with non-Euclidean geometry, for example Riemannian and Finslerian spaces, in particular, the space of the General Theory of the Relativity (four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian geometry and also the concept of multi-dimensional space-time are products of reasonable thinking. Consequently, modern physical experiment not dealing with daily occurrences (greater speeds than a low speed to the velocity of light, strong fields, singularities, etc. can be covered only by reasonable thinking.

  1. Time for a shift in crop production: embracing complexity through diversity at all levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergård, Hanne; Finckh, M.R.; Fontaine, Laurence

    2009-01-01

    A radical shift in our approach to crop production is needed to ensure food security and to address the problems of soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, polluted and restricted water supplies, coupled with a future of fossil fuel limitations and increasingly variable climatic conditions...

  2. Time for a shift in crop production: embracing complexity through diversity at all levels

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ostergard, H.; Finckh, M.R.; Fontaine, L.; Goldringer, I.; Hoad, S.; Kristensen, K.; Lammerts Van Bueren, E.; Mascher, F.; Munk, L.; Wolfe, M.S.

    2009-01-01

    A radical shift in our approach to crop production is needed to ensure food security and to address the problems of soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, polluted and restricted water supplies, coupled with a future of fossil fuel limitations and increasingly variable climatic conditions. An

  3. 教师流动伦理:意蕴、困境与出路%Teacher Shift Ethics:Meanings,Problems and Solutions

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    谢延龙; 李爱华

    2014-01-01

    Teacher shift contains a strong ethical value. Since multiple conflicts of interest and other reasons,teacher shift in our country exist utilitarian raging,tool rationality publicity,teachers’ participation in aphasia and other ethical dilemma. For the return of teacher shift ethics ,teacher shift in our country to achieve the utilitarian and super utilitarian goals fit ,value rationality and tool rationality integration ,other planning in integration with the main body participation.%教师流动蕴含着强烈的伦理价值追求。由于多元利益冲突及其他种种原因,我国教师流动在实践中存在着功利性肆虐、工具理性张扬和教师参与失语等伦理困境。为实现教师流动伦理的回归,我国教师流动要做到功利性与超功利目标的契合、价值理性与工具理性的整合、他者谋划与主体参与的融合。

  4. Irrational Rationality of Terrorism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Nalbandov

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The present article deals with the ontological problem of applying the rational choice frameworks to the study of terrorism. It testing the application of the rational choice to the “old” (before the end of the Cold War and the “new” (after the end of the Cold War terrorisms. It starts with analyzing the fundamentals of rationality and applies it at two levels: the individual (actors and group (collective via two outlooks: tactical (short-term and strategic (long-term. The main argument of the article is that while the “old” terrorism can be explained by the rational choice theory its “new” version represents a substantial departure from rationality.

  5. Lying for Strategic Advantage: Rational and Boundedly Rational Misrepresentation of Intentions

    OpenAIRE

    Crawford, Vincent P.

    2001-01-01

    Starting from Hendricks and McAfee's (2000) example of the Allies' decision to feint at Calais and attack at Normandy on D-Day, this paper models misrepresentation of intentions to competitors or enemies. Allowing for the possibility of bounded strategic rationality and rational players' responses to it yields a sensible account of lying via costless, noiseless messages. In many cases the model has generically unique pure-strategy sequential equilibria, in which rational players exploit bound...

  6. Adding liquid feed to a total mixed ration reduces feed sorting behavior and improves productivity of lactating dairy cows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeVries, T J; Gill, R M

    2012-05-01

    This study was designed to determine the effect of adding a molasses-based liquid feed (LF) supplement to a total mixed ration (TMR) on the feed sorting behavior and production of dairy cows. Twelve lactating Holstein cows (88.2±19.5 DIM) were exposed, in a crossover design with 21-d periods, to each of 2 treatment diets: 1) control TMR and 2) control TMR with 4.1% dietary dry matter LF added. Dry matter intake (DMI), sorting, and milk yield were recorded for the last 7 d of each treatment period. Milk samples were collected for composition analysis for the last 3 d of each treatment period; these data were used to calculate 4% fat-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk yield. Sorting was determined by subjecting fresh feed and orts samples to particle separation and expressing the actual intake of each particle fraction as a percentage of the predicted intake of that fraction. Addition of LF did not noticeably change the nutrient composition of the ration, with the exception of an expected increase in dietary sugar concentration (from 4.0 to 5.4%). Liquid feed supplementation affected the particle size distribution of the ration, resulting in a lesser amount of short and a greater amount of fine particles. Cows sorted against the longest ration particles on both treatment diets; the extent of this sorting was greater on the control diet (55.0 vs. 68.8%). Dry matter intake was 1.4 kg/d higher when cows were fed the LF diet as compared with the control diet, resulting in higher acid-detergent fiber, neutral-detergent fiber, and sugar intakes. As a result of the increased DMI, cows tended to produce 1.9 kg/d more milk and produced 3.1 and 3.2 kg/d more 4% fat-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk, respectively, on the LF diet. As a result, cows tended to produce more milk fat (0.13 kg/d) and produced more milk protein (0.09 kg/d) on the LF diet. No difference between treatments was observed in the efficiency of milk production. Overall, adding a molasses

  7. Determinants of Actor Rationality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ellegaard, Chris

    Industrial companies must exercise influence on their suppliers (or supplier actors). Actor rationality is a central theme connected to this management task. In this article, relevant literature is studied with the purpose of shedding light on determinants of actor rationality. Two buyer-supplier...... relations are investigated in a multiple case study, leading to the proposal of various additional factors that determine and shape actor rationality. Moreover a conceptual model of rationality determinants in the buyer-supplier relation is proposed, a model that may help supply managers analyse...

  8. Two Concepts of Rationality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danny Frederick

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The dominant tradition in Western philosophy sees rationality as dictating. Thus rationality may require that we believe the best explanation and simple conceptual truths and that we infer in accordance with evident rules of inference. I argue that, given what we know about the growth of knowledge, this authoritarian concept of rationality leads to absurdities and should be abandoned. I then outline a libertarian concept of rationality, derived from Popper, which eschews the dictates and which sees a rational agent as one who questions, criticises, conjectures and experiments. I argue that, while the libertarian approach escapes the absurdities of the authoritarian, it requires two significant developments and an important clarification to be made fully consistent with itself.

  9. Rationality and institutions : an inquiry into the normative implications of rational choice theory

    OpenAIRE

    Engelen, Bart

    2007-01-01

    I aim to analyze in this dissertation what a desirable basic institutional structure looks like from the perspective of rationality. While the main topic is thus normative in nature, I start by clarifying in the first part what the notion of rationality exactly entails. I do so by focusing explicitly on the economic conception of rationality, according to which a rational individual is motivated to serve his self-interest on the basis of cost-benefit calculations. Such a Homo Economicus is ch...

  10. Enhancement of Cellulase and Xylanase Production Using pH-Shift and Dissolved Oxygen Control Strategy with Streptomyces griseorubens JSD-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Dan; Luo, Yanqing; Chu, Shaohua; Zhi, Yuee; Wang, Bin; Zhou, Pei

    2016-01-01

    In this study, the production of cellulase and xylanase by Streptomyces griseorubens JSD-1 was improved by integrating the pH-shift and dissolved oxygen (DO)-constant control strategies. The pH-shift control strategy was carried out by analyzing the specific cell growth rate (μ) and specific enzyme formation rate (Q p) of S. griseorubens JSD-1. The pH was controlled at 8.0 during the first 48 h to maintain high cell growth, which then shifted to 7.5 after 48 h to improve the production of cellulase and xylanase. Using this method, the maximum activities of cellulase, xylanase, and filter paper enzyme (FPase) increased by 47.9, 29.5, and 113.6 %, respectively, compared to that obtained without pH control. On the basis of pH-shift control, the influence of DO concentrations on biomass and enzyme production was further investigated. The maximum production of cellulase, xylanase, and FPase reached 114.38 ± 0.96 U mL(-1), 330.57 ± 2.54 U mL(-1), and 40.11 ± 0.38 U mL(-1), which were about 1.6-fold, 0.6-fold, and 3.2-fold higher than that of neutral pH without DO control conditions. These results supplied a functional approach for improving cellulase and xylanase production.

  11. Plantinga's Internal and External Approach toRationality of Belief in God

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Farajipak

    2015-02-01

    suggested an inductive- posteriori one. Based on this view, the cause behind thebasic nature of belief is an internal aspect and consequently is completely personal and relative. That means any kind of assessment of one's beliefs should be made by referring to his/her cognitional structure. Consequently, no general criterion can be determined for making a belief basic because every individual can offer a specific criterion based on his own cognitional structure which differs from others. Thus, based on this version, the only difference between Plantinga and other foundationalists is in his different view about the basic belief of the individuals. He believes that to determine the basic beliefs, first the person should make distinction between what he considers basic from non-basic ones and then he should introduce a criterion by which his belief becomes basic. Therefore, by looking at the issue from a different angle, he offered a new and more expanded version of the basic beliefs according to which the belief in God becomes quite rational. Plantinga, on the other hand, in his later works (three Warrantsemphasizes that instead of having an internal approach toward the rationality and justification one should have an external approach and consider the believers' beliefs as warranted. This shift in Plantinga's approach stemmed from his theory about epistemological justification of which was reflected in his two impressive works entitled:Warrant: the Current Debateand Warrant and Proper Function(published in 1993. Based on the external approach, he shifts from the notion of justification to Warrant. He considers the rationality of religious belief not in being justifiable, but warranted which can be a guarantee for the rationality of believing in God. On the other hand, he changed the third element of knowledge from "justifiable" to "warranted" and defined the knowledge as "a True Warranted Belief"In this new approach, he doesn't seek to define the justification and the

  12. In situ product removal in fermentation systems: improved process performance and rational extractant selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dafoe, Julian T; Daugulis, Andrew J

    2014-03-01

    The separation of inhibitory compounds as they are produced in biotransformation and fermentation systems is termed in situ product removal (ISPR). This review examines recent ISPR strategies employing several classes of extractants including liquids, solids, gases, and combined extraction systems. Improvement through the simple application of an auxiliary phase are tabulated and summarized to indicate the breadth of recent ISPR activities. Studies within the past 5 years that have highlighted and have discussed "second phase" properties, and that have an effect on fermentation performance, are particular focus of this review. ISPR, as a demonstrably effective processing strategy, continues to be widely adopted as more applications are explored; however, focus on the properties of extractants and their rational selection based on first principle considerations will likely be key to successfully applying ISPR to more challenging target molecules.

  13. The causes and unintended consequences of a paradigm shift in corn production practices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fausti, Scott W.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Biotechnology adoption and the U.S. corn production system are causally linked. • U.S. agriculture and energy policy choices merged to incentivize U.S. corn production. • U.S. biofuel energy policy contributed to the adoption of Bt corn seed technology. • Policy alternatives to modify the corn-based ethanol production system are provided. - Abstract: Independent but simultaneously occurring changes in U.S. agricultural and energy policies in conjunction with advances in biotechnology converged to create an economic and regulatory environment that incentivized corn acreage expansion. Advancements in Bt seed and ethanol production technologies contributed to scale efficiency gains in corn and biofuel production. These advancements were accompanied by changes in market forces that altered the balance between corn and other agricultural crop production. The causal linkages among Bt adoption, ethanol production, and corn production are explored along with a discussion of how this shift toward corn production generated unexpected economic and environmental consequences. Alternative policy solutions to mitigate the negative consequences and enhance the resiliency of U.S. agriculture are discussed

  14. Rationing medical education.

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper discussed the pros and cons of the application of rationing to medical education and the different ... Different types of rationing exist in healthcare professional education. ... state-of-the-art resources, technology and tutors con-.

  15. Rationality problem for algebraic tori

    CERN Document Server

    Hoshi, Akinari

    2017-01-01

    The authors give the complete stably rational classification of algebraic tori of dimensions 4 and 5 over a field k. In particular, the stably rational classification of norm one tori whose Chevalley modules are of rank 4 and 5 is given. The authors show that there exist exactly 487 (resp. 7, resp. 216) stably rational (resp. not stably but retract rational, resp. not retract rational) algebraic tori of dimension 4, and there exist exactly 3051 (resp. 25, resp. 3003) stably rational (resp. not stably but retract rational, resp. not retract rational) algebraic tori of dimension 5. The authors make a procedure to compute a flabby resolution of a G-lattice effectively by using the computer algebra system GAP. Some algorithms may determine whether the flabby class of a G-lattice is invertible (resp. zero) or not. Using the algorithms, the suthors determine all the flabby and coflabby G-lattices of rank up to 6 and verify that they are stably permutation. The authors also show that the Krull-Schmidt theorem for G-...

  16. Rational solutions of the discrete time Toda lattice and the alternate discrete Painleve II equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Common, Alan K; Hone, Andrew N W

    2008-01-01

    The Yablonskii-Vorob'ev polynomials y n (t), which are defined by a second-order bilinear differential-difference equation, provide rational solutions of the Toda lattice. They are also polynomial tau-functions for the rational solutions of the second Painleve equation (P II ). Here we define two-variable polynomials Y n (t, h) on a lattice with spacing h, by considering rational solutions of the discrete time Toda lattice as introduced by Suris. These polynomials are shown to have many properties that are analogous to those of the Yablonskii-Vorob'ev polynomials, to which they reduce when h = 0. They also provide rational solutions for a particular discretization of P II , namely the so-called alternate discrete P II , and this connection leads to an expression in terms of the Umemura polynomials for the third Painleve equation (P III ). It is shown that the Baecklund transformation for the alternate discrete Painleve equation is a symplectic map, and the shift in time is also symplectic. Finally we present a Lax pair for the alternate discrete P II , which recovers Jimbo and Miwa's Lax pair for P II in the continuum limit h → 0

  17. Rational Approximations to Rational Models: Alternative Algorithms for Category Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanborn, Adam N.; Griffiths, Thomas L.; Navarro, Daniel J.

    2010-01-01

    Rational models of cognition typically consider the abstract computational problems posed by the environment, assuming that people are capable of optimally solving those problems. This differs from more traditional formal models of cognition, which focus on the psychological processes responsible for behavior. A basic challenge for rational models…

  18. Network marketing with bounded rationality and partial information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiet, Hoang Anh Tuan; Kim, Beom Jun

    2008-08-01

    Network marketing has been proposed and used as a way to spread the product information to consumers through social connections. We extend the previous game model of the network marketing on a small-world tree network and propose two games: In the first model with the bounded rationality, each consumer makes purchase decision stochastically, while in the second model, consumers get only partial information due to the finite length of social connections. Via extensive numerical simulations, we find that as the rationality is enhanced not only the consumer surplus but also the firm’s profit is increased. The implication of our results is also discussed.

  19. Principles of ration formulation for ruminants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jayasuriya, M.C.N.

    2002-01-01

    Feeding standards as practiced in developed countries could be misleading when non-conventional feed resources are used in formulating rations for ruminant livestock in developing countries. They tend to reject the poor quality feeds that are available in vast quantities. The non-availability of good quality forage throughout the year and the need to optimise the efficiency of utilisation of locally available feed resources have lead to the application of basic nutritional principles when considering ration formulation. The alternative approach to the use of feeding standards would be to ensure that the production system matches the available resources. The development of feed supplementation strategies based on locally available feed resources require the understanding of the relative roles and nutrient needs of the two-compartment system represented by the micro-organisms in the rumen and the host animal. (author)

  20. Nonlinear oligopolistic game with isoelastic demand function: Rationality and local monopolistic approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Askar, S.S.; Alnowibet, K.

    2016-01-01

    Isoelastic demand function have been used in literature to study the dynamic features of systems constructed based on economic market structure. In this paper, we adopt the so-called Cobb–Douglas production function and study its impact on the steady state of an oligopolistic game that consists of four oligopolistic competitors or firms. Briefly, the paper handles three different scenarios. The first scenario introduces four oligopolistic firms who plays rational against each other in market. The firms use the myopic mechanism (or bounded rational) to update their production in the next time unit. The steady state of the obtained system in this scenario, which is the Nash equilibrium, is unique and its characteristics are investigated. Based on a local monopolistic approximation (LMA) strategy, one competitor prefers to play against the three rational firms and this is illustrated in the second scenario. The last scenario discusses the case when three competitors use the LMA strategy against a rational one. For all scenarios discrete dynamical systems are used to describe the game introduced in all scenarios. The stability analysis of the Nash equilibrium is investigated analytically and some numerical simulations are used to confirm the obtained analytical results.

  1. Research of rheological characteristics and determination of rational parameters of drying process of activated ferment for bakery products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. M. Borodulin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The work is aimed at investigating the rheological properties of the ferment in the process of maturation and storage with subsequent determination of the rational parameters of its drying in various drying plants with the analysing of microflora of dried samples. We studied the rheological properties of the ferment using the strain of the lactobacilli L. Acidothilus 146A (activator and without it, which showed that the ferment for the production of special purpose bakery products to non-Newtonian or anomalously viscous liquids described by the Osthald-de-Vale rheological equation. We found that the introduction the strain of the lactobacilli L. Acidothilus 146A helps to reduce the viscosity during maturation by almost 3 times, and when storing the samples – in 2 times, this is indicated by the value of the consistency coefficient. The activator reduces the influence of temperature, so the structure of the ferment becomes more stable. It is easier to further process in this state. Consequently, the energy consumption for production is significantly reduced and the increases expiration date after the strain of the lactobacilli L. Acidothilus 146A is added to the starter for the production of special purpose bakery products. We detected kinetic patterns of drying of the activated ferment in thermoradiation, convective and sublimation dryers under different temperature operating conditions. We have determined the rational parameters of drying the ferment for the production of bakery products of specialized purpose. We analyzed the useful microflora of the dried samples. It has been revealed that microorganisms undergoing convective and sublimation (freeze drying are subjected to the smallest destructive effect. We found that microorganisms are less destroyed by convective and freeze drying. The microbial titer in these samples is at least 1(105CFU/g. While drying by the method of infrared irradiation, this titer is lower by a factor of ten

  2. Optimal public rationing and price response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassi, Simona; Ma, Ching-To Albert

    2011-12-01

    We study optimal public health care rationing and private sector price responses. Consumers differ in their wealth and illness severity (defined as treatment cost). Due to a limited budget, some consumers must be rationed. Rationed consumers may purchase from a monopolistic private market. We consider two information regimes. In the first, the public supplier rations consumers according to their wealth information (means testing). In equilibrium, the public supplier must ration both rich and poor consumers. Rationing some poor consumers implements price reduction in the private market. In the second information regime, the public supplier rations consumers according to consumers' wealth and cost information. In equilibrium, consumers are allocated the good if and only if their costs are below a threshold (cost effectiveness). Rationing based on cost results in higher equilibrium consumer surplus than rationing based on wealth. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Exploring rationality in schizophrenia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Revsbech, Rasmus; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Owen, Gareth

    2015-01-01

    Background Empirical studies of rationality (syllogisms) in patients with schizophrenia have obtained different results. One study found that patients reason more logically if the syllogism is presented through an unusual content. Aims To explore syllogism-based rationality in schizophrenia. Meth...... differences became non-significant. Conclusions When taking intelligence and neuropsychological performance into account, patients with schizophrenia and controls perform similarly on syllogism tests of rationality.......Background Empirical studies of rationality (syllogisms) in patients with schizophrenia have obtained different results. One study found that patients reason more logically if the syllogism is presented through an unusual content. Aims To explore syllogism-based rationality in schizophrenia. Method...... Thirty-eight first-admitted patients with schizophrenia and 38 healthy controls solved 29 syllogisms that varied in presentation content (ordinary v. unusual) and validity (valid v. invalid). Statistical tests were made of unadjusted and adjusted group differences in models adjusting for intelligence...

  4. Respect for rational autonomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Rebecca L

    2009-12-01

    The standard notion of autonomy in medical ethics does not require that autonomous choices not be irrational. The paper gives three examples of seemingly irrational patient choices and discusses how a rational autonomy analysis differs from the standard view. It then considers whether a switch to the rational autonomy view would lead to overriding more patient decisions but concludes that this should not be the case. Rather, a determination of whether individual patient decisions are autonomous is much less relevant than usually considered in determining whether health care providers must abide by these decisions. Furthermore, respect for rational autonomy entails strong positive requirements of respect for the autonomy of the person as a rational decision maker. The rationality view of autonomy is conceptually stronger than the standard view, allows for a more nuanced understanding of the practical moral calculus involved in respecting patient autonomy, and promotes positive respect for patient autonomy.

  5. Intake of minerals, trace elements and vitamins in bone and raw food rations in adult dogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dillitzer, Natalie; Becker, Nicola; Kienzle, Ellen

    2011-10-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vitamin and mineral content of bone and raw food rations fed to adult dogs in Germany. Pet owners completed a standardised feeding questionnaire. The composition of 95 rations was calculated from mean data for foodstuffs using nutrition balancing software. Typical ration ingredients were meats, fish, offal, dairy products, eggs, oil, nuts, cod liver oil and natural and commercial supplements. The supply of nutrients was compared with the recommended allowance (RA). Of the rations that were used, 10 % supplied vitamin D was below RA. About half of the rations supplied less iodine than the minimum requirement. Many of the rations had low Zn and Cu supply, and 25 % of the rations supplied only 70 % of RA for vitamin A or less. A total of 60 % of the rations had one or more of the above-mentioned imbalance. The remaining 40 % of rations either had minor problems like Ca excess from bones or they were balanced.

  6. Embodying rationality

    OpenAIRE

    Mastrogiorgio, Antonio; Petracca, Enrico

    2016-01-01

    The current notions of bounded rationality in economics share distinctive features with Simon’s original notion, which still influences the theoretical and experimental research in the fields of choice, judgment, decision making, problem solving, and social cognition. All these notions of bounded rationality are in fact equally rooted in the information-processing approach to human cognition, expressing the view that reasoning is disembodied and that it can be reduced to the processing of abs...

  7. Capital Requirements and Credit Rationing

    OpenAIRE

    Itai Agur

    2010-01-01

    This paper analyzes the trade-off between financial stability and credit rationing that arises when increasing capital requirements. It extends the Stiglitz-Weiss model of credit rationing to allow for bank default. Bank capital structure then matters for lending incentives. With default and rationing endogenous, optimal capital requirements can be analyzed. Introducing bank financiers, the paper also shows that uninsured funding raises the sensitivity of rationing to capital requirements. In...

  8. Refolding of proteins from inclusion bodies: rational design and recipes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, Anindya; Li, Xiang; Leong, Susanna Su Jan

    2011-10-01

    The need to develop protein biomanufacturing platforms that can deliver proteins quickly and cost-effectively is ever more pressing. The rapid rate at which genomes can now be sequenced demands efficient protein production platforms for gene function identification. There is a continued need for the biotech industry to deliver new and more effective protein-based drugs to address new diseases. Bacterial production platforms have the advantage of high expression yields, but insoluble expression of many proteins necessitates the development of diverse and optimised refolding-based processes. Strategies employed to eliminate insoluble expression are reviewed, where it is concluded that inclusion bodies are difficult to eliminate for various reasons. Rational design of refolding systems and recipes are therefore needed to expedite production of recombinant proteins. This review article discusses efforts towards rational design of refolding systems and recipes, which can be guided by the development of refolding screening platforms that yield both qualitative and quantitative information on the progression of a given refolding process. The new opportunities presented by light scattering technologies for developing rational protein refolding buffer systems which in turn can be used to develop new process designs armed with better monitoring and controlling functionalities are discussed. The coupling of dynamic and static light scattering methodologies for incorporation into future bioprocess designs to ensure delivery of high-quality refolded proteins at faster rates is also discussed.

  9. Rational and Emotional Communication in Advertising in Women's Magazines in Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Edward Robinson Marin; Nadia Kassouf Pizzinatto; Antonio Carlos Giuliani

    2014-01-01

    This article investigated the incidence of rational and emotional arguments in messages from 5.536 advertisements of six women's magazines in Brazil (Claudia, Nova, Estilo, Marie Claire, Elle and Gloss), published between May / 2008 and August / 2009. The methodology was based on an exploratory study, supported on a scale of 14 items, by Resnik and Stern (1977), which recommend matching appeals to attitude toward the product, that is, use informative advertising, based on rational appeals for...

  10. [Rationalization and rationing at the bedside. A normative and empirical status quo analysis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strech, D

    2014-02-01

    The topic of bedside rationing is increasingly discussed in Germany. Further need for clarification exists for the question how bedside rationing (e.g., in the area of overcare) can be justified despite coexistent inefficiencies. This paper outlines and analyses the relationship of waste avoidance and rationing from an ethical perspective. Empirical findings regarding the status quo of bedside rationing and rationalization are presented. These normative and empirical explorations will then be further specified regarding opportunities for future physician-driven activities to tackle overuse. The self-government partners in Germany should communicate more explicitly within their communities and to the public how and with which benchmarks they aim to reduce inefficient health care (overuse) in an appropriate manner. Physician-driven activities such as the "Choosing Wisely®" initiative in the USA could provide a first step to raise the awareness for overuse among physicians as well as in the public.

  11. Plantinga\\\\\\'s Internal and External Approach toRationality of Belief in God

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Farajipak

    2015-03-01

    suggested an inductive- posteriori one. Based on this view, the cause behind thebasic nature of belief is an internal aspect and consequently is completely personal and relative. That means any kind of assessment of one's beliefs should be made by referring to his/her cognitional structure. Consequently, no general criterion can be determined for making a belief basic because every individual can offer a specific criterion based on his own cognitional structure which differs from others. Thus, based on this version, the only difference between Plantinga and other foundationalists is in his different view about the basic belief of the individuals. He believes that to determine the basic beliefs, first the person should make distinction between what he considers basic from non-basic ones and then he should introduce a criterion by which his belief becomes basic. Therefore, by looking at the issue from a different angle, he offered a new and more expanded version of the basic beliefs according to which the belief in God becomes quite rational. Plantinga, on the other hand, in his later works (three Warrantsemphasizes that instead of having an internal approach toward the rationality and justification one should have an external approach and consider the believers' beliefs as warranted. This shift in Plantinga's approach stemmed from his theory about epistemological justification of which was reflected in his two impressive works entitled:Warrant: the Current Debateand Warrant and Proper Function(published in 1993. Based on the external approach, he shifts from the notion of justification to Warrant. He considers the rationality of religious belief not in being justifiable, but warranted which can be a guarantee for the rationality of believing in God. On the other hand, he changed the third element of knowledge from "justifiable" to "warranted" and defined the knowledge as "a True Warranted Belief"In this new approach, he doesn't seek to define the justification and the

  12. Resistance of the packing to attack of insects pest in irradiated ration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter; Silva, Lucia C.A.S.; Franco, Suely S.H.

    2013-01-01

    The pests as beetles, acarids, moths and mushrooms among other, usually infest products stored as: grains, crumbs, flours, coffee, tobacco, dried fruits, animal rations, spices, dehydrated plants, causing the visual depreciation and promoting the deterioration of the products. The objective of the research was use the gamma radiation of Cobalt-60 in the disinfestation of some types of rations used for feeding of animals of small size. In the experiment packing measuring 10 cm x 20 cm with capacity of 70 grams of substrate (ration) with 4 types of existent marks in the trade: (1), (2), (3) and (4) of free samples were used. Each treatment had 10 repetitions, that were irradiated with doses of: 0 (control) 0,5; 1,0 and 2,0 kGy, to do the disinfestation of the ration samples. After the irradiation all the packing and the control were conditioned in plastic boxes of 80 cm x 50 cm with cover, where the insects: Lasioderma serricorne, Plodia interpuctella, Sitophilus zeamais and S. oryzae were liberated, in a total of 400 for each box. The boxes were maintained at room acclimatized with 27 ± 2 deg C and relative humidity of 70 ± 5%. The counting of the number of insects and holes in the packing were made after 60 days. The results showed that only the package of the ration type number 4, was susceptive to the attack of the species of insects. (author)

  13. Resistance of the packing to attack of insects pest in irradiated ration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter; Silva, Lucia C.A.S.; Franco, Suely S.H., E-mail: paula.arthur@hotmail.com [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/USP), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Radiobiologia e Ambiente; Franco, Jose G.; Villavicencio, Anna L.H.C., E-mail: gilmita@uol.com.br, E-mail: villavic@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2013-07-01

    The pests as beetles, acarids, moths and mushrooms among other, usually infest products stored as: grains, crumbs, flours, coffee, tobacco, dried fruits, animal rations, spices, dehydrated plants, causing the visual depreciation and promoting the deterioration of the products. The objective of the research was use the gamma radiation of Cobalt-60 in the disinfestation of some types of rations used for feeding of animals of small size. In the experiment packing measuring 10 cm x 20 cm with capacity of 70 grams of substrate (ration) with 4 types of existent marks in the trade: (1), (2), (3) and (4) of free samples were used. Each treatment had 10 repetitions, that were irradiated with doses of: 0 (control) 0,5; 1,0 and 2,0 kGy, to do the disinfestation of the ration samples. After the irradiation all the packing and the control were conditioned in plastic boxes of 80 cm x 50 cm with cover, where the insects: Lasioderma serricorne, Plodia interpuctella, Sitophilus zeamais and S. oryzae were liberated, in a total of 400 for each box. The boxes were maintained at room acclimatized with 27 ± 2 deg C and relative humidity of 70 ± 5%. The counting of the number of insects and holes in the packing were made after 60 days. The results showed that only the package of the ration type number 4, was susceptive to the attack of the species of insects. (author)

  14. Rational BRDF.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pacanowski, Romain; Salazar Celis, Oliver; Schlick, Christophe; Granier, Xavier; Poulin, Pierre; Cuyt, Annie

    2012-11-01

    Over the last two decades, much effort has been devoted to accurately measuring Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Functions (BRDFs) of real-world materials and to use efficiently the resulting data for rendering. Because of their large size, it is difficult to use directly measured BRDFs for real-time applications, and fitting the most sophisticated analytical BRDF models is still a complex task. In this paper, we introduce Rational BRDF, a general-purpose and efficient representation for arbitrary BRDFs, based on Rational Functions (RFs). Using an adapted parametrization, we demonstrate how Rational BRDFs offer 1) a more compact and efficient representation using low-degree RFs, 2) an accurate fitting of measured materials with guaranteed control of the residual error, and 3) efficient importance sampling by applying the same fitting process to determine the inverse of the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) generated from the BRDF for use in Monte-Carlo rendering.

  15. Tensor categories and the mathematics of rational and logarithmic conformal field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Yi-Zhi; Lepowsky, James

    2013-01-01

    We review the construction of braided tensor categories and modular tensor categories from representations of vertex operator algebras, which correspond to chiral algebras in physics. The extensive and general theory underlying this construction also establishes the operator product expansion for intertwining operators, which correspond to chiral vertex operators, and more generally, it establishes the logarithmic operator product expansion for logarithmic intertwining operators. We review the main ideas in the construction of the tensor product bifunctors and the associativity isomorphisms. For rational and logarithmic conformal field theories, we review the precise results that yield braided tensor categories, and in the rational case, modular tensor categories as well. In the case of rational conformal field theory, we also briefly discuss the construction of the modular tensor categories for the Wess–Zumino–Novikov–Witten models and, especially, a recent discovery concerning the proof of the fundamental rigidity property of the modular tensor categories for this important special case. In the case of logarithmic conformal field theory, we mention suitable categories of modules for the triplet W-algebras as an example of the applications of our general construction of the braided tensor category structure. (review)

  16. Towards a Rational Kingdom in Africa: Knowledge, Critical Rationality and Development in a Twenty-First Century African Cultural Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper seeks to locate the kind of knowledge that is relevant for African development in the twenty-first century African cultural context and to propose the paradigm for achieving such knowledge. To do this, it advances the view that the concept of twenty-first century in an African context must be located with the colonial and post-colonial challenges of the African world and applied to serve the African demand. Anchored on this position, the paper outlines and critiques the wrong assumption on which modern state project was anchored in post-colonial Africa and its development dividend to suggest that this is an outcome of a wrong knowledge design that is foundational to the state project and which the project did not address. It proposes a shift in the knowledge paradigm in Africa and suggests critical self-consciousness as a more desirable knowledge design for Africa. It applies the term ‘rational kingdom’ (defined as a community of reason marked by critical conceptual self-awareness driven by innovation and constructivism to suggest this paradigm. ‘Innovation’ is meant as the application of reason with an enlarged capacity to anticipate and address problems with fresh options and ‘constructivism’ is meant as the disposition to sustain innovation by advancing an alternative but more reliable worldview that can meet the exigencies of modernity in an African cultural context. The paper then proceeds to outline the nature of the rational kingdom and its anticipated gains and outcomes. It applies the method of inductive reasoning to advance its position. To do this it invokes selected but crucial areas of African life to locate how the developmental demands of these aspects of life suggest a critical turn in African rationality.

  17. Duality and modular invariance in rational conformal field theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Miao.

    1990-03-01

    We investigate the polynomial equations which should be satisfied by the duality data for a rational conformal field theory. We show that by these duality data we can construct some vector spaces which are isomorphic to the spaces of conformal blocks. One can construct explicitly the inner product for the former if one deals with a unitary theory. These vector spaces endowed with an inner product are the algebraic reminiscences of the Hilbert spaces in a Chern-Simons theory. As by-products, we show that the polynomial equations involving the modular transformations for the one-point blocks on the torus are not independent. And along the way, we discuss the reconstruction of the quantum group in a rational conformal theory. Finally, we discuss the solution of structure constants for a physical theory. Making some assumption, we obtain a neat solution. And this solution in turn implies that the quantum groups of the left sector and of the right sector must be the same, although the chiral algebras need not to be the same. Some examples are given. (orig.)

  18. Is It Rational to Assume that Infants Imitate Rationally? A Theoretical Analysis and Critique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paulus, Markus

    2012-01-01

    It has been suggested that preverbal infants evaluate the efficiency of others' actions (by applying a "principle of rational action") and that they imitate others' actions rationally. The present contribution presents a conceptual analysis of the claim that preverbal infants imitate rationally. It shows that this ability rests on at least three…

  19. Bounded Rationality and Budgeting

    OpenAIRE

    Ibrahim, Mukdad

    2016-01-01

    This article discusses the theory of bounded rationality which had been introduced by Herbert Simon in the 1950s. Simon introduced the notion of bounded rationality stating that while decision-makers strive for rationality, they are limited by the effect of the environment, their information process capacity and by the constraints on their information storage and retrieval capabilities. Moreover, this article tries to specifically blend this notion into budgeting, using the foundations of inc...

  20. Rational valuations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georg Spielthenner

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Valuations are ubiquitous. We may be for or against genetically modified food; we find some politicians irresponsible; we prefer Beethoven to rock ‘n’ roll or vice versa; some enjoy bird-watching while others find it boring; and we may think that we have to tighten up on green-house gas emissions. Valuing is pervasive and often we are not even aware that we are valuing. However, many of ourvaluations are ill grounded and rationally defective. They are frequently based on misinformation, sloppy thinking, prejudice, and are biased in many ways as psychological research shows. For this reason there is widespread agreement among phi-losophers that we need an account of substantive valuational rationality, both for the theory of practical reasoning and for ethics as well. My main objectin this paper is to outline such an account and to present a principle that allows a non-technical rational criticism of valuations

  1. Rational emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meshulam, Meir; Winter, Eyal; Ben-Shakhar, Gershon; Aharon, Itzhak

    2012-01-01

    We present here the concept of rational emotions: Emotions may be directly controlled and utilized in a conscious, analytic fashion, enabling an individual to size up a situation, to determine that a certain "mental state" is strategically advantageous and adjust accordingly. Building on the growing body of literature recognizing the vital role of emotions in determining decisions, we explore the complementary role of rational choice in choosing emotional states. Participants played the role of "recipient" in the dictator game, in which an anonymous "dictator" decides how to split an amount of money between himself and the recipient. A subset of recipients was given a monetary incentive to be angry at low-split offers. That subset demonstrated increased physiological arousal at low offers relative to high offers as well as more anger than other participants. These results provide a fresh outlook on human decision-making and contribute to the continuing effort to build more complete models of rational behavior.

  2. Relative Configuration of Natural Products Using NMR Chemical Shifts

    Science.gov (United States)

    By comparing calculated with experimental NMR chemical shifts, we were able to determine the relative configurations of three monoterpene diastereomers produced by the walkingstick Anisomorpha buprestoides. The combined RMSDs of both 1H and 13C quantum chemically calculated shifts were able to predi...

  3. Models for Rational Number Bases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Jean J.; Armbruster, Frank O.

    1975-01-01

    This article extends number bases to negative integers, then to positive rationals and finally to negative rationals. Methods and rules for operations in positive and negative rational bases greater than one or less than negative one are summarized in tables. Sample problems are explained and illustrated. (KM)

  4. Development and evaluation of TDR probe for water rational management on substrates used in forest seedlings production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucas Masayuki Sato

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR is a reliable technique to estimate in situ moisture content in different types of materials using probes. The forest seedlings production implies in a comprehensive and empirical process of water management applied to the substrate used for cultivation in dibble-tube. This type of cultivation requires analysis of the physical characteristics of water and nutrients retention of the substrate. The main goal of this research was to develop and evaluate a TDR coaxial probe for rational management of water in the forest seedlings production. Initially, a physical validation of the probe was performed considering the following parameters: reflection coefficient, characteristic impedance and spatial sensitivity. Also, the performance of the probe was evaluated to estimate water content in laboratory conditions and we obtained a calibration curve for each type of porous material used. The results demonstrated the viability of TDR probes to estimate water content in soil and substrates.

  5. Are security analysts rational? a literature review

    OpenAIRE

    Peixinho, Rúben; Coelho, Luís; Taffler, Richard J.

    2005-01-01

    Rational choice theory and bounded rationality constitute the basis for the discussion in several areas regarding human rationality. In finance, this discussion has been made between traditional finance and behavioural finance approach, which have different perspectives concerning market agents’ rationality. This paper reviews several studies addressing rationality among security analysts. The analysis shows that analysts’systematic optimism seems to be inconsistent with rationality....

  6. Dynamics of market structure driven by the degree of consumer’s rationality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanagita, Tatsuo; Onozaki, Tamotsu

    2010-03-01

    We study a simple model of market share dynamics with boundedly rational consumers and firms interacting with each other. As the number of consumers is large, we employ a statistical description to represent firms’ distribution of consumer share, which is characterized by a single parameter representing how rationally the mass of consumers pursue higher utility. As the boundedly rational firm does not know the shape of demand function it faces, it revises production and price so as to raise its profit with the aid of a simple reinforcement learning rule. Simulation results show that (1) three phases of market structure, i.e. the uniform share phase, the oligopolistic phase, and the monopolistic phase, appear depending upon how rational consumers are, and (2) in an oligopolistic phase, the market share distribution of firms follows Zipf’s law and the growth-rate distribution of firms follows Gibrat’s law, and (3) an oligopolistic phase is the best state of market in terms of consumers’ utility but brings the minimum profit to the firms because of severe competition based on the moderate rationality of consumers.

  7. Rationalization of Anomalous Pseudocontact Shifts and Their Solvent Dependence in a Series of C3-Symmetric Lanthanide Complexes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vonci, Michele; Mason, Kevin; Suturina, Elizaveta A; Frawley, Andrew T; Worswick, Steven G; Kuprov, Ilya; Parker, David; McInnes, Eric J L; Chilton, Nicholas F

    2017-10-11

    Bleaney's long-standing theory of magnetic anisotropy has been employed with some success for many decades to explain paramagnetic NMR pseudocontact shifts, and has been the subject of many subsequent approximations. Here, we present a detailed experimental and theoretical investigation accounting for the anomalous solvent dependence of NMR shifts for a series of lanthanide(III) complexes, namely [LnL 1 ] (Ln = Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb; L 1 : 1,4,7-tris[(6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl]-1,4,7-triazacyclononane), taking into account the effect of subtle ligand flexibility on the electronic structure. We show that the anisotropy of the room temperature magnetic susceptibility tensor, which in turn affects the sign and magnitude of the pseudocontact chemical shift, is extremely sensitive to minimal structural changes in the first coordination sphere of L 1 . We show that DFT structural optimizations do not give accurate structural models, as assessed by the experimental chemical shifts, and thus we determine a magnetostructural correlation and employ this to evaluate the accurate solution structure for each [LnL 1 ]. This approach allows us to explain the counterintuitive pseudocontact shift behavior, as well as a striking solvent dependence. These results have important consequences for the analysis and design of novel magnetic resonance shift and optical emission probes that are sensitive to the local solution environment and polarity.

  8. Time Zones, Shift Working and International Outsourcing

    OpenAIRE

    Matsuoka, Yuji; Fukushima, Marcelo

    2009-01-01

    We build a trade model with two identical countries located in different time zones and a monopolistically competitive sector of which production requires differentiated goods produced in two successive stages. We introduce shift working disutility and allow consumers to choose between day and night shifts. Shift working disutility raises the cost of night production and firms can reduce costs by “virtually” outsourcing foreign labor. We found that firms only outsource if relat...

  9. Limited rationality and strategic interaction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fehr, Ernst; Tyran, Jean-Robert

    2008-01-01

    Much evidence suggests that people are heterogeneous with regard to their abilities to make rational, forward-looking decisions. This raises the question as to when the rational types are decisive for aggregate outcomes and when the boundedly rational types shape aggregate results. We examine...... this question in the context of a long-standing and important economic problem: the adjustment of nominal prices after an anticipated monetary shock. Our experiments suggest that two types of bounded rationality-money illusion and anchoring-are important behavioral forces behind nominal inertia. However......, depending on the strategic environment, bounded rationality has vastly different effects on aggregate price adjustment. If agents' actions are strategic substitutes, adjustment to the new equilibrium is extremely quick, whereas under strategic complementarity, adjustment is both very slow and associated...

  10. Rationalism, Empiricism, and Evidence-Based Medicine: A Call for a New Galenic Synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, William M

    2018-04-25

    Thirty years after the rise of the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement, formal training in philosophy remains poorly represented among medical students and their educators. In this paper, I argue that EBM’s reception in this context has resulted in a privileging of empiricism over rationalism in clinical reasoning with unintended consequences for medical practice. After a limited review of the history of medical epistemology, I argue that a solution to this problem can be found in the method of the 2nd-century Roman physician Galen, who brought empiricism and rationalism together in a synthesis anticipating the scientific method. Next, I review several of the problems that have been identified as resulting from a staunch commitment to empiricism in medical practice. Finally, I conclude that greater epistemological awareness in the medical community would precipitate a Galenic shift toward a more epistemically balanced, scientific approach to clinical research.

  11. Rationalism, Empiricism, and Evidence-Based Medicine: A Call for a New Galenic Synthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William M. Webb

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Thirty years after the rise of the evidence-based medicine (EBM movement, formal training in philosophy remains poorly represented among medical students and their educators. In this paper, I argue that EBM’s reception in this context has resulted in a privileging of empiricism over rationalism in clinical reasoning with unintended consequences for medical practice. After a limited review of the history of medical epistemology, I argue that a solution to this problem can be found in the method of the 2nd-century Roman physician Galen, who brought empiricism and rationalism together in a synthesis anticipating the scientific method. Next, I review several of the problems that have been identified as resulting from a staunch commitment to empiricism in medical practice. Finally, I conclude that greater epistemological awareness in the medical community would precipitate a Galenic shift toward a more epistemically balanced, scientific approach to clinical research.

  12. Shift Work, Chronotype, and Melatonin Patterns among Female Hospital Employees on Day and Night Shifts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Michael; Tranmer, Joan; Hung, Eleanor; Korsiak, Jill; Day, Andrew G; Aronson, Kristan J

    2016-05-01

    Shift work-related carcinogenesis is hypothesized to be mediated by melatonin; however, few studies have considered the potential effect modification of this underlying pathway by chronotype or specific aspects of shift work such as the number of consecutive nights in a rotation. In this study, we examined melatonin patterns in relation to shift status, stratified by chronotype and number of consecutive night shifts, and cumulative lifetime exposure to shift work. Melatonin patterns of 261 female personnel (147 fixed-day and 114 on rotations, including nights) at Kingston General Hospital were analyzed using cosinor analysis. Urine samples were collected from all voids over a 48-hour specimen collection period for measurement of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentrations using the Buhlmann ELISA Kit. Chronotypes were assessed using mid-sleep time (MSF) derived from the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ). Sociodemographic, health, and occupational information were collected by questionnaire. Rotational shift nurses working nights had a lower mesor and an earlier time of peak melatonin production compared to day-only workers. More pronounced differences in mesor and acrophase were seen among later chronotypes, and shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights. Among nurses, cumulative shift work was associated with a reduction in mesor. These results suggest that evening-types and/or shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights are more susceptible to adverse light-at-night effects, whereas long-term shift work may also chronically reduce melatonin levels. Cumulative and current exposure to shift work, including nights, affects level and timing of melatonin production, which may be related to carcinogenesis and cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(5); 830-8. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  13. Utilization of Cacao Pod Husk Silage as Cattle Ration Mixture at Taluditi, Pohuwatu Regency, Gorontalo Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidayat, M.; Pratama, H. Y.; Martono, E.

    2018-02-01

    Cacao plantation produces cacao pod husks (CPHs) by-products during the harvest period. This research aimed to make benefits the CPH, preserved with silage technology as cattle ration mixture, investigate the adequacy of nutrient for the cattle after treated with addition of CPH silage, and investigate the quota of cattle treated with CPH silage addition. The research design was conducted by giving extension and field observation that was carried out at Taluditi on July to August 2015 during the activity of Student Community Service (KKN PPM UGM Unit Gorontalo 02). The secondary data was gathered from the Department of Agriculture and Plantation Pohuwatu Regency, and also supporting references. The number of respondents in each location was about 30 - 40 people. The research results showed that the silage preservation technology can be well received by the farmers. There was improvement of cattle ration nutrient supplemented with CPH compared to that of ration nutrient which was usually be used by the farmers or standard ration nutrient. The research also resulted in fresh CPH production 2,625.741 tons/year, CPH silage production 2,140.549 tons/year and load capacity + 575 heads/day weight 250-300 kg.

  14. Interpolation of rational matrix functions

    CERN Document Server

    Ball, Joseph A; Rodman, Leiba

    1990-01-01

    This book aims to present the theory of interpolation for rational matrix functions as a recently matured independent mathematical subject with its own problems, methods and applications. The authors decided to start working on this book during the regional CBMS conference in Lincoln, Nebraska organized by F. Gilfeather and D. Larson. The principal lecturer, J. William Helton, presented ten lectures on operator and systems theory and the interplay between them. The conference was very stimulating and helped us to decide that the time was ripe for a book on interpolation for matrix valued functions (both rational and non-rational). When the work started and the first partial draft of the book was ready it became clear that the topic is vast and that the rational case by itself with its applications is already enough material for an interesting book. In the process of writing the book, methods for the rational case were developed and refined. As a result we are now able to present the rational case as an indepe...

  15. Emotional and rational product appeals in televised food advertisements for children: analysis of commercials shown on US broadcast networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Randy M; Brewster, Aaron

    2007-12-01

    The aggressive advertising and marketing of high caloric food products to children is implicated as a potential causative factor in the childhood obesity epidemic. This study analyzed 147 commercials appearing during children's programming on U.S. broadcast networks for a wide range of potential emotional and rational advertising appeals. The most prominent emotional appeals were fun/happiness and play followed by fantasy/ imagination, social enhancement/peer acceptance, and coolness/hipness. Many of the products used the term ;super-charged' or a similar adjective to describe the powerful taste or other physical properties of the product. More than one-third of all the commercials used a fruit appeal or association. Statements or depictions that a product was healthy or nutritious were quite rare among the commercials. This seems to imply that health and nutrition claims are understood by food marketers to not be salient concerns among children and as such are not a selling point to children. Commercials for high sugar cereal products and fast food restaurants differed in several respects. This study can serve to guide child health care professionals and other child advocates in designing measures that counter food advertising messages directed at children.

  16. Laccase engineering: from rational design to directed evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mate, Diana M; Alcalde, Miguel

    2015-01-01

    Laccases are multicopper oxidoreductases considered by many in the biotechonology field as the ultimate "green catalysts". This is mainly due to their broad substrate specificity and relative autonomy (they use molecular oxygen from air as an electron acceptor and they only produce water as by-product), making them suitable for a wide array of applications: biofuel production, bioremediation, organic synthesis, pulp biobleaching, textiles, the beverage and food industries, biosensor and biofuel cell development. Since the beginning of the 21st century, specific features of bacterial and fungal laccases have been exhaustively adapted in order to reach the industrial demands for high catalytic activity and stability in conjunction with reduced production cost. Among the goals established for laccase engineering, heterologous functional expression, improved activity and thermostability, tolerance to non-natural media (organic solvents, ionic liquids, physiological fluids) and resistance to different types of inhibitors are all challenges that have been met, while obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of laccase structure-function relationships. In this review we examine the most significant advances in this exciting research area in which rational, semi-rational and directed evolution approaches have been employed to ultimately convert laccases into high value-added biocatalysts. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. History of Economic Rationalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    This book concentrates upon how economic rationalities have been embedded into particular historical practices, cultures, and moral systems. Through multiple case-studies, situated in different historical contexts of the modern West, the book shows that the development of economic rationalities...... takes place in the meeting with other regimes of thought, values, and moral discourses. The book offers new and refreshing insights, ranging from the development of early economic thinking to economic aspects and concepts in the works of classical thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Karl Marx......, to the role of economic reasoning in contemporary policies of art and health care. With economic rationalities as the read thread, the reader is offered a unique chance of historical self-awareness and recollection of how economic rationality became the powerful ideological and moral force that it is today....

  18. Intersection of the Sierpinski carpet with its rational translate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai Meifeng; Tian Lixin

    2007-01-01

    Motivated by Mandelbrot's idea of referring to lacunarity of Cantor sets in terms of departure from translation invariance, Nekka and Li studied the properties of these translation sets and showed how they can be used for a classification purpose. In this paper, we pursue this study on the Sierpinski carpet with its rational translate. We also get the fractal structure of intersection I(x, y) of the Sierpinski carpet with its translate. We find that the packing measure of these sets forms a discrete spectrum whose non-zero values come only from shifting numbers with a finite triadic expansion. Concretely, when x and y have a finite triadic expansion, a very brief calculation formula of the measure is given

  19. Promoting integrity of shift report by applying ISBAR principles among nursing students in clinical placement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pang Weng Ian

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Shift report is an essential method for nursing staff to carry out health care communication. The most important purpose of the shift report is to ensure the safety of patients and to provide continuous care. Nursing students are inadequate of clinical experience and rational organization during patient care. They may not be able to handle the critically ill patients and pass the messages to the following nursing staff. ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation tool is increasingly being utilized as a format for structured shift report communication. In this study, a scale of ISBAR principles is designed to provide students with self-assessment and teachers with evaluation, in a way to improve nursing students’ self-awareness of shift report. Hopefully, with the use of the scale of ISBAR, nursing students are able to complete shift report in systemic integrity and orderliness during clinical placement.

  20. Apply of torque method at rationalization of work

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bandurová Miriam

    2001-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim of the study was to analyse consumption of time for profession - cylinder grinder, by torque method.Method of torque following is used for detection of sorts and size of time slope, on detection of portion of individual sorts of time consumption and cause of time slope. By this way it is possible to find out coefficient of employment and recovery of workers in organizational unit. Advantage of torque survey is low costs on informations acquirement, non-fastidiousness per worker and observer, which is easy trained. It is mentally acceptable method for objects of survey.Finding and detection of reserves in activity of cylinders grinder result of torque was surveys. Loss of time presents till 8% of working time. In 5 - shift service and average occupiying of shift by 4,4 grinder ( from statistic information of service , loss at grinder of cylinders are for whole centre 1,48 worker.According presented information it was recommended to cancel one job place - grinder of cylinders - and reduce state about one grinder. Next job place isn't possible cancel, because grindery of cylinders must to adapt to the grind line by number of polished cylinders in shift and semi - finishing of polished cylinders can not be high for often changes in area of grinding and sortiment changes.By this contribution we confirmed convenience of exploitation of torque method as one of the methods using during the job rationalization.

  1. Alkaline conditions stimulate the production of 1,3-propanediol in Lactobacillus panis PM1 through shifting metabolic pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grahame, Douglas A S; Kang, Tae Sun; Khan, Nurul H; Tanaka, Takuji

    2013-07-01

    A novel Lactobacillus panis PM1 isolate was found to be capable of converting glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), an increasingly valuable commodity chemical. In this study the effects of various process parameters, including glucose and glycerol concentrations, inoculum size, temperature, aeration, pH, and carbon source were examined to determine the optimal conditions for the production of 1,3-PDO using a culture method simulating late log to early stationary phases. Inoculum size did not influence the production of 1,3-PDO, and temperature variance showed similar 1,3-PDO production between 25 and 37 °C under the examined conditions. Glycerol concentration and pH played a primary role in the final concentration of 1,3-PDO. The highest production occurred at 150-250 mM glycerol when 50 mM glucose was available. Alkaline initial conditions (pH 9-10) stimulated the production of 1,3-PDO which concurrently occurred with increased acetic acid production. Under these conditions, 213.6 mM of 1,3-PDO were produced from 300 mM glycerol (conversion efficiency was 71 %). These observations indicated that the production of 1,3-PDO was associated with the shift of the metabolic end-product ethanol to acetic acid, and that this shift resulted in an excess concentration of NADH available for the processing of glycerol to 1,3-PDO.

  2. Proposed standby gasoline rationing plan. Economic and regulatory analysis draft

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1978-06-01

    This economic and regulatory analysis meets the requirements of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which calls for an evaluation of the potential economic impacts of the gasoline rationing contingency plan. In addition, this analysis is intended to satisfy the requirements of the President's Executive Order No. 12044 of March 23, 1978, regarding government regulations, and provides an inflationary impact statement for the proposed rationing plan. To perform the analysis of rationing program impacts on the total national economy, three separate projections were required. First, a projection is made of the ''normal'' U.S. economy for a future period--the last quarter of 1980 through the third quarter of 1981 in this analysis. Second, a projection is made of the impacts which a petroleum supply interruption would have on the U.S. economy during this future period, assuming that DOE's standby allocation and price control regulations were implemented for crude oil and products. Third, and most significant, an estimate is made of the incremental impacts of the gasoline rationing program on this already-perturbed future U.S. economy.

  3. Implicit Statistical Learning in Real-World Environments Leads to Ecologically Rational Decision Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkovic, Sonja; Orquin, Jacob Lund

    2018-01-01

    Ecological rationality results from matching decision strategies to appropriate environmental structures, but how does the matching happen? We propose that people learn the statistical structure of the environment through observation and use this learned structure to guide ecologically rational behavior. We tested this hypothesis in the context of organic foods. In Study 1, we found that products from healthful food categories are more likely to be organic than products from nonhealthful food categories. In Study 2, we found that consumers' perceptions of the healthfulness and prevalence of organic products in many food categories are accurate. Finally, in Study 3, we found that people perceive organic products as more healthful than nonorganic products when the statistical structure justifies this inference. Our findings suggest that people believe organic foods are more healthful than nonorganic foods and use an organic-food cue to guide their behavior because organic foods are, on average, 30% more healthful.

  4. Testing bounded rationality against full rationality in job changing behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Contini, Bruno; Morini, Matteo

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we question the hypothesis of full rationality in the context of job changing behaviour, via simple econometric explorations on microdata drawn from WHIP (Worker Histories Italian Panel). Workers' performance is compared at the end of a three-year time window that starts when choices are expressed, under the accepted notion that the main driving forces of job change are future real wages and expected job quality. Bounded rationality suggests that individuals will search for new ...

  5. Testing Bounded Rationality Against Full Rationality in Job Changing Behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Bruno Contini

    2008-01-01

    In this paper I question the hypothesis of full rationality in the context of job changing behaviour, via simple econometric explorations on microdata drawn from WHIP (Worker Histories Italian Panel). Workers’ performance is compared at the end of a three-year time window that starts when choices are expressed, under the accepted notion that the main driving forces of job change are future real wages and expected job quality. Bounded rationality suggests that individuals will search for new o...

  6. [THE INFLUENCE OF SHIFT WORK ON WORKER'S HEALTH STATUS (REVIEW)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernikova, E F

    2015-01-01

    The article provides an overview of domestic and foreign works on the impact of the replaceable labor on the efficiency, general state of health, the health and the dream of workers. Many hours shifts and overtime work were found to disturb likely familiar rhythms (sleep, wakefulness, performance), change the metabolic and hormonal metabolisms, reducing the recovery period between duties, contribute to more rapid development of fatigue. The consequence of circadian dyschrony may be the development of diseases of the cardiovascular system and cancer incidence. Studies have shown that sleep disorders are associated with metabolic changes, and particularly, obesity. In persons working in shifts, there are more often registered as individual features of the metabolic syndrome and the whole syndrome. It is noted that persons forming this group are at higher risk of developing diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the problem of shift work is presented to be very important. Knowledge of ways and mechanisms that explain the impact of shift work on health is necessary to evaluate the professional risk. In the system of health measures the attention should be given to the rationalization of work and rest regimens, prevention of fatigue, struggle with sleep disorders and obesity.

  7. Role of low-order rational surfaces in transport barrier formation on the Large Helical Device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toi, K.; Tanaka, K.; Watanabe, F.

    2010-11-01

    In the Large Helical Device, edge transport barrier (ETB) was formed by H-mode transition near the low-order rational surfaces, that is, at the ι/2π=1 resonant layer (ι/2π: the rotational transform) in outward-shifted plasmas of R ax =3.9m (R ax : the magnetic axis position in the vacuum field), and the ι/2π=2 resonant layer in inward-shifted plasmas of R ax =3.6m. The ι/2π=1 and 2 resonant layers reside in the stochastic field region existing just outside the last closed magnetic surface (LCFS). In the outward-shifted plasmas, H-modes without edge localized modes (ELM-free H-modes) followed by giant ELMs were obtained, while H-modes with high frequency and low amplitude ELMs were obtained in the inward-shifted plasmas. A new type of barrier formation induced by TAE bursts was observed in the plasmas of R ax =3.6m, where the transport barrier is formed near the ι/2π=1 surface locates inside LCFS. (author)

  8. DISTRIBUTED RC NETWORKS WITH RATIONAL TRANSFER FUNCTIONS,

    Science.gov (United States)

    A distributed RC circuit analogous to a continuously tapped transmission line can be made to have a rational short-circuit transfer admittance and...one rational shortcircuit driving-point admittance. A subcircuit of the same structure has a rational open circuit transfer impedance and one rational ...open circuit driving-point impedance. Hence, rational transfer functions may be obtained while considering either generator impedance or load

  9. Digestion and ruminal fermentation of cocoa pod silage based ration enriched by gliricidia and calliandra leaves on goats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Puastuti W

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In term of availability, cacao pod is potential for ruminant feed. According to its nutrients content, cacao pod can be used as feed fiber source. Protein sources materials must be added when cacao pod was ensilaged due to low protein content of this material. The aim of this study was to investigate digestibility value and end products of rumen fermentation of goat fed grass or cacao pod based ration. Randomized block design and 20 heads of lambs (16.95±2.36 kg to evaluated 5 type of rations: R (50% grass + 50% concentrate; S (50% cacao pod silage + 50% concentrate; SG (50% cacao pod-gliricidia silage + 50% concentrate; SK (50% cacao pod-calliandra silage + 50% concentrate dan SC (50% cacao pod-mixture of gliricidia-calliandra silage + 50% concentrate. Feeding trial was conducted for over 15 weeks. Measurements were taken on feed digestibility and rumen-fermentation end-products after 3 weeks of treatments. Results shows that nutrients digestibility was different significantly among the groups of treatments (P<0.05. Digestibillity of organic matter, NDF and energy of R ration was those of higher significantly (P<0.05 than those of other groups. N-ammonia of rumen from goat feed R ration was higher (P<0.05 than other groups. Total VFA and each component were different among the groups (P<0.05, however the value was similar among the groups of cacao pod silage rations. It is concluded that cacao pod silaged based rations enriched by Gliricidia and Calliandra leaves did not produce similar digestibility value and end products of rumen fermentation with grass based ration.

  10. Max Weber's Types of Rationality: Cornerstones for the Analysis of Rationalization Processes in History.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalberg, Stephen

    1980-01-01

    Explores rationality in Max Weber's works and identifies four types of rationality which play major roles in his writing--practical, theoretical, substantive, and formal. Implications for society and education are discussed. (DB)

  11. Dynamic pricing of network goods with boundedly rational consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radner, Roy; Radunskaya, Ami; Sundararajan, Arun

    2014-01-07

    We present a model of dynamic monopoly pricing for a good that displays network effects. In contrast with the standard notion of a rational-expectations equilibrium, we model consumers as boundedly rational and unable either to pay immediate attention to each price change or to make accurate forecasts of the adoption of the network good. Our analysis shows that the seller's optimal price trajectory has the following structure: The price is low when the user base is below a target level, is high when the user base is above the target, and is set to keep the user base stationary once the target level has been attained. We show that this pricing policy is robust to a number of extensions, which include the product's user base evolving over time and consumers basing their choices on a mixture of a myopic and a "stubborn" expectation of adoption. Our results differ significantly from those that would be predicted by a model based on rational-expectations equilibrium and are more consistent with the pricing of network goods observed in practice.

  12. The concept of rational suicide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayo, D J

    1986-05-01

    Suicide has been condemned in our culture in one way or another since Augustine offered theological arguments against it in the sixth century. More recently, theological condemnation has given way to the view that suicidal behavior must always be symptomatic of emotional disturbance and mental illness. However, suicide has not always been viewed so negatively. In other times and cultures, it has been held that circumstances might befall a person in which suicide would be a perfectly rational course of action, in the same sense that any other course of action could be rational: that it could be sensible, i.e., defensible by good reasons, or that it could be in keeping with the agent's fundamental interests. Indiscriminate use of modern life-sustaining technologies has renewed interest in the possibility of rational suicide. Today proponents of rational suicide tend to equate the rationality of suicide with the competence of the decision to commit suicide.

  13. Environmental assessment and planning theory: four short stories about power, multiple rationality, and ethics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richardson, Tim

    2005-01-01

    This paper engages with recent debates in the environmental assessment (EA) literature about the lessons that can be learned from planning theory. It argues that the current communicative turn in EA, echoing a similar shift in planning thought in the 1990s, has failed to benefit from this earlier experience. Instead of following this trend, the paper examines EA from a perspective which is more closely aligned with some of the critics of the communicative approach, and which combines concepts of power, rationality, value and ethics in a different way. First, the paper briefly sets out how planning theory has engaged with these concepts. It then argues that EA needs to engage with competing multiple rationalities, and the inescapable presence of value conflicts within EA. It then turns to recent debates in EA to show how the question of value has become a very difficult issue for EA theorists. These issues are then explored by looking at four cases where environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) become dramatic sites of struggle, in very different ways: where the boundaries between facts, boundaries, and opinions are defined through power struggles; where SEA is used as a process of brokerage between a fragile coalition of interests; where power defines rationality in the construction of an SEA instrument; and where EIA is challenged from the outside by civil society. The paper closes by discussing how EA practitioners can operate reflexively and ethically in a world of contested rationality

  14. RATGRAPH: Computer Graphing of Rational Functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minch, Bradley A.

    1987-01-01

    Presents an easy-to-use Applesoft BASIC program that graphs rational functions and any asymptotes that the functions might have. Discusses the nature of rational functions, graphing them manually, employing a computer to graph rational functions, and describes how the program works. (TW)

  15. Strategy of Rational Use of Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-09-01

    In the decade of the eighty, especially in order to this decade and so far, the Rational Use of Energy have not constituted a high-priority option and of present time for Colombia. The last politicians were guided, to favor the energy consumption with low prices of the coal, of the electricity, of those derived of the petroleum, growing subsidy to the gasoline and transfer of the productive sector toward the social one. In the recovery of the electric sector, it is contributed alternatives to improve the quality of the service of the electric industries where measured technical and investments in the industrial, commercial sectors and public would allow to reduce short term the consumptions for 5 to 10%, without reducing the production levels or of service. In the construction sector , the efficient designs of buildings could avoid a growth too much express of the energy consumption. The rational use of energy and the handling of the electric demand, should be one of the tools bigger than the State and of the electric industry, as the technical measures of reduction of losses, to respond to the financial crisis of the energy public sector, while the private sector acquires capacity of enough investment. The Colombians companies, experience the necessity to improve their energy efficiency, like one of the important areas of reduction of their costs and of increase of their competitiveness, in front of other countries, especially Latin-American. As consequence of the economic opening, the companies should modernize their processes and administration methods, what means a reduction in the energy consumptions. The reduction of the polluting, specially atmospheric emissions (industries, vehicles), as well as to elimination of having undone dangerous and industrial residuals, it is a priority in Colombia all improvement of the energy efficiency, particularly in the industries, it is accompanied of a proportional reduction of polluting emissions. Then a politics of

  16. F-theory and all things rational: surveying U(1) symmetries with rational sections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lawrie, Craig; Schäfer-Nameki, Sakura; Wong, Jin-Mann

    2015-01-01

    We study elliptic fibrations for F-theory compactifications realizing 4d and 6d supersymmetric gauge theories with abelian gauge factors. In the fibration these U(1) symmetries are realized in terms of additional rational section. We obtain a universal characterization of all the possible U(1) charges of matter fields by determining the corresponding codimension two fibers with rational sections. In view of modelling supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories, one of the main examples that we analyze are U(1) symmetries for SU(5) gauge theories with 5̄ and 10 matter. We use a combination of constraints on the normal bundle of rational curves in Calabi-Yau three- and four-folds, as well as the splitting of rational curves in the fibers in codimension two, to determine the possible configurations of smooth rational sections. This analysis straightforwardly generalizes to multiple U(1)s. We study the flops of such fibers, as well as some of the Yukawa couplings in codimension three. Furthermore, we carry out a universal study of the U(1)-charged GUT singlets, including their KK-charges, and determine all realizations of singlet fibers. By giving vacuum expectation values to these singlets, we propose a systematic way to analyze the Higgsing of U(1)s to discrete gauge symmetries in F-theory.

  17. "Leaky" Rationality: How Research on Behavioral Decision Making Challenges Normative Standards of Rationality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keys, Daniel J; Schwartz, Barry

    2007-06-01

    For more than 30 years, decision-making research has documented that people often violate various principles of rationality, some of which are so fundamental that theorists of rationality rarely bother to state them. We take these characteristics of decision making as a given but argue that it is problematic to conclude that they typically represent departures from rationality. The very psychological processes that lead to "irrational" decisions (e.g., framing, mental accounting) continue to exert their influence when one experiences the results of the decisions. That is, psychological processes that affect decisions may be said also to "leak" into one's experience. The implication is that formal principles of rationality do not provide a good enough normative standard against which to assess decision making. Instead, what is needed is a substantive theory of rationality-one that takes subjective experience seriously, considers both direct and indirect consequences of particular decisions, considers how particular decisions fit into life as a whole, and considers the effects of decisions on others. Formal principles may play a role as approximations of the substantive theory that can be used by theorists and decision makers in cases in which the formal principles can capture most of the relevant considerations and leakage into experience is negligible. © 2007 Association for Psychological Science.

  18. Popper, Rationality and the Possibility of Social Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danny Frederick

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Social science employs teleological explanations which depend upon the rationality principle, according to which people exhibit instrumental rationality. Popper points out that people also exhibit critical rationality, the tendency to stand back from, and to question or criticise, their views. I explain how our critical rationality impugns the explanatory value of the rationality principle and thereby threatens the very possibility of social science. I discuss the relationship between instrumental and critical rationality and show how we can reconcile our critical rationality with the possibility of social science if we invoke Popper’s conception of limited rationality and his indeterminism.

  19. Ethics of rationing of nursing care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rooddehghan, Zahra; Yekta, Zohreh Parsa; Nasrabadi, Alireza N

    2016-09-21

    Rationing of various needed services, for example, nursing care, is inevitable due to unlimited needs and limited resources. Rationing of nursing care is considered an ethical issue since it requires judgment about potential conflicts between personal and professional values. The present research sought to explore aspects of rationing nursing care in Iran. This study applied qualitative content analysis, a method to explore people's perceptions of everyday life phenomena and interpret the subjective content of text data. Data collection was performed through in-depth, unstructured, face-to-face interviews with open-ended questions. The study population included Iranian nurses of all nursing positions, from clinical nurses to nurse managers. Purposive sampling was employed to select 15 female and 3 male nurses (11 clinical nurses, 3 supervisors, 1 matron, 1 nurse, and 2 members of the Nursing Council) working in hospitals of three cities in Iran. The study protocol was approved by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (91D1302870). Written informed consent was also obtained from all participants. According to the participants, rationing of nursing care consisted of two categories, that is, causes of rationing and consequences of rationing. The first category comprised three subcategories, namely, patient needs and demands, routinism, and VIP patients. The three subcategories forming the second category were missed nursing care, patient dissatisfaction, and nurses' feeling of guilt. Levels at which healthcare practices are rationed and clarity of the rationing are important structural considerations in the development of an equal, appropriate, and ethical healthcare system. Moreover, the procedure of rationing is critical as it not only influences people's lives but also reflects the values that dominate in the society. Therefore, in order to minimize the negative consequences of rationing of nursing care, further studies on the ethical dimensions of this phenomenon

  20. Casebook on rationalization of power use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-06-01

    This book introduces the cases on rationalization of power use, which is divided into four parts. The first part refers the goal of rational use of energy and the result. The second part deals with the excellent cases on rationalization of domestic power use, which list the name of the company, hotel and factory according to the field such as building, textile and food. The third part contains the outstanding cases on rationalization of foreign power use, which were listed by the specific way to reduce electricity use each section. The fourth part is comprised of two chapters, which deals with the cases of domestic technical data and foreign technical data for rational use of energy.

  1. A theoretical analysis of rational diet of healthy and junk foods

    OpenAIRE

    Levy, Amnon

    2007-01-01

    Junk-food consumption, health and productivity are analysed within an expectedlifetime- utility-maximising framework in which longevity and productivity rise with health, and health deteriorates with the consumption of junk food. As long as the junk food’s relative taste-price differential is positive, rational diets deviate from the physiologically optimal ones and generate lower than maximal levels of health and productivity. Taxing junk food can eliminate this discrepancy, but the outcome ...

  2. Coherent states and rational surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brody, Dorje C; Graefe, Eva-Maria

    2010-01-01

    The state spaces of generalized coherent states associated with special unitary groups are shown to form rational curves and surfaces in the space of pure states. These curves and surfaces are generated by the various Veronese embeddings of the underlying state space into higher dimensional state spaces. This construction is applied to the parameterization of generalized coherent states, which is useful for practical calculations, and provides an elementary combinatorial approach to the geometry of the coherent state space. The results are extended to Hilbert spaces with indefinite inner products, leading to the introduction of a new kind of generalized coherent states.

  3. From rational creatures to the rational Creator: ancient and patristic analogies of the “fine-tuning” argument

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey Fokin

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article the author deals with the proofs of the existence of God, based on the fact of the presence of rational beings in the world. These proofs can be found in Greek and Roman Classical philosophy and early Patristics, and can be viewed as an analogue of the modern “fine-tuning argument”. The author considers the origins and development of this argument in the Greek and Roman philosophy: in Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Sextus Empiricus, and especially the Stoics, who gave to the argument a logical form, based on the relationship between “the parts and the whole”: if the world as a whole produces and contains rational beings as its parts, it should also be rational or contain a rational principle that generates all its parts and governs them, just as human soul governs human body. The correction of this argument was proposed by Sextus Empiricus, who introduced the concept of "spermatic logoi", or rational principles, to explain the generation of the rational beings by the world, so that if the world contains the spermatic logoi of rational and living beings, then the world as a whole is also rational. The author also investigates the reception of the argument based on the existence of rational beings in the world in Latin Patristics: in Minucius Felix, Tertullian and especially Lactantius, in whom this argument has reached the climax of its development. At the same time it was shown, that the ancient argument has undergone a transformation from the postulation of the rationality of the world as a whole or its equation with God himself to a genuine proof of the existence of the one God who is the Creator both of the world and human beings, superior to the both as the all-powerful and transcendent Mind.

  4. Rationing medical education | Walsh | African Health Sciences

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Even though some stakeholders in medical education might be taken aback at the prospect of rationing, the truth is that rationing has always occurred in one form or another in medical education and in healthcare more broadly. Different types of rationing exist in healthcare professional education. For example rationing may ...

  5. Approximation of quadrilaterals by rational quadrilaterals in the plane

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Interestingly, this enables us to deduce that parallelograms with rational sides and area are dense in the class of all parallelograms. We also give a criterion for density of certain sets in topological spaces using local product structure and prove the density Theorem 6 in the appendix section. An application of this proves the ...

  6. Effects of Rational-Emotive Therapy, Rational Role Reversal, and Rational-Emotive Imagery on the Emotional Adjustment of Community Mental Health Center Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipsky, Marc J.; And Others

    1980-01-01

    Results showed that rational-emotive therapy (RET), with the addition of rational role reversal, produced significantly better results than did relaxation training and support or no contact. This was the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of RET with multisymptomatic applicants to a community mental health center. (Author/BEF)

  7. Argumentation, rationality, and psychology of reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Godden

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper explicates an account of argumentative rationality by articulating the common, basic idea of its nature, and then identifying a collection of assumptions inherent in it. Argumentative rationality is then contrasted with dual-process theories of reasoning and rationality prevalent in the psychology of reasoning. It is argued that argumentative rationality properly corresponds only with system-2 reasoning in dual-process theories. This result challenges the prescriptive force of argumentative norms derives if they derive at all from their descriptive accuracy of our cognitive capacities. In response, I propose an activity-based account of reasoning which retains the assumptions of argumentative rationality while recontextualizing the relationship between reasoning as a justificatory activity and the psychological states and processes underlying that activity.

  8. Rational Thinking in School-Based Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Mary Kristen; Flynn, Perry

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: We reflect on Alan Kamhi's (2011) prologue on balancing certainty and uncertainty as it pertains to school-based practice. Method: In schools, rational thinking depends on effective team processes, much like professional learning communities. We consider the conditions that are required for rational thinking and how rational team dialogue…

  9. Rationality in Machiavelli and in Kant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vadim Chaly

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper contains interpretation and comparative analysis of Machiavelli’s and Kant’s conceptions on rationality as two prime examples of “realist” and “idealist” modes of agency. Kantian model of rationality is viewed as an augmentation of the Machiavellian one, not an opposition to it. To elaborate the point, Robert Aumann’s model of act-rationality and rulerationality is applied to the two philosophical models. Kantian practical reason is interpreted as an addition to Aumann’s instrumental rationality, providing rules for rules, or “rule-rule-rationality”.

  10. Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Bakker, Marije F; van der Beek, Allard J; Proper, Karin I

    2017-05-01

    Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure-response relationships for frequency of night shifts and years of shift work regarding non-occupational PA levels were studied. Data of 5980 non-shift workers and 532 shift workers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) were used in these cross-sectional analyses. Time spent (hours/week) in different PA types (walking/cycling/exercise/chores) and intensities (moderate/vigorous) were calculated based on self-reported PA. Furthermore, sports were operationalised as: playing sports (no/yes), individual versus non-individual sports, and non-vigorous-intensity versus vigorous-intensity sports. PA levels were compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using Generalized Estimating Equations and logistic regression. Shift workers reported spending more time walking than non-shift workers (B=2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.4)), but shift work was not associated with other PA types and any of the sports activities. Shift workers who worked 1-4 night shifts/month (B=2.4 (95% CI 0.6 to 4.3)) and ≥5 night shifts/month (B=3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 5.6)) spent more time walking than non-shift workers. No exposure-response relationships were found between years of shift work and PA levels. Shift workers spent more time walking than non-shift workers, but we observed no differences in other non-occupational PA levels. To better understand if and how PA plays a role in the negative health consequences of shift work, our findings need to be confirmed in future studies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  11. On the choice of a rational system of water economy of the industrial enterprice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsikhelashvili, Z.; Khatiuri, Kh.; Verulava, G.; Zakutashvili, G.

    2009-01-01

    Rational systems and projects of water economy of the industrial enterprise (allowing for the development of waste-free production processes, industrial water recycling with water treatment or without it, and cooling recycling) are discussed. The analysis of rational systems is of primary importance when designing and/or reconstructing the industrial water economy. Such systems and projects must account for all local conditions determining the advantage of their employment from the sanitary and economic viewpoints. (author)

  12. Spin-Center Shift-Enabled Direct Enantioselective α-Benzylation of Aldehydes with Alcohols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nacsa, Eric D; MacMillan, David W C

    2018-03-07

    Nature routinely engages alcohols as leaving groups, as DNA biosynthesis relies on the removal of water from ribonucleoside diphosphates by a radical-mediated "spin-center shift" (SCS) mechanism. Alcohols, however, remain underused as alkylating agents in synthetic chemistry due to their low reactivity in two-electron pathways. We report herein an enantioselective α-benzylation of aldehydes using alcohols as alkylating agents based on the mechanistic principle of spin-center shift. This strategy harnesses the dual activation modes of photoredox and organocatalysis, engaging the alcohol by SCS and capturing the resulting benzylic radical with a catalytically generated enamine. Mechanistic studies provide evidence for SCS as a key elementary step, identify the origins of competing reactions, and enable improvements in chemoselectivity by rational photocatalyst design.

  13. Reassigning the Structures of Natural Products Using NMR Chemical Shifts Computed with Quantum Mechanics: A Laboratory Exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palazzo, Teresa A.; Truong, Tiana T.; Wong, Shirley M. T.; Mack, Emma T.; Lodewyk, Michael W.; Harrison, Jason G.; Gamage, R. Alan; Siegel, Justin B.; Kurth, Mark J.; Tantillo, Dean J.

    2015-01-01

    An applied computational chemistry laboratory exercise is described in which students use modern quantum chemical calculations of chemical shifts to assign the structure of a recently isolated natural product. A pre/post assessment was used to measure student learning gains and verify that students demonstrated proficiency of key learning…

  14. Strategic Capacity Rationing to Induce Early Purchases

    OpenAIRE

    Qian Liu; Garrett J. van Ryzin

    2008-01-01

    Dynamic pricing offers the potential to increase revenues. At the same time, it creates an incentive for customers to strategize over the timing of their purchases. A firm should ideally account for this behavior when making its pricing and stocking decisions. In particular, we investigate whether it is optimal for a firm to create rationing risk by deliberately understocking products. Then, the resulting threat of shortages creates an incentive for customers to purchase early at higher price...

  15. Discrete Choice and Rational Inattention

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fosgerau, Mogens; Melo, Emerson; de Palma, André

    2017-01-01

    This paper establishes a general equivalence between discrete choice and rational inattention models. Matejka and McKay (2015, AER) showed that when information costs are modelled using the Shannon entropy, the result- ing choice probabilities in the rational inattention model take the multinomial...... logit form. We show that when information costs are modelled using a class of generalized entropies, then the choice probabilities in any rational inattention model are observationally equivalent to some additive random utility discrete choice model and vice versa. This equivalence arises from convex...

  16. Rational top and its classical r-matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aminov, G; Arthamonov, S; Smirnov, A; Zotov, A

    2014-01-01

    We construct a rational integrable system (the rational top) on a co-adjoint orbit of SL N Lie group. It is described by the Lax operator with spectral parameter and classical non-dynamical skew-symmetric r-matrix. In the case of the orbit of minimal dimension the model is gauge equivalent to the rational Calogero–Moser (CM) system. To obtain the results we represent the Lax operator of the CM model in two different factorized forms—without spectral parameter (related to the spinless case) and another one with the spectral parameter. The latter gives rise to the rational top while the first one is related to generalized Cremmer–Gervais r-matrices. The gauge transformation relating the rational top and CM model provides the classical rational version of the IRF-Vertex correspondence. From the geometrical point of view it describes the modification of SL(N,C)-bundles over degenerated elliptic curve. In view of the Symplectic Hecke Correspondence the rational top is related to the rational spin CM model. Possible applications and generalizations of the suggested construction are discussed. In particular, the obtained r-matrix defines a class of KZB equations. (paper)

  17. Lessons from Learning to Have Rational Expectations

    OpenAIRE

    Lindh, Thomas

    1989-01-01

    This paper reviews a growing literature investigating how economic agents may learn rational expectations. Fully rational learning requires implausible initial information assumptions, therefore some form of bounded rationality has come into focus. Such learning models often converge to rational expectations equilibria within certain bounds. Convergence analysis has been much simplified by methods from adaptive control theory. Learning stability as a correspondence principle show some promise...

  18. Towards Sustainable H2 Production: Rational Design of Hydrophobic Triphenylamine-based Dyes for Sensitized Ethanol Photoreforming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dessì, Alessio; Monai, Matteo; Bessi, Matteo; Montini, Tiziano; Calamante, Massimo; Mordini, Alessandro; Reginato, Gianna; Trono, Cosimo; Fornasiero, Paolo; Zani, Lorenzo

    2018-02-22

    Donor-acceptor dyes are a well-established class of photosensitizers, used to enhance visible-light harvesting in solar cells and in direct photocatalytic reactions, such as H 2 production by photoreforming of sacrificial electron donors (SEDs). Amines-typically triethanolamine (TEOA)-are commonly employed as SEDs in such reactions. Dye-sensitized photoreforming of more sustainable, biomass-derived alcohols, on the other hand, was only recently reported by using methanol as the electron donor. In this work, several rationally designed donor-acceptor dyes were used as sensitizers in H 2 photocatalytic production, comparing the efficiency of TEOA and EtOH as SEDs. In particular, the effect of hydrophobic chains in the spacer and/or the donor unit of the dyes was systematically studied. The H 2 production rates were higher when TEOA was used as SED, whereas the activity trends depended on the SED used. The best performance was obtained with TEOA by using a sensitizer with just one bulky hydrophobic moiety, propylenedioxythiophene, placed on the spacer unit. In the case of EtOH, the best-performing sensitizers were the ones featuring a thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole internal unit, needed for enhancing light harvesting, and carrying alkyl chains on both the donor part and the spacer unit. The results are discussed in terms of reaction mechanism, interaction with the SED, and structural/electrochemical properties of the sensitizers. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Strategy selection as rational metareasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieder, Falk; Griffiths, Thomas L

    2017-11-01

    Many contemporary accounts of human reasoning assume that the mind is equipped with multiple heuristics that could be deployed to perform a given task. This raises the question of how the mind determines when to use which heuristic. To answer this question, we developed a rational model of strategy selection, based on the theory of rational metareasoning developed in the artificial intelligence literature. According to our model people learn to efficiently choose the strategy with the best cost-benefit tradeoff by learning a predictive model of each strategy's performance. We found that our model can provide a unifying explanation for classic findings from domains ranging from decision-making to arithmetic by capturing the variability of people's strategy choices, their dependence on task and context, and their development over time. Systematic model comparisons supported our theory, and 4 new experiments confirmed its distinctive predictions. Our findings suggest that people gradually learn to make increasingly more rational use of fallible heuristics. This perspective reconciles the 2 poles of the debate about human rationality by integrating heuristics and biases with learning and rationality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Changes in forest productivity across Alaska consistent with biome shift

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter S.A. Beck; Glenn P. Juday; Claire Alix; Valerie A. Barber; Stephen E. Winslow; Emily E. Sousa; Patricia Heiser; James D. Herriges; Scott J. Goetz

    2011-01-01

    Global vegetation models predict that boreal forests are particularly sensitive to a biome shift during the 21st century. This shift would manifest itself first at the biome's margins, with evergreen forest expanding into current tundra while being replaced by grasslands or temperate forest at the biome's southern edge. We evaluated changes in forest...

  1. Should informed consent be based on rational beliefs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savulescu, J; Momeyer, R W

    1997-10-01

    Our aim is to expand the regulative ideal governing consent. We argue that consent should not only be informed but also based on rational beliefs. We argue that holding true beliefs promotes autonomy. Information is important insofar as it helps a person to hold the relevant true beliefs. But in order to hold the relevant true beliefs, competent people must also think rationally. Insofar as information is important, rational deliberation is important. Just as physicians should aim to provide relevant information regarding the medical procedures prior to patients consenting to have those procedures, they should also assist patients to think more rationally. We distinguish between rational choice/action and rational belief. While autonomous choice need not necessarily be rational, it should be based on rational belief. The implication for the doctrine of informed consent and the practice of medicine is that, if physicians are to respect patient autonomy and help patients to choose and act more rationally, not only must they provide information, but they should care more about the theoretical rationality of their patients. They should not abandon their patients to irrationality. They should help their patients to deliberate more effectively and to care more about thinking rationally. We illustrate these arguments in the context of Jehovah's Witnesses refusing life-saving blood transfusions. Insofar as Jehovah's Witnesses should be informed of the consequences of their actions, they should also deliberate rationally about these consequences.

  2. To the rationalization of the constructive solutions of the bridge supports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrova Olena

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Reduction of material consumption and labor intensity of building structures is a topical task for both theory and practice of building production. Today there are many ways to achieve proper economic effect while reconstruction or erection of building and structures. One of them is to rationalize well-known constructive solutions using as criteria the value of density of potential energy of deformation of structures. In this connection, the new constructive solution for short massive supports with outer reinforcement made of expanded metal sheet and frames (reinforcing rings which are used in construction of road and railway bridges and high-rise buildings is proposed in this paper. The theoretical approach for the definition of its rational parameters is given. Numerical analysis of the highlighted method is also carried out. As a result of study the increase in the bearing capacity in concrete pillars made in rational mesh clips with and without frames was obtained.

  3. An evaluation of rational-emotive imagery as a component of rational-emotive therapy in the treatment of test anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hymen, S P; Warren, R

    1978-06-01

    This study evaluated the efficacy of rational-emotive imagery as a component of rational-emotive therapy in reduction of college students' test anxiety. 11 volunteers met for 6 1-hr. group treatment sessions over a 3-wk. period. After 2 initial treatment sessions subjects were randomly assigned to groups given either rational-emotive therapy with rational-emotive imagery or rational-emotive therapy without imagery. Contrary to predictions, improvement between groups on self-report and performance measures was nonsignificant. Failure to obtain differences was attributed to similarities in content of treatment sessions and short treatment time. Combined groups reported significant improvement on all dependent measures. Although the study did not yield the predicted benefits of the imagery, results lend further support to the efficacy of rational-emotive therapy procedures in the reduction of test anxiety.

  4. Insomnia in shift work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallières, Annie; Azaiez, Aïda; Moreau, Vincent; LeBlanc, Mélanie; Morin, Charles M

    2014-12-01

    Shift work disorder involves insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness associated with the work schedule. The present study examined the impact of insomnia on the perceived physical and psychological health of adults working on night and rotating shift schedules compared to day workers. A total of 418 adults (51% women, mean age 41.4 years), including 51 night workers, 158 rotating shift workers, and 209 day workers were selected from an epidemiological study. An algorithm was used to classify each participant of the two groups (working night or rotating shifts) according to the presence or absence of insomnia symptoms. Each of these individuals was paired with a day worker according to gender, age, and income. Participants completed several questionnaires measuring sleep, health, and psychological variables. Night and rotating shift workers with insomnia presented a sleep profile similar to that of day workers with insomnia. Sleep time was more strongly related to insomnia than to shift work per se. Participants with insomnia in the three groups complained of anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and reported consuming equal amounts of sleep-aid medication. Insomnia also contributed to chronic pain and otorhinolaryngology problems, especially among rotating shift workers. Work productivity and absenteeism were more strongly related to insomnia. The present study highlights insomnia as an important component of the sleep difficulties experienced by shift workers. Insomnia may exacerbate certain physical and mental health problems of shift workers, and impair their quality of life. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Rationing in health systems: A critical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keliddar, Iman; Mosadeghrad, Ali Mohammad; Jafari-Sirizi, Mehdi

    2017-01-01

    Background: It is difficult to provide health care services to all those in need of such services due to limited resources and unlimited demands. Thus, priority setting and rationing have to be applied. This study aimed at critically examining the concept of rationing in health sector and identifying its purposes, influencing factors, mechanisms, and outcomes. Methods: The critical interpretive synthesis methodology was used in this study. PubMed, Cochrane, and Proquest databases were searched using the related key words to find related documents published between 1970 and 2015. In total, 161 published reports were reviewed and included in the study. Thematic content analysis was applied for data analysis. Results: Health services rationing means restricting the access of some people to useful or potentially useful health services due to budgetary limitation. The inherent features of the health market and health services, limited resources, and unlimited needs necessitate health services rationing. Rationing can be applied in 4 levels: health care policy- makers, health care managers, health care providers, and patients. Health care rationing can be accomplished through fixed budget, benefit package, payment mechanisms, queuing, copayments, and deductibles. Conclusion: This paper enriched our understanding of health services rationing and its mechanisms at various levels and contributed to the literature by broadly conceptualizing health services rationing.

  6. Research on Bounded Rationality of Fuzzy Choice Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinlin Wu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The rationality of a fuzzy choice function is a hot research topic in the study of fuzzy choice functions. In this paper, two common fuzzy sets are studied and analyzed in the framework of the Banerjee choice function. The complete rationality and bounded rationality of fuzzy choice functions are defined based on the two fuzzy sets. An assumption is presented to study the fuzzy choice function, and especially the fuzzy choice function with bounded rationality is studied combined with some rationality conditions. Results show that the fuzzy choice function with bounded rationality also satisfies some important rationality conditions, but not vice versa. The research gives supplements to the investigation in the framework of the Banerjee choice function.

  7. Information Theory - The Bridge Connecting Bounded Rational Game Theory and Statistical Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolpert, David H.

    2005-01-01

    A long-running difficulty with conventional game theory has been how to modify it to accommodate the bounded rationality of all red-world players. A recurring issue in statistical physics is how best to approximate joint probability distributions with decoupled (and therefore far more tractable) distributions. This paper shows that the same information theoretic mathematical structure, known as Product Distribution (PD) theory, addresses both issues. In this, PD theory not only provides a principle formulation of bounded rationality and a set of new types of mean field theory in statistical physics; it also shows that those topics are fundamentally one and the same.

  8. Learning rational temporal eye movement strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppe, David; Rothkopf, Constantin A

    2016-07-19

    During active behavior humans redirect their gaze several times every second within the visual environment. Where we look within static images is highly efficient, as quantified by computational models of human gaze shifts in visual search and face recognition tasks. However, when we shift gaze is mostly unknown despite its fundamental importance for survival in a dynamic world. It has been suggested that during naturalistic visuomotor behavior gaze deployment is coordinated with task-relevant events, often predictive of future events, and studies in sportsmen suggest that timing of eye movements is learned. Here we establish that humans efficiently learn to adjust the timing of eye movements in response to environmental regularities when monitoring locations in the visual scene to detect probabilistically occurring events. To detect the events humans adopt strategies that can be understood through a computational model that includes perceptual and acting uncertainties, a minimal processing time, and, crucially, the intrinsic costs of gaze behavior. Thus, subjects traded off event detection rate with behavioral costs of carrying out eye movements. Remarkably, based on this rational bounded actor model the time course of learning the gaze strategies is fully explained by an optimal Bayesian learner with humans' characteristic uncertainty in time estimation, the well-known scalar law of biological timing. Taken together, these findings establish that the human visual system is highly efficient in learning temporal regularities in the environment and that it can use these regularities to control the timing of eye movements to detect behaviorally relevant events.

  9. Application-Oriented Optimal Shift Schedule Extraction for a Dual-Motor Electric Bus with Automated Manual Transmission

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingjie Zhao

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The conventional battery electric buses (BEBs have limited potential to optimize the energy consumption and reach a better dynamic performance. A practical dual-motor equipped with 4-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT propulsion system is proposed, which can eliminate the traction interruption in conventional AMT. A discrete model of the dual-motor-AMT electric bus (DMAEB is built and used to optimize the gear shift schedule. Dynamic programming (DP algorithm is applied to find the optimal results where the efficiency and shift time of each gear are considered to handle the application problem of global optimization. A rational penalty factor and a proper shift time delay based on bench test results are set to reduce the shift frequency by 82.5% in Chinese-World Transient Vehicle Cycle (C-WTVC. Two perspectives of applicable shift rule extraction methods, i.e., the classification method based on optimal operating points and clustering method based on optimal shifting points, are explored and compared. Eventually, the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL simulation results demonstrate that the proposed structure and extracted shift schedule can realize a significant improvement in reducing energy loss by 20.13% compared to traditional empirical strategies.

  10. Using Rational-Emotive Therapy to Prevent Classroom Problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webber, Jo; Coleman, Maggie

    1988-01-01

    Teachers are encouraged to utilize rational-emotive therapy to prevent and deal with classroom behavior problems. Rational-emotive therapy is defined, the ABC model of rational thinking briefly explained, types of irrational thinking identified, and suggestions for becoming a rational thinker are offered. Classroom examples are given. (DB)

  11. [Rationalization, rationing, prioritization: terminology and ethical approaches to the allocation of limited resources in hematology/oncology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winkler, Eva

    2011-01-01

    The field of oncology with its numerous high-priced innovations contributes considerably to the fact that medical progress is expensive. Additionally, due to the demographic changes and the increasing life expectancy, a growing number of cancer patients want to profit from this progress. Since resources are limited also in the health system, the fair distribution of the available resources urgently needs to be addressed. Dealing with scarcity is a typical problem in the domain of justice theory; therefore, this article first discusses different strategies to manage limited resources: rationalization, rationing, and prioritization. It then presents substantive as well as procedural criteria that assist in the just distribution of effective health benefits. There are various strategies to reduce the utilization of limited resources: Rationalization means that efficiency reserves are being exhausted; by means of rationing, effective health benefits are withheld due to cost considerations. Rationing can occur implicitly and thus covertly, e.g. through budgeting or the implementation of waiting periods, or explicitly, through transparent rules or policies about healthcare coverage. Ranking medical treatments according to their importance (prioritization) is often a prerequisite for rationing decisions. In terms of requirements of justice, both procedural and substantive criteria (e.g. equality, urgency, benefit) are relevant for the acceptance and quality of a decision to limit access to effective health benefits. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  12. CASE STUDY OF A SUPPLIER WAREHOUSING PROCESS RATIONALIZATION

    OpenAIRE

    Richárd Ladányi; Norbert Tóth

    2010-01-01

    Accomplishment of customer orders from the viewpoints of required lead time and quality is important factor in successful operation of a multinational company. Logistics plays key role in meeting customer requirements and also it has great influence on operation costs. Rationalization efforts often mean the reduction of inbound and outbound stocks and the minimization of the material handling activities in a production factory accordingly customers require more and more complex services from ...

  13. Effect of Shift Work on Nocturia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jin Wook

    2016-01-01

    To identify the circadian sensitive component of nocturia by comparing nocturia in patients who voluntarily choose a disrupted circadian rhythm, that is, shift workers, with those who maintain normal day-night cycles. Between 2011 and 2013, a total of 1741 untreated patients, 1376 nonshift workers and 365 shift workers, were compared for nocturia indices based on frequency volume charts (FVCs). General linear model of 8-hour interval urine production and frequency were compared between FVCs of nonshift workers, FVCs of night-shift workers, and FVCs of day-shift workers. Nocturia frequency was increased in the night-shift workers (2.38 ± 1.44) compared with nonshift workers (2.18 ± 1.04) (P night-shift workers, 0.34 ± 0.13 for nonshift workers, P = .24), nocturnal bladder capacity index increased significantly (1.41 ± 1.06 for night-shift workers, 1.26 ± 0.92 for nonshift workers, P shift (P shift changes (P = .35). Patients in alternating work shifts showed increased nocturia, especially during their night shift. These changes tended to be more associated with decreased nocturnal bladder capacity than increased nocturnal polyuria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Differential Rationality and Personal Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fincher, Cameron

    This publication discusses differential rationality; it asserts that the development of institutions, professions, and individuals involves the differentiation of forms and styles of thinking and knowing that are, in various ways, idiosyncratic. Based on this understanding, differential rationality can be seen as a developmental construct that…

  15. Rational reconstructions of modern physics

    CERN Document Server

    Mittelstaedt, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Newton’s classical physics and its underlying ontology are loaded with several metaphysical hypotheses that cannot be justified by rational reasoning nor by experimental evidence. Furthermore, it is well known that some of these hypotheses are not contained in the great theories of Modern Physics, such as the theory of Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This book shows that, on the basis of Newton’s classical physics and by rational reconstruction, the theory of Special Relativity as well as Quantum Mechanics can be obtained by partly eliminating or attenuating the metaphysical hypotheses. Moreover, it is shown that these reconstructions do not require additional hypotheses or new experimental results. In the second edition the rational reconstructions are completed with respect to General Relativity and Cosmology. In addition, the statistics of quantum objects is elaborated in more detail with respect to the rational reconstruction of quantum mechanics. The new material completes the approach of t...

  16. Rational Choice and the Framing of Decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-05-29

    survival in a competitive environment , and a minority of rational individuals can sometimes impose rationality on the whole market. Third, the...intuitive appeal of the axioms of rational choice makes it plausible that the theory derived from these axioms should provide an acceptable account of choice...rn-use U? RATIONAL CHOICE AMD THE FINNING OF KCISIOUS(U mi/ STANFORD UNIV CR A TYERSEY ET AL. 29 NAYN4-S4-K-S61SWICLASS IF lED FO 5/10S IL EEEEEEEE

  17. Intergroup conflict and rational decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Tur, Vicente; Peñarroja, Vicente; Serrano, Miguel A; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Moliner, Carolina; Salvador, Alicia; Alacreu-Crespo, Adrián; Gracia, Esther; Molina, Agustín

    2014-01-01

    The literature has been relatively silent about post-conflict processes. However, understanding the way humans deal with post-conflict situations is a challenge in our societies. With this in mind, we focus the present study on the rationality of cooperative decision making after an intergroup conflict, i.e., the extent to which groups take advantage of post-conflict situations to obtain benefits from collaborating with the other group involved in the conflict. Based on dual-process theories of thinking and affect heuristic, we propose that intergroup conflict hinders the rationality of cooperative decision making. We also hypothesize that this rationality improves when groups are involved in an in-group deliberative discussion. Results of a laboratory experiment support the idea that intergroup conflict -associated with indicators of the activation of negative feelings (negative affect state and heart rate)- has a negative effect on the aforementioned rationality over time and on both group and individual decision making. Although intergroup conflict leads to sub-optimal decision making, rationality improves when groups and individuals subjected to intergroup conflict make decisions after an in-group deliberative discussion. Additionally, the increased rationality of the group decision making after the deliberative discussion is transferred to subsequent individual decision making.

  18. Intergroup Conflict and Rational Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Tur, Vicente; Peñarroja, Vicente; Serrano, Miguel A.; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Moliner, Carolina; Salvador, Alicia; Alacreu-Crespo, Adrián; Gracia, Esther; Molina, Agustín

    2014-01-01

    The literature has been relatively silent about post-conflict processes. However, understanding the way humans deal with post-conflict situations is a challenge in our societies. With this in mind, we focus the present study on the rationality of cooperative decision making after an intergroup conflict, i.e., the extent to which groups take advantage of post-conflict situations to obtain benefits from collaborating with the other group involved in the conflict. Based on dual-process theories of thinking and affect heuristic, we propose that intergroup conflict hinders the rationality of cooperative decision making. We also hypothesize that this rationality improves when groups are involved in an in-group deliberative discussion. Results of a laboratory experiment support the idea that intergroup conflict –associated with indicators of the activation of negative feelings (negative affect state and heart rate)– has a negative effect on the aforementioned rationality over time and on both group and individual decision making. Although intergroup conflict leads to sub-optimal decision making, rationality improves when groups and individuals subjected to intergroup conflict make decisions after an in-group deliberative discussion. Additionally, the increased rationality of the group decision making after the deliberative discussion is transferred to subsequent individual decision making. PMID:25461384

  19. Intergroup conflict and rational decision making.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente Martínez-Tur

    Full Text Available The literature has been relatively silent about post-conflict processes. However, understanding the way humans deal with post-conflict situations is a challenge in our societies. With this in mind, we focus the present study on the rationality of cooperative decision making after an intergroup conflict, i.e., the extent to which groups take advantage of post-conflict situations to obtain benefits from collaborating with the other group involved in the conflict. Based on dual-process theories of thinking and affect heuristic, we propose that intergroup conflict hinders the rationality of cooperative decision making. We also hypothesize that this rationality improves when groups are involved in an in-group deliberative discussion. Results of a laboratory experiment support the idea that intergroup conflict -associated with indicators of the activation of negative feelings (negative affect state and heart rate- has a negative effect on the aforementioned rationality over time and on both group and individual decision making. Although intergroup conflict leads to sub-optimal decision making, rationality improves when groups and individuals subjected to intergroup conflict make decisions after an in-group deliberative discussion. Additionally, the increased rationality of the group decision making after the deliberative discussion is transferred to subsequent individual decision making.

  20. Hierarchy of rational order families of chaotic maps with an invariant ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    scribe the dynamic behavior of chaotic maps using Kolmogorov–Sinai ... we have calculated the invariant measure of the rational order families of chaotic ... simultaneous production and consumption of entropy, we need to replace xn+1 ..... partition or, the average amount of information needed to locate the system in state.

  1. Experiental Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing: Creating Rational and Emotional Liaisons with Consumers

    OpenAIRE

    Dainora Grundey

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to show peculiarities of traditional and experiential marketing and describe why experiential marketing is better way to understand consumer behaviour. Comparative analysis shows the main characteristics of traditional and experiential marketing. Traditional marketing characteristics are there: product functional characteristics and superiority, narrow determinate product categories, point of view to the consumer as a rational thinker, application analytical, quan...

  2. Rational customs clearance technology choice

    OpenAIRE

    Shramenko, N.; Andriets, V.

    2008-01-01

    Issues concerning cargo delivery efficiencyincrease by choice of rational customs clearance technology have been considered. Three possible variants of customs clearance andmethods which allow to define the most rational version of cargo delivery in international road communication based on main efficiency criteria for definite distance have been presented.

  3. Cognitive Rationality and Its Logic-Mathematical Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masalova, Svetlana

    2012-01-01

    The article deals with the cognitive (flexible) rationality, combining rational and irrational moments of the scientific search of the cognizing subject. Linguo-cognitive model of the concept as the flexible regulative rationality reveals the activity of the cognitive processes and the mentality of the epistemological-ontic subject, its leading…

  4. Structured morphological modeling as a framework for rational strain design of Streptomyces species

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Celler, K.; Picioreanu, C.; Van Loosdrecht, M.C.M.; Van Wezel, G.P.

    2012-01-01

    Successful application of a computational model for rational design of industrial Streptomyces exploitation requires a better understanding of the relationship between morphology—dictated by microbial growth, branching, fragmentation and adhesion—and product formation. Here we review the

  5. Technique on rationalization of using electricity and cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-04-01

    This book deals with rationalization of using electric and cases. It is divided into four parts. The first part introduces necessity and of progression rationalization of using electric. The second part describes the technique on rationalization of using electric with management of electric energy. The third part depicts domestic cases of rationalization on using of electric such as substation and motor. The last part also introduces foreign cases of rationalization on using of electric with measure of generator circuit, design of motor, design of lighting and design of other equipment.

  6. Book Selection, Collection Development, and Bounded Rationality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Charles A.

    1989-01-01

    Reviews previously proposed schemes of classical rationality in book selection, describes new approaches to rational choice behavior, and presents a model of book selection based on bounded rationality in a garbage can decision process. The role of tacit knowledge and symbolic content in the selection process are also discussed. (102 references)…

  7. Love and rationality: on some possible rational effects of love

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo Ortiz-Millán

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I defend the idea that rather than disrupting rationality, as the common-sense conception has done it, love may actually help us to develop rational ways of thinking and acting. I make the case for romantic or erotic love, since this is the kind of love that is more frequently associated with irrationality in acting and thinking. I argue that this kind of love may make us develop epistemic and practical forms of rationality. Based on an analysis of its characteristic action tendencies, I argue that love may help us to develop an instrumental form of rationality in determining the best means to achieve the object of love. It may also narrow down the number of practical considerations that may help us to achieve our goals. Finally, love may generate rational ways of belief-formation by framing the parameters taken into account in perception and attention, and by bringing into light only a small portion of the epistemic information available. Love may make us perceive reality more acutely.Neste artigo defendo a idéia de que, em vez de perturbar a racionalidade, como a concepção do senso comum o faz, o amor pode, na verdade, ajudar-nos a desenvolver modos racionais de pensar e agir. Dou bons argumentos para o amor romântico ou erótico, uma vez que esse é o tipo de amor que é mais freqüentemente associado à irracionalidade no agir e no pensar. Argumento que esse tipo de amor pode fazer-nos desenvolver formas epistêmicas e práticas de racionalidade. Com base em uma análise de suas tendências características para a ação, argumento que o amor pode ajudar-nos a desenvolver uma forma instrumental de racionalidade para se determinar o melhor meio de atingir o objeto de amor. Ele também pode limitar o número de considerações práticas que podem ajudar-nos a atingir os nossos objetivos. Finalmente, o amor pode gerar modos racionais de formação de crenças ao estruturar os parâmetros considerados na percepção e na aten

  8. A discussion of theoretical and practical rationality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wahlstroem, B. [Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland). VTT Automation

    1999-12-01

    Theoretical rationality as defined in Expected Utility Theory and amended with other considerations gives a good basis for decision making. One should however always keep in mind that practical rationality often is far more complicated. People use their everyday experience when placed before new problems and this may lead to apparently irrational choices which on a closer scrutiny may be completely rational. Theories in human decision making unfortunately becomes untestable, firstly because a theory taking all considerations into account would be to complex to be practical and secondly because the data needed to test the theory cannot be collected. The benefit of EUT is that it is simple and straightforward as compared with competing theories. In the natural sciences rationality is often seen simply as a problem of optimisation. This view is practical, but it has to include also psychological and sociological considerations. The apparent controversy between natural and behavioural sciences could at least in principle be resolved by a better understanding of the complexity of human rationality. The human mind does not work in isolation, but it is adapted to a social community and a continuously changing environment. Understanding all components of human rationality is a challenge which cannot be solved on a short term basis. An important part of human rationality is connected to the intricate balance between individual and societal utility. The human mind has over thousands of years learnt to resolve that balance, but in the modern society there are decisions which may not be solvable with an intuitive approach and a strategy of trial and error. For these decisions more solid theories of rationality will be needed. EUT can in spite of its dismerits be used as the backbone for such a theory, but it has to be extended with better explanations of both individual and social rationality. If this understanding of the practical aspects of human rationality can be reached

  9. A discussion of theoretical and practical rationality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wahlstroem, B.

    1999-01-01

    Theoretical rationality as defined in Expected Utility Theory and amended with other considerations gives a good basis for decision making. One should however always keep in mind that practical rationality often is far more complicated. People use their everyday experience when placed before new problems and this may lead to apparently irrational choices which on a closer scrutiny may be completely rational. Theories in human decision making unfortunately becomes untestable, firstly because a theory taking all considerations into account would be to complex to be practical and secondly because the data needed to test the theory cannot be collected. The benefit of EUT is that it is simple and straightforward as compared with competing theories. In the natural sciences rationality is often seen simply as a problem of optimisation. This view is practical, but it has to include also psychological and sociological considerations. The apparent controversy between natural and behavioural sciences could at least in principle be resolved by a better understanding of the complexity of human rationality. The human mind does not work in isolation, but it is adapted to a social community and a continuously changing environment. Understanding all components of human rationality is a challenge which cannot be solved on a short term basis. An important part of human rationality is connected to the intricate balance between individual and societal utility. The human mind has over thousands of years learnt to resolve that balance, but in the modern society there are decisions which may not be solvable with an intuitive approach and a strategy of trial and error. For these decisions more solid theories of rationality will be needed. EUT can in spite of its dismerits be used as the backbone for such a theory, but it has to be extended with better explanations of both individual and social rationality. If this understanding of the practical aspects of human rationality can be reached

  10. [Historical development of vaccines. Introduction: Hazards and rationality in the vaccinal approach].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moulin, A M

    1995-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to introduce the one hundred years of vaccination that has passed since Louis Pasteur first coined this generic term. According to the late Jonas Salk, vaccinology is a science encompassing all aspects of vaccine from its conception in the laboratory to its production by companies and its application and distribution in the field. In this historical survey I explore how vaccination never consisted of a simple and uniform application of a rational model, but rather diverged along various pathways, several of which were discarded in retrospect as being hazardous, and I analyse the ongoing interplay between rational and inventive thinking.

  11. Simulation of Farmers’ Response to Irrigation Water Pricing and Rationing Policies (Case Study: Zabol City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    abouzar parhizkari

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Considering that agricultural sector is the largest consumer of water, presenting integrated management for water resources and formulating effective policies to increase water productivity in this sector is essential. Therefore, using economic modeling , this study simulated the farmers’ responses to irrigation water pricing and rationing policies in Zabol city. To achieve the study purpose, the State Wide Agricultural Production Model and Positive Mathematical Programming were applied. The required data for the years 2010-2011 was collected by completing questionnaires and collecting data sets from the relevant agencies of Zabol city in personal attendance. The results showed that imposing irrigation water pricing and rationing policies in Zabol city leads to a reduction in the total cultivated area by 9/54 and 5/14 percent and a reduction in the water consumption by 6/23 and 7/01 percent, compared to the base year. Ultimately, irrigation water rationing policy, considering frugality of 18/9 million m3 of water, as the appropriate solution for the sustainability of water resources of Zabol city was proposed.

  12. THE HICKSIAN RATIONAL CONSUMER

    OpenAIRE

    Manuel FERNÁNDEZ-GRELA

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to trace the evolution of the concept of ''rational consumer'' in Hicks's writings. After being one of the pioneers in the introduction of rationality assumptions about consumer behaviour in economic models, Hicks gradually developed a sceptical view about some of the uses to which those assumptions were put into. The focus of the paper is on continuity in Hicksian views, providing a picture of gradual changes in the long series of Hicks's works

  13. Catastrophic shifts in the aquatic primary production revealed by a small low-flow section of tropical downstream after dredging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marotta, H; Enrich-Prast, A

    2015-11-01

    Dredging is a catastrophic disturbance that directly affects key biological processes in aquatic ecosystems, especially in those small and shallow. In the tropics, metabolic responses could still be enhanced by the high temperatures and solar incidence. Here, we assessed changes in the aquatic primary production along a small section of low-flow tropical downstream (Imboassica Stream, Brazil) after dredging. Our results suggested that these ecosystems may show catastrophic shifts between net heterotrophy and autotrophy in waters based on three short-term stages following the dredging: (I) a strongly heterotrophic net primary production -NPP- coupled to an intense respiration -R- likely supported by high resuspended organic sediments and nutrients from the bottom; (II) a strongly autotrophic NPP coupled to an intense gross primary production -GPP- favored by the high nutrient levels and low solar light attenuation from suspended solids or aquatic macrophytes; and (III) a NPP near to the equilibrium coupled to low GPP and R rates following, respectively, the shading by aquatic macrophytes and high particulate sedimentation. In conclusion, changes in aquatic primary production could be an important threshold for controlling drastic shifts in the organic matter cycling and the subsequent silting up of small tropical streams after dredging events.

  14. Complex dynamics and multistability with increasing rationality in market games

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cavalli, Fausto; Naimzada, Ahmad

    2016-01-01

    In this work we study oligopoly models in which firms adopt decision mechanisms based on best response techniques with different rationality degrees. Firms are also assumed to face resource or financial constraints in adjusting their production levels, so that, from time to time, they can only increase or decrease their strategy by a bounded quantity. We consider different families of oligopolies of generic sizes, characterized by heterogeneous compositions with respect to the rationality degrees of firms. We analytically study the local stability of the equilibrium depending on the oligopoly size and composition and through numerical simulations we investigate the possible dynamics arising when trajectories do not converge toward the equilibrium. We show that in this case complex dynamics can arise, and this is due to both the loss of stability of the equilibrium and to the emergence of multiple attractors, with the stable steady state coexisting with a different, periodic or chaotic, attractor. In particular, we show that multistability phenomena occur when the overall degree of rationality of the oligopoly is increased. Finally, we investigate the effect of non-convergent dynamics on the realized profits.

  15. Coping More Effectively Through Rational Self-Counseling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, George W., Jr.

    1981-01-01

    Rational Self-Counseling, a variation of rational-emotive therapy, is a self-help therapeutic technique in which students are encouraged to be responsible for their own behavior and emotions. The primary function of self-counseling is to evaluate whether thoughts are rational. A list of questions which students might ask themselves is presented.…

  16. Rational selection and engineering of exogenous principal sigma factor (σ(HrdB)) to increase teicoplanin production in an industrial strain of Actinoplanes teichomyceticus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Haiyong; Yang, Liu; Wu, Kuo; Li, Guanghui

    2014-01-16

    Transcriptional engineering has presented a strong ability of phenotypic improvement in microorganisms. However, it could not be directly applied to Actinoplanes teichomyceticus L-27 because of the paucity of endogenous transcription factors in the strain. In this study, exogenous transcription factors were rationally selected and transcriptional engineering was carried out to increase the productivity of teicoplanin in L-27. It was illuminated that the σ(HrdB) molecules shared strong similarity of amino acid sequences among some genera of actinomycetes. Combining this advantage with the ability of transcriptional engineering, exogenous sigma factor σ(HrdB) molecules were rationally selected and engineered to improve L-27. hrdB genes from Actinoplanes missouriensis 431, Micromonospora aurantiaca ATCC 27029 and Salinispora arenicola CNS-205 were selected based on molecular evolutionary analysis. Random mutagenesis, DNA shuffling and point mutation were subsequently performed to generate diversified mutants. A recombinant was identified through screening program, yielding 5.3 mg/ml of teicoplanin, over 2-fold compared to that of L-27. More significantly, the engineered strain presented a good performance in 500-l pilot scale fermentation, which meant its valuable potential application in industry. Through rational selection and engineering of exogenous transcriptional factor, we have extended the application of transcriptional engineering. To our knowledge, it is the first time to focus on the related issue. In addition, possessing the advantage of efficient metabolic perturbation in transcription level, this strategy could be useful in analyzing metabolic and physiological mechanisms of strains, especially those with the only information on taxonomy.

  17. Multivariate Hermite interpolation on scattered point sets using tensor-product expo-rational B-splines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dechevsky, Lubomir T.; Bang, Børre; Laksa˚, Arne; Zanaty, Peter

    2011-12-01

    At the Seventh International Conference on Mathematical Methods for Curves and Surfaces, To/nsberg, Norway, in 2008, several new constructions for Hermite interpolation on scattered point sets in domains in Rn,n∈N, combined with smooth convex partition of unity for several general types of partitions of these domains were proposed in [1]. All of these constructions were based on a new type of B-splines, proposed by some of the authors several years earlier: expo-rational B-splines (ERBS) [3]. In the present communication we shall provide more details about one of these constructions: the one for the most general class of domain partitions considered. This construction is based on the use of two separate families of basis functions: one which has all the necessary Hermite interpolation properties, and another which has the necessary properties of a smooth convex partition of unity. The constructions of both of these two bases are well-known; the new part of the construction is the combined use of these bases for the derivation of a new basis which enjoys having all above-said interpolation and unity partition properties simultaneously. In [1] the emphasis was put on the use of radial basis functions in the definitions of the two initial bases in the construction; now we shall put the main emphasis on the case when these bases consist of tensor-product B-splines. This selection provides two useful advantages: (A) it is easier to compute higher-order derivatives while working in Cartesian coordinates; (B) it becomes clear that this construction becomes a far-going extension of tensor-product constructions. We shall provide 3-dimensional visualization of the resulting bivariate bases, using tensor-product ERBS. In the main tensor-product variant, we shall consider also replacement of ERBS with simpler generalized ERBS (GERBS) [2], namely, their simplified polynomial modifications: the Euler Beta-function B-splines (BFBS). One advantage of using BFBS instead of ERBS

  18. Freedom and Rationality : Rousseau on Citizenship

    OpenAIRE

    Salvat, Christophe

    2008-01-01

    This paper deals with Rousseau's idea of freedom in terms of rationality and deliberation. It gives support to Berlin's interpretation of the general will as a rational and objective will but dismisses the idea that Rousseau's theory necessarily leads to authoritarianism. The general will, publicly expressed by the law, may be defined as the rational and self-regarding will agents would have if put in an independent and objective state, i.e. the state of nature. The general and the particular...

  19. The rational maps Fλ(z)

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    It is proved that the rational maps in the family {z → zm +λ/zd : λ ∈ C\\{0}} for integers m, d ≥ 2 ... The problem of the existence of Herman rings of a rational map has been studied by. Lyubich in [9] ..... Surveys 41(4) (1986) 35–95. [10] Milnor J ...

  20. Heterogeneity and the (de)stabilizing role of rationality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cavalli, Fausto; Naimzada, Ahmad; Pireddu, Marina

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We analyze Cournot oligopolies with heterogeneous firms of generic size. • Rational and naive players are considered. • Stability with respect to oligopoly composition is studied. • In some settings, increasing the rational firms fraction introduces instability. - Abstract: In this paper we study oligopolies of generic size consisting of heterogeneous firms, which adopt best response adjustment mechanisms with either perfect foresight (rational firms) or static expectations (naive firms). Assuming an isoelastic demand function and possibly different marginal costs for the two groups of firms, we focus on the local stability of the Nash equilibrium. We show that, with respect to the oligopoly composition, described in terms of the fraction of rational firms, different scenarios are possible. We find that a high rationality degree may not always guarantee stability, in particular when rational firms have sufficiently larger marginal costs. In fact, in this situation, increasing the fraction of rational firms can even introduce instability. Besides the usual scenarios in which replacing some naive firms with rational ones leads to a stabilization of (or at least keeps unchanged) the dynamics, we provide a family of situations, characterized by costs ratio favorable to naive firms, in which equilibrium loses its stability when naive firms are replaced by rational ones. The results we present are both analytical and simulative.

  1. Climatic drivers for multidecadal shifts in solute transport and methane production zones within a large peat basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Paul H.; Siegel, Donald I.; Chanton, Jeffrey P.; Reeve, Andrew S.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Corbett, J. Elizabeth; Dasgupta, Soumitri; Levy, Zeno

    2016-01-01

    Northern peatlands are an important source for greenhouse gases, but their capacity to produce methane remains uncertain under changing climatic conditions. We therefore analyzed a 43 year time series of the pore-water chemistry to determine if long-term shifts in precipitation altered the vertical transport of solutes within a large peat basin in northern Minnesota. These data suggest that rates of methane production can be finely tuned to multidecadal shifts in precipitation that drive the vertical penetration of labile carbon substrates within the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatlands. Tritium and cation profiles demonstrate that only the upper meter of these peat deposits was flushed by downwardly moving recharge from 1965 to 1983 during a Transitional Dry-to-Moist Period. However, a shift to a moister climate after 1984 drove surface waters much deeper, largely flushing the pore waters of all bogs and fens to depths of 2 m. Labile carbon compounds were transported downward from the rhizosphere to the basal peat at this time producing a substantial enrichment of methane in Δ14C with respect to the solid-phase peat from 1991 to 2008. These data indicate that labile carbon substrates can fuel deep production zones of methanogenesis that more than doubled in thickness across this large peat basin after 1984. Moreover, the entire peat profile apparently has the capacity to produce methane from labile carbon substrates depending on climate-driven modes of solute transport. Future changes in precipitation may therefore play a central role in determining the source strength of peatlands in the global methane cycle.

  2. Rationality and the Logic of Good Reasons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Walter R.

    This paper contends that the rationality of the logic of good reasons is constituted in its use. To support this claim, the paper presents an analysis of the relationship between being reasonable and being rational. It then considers how following the logic of good reasons leads to rationality in the behavior of individuals and groups; the latter…

  3. Rationality, mental causation and social sciences

    OpenAIRE

    Mladenović Ivan

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of mental causation in the context of rational choice theory. The author defends psychological aspect of rational explanation against the challenge of contemporary reductive materialism.

  4. Regularities of food stuffs and ration contamination with radionuclide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barkhudarov, R.M.

    1980-01-01

    Modelling of the process of contamination of food stuffs and rations as a whole in the case of aerial and soil ways of administration of 90 Sr and 137 Cs long-living radionuclides is presented. A modified formula which takes into account radionuclide content in the soil in the previous year and levels of precipitation for 2 years is given. A modified equation of 137 Cs content in soils and fallouts expressed through the value of the initial stratospheric reservoir is given. It is shown that since 1972 137 Cs has come in the ration as a whole and in milk primarily through the aerial way, while 137 Cs has come in bread and bakery products by a soil way in a practically equal amount. The data presented are mean values in the country. 137 Cs contamination in recent years occurs mainly by the soil way

  5. Physiological responses to rational-emotive self-verbalizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Master, S; Gershman, L

    1983-12-01

    This study tested Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) theory which predicts that cognitive beliefs, not the stimulus situation, generate human emotions. According to RET, emotions created by rational beliefs are adaptive, while irrational beliefs result in an unadaptive anxiety level. Results demonstrated that at high levels of problem relevance there was (1) a significantly greater GSR in direct response to the stimulus situation, and also to irrational statements, than to rational and control statements, and (2) no significant difference between rational and neutral control statements. The authors argue that these results are more parsimoniously explained by conditioning theory than by RET theory.

  6. Electrostatic Origin of the Red Solvatochromic Shift of DFHBDI in RNA Spinach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bose, Samik; Chakrabarty, Suman; Ghosh, Debashree

    2017-05-11

    Interactions with the environment tune the spectral properties of biological chromophores, e.g., fluorescent proteins. Understanding the relative contribution of the various types of noncovalent interactions in the spectral shifts can provide rational design principles toward developing new fluorescent probes. In this work, we investigate the origin of the red shift in the absorption spectra of the difluoro hydroxybenzylidene dimethyl imidazolinone (DFHBDI) chromophore in RNA spinach as compared to the aqueous solution. We systematically decompose the effects of various components of interactions, namely, stacking, hydrogen bonding, and long-range electrostatics, in order to elucidate the relative role of these interactions in the observed spectral behavior. We find that the absorption peak of DFHBDI is red-shifted by ∼0.35 eV in RNA relative to the aqueous solution. Earlier proposals from Huang and co-workers have implicated the stacking interactions between DFHBDI and nucleic acid bases to be the driving force behind the observed red shift. In contrast, our findings reveal that the long-range electrostatic interactions between DFHBDI and negatively charged RNA make the most significant contribution. Moreover, we notice that the opposing electrostatic fields due to the RNA backbone and the polarized water molecules around the RNA give rise to the resultant red shift. Our results emphasize the effect of strong heterogeneity in the various environmental factors that might be competing with each other.

  7. Suitability of a Freeze Dried Product as a Vehicle for Vitamin Fortification of Military Ration Packs: A Preliminary Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    fresh food is not practical. Australian CRP comprise a range of individual food items assembled into packages of sufficient quantity and variety to...stored at 37 °C/12month 100% Fruit grains, Fruit spread ≥ 90% Baked beans, Chocolate ration Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) ≥ 50% Retort pouched meals...75% Retort pouched meals, Noodles, instant Vitamin E > 50% Chocolate, ration > 30% Cheese, processed, cheddar > 50% Scotch-finger biscuit Vitamin A

  8. Towards a Characterization of Rational Expectations

    OpenAIRE

    Itai Arieli

    2008-01-01

    R. J. Aumann and J. H. Drèze (2008) define a rational expectation of a player i in a game G as the expected payo of some type of i in some belief system for G in which common knowledge of rationality and common priors obtain. Our goal is to characterize the set of rational expectations in terms of the game's payoff matrix. We provide such a characterization for a specific class of strategic games, called semi-elementary, which includes Myerson's "elementary" games.

  9. Rational inattention or rational overreaction?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Browning, Martin; Hansen, Lars Gårn; Smed, Sinne

    We investigate differences in how consumers of fish react to health information in the mass media. We specify a dynamic empirical model that allows for heterogeneity in all basic parameters of consumer behavior as well as in how consumers react to information. We estimate the model using a unique...... houshold panel tracking consumption, prices, news stories and media habits over 24 quarters. We fi nd that the consumers most likely to be ’rationally ignorant’ of health effects react more dramatically to health news than the consumers who most likely are well informed....

  10. Rationality, mental causation and social sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mladenović Ivan

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of mental causation in the context of rational choice theory. The author defends psychological aspect of rational explanation against the challenge of contemporary reductive materialism.

  11. Pandemic ventilator rationing and appeals processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patrone, Daniel; Resnik, David

    2011-06-01

    In a severe influenza pandemic, hospitals will likely experience serious and widespread shortages of patient pulmonary ventilators and of staff qualified to operate them. Deciding who will receive access to mechanical ventilation will often determine who lives and who dies. This prospect raises an important question whether pandemic preparedness plans should include some process by which individuals affected by ventilator rationing would have the opportunity to appeal adverse decisions. However, the issue of appeals processes to ventilator rationing decisions has been largely neglected in state pandemic planning efforts. If we are to devise just and effective plans for coping with a severe influenza pandemic, more attention to the issue of appeals processes for pandemic ventilator rationing decisions is needed. Arguments for and against appeals processes are considered, and some suggestions are offered to help efforts at devising more rational pandemic preparedness plans.

  12. Enantioselective Rhodium-Catalyzed [2+2+2] Cycloadditions of Terminal Alkynes and Alkenyl Isocyanates: Mechanistic Insights Lead to a Unified Model that Rationalizes Product Selectivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalton, Derek M.; Oberg, Kevin M.; Yu, Robert T.; Lee, Ernest E.; Perreault, Stéphane; Oinen, Mark Emil; Pease, Melissa L.; Malik, Guillaume; Rovis, Tomislav

    2009-01-01

    This manuscript describes the development and scope of the asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition of terminal alkynes and alkenyl isocyanates leading to the formation of indolizidine and quinolizidine scaffolds. The use of phosphoramidite ligands proved crucial for avoiding competitive terminal alkyne dimerization. Both aliphatic and aromatic terminal alkynes participate well, with product selectivity a function of both the steric and electronic character of the alkyne. Manipulation of the phosphoramidite ligand leads to tuning of enantio- and product selectivity, with a complete turnover in product selectivity seen with aliphatic alkynes when moving from Taddol-based to biphenol-based phosphoramidites. Terminal and 1,1-disubstituted olefins are tolerated with nearly equal efficacy. Examination of a series of competition experiments in combination with analysis of reaction outcome shed considerable light on the operative catalytic cycle. Through a detailed study of a series of X-ray structures of rhodium(cod)chloride/phosphoramidite complexes, we have formulated a mechanistic hypothesis that rationalizes the observed product selectivity. PMID:19817441

  13. Proposal for energy rationalization in the dairy industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Belli, M.; Bova, S.; Florio, G.

    A cost-benefit analysis was carried out on the possible measures for energy rationalization in a small-medium cheese plant situated in Calabria (Southern Italy). The first stage involved detailing knowledge of the working processes and of the total energy needs. Based on this data and on the assumption that the present production cycle should be only slightly modified, some technically feasible solutions were identified. Among the most convenient solutions from the economic point of view, is that requiring cogeneration with diesel motors.

  14. Recent advances in rational approaches for enzyme engineering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Steiner

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Enzymes are an attractive alternative in the asymmetric syntheses of chiral building blocks. To meet the requirements of industrial biotechnology and to introduce new functionalities, the enzymes need to be optimized by protein engineering. This article specifically reviews rational approaches for enzyme engineering and de novo enzyme design involving structure-based approaches developed in recent years for improvement of the enzymes’ performance, broadened substrate range, and creation of novel functionalities to obtain products with high added value for industrial applications.

  15. RATIONAL APPROXIMATIONS TO GENERALIZED HYPERGEOMETRIC FUNCTIONS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Under weak restrictions on the various free parameters, general theorems for rational representations of the generalized hypergeometric functions...and certain Meijer G-functions are developed. Upon specialization, these theorems yield a sequency of rational approximations which converge to the

  16. Many faces of rationality: Implications of the great rationality debate for clinical decision-making

    OpenAIRE

    Djulbegovic, B.; Elqayam, Shira

    2017-01-01

    open access article Given that more than 30% of healthcare costs are wasted on inappropriate care, suboptimal care is increasingly connected to the quality of medical decisions. It has been argued that personal decisions are the leading cause of death, and 80% of healthcare expenditures result from physicians' decisions. Therefore, improving healthcare necessitates improving medical decisions, ie, making decisions (more) rational. Drawing on writings fromThe Great Rationality Debate from t...

  17. Rationalizing the Promotion of Non-Rational Behaviors in Organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Peter A. C.; Sharma, Meenakshi

    2002-01-01

    Organizations must balance rational/technical efficiency and emotions. Action learning has been proven to be effective for developing emotional openness in the workplace. Facilitators of action learning should draw upon the disciplines of counseling, Gestalt, psychodynamics, and Eastern philosophies. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)

  18. Generalized NLS hierarchies from rational W algebras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toppan, F.

    1993-11-01

    Finite rational W algebras are very natural structures appearing in coset constructions when a Kac-Moody subalgebra is factored out. The problem of relating these algebras to integrable hierarchies of equations is studied by showing how to associate to a rational W algebra its corresponding hierarchy. Two examples are worked out, the sl(2)/U(1) coset, leading to the Non-Linear Schroedinger hierarchy, and the U(1) coset of the Polyakov-Bershadsky W algebra, leading to a 3-field representation of the KP hierarchy already encountered in the literature. In such examples a rational algebra appears as algebra of constraints when reducing a KP hierarchy to a finite field representation. This fact arises the natural question whether rational algebras are always associated to such reductions and whether a classification of rational algebras can lead to a classification of the integrable hierarchies. (author). 19 refs

  19. Cooperative dialogues during the shift change-over. Importance for the safety and reliability of production systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grusenmeyer, C.

    1997-01-01

    During shift changeover, verbal communications between operators constitute a means of cooperating in order to continue actions and to carry out the process. The present study was aimed at analyzing verbal exchanges and consequently the role of this work phase. The paper proposes a method of analyzing verbal exchanges This method allows to follow the development of dialogues step by step and enables the operators' representation to be described as the dialogues unfolds. Dialogues observed in two industrial settings (paper manufacturing and nuclear power plant) are analyzed in two complementary ways. The analysis of the content of verbal exchanges (categorization) shows that these exchanges can be very different depending on the work situation (process state, work organization, last shift of the incoming operator...). More precise dialogues analyses show, in some cases, the construction by the operators of a shared functional representation. They consequently emphasize the importance of these exchanges for collective work. The results point out that these exchanges during shift changeover are not only an information transfer allowing actions related to the production process to be continued. They also allow cooperative problem solving and improvement of operators' expertise. On this basis, propositions related to the improvement of this work phase are made. (authors)

  20. Lying for the Greater Good: Bounded Rationality in a Team

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oktay Sürücü

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the interaction between fully and boundedly rational agents in situations where their interests are perfectly aligned. The cognitive limitations of the boundedly rational agent do not allow him to fully understand the market conditions and lead him to take non-optimal decisions in some situations. Using categorization to model bounded rationality, we show that the fully rational agent can nudge, i.e., he can manipulate the information he sends and decrease the expected loss caused by the boundedly rational agent. Assuming different types for the boundedly rational agent, who differ only in the categories used, we show that the fully rational agent may learn the type of the boundedly rational agent along their interaction. Using this additional information, the outcome can be improved and the amount of manipulated information can be decreased. Furthermore, as the length of the interaction increases the probability that the fully rational agent learns the type of the boundedly rational agent grows

  1. Deep sequencing analysis of HBV genotype shift and correlation with antiviral efficiency during adefovir dipivoxil therapy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuwei Wang

    Full Text Available Viral genotype shift in chronic hepatitis B (CHB patients during antiviral therapy has been reported, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive.38 CHB patients treated with ADV for one year were selected for studying genotype shift by both deep sequencing and Sanger sequencing method.Sanger sequencing method found that 7.9% patients showed mixed genotype before ADV therapy. In contrast, all 38 patients showed mixed genotype before ADV treatment by deep sequencing. 95.5% mixed genotype rate was also obtained from additional 200 treatment-naïve CHB patients. Of the 13 patients with genotype shift, the fraction of the minor genotype in 5 patients (38% increased gradually during the course of ADV treatment. Furthermore, responses to ADV and HBeAg seroconversion were associated with the high rate of genotype shift, suggesting drug and immune pressure may be key factors to induce genotype shift. Interestingly, patients with genotype C had a significantly higher rate of genotype shift than genotype B. In genotype shift group, ADV treatment induced a marked enhancement of genotype B ratio accompanied by a reduction of genotype C ratio, suggesting genotype C may be more sensitive to ADV than genotype B. Moreover, patients with dominant genotype C may have a better therapeutic effect. Finally, genotype shifts was correlated with clinical improvement in terms of ALT.Our findings provided a rational explanation for genotype shift among ADV-treated CHB patients. The genotype and genotype shift might be associated with antiviral efficiency.

  2. Normative and descriptive rationality: from nature to artifice and back

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besold, T. R.; Uckelman, S. L.

    2018-03-01

    Rationality plays a key role in both the study of human reasoning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Certain notions of rationality have been adopted in AI as guides for the development of intelligent machines and these notions have been given a normative function. The notions of rationality in AI are often taken to be closely related to conceptions of rationality in human contexts. In this paper, we argue that the normative role of rationality differs in the human and artificial contexts. While rationality in human-focused fields of study is normative, prescribing how humans ought to reason, the normative conception in AI is built on a notion of human rationality which is descriptive, not normative, in the human context, as AI aims at building agents which reason as humans do. In order to make this point, we review prominent notions of rationality used in psychology, cognitive science, and (the history of) philosophy, as well as in AI, and discuss some factors that contributed to rationality being assigned the differing normative statuses in the differing fields of study. We argue that while 'rationality' is a normative notion in both AI and in human reasoning, the normativity of the AI conception of 'rationality' is grounded in a descriptive account of human rationality.

  3. Momentum effect in stocks’ returns between the rational and the behavioural financial theories: Proposition of the progressive rationality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faten Zoghlami

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available     The puzzling momentum strategies’ payoffs defied the rational financial theory asserting the stocks returns’ unpredictability. Moreover, the momentum effect persist the main stocks returns’ anomaly escaping any risk-based explanation. The resilience of this phenomenon had favoured the development of behavioural financial field, which breaks with the investor’ full rationality hypothesis. This paper attempts to reconcile between the rational and behavioural financial theories, through the introduction of the progressive rationality concept. Especially, we argue that recognizing the temporary inappropriate investors’ reactions; can resolve the puzzling momentum anomaly. To fulfil our objective, we identify the appropriate autoregressive level that captures the significant autocorrelations involved by the investors’ over and under reactions. Then, we explore the profitability of the 6/6 momentum strategy implemented on the adjusted stocks’ returns. The adjusted momentum strategy is still profitable but no longer puzzling, since the related excess return is henceforth fully captured by a β and a size effect.Key words: Tunisian momentum effect, the rational finance theory, the behavioural finance theory, the three-factorial model and the autoregressive process.

  4. Religion for Revolution: Shifting Perceptions of Bodily Ritual in the Lebanese Shi‘a Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savannah Danielle Dodd

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper applies Cartesian and Weberian theories of rationalization and Leslie Sharp’s concept of bodily commodification to the transition in the observance of Ashura from practices of bodily mortification to blood donation among the Shi‘a community in Lebanon. The author argues that this shift politicizes salvation and sacralises revolution through a process of rationalization, made possible through the invocation of the Karbala Paradigm, in order to facilitate the commodification of blood for political activism. This shift in ritual practice for the commodification of blood has occurred as a result of three key transitions: (i from body/self-unity to body/self-dualism; (ii from salvation in the next world to salvation in this world; and (iii from personal salvation to societal salvation.[Dengan merujuk teori rasionalisasi model Descartes dan Weber serta konsep komodifikasi tubuh dari Leslie Sharp, tulisan ini menelusur pergeseran yang terjadi pada ritual Ashura dari praktik melukai diri menjadi kegiatan donor darah di kalangan Syiah di Lebanon. Proses ini, menurut penulis, telah mengubah konsep penyelamatan dan revolusi sakral melalui proses rasionali­sasi. Hal ini terjadi dengan memakai Paradigma Karbala sebagai media komodifikasi darah untuk aktivisme politik. Pergeseran komodifikasi darah dalam praktik ritual ini terjadi melalui tiga transisi utama: (i dari kesatuan diri menjadi dualisme diri; (ii dari keselamatan akhirat menjadi keselamatan dunia; dan (iii dari penyelamatan pribadi menjadi penyelamatan sosial].

  5. Neurophysiology and Rationality in Political Thinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Steven A.

    Research both in cognitive psychology and psychobiology suggests that political behavior is often less rational than individuals believe it to be. Information processing, memory, and decision making are interlinked processes. Studies in cognitive psychology reveal that even though decision making requires rationality, individuals often adopt…

  6. Utilization of by-products and locally available feedstuffs in buffalo rations in Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akbar, M.A.; Tareque, A.M.

    1990-01-01

    A series of experiments was conducted to investigate methods of urea incorporation into rice straw based rations, and to determine the optimum level of wheat bran, rice polishings, fish meal and/or broken rice supplementation of rice straw/urea based diets for growing buffaloes. The results indicate that the utilization of rice straw can be improved by ensiling with urea, soaking with urea-water, or supplementing with urea/molasses blocks, fish meal, rice polishings, or a combination of other bypass protein and energy feeds. For example, ensiling with urea increased the dry matter (DM) intake and body weight gain by 25 and 45%, respectively, compared with untreated straw. Fish meal, in combination with wheat bran, rice polishings or broken rice as supplementary sources of protein and energy, gave varying levels of body weight gain and DM intake, although, in general, all supplements improved straw utilization. Soaking of straw in urea-water is an easy and suitable method of incorporating urea into straw based rations. Supplementation of soaked straw with fish meal or rice polishings increased the live weight gain in buffalo heifers. However, the economic feasibility of using fish meal and broken rice as supplementary sources of protein and energy should be considered before these results are extended to the small farmers. (author). 12 refs, 5 tabs

  7. Positroids Induced by Rational Dyck Paths

    OpenAIRE

    Gotti, Felix

    2017-01-01

    A rational Dyck path of type $(m,d)$ is an increasing unit-step lattice path from $(0,0)$ to $(m,d) \\in \\mathbb{Z}^2$ that never goes above the diagonal line $y = (d/m)x$. On the other hand, a positroid of rank $d$ on the ground set $[d+m]$ is a special type of matroid coming from the totally nonnegative Grassmannian. In this paper we describe how to naturally assign a rank $d$ positroid on the ground set $[d+m]$, which we name rational Dyck positroid, to each rational Dyck path of type $(m,d...

  8. Comparative analysis of field ration for military personnel of the ukrainian army and armies of other countries worldwide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Mardar

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available For the purpose of improvement of the Ukrainian nutritional standards this Article provides comparative analysis of field rations of different countries worldwide to make a proposal on improvement of food-stuff assortment in food ration for military personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Army of USA, the British Army, Army of Germany, Army of Italy, Army of Canada, Army of France, Army of Belarus, Army of Armenia. In accordance with the comparative analysis it was established that ration composition used for the Armed Forces of Ukraine military personnel lags behind developed countries of the world both in nutrition arrangement and in nutrient composition, especially in relation to assortment and variety of ration food-stuff. Moreover, a field ration is strictly unified and doesn’t consider individual needs of military personnel in calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, food fibers. Selection of individual field ration takes to account only age of military personnel, i. e. individual needs related to nutrition composition such as physical abilities, level of physical activity, gender, type of occupation before military conscription and etc. are not consideredThe obtained results confirms practicability of assortment products assortment included to field rations for the purpose to correct nutrition rations towards optimal balance for military efficiency of army, adaptation of military personnel to physical and psychological loads.

  9. Rationalization and the Role of the School Counselor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Arthur J.

    1995-01-01

    Examines rationalization in counselors' interactions with students, parents, and teachers--provides examples of each kind of interaction. Describes the dynamics of rationalization in the schools and outlines interventions that may be used with students, parents, and teachers. Also explores counselors' use of rationalization and gives examples of…

  10. Cassava leaves in combination with sera onggok and rice bran as supplements in buffaloes ration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hendratno, C.; Sofian, L.A.; Abidin, Z.; Bahaudin, R.; Suharyono.

    1988-01-01

    Two experiments have been undertaken to evaluate the utilization of cassava leaves in combination with sera onggok or rice bran as supplements in buffalo ration under traditional village condition. In experiment 1, 16 buffaloes were divided in four groups, each receiving a different ration ranging from mixed forage alone to mixed forage supplemented with a combination of cassava leaves and sera onggok or rice bran. Changes in dry metter consumption, daily weight gain, feed convertion ratio and incom over feed cost were assesed. Experiments 2 covered an in vitro study on the changes in rumen fermentation as affected by different rations. The results of experiment 1 indicated the lack of differences in dry matter consumption. However, the daily weight gain, feed convertion ratio and income over feed cost (IOFC) higher in animal receiving mixed forage suplement with cassava leaves in combination with either sera onggok or rice bran as compared to those of animal receiving mixed forage or mixed forage supplemented with cassava leaves. Experiment 2 revealed that amonia concentration and volatile fatty acid production were able to support a higher microbil activity supplemented with cassava leaves in combination with either sera onggok or rice bran as compared to those receiving the other two rations. In conclusion it is obvious that cassava leaves in combination with either sera onggok or rice bran used as supplements could promote a better production in animal in the villages. (author). 7 refs, 1 fig, 5 tabs

  11. Rationality in the Cryptographic Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hubacek, Pavel

    This thesis presents results in the field of rational cryptography. In the first part we study the use of cryptographic protocols to avoid mediation and binding commitment when implementing game theoretic equilibrium concepts. First, we concentrate on the limits of cryptographic cheap talk...... to implement correlated equilibria of two-player strategic games in a sequentially rational way. We show that there exist two-player games for which no cryptographic protocol can implement the mediator in a sequentially rational way; that is, without introducing empty threats. In the context of computational...... with appealing economic applications. Our implementation puts forward a notion of cryptographically blinded games that exploits the power of encryption to selectively restrict the information available to players about sampled action profiles, such that these desirable equilibria can be stably achieved...

  12. SAT in shift manager training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lecuyer, F.

    1995-01-01

    EDF has improved the organization of the operation shift teams with the replacement of shift supervisor in shift manager function. The shift manager is not only responsible for tasks associated to plant operation (production), but he is also responsible for safety of these tasks and for management of shift team members. A job analysis of this new job position has been performed in order to design the training programme. It resulted in a 10-month training programme that includes 8 weeks in safety-related topics and 12 weeks in soft-skills related topics. The safety related training courses are mandatory, the other courses are optional courses depending on individual trainee needs. The training also includes the development of management competencies. During the 10 month period, each trainee develops an individual project that is evaluated by NPP manager. As well, as group project is undertaken by the trainees and overseen by a steering committee. The steering committee participates in the evaluation process and provides operational experience feedback to the trainee groups and to the overall programme

  13. Proposed standby gasoline rationing plan: public comments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1978-12-01

    Under the proposed plan, DOE would allocate ration rights (rights to purchase gasoline) to owners of registered vehicles. All vehicles in a given class would receive the same entitlement. Essential services would receive supplemental allotments of ration rights as pririty firms. Once every 3 months, ration checks would be mailed out to all vehicle registrants, allotting them a certain amount of ration rights. These checks would then be cashed at Coupon Issuance Points, where the bearer would receive ration coupons to be used at gasoline stations. Large users of gasoline could deposit their allotment checks in accounts at ration banks. Coupons or checks would be freely exchangeable in a white market. A certain percentage of the gasoline supply would be set aside in reserve for use in national emergencies. When the plan was published in the Federal Register, public comments were requested. DOE also solicited comments from private citizens, public interest groups, business and industry, state and local governments. A total of 1126 responses were reveived and these are analyzed in this paper. The second part of the report describes how the comments were classified, and gives a statistical breakdown of the major responses. The last section is a discussion and analysis of theissue raised by commenting agencies, firms, associations, and individuals. (MCW)

  14. Formation of organizational and economic mechanism of rational use of aquatic biological resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stolbov A. G.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The state of fisheries has been researched based on a systematic approach and comprehensive analysis of statistical data, the following issues have been characterized: the catch of aquatic biological resources (ABR, consumption of fish products, problems in the development of the fishing industry (fleet aging, lack of innovative technologies, the proliferation of IUU fishing4 , the high level of retail prices for fish, low degree of processing export products, overshoot "improper objects" of fishing, the gap in aquaculture development, low economic efficiency. To improve the quality of fishery management it has been proposed to form the organizational and economic mechanism of ABR rational use, which should include effective tools for the implementation of management decisions. Instead of the so-called "historical" principle it has been suggested to use the investment principle of quota allocation and rental payments. The basis for management of fishing industry should be scientifically based on the bioeconomic concept of ABR rational use, the essence of which is to preserve the ABR and at the same time to obtain the maximum output of finished products with high added value. To form the organizational and economic mechanism it is necessary to develop a programme of innovative development of the fisheries sector, a calendar programme of upgrading of fishing fleet, wellreasoned differential rates of rent payments for the ABR use, scenarios and graphic organization of work of fishing vessels in specific fishing areas, to form regional financial and industrial clusters, to expand the authority of the Fisheries Agency, to improve corporate social responsibility of the fishing business communities. Modernization of management system for ABR rational use can significantly reduce environmental pollution, ensure the effective delivery of catch to shore, their high-quality processing and the needs of the population in fish products.

  15. Privacy-Enhancing Auctions Using Rational Cryptography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miltersen, Peter Bro; Nielsen, Jesper Buus; Triandopoulos, Nikolaos

    2009-01-01

    show how to use rational cryptography to approximately implement any given ex interim individually strictly rational equilibrium of such an auction without a trusted mediator through a cryptographic protocol that uses only point-to-point authenticated channels between the players. By “ex interim...

  16. Principles of Economic Rationality in Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rivalan, Marion; Winter, York; Nachev, Vladislav

    2017-12-12

    Humans and non-human animals frequently violate principles of economic rationality, such as transitivity, independence of irrelevant alternatives, and regularity. The conditions that lead to these violations are not completely understood. Here we report a study on mice tested in automated home-cage setups using rewards of drinking water. Rewards differed in one of two dimensions, volume or probability. Our results suggest that mouse choice conforms to the principles of economic rationality for options that differ along a single reward dimension. A psychometric analysis of mouse choices further revealed that mice responded more strongly to differences in probability than to differences in volume, despite equivalence in return rates. This study also demonstrates the synergistic effect between the principles of economic rationality and psychophysics in making quantitative predictions about choices of healthy laboratory mice. This opens up new possibilities for the analyses of multi-dimensional choice and the use of mice with cognitive impairments that may violate economic rationality.

  17. Rational Design of in Vivo Tau Tangle-Selective Near-Infrared Fluorophores: Expanding the BODIPY Universe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verwilst, Peter; Kim, Hye-Ri; Seo, Jinho; Sohn, Nak-Won; Cha, Seung-Yun; Kim, Yeongmin; Maeng, Sungho; Shin, Jung-Won; Kwak, Jong Hwan; Kang, Chulhun; Kim, Jong Seung

    2017-09-27

    The elucidation of the cause of Alzheimer's disease remains one of the greatest questions in neurodegenerative research. The lack of highly reliable low-cost sensors to study the structural changes in key proteins during the progression of the disease is a contributing factor to this lack of insight. In the current work, we describe the rational design and synthesis of two fluorescent BODIPY-based probes, named Tau 1 and Tau 2. The probes were evaluated on the molecular surface formed by a fibril of the PHF6 ( 306 VQIVYK 311 ) tau fragment using molecular docking studies to provide a potential molecular model to rationalize the selectivity of the new probes as compared to a homologous Aβ-selective probe. The probes were synthesized in a few steps from commercially available starting products and could thus prove to be highly cost-effective. We demonstrated the excellent photophysical properties of the dyes, such as a large Stokes shift and emission in the near-infrared window of the electromagnetic spectrum. The probes demonstrated a high selectivity for self-assembled microtubule-associated protein tau (Tau protein), in both solution and cell-based experiments. Moreover, the administration to an acute murine model of tauopathy clearly revealed the staining of self-assembled hyperphosphorylated tau protein in pathologically relevant hippocampal brain regions. Tau 1 demonstrated efficient blood-brain barrier penetrability and demonstrated a clear selectivity for tau tangles over Aβ plaques, as well as the capacity for in vivo imaging in a transgenic mouse model. The current work could open up avenues for the cost-effective monitoring of the tau protein aggregation state in animal models as well as tissue staining. Furthermore, these fluorophores could serve as the basis for the development of clinically relevant sensors, for example based on PET imaging.

  18. Decision Making: Rational, Nonrational, and Irrational.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Herbert A.

    1993-01-01

    Describes the current state of knowledge about human decision-making and problem-solving processes, explaining recent developments and their implications for management and management training. Rational goal-setting is the key to effective decision making and accomplishment. Bounded rationality is a realistic orientation, because the world is too…

  19. Rational Design of a New Trypanosoma rangeli Trans-Sialidase for Efficient Sialylation of Glycans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jers, Carsten; Michalak, Malwina; Larsen, Dorte Møller

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports rational engineering of Trypanosoma rangeli sialidase to develop an effective enzyme for a potentially important type of reactivity: production of sialylated prebiotic glycans. The Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase and the homologous T. rangeli sialidase has previously been use...

  20. Climatic Drivers for Multi-Decadal Shifts in Solute Transport and Methane Production Zones within a Large Peat Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Paul H.; Siegel, Donald I.; Chanton, Jeffrey P.; Reeve, Andrew S.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Corbett, J. Elizabeth; Dasgupta, Soumitri; Levy, Zeno

    2016-01-01

    Northern peatlands are an important source for greenhouse gases but their capacity to produce methane remains uncertain under changing climatic conditions. We therefore analyzed a 43-year time series of pore-water chemistry to determine if long-term shifts in precipitation altered the vertical transport of solutes within a large peat basin in northern Minnesota. These data suggest that rates of methane production can be finely tuned to multi-decadal shifts in precipitation that drive the vertical penetration of labile carbon substrates within the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatlands. Tritium and cation profiles demonstrate that only the upper meter of these peat deposits was flushed by downwardly moving recharge from 1965 through 1983 during a Transitional Dry-to-Moist Period. However, a shift to a moister climate after 1984 drove surface waters much deeper, largely flushing the pore waters of all bogs and fens to depths of 2 m. Labile carbon compounds were transported downward from the rhizosphere to the basal peat at this time producing a substantial enrichment of methane in Delta C-14 with respect to the solid-phase peat from 1991 to 2008. These data indicate that labile carbon substrates can fuel deep production zones of methanogenesis that more than doubled in thickness across this large peat basin after 1984. Moreover, the entire peat profile apparently has the capacity to produce methane from labile carbon substrates depending on climate-driven modes of solute transport. Future changes in precipitation may therefore play a central role in determining the source strength of peatlands in the global methane cycle.

  1. Behavioural and neural modulation of win-stay but not lose-shift strategies as a function of outcome value in Rock, Paper, Scissors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forder, Lewis; Dyson, Benjamin James

    2016-09-23

    Competitive environments in which individuals compete for mutually-exclusive outcomes require rational decision making in order to maximize gains but often result in poor quality heuristics. Reasons for the greater reliance on lose-shift relative to win-stay behaviour shown in previous studies were explored using the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and by manipulating the value of winning and losing. Decision-making following a loss was characterized as relatively fast and relatively inflexible both in terms of the failure to modulate the magnitude of lose-shift strategy and the lack of significant neural modulation. In contrast, decision-making following a win was characterized as relatively slow and relatively flexible both in terms of a behavioural increase in the magnitude of win-stay strategy and a neural modulation of feedback-related negativity (FRN) and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) following outcome value modulation. The win-stay/lose-shift heuristic appears not to be a unified mechanism, with the former relying on System 2 processes and the latter relying on System 1 processes. Our ability to play rationally appears more likely when the outcome is positive and when the value of wins are low, highlighting how vulnerable we can be when trying to succeed during competition.

  2. Environmental risk, precaution, and scientific rationality in the context of WTO/NAFTA trade rules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford-Brown, Douglas; Pauwelyn, Joost; Smith, Kelly

    2004-04-01

    This article considers the role of scientific rationality in understanding statements of risk produced by a scientific community. An argument is advanced that, while scientific rationality does impose constraints on valid scientific justifications for restrictions on products and practices, it also provides flexibility in the judgments needed to both develop and apply characterizations of risk. The implications of this flexibility for the understanding of risk estimates in WTO and NAFTA deliberations are explored, with the goal of finding an intermediate ground between the view that science unambiguously justifies or rejects a policy, and the view that science is yet another cultural tool that can be manipulated in support of any decision. The result is a proposal for a dialogical view of scientific rationality in which risk estimates are depicted as confidence distributions that follow from a structured dialogue of scientific panels focused on judgments of evidence, evidential reasoning, and epistemic analysis.

  3. Simplifications of rational matrices by using UML

    OpenAIRE

    Tasić, Milan B.; Stanimirović, Ivan P.

    2013-01-01

    The simplification process on rational matrices consists of simplifying each entry represented by a rational function. We follow the classic approach of dividing the numerator and denominator polynomials by their common GCD polynomial, and provide the activity diagram in UML for this process. A rational matrix representation as the quotient of a polynomial matrix and a polynomial is also discussed here and illustrated via activity diagrams. Also, a class diagram giving the links between the c...

  4. Techno-Optimism and Rational Superstition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wilson, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    our common understanding of reason and rationality? To adopt rational expectations about the world, after all, should we not attempt to avoid the emotional over-determination of our assessments? I show that applied reason is conceptually entangled with this superstitious optimism in the continued...... of retro-causation, where the future is held to somehow have a retroactive effect on the past. This suggests, I argue, that the underlying mechanism by which techno-optimism is supposed to be instrumental in bringing about the future is fundamentally superstitious. But does this superstition not go against...... successes of technology. The article thus reveals a curious sense in which reason is intrinsically superstitious. I offer an evolutionary explanation for this, showing that the biological origins of reason will by nature tend to produce rational agents which are superstitiously bound to realism...

  5. Information-Theoretic Bounded Rationality and ε-Optimality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel A. Braun

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Bounded rationality concerns the study of decision makers with limited information processing resources. Previously, the free energy difference functional has been suggested to model bounded rational decision making, as it provides a natural trade-off between an energy or utility function that is to be optimized and information processing costs that are measured by entropic search costs. The main question of this article is how the information-theoretic free energy model relates to simple ε-optimality models of bounded rational decision making, where the decision maker is satisfied with any action in an ε-neighborhood of the optimal utility. We find that the stochastic policies that optimize the free energy trade-off comply with the notion of ε-optimality. Moreover, this optimality criterion even holds when the environment is adversarial. We conclude that the study of bounded rationality based on ε-optimality criteria that abstract away from the particulars of the information processing constraints is compatible with the information-theoretic free energy model of bounded rationality.

  6. Rationing critical care medicine: recent studies and current trends.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Nicholas S

    2005-12-01

    This paper reviews the literature on the rationing of critical care resources. Although much has been written about the concept of rationing, there have been few scientific studies as to its prevalence. A recent meta-analysis reviewed all previously published studies on rationing access to intensive care units but little is known about practices within the intensive care unit. Much literature in the past few years has focused on the growing use of critical care resources and projections for the future. Several authors suggest there may be a crisis in financial or personnel resources if some rationing does not take place. Other papers have argued that the methods of rationing critical care previously proposed, such as limiting the care of dying patients or using cost-effectiveness analysis to determine care, may not be effective or viewed as ethical by some. Finally, several recent papers review how critical care is practiced and allocated in India and Asian countries that already practice open rationing in their health care systems. There is currently no published evidence that overt rationing is taking place in critical care medicine. There is growing evidence that in the future, the need for critical care may outstrip financial resources unless some form of rationing takes place. It is also clear from the literature that choosing how to ration critical care will be a difficult task.

  7. Islamic logics, reproductive rationalities: family planning in northern Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varley, Emma

    2012-01-01

    This paper explores the use of Islamic doctrine and jurisprudence by family planning organizations in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. It examines how particular interpretations of Islam are promoted in order to encourage fertility reductions, and the ways Muslim clerics, women and their families react to this process. The paper first discusses how Pakistan's demographic crisis, as the world's sixth most populous nation, has been widely blamed on under-funding for reproductive health services and wavering political commitment to family planning. Critics have called for innovative policy and programming to counter 'excessive reproduction' by also addressing socio-cultural and religious barriers to contraceptive uptake. Drawing on two years of ethnographic research, the paper examines how family planning organizations in Gilgit-Baltistan respond to this shift by employing moderate interpretations of Islam that qualify contraceptive use as a 'rational' reproductive strategy and larger families as 'irrational'. However, the use of Islamic rhetoric to enhance women's health-seeking agency and enable fertility reductions is challenged by conservative Sunni ulema (clergy), who seek to reassert collective control over women's bodies and fertility by deploying Islamic doctrine that honors frequent childbearing. Sunnis' minority status and the losses incurred by regional Shia-Sunni conflicts have further strengthened clerics' pronatalist campaigns. The paper then analyses how Sunni women navigate the multiple reproductive rationalities espoused by 'Islamized' family planning and conservative ulema. Although Islamized family planning legitimizes contraceptive use and facilitates many women's stated desire for smaller families, it frequently positions women against the interests of family, community and conservative Islam.

  8. Decision rules and group rationality: cognitive gain or standstill?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru Lucian Curşeu

    Full Text Available Recent research in group cognition points towards the existence of collective cognitive competencies that transcend individual group members' cognitive competencies. Since rationality is a key cognitive competence for group decision making, and group cognition emerges from the coordination of individual cognition during social interactions, this study tests the extent to which collaborative and consultative decision rules impact the emergence of group rationality. Using a set of decision tasks adapted from the heuristics and biases literature, we evaluate rationality as the extent to which individual choices are aligned with a normative ideal. We further operationalize group rationality as cognitive synergy (the extent to which collective rationality exceeds average or best individual rationality in the group, and we test the effect of collaborative and consultative decision rules in a sample of 176 groups. Our results show that the collaborative decision rule has superior synergic effects as compared to the consultative decision rule. The ninety one groups working in a collaborative fashion made more rational choices (above and beyond the average rationality of their members than the eighty five groups working in a consultative fashion. Moreover, the groups using a collaborative decision rule were closer to the rationality of their best member than groups using consultative decision rules. Nevertheless, on average groups did not outperformed their best member. Therefore, our results reveal how decision rules prescribing interpersonal interactions impact on the emergence of collective cognitive competencies. They also open potential venues for further research on the emergence of collective rationality in human decision-making groups.

  9. Decision rules and group rationality: cognitive gain or standstill?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curşeu, Petru Lucian; Jansen, Rob J G; Chappin, Maryse M H

    2013-01-01

    Recent research in group cognition points towards the existence of collective cognitive competencies that transcend individual group members' cognitive competencies. Since rationality is a key cognitive competence for group decision making, and group cognition emerges from the coordination of individual cognition during social interactions, this study tests the extent to which collaborative and consultative decision rules impact the emergence of group rationality. Using a set of decision tasks adapted from the heuristics and biases literature, we evaluate rationality as the extent to which individual choices are aligned with a normative ideal. We further operationalize group rationality as cognitive synergy (the extent to which collective rationality exceeds average or best individual rationality in the group), and we test the effect of collaborative and consultative decision rules in a sample of 176 groups. Our results show that the collaborative decision rule has superior synergic effects as compared to the consultative decision rule. The ninety one groups working in a collaborative fashion made more rational choices (above and beyond the average rationality of their members) than the eighty five groups working in a consultative fashion. Moreover, the groups using a collaborative decision rule were closer to the rationality of their best member than groups using consultative decision rules. Nevertheless, on average groups did not outperformed their best member. Therefore, our results reveal how decision rules prescribing interpersonal interactions impact on the emergence of collective cognitive competencies. They also open potential venues for further research on the emergence of collective rationality in human decision-making groups.

  10. Anxiety reduction through group instruction in rational therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, J W; Wilkerson, J

    1982-09-01

    This study investigated the effects of group Rational Therapy in promoting rational thinking and self-enhancing emotions among 24 college students. Each subject was administered the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire as a pre- and post-test measurement. Results reveal that some aspects of personality are affected by Rational Therapy group programs while others are not.

  11. Thinking about acting logical foundations for rational decision making

    CERN Document Server

    Pollock, John L

    2006-01-01

    John Pollock aims to construct a theory of rational decision making for real agents--not ideal agents. Real agents have limited cognitive powers, but traditional theories of rationality have applied only to idealized agents that lack such constraints. Pollock argues that theories of ideal rationality are largely irrelevant to the decision making of real agents. Thinking about Acting aims to provide a theory of ""real rationality.""

  12. Choice, internal consistency, and rationality

    OpenAIRE

    Aditi Bhattacharyya; Prasanta K. Pattanaik; Yongsheng Xu

    2010-01-01

    The classical theory of rational choice is built on several important internal consistency conditions. In recent years, the reasonableness of those internal consistency conditions has been questioned and criticized, and several responses to accommodate such criticisms have been proposed in the literature. This paper develops a general framework to accommodate the issues raised by the criticisms of classical rational choice theory, and examines the broad impact of these criticisms from both no...

  13. Management between Rationality and Irrationality

    OpenAIRE

    Cene Bavec

    2012-01-01

    In the paper, we discuss theoretical and practical aspects of management and its rational and irrational behavior in the light of traditional management theories and contemporary social theories and theories of complexity. We exposed differences between middle and top management, where rationality is ascribed mainly to middle management, while top management often acts on seemingly irrational way. For the part of this irrationality, we cannot blame management because it originates from the na...

  14. Self-Reported Rationing Behavior Among US Physicians: A National Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheeler, Robert D; Mundell, Tim; Hurst, Samia A; Goold, Susan Dorr; Thorsteinsdottir, Bjorg; Tilburt, Jon C; Danis, Marion

    2016-12-01

    Rationing is a controversial topic among US physicians. Understanding their attitudes and behaviors around rationing may be essential to a more open and sensible professional discourse on this important but controversial topic. To describe rationing behavior and associated factors among US physicians. Survey mailed to US physicians in 2012 to evaluate self-reported rationing behavior and variables related to this behavior. US physicians across a full spectrum of practice settings. A total of 2541 respondents, representing 65.6 % of the original mailing list of 3872 US addresses. The study was a cross-sectional analysis of physician attitudes and self-reported behaviors, with neutral language representations of the behaviors as well as an embedded experiment to test the influence of the word "ration" on perceived responsibility. Overall percentage of respondents reporting rationing behavior in various contexts and assessment of attitudes toward rationing. In total, 1348 respondents (53.1 %) reported having personally refrained within the past 6 months from using specific clinical services that would have provided the best patient care, because of health system cost. Prescription drugs (n = 1073 [48.3 %]) and magnetic resonance imaging (n = 922 [44.5 %]) were most frequently rationed. Surgical and procedural specialists were less likely to report rationing behavior (adjusted odds ratio [OR] [95 % CI], 0.8 [0.9-0.9] and 0.5 [0.4-0.6], respectively) compared to primary care. Compared with small or solo practices, those in medical school settings reported less rationing (adjusted OR [95 % CI], 0.4 [0.2-0.7]). Physicians who self-identified as very or somewhat liberal were significantly less likely to report rationing (adjusted OR [95 % CI], 0.7 [0.6-0.9]) than those self-reporting being very or somewhat conservative. A more positive opinion about rationing tended to align with greater odds of rationing. More than one-half of respondents engaged in

  15. Rational-driver approximation in car-following theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubashevsky, Ihor; Wagner, Peter; Mahnke, Reinhard

    2003-11-01

    The problem of a car following a lead car driven with constant velocity is considered. To derive the governing equations for the following car dynamics a cost functional is constructed. This functional ranks the outcomes of different driving strategies, which applies to fairly general properties of the driver behavior. Assuming rational-driver behavior, the existence of the Nash equilibrium is proved. Rational driving is defined by supposing that a driver corrects continuously the car motion to follow the optimal path minimizing the cost functional. The corresponding car-following dynamics is described quite generally by a boundary value problem based on the obtained extremal equations. Linearization of these equations around the stationary state results in a generalization of the widely used optimal velocity model. Under certain conditions (the “dense traffic” limit) the rational car dynamics comprises two stages, fast and slow. During the fast stage a driver eliminates the velocity difference between the cars, the subsequent slow stage optimizes the headway. In the dense traffic limit an effective Hamiltonian description is constructed. This allows a more detailed nonlinear analysis. Finally, the differences between rational and bounded rational driver behavior are discussed. The latter, in particular, justifies some basic assumptions used recently by the authors to construct a car-following model lying beyond the frameworks of rationality.

  16. Rationality and ritual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wynne, B.

    1982-01-01

    The book concerns the Windscale Public Inquiry, held to investigate the application by British Nuclear Fuels to build a 1200 tonne per year thermal oxide reprocessing plant (THORP) for spent nuclear fuels from Britain and overseas. The subject is discussed under the headings: introduction (international dimensions; the Windscale Inquiry; conflict resolution and social drama; public debate and the sociology of knowledge); the decision-making legacy; oxide reprocessing - the background; the public inquiry tradition - a comparative perspective; the emergence of THORP from a private to a public issue (local and national planning politics); the process and impact of the Inquiry (opposition groups); judicial rationality, expert conflict, and political authority); the rationality and politics of analysis (proliferation; radiation risks; relative risks; the Ravenglass issue; discharge targets; general radiation protection arrangements); conclusion. (U.K.)

  17. Rational accountability and rational autonomy in academic practice: An extended case study of the communicative ethic of interdisciplinary science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Susan Margaret

    The dissertation investigates the interaction of rational accountability and rational autonomy in interdisciplinary science within the lifeworld of the university. It focuses on the cultural, social and motivational forces that university researchers draw on, and develop, to constitute and regulate interdisciplinary science. Findings are analyzed within an applied critical social theory framework that attends to the interaction of instrumental and communicative rational action within the public spaces that constitute the lifeworld of the university as a public sphere in society. The research raises questions of how academics practice interdisciplinary science and how these practices relate to the reproduction of the regulative ideal of the university as a community that practices public reason. The conceptual framework informing the research is Habermas' (1984) theory of communicative action. Using Burawoy's (1991) extended case study method as an operational strategy, two modes of constituting and regulating interdisciplinary science were found. Instrumental rational modes dominated in social contexts of interdisciplinary science where consensus on the normative goals and purposes of rational academic action were pre-existing and pre-supposed by participants. Communicative rational modes dominated in social contexts of interdisciplinary science where the normative goals and purposes of rational academic action entered a contested domain. Endorsements for interdisciplinary science policies are coinciding with demands for increased accountability and relevance of Canada's university system. At the same time that the university system must respond to external demands, it must reproduce itself as a public institution open to the discursive redemption of factual and normative validity claims. The study found that academics participate in, but also contest the instrumental regulation of academic inquiry and conduct by using their constitutional autonomy and freedom to

  18. [Rational and emotional appeals in prescription drug advertising: study of a weight loss drug].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huertas, Melby Karina Zuniga; Campomar, Marcos Cortez

    2008-04-01

    The Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising of medicines encourages people to ask doctors for certain medicines and treatments that require medical prescription. In order to enhance their persuasive power, advertising models recommend matching the appeals (rational and/or emotional) to the consumer's attitude (cognitive and/ or affective) towards the product. This recommendation leads to controversies in the context of DTC advertising. Emotional appeals, although frequently used, would always be inadequate in that kind of advertising. In absence of empiric evidence of the consumer's perspective, a descriptive research was undertaken with the objective of evaluating: i) the components of the attitude toward medicines; ii) attitude and behavioral intentions in response to DTC ads (one appealing to reason and the other appealing to emotion). A prescription weight loss drug was chosen for this purpose. The results revealed a predominantly cognitive attitude toward the product and an attitude and behavioral intention more favorable to the rational ad. Negative cognition about the product played an outstanding role canceling the persuasive power of emotional appeals.

  19. The rationalization of desulfurization by on-line analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murakami, Y; Kohmura, S; Taketomi, H; Matsumura, S; Sasaki, Y

    1986-01-01

    Nippon Kokan uses the Takahax and Sulfiban processes for the desulfurization of coke oven gas. The authors outline the Sulfiban Process and describe a recently developed system for the on-line determination of H/sub 2/S in coke oven gas, and of CO/sub 2/ and monoethanolamine (MEA) in the wash oil. This new on-line analysis system has proved effective in rationalizing the Sulfiban Process via lower MEA production costs and decreased power consumption. The introduction of a computerized control system is now being studied. 7 figs., 4 tabs.

  20. Determination of hydration numbers of electrolytes from temperature dependence of PMR chemical shifts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramanian, N.

    1979-01-01

    The method proposed by Malinowski et al. for the determination of effective hydration numbers (h) of electrolytes leads to a consistent incrrease in the observed values of 'h' with increase in solution concentration. An attempt is made to rationalize the experimental results by cosidering the simultaneous effects of temperature and concentration on the proton chemical shift. It is suggested that Malinowski's technique might yeld 'h' values very close to the true value for those ions for which there is a fortuitous cancellation of structure-making and structure-breaking properties. (Author) [pt

  1. Rational extended thermodynamics of a rarefied polyatomic gas with molecular relaxation processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arima, Takashi; Ruggeri, Tommaso; Sugiyama, Masaru

    2017-10-01

    We present a more refined version of rational extended thermodynamics of rarefied polyatomic gases in which molecular rotational and vibrational relaxation processes are treated individually. In this case, we need a triple hierarchy of the moment system and the system of balance equations is closed via the maximum entropy principle. Three different types of the production terms in the system, which are suggested by a generalized BGK-type collision term in the Boltzmann equation, are adopted. In particular, the rational extended thermodynamic theory with seven independent fields (ET7) is analyzed in detail. Finally, the dispersion relation of ultrasonic wave derived from the ET7 theory is confirmed by the experimental data for CO2, Cl2, and Br2 gases.

  2. Optimisation of Shift Reactor Operating Conditions to Maximise Hydrogen Production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanchez, J. M.; Marano, M.; Ruiz, E.

    2011-07-28

    This report compiles the results of the work conducted by CIEMAT for Task 6.5 Shift reaction of the FLEXGAS project Near Zero Emission Advanced Fluidized Bed Gasification, which has been carried out with financial support from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, RFCR-CT-2007-00005. The activity of an iron-chromium-based catalyst for the water gas shift reaction is studied. Results about WGS experiments conducted by CIEMAT on laboratory scale under different operating conditions are presented. The influence on the activity of the catalyst of main operating parameters- temperature, pressure, excess steam, and space velocity and gas composition - is evaluated and discussed. (Author) 19 refs.

  3. Geometric Rationalization for Freeform Architecture

    KAUST Repository

    Jiang, Caigui

    2016-06-20

    torsion at each node and create identical angles between any two neighbors. (3) The design of polyhedral patterns on freeform surfaces, which are aesthetic designs created by planar panels. (4) The design of space frame structures that are statically-sound and material-e cient structures constructed by connected beams. Rationalization of cross sections of beams aims at minimizing production cost and ensuring force equilibrium as a functional constraint.

  4. Effects of Climate Change and Shifts in Forest Composition on Forest Net Primary Production

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jyh-Min Chiang; Louts R. Iverson; Anantha Prasad; Kim J. Brown

    2008-01-01

    Forests are dynamic in both structure and species composition, and these dynamics are strongly Influenced by climate.However, the net effects of future tree species composition on net primary production (NPP) are not well understood. The objective of this work was to model the potential range shifts of tree species (DISTRIB Model) and predict their impacts on NPP (PnET-Ⅱ Model) that will be associated with alterations in species composition. We selected four 200 × 200 km areas In Wisconsin, Maine, Arkansas, and the Ohio-West Virginia area, representing focal areas of potential species range shifts. PnET-Ⅱ model simulations were carried out assuming that all forests achieved steady state, of which the species compositions were predicted by DISTRIB model with no migration limitation. The total NPP under the current climate ranged from 552 to 908 g C/m2 per year. The effects of potential species redistributions on NPP were moderate (-12% to +8%) compared with the influence of future climatic changes (-60% to +25%). The direction and magnitude of climate change effects on NPP were largely dependent on the degree of warming and water balance. Thus, the magnitude of future climate change can affect the feedback system between the atmosphere and biosphere.

  5. RATIONAL-IRRATIONAL ELECTORAL PREFERENCES, ALTRUISM AND EXPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihai Ungureanu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Caplan (2000, 2001, 2006 proposed the rational-irrationality model arguing that irrationality is a good as any other, whose consumption is maximized in relation to its costs and benefits. Applying this model to the problem of electoral behavior Caplan implies that voters ‘afford’ many irrational beliefs, because the lack of individual decisiveness renders vote as a consequenceless act. This paper contributes to the development of knowledge by analyzing the compatibility of rational irrationality with active electoral behavior. Two important arguments are being proposed: First, Wittman’s (2008 intuition that rational irrationality is incompatible with voting could be supported only about a particular type of altruism, which Caplan actually seems to reject. Second, rational irrationality seems to be compatible with expressive motivations, reinforcing the conclusion that rational-irrational individuals are active voters in mass elections.

  6. The Problem of Rational Moral Enlistment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillson, John

    2017-01-01

    How can one bring children to recognize the requirements of morality without resorting only to non-rational means of persuasion (i.e. what rational ground can be offered to children for their moral enlistment)? Michael Hand has recently defended a foundationalist approach to answering this question and John White has responded by (a) criticizing…

  7. The production of hydrogen through the use of a 77 wt% Pd 23 wt% Ag membrane water gas shift reactor

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Baloyi, Liberty N

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available stainless steel (PSS) is evaluated for the production of hydrogen and the potential replacement of the current two-stage Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction by a single stage reaction. The permeability of a 20 µm Pd–Ag membrane reactor was examined at 320 °C, 380...

  8. Logging disturbance shifts net primary productivity and its allocation in Bornean tropical forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riutta, Terhi; Malhi, Yadvinder; Kho, Lip Khoon; Marthews, Toby R; Huaraca Huasco, Walter; Khoo, MinSheng; Tan, Sylvester; Turner, Edgar; Reynolds, Glen; Both, Sabine; Burslem, David F R P; Teh, Yit Arn; Vairappan, Charles S; Majalap, Noreen; Ewers, Robert M

    2018-01-24

    Tropical forests play a major role in the carbon cycle of the terrestrial biosphere. Recent field studies have provided detailed descriptions of the carbon cycle of mature tropical forests, but logged or secondary forests have received much less attention. Here, we report the first measures of total net primary productivity (NPP) and its allocation along a disturbance gradient from old-growth forests to moderately and heavily logged forests in Malaysian Borneo. We measured the main NPP components (woody, fine root and canopy NPP) in old-growth (n = 6) and logged (n = 5) 1 ha forest plots. Overall, the total NPP did not differ between old-growth and logged forest (13.5 ± 0.5 and 15.7 ± 1.5 Mg C ha -1  year -1 respectively). However, logged forests allocated significantly higher fraction into woody NPP at the expense of the canopy NPP (42% and 48% into woody and canopy NPP, respectively, in old-growth forest vs 66% and 23% in logged forest). When controlling for local stand structure, NPP in logged forest stands was 41% higher, and woody NPP was 150% higher than in old-growth stands with similar basal area, but this was offset by structure effects (higher gap frequency and absence of large trees in logged forest). This pattern was not driven by species turnover: the average woody NPP of all species groups within logged forest (pioneers, nonpioneers, species unique to logged plots and species shared with old-growth plots) was similar. Hence, below a threshold of very heavy disturbance, logged forests can exhibit higher NPP and higher allocation to wood; such shifts in carbon cycling persist for decades after the logging event. Given that the majority of tropical forest biome has experienced some degree of logging, our results demonstrate that logging can cause substantial shifts in carbon production and allocation in tropical forests. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Direction of the Rational Use of Water at the Facilities for Growing Poultry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potseluev, A. A.; Nazarov, I. V.; Porotkova, A. K.; Volovikova, N. V.

    2018-01-01

    The article notes the effect of water use in the technological process of automatic drinking agricultural poultry on the quality and the quantity of outputs. At the same time, the requirements to the quality of the used water, the regimes of its consumption by the poultry and the role of mechanization of the process of automatic drinking in the rational use of the water resource, the processing and the reuse of contaminated wastes are disclosed. Within the framework of this concept, we propose constructively technological solutions of systems and means of automatic drinking agricultural poultry, providing the rational use of water as one of the important products of vital activity of agricultural poultry.

  10. Confucian Rationalism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Chi-Ming

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays, there is still a widely held view that the Chinese and Western modes of thought are quite distinct from each other. In particular, the Chinese mode of thought derived from Confucianism is considered as comparatively less rational than the Western one. In this article, I first argue that although the analogical mode of argumentation,…

  11. Cognitive distance, absorptive capacity and group rationality: a simulation study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru Lucian Curşeu

    Full Text Available We report the results of a simulation study in which we explore the joint effect of group absorptive capacity (as the average individual rationality of the group members and cognitive distance (as the distance between the most rational group member and the rest of the group on the emergence of collective rationality in groups. We start from empirical results reported in the literature on group rationality as collective group level competence and use data on real-life groups of four and five to validate a mathematical model. We then use this mathematical model to predict group level scores from a variety of possible group configurations (varying both in cognitive distance and average individual rationality. Our results show that both group competence and cognitive distance are necessary conditions for emergent group rationality. Group configurations, in which the groups become more rational than the most rational group member, are groups scoring low on cognitive distance and scoring high on absorptive capacity.

  12. Cognitive distance, absorptive capacity and group rationality: a simulation study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curşeu, Petru Lucian; Krehel, Oleh; Evers, Joep H M; Muntean, Adrian

    2014-01-01

    We report the results of a simulation study in which we explore the joint effect of group absorptive capacity (as the average individual rationality of the group members) and cognitive distance (as the distance between the most rational group member and the rest of the group) on the emergence of collective rationality in groups. We start from empirical results reported in the literature on group rationality as collective group level competence and use data on real-life groups of four and five to validate a mathematical model. We then use this mathematical model to predict group level scores from a variety of possible group configurations (varying both in cognitive distance and average individual rationality). Our results show that both group competence and cognitive distance are necessary conditions for emergent group rationality. Group configurations, in which the groups become more rational than the most rational group member, are groups scoring low on cognitive distance and scoring high on absorptive capacity.

  13. The effects of feeding rations that differ in fiber and fermentable starch within a day on milk production and the daily rhythm of feed intake and plasma hormones and metabolites in dairy cows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, M; Ying, Y; Bartell, P A; Harvatine, K J

    2017-01-01

    A daily pattern of feed intake, milk synthesis, and plasma metabolites and hormones occurs in dairy cows fed a total mixed ration once or twice a day. The objective of this study was to determine if feeding multiple rations within a day, complementing these rhythms, would improve milk production. Twelve Holstein cows were used in a replicated 3×3 Latin square design with 21-d periods. Cows were housed in tie stalls with feed tubs, and feed weight was recorded every 10 s for observation of feeding behavior. Rations were a low fiber and high fermentable starch ration [LFHS; 27.4% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and 31.7% starch based on 55.7% corn silage and 14.1% steam-flaked corn], a high fiber and low fermentable starch ration (HFLS; 31.7% NDF and 22.3% starch based on 44% corn silage, 26.3% alfalfa haylage, and no steam-flaked corn), and a total mixed ration that was a 1:3 ratio of LFHS and HFLS (30.7% NDF, 24.5% starch). The control treatment (CON) cows were fed the total mixed ration at 0700h, the high/low treatment (HL) fed HFLS ration at 0700h and LFHS ration at 2200h, and the low/high (LH) treatment fed LFHS ration at 0700h and HFLS ration at 1100h (LFHS and HFLS rations fed at a 1:3 ratio). No effect was found of treatment on daily milk, but LH decreased milk fat concentration and yield compared with HL (0.2 percentage units and 0.24kg, respectively). Daily dry matter and NDF intake and total-tract digestibility did not differ between treatments. The HL treatment reduced intake at the morning-conditioned meal after feeding and reduced intake before the evening feeding. A treatment by time of day interaction was found for fecal NDF and indigestible NDF concentration, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), plasma insulin, and fatty acid concentration, and body temperature. The CON and LH treatments increased the daily amplitude of fecal NDF by 1.0 and 1.1 percentage units compared with HL. Plasma insulin was higher in HL than CON at 0100 and 0400h, but lower at 1300 and

  14. Emotions as a Vehicle for Rationality: Rational Decision Making Models Based on Emotion-Related Valuing and Hebbian Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Treur, J.; Umair, M.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper an adaptive decision model based on predictive loops through feeling states is analysed from the perspective of rationality. Hebbian learning is considered for different types of connections in the decision model. To assess the extent of rationality, a measure is introduced reflecting

  15. Re-visions of rationality?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newell, Ben R

    2005-01-01

    The appeal of simple algorithms that take account of both the constraints of human cognitive capacity and the structure of environments has been an enduring theme in cognitive science. A novel version of such a boundedly rational perspective views the mind as containing an 'adaptive toolbox' of specialized cognitive heuristics suited to different problems. Although intuitively appealing, when this version was proposed, empirical evidence for the use of such heuristics was scant. I argue that in the light of empirical studies carried out since then, it is time this 'vision of rationality' was revised. An alternative view based on integrative models rather than collections of heuristics is proposed.

  16. Rationing medical education.

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper discussed the pros and cons of the application of rationing to medical education and the different ... Even though some stakeholders in medical education might be taken aback at .... Walsh K. Online educational tools to improve the.

  17. Rationality, perception, and the all-seeing eye.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felin, Teppo; Koenderink, Jan; Krueger, Joachim I

    2017-08-01

    Seeing-perception and vision-is implicitly the fundamental building block of the literature on rationality and cognition. Herbert Simon and Daniel Kahneman's arguments against the omniscience of economic agents-and the concept of bounded rationality-depend critically on a particular view of the nature of perception and vision. We propose that this framework of rationality merely replaces economic omniscience with perceptual omniscience. We show how the cognitive and social sciences feature a pervasive but problematic meta-assumption that is characterized by an "all-seeing eye." We raise concerns about this assumption and discuss different ways in which the all-seeing eye manifests itself in existing research on (bounded) rationality. We first consider the centrality of vision and perception in Simon's pioneering work. We then point to Kahneman's work-particularly his article "Maps of Bounded Rationality"-to illustrate the pervasiveness of an all-seeing view of perception, as manifested in the extensive use of visual examples and illusions. Similar assumptions about perception can be found across a large literature in the cognitive sciences. The central problem is the present emphasis on inverse optics-the objective nature of objects and environments, e.g., size, contrast, and color. This framework ignores the nature of the organism and perceiver. We argue instead that reality is constructed and expressed, and we discuss the species-specificity of perception, as well as perception as a user interface. We draw on vision science as well as the arts to develop an alternative understanding of rationality in the cognitive and social sciences. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our arguments for the rationality and decision-making literature in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics, along with suggesting some ways forward.

  18. Towards a classification of rational Hopf algebras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuchs, J.; Ganchev, A.; Vecsernyes, P.

    1994-02-01

    Rational Hopf algebras, i.e. certain quasitriangular weak quasi-Hopf *-algebras, are expected to describe the quantum symmetry of rational field theories. In this paper methods are developed which allow for a classification of all rational Hopf algebras that are compatible with some prescribed set of fusion rules. The algebras are parametrized by the solutions of the square, pentagon and hexagon identities. As examples, we classify all solutions for fusion rules with not more than three sectors, as well as for the level three affine A 1 (1) fusion rules. We also establish several general properties of rational Hopf algebras and present a graphical description of the coassociator in terms of labelled tetrahedra. The latter construction allows to make contact with conformal field theory fusing matrices and with invariants of three-manifolds and topological lattice field theory. (orig.)

  19. Bounded rational choice behaviour: applications in transport

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Anders Fjendbo

    2016-01-01

    Even though the theory of rational behaviour has been challenged for almost 100 years, the dominant approach within the field of transport has been based upon the assumptions of neoclassical economics that we live in a world of rational decision makers who always have perfect knowledge and aim...... rational choice behaviour focuses on how the latter approach can be seriously taken into account within transport applications. As the editors discuss in the introduction, a true optimal choice can only be made if an individual has full and perfect information of all relevant attributes in his/her choice...... set. An individual is said to demonstrate bounded rational behaviour if he/she does not systematically consider all attributes deemed relevant for the decision problem at hand, does not consider all choice options and/or does not choose the best choice alternative. Such simplified representation...

  20. Economic Rationality in the Ultimatum Game

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Fiala

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Rigorous application of experimental methodology to the interdisciplinary research of economic decision making is the main purpose of our work. In this paper, we introduce the main decisionmaking theories and outline economic rationality. We explain why we find it useful to discriminate between the “irrational” and “non-rational” components of decision making. We offer an oriented interdisciplinary point of view on economic rationality. In the applied section, we describe the main features of the Ultimatum game and summarize the up-to-date theories explaining the non-rational course of the game. We discuss in detail the reported relations between the nominal value of the stakes and the distribution of the offers and responses. We introduce the blinded, randomized Ultimatum game experiment that we conducted in our laboratory. We stress the importance of anonymity of the study subjects and the difference in salience of a factual reward against a  hypothetical reward. We present the results of our study, showing that a  duly chosen non-monetary reward, directly inconvertible into money, leads to a different offer distribution in the Ultimatum game without the necessity to invest excessive sums of money in the rewards. We compare our results to research published by other authors. According to our theory, the rational, non-rational and irrational components contribute to the decision making in Ultimatum differently depending on the different reward stakes.

  1. The anchoring bias reflects rational use of cognitive resources

    OpenAIRE

    Goodman, Noah; Huys, Quentin; Griffiths, Tom; Lieder, Falk

    2017-01-01

    © 2017, Psychonomic Society, Inc. Cognitive biases, such as the anchoring bias, pose a serious challenge to rational accounts of human cognition. We investigate whether rational theories can meet this challenge by taking into account the mind’s bounded cognitive resources. We asked what reasoning under uncertainty would look like if people made rational use of their finite time and limited cognitive resources. To answer this question, we applied a mathematical theory of bounded rationality to...

  2. Values of the polygamma functions at rational arguments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Junesang; Cvijovic, Djurdje

    2007-01-01

    Gauss in 1812, in his celebrated memoir on the hypergeometric series, presented a remarkable formula for the psi (or digamma) function, ψ(z), at rational arguments z, which can be expressed in terms of elementary functions. Davis in 1935 extended Gauss's result to the polygamma functions ψ (n) (z) (n element of N) by using a known series representation of ψ (n) (z) in an elementary yet technical way. Koelbig in 1996, in his CERN technical report, also gave two extensions to ψ (n) (z) by using the series definition of polylogarithm function and the above-known series representation. Here we aim at deriving general formulae expressing ψ (n) (z) (n element of N 0 ) as rational arguments in terms of other functions, which will be obtained in two ways. In addition, several special cases are also considered and, as a by-product of our main results, we derive, in a simple and unified manner, all formulae given by Gauss, Davis and Koelbig. Finally, it should be noted that all our results, in view of the relationship between ψ (n) (z) and the Hurwitz zeta function, ζ(s, a), could be rewritten in the representation of ζ(s, a)

  3. Shift work in a security environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Longhouser, G.A. Jr.

    1993-01-01

    Human beings are diurnal species, normally active by day and asleep by night. Yet over thirty million Americans struggle with work schedules that include an off-normal work effort. The railroads, law enforcement, health services, Department of Defense, factory workers, chemical plants and public services, communications and utility workers must provide some form of around-the-clock effort. Shift work has been around since the advent of recorded history. There has always been a need for some type of off-normal service and assistance. The impact of shift work is replete with tales and factual evidence of an increased personnel error rate; disorders, both personal and family, and of course, increased accident events. In recent memory, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant incident, Union Carbide's explosion in Bhopal, and the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant catastrophe all occurred during off-normal working hours. Yet management overall has done little to correct the production-driven twelve hour, seven day week shift mentality of the nineteenth century. Most schedules in use today are nothing more than cosmetic variations of the old production schedules. This could be driven by a management consideration of the worker's response to change coupled with a reluctant buy-in of responsibility for the effects of change. Florida Power Corporation has developed for its nuclear security force, a unique work schedule which attempts to employ the sound principles of circadian rhythms coupled with a comprehensive training program to counter the problems associated with shift work. The results over the last four years have seen a marked reduction in the generic problems of personnel errors, absenteeism, unscheduled overtime and turnover rates. Utilization and understanding of this scheduling process for rotational shift work needs to be assessed to determine if the benefits are site specific or provide an expected response to the problems of shift work

  4. Rationally reduced libraries for combinatorial pathway optimization minimizing experimental effort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeschek, Markus; Gerngross, Daniel; Panke, Sven

    2016-03-31

    Rational flux design in metabolic engineering approaches remains difficult since important pathway information is frequently not available. Therefore empirical methods are applied that randomly change absolute and relative pathway enzyme levels and subsequently screen for variants with improved performance. However, screening is often limited on the analytical side, generating a strong incentive to construct small but smart libraries. Here we introduce RedLibs (Reduced Libraries), an algorithm that allows for the rational design of smart combinatorial libraries for pathway optimization thereby minimizing the use of experimental resources. We demonstrate the utility of RedLibs for the design of ribosome-binding site libraries by in silico and in vivo screening with fluorescent proteins and perform a simple two-step optimization of the product selectivity in the branched multistep pathway for violacein biosynthesis, indicating a general applicability for the algorithm and the proposed heuristics. We expect that RedLibs will substantially simplify the refactoring of synthetic metabolic pathways.

  5. Rational points on elliptic curves

    CERN Document Server

    Silverman, Joseph H

    2015-01-01

    The theory of elliptic curves involves a pleasing blend of algebra, geometry, analysis, and number theory. This book stresses this interplay as it develops the basic theory, thereby providing an opportunity for advanced undergraduates to appreciate the unity of modern mathematics. At the same time, every effort has been made to use only methods and results commonly included in the undergraduate curriculum. This accessibility, the informal writing style, and a wealth of exercises make Rational Points on Elliptic Curves an ideal introduction for students at all levels who are interested in learning about Diophantine equations and arithmetic geometry. Most concretely, an elliptic curve is the set of zeroes of a cubic polynomial in two variables. If the polynomial has rational coefficients, then one can ask for a description of those zeroes whose coordinates are either integers or rational numbers. It is this number theoretic question that is the main subject of this book. Topics covered include the geometry and ...

  6. Rationality, perception, and the all-seeing eye

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Felin, Teppo; Koenderink, Jan|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/070864543; Krueger, Joachim I

    Seeing-perception and vision-is implicitly the fundamental building block of the literature on rationality and cognition. Herbert Simon and Daniel Kahneman's arguments against the omniscience of economic agents-and the concept of bounded rationality-depend critically on a particular view of the

  7. Dimension counts for singular rational curves via semigroups

    OpenAIRE

    Cotterill, Ethan; Feital, Lia; Martins, Renato Vidal

    2015-01-01

    We study singular rational curves in projective space, deducing conditions on their parametrizations from the value semigroups $\\sss$ of their singularities. In particular, we prove that a natural heuristic for the codimension of the space of nondegenerate rational curves of arithmetic genus $g>0$ and degree $d$ in $\\mb{P}^n$, viewed as a subspace of all degree-$d$ rational curves in $\\mb{P}^n$, holds whenever $g$ is small.

  8. The anchoring bias reflects rational use of cognitive resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieder, Falk; Griffiths, Thomas L; M Huys, Quentin J; Goodman, Noah D

    2018-02-01

    Cognitive biases, such as the anchoring bias, pose a serious challenge to rational accounts of human cognition. We investigate whether rational theories can meet this challenge by taking into account the mind's bounded cognitive resources. We asked what reasoning under uncertainty would look like if people made rational use of their finite time and limited cognitive resources. To answer this question, we applied a mathematical theory of bounded rationality to the problem of numerical estimation. Our analysis led to a rational process model that can be interpreted in terms of anchoring-and-adjustment. This model provided a unifying explanation for ten anchoring phenomena including the differential effect of accuracy motivation on the bias towards provided versus self-generated anchors. Our results illustrate the potential of resource-rational analysis to provide formal theories that can unify a wide range of empirical results and reconcile the impressive capacities of the human mind with its apparently irrational cognitive biases.

  9. Convergences and Divergences between Gaston Bachelard’s Winged Rationalism and Ernst Cassirer’s Symbolic Idealism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel Ángel Sánchez Rodríguez

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article establishes a hermeneutical dialogue between the convergences and divergences of Cassirer’s symbolic idealism and Bachelard’s winged rationalism. First, on the basis of bio-bibliographical evidence, it reconstructs the context of vital signification in which the authors’ respective ideas are rooted; secondly, it identifies the fundamental parallelisms between them; and, finally, it provides examples of Bachelardian terminology that resembles that of contemporary symbolic hermeneutics. This results in a broader understanding Cassirer’s analyses of indirect and interpretive thought regarding the relations between man and culture, as well as of the role of the symbol in the shift form nature to culture.

  10. Adaptive Rationality, Adaptive Behavior and Institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volchik Vyacheslav, V.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The economic literature focused on understanding decision-making and choice processes reveals a vast collection of approaches to human rationality. Theorists’ attention has moved from absolutely rational, utility-maximizing individuals to boundedly rational and adaptive ones. A number of economists have criticized the concepts of adaptive rationality and adaptive behavior. One of the recent trends in the economic literature is to consider humans irrational. This paper offers an approach which examines adaptive behavior in the context of existing institutions and constantly changing institutional environment. It is assumed that adaptive behavior is a process of evolutionary adjustment to fundamental uncertainty. We emphasize the importance of actors’ engagement in trial and error learning, since if they are involved in this process, they obtain experience and are able to adapt to existing and new institutions. The paper aims at identifying relevant institutions, adaptive mechanisms, informal working rules and practices that influence actors’ behavior in the field of Higher Education in Russia (Rostov Region education services market has been taken as an example. The paper emphasizes the application of qualitative interpretative methods (interviews and discourse analysis in examining actors’ behavior.

  11. The effectiveness of rational emotive therapy on achievement ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The effectiveness of rational emotive therapy on achievement motivation of students. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... the effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy on Students Achievement Motivation.

  12. Cognitive rationalizations for tanning-bed use: a preliminary exploration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banerjee, Smita C; Hay, Jennifer L; Greene, Kathryn

    2013-09-01

    To examine construct and predictive utility of an adapted cognitive rationalization scale for tanning-bed use. Current/former tanning-bedusing undergraduate students (N = 216; 87.6% females; 78.4% white) at a large northeastern university participated in a survey. A cognitive rationalization for tanning-bed use scale was adapted. Standardized self-report measures of past tanning-bed use, advantages of tanning, perceived vulnerability to photoaging, tanning-bed use dependence, and tanning-bed use intention were also administered. The cognitive rationalization scale exhibited strong construct and predictive validity. Current tanners and tanning-bed-use-dependent participants endorsed rationalizations more strongly than did former tanners and not-tanning-bed-use-dependent participants respectively. Findings indicate that cognitive rationalizations help explain discrepancy between inconsistent cognitions.

  13. Multivariate rational data fitting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuyt, Annie; Verdonk, Brigitte

    1992-12-01

    Sections 1 and 2 discuss the advantages of an object-oriented implementation combined with higher floating-point arithmetic, of the algorithms available for multivariate data fitting using rational functions. Section 1 will in particular explain what we mean by "higher arithmetic". Section 2 will concentrate on the concepts of "object orientation". In sections 3 and 4 we shall describe the generality of the data structure that can be dealt with: due to some new results virtually every data set is acceptable right now, with possible coalescence of coordinates or points. In order to solve the multivariate rational interpolation problem the data sets are fed to different algorithms depending on the structure of the interpolation points in then-variate space.

  14. Rational allocation of agricultural production in the region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grigorii Mikhailovich Semyashkin

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposes an original approach to determining the optimal allocation of agricultural production in the region; the approach includes the methodological substantiation of the necessity to differentiate consumers when addressing food security issues in the region. It was proposed to allocate three levels: level 1 – the provision of food to socially vulnerable layers, level 2 – the provision with food at the subsistence level, and level 3 – the provision of the total population of the region with food. A preliminary forecast was made for each municipality; it analyzed possible changes in the number of the socially vulnerable up to 2020; in accordance with medical standards and norms of the subsistence level the volumes of food were calculated, which in turn were compared with the actual production output. The difference between the actual volume and the volume of evidence-based requirements represented the very increase in the volume of production, the achievement of which requires certain investments on the basis of capital-output ratio. After that the regional market was divided into three sub-regional markets depending on distance, number of consumers and suppliers. This allowed us to calculate the amount of transport costs based on the type and lot size of the transported product, taking into account the distance to each sub-market. As a criterion of transportation expediency we took into account the share of transport costs in the price of the product not exceeding 30%. Otherwise, it is required to concentrate the production in order to increase the lot transported or to carry out a deeper processing of the product. The proposed methodology served as the basis for choosing the most effective option of spatial location of agricultural production

  15. Positivity Preserving Interpolation Using Rational Bicubic Spline

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samsul Ariffin Abdul Karim

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the positivity preserving interpolation for positive surfaces data by extending the C1 rational cubic spline interpolant of Karim and Kong to the bivariate cases. The partially blended rational bicubic spline has 12 parameters in the descriptions where 8 of them are free parameters. The sufficient conditions for the positivity are derived on every four boundary curves network on the rectangular patch. Numerical comparison with existing schemes also has been done in detail. Based on Root Mean Square Error (RMSE, our partially blended rational bicubic spline is on a par with the established methods.

  16. Rapid Hydrogen Shift Reactions in Acyl Peroxy Radicals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knap, Hasse Christian; Jørgensen, Solvejg

    2017-01-01

    -shift with X = 6, 7, 8, or 9) in the hydroperoxy acyl peroxy radicals, this H-shift is a reversible reaction and it scrambles between two peroxides, hydroperoxy acyl peroxy and peroxy peroxoic acid radicals. The forward reaction rate constants of the 1,X-OOH H-shift reactions are estimated to be above 103 s–1...... with transition state theory corrected with Eckart quantum tunnelling correction. The ratio between the forward and reverse reaction rate constant of the 1,X-OOH H-shift reactions is around ∼105. Therefore, the equilibrium is pushed toward the production of peroxy peroxoic acid radicals. These very fast 1,X-OOH H......We have used quantum mechanical chemical calculations (CCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVDZ-F12//M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ) to investigate the hydrogen shift (H-shift) reactions in acyl peroxy and hydroperoxy acyl peroxy radicals. We have focused on the H-shift reactions from a hydroperoxy group (OOH) (1,X-OOH H...

  17. Organization and Information: Firms' Governance Choices in Rational-Expectations Equilibrium

    OpenAIRE

    Robert Gibbons; Richard Holden; Michael Powell

    2012-01-01

    We analyze a rational-expectations model of price formation in an intermediate-good market under uncertainty. There is a continuum of firms, each consisting of a party who can reduce production cost and a party who can discover information about demand. Both parties can make specific investments at private cost, and there is a machine that either party can control. As in incomplete-contracting models, different governance structures (i.e., different allocations of control of the machine) crea...

  18. Probability and rational choice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Botting

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2014v18n1p1 In this paper I will discuss the rationality of reasoning about the future. There are two things that we might like to know about the future: which hypotheses are true and what will happen next. To put it in philosophical language, I aim to show that there are methods by which inferring to a generalization (selecting a hypothesis and inferring to the next instance (singular predictive inference can be shown to be normative and the method itself shown to be rational, where this is due in part to being based on evidence (although not in the same way and in part on a prior rational choice. I will also argue that these two inferences have been confused, being distinct not only conceptually (as nobody disputes but also in their results (the value given to the probability of the hypothesis being not in general that given to the next instance and that methods that are adequate for one are not by themselves adequate for the other. A number of debates over method founder on this confusion and do not show what the debaters think they show.

  19. Rationalizing meat consumption. The 4Ns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piazza, Jared; Ruby, Matthew B; Loughnan, Steve; Luong, Mischel; Kulik, Juliana; Watkins, Hanne M; Seigerman, Mirra

    2015-08-01

    Recent theorizing suggests that the 4Ns - that is, the belief that eating meat is natural, normal, necessary, and nice - are common rationalizations people use to defend their choice of eating meat. However, such theorizing has yet to be subjected to empirical testing. Six studies were conducted on the 4Ns. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrated that the 4N classification captures the vast majority (83%-91%) of justifications people naturally offer in defense of eating meat. In Study 2, individuals who endorsed the 4Ns tended also to objectify (dementalize) animals and included fewer animals in their circle of moral concern, and this was true independent of social dominance orientation. Subsequent studies (Studies 3-5) showed that individuals who endorsed the 4Ns tend not to be motivated by ethical concerns when making food choices, are less involved in animal-welfare advocacy, less driven to restrict animal products from their diet, less proud of their animal-product decisions, tend to endorse Speciesist attitudes, tend to consume meat and animal products more frequently, and are highly committed to eating meat. Furthermore, omnivores who strongly endorsed the 4Ns tended to experience less guilt about their animal-product decisions, highlighting the guilt-alleviating function of the 4Ns. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Competition Law and the Bounded Rationality of Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Bhattacharya, Shilpi

    2016-01-01

    Firm rationality plays a role in several aspects of competition law. Yet, the conception of the firm as a rational, profit maximizing entity has been disputed in different disciplines. This literature shows that neoclassical economic assumptions on which competition law is based can fall short of explaining the full range of observed firm behaviour. Accordingly, an alternative conception of the firm as boundedly rational can impact the understanding of firm conduct in competition law. Be...

  1. Effects of Interannual Climate Variability on Water Availability and Productivity in Capoeira and Crops Under Traditional and Alternative Shifting Cultivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guild, Liane S.; Sa, Tatiana D. A.; Carvalho, Claudio J. R.; Potter, Christopher S.; Wickel, Albert J.; Brienza, Silvio, Jr.; Kato, Maria doSocorro A.; Kato, Osvaldo; Brass, James (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Regenerating forests play an important role in long-term carbon sequestration and sustainable landuse as they act as potentially important carbon and nutrient sinks during the shifting agriculture fallow period. The long-term functioning of capoeira. is increasingly threatened by a shortening fallow period during shifting cultivation due to demographic pressures and associated increased vulnerability to severe climatic events. Declining productivity and functioning of fallow forests of shifting cultivation combined with progressive loss of nutrients by successive burning and cropping activities has resulted in declining agricultural productivity. In addition to the effects of intense land use practices, droughts associated with El Nino events are becoming more frequent and severe in moist tropical forests and negative effects on capoeira productivity could be considerable. In Igarape-Acu (near Belem, Para), we hypothesize that experimental alternative landuse/clearing practices (mulching and fallow vegetation improvement by planting with fast-growing leguminous tree species) may make capoeira and agriculture more resilient to the effects of agricultural pressures and drought through (1) increased biomass, soil organic matter and associated increase in soil water storage, and nutrient retention and (2) greater rooting depth of trees planted for fallow improvement. This experimental practice (moto mechanized chop-and-mulch with fallow improvement) has resulted increased soil moisture during the cropping phase, reduced loss of nutrients and organic matter, and higher rates of secondary-forest biomass accumulation. We present preliminary data on water relations during the dry season of 2001 in capoeira and crops for both traditional slash-and-burn and alternative chop-and-mulch practices. These data will be used to test IKONOS data for the detection of moisture status differences. The principal goal of the research is to determine the extent to which capoeira and

  2. On an application of conformal maps to inequalities for rational functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dubinin, V N

    2002-01-01

    Using classical properties of conformal maps, we get new exact inequalities for rational functions with prescribed poles. In particular, we prove a new Bernstein-type inequality, an inequality for Blaschke products and a theorem that generalizes the Turan inequality for polynomials. The estimates obtained strengthen some familiar inequalities of Videnskii and Rusak. They are also related to recent results of Borwein, Erdelyi, Li, Mohapatra, Rodriguez, Aziz and others

  3. The child as econometrician: a rational model of preference understanding in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucas, Christopher G; Griffiths, Thomas L; Xu, Fei; Fawcett, Christine; Gopnik, Alison; Kushnir, Tamar; Markson, Lori; Hu, Jane

    2014-01-01

    Recent work has shown that young children can learn about preferences by observing the choices and emotional reactions of other people, but there is no unified account of how this learning occurs. We show that a rational model, built on ideas from economics and computer science, explains the behavior of children in several experiments, and offers new predictions as well. First, we demonstrate that when children use statistical information to learn about preferences, their inferences match the predictions of a simple econometric model. Next, we show that this same model can explain children's ability to learn that other people have preferences similar to or different from their own and use that knowledge to reason about the desirability of hidden objects. Finally, we use the model to explain a developmental shift in preference understanding.

  4. Public policy, rationality and reason

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodolfo Canto Sáenz

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This work suggests the incorporation of practical reason in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies, alongside instrumental rationality. It takes two proposals that today point in this direction: Rawls distinction between reasonable (practical reason and rational (instrumental reason and what this author calls the CI Procedure (categorical imperative procedure and Habermas model of deliberative democracy. The main conclusion is that the analysis of public policies can not be limited to rather narrow limits of science, but requires the contribution of political and moral philosophy.

  5. MARSI: metabolite analogues for rational strain improvement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cardoso, João G. R.; Zeidan, Ahmad A; Jensen, Kristian

    2018-01-01

    reactions in an organism can be used to predict effects of MAs on cellular phenotypes. Here, we present the Metabolite Analogues for Rational Strain Improvement (MARSI) framework. MARSI provides a rational approach to strain improvement by searching for metabolites as targets instead of genes or reactions...

  6. Simple market equilibria with rationally inattentive consumers

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Matějka, Filip; McKay, A.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 102, č. 3 (2012), s. 24-29 ISSN 0002-8282 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GPP402/11/P236 Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : rational choice theory * bounded rationality * consumer research Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 2.792, year: 2012

  7. Milk production, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance in lactating cows fed total mixed ration silages containing steam-flaked brown rice as substitute for steam-flaked corn, and wet food by-products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyaji, Makoto; Matsuyama, Hiroki; Hosoda, Kenji; Nonaka, Kazuhisa

    2013-06-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of substituting brown rice grain for corn grain in total mixed ration (TMR) silage containing food by-products on the milk production, whole-tract nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance in dairy cows. Six multiparous Holstein cows were used in a crossover design with two dietary treatments: a diet containing 30.9% steam-flaked corn (corn TMR) or 30.9% steam-flaked brown rice (rice TMR) with wet soybean curd residue and wet soy sauce cake. Dietary treatment did not affect the dry matter intake, milk yield and compositions in dairy cows. The dry matter and starch digestibility were higher, and the neutral detergent fiber digestibility was lower for rice TMR than for corn TMR. The urinary nitrogen (N) excretion as a proportion of the N intake was lower for rice TMR than for corn TMR with no dietary effect on N secretion in milk and fecal N excretion. These results indicated that the replacement of corn with brown rice in TMR silage relatively reduced urinary N loss without adverse effects on feed intake and milk production, when food by-products such as soybean curd residue were included in the TMR silage as dietary crude protein sources. © 2013 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  8. The Relationship Between Shift Work and Men's Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Nanfu; Kohn, Taylor P; Lipshultz, Larry I; Pastuszak, Alexander W

    2018-01-19

    More than 21 million Americans and nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce are shift workers. Non-standard shift work, defined as work that falls outside of 6 am-6 pm, can lead to poor diet, exercise, and sleep habits that lead to decreased productivity, increased workplace accidents, and a variety of negative health outcomes. To investigate the associations between shift work exposure and chronic medical conditions such as metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disturbances, and depression as well as urologic complications including hypogonadism, male infertility, lower urinary tract symptoms, and prostate cancer with a focus on the effects of shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) on the severity of these negative health outcomes. We reviewed the literature examining effects of shift work and SWSD on general and urologic health. We produced a summary of effects of shift work on health with focus on the increased risk of negative health outcomes in non-standard shift workers, particularly those with SWSD, when compared to daytime workers or workers without SWSD. Studies have associated non-standard shift work schedules and poor health outcomes, including increased risks of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, heart disease, peptic ulcer disease, and depression, in shift workers. However, few studies have focused on the role that shift work plays in men's urologic health. Current evidence supports associations between non-standard shift work and increased hypogonadal symptoms, poor semen parameters, decreased fertility, lower urinary tract symptoms, and prostate cancer. These associations are strengthened by the presence of SWSD, which affects up to 20% of shift workers. Unfortunately, interventions, such as planned naps, timed light exposure, melatonin, and sedative hypnotics, aimed at alleviating excessive nighttime sleepiness and daytime insomnia in non-standard shift workers experiencing SWSD, are limited and lack strong evidence to support

  9. Rational optimization of drug-target residence time: Insights from inhibitor binding to the S. aureus FabI enzyme-product complex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Andrew; Schiebel, Johannes; Yu, Weixuan; Bommineni, Gopal R.; Pan, Pan; Baxter, Michael V.; Khanna, Avinash; Sotriffer, Christoph A.; Kisker, Caroline; Tonge, Peter J.

    2013-01-01

    Drug-target kinetics has recently emerged as an especially important facet of the drug discovery process. In particular, prolonged drug-target residence times may confer enhanced efficacy and selectivity in the open in vivo system. However, the lack of accurate kinetic and structural data for series of congeneric compounds hinders the rational design of inhibitors with decreased off-rates. Therefore, we chose the Staphylococcus aureus enoyl-ACP reductase (saFabI) - an important target for the development of new anti-staphylococcal drugs - as a model system to rationalize and optimize the drug-target residence time on a structural basis. Using our new, efficient and widely applicable mechanistically informed kinetic approach, we obtained a full characterization of saFabI inhibition by a series of 20 diphenyl ethers complemented by a collection of 9 saFabI-inhibitor crystal structures. We identified a strong correlation between the affinities of the investigated saFabI diphenyl ether inhibitors and their corresponding residence times, which can be rationalized on a structural basis. Due to its favorable interactions with the enzyme, the residence time of our most potent compound exceeds 10 hours. In addition, we found that affinity and residence time in this system can be significantly enhanced by modifications predictable by a careful consideration of catalysis. Our study provides a blueprint for investigating and prolonging drug-target kinetics and may aid in the rational design of long-residence-time inhibitors targeting the essential saFabI enzyme. PMID:23697754

  10. Fields of rational constants of cyclic factorizable derivations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janusz Zielinski

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available We describe all rational constants of a large family of four-variable cyclic factorizable derivations. Thus, we determine all rational first integrals of their corresponding systems of differential equations. Moreover, we give a characteristic of all four-variable Lotka-Volterra derivations with a nontrivial rational constant. All considerations are over an arbitrary field of characteristic zero. Our main tool is the investigation of the cofactors of strict Darboux polynomials. Factorizable derivations are important in derivation theory. Namely, we may associate the factorizable derivation with any given derivation of a polynomial ring and that construction helps to determine rational constants of arbitrary derivations. Besides, Lotka-Volterra systems play a significant role in population biology, laser physics and plasma physics.

  11. Rational screening of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ agonists from natural products: potential therapeutics for heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Rui; Wan, Jing; Song, Jing; Qian, Yan; Liu, Yong; Gu, Shuiming

    2017-12-01

    Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors. Activation of PPARγ pathway has been shown to enhance fatty acid oxidation, improve endothelial cell function, and decrease myocardial fibrosis in heart failure. Thus, the protein has been raised as an attractive target for heart failure therapy. This work attempted to discover new and potent PPARγ agonists from natural products using a synthetic strategy of computer virtual screening and transactivation reporter assay. A large library of structurally diverse, drug-like natural products was compiled, from which those with unsatisfactory pharmacokinetic profile and/or structurally redundant compounds were excluded. The binding mode of remaining candidates to PPARγ ligand-binding domain (LBD) was computationally modelled using molecular docking and their relative binding potency was ranked by an empirical scoring scheme. Consequently, eight commercially available hits with top scores were selected and their biological activity was determined using a cell-based reporter-gene assay. Four natural product compounds, namely ZINC13408172, ZINC4292805, ZINC44179 and ZINC901461, were identified to have high or moderate agonistic potency against human PPARγ with EC 50 values of 0.084, 2.1, 0.35 and 5.6 μM, respectively, which are comparable to or even better than that of the approved PPARγ full agonists pioglitazone (EC 50  =   0.16 μM) and rosiglitazone (EC 50  =   0.034 μM). Hydrophobic interactions and van der Waals contacts are the primary chemical forces to stabilize the complex architecture of PPARγ LBD domain with these agonist ligands, while few hydrogen bonds, salt bridges and/or π-π stacking at the complex interfaces confer selectivity and specificity for the domain-agonist recognition. The integrated in vitro-in silico screening strategy can be successfully applied to rational discovery of

  12. Modified rational Legendre approach to laminar viscous flow over a semi-infinite flat plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tajvidi, T.; Razzaghi, M.; Dehghan, M.

    2008-01-01

    A numerical method for solving the classical Blasius' equation is proposed. The Blasius' equation is a third order nonlinear ordinary differential equation , which arises in the problem of the two-dimensional laminar viscous flow over a semi-infinite flat plane. The approach is based on a modified rational Legendre tau method. The operational matrices for the derivative and product of the modified rational Legendre functions are presented. These matrices together with the tau method are utilized to reduce the solution of Blasius' equation to the solution of a system of algebraic equations. A numerical evaluation is included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the method and a comparison is made with existing results

  13. Crab Rationalization Permit Program

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Crab Rationalization Program (Program) allocates BSAI crab resources among harvesters, processors, and coastal communities. The North Pacific Fishery Management...

  14. Should informed consent be based on rational beliefs?

    OpenAIRE

    Savulescu, J; Momeyer, R W

    1997-01-01

    Our aim is to expand the regulative ideal governing consent. We argue that consent should not only be informed but also based on rational beliefs. We argue that holding true beliefs promotes autonomy. Information is important insofar as it helps a person to hold the relevant true beliefs. But in order to hold the relevant true beliefs, competent people must also think rationally. Insofar as information is important, rational deliberation is important. Just as physicians should aim to provide ...

  15. Positive Feedback Investment Strategies and Destabilizing Rational Speculation

    OpenAIRE

    J. Bradford De Long; Andrei Shleifer; Lawrence H. Summers; Robert J. Waldmann

    1989-01-01

    Analyses of the role of rational speculators in financial markets usually presume that such investors dampen price fluctuations by trading against liquidity or noise traders. This conclusion does not necessarily hold when noise traders follow positive-feedback investment strategies buy when prices rise and sell when prices fall. In such cases, it may pay rational speculators to try to jump on the bandwagon early and to purchase ahead of noise trader demand. If rational speculators' attempts t...

  16. Brief Report: Risk-Aversion and Rationality in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosling, Corentin J; Moutier, Sylvain

    2018-05-30

    Risk-aversion and rationality have both been highlighted as core features of decision making in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study tested whether risk-aversion is related to rational decision-making in ASD individuals. ASD and matched control adults completed a decision-making task that discriminated between the use of risk-averse and rational strategies. Results showed that overall, ASD participants were more risk-averse than control participants. Specifically, both groups made similar choices when risk-aversion was the less rational strategy but ASD participants chose more rational options than control participants when risk-aversion was the most rational strategy. This study confirmed that risk-aversion is a core feature of ASD and revealed that ASD individuals can switch their decision-making strategy adaptively to avoid negative consequences.

  17. The impact of economic rationalization, prioritization and rationing on job satisfaction, motivation and team cohesion in hospitals: a survey among retired physician executives in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnoor, Joerg; Braehler, Elmar; Ghanem, Mohamed; Heyde, Christoph E

    2017-01-01

    The growing economization of the health care system and implication of market principles in the medical field have risen new and serious questions on the meaning of the medical profession, the doctor-patient relationship and the orientation of medicine itself. The impact of the dynamic clinical structures on the doctor-doctor and the doctor-patient interaction appear even unpredictable. Therefore, the impact of market-based methods, i.e. rationalization, prioritization and rationing, on job satisfaction, motivation and team cohesion should be quantified. The experiences of former and now retired physician executives in numerous hospitals in Saxony were determined. For this purpose, an anonymously written survey using a standardized questionnaire was conducted in the first quarter of 2016. Rationalization measures were confirmed by 88% of respondents. In more than a third of cases, former executives also experienced prioritization and rationing. The impact of these management techniques on job satisfaction, motivation and team cohesion was carried out in a differentiated manner. There was a tendency to regard rationalization and prioritization measures indifferently to rather disadvantageous, while rationing was predominantly rated negatively. In addition to rationalization, prioritization and rationing measures have now been part of working strategy at the hospitals. On one hand, the conceptual distinction between the terms still seems imprecise; on the other hand, a creeping and imperceptible medico-ethical transgression of the prioritization to rationing seems to have already taken place.

  18. Application of a Genetic Algorithm and Multi Agent System to Explore Emergent Patterns of Social Rationality and a Distress-Based Model for Deceit in the Workplace

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-06-01

    and the Golden Rule as Emergent Properties of Self-Interested Individuals Social rationality is a behavior or action of an individual that results in... prosocially to make a safer product (Grover, 1993). D. SOCIAL RATIONALITY Grover agrees with researchers who theorize that self-interest cannot...to achieve this behavior . Much of the other research with social rationality has been done with simple agents in simple environments. 83 The

  19. Rational Emotive Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knaus, William

    1977-01-01

    Rational Emotive Education--an outgrowth of theories developed by Albert Ellis--is a teaching design of mental health concepts and problem-solving activities designed to help students to approach and cope with their problems through experiential learning, via a structured, thematic sequence of emotive education lessons. (MJB)

  20. Self-deception as pseudo-rational regulation of belief.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michel, Christoph; Newen, Albert

    2010-09-01

    Self-deception is a special kind of motivational dominance in belief-formation. We develop criteria which set paradigmatic self-deception apart from related phenomena of auto-manipulation such as pretense and motivational bias. In self-deception rational subjects defend or develop beliefs of high subjective importance in response to strong counter-evidence. Self-deceivers make or keep these beliefs tenable by putting prima-facie rational defense-strategies to work against their established standards of rational evaluation. In paradigmatic self-deception, target-beliefs are made tenable via reorganizations of those belief-sets that relate relevant data to target-beliefs. This manipulation of the evidential value of relevant data goes beyond phenomena of motivated perception of data. In self-deception belief-defense is pseudo-rational. Self-deceivers will typically apply a dual standard of evaluation that remains intransparent to the subject. The developed model of self-deception as pseudo-rational belief-defense is empirically anchored. So, we hope to put forward a promising candidate. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Rational-Emotive Staff Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forman, Susan G.; Forman, Bruce D.

    1980-01-01

    The application of Rational-Emotive Therapy principles and techniques in in-service education for school personnel is discussed. Teacher and counselor participation in a staff development program is described. (Author)

  2. Adaptive information-theoretic bounded rational decision-making with parametric priors

    OpenAIRE

    Grau-Moya, Jordi; Braun, Daniel A.

    2015-01-01

    Deviations from rational decision-making due to limited computational resources have been studied in the field of bounded rationality, originally proposed by Herbert Simon. There have been a number of different approaches to model bounded rationality ranging from optimality principles to heuristics. Here we take an information-theoretic approach to bounded rationality, where information-processing costs are measured by the relative entropy between a posterior decision strategy and a given fix...

  3. Evaluation of a modified pH-shift process to reduce 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin in spiked catfish and produce a consumer acceptable fried catfish nugget-like product.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, T M; Cerruto-Noya, C A; Schrader, K K; Kleinholz, C W; DeWitt, C A Mireles

    2012-10-01

    Muddy and/or musty off-flavors in farmed-raised catfish occur as a result of the absorption of geosmin (GEO) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), compounds produced by algae. Previous research suggests the acid pH-shift method may be able to reduce off-flavors to produce a consumer acceptable product. The objective of this research was to evaluate application of the acid pH-shift method using a shaker sieve for protein recovery and to evaluate consumer acceptability of a resultant batter-coated fried nugget-like catfish product. Farm-raised catfish were either allowed to depurate (control) or treated with 1 ppb GEO or MIB. Fillets from each replicate were collected and ground and treated by the acid pH-shift process. Samples from all treatments and replicates were evaluated for residual GEO and MIB. In addition, batter-coated fried catfish samples were prepared for a consumer sensory evaluation. Results demonstrated that the pH-shift process decreased moisture, ash, and collagen content of catfish fillet tissue (P evaluated for removing off-flavors from catfish. Difficulties were encountered with regard to protein recovery using the sieve and suggestions are made to, perhaps, make the process more applicable for a sieve-based recovery step. The process as described reduced off-flavors, but only 2-fold suggesting the process would work best on catfish near or just over off-flavor thresholds. Results also indicated the pH-shift process could be used to improve texture of a fried catfish product designed to be similar to chicken nuggets. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

  4. Rational Verification in Iterated Electric Boolean Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Youssouf Oualhadj

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Electric boolean games are compact representations of games where the players have qualitative objectives described by LTL formulae and have limited resources. We study the complexity of several decision problems related to the analysis of rationality in electric boolean games with LTL objectives. In particular, we report that the problem of deciding whether a profile is a Nash equilibrium in an iterated electric boolean game is no harder than in iterated boolean games without resource bounds. We show that it is a PSPACE-complete problem. As a corollary, we obtain that both rational elimination and rational construction of Nash equilibria by a supervising authority are PSPACE-complete problems.

  5. The human factors of implementing shift work in logging operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, D L; Gallagher, T V; Thomas, R E

    2008-10-01

    A fairly recent development in the forest industry is the use of shift work in logging in the southeastern U.S. Logging company owners are implementing shift work as an opportunity to increase production and potentially reduce the cost of producing each unit of wood, without consideration of the potential impacts on the logging crew. There are many documented physiological and psychological impacts on workers from shift work in a variety of industries, although few address forestry workers in the U.S. Semi-structured interviews were performed to gather information about how logging company owners were implementing shift work in seven southeastern states. Data collected during the interviews included employee turnover, shift hours, shift scheduling, safety considerations, and production impacts. Various work schedules were employed. The majority of the schedules encompassed less than 24 hours per day. Permanent and rotating shift schedules were found. None of the logging company owners used more than two crews in a 24-hour period. Additional safety precautions were implemented as a result of working after dark. No in-woods worker accidents or injuries were reported by any of those interviewed. Results indicate that a variety of work schedules can be successfully implemented in the southeastern logging industry.

  6. Does knowing that a suicide was "rational" influence grief?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brazda, Geoffrey F; Range, Lillian M; Remley, Theodore P; White, Carolyn C

    2018-03-15

    Counseling professionals and graduate students (N = 117) recruited online read a randomly assigned one-paragraph vignette about either a non-rational or rational suicide involving an imaginary loved one. Then, they completed the Grief Experiences Questionnaire (GEQ) about how they would feel. The non-rational suicide group expected significantly more search for explanation than the rational suicide group, but were not significantly different on the other six GEQ subscales. All participants expected few distressing reactions to either vignette, suggesting a one-paragraph vignette may not be sufficient to induce the kind of grief many experience when a loved one dies by suicide.

  7. ENERGETIC VALUE OF FORAGES FROM SEMI-ARID REGION AND DIGESTIBILITY OF RATIONS FOR NAKED NECK PULLETS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALEX MARTINS VARELA DE ARRUDA

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The feeding programs for naked neck chickens in semi-intensive production system from brazilian equatorial semi-arid environment, must consider regional food availability and respective nutritional values. Thus, to evaluate the digestibility and metabolizable energy of alternative forages, it was used 240 naked neck pullets (Isa Label lineage receiving water and ration ad libitum, pair-housed in cages for total collection of excreta on conventional warehouse. It was used a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (5x2: one control ration (corn and soy meal and other four experimental rations with silk flower hay (Calotropis procera, cassava leafs hay (Manihot esculenta, kills pasture hay (Senna obtusifolia or leucaena leafs hay (Leucaena leucocephala, and all rations were balanced for two growing phases, between 8 and 10 weeks (young pullets and between 14 and 16 weeks of age (old pullets. The values of apparent digestibility of nutrients for all experimental rations were lower than control ration (P <0.05 and it was observed general means of 72.18% for dry matter, 78.12% for crude protein, 66.90% for ether extract, 28.08% for neutral detergent fiber, 18.51% for the acid detergent fiber, 71.64% for gross energy and availability of 15.61% for mineral matter. The general mean of apparent and corrected metabolizable energy of alternative forages was 1217 kcal/ kg and 1108 kcal/kg, respectively, and the higher value was determined for leucaena hay and the lower value for silk flower hay (P <0.05.

  8. Shifts in biomass and productivity for a subtropical dry forest in response to simulated elevated hurricane disturbances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holm, Jennifer A.; Van Bloem, Skip J.; Larocque, Guy R.; Shugart, Herman H.

    2017-01-01

    Caribbean tropical forests are subject to hurricane disturbances of great variability. In addition to natural storm incongruity, climate change can alter storm formation, duration, frequency, and intensity. This model -based investigation assessed the impacts of multiple storms of different intensities and occurrence frequencies on the long-term dynamics of subtropical dry forests in Puerto Rico. Using the previously validated individual-based gap model ZELIG-TROP, we developed a new hurricane damage routine and parameterized it with site- and species-specific hurricane effects. A baseline case with the reconstructed historical hurricane regime represented the control condition. Ten treatment cases, reflecting plausible shifts in hurricane regimes, manipulated both hurricane return time (i.e. frequency) and hurricane intensity. The treatment-related change in carbon storage and fluxes were reported as changes in aboveground forest biomass (AGB), net primary productivity (NPP), and in the aboveground carbon partitioning components, or annual carbon accumulation (ACA). Increasing the frequency of hurricanes decreased aboveground biomass by between 5% and 39%, and increased NPP between 32% and 50%. Decadal-scale biomass fluctuations were damped relative to the control. In contrast, increasing hurricane intensity did not create a large shift in the long-term average forest structure, NPP, or ACA from that of historical hurricane regimes, but produced large fluctuations in biomass. Decreasing both the hurricane intensity and frequency by 50% produced the highest values of biomass and NPP. For the control scenario and with increased hurricane intensity, ACA was negative, which indicated that the aboveground forest components acted as a carbon source. However, with an increase in the frequency of storms or decreased storms, the total ACA was positive due to shifts in leaf production, annual litterfall, and coarse woody debris inputs, indicating a carbon sink into the

  9. Rational speculative bubbles: A critical view

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radonjić Ognjen

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available According to the theory of rational bubbles, the bubble is present whenever asset prices progressively diverge from their fundamental value, which occurs because agents expect that asset prices will continue to grow exponentially (self-fulfilling prophecies far in the future and consistently, which promises the realization of ever larger capital gains. In our opinion, the basic shortcoming of this theory refers to the assumption that all market agents are perfectly informed and rational and, accordingly, form homogeneous expectations. The model does not explain decision-making processes or expectation formation, nor does it detect potential psychological and institutional factors that might significantly influence decision making processes and market participants’ reactions to news. Since assumptions of the model critically determine its validity, we conclude that comprehensiveness of the rational bubble model is, to put it mildly, limited.

  10. Neuroethics transformation of economic rationality: implications for decision making in business

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José-Félix Lozano

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The economy and business field has traditionally been dominated by a conception of calculator, strategic and profit-maximizing individual rationality. This model of rationality has important theoretical limitations and practical consequences. In recent decades the results of neuroethics´ research seems open new ways for understanding the practical rationality. These new routes, representing a revaluation of emotional and intuitive dimension in cognitive ability and have great relevance for business and economic decision making. The aim of this paper is to analyse the implications of a rational dialogic-friendly (cor-cordis concept for economic and business decision-making. Our work proposes a version of the dialogic-friendly practical rationality that integrate advances in neuroethics with the discursive rationality perspective in order to overcome the strategic rationality and emotivist intuitionism.

  11. [Maintenance ration and conversion efficiency of Hyporhamphus sajori].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, X; Tang, Q

    2001-04-01

    The maintenance ration and conversion efficiency of Japanese halfbeak, Hyporhamphus sajori were tested with enclosures installed in a shrimp raising pond. The results showed that there existed an evident relationship between daily ration(DR) and growth rate(GR) of the fish, GR = 140.37 DR - 24.03. The conversion efficiency was 13.96% in biomass or 16.12% in energy. The maintenance ration was 17.12% and 20.39% of body weight in terms of growth rate and specific growth rate, respectively, indicating that it could be deduced from growth rate quite differently from that from specific growth rate in the same experiment. The abnormal growth rate appeared when daily ration was below 3.30% of body weight, implied that Japanese halfbeak may get other food resources besides supplied net zooplankton.

  12. Rational and moral action : a critical survey of rational choice theory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jonge, J.P.R.

    2009-01-01

    This book is about rational choice theory from a different point of view. It is different for three reasons. First, it pays attention to the unintended consequences of intended actions. Second, it employs a non-instrumental approach to moral actions. And third, it argues that choice opportunities

  13. Economic rationality and health and lifestyle choices for people with diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Rachel Mairi

    2006-11-01

    Economic rationality is traditionally represented by goal-oriented, maximising behaviour, or 'instrumental rationality'. Such a consequentialist, instrumental model of choice is often implicit in a biomedical approach to health promotion and education. The research reported here assesses the relevance of a broader conceptual framework of rationality, which includes 'procedural' and 'expressive' rationality as complements to an instrumental model of rationality, in a health context. Q methodology was used to derive 'factors' underlying health and lifestyle choices, based on a factor analysis of the results of a card sorting procedure undertaken by 27 adult respondents with type 2 diabetes in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. These factors were then compared with the rationality framework and the appropriateness of an extended model of economic rationality as a means of better understanding health and lifestyle choices was assessed. Taking a wider rational choice perspective, choices which are rendered irrational within a narrow-biomedical or strictly instrumental model, can be understood in terms of a coherent rationale, grounded in the accounts of respondents. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of rational choice theory and diabetes management and research.

  14. The Role of Rationality in University Budgeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaffee, Ellen Earle

    1983-01-01

    Although empirical accounts of organizational decision making often show that the process is not a rational one, a study of budgeting at Stanford University during the 1970s, while not conclusive or comprehensive, supported the claim that the institution's process was rational and provided a procedure for testing a decision-making model. (MSE)

  15. Should Teachers Be Taught to Be Rational?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Floden, Robert E.; Feiman, Sharon

    1981-01-01

    Teacher education programs have long attempted to teach students to follow a rational mode of thinking. Recent research on teacher thinking has shown that a gap exists between how teachers think and the rational model. Such research should be used to give teacher educators insight into how their students think and learn. (JN)

  16. Heterogeneity, Bounded Rationality and Market Dysfunctionality

    OpenAIRE

    Xue-Zhong He; Lei Shi

    2008-01-01

    As the main building blocks of the modern finance theory, homogeneity and rational expectation have faced difficulty in explaining many market anomalies, stylized factors, and market inefficiency in empirical studies. As a result, heterogeneity and bounded rationality have been used as an alterative paradigm of asset price dynamics and this paradigm has been widely recognized recently in both academic and financial market practitioners. Within the framework of Chiarella, Dieci and He (2006a, ...

  17. [Attitudes towards age-related rationing of medical supply: results of a cross-national analysis in Germany and Austria].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esslinger, Adelheid Susanne; Meier, Florian; Roller-Wirnsberger, Regina E; Heppner, Hans Jürgen

    2011-07-01

    Expenditure on health-care is increasing over the last years and the demographic shift leads to more elderly patients in the health-care system. Debates about the financial situation and solution about this topic are common. Direct, as well as hidden, rationing is verified by experts. This article discusses the concept of age-dependent prioritization and rationing of health-care expenditures in a cross-national setting. With a standardised questionnaire geriatric physicians in Germany and Austria were asked about their attitude and experience with health-care expenditures in elderly patients. Dimension of medical staff, organising institution and financial resources were also evaluated. The sample was tested with t-test, Mann-Whitney-U-test and explorative factor analysis. All the data were calculated with PASW 17 Statistics(®). From 419 standardised questionnaires 288 forms (60%, Germany: 123, Austria: 165) were evaluated. Differences were shown in patient-age (Germany: 80.4 y, Austria: 71.8 y), carrying capacity (Germany: 74.8, Austria: 110.8) and in medical staff as physicians (Germany: 6.8, Austria: 12.7) and nursing (Germany: 32.2, Austria: 84.3). In infrastructural basic services and normative focusing there was only marginal discrepancy, the public/ecclesiastical organising institution was 71% in both countries. Related to the different financial systems, there was less cost pressure in taking care of elderly patients in Austria. Age-dependent rationing was approved, but there was also a clear endorsement for making resources available for elderly patients in future. The discussion about rationing of health-care expenditures will still go on and therefore the impact of ageism has to be evaluated in further studies.

  18. Hydrogen initiative: An integrated approach toward rational nanocatalyst design for hydrogen production. Technical Report-Year 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vlachos, Dionisios G. [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States); Buttrey, Douglas J. [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States); Lauterbach, Jochen A. [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)

    2007-03-29

    The overall objective of this grant is to develop a rational framework for the discovery of low cost, robust, and active nano-catalysts that will enable efficient hydrogen production. Our approach will be the first demonstration of integrated multiscale model, nano-catalyst synthesis, and nanoscale characterization assisted high throughput experimentation (HTE). We will initially demonstrate our approach with ammonia decomposition on noble metal catalysts. Our research focuses on many elements of the Hydrogen Initiative in the Focus Area of “Design of Catalysts at the Nanoscale’. It combines high-throughput screening methods with various nanostructure synthesis protocols, advanced measurements, novel in situ and ex situ characterization techniques, and multiscale theory, modeling and simulation. This project directly addresses several of the long-term goals of the DOE/BES program. In particular, new nanoscale catalytic materials will be synthesized, characterized and modeled for the production of hydrogen from ammonia and a computational framework will be developed for efficient extraction of information from experimental data and for rational design of catalysts whose impact goes well beyond the proposed hydrogen production project. In the first year of the grant, we have carried out HTE screening using a 16 parallel microreactor coupled with an FTIR analysis system. We screened nearly twenty single metals and several bimetallic catalysts as a function of temperature, catalyst loading, inlet composition, and temperature (order of 400 experiments). We have found that Ru is the best single metal catalyst and no better catalysts were found among the library of bimetallics we have created so far. Furthermore, we have investigated promoting effects (i.e., K, Cs, and Ba) of the Ru catalyst. We have found that K is the dominant promoter of increased Ru activity. Response surface experimental design has led to substantial improvements of the Ru catalyst with promotion

  19. Shift Colors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Publications & News Shift Colors Pages default Sign In NPC Logo Banner : Shift Colors Search Navy Personnel Command > Reference Library > Publications & News > Shift Colors Top Link Bar Navy Personnel Library Expand Reference Library Quick Launch Shift Colors Shift Colors Archives Mailing Address How to

  20. Génération Y : much ado about nothing ? Le talent des jeunes

    OpenAIRE

    Wilkin, Luc

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Baby Boomers, Génération X, Génération Y, Génération du Millénaire, Génération Z, Génération Nintendo, Génération Wii, Génération Internet, Génération C, Génération Google, Génération Mobile, Génération Powerpoint, Génération couper/coller, natifs et immigrants digitaux, Homo sapiens digital ou Homo-zappiens, les vocables ne manquent pas pour désigner, séparer, opposer et segmenter les générations. Celles-ci évoluent, dans les discours, au gré des révolutions proclamées qui survi...

  1. Reduction and Analysis of Low Temperature Shift Heterogeneous Catalyst for Water Gas Reaction in Ammonia Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zečević, N.

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available In order to obtain additional quantities of hydrogen after the reforming reactions of natural gas and protect the ammonia synthesis catalyst, it is crucial to achieve and maintain maximum possible activity, selectivity and stability of the low temperature shift catalyst for conversion of water gas reaction during its lifetime. Whereas the heterogeneous catalyst comes in oxidized form, it is of the utmost importance to conduct the reduction procedure properly. The proper reduction procedure and continuous analysis of its performance would ensure the required activity, selectivity and stability throughout the catalyst’s service time. For the proper reduction procedure ofthe low temperature shift catalyst, in addition to process equipment, also necessary is a reliable and realistic system for temperature measurements, which will be effective for monitoring the exothermal temperature curves through all catalyst bed layers. For efficiency evaluation of low shift temperature catalyst reduction and its optimization, it is necessary to determine at regular time intervals the temperature approach to equilibrium and temperature profiles of individual layers by means of "S" and "die off" temperature exothermal curves. Based on the obtained data, the optimum inlet temperature could be determined, in order to maximally extend the service life of the heterogeneous catalyst as much as possible, and achieve the optimum equilibrium for conversion of the water gas. This paper presents the methodology for in situ reduction of the low temperature shift heterogeneous catalyst and the developed system for monitoring its individual layers to achieve the minimum possible content of carbon monoxide at the exit of the reactor. The developed system for temperature monitoring through heterogeneous catalyst layers provides the proper procedure for reduction and adjustment of optimum process working conditions for the catalyst by the continuous increase of reactor inlet

  2. Lying for the Greater Good: Bounded Rationality in a Team

    OpenAIRE

    Oktay Sürücü

    2014-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the interaction between fully and boundedly rational agents in situations where their interests are perfectly aligned. The cognitive limitations of the boundedly rational agent do not allow him to fully understand the market conditions and lead him to take non-optimal decisions in some situations. Using categorization to model bounded rationality, we show that the fully rational agent can nudge, i.e., he can manipulate the information he sends and decrease the exp...

  3. Bounded rationality alters the dynamics of paediatric immunization acceptance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oraby, Tamer; Bauch, Chris T

    2015-06-02

    Interactions between disease dynamics and vaccinating behavior have been explored in many coupled behavior-disease models. Cognitive effects such as risk perception, framing, and subjective probabilities of adverse events can be important determinants of the vaccinating behaviour, and represent departures from the pure "rational" decision model that are often described as "bounded rationality". However, the impact of such cognitive effects in the context of paediatric infectious disease vaccines has received relatively little attention. Here, we develop a disease-behavior model that accounts for bounded rationality through prospect theory. We analyze the model and compare its predictions to a reduced model that lacks bounded rationality. We find that, in general, introducing bounded rationality increases the dynamical richness of the model and makes it harder to eliminate a paediatric infectious disease. In contrast, in other cases, a low cost, highly efficacious vaccine can be refused, even when the rational decision model predicts acceptance. Injunctive social norms can prevent vaccine refusal, if vaccine acceptance is sufficiently high in the beginning of the vaccination campaign. Cognitive processes can have major impacts on the predictions of behaviour-disease models, and further study of such processes in the context of vaccination is thus warranted.

  4. Rational desires and the limitation of life-sustaining treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savulescu, Julian

    1994-07-01

    It is accepted that treatment of previously competent, now incompetent patients can be limited if that is what the patient would desire, if she were now competent. Expressed past preferences or an advance directive are often taken to constitute sufficient evidence of what a patient would now desire. I distinguish between desires and rational desires. I argue that for a desire to be an expression of a person's autonomy, it must be or satisfy that person's rational desires. A person rationally desires a course of action if that person desires it while being in possession of all available relevant facts, without committing relevant error of logic, and "vividly imagining" what its consequences would be like for her. I argue that some competent, expressed desires obstruct autonomy. I show that several psychological mechanisms operate to prevent a person rationally evaluating what future life in a disabled state would be like. Rational evaluation is difficult. However, treatment limitation, if it is to respect autonomy, must be in accord with a patient's rational desires, and not merely her expressed desires. I illustrate the implications of these arguments for the use of advance directives and for the treatment of competent patients.

  5. Rational analysis and index of plasticity of clays for extrusion evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, A.R.; Guimaraes Filho, M.A.S.; Santos, C.V.P.; Fagury Neto, E.; Rabelo, A.A.

    2011-01-01

    In the microregion Maraba, in the southeast paraense, there's a important industrial park in the area of red ceramic due to the quality of the extracted clays in the proximities of their rivers. With the intention of collaborating for the production of tiles and structural blocks of quality, in this work the rational analysis of clays was accomplished, through the relationship of the qualitative X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence results. Was possible to quantify the present phases in the collected clays and these results were correlated to the Atterberg's limits - plasticity and liquidity limitsand the respective plasticity indexes - making possible to classify the clays in areas of great and acceptable extrusion. The results of the rational analysis demonstrated that the analyzed clays are plastic kaolinites and don't present quantitative differences very accentuated among the present phases detected besides they possess an area of acceptable extrusion naturally. (author)

  6. Development of rations for the enhanced survival of salmon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewing, R.D.; Lagasse, J.P.

    1990-12-01

    The nutritional quality of feed plays an important role in determining the health and ''fitness'' of smolts. Commercial fish meal, the major source of protein in salmon rations, may be reduced in quality from poor drying techniques during manufacture. Dietary stress in the hatchery may result. This investigation tests the hypothesis that protein quality of fish rations can influence the survival of smolts and the ultimate return of adults. The test involves a comparison between performances of coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) reared on rations containing very high quality protein derived from vacuum dried meals and those of fish reared on commercial rations, with commercial fish meal as a source of protein. Survival and return of several brood years of test and control fish are used to measure the influence of ration on survival. This report includes recovery data from these marked fish collected 1982 through September 1990

  7. Rational emotive behaviour therapy: distinctive features

    OpenAIRE

    Dryden, Windy

    2008-01-01

    Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) encourages the client to focus on their emotional problems in order to understand, challenge and change the irrational beliefs that underpin these problems. REBT can help clients to strengthen conviction in their alternative rational beliefs by acting in ways that are consistent with them and thus encourage a healthier outlook.\\ud \\ud This accessible and direct guide introduces the reader to REBT while indicating how it is different from other approac...

  8. Rationally Addicted to Drinking and Smoking?

    OpenAIRE

    Bask, Mikael; Melkersson, Maria

    2001-01-01

    When modeling demand for addictive consumption goods, the most widely used framework is the rational addiction model proposed by Becker and Murphy (1988). In the present paper, we extend the rational addiction model to include two addictive consumption goods, alcohol and cigarettes. We estimate the aggregate demand for alcohol and cigarettes in Sweden, using aggregate annual time series on sales volumes for the period 1955-1999. OLS estimates are compared to GMM estimates allowing for possibl...

  9. The Emotional and Moral Basis of Rationality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boostrom, Robert

    2013-01-01

    This chapter explores the basis of rationality, arguing that critical thinking tends to be taught in schools as a set of skills because of the failure to recognize that choosing to think critically depends on the prior development of stable sentiments or moral habits that nourish a rational self. Primary among these stable sentiments are the…

  10. Lanthanide shift reagents, binding, shift mechanisms and exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boer, J.W.M. de

    1977-01-01

    Paramagnetic lanthanide shift reagents, when added to a solution of a substrate, induce shifts in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of the substrate molecules. The induced shifts contain information about the structure of the shift reagent substrate complex. The structural information, however, may be difficult to extract because of the following effects: (1) different complexes between shift reagent and substrate may be present in solution, e.g. 1:1 and 1:2 complexes, and the shift observed is a weighed average of the shifts of the substrate nuclei in the different complexes; (2) the Fermi contact interaction, arising from the spin density at the nucleus, contributes to the induced shift; (3) chemical exchange effects may complicate the NMR spectrum. In this thesis, the results of an investigation into the influence of these effects on the NMR spectra of solutions containing a substrate and LSR are presented. The equations describing the pseudo contact and the Fermi contact shift are derived. In addition, it is shown how the modified Bloch equations describing the effect of the chemical exchange processes occurring in the systems studied can be reduced to the familiar equations for a two-site exchange case. The binding of mono- and bifunctional ethers to the shift reagent are reported. An analysis of the induced shifts is given. Finally, the results of the experiments performed to study the exchange behavior of dimethoxyethane and heptafluorodimethyloctanedionato ligands are presented

  11. A rational approach to resonance saturation in large-Nc QCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masjuan, Pere; Peris, Santiago

    2007-01-01

    We point out that resonance saturation in QCD can be understood in the large-N c limit from the mathematical theory of Pade Approximants to meromorphic functions. These approximants are rational functions which encompass any saturation with a finite number of resonances as a particular example, explaining several results which have appeared in the literature. We review the main properties of Pade Approximants with the help of a toy model for the (VV-AA) two-point correlator, paying particular attention to the relationship among the Chiral Expansion, the Operator Product Expansion and the resonance spectrum. In passing, we also comment on an old proposal made by Migdal in 1977 which has recently attracted much attention in the context of AdS/QCD models. Finally, we apply the simplest Pade Approximant to the (VV-AA) correlator in the real case of QCD. The general conclusion is that a rational approximant may reliably describe a Green's function in the Euclidean, but the same is not true in the Minkowski regime due to the appearance of unphysical poles and/or residues

  12. Study of the Use of Oxygen-Absorbing Packaging Material to Prolong Shelf-Life of Rations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-28

    ingress reducing the quality of packaged products containing high oil content, including MRE hot fill non- retort items such as cheese spread, and mayonnaise...problem of oxygen ingress reducing the quality of packaged products containing high oil content, including MRE hot fill non- retort items such as cheese...for the use of the new oxygen absorber technology to all combat ration packages that have head spacing issues, including retort MRE pouches. It was

  13. 50 CFR 660.337 - Trawl rationalization program - data collection requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Trawl rationalization program - data... COAST STATES West Coast Groundfish Fisheries § 660.337 Trawl rationalization program - data collection... guarantee that they will qualify for quota share under a future trawl rationalization program. The following...

  14. The child as econometrician: a rational model of preference understanding in children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher G Lucas

    Full Text Available Recent work has shown that young children can learn about preferences by observing the choices and emotional reactions of other people, but there is no unified account of how this learning occurs. We show that a rational model, built on ideas from economics and computer science, explains the behavior of children in several experiments, and offers new predictions as well. First, we demonstrate that when children use statistical information to learn about preferences, their inferences match the predictions of a simple econometric model. Next, we show that this same model can explain children's ability to learn that other people have preferences similar to or different from their own and use that knowledge to reason about the desirability of hidden objects. Finally, we use the model to explain a developmental shift in preference understanding.

  15. The two-model problem in rational decision making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boumans, Marcel

    2011-01-01

    A model of a decision problem frames that problem in three dimensions: sample space, target probability and information structure. Each specific model imposes a specific rational decision. As a result, different models may impose different, even contradictory, rational decisions, creating choice

  16. Realization and elimination in rational representations of behaviors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gottimukkala, Sasanka V.; Trentelman, Hendrikus; Fiaz, Shaik

    This article deals with the relationship between rational representations of linear differential systems and their state representations. In particular we study the relationship between rational representations on the one hand, and output nulling and driving variable representations on the other. In

  17. The rationality of EIA forecasts under symmetric and asymmetric loss

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auffhammer, Maximilian

    2007-01-01

    The United States Energy Information Administration publishes annual forecasts of nationally aggregated energy consumption, production, prices, intensity and GDP. These government issued forecasts often serve as reference cases in the calibration of simulation and econometric models, which climate and energy policy are based on. This study tests for rationality of published EIA forecasts under symmetric and asymmetric loss. We find strong empirical evidence of asymmetric loss for oil, coal and electricity prices as well as natural gas consumption, electricity sales, GDP and energy intensity. (author)

  18. The rationality of EIA forecasts under symmetric and asymmetric loss

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auffhammer, Maximilian [Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, 207 Giannini Hall 3310, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

    2007-05-15

    The United States Energy Information Administration publishes annual forecasts of nationally aggregated energy consumption, production, prices, intensity and GDP. These government issued forecasts often serve as reference cases in the calibration of simulation and econometric models, which climate and energy policy are based on. This study tests for rationality of published EIA forecasts under symmetric and asymmetric loss. We find strong empirical evidence of asymmetric loss for oil, coal and electricity prices as well as natural gas consumption, electricity sales, GDP and energy intensity. (author)

  19. Tilt shift determinations with spatial-carrier phase-shift method in temporal phase-shift interferometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Qian; Wang, Yang; He, Jianguo; Ji, Fang; Wang, Baorui

    2014-01-01

    An algorithm is proposed to deal with tilt-shift errors in temporal phase-shift interferometry (PSI). In the algorithm, the tilt shifts are detected with the spatial-carrier phase-shift (SCPS) method and then the tilt shifts are applied as priori information to the least-squares fittings of phase retrieval. The algorithm combines the best features of the SCPS and the temporal PSI. The algorithm could be applied to interferograms of arbitrary aperture without data extrapolation for the Fourier transform is not involved. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The statistics of simulation results show a satisfied accuracy in detecting tilt-shift errors. Comparisons of the measurements with and without environmental vibration show that the proposed algorithm could compensate tilt-shift errors and retrieve wavefront phase accurately. The algorithm provides an approach to retrieve wavefront phase for the temporal PSI in vibrating environment. (paper)

  20. Rational first integrals of geodesic equations and generalised hidden symmetries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Arata; Houri, Tsuyoshi; Tomoda, Kentaro

    2016-01-01

    We discuss novel generalisations of Killing tensors, which are introduced by considering rational first integrals of geodesic equations. We introduce the notion of inconstructible generalised Killing tensors, which cannot be constructed from ordinary Killing tensors. Moreover, we introduce inconstructible rational first integrals, which are constructed from inconstructible generalised Killing tensors, and provide a method for checking the inconstructibility of a rational first integral. Using the method, we show that the rational first integral of the Collinson–O’Donnell solution is not inconstructible. We also provide several examples of metrics admitting an inconstructible rational first integral in two and four-dimensions, by using the Maciejewski–Przybylska system. Furthermore, we attempt to generalise other hidden symmetries such as Killing–Yano tensors. (paper)

  1. Mental health as rational autonomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, R B

    1981-08-01

    Rather than eliminate the terms "mental health and illness" because of the grave moral consequences of psychiatric labeling, conservative definitions are proposed and defended. Mental health is rational autonomy, and mental illness is the sustained loss of such. Key terms are explained, advantages are explored, and alternative concepts are criticized. The value and descriptive components of all such definitions are consciously acknowledged. Where rational autonomy is intact, mental hospitals and psychotherapists should not think of themselves as treating an illness. Instead, they are functioning as applied axiologists, moral educators, spiritual mentors, etc. They deal with what Szasz has called "personal, social, and ethical problems in living." But mental illness is real.

  2. Milk Chemical Composition of Dairy Cows Fed Rations Containing Protected Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Fermented Rice Bran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudibya

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The research was conducted to investigate the effect of ration containing protected omega-3 and fermented rice bran on chemical composition of dairy milk. The research employed 10 female PFH dairy cows of 2-4 years old with body weight 300-375 kg. The research was assigned in randomized complete block design. The treatment consisted of P0= control ration, P1= P0 + 20% fermented rice bran, P2= P1 + 4% soya bean oil, P3= P1 + 4% protected tuna fish oil and P4= P1 + 4% protected lemuru fish oil. The results showed that the effects of fish oil supplementation in the rations significantly (P<0.01 decreased feed consumption, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, lipids, and saturated fatty acids. Meanwhile, it increased milk production, content of high density lipoprotein, omega-3, omega-6 and unsaturated fatty acids in the dairy cows milk. It is concluded that the inclusion of 4% protected fish oil in the rations can produce healthy milk by decreasing milk cholesterol and increasing omega-3 fatty acids content.

  3. NMR chemical shift and J coupling parameterization and quantum mechanical reference spectrum simulation for selected nerve agent degradation products in aqueous conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koskela, Harri; Anđelković, Boban

    2017-10-01

    The spectral parameters of selected nerve agent degradation products relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention, namely, ethyl methylphosphonate, isopropyl methylphosphonate, pinacolyl methylphosphonate and methylphosphonic acid, were studied in wide range of pH conditions and selected temperatures. The pH and temperature dependence of chemical shifts and J couplings was parameterized using Henderson-Hasselbalch-based functions. The obtained parameters allowed calculation of precise chemical shifts and J coupling constants in arbitrary pH conditions and typical measurement temperatures, thus facilitating quantum mechanical simulation of reference spectra in the chosen magnetic field strength for chemical verification. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Design rationalization and the logic of design: a case study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galle, Per

    1996-01-01

    various ‘sources of credibility’ of premises, items of general background knowledge, and several (abductive and deductive) patterns of inference which suggest a possible ‘logic of design’. Rationalization of decisions is defined, and many decisions are found not to be fully rationalized, despite...... the apparent rationality of the reasoning....

  5. Application gamma radiation of cobalt-60 in disinfestation of some types of rations for feeding small animals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arthur, Paula Bergamin

    2012-01-01

    The pests as beetles, mites, moths and mushrooms among other, usually infest products stored as: grains, crumbs, flours, coffee, tobacco, dried fruits, animal rations, spices, dehydrated plants, causing the visual depreciation and promoting to deterioration of the products. The present research had as objective the use of the gamma radiation in the disinfestation of some types of rations used for feeding animals of small size. In the first experiment packing of free samples were used measuring 10 cm x 20 cm with capacity of 70 grams of substrate (ration) with 4 types of existent marks in the trade: (1), (2), e (3), and (4). Each treatment consisted of 10 repetitions, that were irradiated with doses of: 0 (control) 0,5; 1,0 and 2,0 kGy, to do the disinfestation of the samples. After the irradiation (disinfestation) of the all irradiated packing and more the control was conditioned in plastic boxes of 80 cm x 50 cm with cover, where the insects were liberated Lasioderma serricorne, Plodia interpuctella, Sitophilus zeamais and Sitophilus oryzae, in a total of 400 for each box and maintained at room acclimatized with 27 ± 2 Deg C and relative humidity of 70 ± 5%. In the second experiment packing were used made with the materials of packing of the first experiment. Each packing was made of 10 cm x 15 cm, with capacity of 30 grams of substrate (ration). In each repetition was inoculated 10 insects of each species, in a total of 400 insects for experiment per box. The packing with substrate and insect, were stamped in commercial machine and irradiated with doses of: 0 (control) 0,5; 1,0 and 2,0 kGy. The irradiated packing and the control were maintained at room acclimatized same the mentioned in the first experiment. The counting of the number of insects and holes in the packing were made after 60 days. Concluded that only the packing of the ration type number 4 was susceptive to attack of all species of insects. The dose of 0,5 kGy was sufficient to induce the

  6. Advantages of shift changeovers with meetings: ergonomic analysis of shift supervisors' activity in aircraft building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Bris, Valérie; Barthe, Béatrice; Marquié, Jean-Claude; Kerguelen, Alain; Aubert, Sophie; Bernadou, Bernadette

    2012-03-01

    Good shift changeovers contribute to ensuring continuity and reliability in shift work. In situations where production is not maintained 24 h a day, changeovers with meetings (SCM) between the two work teams (written plus oral face-to-face handovers) alternate with changeovers without meetings (SCnM; written handovers only). An ergonomic work analysis on an aircraft assembly line showed that (1) incoming and outgoing operators met during the overlap time allotted by the company, and (2) the content of the exchanges was richer for SCMs than for SCnMs. SCMs enabled the operators to pass on and process more aspects of their work than SCnMs did. SCMs also allowed incoming operators to validate their predictions, and enabled both outgoing and incoming operators to update their mental models and work together on peripheral aspects of the technical process over a greater time span. The findings highlight the importance of allowing overlap time in shift work. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  7. A climate-change policy induced shift from innovations in carbon-energy production to carbon-energy savings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerlagh, Reyer

    2008-01-01

    We develop an endogenous growth model with capital, labor and carbon-energy as production factors and three technology variables that measure accumulated innovations for carbon-energy production, carbon-energy savings, and neutral growth. All markets are complete and perfect, except for research, for which we assume that the marginal social benefits exceed the marginal private benefits by factor four. The model constants are calibrated so that the model reproduces the relevant global trends over the 1970-2000 period. The model contains a simple climate module, and is used to assess the impact of Induced Technological Change (ITC) for a policy that aims at a maximum level of atmospheric CO 2 concentration (450 ppmv). ITC is shown to reduce the required carbon tax by more than a factor 2, and to reduce costs of such a policy by half. When we do not constrain aggregate R and D expenditures to benchmark levels, costs are further reduced. Numerical simulations show that knowledge accumulation shifts from energy production to energy saving technology. We discuss reasons for differences between our results and earlier results reported in the literature. (author)

  8. Emergence of scale-free characteristics in socio-ecological systems with bounded rationality

    OpenAIRE

    Kasthurirathna, Dharshana; Piraveenan, Mahendra

    2015-01-01

    Socio?ecological systems are increasingly modelled by games played on complex networks. While the concept of Nash equilibrium assumes perfect rationality, in reality players display heterogeneous bounded rationality. Here we present a topological model of bounded rationality in socio-ecological systems, using the rationality parameter of the Quantal Response Equilibrium. We argue that system rationality could be measured by the average Kullback?-Leibler divergence between Nash and Quantal Res...

  9. Game interrupted: The rationality of considering the future

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandon Almy

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The ``problem of points'', introduced by Paccioli in 1494 and solved by Pascal and Fermat 160 years later, inspired the modern concept of probability. Incidentally, the problem also shows that rational decision-making requires the consideration of future events. We show that naive responses to the problem of points are more future oriented and thus more rational in this sense when the problem itself is presented in a future frame instead of the canonical past frame. A simple nudge is sufficient to make decisions more rational. We consider the implications of this finding for hypothesis testing and predictions of replicability.

  10. Teaching Rational Entitlement and Responsibility: A Socratic Exercise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Godden

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The paper reports on a Socratic exercise that introduces participants to the norm of rational entitlement, as distinct from political entitlement, and the attendant norm of rational responsibility. The exercise demonstrates that, because participants are not willing to exchange their own opinion at random for another differing opinion to which the owner is, by the participants’ own admission, entitled, they treat their entitlement to their own opinion differently, giving it a special status. This gives rise to rational obligations such as the obligation to provide reasons, and a willingness to risk those opinions to the force of the better reason.

  11. Rational equity bubbles

    OpenAIRE

    Zhou, Ge

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses the existence of a bubble in the pricing of an asset that pays positive dividends. I show that rational bubbles can exist in a growing economy. The existence of bubbles depends on the relative magnitudes of risk aversion to consumption and to wealth. Furthermore, I examine how an exogenous shock in technology might trigger bubbles.

  12. H-mode-like discharge under the presence of 1/1 rational surface at ergodic layer in LHD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morita, Shigeru; Morisaki, Tomohiro; Tanaka, Kenji

    2004-01-01

    H-mode-like discharge was found in LHD with a full B t field of 2.5T at an outwardly shifted configuration of R ax = 4.00 m where the m/n = 1/1 rational surface is located at the ergodic layer. The H-mode-like discharge was triggered by changing the P NBI from 9MW to 5 MW in a density range of 4-8 x 10 13 cm -3 , followed by a clear density rise, ELM-like H α bursts, and a reduction of magnetic fluctuation. These H-mode-like features vanished with a small radial movement of the 1/1 surface. (author)

  13. Improving Former Shifted Cultivation Land Using Wetland Cultivation in Kapuas District, Central Kalimantan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wahyudi Wahyudi

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Degraded forest area in Kalimantan could be caused by shifted cultivation activity that be conducted by local peoples in the surrounding forest areas. Efforts to improve the former shifted cultivation area (non productive land is developing the settled cultivation by use of irrigation system, better paddy seed, land processing, fertilizing, spraying pesticide, weeding, and better acces to the market.  Local peoples, especially in Kalimantan, has been depended their food on the shifted cultivation pattern since the long time ago.  This tradition could cause forest damage, forest fire, forest degradation, deforestation, and lose out of children education because they were following shifted cultivation activity although itsspace is very far from their home.  This research was aimed to improve former shifted cultivation lands using wetland cultivation in order to improve land productivity and to support food securityin the local community. This research was administratively located in Tanjung Rendan Village, Kapuas Hulu Sub-Ddistrict, Kapuas District, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.  Data of rice yield from settled cultivation and shifted cultivation were got from 15 households that was taking by random at 2010 to 2011. Homogeneity test, analysis of variants, and least significant different (LSD test using SPSS 15.0 for Windows. Result of this research showed that     paddy yield at settled cultivation was significantly differentand better than shifted cultivation at 0.05 level. LSD test also indicated that all paddy yields from settled cultivation were significantly different compare to shifted cultivation at the 0.05 level.  The community in Tanjung Rendan Villages preferred settled cultivation than shifted cultivation, especially due to higher paddy production. Profit for settled cultivation was IDR10.95 million ha-1, meanwhile profit for shifted cultivation was just IDR 2.81 million ha-1 only.  Settled cultivation pattern could

  14. Imagination and the Pursuit of a Rational Rhetoric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, David E.

    The works of certain rhetorical thinkers contain strategies directed at achieving assent or cooperation. Such writings demonstrate means by which readers' rational responses can be deliberately challenged and disrupted. While people often cite Aristotle's maxim "Man is a rational animal," critics have asserted that the statement…

  15. Cassapro in broiler ration : effect of halquinol Supplementation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.P Kompiang

    1997-10-01

    Full Text Available A trial was conducted to determine the effect of various level of cassapro (fermented cassava and halquinol supplementation on the performance of broiler chickens . Experimental rations were formulated isoprotein and isoenergy with graded level of cassapro (0, 10, 20 and 30% . The 20 and 30% cassapro ration were prepared without and with halquinol supplementation (60 ppm. Each ration was fed to 40 of three day old broilers, divided into 4 cages ( 5 males and 5 females per cage for 4 weeks. Increasing the level of cassapro significantly reduced body weight gain (P < 0.005, increased feed conversion ratio (FCR (P < 0.0005 with no effect on feed intake (P < 0.10 . Halquinol supplementation has no effect on feed intake, but significantly increased body weight gain (P <0.05 and improved the FCR (P < 0.01 . It is concluded that high level of cassapro in the ration will cause poorer performance of the birds, however it can be alleviated by halquinolsupplementation.

  16. The rational complementarity problem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heemels, W.P.M.H.; Schumacher, J.M.; Weiland, S.

    1999-01-01

    An extension of the linear complementarity problem (LCP) of mathematical programming is the so-called rational complementarity problem (RCP). This problem occurs if complementarity conditions are imposed on input and output variables of linear dynamical input/state/output systems. The resulting

  17. Consumer rationality in choice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Conlon, B.J.

    2001-01-01

    The dissertation concentrates on consumer choice and the ability of current modelling approaches to capture the underlying behaviour of the individual decision-makers. The standard assumption of a rational utility maximising individual and its implications for observed behaviour are examined and

  18. Universal and Relative Rationality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathaniel Goldberg

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I illustrate how a basic kind of universal rationality can be profitably combined with undeniable instances of relativism. I do so by engaging Michael Friedman’s recent response to a challenge from Thomas Kuhn.

  19. A Comparative Analysis of Two Software Development Methodologies: Rational Unified Process and Extreme Programming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo Rafael Borth

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Software development methodologies were created to meet the great market demand for innovation, productivity, quality and performance. With the use of a methodology, it is possible to reduce the cost, the risk, the development time, and even increase the quality of the final product. This article compares two of these development methodologies: the Rational Unified Process and the Extreme Programming. The comparison shows the main differences and similarities between the two approaches, and highlights and comments some of their predominant features.

  20. Topicality and Complexity in the Acquisition of Norwegian Object Shift

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderssen, Merete; Bentzen, Kristine; Rodina, Yulia

    2012-01-01

    This article investigates the acquisition of object shift in Norwegian child language. We show that object shift is complex derivationally, distributionally, and referentially, and propose a new analysis in terms of IP-internal topicalization. The results of an elicited production study with 27 monolingual Norwegian-speaking children (ages…

  1. Effectiveness of the Twelve-Hour Shift.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinton, Robert D.

    1983-01-01

    Although labor unions traditionally have fought for shorter working hours, there have been recent reversals in this trend. The Pulp and Paperboard Division of Temple-Eastex Incorporated converted to a 12-hour shift and found that safety improved, productivity increased, and overtime decreased. (JOW)

  2. Rational Emotive Education as a Short-Term Primary Prevention Technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooper, Stephen R.; Layne, C. Clinton

    1985-01-01

    Fifth- to seventh-grade students (N=586) who participated in one hour of Rational Emotive Education (a directive approach to teaching rational thinking skills) for six weeks scored higher in posttests of the Com oA Belief Inventory for Students than control Ss (N=738) who received no Rational Emotive Education. Findings suggested the utility of a…

  3. 'Ethical rationality': A subjective-objective concept of risk assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaiser, H.

    1991-01-01

    'Ethical rationality' as a concept of risk assessment means that risks are assessed using an integrative, ethical-normative approach (taking values, world views and people's understanding of what it means to be a human being and of what makes life worth living into account). Thus risks cannot be assessed on a mathematical and statistical basis alone. It is much more important to reflect upon what makes life worth living. In order to answer this question, the rationality of probability calculus does not suffice. Instead, this form of rationality must be transformed into or replaced by ethical discourse (an open, iterative and complex process of making ethical judgement). Proposals for an ethical assessment of risk are made which are substantiated by the theoretical concept of ethical rationality comprising the following steps: - Consideration of the nature of ethics (understanding of the viewer's perspective); - A look at an ethical interpretation of the traditional mathematical concept of risk (description); - Scheme for an ethical conception of rationality (theoretical reflections); - Weighing risks from an ethical perspective in practice. (orig./HSCH) [de

  4. Cooperation, psychological game theory, and limitations of rationality in social interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colman, Andrew M

    2003-04-01

    Rational choice theory enjoys unprecedented popularity and influence in the behavioral and social sciences, but it generates intractable problems when applied to socially interactive decisions. In individual decisions, instrumental rationality is defined in terms of expected utility maximization. This becomes problematic in interactive decisions, when individuals have only partial control over the outcomes, because expected utility maximization is undefined in the absence of assumptions about how the other participants will behave. Game theory therefore incorporates not only rationality but also common knowledge assumptions, enabling players to anticipate their co-players' strategies. Under these assumptions, disparate anomalies emerge. Instrumental rationality, conventionally interpreted, fails to explain intuitively obvious features of human interaction, yields predictions starkly at variance with experimental findings, and breaks down completely in certain cases. In particular, focal point selection in pure coordination games is inexplicable, though it is easily achieved in practice; the intuitively compelling payoff-dominance principle lacks rational justification; rationality in social dilemmas is self-defeating; a key solution concept for cooperative coalition games is frequently inapplicable; and rational choice in certain sequential games generates contradictions. In experiments, human players behave more cooperatively and receive higher payoffs than strict rationality would permit. Orthodox conceptions of rationality are evidently internally deficient and inadequate for explaining human interaction. Psychological game theory, based on nonstandard assumptions, is required to solve these problems, and some suggestions along these lines have already been put forward.

  5. Quality testing as a reserve for rationalization measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Babic, H.G.

    1979-01-01

    The increase in large-scale planning activities and their realization in all fields of quality testing as opposed to the requirements for a reduction of costs emphasizes the necessity of rationaling measures. Especially during the planning phases there are a number of possibilities for solving this problem: the determination of reference dates for production devices based on the preparation of dates with regard to machines and testing, the assignment of the testing frequency in dependence of the quotient from deviations in production and characteristics tolerances, the application of methods of operation planning following different priority rules. Apart from already existing systems for normal and computeraided planning of testing material application by the help of which the most optimal testing material is selected for certain testing jobs systematic representations and programs for the planning of the testing procedure and the testing precision will enrich the joint complex of the organization of testing procedures. (orig./RW) [de

  6. Rational homotopy theory and differential forms

    CERN Document Server

    Griffiths, Phillip

    2013-01-01

    This completely revised and corrected version of the well-known Florence notes circulated by the authors together with E. Friedlander examines basic topology, emphasizing homotopy theory. Included is a discussion of Postnikov towers and rational homotopy theory. This is then followed by an in-depth look at differential forms and de Tham's theorem on simplicial complexes. In addition, Sullivan's results on computing the rational homotopy type from forms is presented.  New to the Second Edition: *Fully-revised appendices including an expanded discussion of the Hirsch lemma*Presentation of a natu

  7. Rational approximation of vertical segments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salazar Celis, Oliver; Cuyt, Annie; Verdonk, Brigitte

    2007-08-01

    In many applications, observations are prone to imprecise measurements. When constructing a model based on such data, an approximation rather than an interpolation approach is needed. Very often a least squares approximation is used. Here we follow a different approach. A natural way for dealing with uncertainty in the data is by means of an uncertainty interval. We assume that the uncertainty in the independent variables is negligible and that for each observation an uncertainty interval can be given which contains the (unknown) exact value. To approximate such data we look for functions which intersect all uncertainty intervals. In the past this problem has been studied for polynomials, or more generally for functions which are linear in the unknown coefficients. Here we study the problem for a particular class of functions which are nonlinear in the unknown coefficients, namely rational functions. We show how to reduce the problem to a quadratic programming problem with a strictly convex objective function, yielding a unique rational function which intersects all uncertainty intervals and satisfies some additional properties. Compared to rational least squares approximation which reduces to a nonlinear optimization problem where the objective function may have many local minima, this makes the new approach attractive.

  8. Teaching Rational Decision-Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolever, Roberts

    1978-01-01

    Presented is an outline of a college course, "Education in American Society," that focused on teaching students rational decision-making skills while examining current issues in American Education. The outline is followed by student comments, reactions, and evaluations of the course. (JMD)

  9. Geometry of minimal rational curves on Fano manifolds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, J -M [Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2001-12-15

    This lecture is an introduction to my joint project with N. Mok where we develop a geometric theory of Fano manifolds of Picard number 1 by studying the collection of tangent directions of minimal rational curves through a generic point. After a sketch of some historical background, the fundamental object of this project, the variety of minimal rational tangents, is defined and various examples are examined. Then some results on the variety of minimal rational tangents are discussed including an extension theorem for holomorphic maps preserving the geometric structure. Some applications of this theory to the stability of the tangent bundles and the rigidity of generically finite morphisms are given. (author)

  10. Exploring the Feasibility of Using Silage-Based Feed with Alternative Sources of Protein in Organic Pig Rations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth C. Clements

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Current regulations for organic pig and poultry production systems permit feed ingredients of non-organic origin at an inclusion rate of up to 5 per cent. This is primarily due to concerns that there is an insufficient supply of organic protein on the European Union market, in terms of quality and quantity, to meet the nutritional requirements of pigs and poultry raised on organic farms. However, 100 per cent organic diets for monogastric livestock will become compulsory in the EU from 1 January 2018, and there is therefore a need to develop sustainable feeding strategies based on organic feeds. This feed trial conducted in the UK explores the feasibility of using a silage-based feeding system for Gloucester Old Spot pigs, and compares the inclusion of soya, beans and peas as protein sources in terms of pig growth performance. No significant difference in the pen mean daily live weight gain was observed during the grower phase (pen mean age of 11-14 weeks between the diet groups. However, during the finisher phase (pen mean age of 15-22 weeks, pigs on the soya and pea rations had significantly faster growth rates than pigs fed the bean ration. It is speculated that the slight shortfall in growth rate observed in the pigs fed the bean ration may be offset by the lower cost of production of beans in the UK. This feasibility trial demonstrates that a 100 per cent organic diet for pigs using alternative, locally-grown sources of protein as part of a forage-based ration can provide a viable alternative to a soya-based diet.

  11. Working Memory Strategies during Rational Number Magnitude Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurst, Michelle; Cordes, Sara

    2017-01-01

    Rational number understanding is a critical building block for success in more advanced mathematics; however, how rational number magnitudes are conceptualized is not fully understood. In the current study, we used a dual-task working memory (WM) interference paradigm to investigate the dominant type of strategy (i.e., requiring verbal WM…

  12. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: Origins, Constructs, and Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Joshua C.

    In 1956, Dr. Albert Ellis presented his seminal work on Rational Therapy, subsequently renamed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in 1993. This paper explores the origins, theoretical foundations, applications, and implications of REBT and provides a look at the empirical research available in support of the approach's efficacy. REBT is…

  13. Rationality and Integration in a Family Childrearing Decision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diana, Mark S.

    This paper illuminates how concepts of rationality developed by Diesing in l962 are reflected in parents' childrearing decisions. After examining technical (TR), economic (ER), social (SR), legal (LR), and political (PR) rationalities or decision-making styles, consideration is given to integrative effects and the influence of parents' friends and…

  14. World oil demand's shift toward faster growing and less price-responsive products and regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dargay, Joyce M.; Gately, Dermot

    2010-01-01

    Using data for 1971-2008, we estimate the effects of changes in price and income on world oil demand, disaggregated by product - transport oil, fuel oil (residual and heating oil), and other oil - for six groups of countries. Most of the demand reductions since 1973-74 were due to fuel-switching away from fuel oil, especially in the OECD; in addition, the collapse of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) reduced their oil consumption substantially. Demand for transport and other oil was much less price-responsive, and has grown almost as rapidly as income, especially outside the OECD and FSU. World oil demand has shifted toward products and regions that are faster growing and less price-responsive. In contrast to projections to 2030 of declining per-capita demand for the world as a whole - by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC - we project modest growth. Our projections for total world demand in 2030 are at least 20% higher than projections by those three institutions, using similar assumptions about income growth and oil prices, because we project rest-of-world growth that is consistent with historical patterns, in contrast to the dramatic slowdowns which they project. (author)

  15. Night shift and rotating shift in association with sleep problems, burnout and minor mental disorder in male and female employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Wan-Ju; Cheng, Yawen

    2017-07-01

    Shift work is associated with adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. However, the independent health effects of night work and rotating shift on workers' sleep and mental health risks and the potential gender differences have not been fully evaluated. We used data from a nationwide survey of representative employees of Taiwan in 2013, consisting of 16 440 employees. Participants reported their work shift patterns 1 week prior to the survey, which were classified into the four following shift types: fixed day, rotating day, fixed night and rotating night shifts. Also obtained were self-reported sleep duration, presence of insomnia, burnout and mental disorder assessed by the Brief Symptom Rating Scale. Among all shift types, workers with fixed night shifts were found to have the shortest duration of sleep, highest level of burnout score, and highest prevalence of insomnia and minor mental disorders. Gender-stratified regression analyses with adjustment of age, education and psychosocial work conditions showed that both in male and female workers, fixed night shifts were associated with greater risks for short sleep duration (night shifts were also associated with increased risks for burnout and mental disorders, but after adjusting for insomnia, the associations between fixed night shifts and poor mental health were no longer significant. The findings of this study suggested that a fixed night shift was associated with greater risks for sleep and mental health problems, and the associations might be mediated by sleep disturbance. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  16. Protein-carbohydrate supplements in the production of meat products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. N. Tolpigina

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Rationality of the use of protein-carbohydrate additive in the technology of meat products was justified. The capability of the fiber to stabilizate properties of meat systems was investigated. There was established permissible limits of the use of additives in prescription solutions in the production of sausage products of a various price level according to the criterion of biological values. The trial production of sausage products was held. By the methods of mathematical statistics were optimized compositions of protein-polysaccharide additives.

  17. Heterogeneous Parking Market Subject to Parking Rationing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeed Asadi Bagloee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Different types of drivers and parking spaces delineate a heterogeneous parking market for which the literature has yet to provide a model applicable to the real world. The main obstacle is computational complexities of considering various parking restrictions along with traffic congestion on the road network. In this study, the heterogeneity aspects are considered within a Logit parking choice model. A mathematical programming problem was introduced to explicitly consider parking capacities and parking rationing constraints. The parking rationing is defined as any arrangement to reserve parking space for some specific demand such as parking permit, private parking, VIP parking, and different parking durations. Introduction of parking rationing in the presence of other constraints is a unique factor in this study which makes the model more realistic. The algorithm was tested on a central business district case study. The results prove that the algorithm is able to converge rapidly. Among the algorithm’s output are shadow prices of the parking capacity and parking rationing constraints. The shadow prices contain important information which is key to addressing a variety of parking issues, such as the location of parking shortages, identification of fair parking charges, viability of parking permits, and the size of reserved parking.

  18. Developing and Testing Rational Models of Message Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Keefe, Barbara J.

    1992-01-01

    Responds to an article in the same issue regarding research methods for conversational cognition. Argues for a noncognitive view of rational models in communication research. Sets out an analysis of the kinds of claims made by rational models of message design. Discusses the implications of this analysis for studies of the cognitive processes…

  19. Autonomy, rationality and the wish to die.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, D M

    1999-12-01

    Although suicide has traditionally carried a negative sanction in Western societies, this is now being challenged, and while there remains substantial public concern surrounding youth and elder suicide, there is a paradoxical push to relax the prohibition under certain circumstances. Central to the arguments behind this are the principles of respect for autonomy and the importance of rationality. It is argued here that the concepts of rationality and autonomy, while valuable, are not strong enough to substantiate a categorical "right to suicide" and that the concepts of "understandability" and "respect" are more useful and able to provide the foundation for responding to a person expressing a wish to die. Roman suicide, sometimes held as an example of "rational suicide", illustrates the effects of culture, tradition and values on the attitudes to, and the practice of, suicide.

  20. Changing Conspiracy Beliefs through Rationality and Ridiculing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orosz, Gábor; Krekó, Péter; Paskuj, Benedek; Tóth-Király, István; Bőthe, Beáta; Roland-Lévy, Christine

    2016-01-01

    Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs can be harmful. How is it possible to reduce them effectively? Three reduction strategies were tested in an online experiment using general and well-known CT beliefs on a comprehensive randomly assigned Hungarian sample ( N = 813): exposing rational counter CT arguments, ridiculing those who hold CT beliefs, and empathizing with the targets of CT beliefs. Several relevant individual differences were measured. Rational and ridiculing arguments were effective in reducing CT, whereas empathizing with the targets of CTs had no effect. Individual differences played no role in CT reduction, but the perceived intelligence and competence of the individual who conveyed the CT belief-reduction information contributed to the success of the CT belief reduction. Rational arguments targeting the link between the object of belief and its characteristics appear to be an effective tool in fighting conspiracy theory beliefs.

  1. Principles underlying rational design of live attenuated influenza vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Yo Han

    2012-01-01

    Despite recent innovative advances in molecular virology and the developments of vaccines, influenza virus remains a serious burden for human health. Vaccination has been considered a primary countermeasure for prevention of influenza infection. Live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs) are particularly attracting attention as an effective strategy due to several advantages over inactivated vaccines. Cold-adaptation, as a classical means for attenuating viral virulence, has been successfully used for generating safe and effective donor strains of LAIVs against seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics. Recently, the advent of reverse genetics technique expedited a variety of rational strategies to broaden the pool of LAIVs. Considering the breadth of antigenic diversity of influenza virus, the pool of LAIVs is likely to equip us with better options for controlling influenza pandemics. With a brief reflection on classical attenuating strategies used at the initial stage of development of LAIVs, especially on the principles underlying the development of cold-adapted LAIVs, we further discuss and outline other attenuation strategies especially with respect to the rationales for attenuation, and their practicality for mass production. Finally, we propose important considerations for a rational vaccine design, which will provide us with practical guidelines for improving the safety and effectiveness of LAIVs. PMID:23596576

  2. The Rationality and Irrationality of Financing Green Start-Ups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Bergset

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Green start-ups contribute towards a transition to a more sustainable economy by developing sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation and bringing it to the market. Due to specific product/service characteristics, entrepreneurial motivation and company strategies that might differ from that of other start-ups, these companies might struggle even more than usual with access to finance in the early stages. This conceptual paper seeks to explain these challenges through the theoretical lenses of entrepreneurial finance and behavioural finance. While entrepreneurial finance theory contributes to a partial understanding of green start-up finance, behavioural finance is able to solve a remaining explanatory deficit produced by entrepreneurial finance theory. Although some behavioural finance theorists are suggesting that the current understanding of economic rationality underlying behavioural finance research is inadequate, most scholars have not yet challenged these assumptions, which constrict a comprehensive and realistic description of the reality of entrepreneurial finance in green start-ups. The aim of the paper is thus, first, to explore the specifics of entrepreneurial finance in green start-ups and, second, to demonstrate the need for a more up-to-date conception of rationality in behavioural finance theory in order to enable realistic empirical research in this field.

  3. Changing Conspiracy Beliefs through Rationality and Ridiculing

    OpenAIRE

    Orosz, Gábor; Krekó, Péter; Paskuj, Benedek; Tóth-Király, István; Bőthe, Beáta; Roland-Lévy, Christine

    2016-01-01

    Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs can be harmful. How is it possible to reduce them effectively? Three reduction strategies were tested in an online experiment using general and well-known CT beliefs on a comprehensive randomly assigned Hungarian sample (N = 813): exposing rational counter CT arguments, ridiculing those who hold CT beliefs, and empathizing with the targets of CT beliefs. Several relevant individual differences were measured. Rational and ridiculing arguments were effective in re...

  4. Sleep, immunity and shift workers: A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Mauricio Oliveira de Almeida

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available To date, shift workers represent between 15% and 25% of the modern day workforce. Work time poses a great challenge to workers as it requires that they balance productivity and sleep time between shifts. As a result, these workers experience chronic sleep deprivation with increased fatigue and drowsiness due to this sleep deprivation. The impact of this kind of work on the immune system is not yet known. We conducted a literature review with the aim of evaluating articles on this specific type of work's effects on sleep and immunity.

  5. A Rational, Successive G-Index Applied to Economics Departments in Ireland

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tol, R.S.J.

    2008-01-01

    A rational, successive g-index is proposed, and applied to economics departments in Ireland. The successive g-index has greater discriminatory power than the successive h-index, and the rational index performs better still. The rational, successive g-index is also more robust to differences in

  6. Rational Behavior Skills: A Teaching Sequence for Students with Emotional Disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patton, Patricia Lucey

    1995-01-01

    Rational behavior training is a proactive teaching model concerned with helping students with behavior disorders or serious emotional disturbances develop rational thinking and appropriate social skills. Describes a seven-session sequence for teaching rational behavior skills in a middle school setting. Pre- and posttest data revealed significant…

  7. Rationality, morality and Economic Coordination: The Contours of Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sushentsova Maria, S.

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The article represents an overview of general tendencies in interaction between the notions of rationality and morality, and their influence on the foundations of economic coordination. Firstly, two main directions of evolution of rationality model are considered: the theory of perspectives of D. Kahneman and A. Tverski (the empirical restriction and economic imperialism of G. Becker (the conceptual widening, the role of the modern institutionalism being emphasized. The theoretical evolution of economic rationality had mainly instrumental character and didn’t change its ethical core – the central idea of welfare in economic motivation. In this regard, the two main ways of integration of rationality and morality in modern discussion are considered: conceptions of “multiple preferences” (1 and “moral obligations” (2. The first conception assumes the existence of stable beliefs or “meta-preferences”, which range ordinal desires or preferences. According to the second approach, a distinction of a qualitative nature is drawn between rational behavior, motivated by personal benefit or “sympathy”, and exclusively moral behavior, underlain by “obligation”. An approach according to which a distinction between rational and moral arguments is drawn, directly determines the principles of economic coordination, including the foundations of social justice. Among the latter, there are two ethical grounds – mutual benefit, based on the “sympathy” principle, and impartiality, grounded on the “obligation of power”. These conceptions imply the corresponding types of economic coordination: market-evolutional (focused on effectiveness and constructivist (focused on redistribution.

  8. Rational Design, Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of the (2R)- and (2S)-Stereoisomers of 3-(2-Carboxypyrrolidinyl)-2-methyl Acetic Acid as Ligands for the Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Julie; Storgaard, Morten; Pickering, Darryl S

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we describe the rational design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of two new stereoisomeric (S)-glutamate (Glu) analogues. The rational design was based on hybrid structures of the natural product kainic acid, a synthetic analogue CPAA and the high-affinity Glu analogue SYM...

  9. Suicide: rationality and responsibility for life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Angela Onkay

    2014-03-01

    Death by suicide is widely held as an undesirable outcome. Most Western countries place emphasis on patient autonomy, a concept of controversy in relation to suicide. This paper explores the tensions between patients' rights and many societies' overarching desire to prevent suicide, while clarifying the relations between mental disorders, mental capacity, and rational suicide. A literature search was conducted using search terms of suicide and ethics in the PubMed and LexisNexis Academic databases. Article titles and abstracts were reviewed and deemed relevant if the paper addressed topics of rational suicide, patient autonomy or rights, or responsibility for life. Further articles were found from reference lists and by suggestion from preliminary reviewers of this paper. Suicidal behaviour in a person cannot be reliably predicted, yet various associations and organizations have developed standards of care for managing patients exhibiting suicidal behaviour. The responsibility for preventing suicide tends to be placed on the treating clinician. In cases where a person is capable of making treatment decisions--uninfluenced by any mental disorder--there is growing interest in the concept of rational suicide. There is much debate about whether suicide can ever be rational. Designating suicide as an undesirable event that should never occur raises the debate of who is responsible for one's life and runs the risk of erroneously attributing blame for suicide. While upholding patient rights of autonomy in psychiatric care is laudable, cases of suicidality warrant a delicate consideration of clinical judgment, duty of care, and legal obligations.

  10. Environmental tax shifting in Canada : theory and application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, A.; Hornung, R.; Cairns, S.

    2003-03-01

    Canada's leading energy and resource companies along with the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development have collaborated in the Triple E Tax Shift Research Collaborative which examines the use of environmental tax shifting in Canada. The objective is to design, evaluate and advance federal and provincial environmental tax shifts that will influence individual behaviour and decisions to improve ecological integrity through measurable reductions in materials and energy throughput, and to maintain or increase economic competitiveness through the creation of a tax framework that would encourage businesses to improve energy efficiency. Another objective is to increase employment and social benefits through more employment opportunities and improved quality of life. Environmental tax shifting means shifting a portion of a government's tax base onto goods, services and activities associated with harmful environmental impacts that add to societal costs. Tax shifting can be implemented by offering rebates to consumers of environmental significant goods, or by adjustments to existing taxes so that environmentally sensitive goods are taxed at a lower rate than environmentally harmful goods and services. Environmental tax shifting can also be implemented by reducing existing environmental taxes and introducing a carbon dioxide emissions tax. This report is the first product of the collaboration and is intended to promote public dialogue on the subject and identify ways to implement environmental tax shifting. tabs., figs

  11. Rational Solutions of the Painlevé-II Equation Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Peter D.; Sheng, Yue

    2017-08-01

    The rational solutions of the Painlevé-II equation appear in several applications and are known to have many remarkable algebraic and analytic properties. They also have several different representations, useful in different ways for establishing these properties. In particular, Riemann-Hilbert representations have proven to be useful for extracting the asymptotic behavior of the rational solutions in the limit of large degree (equivalently the large-parameter limit). We review the elementary properties of the rational Painlevé-II functions, and then we describe three different Riemann-Hilbert representations of them that have appeared in the literature: a representation by means of the isomonodromy theory of the Flaschka-Newell Lax pair, a second representation by means of the isomonodromy theory of the Jimbo-Miwa Lax pair, and a third representation found by Bertola and Bothner related to pseudo-orthogonal polynomials. We prove that the Flaschka-Newell and Bertola-Bothner Riemann-Hilbert representations of the rational Painlevé-II functions are explicitly connected to each other. Finally, we review recent results describing the asymptotic behavior of the rational Painlevé-II functions obtained from these Riemann-Hilbert representations by means of the steepest descent method.

  12. Rational maps, monopoles and skyrmions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Houghton, C.J.; Manton, N.S.

    1998-01-01

    We discuss the similarities between BPS monopoles and skyrmions, and point to an underlying connection in terms of rational maps between Riemann spheres. This involves the introduction of a new ansatz for Skyrme fields. We use this to construct good approximations to several known skyrmions, including all the minimal energy configurations up to baryon number nine, and some new solutions such as a baryon number seventeen Skyrme field with the truncated icosahedron structure of a buckyball. The new approach is also used to understand the low-lying vibrational modes of skyrmions, which are required for quantization. Along the way we discover an interesting Morse function on the space of rational maps which may be of use in understanding the Sen forms on the monopole moduli spaces. (orig.)

  13. Bounded Rationality in Transposition Processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vollaard, Hans; Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

    2014-01-01

    Studies explaining the timeliness and correctness of the transposition of EU directives into national legislation have provided rather inconclusive findings. They do not offer a clear-cut prediction concerning the transposition of the patients’ rights directive, which is one of the first that con......Studies explaining the timeliness and correctness of the transposition of EU directives into national legislation have provided rather inconclusive findings. They do not offer a clear-cut prediction concerning the transposition of the patients’ rights directive, which is one of the first...... that concerns the organisation and financing of national healthcare systems. This article applies the perspective of bounded rationality to explain (irregularities in) the timely and correct transposition of EU directives. The cognitive and organisational constraints long posited by the bounded rationality...

  14. [The impact of ethical and moral competence in decision making on rationalism and rationing nursing interventions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwerdt, R

    2005-08-01

    The intraprofessional discourse about economical aspects in nursing from an ethical point of view has not taken place yet. To cope with the increasing restriction of resources, some preconditions have to be met: It is necessary to communicate issues in rationalizing and rationing in nursing openly. Person-oriented criteria in the nursing process indicate a high level of competence and user-oriented quality in nursing care. But nursing professionals do not decide in favor or against resources to perform this task on a high or poor quality level. Democratic decision-making on providing nursing services depends on a continuous societal discourse about allocation criteria.

  15. Direction of rational use of water at livestock facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potseluev, A. A.; Nazarov, I. V.

    2017-05-01

    The article notes the world water shortage problem. Against this background, Russia’s agricultural production is considered, in particular the livestock sector as the main consumer of water resources. The structure of the main technological processes at livestock facilities is given and possible technological damage is indicated in case of the lack of technological processes for servicing animals and poultry with water. The direction of rational use of water based on the introduction of new technical and technological solutions of water supply systems and means is substantiated. Constructive solutions of systems and facilities that help to reduce water consumption are presented, and as well a possible positive effect.

  16. CIME-CIRM course Rationality Problems in Algebraic Geometry

    CERN Document Server

    Pirola, Gian

    2016-01-01

    Providing an overview of the state of the art on rationality questions in algebraic geometry, this volume gives an update on the most recent developments. It offers a comprehensive introduction to this fascinating topic, and will certainly become an essential reference for anybody working in the field. Rationality problems are of fundamental importance both in algebra and algebraic geometry. Historically, rationality problems motivated significant developments in the theory of abelian integrals, Riemann surfaces and the Abel–Jacobi map, among other areas, and they have strong links with modern notions such as moduli spaces, Hodge theory, algebraic cycles and derived categories. This text is aimed at researchers and graduate students in algebraic geometry.

  17. Diagnosis, Dogmatism, and Rationality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Efron, Noah J.

    1997-01-01

    Presents findings suggesting that misdiagnoses frequently stem from flaws in human information processing, particularly in collecting and using information. Claims that improved diagnostic tools will not remedy the problem. Drawing on the work of Karl Popper and Robin Collingwood, proposes operational principles to ensure a rational diagnostic…

  18. Ideal Theory, Real Rationality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flyvbjerg, Bent

    Understanding rationality and power are key to understanding actual political and administrative behavior. Political and administrative theory that ignores this fact stand in danger of being at best irrelevant or, at worst part of the problem it whishes to solve. The paper presents Jürgen Habermas...

  19. Rationality and Emotions in Decision Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Markič

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Decision making is traditionally viewed as a rational process where reason calculates the best way to achieve the goal. Investigations from different areas of cognitive science have shown that human decisions and actions are much more influenced by intuition and emotional responses then it was previously thought. In this paper I examine the role of emotion in decision making, particularly Damasio’s hypothesis of somatic markers and Green’s dual process theory of moral judgment. I conclude the paper with the discussion of the threat that deliberation and conscious rationality is an illusion.

  20. Rationing in the presence of baselines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Moreno-Ternero, Juan D.; Østerdal, Lars Peter

    2013-01-01

    We analyze a general model of rationing in which agents have baselines, in addition to claims against the (insufficient) endowment of the good to be allocated. Many real-life problems fit this general model (e.g., bankruptcy with prioritized claims, resource allocation in the public health care...... sector, water distribution in drought periods). We introduce (and characterize) a natural class of allocation methods for this model. Any method within the class is associated with a rule in the standard rationing model, and we show that if the latter obeys some focal properties, the former obeys them...

  1. Rational use of water in trickle irrigation design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saad, J. C. C.; da Silva Junior, H. M.

    2012-04-01

    In trickle irrigation systems, the design is based on the pre-established emission uniformity (EU) which is the combined result of the equipment characteristics and its hydraulic configuration. However, this desired value of the EU may not be confirmed by the final project (in field conditions) and neither by the yield uniformity. However, the most important is to assure yield uniformity with rational use of water. The hypotheses of this research were: a) the EU of a trickle irrigation system at field conditions is equal to the emission uniformity pre-established in the design; b) EU has always the lowest value when compared with other indicators of uniformity; c) the discharge variation coefficient is not equal to production variation coefficient in the operational unit; d) the productivity variation coefficient is more dependent on water depth applied than the EU. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships among EU used in the irrigation system design, water depth applied and the final yield uniformity. The uniformity indicators evaluated were: EU, distribution uniformity (UD) and the index proposed by Barragan & Wu (2005). They were compared estimating the performance of a trickle irrigation system applied in a citrus orchard with dimensions of 400m x 600m. The design of the irrigation system was optimized by a Linear Programming model. The tree rows were leveled in the larger direction and the spacing adopted in the orchard was 7m x 4m. The manifold line was always operating on a slope condition. The sensitivity analysis involved different slopes, 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12%, and different values of emission uniformity, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 94%. The citrus yield uniformity was evaluated by the variation coefficient. The emission uniformity (EU) after design differed from the EU pre-established, more sharply in the initial values lower than 90%. Comparing the uniformity indexes, the EU always generated lower values when compared with the UD and with the index

  2. Rational management of epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viswanathan, Venkataraman

    2014-09-01

    Management of epilepsies in children has improved considerably over the last decade, all over the world due to the advances seen in the understanding of the patho-physiology of epileptogenesis, availability of both structural and functional imaging studies along with better quality EEG/video-EEG recordings and the availability of a plethora of newer anti-epileptic drugs which are tailormade to act on specific pathways. In spite of this, there is still a long way to go before one is able to be absolutely rational about which drug to use for which type of epilepsy. There have been a lot of advances in the area of epilepsy surgery and is certainly gaining ground for specific cases. Better understanding of the genetic basis of epilepsies will hopefully lead to a more rational treatment plan in the future. Also, a lot of work needs to be done to dispel various misunderstandings and myths about epilepsy which still exists in our country.

  3. Influence of individual rationality on continuous double auction markets with networked traders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Junhuan

    2018-04-01

    This paper investigates the influence of individual rationality of buyers and sellers on continuous double auction market outcomes in terms of the proportion of boundedly-rational buyers and sellers. The individual rationality is discussed in a social network artificial stock market model by embedding network formation and information set. Traders automatically select the most profitable trading strategy based on individual and social learning of the profits and trading strategies of themselves and their neighbors, and submit orders to markets. The results show that (i) a higher proportion of boundedly-rational sellers induces a higher market price, higher sellers' profits and a higher market efficiency; (ii) a higher proportion of boundedly-rational sellers induces a lower number of trades and lower buyers' profits; (iii) a higher proportion of boundedly-rational buyers induces a lower market price, a lower number of trades, and lower sellers' profits; (iv) a higher proportion of boundedly-rational buyers induces higher buyers' profits and a higher market efficiency.

  4. The Third Perspective on Shifting Cultivation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukanya Sharma

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT There are two perspectives in which the understanding of food sustainability in the world is entangled. The first perspective which believes that food sustainability can be achieved by technology presents shifting cultivation as a reflection of a lower state of cultural evolution in comparison with more sophisticated societies (O’Brien 2002.The second perspective which believes in culture, in the ‘way of life’ paradigm valorise shifting cultivation as a form of indigenous genius, representing the indigenous people as perhaps the original environmentalist (Bandy et al.1993; Conklin 1957; Grandstaff 1981; Hong 1987. The biasness of both the perspectives is well visible. The task now is to document and evaluate indigenous strategies of shifting cultivation through a process of research and development. This process involves identification of promising indigenous practices, characterization of the practices, validation of the utility of the practice for other communities, extrapolation to other locations, verification with key farmers, and wide-scale extension. This can be treated as the third perspective available to the policy makers. By this, the detrimental effects of shifting cultivation can be mitigated and productivity increased (Mali 2003.

  5. Rationality alters the rank between peer punishment and social exclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sui, Xiukai; Wu, Bin; Wang, Long

    2018-02-01

    Peer punishment and social exclusion are two ways to punish free-riders. Previous work usually focuses on how their presence, either peer punishment or social exclusion, shapes the evolution of cooperation. Little attention has been given to which of these two strategies is favored by natural selection when they are both present. Here we investigate how rationality alters the ranking of these two strategies. Under weak rationality, for compulsory public goods games, peer punishment has an evolutionary advantage over social exclusion if the efficiency of punishment or the cost of exclusion is high. Furthermore, this rank is preserved for voluntary public goods games where loners are involved. Under strong rationality, however, peer punishment cannot prevail over social exclusion for both compulsory and voluntary public goods games. This indicates that rationality greatly alters the rank between peer punishment and social exclusion. Moreover, we find that this ranking is sensitive to the rationality. Our work thus gives an insight into how different types of punishment evolve.

  6. Rational design of a bi-layered reduced graphene oxide film on polystyrene foam for solar-driven interfacial water evaporation

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Le; Wang, Yuchao; Zhang, Lianbin; Wang, Peng

    2016-01-01

    Solar-driven water evaporation has been emerging as a highly efficient way for utilizing solar energy for clean water production and wastewater treatment. Here we rationally designed and fabricated a bi-layered photothermal membrane with a porous

  7. Field Dependency of Argumentation Rationality in Decision-Making Debates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouwmeester, O.

    2013-01-01

    This study argues that the rationality behind strategic decisions, which is characterized as expressive, social, or instrumental rational, has to be aligned with the argumentation field of the decision, which is characterized as subjective, intersubjective, or objective. A multiple case study

  8. The effects of a ration change from a total mixed ration to pasture on rumen fermentation, volatile fatty acid absorption characteristics, and morphology of dairy cows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schären, M.; Seyfang, G.M.; Steingass, H.; Dieho, K.; Dijkstra, J.; Hüther, L.; Frahm, J.; Beineke, A.; Soosten, von D.; Meyer, U.; Breves, G.; Dänicke, S.

    2016-01-01

    To investigate the effect of the change from a concentrate and silage-based ration (total mixed ration, TMR) to a pasture-based ration, a 10-wk trial (wk 1-10) was performed, including 10 rumen- and duodenum-fistulated German Holstein dairy cows (182 ± 24 d in milk, 23.5 ± 3.5 kg of milk/d; mean

  9. A de novo NADPH generation pathway for improving lysine production of Corynebacterium glutamicum by rational design of the coenzyme specificity of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bommareddy, Rajesh Reddy; Chen, Zhen; Rappert, Sugima; Zeng, An-Ping

    2014-09-01

    Engineering the cofactor availability is a common strategy of metabolic engineering to improve the production of many industrially important compounds. In this work, a de novo NADPH generation pathway is proposed by altering the coenzyme specificity of a native NAD-dependent glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) to NADP, which consequently has the potential to produce additional NADPH in the glycolytic pathway. Specifically, the coenzyme specificity of GAPDH of Corynebacterium glutamicum is systematically manipulated by rational protein design and the effect of the manipulation for cellular metabolism and lysine production is evaluated. By a combinatorial modification of four key residues within the coenzyme binding sites, different GAPDH mutants with varied coenzyme specificity were constructed. While increasing the catalytic efficiency of GAPDH towards NADP enhanced lysine production in all of the tested mutants, the most significant improvement of lysine production (~60%) was achieved with the mutant showing similar preference towards both NAD and NADP. Metabolic flux analysis with (13)C isotope studies confirmed that there was no significant change of flux towards the pentose phosphate pathway and the increased lysine yield was mainly attributed to the NADPH generated by the mutated GAPDH. The present study highlights the importance of protein engineering as a key strategy in de novo pathway design and overproduction of desired products. Copyright © 2014 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. [Rationalization in 20th-century Czechoslovak pharmacy practice - commission for rationalization and standardization in medicine, veterinary medicine and pharmacy - part 1].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babica, Jan; Rusek, Václav

    2014-06-01

    In the 1920s Czechoslovakia, an increased attention was paid to the new ideas of scientific management (Taylorism), work rationalization and standardization. This was reflected in the foundation of the Masaryk Academy of Work in 1920. An effort to implement the new principles into health care led to the establishment of the Commission for Rationalization and Standardization in Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy (RANOK) within the Department of Natural Science and Medicine of the Academy. Within RANOK, the group for pharmacy worked between 1928-1932. The first part of the paper describes the scientific management and standardization movement in interwar Czechoslovakia, and the establishment of Masaryk Academy of Work and RANOK, including the group for pharmacy. The paper discusses the work objectives of the commission and presents concise biographies of the group for pharmacy members, too. The second part will be focused on the work results, relative failure and role of the group. Masaryk Academy of Work Comission for Rationalization and Standardization in Medicine Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy (RANOK) work rationalization standardization pharmacy practice.

  11. Rational Choice Theory and the Politics of Education: Promise and Limitations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyd, William Lowe; And Others

    1994-01-01

    Rational choice theory and its three branches (game theory, collective choice theory, and organizational economics) has altered the face of political science, sociology, and organizational theory. This chapter reviews rational choice theory, examines a small body of work that relies on the rational choice paradigm to study educational politics,…

  12. CREDIT RATIONING OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IN THE RURAL AREAS OF CENTRAL SULAWESI, INDONESIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nunung Nuryartono

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false st1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The agricultural sector provides the highest contribution to economic development in the Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. On average, the share of agriculture in the Product Domestic Regional Bruto (GRDP is more than 40% (2003. However, poverty is a widespread problem found in this area, as indicated by almost 46% of the total household are categorized as poor and most of them are farmers. Smallholders and poor farmers may perpetually be trapped in poverty due to lack of finance needed to undertake productive investment. This is indicated by lower rate of advance agricultural technology adoption, which results the productivity of some agricultural products in this area is lower compared to the national average.This paper addresses the question of whether greater access of financial services increase agricultural production. Specific research question addressed are as follow: (1 How many household have access to formal credit markets? (2 How many households are credit constrained? (3 What factors influence that households are credit constrained? (4 How does credit rationing influences agricultural production?As many studies have shown, many rural households lack access to either formal or informal credit institutions. In the rural areas of Central Sulawesi Province, particularly in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park only 21.5% of the household have access to formal credits. The results also show that under certain conditions, only 18.1% of the households are not

  13. Cyborg pantocrator: international relations theory from decisionism to rational choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilhot, Nicolas

    2011-01-01

    International relations theory took shape in the 1950s in reaction to the behavioral social science movement, emphasizing the limits of rationality in a context of high uncertainty, weak rules, and the possibility of lethal conflict. Yet the same discipline rapidly developed "rational choice" models applied to foreign policy decision making or nuclear strategy. This paper argues that this transformation took place almost seamlessly around the concept of "decision." Initially associated with an antirationalist or "decisionist" approach to politics, the sovereign decision became the epitome of political rationality when it was redescribed as "rational choice," thus easing the cultural acceptance of political realism in the postwar years. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Rational Choice Theory in Sociology: A Methodological Argument

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALEXANDRA GHEONDEA-ELADI

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available În the last years, rational choice theory (RCT took over a lot of the social sciences, almost polarizing discussions in sociology, such that I was able to hear questions like: are there any other theories in sociology, besides rational choice theory? Although the answer to this question is clearly yes, what seems to be important to avoid is that the moment when this theory monopolizes behavioural explanations in a multi-paradigmatic discipline should not come from partial or incomplete knowledge of it. Consequently, I decided to write this article with two goals in mind: one, to make a review of what rational choice theory is and means to sociology and secondly, to shortly present a research which questioned the structuring of social events according to this theory[1]. In the first part of this paper, I will present the main aspects of rational choice theory, such that I can argue for choosing one of its variants in the second section. In the last part I will present the methodology I used to explore the closeness of the Volunteer's Dilemma (as Diekmann (1985, 1993 proposed it to the volunteering situation in Romania. I shall do this by aid of institutional analysis and interview analysis. The results of the research will be briefly described, such that, in the end, the conclusions can summarize the main ideas about rational choice theory emerging from this article.

  15. RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY IN SOCIOLOGY: A METHODOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALEXANDRA GHEONDEA-ELADI

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available În the last years, rational choice theory (RCT took over a lot of the social sciences, almost polarizing discussions in sociology, such that I was able to hear questions like: are there any other theories in sociology, besides rational choice theory? Although the answer to this question is clearly yes, what seems to be important to avoid is that the moment when this theory monopolizes behavioural explanations in a multi-paradigmatic discipline should not come from partial or incomplete knowledge of it. Consequently, I decided to write this article with two goals in mind: one, to make a review of what rational choice theory is and means to sociology and secondly, to shortly present a research which questioned the structuring of social events according to this theory2. In the first part of this paper, I will present the main aspects of rational choice theory, such that I can argue for choosing one of its variants in the second section. In the last part I will present the methodology I used to explore the closeness of the Volunteer’s Dilemma (as Diekmann (1985, 1993 proposed it to the volunteering situation in Romania. I shall do this by aid of institutional analysis and interview analysis. The results of the research will be briefly described, such that, in the end, the conclusions can summarize the main ideas about rational choice theory emerging from this article

  16. Elaborating and Making Rational Decisions in Designing Process Operations of a Group of Holes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. I. Solov'ev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To manufacture engineering products are used expensive multi-purpose CNC machines with five operated coordinates, allowing a single setup of the work-piece to process a group of holes in the housing part from all sides.Because of the haphazard arrangement of a large number of holes available in the space it is difficult to ensure the effective use of these machines.Onsite operational research, conducted on six CNC GS-500 models, involved actual observations and time measurements during 15 working shifts, processing of observation results, and calculations of equipment performance parameters such as machine utilization rate, arrangement and changeover time loss, and real output. Time loss (downtime because of arrangement amounted 44.52%, while that of due to changeover was 20.1% of the total downtime value. These downtimes hide irrational design solutions concerning the engineering process and a large number of changeovers for a new operation to process a group of the specified work-pieces.It is found that to reduce the changeover downtimes it is necessary to increase, first of all, the average number of single tool travels per one setup in generalized characteristics of a group of the work-pieces. That means to increase a changeover concentration of processing within a single operation, as well as to choose rational values for machining a batch of the work-pieces. Under study conditions, it is, at least. 20-50 pieces.To implement a development of the principle of increasing concentration of the processing changeovers it is advised to apply the developed mathematical models, algorithms, and programs that can be used, as modules or their parts, in computer-aided design (CAD systems. This allows a 3-5 times reduction in time to find the rational option of the work-piece position on the machine work surface when developing a process technology, a review and an analysis of more than the usual number of such possible options. It also improves the

  17. Further Studies on the Utilization of Cocoa Husk in Ruminant Rations

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The effect on body weight changes of sheep and goats and digestibility of maintenance rations in which cocoa husk constituted, 0%, 20%, 40% and 50% of the basal ration respectively were studied. These rations were fed to wethers and castrated goats (castrates) in two separate but concurrent digestibility trials. There was ...

  18. Rational drug use--evaluation of a training programme for interns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natu, M V; Zachariah, P; Zachariah, A; Chand, S; Singh, T; Choudhry, K

    1995-09-01

    A workshop covering various aspects of rational drug use was conducted for interns of Christian Medical College, Ludhiana. Evaluation of the workshop revealed that it was able to bring about an attitudinal change regarding rational drug use. The methodology and evaluation procedures have been described. It is suggested that similar attempts should be made at all medical colleges so that every graduate enters medical practice with a positive attitude towards rational drug use.

  19. Rational and Efficient Preparative Isolation of Natural Products by MPLC-UV-ELSD based on HPLC to MPLC Gradient Transfer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Challal, Soura; Queiroz, Emerson Ferreira; Debrus, Benjamin; Kloeti, Werner; Guillarme, Davy; Gupta, Mahabir Prashad; Wolfender, Jean-Luc

    2015-11-01

    In natural product research, the isolation of biomarkers or bioactive compounds from complex natural extracts represents an essential step for de novo identification and bioactivity assessment. When pure natural products have to be obtained in milligram quantities, the chromatographic steps are generally labourious and time-consuming. In this respect, an efficient method has been developed for the reversed-phase gradient transfer from high-performance liquid chromatography to medium-performance liquid chromatography for the isolation of pure natural products at the level of tens of milligrams from complex crude natural extracts. The proposed method provides a rational way to predict retention behaviour and resolution at the analytical scale prior to medium-performance liquid chromatography, and guarantees similar performances at both analytical and preparative scales. The optimisation of the high-performance liquid chromatography separation and system characterisation allows for the prediction of the gradient at the medium-performance liquid chromatography scale by using identical stationary phase chemistries. The samples were introduced in medium-performance liquid chromatography using a pressure-resistant aluminium dry load cell especially designed for this study to allow high sample loading while maintaining a maximum achievable flow rate for the separation. The method has been validated with a mixture of eight natural product standards. Ultraviolet and evaporative light scattering detections were used in parallel for a comprehensive monitoring. In addition, post-chromatographic mass spectrometry detection was provided by high-throughput ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry analyses of all fractions. The processing of all liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data in the form of an medium-performance liquid chromatography x ultra high-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry matrix enabled an

  20. The principle of the rationality in the literary configuration of love

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dionei Mathias

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Emotions and rationality play a central role in Elfriede Jelinek’s novel Die Ausgesperrten (Wonderful, Wonderful Times, English translation published in 1990, from 1980. For a long time, rationality was considered the most important in decisionmaking situations, interactions, behavior and ways of conceptualizing the body, whereas emotions were seen as a destabilizing element. In her novel, Elfriede Jelinek seems to show that the primacy of rationality continues to produce monsters. With four protagonists, she covers all social classes, creating characters that do not know their emotions, but that see in rationality a secure tool to solve all conflicts they are confronted with. Thus, body and behavior, desire and belonging, to mention some elements of the configuration of love, end up subdued by the principle of rationality, whereas emotions remain silenced.